History Main / TheSouthpaw

* ASinisterClue: Left-handedness is used as a sign of evil.

* SituationalHandSwitch: A right-handed character becomes restricted in some way, injured or incapacitated, which causes them to not be able to use their right hand. They now have to learn how to use their left hand.

!!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1416886207091969600 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

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* SituationalHandSwitch: A right-handed character becomes restricted in some way, injured or incapacitated, which causes them to not be able to use their right hand. They now have to learn how to use their left hand.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Character sprites in video games are almost always ambidexterous.
* ASinisterClue: Left-handedness used as a sign of evil.

* LeftHandedMirror: A right handed character is mirrored by their left-handed counterpart/twin.
* RightHandedLeftHandedGuns: In FirstPersonShooter games, right/left handed characters are often paired with left/right handed guns.
* SouthpawAdvantage: Left-handed ness gives a character an extra edge in combat/competitions.
* SituationalHandSwitch: A right handed character becomes restricted in some way, injured or incapacitated, which causes them to not be able to use their right hand. They now have to learn how use their left hand.

* TheKillerWasLefthanded: The police focus their investigation on a left-handed person based on a clue.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: A character reveals that they are not left handed but are instead right handed.

->''"Y-you're Link... the left-handed hero!"''
-->-- '''Jago''' in [[Manga/TheLegendOfZelda the manga adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures''

By definition: someone who's left-handed instead of right-handed or ambidextrous.

Traditionally, baseball fields were oriented so that the batter, catcher, and umpire faced east to ensure that the setting sun wasn't in their eyes. As a result, when a pitcher is on the mound facing home plate, his left hand pointed south, so lefty pitchers came to be known as southpaws. The term has since entered general usage to indicate left-handed people. There is a perception that southpaws have a subtle [[http://www.newsweek.com/id/146842 advantage,]] simply because they are more rare -- after all, right-handers are used to right-handers, but less accustomed to dealing with lefties, while a lefty grows up accustomed to both. And it has proven to be TruthInTelevision in quite a few areas besides baseball. For example, a left-handed sword fighter's attacks come from an angle that is difficult to parry for the more common right-handed people. And left-footed soccer players have a similar advantage over right handed goalkeepers, making them ideal for penalty kicks. As a result, in many sports the proportion of left-handed players is significantly higher than in the general population.

An inversion, '''Situational Southpaw''', exists when the character is not normally left-handed, but is forced to become left-handed, either through [[TrainingFromHell forceful education]], [[AnArmAndALeg injury]] or some apparatus that disables the character's right hand or arm ({{Arm Cannon}}s are a popular choice).

In real life, very few people are completely hand-dominant. They might favour different hands for different purposes. Left-handed people have to learn to use their right hands just as well as their left, because so many things are designed for right-handed people - everything from turning screws to opening a door. Over time they become ambidextrous through necessity, and the same could go for a right-handed person if they want to take the advantage in sports (or remove the advantage a lefty might have).

In fiction left-handedness may be mentioned as a defining characteristic for a personality. Being left-handed actually affects a person's entire body, and which hand we feel most comfortable with leading with in our interactions with the world and other people - how we wipe our faces, fold our legs, shake our fists, wave, and even cross our arms. In a lefty it is ''all'' subtly different, which may have inspired the UncannyValley reaction of thinking there is something 'wrong' with left-handed people, since in the past, lefthandedness was sometimes seen as a sign of demonic possession. For when lefthandedness is portrayed negatively see ASinisterClue.

Contrast IAmNotLeftHanded. Compare LeftHandedMirror, RightHandedLeftHandedGuns, SouthpawAdvantage, and HeroicAmbidexterity.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/DiamondNoAce'', as a baseball manga, has many lefties among its ranks. Protagonist Sawamura Eijun and major antagonist Narumiya Mei are the two most important examples. However, oddly, there's no real advantage to being a Southpaw in-series aside from the standard "slight advantage against left-handed batters"; of the strongest pitchers, fully half are right-handed, including [[spoiler:the Ace of the back-to-back National Champion Komadai Fujimaki High, Hongou Masamune]].
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'''s Saitou Hajime. Since all Japanese sword techniques are taught strictly right-handed, the switch could be very useful in the context of kenjutsu.
* ''Manga/BlackCat'''s Train Heartnet was born left-handed and became ambidextrous through training, though his left hand is still slightly faster and more accurate when he uses his gun. Notably, he spends the entire Battle on Clarken Island using his left hand alone, partly to show how [[LetsGetDangerous seriously]] he is taking the job and his opponents.
* Mio Akiyama in ''Manga/KOn'' plays her bass guitar left-handed, and is also shown to use her left hand for writing. She also tends to be fascinated by ''anything'' meant for left-handed use.
* The ability to box left-handed is a rare and (sometimes) major advantage in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo''. The ability to switch between southpaw and a conventional stance at will is even better. Akira Shigeta, the first southpaw opponent that Ippo faces (although it's only in a sparring match) is actually an intentional example. From this training he succeeded in arming himself with a strategical advantage over most boxers and a strong right jab. Also, being a southpaw, his right arm's positioning allowed him to throw powerful counters, even without the rapid reaction speed of other counter-punchers.
* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'': Haruko and, supposedly, Naota's brother are southpaws (a guitar [[ImprobableWeaponUser "player"]] and baseball player respectively), as pointed out in the DVD commentary. Apparently it has something to do with their coolness, according to the director's opinion.
* Inverted with Riffael Raffit of Manga/CountCain -- his right hand was injured badly enough after [[spoiler:his suicide attempt in the hospital]] that he had to learn to use his left. After it heals, he remains left-handed. [[spoiler: When his evil SplitPersonality regains control over his body, it's right-handed -- and when good-Riff starts his SplitPersonalityTakeover, he shoots himself in the right arm to hamstring evil-Riff.]]
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
*** Videl is a lefty: she is seen pitching baseballs and writing with her left hand.
*** Nappa is shown performing a number of blasts with his left hand, which he also uses to deflect Gohan's Masenko. He performs a number of other blasts with his right hand however (in particular, his SignatureMove, the Volcano Explosion, is always performed with his right hand), so he could be ambidextrous.
