History Main / CrushingHandshake

* In a memorable episode of ''Series/ILoveLucy'', Fred's grip was actually enough to bring John Wayne to his knees (the Duke was humoring him at Ricky's request), but when he tries it on Ethel, Ethel's grip actually brings Fred to ''his'' knees.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
** During the M*A*S*H Olympics, Hawkeye and B.J. make a wager with each other, but when they shake on it, B.J. jokingly tries to crush Hawkeye's hand.
** Averted in the episode "Requiem For A Lightweight". Trapper agrees to fight in an inter-camp boxing tournament. When he meets his opponent, Sgt. "Killer" Flacker, Flacker offers a handshake to Trapper, but seeing how huge the guy is and fearing this will happen, Trapper holds up his hands and says, "[[HulkSpeak Me, doctor. Need hands. Operate.]]"
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Booth meets Cam's step-daughter's new boyfriend. After greeting him enthusiastically, Booth throws in some not-very-veiled threats about treating the girl right, including mentioning that he used to be a sniper, and finishes off with a handshake that leaves the kid wincing and rubbing his hand.
* In ''Series/TheWestWing'', this happens so often to presidential candidate Arnold Vinick that he ends up with a fractured hand, making handshakes of ''any'' firmness agonizing.
* In an episode of ''Series/GoOn'', BobCostas is revealed to do this all the time, and almost always wins.
* A variant in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' with Lysa and Sansa. Lysa initially holds Sansa's hands gently as a gesture of affection, but her grip becomes hard and cruel when [[ClingyJealousGirl Lysa]] starts questioning if Sansa and Petyr are romantically/sexually involved.
* ''Series/LoisAndClark'': In the PilotMovie, Clark does this accidentally to Perry White at the end of his first (failed) job interview. After Clark comes back with a well-written story and Perry hires him, Clark offers his hand again but Perry doesn't take it this time, patting Clark on the back instead.
* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Keith Mars does this to every male romantic lead in. Doubles with PapaWolf.
* Tony on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' receives one from a woman who comes in for a job interview--though in this case, it's non-threatening and more because [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength she just has an unusually strong grip]].

* In ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', a former gangster turned preacher does this to Earl twice, although it wasn't really a handshake as much as it was joining hands for a prayer.
-->'''Reverend Green:''' Lord, give me strength!\\
'''Earl:''' You feel strong enough already!
* In ''Series/SavedByTheBell'', [[LovableJock A.C. Slater]] does this in the episode "Class Rings".
-->'''Mr. Diamond:''' What's the A.C. stand for?\\
'''A.C. Slater:''' ''(crushing handshake)'' Abnormally cruel.
* After he is revived in ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'', Gordon Brittas becomes so strong that a casual handshake from him causes male members of staff to wince in pain and fall to the floor.

* ''Series/OneLifeToLive''. Sam Rappaport notes to Viki Buchanan that her ex-husband Clint "pretty much just pulverized my hand" when they were introduced, indicating that he was jealous about the two of them having lunch, though it's strictly professional/platonic.
* Occasionally on ''Series/MatchGame,'' a male contestant would win the audience match and then the big cash prize with Richard Dawson, who would then shake the contestant's hand and then Dawson feign having his hand injured from the shake.
* ''Series/JandaKembang'': When introducing herself to Sri's annoying ex Jufri, Wulan grips Jufri's hand so hard Jufri feels pain, implicitly to show she doesn't like him either.

* Parodied in the film ''Film/TheQuietMan'', where what is meant to be a friendly handshake after a fight between John Wayne's and Victor [=McLaglen's=] characters turns into each of them openly trying to crush the other's hand for ages, at the end of which they start fighting again.

* In the first episode of ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' some big guy tries this on Genki, but, he being the SuperStrongChild he is, he just grins and crushes the hand of his much bigger and surprised opponent.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon did this at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQGWhnA24SY a particularly uncomfortable and tense interview with sportscaster Bob Costas in 2001]]. [=McMahon=] was already [[CantTakeCriticism visibly rattled by Costas criticizing him for his recent controversies]] (the failure of the XFL and the infamous "Wrestling/TrishStratus barks like a dog" segment on ''Wrestling/WWERaw''), trying to disguise his discomfort by pretending to be overly jovial, ending with a handshake that Costas later reported felt as though [=McMahon=] was deliberately trying to crush his hand. It would explain why Costas briefly stopped speaking mid-sentence during the exchange.

-->'''Steelheart:''' "Put 'er there, sir!"
-->'''Stargazer:''' "Forget it! I read your file!"

[[folder: Real Life]]

* In the boxing fic ''Fanfic/WellMatched'', the event that's depicted started with each matchup getting introduced prior to the first fight. [[ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} Kate Kane]], the protagonist, and her opponent Sophie Moore are described as having done this to each other during their introduction, as a mutual intimidation tactic.

* In Chapter 43 of ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'', Yang and Penny do this to each other. Yang, initially thinking Penny and Ruby are on a date, does this to Penny when introducing herself to intimidate the girl away, but it has no affect on her besides mild confusion due to her greater SuperStrength and SuperToughness. Penny, due to a misunderstanding from Ruby, does this to Yang in the same interaction, and unlike Yang's attempt, it actually crushed her hand.

