'''Basic Trope''': Male characters refrain from using physical violence on a female.
* '''Straight''': Jim, TheHero, encounters LadyOfWar Veridian, but passes up fighting her because "I don't like hitting girls."
* '''Exaggerated''':
** Even if it's in self-defense, Jim is just unable to bring himself to attack Veridian. So, he runs away from Veridian as she's dashing at him with guns blazing. She eventually corners him, but even so he won't fight back:
--->'''Jim''': I'm so not gonna fight you even though I know you have no mercy for any one and wouldn't hesitate to kill me on the drop of a hat. No, ma'am, I'm not gonna defend myself because I'd rather be dead than be known as a woman-beater.
** Veridian is the human embodiment of [[EldritchAbomination U´Thul]], Jim knows it and, even in this situation, is unable to fight back with this trope in mind, so she rips him to pieces.
** Veridian is bitten by a zombie, Jim knows it and, even when she asks for a MercyKill, he outright refused, this results in Veridian losing her mind and she bites Jim.
** Jim refuses to fight Andy [[SissyVillain for being effeminate]].
** Jim is a HeteronormativeCrusader who believes that gay men are women in born in male bodies and refuses to attack them. His policies on lesbians, non-binary people and trans people may vary.
** Jim refuses to fight ''any'' female, period. Even if he has to waste time in a life-threatening situation to check the sexual characteristics of a raging female crocodile or explicitly inhuman-looking but still female monster, he vows to always uphold his chivalry. Perhaps he even prides himself for never once killing blood-sucking mosquitoes or spiders or has spent years getting a master's degree in biology just to make sure he never harms a female creature.
** Not only won't Jim attack any women, he even refuses to ''touch'' them too.
* '''Downplayed''':
** Jim will not fight against any women who are [[ProperLady gentle, lady-like]] and [[ActualPacifist does not like to fight]] in the first place. Female enemies and violent {{tsundere}}s are considered fair game to hit, and Jim would be willing to smash their faces off.
** Jim avoids fighting women when possible, only doing so in self-defense, and even then holds back and feels discomfort when doing so.
** Jim will fight women if need be, but takes care to leave them alive while he usually kills his male enemies.
** Jim does fight Veridian, but [[ApologeticAttacker apologises before, during and after the fight.]]
* '''Justified''':
** Jim is a [[InternalizedCategorism self-hating man]] who was raised by a [[DoesNotLikeMen misandristic]] [[AbusiveParents mother]] and now believes that [[WomenAreWiser women are superior]] to men and should be [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale allowed to treat men as they want]].
** Or alternatively, Jim was [[FreudianExcuse traumatized in his childhood]] when he saw his [[DomesticAbuse father beating]] his [[GoodParents kind mother]] and avoids hitting a woman because of this.
** Or, [[MadLove Jim is trying to get Veridian to go out with him]].
** Jim's personal honour code forbids him from fighting anyone he has an unfair advantage over.[[MasculineLinesFeminineCurves He being a typical man and Veridian being a typical woman]], she happens to be naturally [[WomenAreDelicate smaller and weaker]] [[MenAreTough than him]], so he declines on those grounds.
** Jim lives in a [[CrapsackWorld society]] [[MenAreTheExpendableGender that protects and values women more than men]] and knows that [[WifeBasherBasher people will kill him if he dares hit a female]], even if she deserves it.
** Jim was a domestic abuser in the past and accidentally killed a woman he loved. He [[TheAtoner atones]] by swearing never to hurt another woman again.
** Jim's powers, which are the only thing keeping him alive, were bestowed on him by a feminist goddess who forbid him from ever hurting a woman.
** Jim literally can't physically hurt a girl due to a curse placed on him by a feminist goddess.
** Jim's powers' key weakness is women, so whenever he hits them, he will [[HeroicRROD suffer physically and/or mentally]].
* '''Inverted''': Jim WouldHitAGirl, but would never hurt another man.
* '''GenderInverted''': Veridian refuses to fight males.
* '''Subverted''':
** Veridian and Jim's exchange goes like this:
--->'''Veridian''': What's the matter? Ya don't hit ladies?\\
'''Jim''': You are no lady. *Cue beatdown.*
** Jim tries to fight Veridian but he tries to rationalize it by using more indirect attacks namely having the mindset of something like "As long as I don't punch her face its okay."
--->'''Jim''': I am against misogynistic violence but I am not against self defense, there is a difference.