** [[Anime/DragonBallZBrolyTheLegendarySuperSaiyan Broly]] is very different from regular Super Saiyans, as his Legendary Super Saiyan form is a huge bulk of muscle with no lack of speed. He tends to use most of his attacks with his left hand. Due to him being left handed, his intended final blow on Goku was performed with his left fist and Goku nonchalantly catches it with his right hand.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper's'' BaseballEpisode, Goku is batting on the left-handed side, but this might be due to him not knowing how baseball actually works. His son Gohan used to bat on the same side many years ago when he attended Orange High School who also was rather unfamiliar with that sport.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' has a few left-handed characters, including the titular character. There are two examples that fit this trope.
** Alicia being left-handed is the first evidence for Presea to see Alicia's right-handed clone Fate as a failure.
** [[{{Cyborg}} Ginga]] is not only left-handed, her left hand can even turn into a drill, something that her right-handed younger sister Subaru lacks, giving Ginga an advantage in armory and close-range combat.
** In ''Anime/VividStrike'', Vivio, who is right-handed, switches to southpaw style during her match with Rinne. Rinne is unable to adapt to Vivio's new style and ends up losing the match.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Although [[HeroicAmbidexterity Zoro]] frequently [[DualWielding multi-wields]] his swords, he usually uses his left hand for single-sword techniques and wears his swords on his right hip.
** Shanks also wears his sword on his right hip, indicating that he was left-handed [[AnArmAndALeg before he lost his left arm]].
* ''Anime/ShowByRock'' has Retoree and Yaiba, both of which are left-handed bassists. They are also shown to write with their left.
* ''Manga/YugamiKunNiWaTomodachiGaInai'' has [[LonersAreFreaks loner]] [[TheProtagonist protagonist]] Yugami, the left-handed [[TheAce ace]] of the school's baseball club. He also writes left-handed. Considering the rest of the cast appears to be right-handed, this serves to further accentuate Yugami's eccentricity and isolation.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Kallen Kozuki is left-handed. Her signature [[HumongousMecha Knightmare Frame]], the Guren, is designed with this in mind; since the arm containing the Radiant Wave Surger is ill-suited for anything except for close-range grappling, it was situated so it would be used by the pilot's non-dominant hand.
* Inverted with Barret in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'': he suffered a gunshot wound that made his right arm unusable. It's likely he was right-handed before this wound. However, he might have simply gotten used to using his left by this point, as his gun-arm is now capable of assuming the form of a usable hand.
* Sen Takatsuki from ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' is left-handed, writing with her left hand during her autograph session. This turns out to be [[ASinisterClue significant]] later on.
* Stocking in Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt is shown to be left-handed, in a way making her the LeftHandedMirror to her (opposite in personality) older sister, Panty.
* Graham Aker of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' is also a left-hander, as evident with his AceCustom units.[[labelnote:Clarification]]Not counting the mass-production Union Flag he used when he first encountered the Exia, all of his suits have their primary weapons held by their left hands. As to the dual-wielding [[SuperPrototype Masurao and Susanowo]], the longer blades are always held by the left.[[/labelnote]]
* In ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'', [[TheRival Shiratorizawa High's]] team [[TheAce ace]] Ushijima Wakatoshi is left-handed, which is noted to give a particular advantage to spikes because most blockers orient themselves to a spiker's right. Flashbacks show how when he was young, his school attempted to "correct" his handedness, which his father (another avid volleyball player) insisted on them not doing.
* At the beginning of ''U19'', a student is seen writing with his left hand, prompting the teacher to [[DisproportionateRetribution physically injure it as punishment]], under the idea that a proper citizen must write with his right hand.
* In ''We Never Learn!'', [[GeniusDitz Furuhashi]], who aces every humanities subject at her school, is always shown writing with her left hand, reflecting the popular stereotype of left-handed people being creative geniuses.
* In Episode 2 of ''Anime/LuckyStar'' all four of the main characters are seen writing their tests left-handed. In Episode 3 when talking about similarities between her and her {{Polar Opposite Twin|s}} Tsukaka, Kagami mentions that the two of them are left-handed.
* Zero Two from ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'' is left-handed. This is seen in Episode 18 when she's in the middle of drawing.
* While Kaguya from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has trained herself to use her right hand for everyday tasks, she is naturally left-handed. Her left arm is also far stronger than her right due to it being the one she uses to pull the bowstring when she practices archery.
* ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'': This seems to be invoked by Ogasawara when it comes to playing softball, as she pitches and bats with left, but is using her right hand in everything else. Yet for some reason, she's incredible good in softball.
* ''Manga/AokiDensetsuShoot'': Toshi had trouble playing soccer since he would force himself to play with his right foot rather than with his left. His idol Kubo then discovers that Toshi is left-footed and trains him to strike with his left leg. His powerful left shots made him the new ace striker of Kakegawa, earning him the name "The Miracle Left".
* Izaya Orihara from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''. Despite being portrayed as right-handed in the anime, it is directly stated by Daisuke Sozoro in ''A Standing Ovation With Izaya Orihara'' that he is actually left-handed. This follows the trope that villains usually are depicted as left-handed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} is an inversion. A huge stone hand isn't really useful for doing anything other than punching things, which makes him left-handed out of necessity. Conveniently, Ron Perlman who portrays him in the films is also left-handed.
* {{Subverted}} with [[FallenHero Hector Sinestro]] of ''ComicBook/MonsterAllergy'': he has ''two'' left hands, but he's not left-handed, something that greatly irritates him.
* Antoine D'Coolette from ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', wields his sword in the left hand. His wife Bunnie is a Situational Southpaw. She has a cybernetic arm complete with Arm Cannon on her left arm but not her right, making her punch exclusively like a lefty.
* DC’s Adrian Chase AKA the Vigilante is shown exclusively operating any weapon he used with his left hand and his revolver is consistently holstered on the left side of his belt.
* ComicBook/{{Sinestro}}, [[PunnyName obviously]]. It first started appearing when Geoff Johns revived the character for his [[ComicBook/GreenLanternRebirth epic run on the title]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'''s Hiccup is noticeably left-handed, possibly to emphasize his role as a misfit. This is carried over from the [[Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon original books]], where his handedness becomes a plot point.
* Anika Noni Rose requested that Tiana from ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' be left handed like her. In many scenes (pouring coffee, stirring something, writing her name in a dream sequence)she uses her left hand but minces with her right hand (well, flipper as she's a frog at this point). Maybe she's ambidextrous.
* Disney/{{Mulan}} writes left-handed, but uses a sword right-handed.
* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Elsa shows a preference for ice shooting left-handed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Actor Chris Tucker is left handed, as one can tell from the fact that his character James Carter wields his guns left handed in the ''Film/RushHour'' movies. He also wears a custom-made galco shoulder holder designed for a left-handed draw.