* ''Series/OneLifeToLive''. Sam Rapaport notes to Viki Buchanan that her ex-husband Clint "Pretty much just pulverized my hand" when they were introduced, indicating that he jealous about the two of them having lunch, though it's strictly professional/platonic.

* In ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'', [[TheBigGuy Knuckles]] does this to Robotnik, Agent Stone [[spoiler:and later [[HeelFaceTurn Sonic himself]]]]. Interestingly, it's neither a case of DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength nor Knuckles trying to be intimidating; he's just told by Robotnik that firmly grasping the hand of someone is how you make an alliance on Earth and Knuckles, well... [[LiteralMinded Firmly grasps]] the hand of whoever he agrees to ally with from then on, unaware that most people do ''not'' have hands as sturdy as his.

Two people, often two men, shake hands. One of the men grips harder than the other one, and the other guy might start wincing or showing signs of clear discomfort. The guy delivering the Crushing Handshake might grin about it, having shown off his superior strength or "manliness". This could be done to show off just that, or as a hint that the other guy doesn't like you, or wants to intimidate you--for instance, if he's a rival for a love interest. Or it could be that he DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength and/or has CumbersomeClaws. When both parties attempt to do this, the results can be embarrassing for one or both, which can be played for laughs.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon did this at the end of a particularly uncomfortable and tense interview with sportscaster Bob Costas in 2001. [=McMahon=] was already [[CantTakeCriticism visibly rattled by Costas criticizing him for his recent controversies]] (the failure of the XFL and the infamous "Wrestling/TrishStratus barks like a dog" segment on ''Wrestling/WWERaw''), and Costas later reported that [=McMahon=] tried to crush his hand -- it would explain why Costas briefly stopped speaking mid-sentence right as they shook hands.

* ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures of Tintin]]'': Tintin and Captain Haddock get their hands crushed upon meeting a BoisterousBruiser type archeologist. It's noted that he's not being competitive or mean spirited, he just has a very strong grip and is [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength highly enthusiastic]].
* In the first ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' book, after the first time Asterix takes the magic potion in the franchise, he shakes Getafix's hand, resulting in Getafix complaining
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures of Tintin]]'': Tintin and Captain Haddock get their hands crushed upon meeting a BoisterousBruiser type archeologist. It's noted that he's not being competitive or mean spirited, he just has a very strong grip.

* ''Manga/HappyCafe': Uru's stepfather greets Shindou in this manner, all the while giving him a "Don't-Touch-My-Daughter" DeathGlare.

* In a slight variation, in ''FanFic/ASparkOfIceAndFire'' [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Queen Cersei Baratheon]] and [[WebComic/GirlGenius Agatha Heterodyne]] do this to each other in an attempt at masking civility, that only fools King Robert. While both their hands end up painfully white, Cersei ends worse, having to keep her hand in cold water, while Agatha is merely annoyed by the bleeding left by Cersei's nails.

* In a slight variation, in ''FanFic/ASparkOfIceAndFire'' [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Queen Cersei Baratheon]] and [[WebComic/GirlGenius Agatha Heterodyne]] do this to each other in an attempt at masking civility, that only fools King Robert. While both their hands end up painfully white, Cersei ends worse, having to keep her hand in cold water, while Agatha is merely annoyed by the marks left by Cersei's nails.

Two people, often two men, shake hands. One of the men grips harder than the other one, and the other guy might start wincing or showing signs of clear discomfort. The guy delivering the Crushing Handshake might grin about it, having shown off his superior strength or "manliness". This could be done to show off just that, or as a hint that the other guy doesn't like you, or wants to intimidate you--for instance, if he's a rival for a love interest. Or it could be that he DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength. When both parties attempt to do this, the results can be embarrassing for one or both, which can be played for laughs.

* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Clark Kent does this (probably accidentally, as he's just had a tense conversation with Bruce Wayne) to Lex Luthor when they first meet. [[spoiler: Luthor knows exactly who he and Bruce are, and is almost certainly trolling them when he delivers the line below.]]

* In ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'', [[TheBigGuy Knuckles]] does this to Robotnik, Agent Stone [[spoiler: and later [[HeelFaceTurn Sonic himself]]]]. Interestingly, it's neither a case of DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength nor Knuckles trying to be intimidating; he's just told by Robotnik that firmly grasping the hand of someone is how you make an alliance on Earth and Knuckles, well... [[LiteralMinded Firmly grasps]] the hand of whoever he agrees to ally with from then on, unaware that most people do ''not'' have hands as sturdy as his.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' in the episode "Sisters" Blackfire gives this to Cyborg crushing his fingers causing him to say "Little girl, big handshake!"

* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''Literature/MonsterBloodII'', bully Conan Barber does this to protagonist Evan Ross three times, and each one is even more painful than the last.
** And in ''Literature/GhostCamp'', upon meeting Uncle Marv at the camp arrival, Alex Altman get this from him. His brother Harry knows that this happened, because he heard a crack as the hands shook and Alex gasp in pain.