** Alternatively, Jim doesn't want to fight Veridian because he knows [[DarkActionGirl she'd kick his ass and laugh about it,]] and is trying to outsmart her instead.
** Alternatively: Jim dodges Veridian's attacks, but doesn't fight back... Until she lands a blow, at which point he proceeds to beat the crap out of her. "You all saw she hit me first, right?"
** Or...
---> '''Jim''': What? Oh no miss you don't understand I am a pacifist by nature. Trust me even if you were a guy I would still prefer not to fight you.
** Jim is hesitant in fighting Veridian but it's for other reasons.
** Jim decides he will not attack Veridian physically, but as long as he doesn't punch her, it doesn't count, so he can still [[CombatPragmatist use his other attacks on her]].
---> '''Jim''': I don't hit women... But my '''[[GatlingGood Minigun]]''' [[WouldHitAGirl does]]!
** Jim states that he won't fight a woman, and Veridian [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown exploits it to the hilt]] right up until he clouts her with all his strength, and since her overconfidence meant her guard was down, the punch floors her.
---> '''Jim''': You just couldn't pass up that easy win, could you? [[GuileHero I knew I couldn't beat you in a head-on fight, so I had to try a different approach.]]
** Jim decided to [[DefeatByModesty tear off Veridian's clothes]] to defeat her with minimal harm.
** Jim won't hit women, but that only applies who conform to ''his'' notions of AcceptableFeminineGoals. For example, if he's a firm believer in MyGirlIsNotASlut, he's got no problem hitting the {{Streetwalker}} on the corner, but won't hit a virgin (or a girl he believes or assumes is one).
** Jim is not willing to directly harm Veridian, and Veridian knows it... so he asks his girlfriend Alice, who's watching the fight nearby, for permission to beat up Veridian. Alice, who seeks revenge on Veridian for murdering her beloved dog in the past, nods with a SlasherSmile and tells Jim to kick Veridian's ass, [[OhCrap much to the villainess's horrified outrage]].
** Jim seems to not hit Veridian, but because this isn't a proper time and/or place to fight, and turn out that Jim is actually a HeManWomanHater.
* '''Double Subverted''':
** Veridian gives Jim PuppyDogEyes and he immediately relents.
** Veridian convinces Jim on how thinking that indirect attacks being okay is a very stupid idea and Jim reluctantly agrees.
** “Who cares if she hit you first? She’s a ''girl'', man! [[DoubleStandard Not cool!”]]
** While Jim did mention he had other reasons why he wouldn't want to fight Veridian he eventually admitted that this trope is one of them.
** Veridian [[FullFrontalAssault isn’t embarrassed and attacks him anyway.]]
** Because Veridian fits Jim's definition of a ProperLady, he doesn't hit her.
** Despite he thinks women are disgusting, Jim still won't hit Veridian because [[IfYouTauntHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim feeling this would lower him to her level.]]
* '''Parodied''':
** Jim is a LovableSexManiac who would rather take Veridian to the bed than fight her:
---> '''Jim''': Fight you? Oh I'd rather do a certain other type of "F Word".
** "You're right, I wouldn't hit a girl. Alice?!" "Yeah?" [[DesignatedGirlFight "Hit her!"]] "[[BloodKnight Okay!"]]
** When Jim is attacked by a {{bear|sAreBadNews}}, he insists on checking if it's female before he fights it.
** ''Not even zombies'' would touch a lady, and if they turn a girl, it's on complete accident and the miss was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
** Jim refuses to compete with Veridian in non-violent activities, such as TabletopGame/{{Chess}}, TabletopGame/{{Checkers}}, even video games.
** And speaking of Chess, Jim insists on capturing all the pieces of the opponent, except for the queen.
** Veridian is [[TheSmurfettePrinciple a female character in a]] FightingGame, but Jim never, ever chooses her because "she could get hurt". He even protests when someone else chooses her, because he just can't bring himself to hit a girl, not even as a game.
** Jim [[BullyingADragon insults]] an [[TestosteronePoisoning incredibly manly man]] by telling him he's so wimpy and unmanly, he must abide by his code of never hitting a girl. Jim then complains about being completely defenseless when the man gives him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
* '''Zig Zagged''':
** Jim refuses to fight Veridian because she's a girl. However, he later discovers that 'she' is actually an alien who has taken the form of a human female. Just when he is about to attack the shapeshifter, she reveals her true form to be a {{Green Skinned Space Babe}}.