* Actor Creator/BruceWillis is left handed, thus so is John [=McClane=], the main character in the ''Film/DieHard'' franchise. However, in the movie ''Film/SinCity'', Willis wielded his gun right handed to accurately depict the character of John Hartigan, who was right handed in the original comic books. And in ''Film/TheSixthSense'' he writes right-handed, because a close-up of his left hand would [[spoiler: have shown he isn't wearing his wedding ring and thus given away a clue to the audience that he's dead.]]
* Zigzagged with ''Film/{{Rocky}}''; he was a left-handed boxer, which led (in his backstory) to opponents refusing to face him out of fear that it would mess with their mechanics. He defeats the world champion by learning to fight righty for most of the fight, and then switch to his natural stance and go for the KO.
* In ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', Ofélia is left-handed, which earns the ire of her new stepfather Captain Vidal when she tries to use it to shake his hand.
* Inverted in ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': both the Man in Black and Inigo Montoya fight left-handed in their duel as a way of handicapping themselves to give their opponent more of a fight. Eventually they both [[IAmNotLeftHanded drop the act]] and fight better with their right hand.
* Inverted in the original ''Franchise/EvilDead'' films, in which Ash actually ''loses'' his right hand. Of course, Creator/SamRaimi probably decided that Ash should lose his right and not his left hand because Creator/BruceCampbell in RealLife is left-handed.
* Due to their actor being left-handed, both Alan Bradley and his Program Film/{{Tron}} are left-handed. This seems to make Tron unique among Programs, as no other Programs appear to share that trait. [[note]] The ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'' animators sometimes forgot this, but Beck being right-handed was one of the ''many'' giveaways that he wasn't the genuine article [[/note]]
* From ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', a bounty hunter who lost his right arm to Tuco at the beginning of the film learns to shoot with his left, which, after catching up to Tuco, he squanders by bragging about it instead of just killing him.
* In ''Film/{{Looper}}'' Bruce Willis (Old Joe) is mostly left handed, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Young Joe) is mostly right handed. The filmmakers offer no explanation of the apparent change in handedness that happens over the intervening 30 years.
* This is avoided in ''Film/StandByMe'', where Creator/WilWheaton and Creator/RichardDreyfuss, who plays the adult version of Wheaton's character, look nothing alike, but both are left-handed.
* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'': Ethan Hunt, like most other Creator/TomCruise characters, is left-handed but fires weapons with his right hand. [[Creator/JeremyRenner William Brandt]] is left-handed both in general and with firearms.
* Jack Harper in ''Film/Oblivion2013'' is Cruise's only character to fire a rifle left-handed.
* The Avengers have a high proportion of lefties, with Black Widow and Hawkeye both played by left-handed actors. And of course ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' was written and directed by famous southpaw Joss Whedon.
* Left-handed director James Cameron played with handedness in his film ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. On the moon Pandora the the native Na'vi are (mostly?) left-handed. The Na'vi extras and stunt players had to act left-handed on the motion capture stage. The leading Na'vi characters are played by right-haded actors, but handle their weapons lefty. The Na'vi avatars of the human characters are right-handed, like their human selves, and like the actors who play them.
* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', there is George [=McFly=]'s famous [[TookALevelInBadass badassery level up]] scene where he decks his lifelong BarbaricBully tormentor Biff Tannen with a single left jab to protect the girl he loves. In an early draft of the script, [[{{Foreshadowing}} there was a scene where George discovers that his left arm is for some reason much stronger than his right]].
* In ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'', Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) is left-handed, but has to learn writing with his right to impersonate Jerome Morrow (Jude Law). [[spoiler: At the end of the film, it turns out that the doctor who runs the genetic tests at the space center, knew all along that Vincent has faked his identity. He tells him that a right-handed man doesn't hold his penis with his left hand while giving urine samples.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Arya Stark. When her dominant hand is revealed to her fencing master, he reacts favorably because fighting left-handed will reverse her stance and movements, which will help confuse her opponents. Of course, her left-handedness might also be ASinisterClue about her future.
** Qhorin Halfhand and Jaime Lannister are both inversions; both lost their right hands (Qhorin lost several fingers, Jaime the entire hand) and were forced to learn to fight left-handed. Jaime's struggles to regain his swordsmanship post-amputation take on the flavor of TrainingFromHell.
* Downplayed in Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/TalesOfTheFox'' series: the main character is left-handed, and he remarks that it makes it easier to get around enemy shields for a couple of reasons.
* Inverted in the ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' novels: Rudi Mackenzie's right arm is wounded and has to learn to use his left arm as his sword arm. When practicing with youths in the Free Republic of Richland they complain that he has an unfair advantage as a southpaw. His mentor responds "Yah hey, if someone attacks you using different moves, or if they're a leftie you're just going to say you're taking your bat and ball and going home 'cause it ain't fair? Christ, Weiss, I've known you were a dumb little punk for years, but do you have to show it off in front of strangers?"
* Inverted in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': [[HandicappedBadass Maedhros]] learns to wield his sword with his left hand after a LifeOrLimbDecision. He becomes even more deadly afterwards (though this is probably for psychological reasons more than anything physical.)
* Dhugal in the ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' novels is noted as left-handed, including fighting left-handed. The narration in the archery yard scene in ''The King's Justice'' recounts the late King Brion's preference for his pages and squires to train right-handed (which Dhugal missed by spending much of his training years at home in Transha). Brion was grudgingly persuaded by Alaric Morgan that fighters should know how to switch off in case of injury (so as not to be left defenseless), but even a couple of years after Brion's death, Dhugal stands out as the only left-handed fighter. Dhugal will have reason to appreciate Morgan's logic in ''The Quest for Saint Camber'' when he breaks his left arm [[spoiler: when he's swept away in a rainy landslide]].
* Alanna from the Literature/TortallUniverse deliberately practices at using her sword left-handed after her right arm is injured during training to become a knight. She keeps up the ambidextrous sword usage even after she's healed, which becomes a ChekhovsSkill in a duel against the BigBad.
* Orm, the main character from ''Literature/TheLongShips'', is left-handed as a result of rowing a starboard oar on a slave galley for five years (though it is mentioned that he still prefers to throw javelins with his right). It is commented upon when he duels, that this makes shieldwork more difficult both for him and the right-handed man he's fighting.
* ''Literature/MarginPlay'': The protagonist, Amber Eckert, is a lefty, although that fact is never specifically mentioned. There are plenty of clues though, starting in the very first chapter when she carries a rolled-up newspaper in her left hand as she approaches an AngryGuardDog. It becomes rather important late in the book.
* Inverted in ''Literature/TheDarkTower'': Due to an unfortunate encounter with "lobstrosities" in ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree,'' Roland Deschain loses three fingers of his right hand. From that point forward he's strictly a left-handed shooter. The remaining members of his ''ka-tet'' inherit the use of his right-hand gun.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheSwornBrothers'': Thormod, a lefthander and "not a strong man", is able to kill the great warrior Thorgrim Troll with an axe borne in his left hand, and afterwards makes a poem about the deed which specifically mentions it was done left-handed. This suggests Thormod credits success to his left-handedness, because Thorgrim did not expect an attack from a man carrying a weapon in his left hand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Liz Lemon in ''Series/ThirtyRock'' is left handed.
* Baby Bear on "Series/SesameStreet" would appear to be left-handed.
** Most, if not all, of the Muppets are left-handed, as their operators are usually right-handed and use that hand to work the mouth.
* Inverted in ''Series/DharmaAndGreg'' -- Greg's father trained his naturally right-handed son to switch so he'd have an advantage in baseball. When Greg points this can actually be psychologically unhealthy to do to a child, his father seems a little sheepish: "Sorry, son... won't do it again."
* Actor Bruce Campbell of ''Series/BurnNotice'' fame is a lefty.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** As in the books, Arya is a left-handed swordsman. For the record, Maisie Williams is right-handed.
** Jaime is a ''situational'' variation, out of necessity after he loses his dominant (right) hand.
** The third Mountain, Creator/HafthorJuliusBjornsson, is left-handed. Also overlaps with ASinisterClue. This changes for some reason from Season 6 onward, as the Mountain has a sword on his left hip and is later seen drawing his sword with his right hand.
* In one of their sketches, ''Series/HorribleHistories'' outlined some of the the grief that soldiers in the RealLife Georgian-era British Army had to face. One of them was that left-handers were forced to fire their muskets right-handed, since that was the only way to make sure the flash would not blow up in their eyes.
* The cooking competition ''Series/CutthroatKitchen'' occasionally implements situational southpaw sabotages, thereby forcing a chef to rely heavily--if not entirely--on his/her weaker hand.[[note]]There's no discrimination here; they impair both left- and right-hand-dominant chefs.[[/note]] These handicaps involve the following:
** Greatly reduced finger mobility on the dominant hand, either as the result of having to wear bulky oven mitt or having the hand taped closed.
** The total inability for chefs to use their dominant hand, thereby forcing them to use the weaker hand unaided.
** A "Black and White" table which, unlike the hand-swap handicaps, requires the its user to perform the same action with both the left hand and right hand at the same time.
* From the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe:
** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "A Fistful of Datas", Data is seen writing a letter with his left hand, matching his actor Creator/BrentSpiner.
** During the last season of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Ezri Dax is left-handed, so [[TheNthDoctor in her disorientation as the new host of the Dax symbiote]], she initially thought she was right-handed like her predecessor Jadzia. The BaseballEpisode, "Take Me Out to the Holosuite", reveals that Rom and Worf are left-handed too. Max Grodenchik (Rom) is right-handed in real life, however, he played baseball left-handed in the episode. The reason is that Grodenchik is a talented baseball player, and could only play Rom's clumsiness believably if he switched hands.
* GameShow personalities [[Series/MatchGame Brett Somers]], [[Series/{{Tattletales}} Burt]] [[Series/WinLoseOrDraw Convy]], [[Series/{{Gambit}} Wink]] [[Series/TicTacDough Martindale]], and [[Series/WinBenSteinsMoney Sal Iacono]] are all left-handed writers.
* Joe from ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' draws the clues with his left hand.
* Both Ann Perkins and Mark Brendanawicz from ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.
* Hotch in ''Series/CriminalMinds'' writes left-handed but shoots right-handed (except when very occasionally wielding a shotgun), so it's likely that he's a natural lefty who has taught himself to do various things right-handed for the sake of practicality.
* Balki from ''Series/PerfectStrangers'' is noticeably left-handed. Bronson Pinchot, who is right-handed, decided to make Balki left-handed because he notes, “I figured he was such a right-brained kind of guy.”
** This was convincing enough that it apparently led many people to believe that Pinchot is actually left-handed.
* ''Series/TooCloseForComfort'': When she's at her graphic table, Jacqueline Rush draws with her left hand (in line with her portrayer, left-handed Deborah van Valkenburgh).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Left-handed guitarists have been a staple of music since the dawn of string instruments. We have [[Music/BlackSabbath Tony Iommi]], Music/PaulMcCartney, Music/JimiHendrix, Sylvia Tyson, Music/BillyRayCyrus and Music/KurtCobain, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_who_play_left-handed for starters]]. Hendrix and Cobain, however, played left-handed but could write with the right.
* There are also left-handed drummers, but most people don't pay enough attention to them to notice. The list includes Music/RingoStarr, Music/PhilCollins, [[Music/BeachBoys Dennis Wilson]] and [[Music/ThePolice Stewart Copeland]].
* Mark Knopfler of Music/DireStraits is an example of a Situational Southpaw. He's naturally left-handed (he can be seen writing left-handed in the video for "Private Investigations") but plays guitar right-handed. His first instrument was the violin, which MUST be played right-handed so all the members of the string section in an orchestra have their arms moving in the same direction and don't elbow each other.
* As a possible nod to Hendrix, the title character from Music/DavidBowie's ''[[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars Ziggy Stardust]]'' album is mentioned as being left handed. (''He played it left hand / but made it too far...'')
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* Probably the UrExample, Ehud Ben-Gera in the ''Literature/TheBible'' is left-handed. This becomes important when guards search for weapons only on his left thigh (where a right-handed person might conceal one), and this allows him to assassinate the king of Moab with the sword concealed on his right thigh.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/{{Carlito| Colon}}'s RedBaron in Wrestling/{{WWE}} was "The Southpaw from San Juan", given by Wrestling/JimRoss, who tends to shout "Right hands!" when matches degenerate into brawls and noticed there was one guy it did not apply to.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Angelo from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' is a lefty. This also gives him a [[LeftHandedMirror left-handed mirror]] with his half-brother Marcello as well.
* Kain and Palom from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' are left handed. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears The sequel]] reveals Golbez is as well.
* James Anderson in ''VideoGame/{{Outlaws}}'' is left handed. The game is a rare example of a FirstPersonShooter that features a left handed main character.
* Sol Badguy in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' wields his sword left-handed, in ReverseGrip no less. Naturally, he regularly defeats his right-handed [[TheRival rival]] Ky Kiske whenever they go at it. The same applies to Ragna the Bloodedge, the protagonist of Guilty Gear's SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', right down to the reverse grip.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' has Nero in the fourth game, who is a lefty. Though, that most likely has more to do with the fact that his right hand is a demonic claw, so he's probably a situational southpaw. Probably. The new Dante of the AlternativeContinuity is ambidextrous but prefers his left hand. Contrasting classic Dante who was good with both hands, but generally preferred his right hand for Devil Arms and his left for guns.
* Downplayed with Luke fon Fabre in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss''. It isn't a major plot point, but it does make for a touching moment at the end of the game, where CoolOldGuy[=/=]ColonelBadass Jade offers his own left hand for Luke to shake, despite being right-handed himself, out of respect for the [[CharacterDevelopment personal growth]] Luke experiences throughout the game. It's also because, in Japan, shaking ones left hand is considered to be a greater sign of trust since that's the one you hold your shield in. Jade is not only recognising Luke's development, but also indicating that he trusts Luke enough to let his guard down in front of him. [[spoiler:Luke is [[LeftHandedMirror "mirrored"]] from Asch due to being his replica--his hair sweeps in the opposite direction from Asch's, too, so it's only natural that they have opposite dominant hands.]] [[spoiler: Asch]] is left handed as well, he just trained himself to use his right hand for everything including eating, writing, and sword play because it let him interact with the world better and gives him the advantage of being ambidextrous.
* Dunban in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' is a situational example; he lost the use of his right arm. But still being right-handed or no he kicks ass.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Link is left-handed in every game without motion controls,[[note]]excepting cases of AmbidextrousSprite, designers thought it made more sense to have Link's sword appear to be on the right-hand side, but 2D ''Zelda'' titles employ the ThreeQuartersView, where the left-right axes are flipped (Link's left is our right and vice versa); non-motion-controlled 3D Link kept the same handedness preference as a ContinuityNod[[/note]] with the exception of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''. Though WordOfGod says he's [[HeroicAmbidexterity ambidextrous]].
** [[{{Yandere}} Cia]] from the SpinOff ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' does this as well.
* Raphael from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' is a left-handed fencer, so that his face and chest can face the screen like the rest of the (right-handed) cast when picked as player one's character. Then again, as the games progress this ventures into ASinisterClue territory...
* [[spoiler: Knight Artorias]] from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' is implied to be one by the description of his greatsword in [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsII the sequel]],[[note]]and the fact that you gain some of his moveset when the sword is equipped in ''your'' left hand[[/note]] despite fighting you with his right hand when you encounter him. This is because [[spoiler: his left arm was [[DramaPreservingHandicap mangled and rendered limp]] while protecting Sif from the Abyss.]]
** The Iron Golem that [[spoiler: guards the way to Anor Londo from Sen's Fortress]] holds a large one handed axe in its left hand.
** In ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'', it's possible for the Bearer of the Curse to be this as well.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' has left-handed Sheva, making her the first playable RE character to be left handed. This mechanic was introduced to mirror Chris' right handed aim.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros 4'' casts VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}} as a lefty, due to his AmbidextrousSprite in his source series shooting with his far arm -- which, in a left-to-right platform game, was usually his left. Granted, ''Smash Bros. 4'' also uses Ambidextrous Sprites, but in his Final Smash sequence, he summons protagonists from four other ''Mega Man'' series for a joint attack, and of them, only [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork MegaMan.EXE]] [[ShownTheirWork shoots with his right arm]].
* In ''VideoGame/MarioGolf'', any character can be lefty by pressing the L button on the character select screen. This is useful if a character has a fade or draw and you want their shots to curve the other way.
* FightingGame characters (particularly in 2D games) who fight with their back to the screen can be implied to be fighting southpaw, as typically characters will lead with the hand that correlates to the side of the screen they're on (so on player 1's side, the character will lead with their left hand and player 2 with their right, as long as they face the screen). Examples include Lin from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters 2000'' and Tusk from ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct 2''.
* The Space Marine from ''Videogame/{{Doom}}'' uses his left hand for pistols and punching. That said, he uses two-handed guns like a righty would.
* In ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', Soda Popinski is a lefty, making him a bit harder to read than the other opponents.
* In ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'', LadyOfWar Orie wields her sword with her left hand, and so does Yuzuriha, the local IaijutsuPractitioner, holding the sheath of her sword with her right hand, and drawing with het left hand.
* In ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', Mai Kawasumi, another IaijutsuPractitioner, is a lefty: she holds the sheath of her sword with her right hand, so she can use her left hand to draw.
* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'': Ned and Jed, identical twins whose only differ lies in their handedness preference. In order to bypass Nurse Edna, who is guarding the video feed in the present, Hoagie (stuck 200 years in the past) has to switch the two twins while they are making a statue so that said statue flips in the present day, allowing Bernard to push Edna down the stairs without her being able to rely on the statue to right herself.
* In ''Videogame/MechWarrior'', the non-symmetrical HumongousMecha are typically 'right handed', wielding most of their firepower in their right arm and right torso; this effects everything from seeking cover to convergence when attacking enemies. A small handful of mechs are left-biased, like the ''Thanatos'' which carries a BFG in the left hand and a smaller missile rack on the right. Great for sneaking up on enemies from unexpected angles, but terrible when corner-humping with right-handed allies who only need to expose their right side to attack. The handedness of mechs even affects how they are rated on various CharacterTiers-ranking websites like [=MetaMechs=].
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Kadabra is usually shown holding a spoon in its right hand, however, the sprites in ''Yellow'' and ''Silver'' show the spoon in its left hand instead.
** Hypno is often shown holding its pendulum in its left hand. Only its ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndGreen'' sprite shows it holding its pendulum in its right hand.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** Shadow. When it came to [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog his own game]] it became much more obvious, with him holding his pistol in his left hand. Throughout the game he wields blades and guns left-handed. In video-game media he leads with his left hand - such as pointing, punching, crossing his arms and reaching out.
** Espio is often seen posing and leading left-handed, and uses both hands for his shruiken and kunai - usually making his first strike with his left hand. It makes sense that a skilled warrior would learn to use both hands equally. And he's a Ninja.
** While Silver is never shown handling weapons, in a lot of official artwork he leads with his left side, such as outstretching his left palm for his powers, major gestures, and reaching out to people, suggesting he too is left-handed.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** In the backstory, the ancient Yokudans (ancestors of the Redguards) fought a devastating war with the [[MeaningfulName Sinistral]] Mer, also known as the Left-Handed Elves, whose entire race was said to be left-handed. The war left the Sinistral Mer extinct.
** Due to the addition of DualWielding for the first time in the series, it's possible to play ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' as a left handed fighter by always equipping one-handed weapons/spells to your left hand. Unfortunately, shields can only be equipped to your left hand, so you won't be able to use one if you're going full lefty.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** Alm in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'' shows a preference for his left hand when using swords, but appears to [[BowAndSwordInAccord wield bows right-handed]] when he gains access to them after promotion.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', the myrmidon Marisa is noticed by the dancer Tethys to have a preference to wield her sword with her left hand. Similarly, the support conversations between Garcia and Giliam has the former notice that the latter was left-handed, and used his off hand when the two had a friendly arm-wrestling contest with each other.
* All hunters in the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' games who use the Sword & Shield, the Lance and the Gunlance hold the weapon in their left hand and the shield in the right. This is explained by the game developers as a conscious choice the hunters, as they train to use their stronger arm for blocking attacks from the massive creatures they fight. They also always use the carving knife with their left hand. Every other weapon however is wielded ambidextrously or in the right hand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Haruka of ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' is left-handed. It comes up while they're setting her up for the baseball team and they briefly discuss the way she has a small advantage because of it. [[spoiler:It wasn't so advantageous when her BigScrewedUpFamily assumed left-handedness was a sign of weakness and beat her for it, though.]]
* ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'': At one point, Yuichi and Ayu bump into each other because the former tells the latter to jump at the side where she holds her chopsticks. Due to her being left-handed, their crash cannot be avoided.
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** All of Phoenix Wright's animations in court use his left hand, be if for pointing, rubbing his chin, or touching the back of his head, though this is a matter of needing to keep him facing the camera when performing various actions (this can be demonstrated when he's serving as [[spoiler:co-counsel during the first case of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', where he uses his right hand to point in order to keep his body oriented towards the camera in his current position]]).
** In case 1 of the second game, the victim, Dustin Prince, was a lefty, which becomes a plot point when it is pointed out that, even though he appears to have wrote the name of the killer in the sand, he used his right instead of his left.
** Comes up in case 3 of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' where the guilty party is left-handed and is relevant to the case.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Two of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'''s main protagonists, Ruby and Weiss, are left-handed because [[Creator/MontyOum the creator of the show]] was [[https://twitter.com/montyoum/status/304948427790360577 left-handed]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Webcomic/KarateBears have a [[http://www.karatebears.com/2011/12/southpaw.html hell of a left hook.]]
* Lukas from ''Webcomic/DNATheWebcomic'' is left-handed.
* In the ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' webcomic lefthanders [[http://www.kevinandkell.com/2007/kk0328.html massively]] [[http://www.kevinandkell.com/2007/kk0721.html outnumber]] [[http://www.kevinandkell.com/2007/kk0916.html right handers.]] Possibly something to do with it being an AlternateUniverse Earth where an inversion of statistics are the least of their differences.
** Though it probably has more to do with Bill Holbrook [[http://comicskingdom.com/blog/2015/08/12/ask-a-cartoonist-left-handers-day-take-2-1 being himself a lefty.]] (Fifth from top.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Literature/TheTimTebowCFLChronicles'', it's a RunningGag that no one in Canada has ever seen a left-hander before. Tim Tebow's a lefty, and frequently has to deal with other people's overblown amazement at him performing basic tasks with "the wrong hand".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Downplayed with Doug, in Nickelodeon's ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''. It was only occasionally a plot point, such as when his friends couldn't figure out why he was such a poor beet-ball player until they realized they had been trying to make him bat right-handed. It shows up again in another episode where his much-beloved journal goes missing. No one can read it, partly because of his poor handwriting, but also because as a lefty, he drags his hand through everything he writes, leaving it a smudged mess.
-->'''Roger:''' If I were you, I'd learn how to type and fast!
* WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants is said to be left-handed in several episodes (in Neptune's Spatula he had two left hands) and in several others he says he's ambidextrous, but he can be seen using his left hand more often than not.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart Simpson is left-handed, as he is based on the show's creator Matt Groening. Marge Simpson and Ned Flanders share this trait, among others--Marge was afraid of being seen as weird for being left-handed, so she taught herself to use her right hand instead, but eventually admitted that she's been better with her left hand.
* Finn the Human and Marceline the Vampire Queen from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', too.
* Tina of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' is the only left-handed person in her family.
* WordOfGod says Phineas from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' is left-handed. He appears to be ambidextrous, as he can write and play various instruments with both hands. However, he does seem to lead more with his left hand than his right, as he plays a left-handed drum set, uses left-handed tools, and bats left-handed in baseball.
** This is actually lampshaded visually in "Don't Even Blink"; during "Watchin' and Waitin'" he switches from playing the guitar right-handed to left-handed and back repeatedly throughout the song.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', Chuckie Finster at first was like the other members of the Rugrats gang until one episode established that he was becoming left-handed. And he continued on as this through WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp, though at the time, it's not so much of a plot point anymore.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Ponies are mostly ambidextrous, but Fluttershy in particular often seems to favor her left hoof and wing when performing complex tasks. Her human self from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' universe confirms this by nature of actually having hands.
** [[http://persona22.deviantart.com/art/Trixe-the-Left-Hoofed-Unicorn-466023778 Trixie is lefty as well]]: she tends to favor her left hoof when gesturing, and her human counterpart in the ''Equestria Girls'' movies is explicitly left-handed.
** To contrast with pony Twilight Sparkle who writes with her right hand when turned into a human, the human Twilight Sparkle writes with her left hand.
* It's subtle, but in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'', Zachary is often drawn as using his blaster left-handed. It's quite prominent in "Trouble at Texton" where he's shown having to switch his blaster to his left hand to fire. Unfortunately for him, his left side is the one that had to be completely rebuilt with cyberware.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Francine kicks out Steve's new female friend and study partner. Thinking it was because she was black, Steve and Hayley later find out that their mother has a hatred of left-handed people, and that's why she kicked her out. It turns out that Francine was actually born a lefty, and was beaten by her SternNun teacher as a child because of it, and become right-handed as a result, and convinced that left-handed people were evil. After she gets over it, she embraces her left handedness, even though she can no longer write properly with it.
* If you pay close enough attention, you’ll see that Lin from '' WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' prefers to use her left hand and is the only main member of the cast to do so. Her niece, Opal, favors her left hand and so did the first Avatar, [[PunnyName Wan]] in his WholeEpisodeFlashback.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'' episode "To Mar a Stall," Fillmore notices the graffiti in the restroom stalls is written from right to left--that is, each letter is overlapped by the letter to its right. Because it was written using a permanent marker, Fillmore figures the vandal must be left-handed, as a lefty would write in this way to avoid smearing the graffiti and getting ink on their own hands. Sure enough, the culprit was [[spoiler:the class president presenting the grand opening of the new restrooms--the school newspaper's photo depicts her holding the scissors used to cut the ribbon at the ceremony with her left hand.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. The titular character's mother, [[PosthumousCharacter Rose Quartz]], was apparently left-handed, as all portrayals of her back when she was led the [[GreatOffscreenWar Gem Rebellion]] and her subsequent adventures had her wield her sword in her left hand and her shield in her right. The only exception being Garnet's account of [[spoiler: Pink Diamond's assassination]], where Rose held her sword in her right and wasn't using her shield, which was one of the clues that there was [[TheKillerWasLeftHanded something amiss about that event.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Kaeloo, the protagonist, is left-handed, and the other three main characters are right handed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The British Royal Family have a famously high precedence of left-handedness, but some members were reportedly forced from an early age to present as right-handed in public due to the archaic association of left-handedness with evilness or sin. Amongst those forced to change were Queen Victoria and George VI, with many citing it as a contributing factor to the latter's famous nervousness and stutter.
* For similar reasons to baseball, left-handed cricketers are very useful both with the bat and with the ball: for example, it is generally a good idea for a batting partnership to consist of a right-hander and a left-hander, to put bowlers off their line and tire the fielders when the batsmen cross.
** Australian bowler Bill O'Reilly (no, not [[Creator/BillOReilly that one]]) hated bowling to left-handers and said they should be drowned at birth. A leg spinner is essentially an off spinner against a left-handed batsman, as the ball spins towards them instead of away.
* Racket sports, and tennis in particular, often have an advantage attributed to left-handed players. A good tactic in rallies is to hit to the opponent's backhand as it is (usually) weaker than the forehand. Of course, a left hander's backhand side is the opposite to a right hander's. Add this to the fact that rallies usually involve more cross court shots than down-the-line, and you can easily end up stuck in a situation where you are playing from the backhand straight into the opponent's forehand every time. Plus, when receiving serve the spin of a left hander's serve goes in the opposite direction to a right hander's, often making for some unpredictable and hard to return serves.
* Averted in golf, though. Since golf is (if you'll excuse the terms) PlayerVersusEnvironment rather than PlayerVersusPlayer, and the slopes of most golf courses are designed for right-handers, there are relatively few left-handed golfers at the highest level (although Phil Mickelson and Mike Weir are two relatively recent left-handed major winners).
* Left-handed auto racers in left-hand-drive cars benefit greatly from keeping their dominant hand on the wheel while shifting gears. Averted by the more modern UsefulNotes/FormulaOne steering-wheel controls which use the left hand to shift down and the right hand to shift up without ever letting go of the wheel.
** Left-handed drivers in right-hand-drive cars can shift gears effectively if learned correctly. Since the steering wheel and the driver seat are on the right side, and the DrivingStick (or any other type of transmissions) is on the left side of the driver's seat, it requires a left hand to shift the gears, thus southpaw drivers could learn it more effectively compared to righties.
* In late antiquity/early medieval warfare, a common trick (the Saxons and maybe the Normans made good use of this) was to fight as though left handed, thus minimizing the enemies' shields and throwing them off.
* Left-handed bowlers can be seen as having a significant advantage over right-handed bowlers. Since most bowlers bowl right-handed, they're all throwing their ball along roughly the same path as each other, which can throw off the oil pattern significantly. Left-handed bowlers generally have fresh oil, since few people bowl along the left side of the lane, and are thus able to get a much more consistent shot. Having a fresh oil track on the lane is a very good thing, as it allows the ball to travel faster, and with more spin, meaning that the pins can be stuck harder, and allowing for greater control of the curve, which is essential in getting a strike, since the best way to get a strike is to hit the pins behind the first pin, with the ball curving slightly to the center of the cluster, so that the pins hit each other in a mushrooming pattern.
* One defense used in medieval castles was to make spiral staircases twist clockwise as they went up so that a right handed defender's body was shielded by the center wall. This made left handed troops a valuable resource when trying to storm such castles. In fact, two Scottish castles (Eilean Donan and Ferniherst) have anti-clockwise staircases for the advantage of left-handed defenders.
* Swordplay. In general you are encouraged to fight from your good side for the obvious advantages in free fights (but also because it is a pain to fight from your weak side -- or to re-train your good side when you started learning on the wrong side). Once you get used to how to attack a right handed opponent on his left (vulnerable) shoulder when your opening position has the sword on your left shoulder it is no big deal anymore. (However most lefties also learn to do at least the basic moves also from the right side. Which is of high advantage when your opponent finally got used to you being a leftie and adjusts his attacks so you can attack him from the right. The other main advantage in general is that due to most people being right-handed, both lefties and righties primarily train to fight against righties. Matt Easton of WebVideo/ScholaGladiatoria, who is right handed, actually turns this to his advantage in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8XIDdPRx04 this video]]. This trope also applies to fencing; lefties are MUCH harder to hit if you're used to fighting righties due to the fact that you have to hit the opposite side of their body. In [[DuelingScar academic fencing]], normally only one side of the face is a legal hit zone. In the rare cases of left-right matchups, both sides are exposed which greatly increases the risk of getting hit for the right-handed fencer, since he is often not trained against southpaws.
* There exists a beer company in Colorado named [[http://www.lefthandbrewing.com "Left Hand."]] They produce sinister brews.
* The [[SemperFi United States Marines]] have found that shooting a bolt action rifle southpaw allows a sniper to shoot slightly faster; because most people are right-handed, the bolts on sniper rifles such as the Marines' M40 series is on the right, meaning that a right-handed shooter would have to remove his hand from the grip and trigger, work the bolt, and return to firing position. A left-handed shooter can keep his eye on target and his left hand by the trigger and work the bolt with his right hand (especially since for long-range shooting, you're not going to be supporting the rifle with just your off-hand); as the firing hand does not leave the trigger, the interval between firing is reduced.
* TiedUpOnThePhone: One of the inevitable results of old-style telephone receivers, where the handset was permanently attached to the receiver by a coiled cord, was how quickly the connecting cord ceased to be a neatly organized smooth coil. It would inevitably tangle, snag, knot, loop back on itself, and tended to somehow double over on itself, until the connecting wire between handset and receiver was effectively half its original length. Anyone picking up the handset to such a phone would drag the whole thing up off its table and find it swinging in the air. Left-handed users soon found that the arrangement favoured right-handed people -- both in the direction of coiling, and in the way the headset was meant to be returned to its rest with the connecting wire on the right-hand side. Any old-style phone regularly used by left-handed people would unravel its coils twice as fast (the natural tendency being for a left-hander to return the handset to the rest with the coil-connected end on the ''left''). Any household with both left and right handed people would discover their shared phone suffered from Garden Hose Syndrome -- it became an utter tangled mess very quickly.
* Women’s fastpitch softball has a high percentage of lefty hitters. They do something known as slapping where they walk through the batter’s box so they can be closer to first base once the bat makes contact with the ball. It’s pretty much exclusively used by fast players rather than power hitters. The emphasis is on making contact and running them out. There are some baseball players that do a modified version of it but the longer distances between the bases makes it nigh impossible to do it like in softball.
* UsefulNotes/{{NHL}}:
** A large number of players learn to shoot left-handed even if they aren't natural lefties. If they find themselves in a situation sprinting or otherwise only holding their stick with one hand, it ends up being in their dominant right giving them more control. More importantly though, is shooting angles. Generally left-handed shooters will play the left wing and righties will play the right wing although it's not a hard rule and sometimes a coach will flip them depending on how he wants a play set up. It's also just a good idea to be able to handle both directions since sticks frequently break in the middle of play. If that happens your option is skate to the bench and grab one from a teammate so you can get back in quickly and it's not always going to face the way yours normally does.
** Most goalies catch with their left hand and hold their stick in their right, but some do the opposite, and the opposing team generally has to use a different scoring strategy against them because the types of shot a left-winger might normally take on the blocker side won't be as effective if the goalie has his glove on that side (and vice versa).
* For soldiers, law enforcement, and other such lines of work, being able to shoot using either hand adds versatility to the positions one can fire from. If exposing the smallest portion of your body to return fire requires switching hands to take better advantage of available cover, then so be it. And if injury or other circumstances make it difficult to favor one's dominant hand, being able to continue fighting while relying on the offhand can come in handy.
** The ability to fire a gun in the opposite hand has become easier and easier in more modern times, as more firearms are designed to at least acknowledge that left-handed people exist. Usually with a non-bullpup long gun, the ejection port is already far enough towards the front of the gun's body that you're not going to be hitting yourself with hot brass; at that point, all you really need to add to accommodate a left-handed shooter is a second safety/selector switch on the right side of the gun for them to operate with their dominant thumb. Bullpups require outright modification to switch between right-handers and left-handers - with very rare exceptions like the forward-ejecting FN F2000 or Kel-Tec RFB, trying to fire one from the wrong side ''will'' eject brass directly into your face - but even as far back as TheSeventies, with guns like the Steyr AUG, this has typically been as simple as replacing the bolt with a flipped version (helpfully supplied with the rifle) and moving a small piece from the left to the right, covering the right-side ejection port and opening up a left-side one.
** Revolvers, interestingly, more or less went the other way: small one-handed guns like them were originally intended for cavalry roles, where the revolver would be held and fired from the soldier's left hand while the dominant hand held the reins of their horse or a saber. Several famous models were as such designed to be used left-handed, such as the fixed-frame Single Action Army having its loading gate and ejector rod on the right side of the gun (requiring a right-handed shooter to transfer the gun to his left hand to reload). Incidentally, Samuel Colt, who founded the company that made the SAA, was left-handed; it's frequently rumored he made the SAA for lefties out of personal preference, but he actually had nothing to do with the SAA's design, and had been dead for a decade by the time it entered the market.
* Left-handed arm wrestlers have a much easier time against right handed ones due to the fact that "righties" often neglect their southpaw.
* Video game controllers:
** Controllers designed for left-handed people are also rare to nonexistent, as the companies that make such things know that lefties make up no more than 10% of the potential market. This problem is at its worst for advanced controllers such as flight sticks, which has precisely zero left-handed throttles, and only a handful of ambidextrous sticks.
** The Wii remote and nunchuck avert this problem, as both are symmetrical. However, some games that rely on advanced gyroscope controls, such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'',[[note]]Link was canonically left-handed in the earlier games[[/note]] have this problem as the software expects the nunchuck on the left and remote on the right.
** Also averted by the UsefulNotes/AtariLynx. Unlike all other handheld game systems, the Lynx could be rotated for either left or right-handed use.
** The default setting for a mouse favours the right hand.
* Similar to fencing, left-handed boxers are considered at an advantage as boxers are more accustomed to fighting against opponents who favour their right hand. In boxing posing yourself to jab fast with the right and hit hard on the left is called "southpaw stance".
* Even animals can be a Southpaw: it turns out [[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150618-kangaroos-evolution-animals-science/ the majority of kangaroos are left-pawed.]] Beware if you see, or are dealing with, a BoxingKangaroo.
* Out of the last eight US Presidents (1974-present), five have been left handed: UsefulNotes/GeraldFord, UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan[[note]]albeit more ambidextrous, resulting from having been forced to write with his right hand as a child[[/note]], UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, UsefulNotes/BillClinton, and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. Also notable in that a lot of candidates who ''didn't'' win the elections were also left-handed, most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain John McCain]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot H. Ross Perot]] (making the 1992 election the first time the top three candidates were all lefties). Most of the candidates, including the biggest ones, for the 2016 election are [[https://www.quora.com/Are-any-candidates-left-handed-this-presidential-season-2016 right-handed]].
* Twins have a higher than average rate of being left-handed. On average about 10% of people in the general population are left handed where it's roughly 20% for twins. It's believed to come from positioning in the womb. Some famous lefty twins: Creator/ScarlettJohansson, [[Creator/MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen Mary Kate Olsen]], and Creator/AshtonKutcher.
[[/folder]]
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[-You seem a helpful trope page. I hate to leave you. But there's something you don't know... IAmNotLeftHanded.-]
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