** With LoopholeAbuse, Jim uses his machine gun to shoot all girls down. On one hand, he isn't physically hitting them, but on the other hand, well...
* '''Averted''':
** Jim WouldHitAGirl as well as hit a guy too.
** Jim doesn't hit ''[[ActualPacifist anyone]]'', male or female.
* '''Enforced''':
** Violence towards women add to the ESRB-like ratings, so the author won't add it because they want their story to be accessible to a younger audience too..
** The writers don't show Jim and Veridian fighting because they’re afraid of offending viewers who would object.
** Or the writers have little to no knowledge of men attacking women and being seen as a good thing while they are a little too used to all the times when it is very much a KickTheDog moment from WouldHitAGirl trope using villains.
* '''Lampshaded''': Jim is getting stomped. In the middle of it all, he says "You bitch...you're cheating by beating on me while female!"
* '''Invoked''':
** "People think Jim is too tough and heartless. Let's show that he's actually nice by making him against hitting girls."
** Jim and Veridian are playable characters in a FightingGame, and he's known for being very respectful to all women; so, in a very unusual case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, he deliberately switches off all of his special and normal moves when cofronting Veridian (Or any of the other female fighters); this leaves the player unable to do anything, ultimately resulting in an automatic loss.
** Alternatively, Jim can strike female opponents, but he receives [[WhatTheHellPlayer a negative penalty]] for doing so, because it is considered VideoGameCrueltyPotential.
* '''Exploited''':
** The BigBad knows Jim won't fight women, so he sends an AmazonBrigade to kill him.
** Or the BigBad is female.
** The females abuse this and bully a guy since they know he can't hit them.
* '''Defied''':
** Jim explicitly respects [[WorthyOpponent Veridian]] too much to hold back.
** "[[DoubleStandard Okay, hold on, you think that ''just'' because you have two X chromosomes means that I wouldn't hit you in a fight?]]"
** Or it could go like this...
--->'''Veridian''': '''[[HitMeDammit "FOR ONCE IN YOUR GODDAMN LIFE! HIT ME YOU FUCKING PUSSY!"]]'''\\
'''Jim''': "[[LetsGetDangerous OK, then. You asked for it]]." *proceeds to give her the ass-beating of her life.*
* '''Discussed''': "It's not that Jim ''couldn't'' take Veridian in a fistfight; it's that his inconvenient chivalry would kick in."
* '''Conversed''':
** "I wonder why some guys have no problem fighting a man, but wouldn't think of hurting a woman."
** So he doesn't want to fight ladies huh? Let me guess is he one of those "will not fight back against a woman at all" guy? Or is he a "will not punch a lady in the face" kind of guy?
* '''Implied''': In the FinalBattle, Jim infiltrated the BigBad’s headquarters and is shown beating up every major bad guy-except Veridian.
* '''Deconstructed''':
** Jim's refusal to fight Veridian is seen as an insult by her because that means he views her as weaker than he. She responds by [[CurbStompBattle handing him his ass]].
** Veridian tries to convince Jim to have a friendly fight with her to beat the sexism out of him. She is often seen egging him on and generally being aggressive toward him. She may or may not praise him for finally losing the sexist attitude if he caves and hits her.
** Jim's refusal to harm a female makes him a greater threat to his TrueCompanions than Veridian.
** Jim comes to resent the discrimination and begins to advocate equality for men.
** Veridian is Jim's [[DomesticAbuse abusive girlfriend]] who weaponizes this as a method of control- whenever she beats him, she drills into his head that he shouldn't fight back or she will tell everyone he hit her and he'll go to jail for beating his girlfriend, and no one will believe him if he calls for help since no one ever believes the man over the woman. So poor Jim is trapped in a horrible situation he sees no way of escaping due to society's bias.
* '''Reconstructed''':
** But before she can do so, [[ActionGirl Marci]] gives her an epic beatdown, and saves Jim in the process.
** Jim's a TechnicalPacifist. His fight style revolves around blocking attacks and jabbing nerve clusters to cause paralysis.
** Veridian kicks at Jim. He catches her foot and uses it to steer her around like they're playing "wheelbarrow".
** [[ExactWords Jim said nothing about shooting them]].
** [[ItsAllAboutMe The women]] of Jim's society [[WoundedGazelleGambit accuse him of hurting them]] and [[DownerEnding Jim gets executed]] [[OldSchoolChivalry by other men]]. A somewhat brighter ending still employing this trope would be the entire world separating males and females, with the intent of sparing males of having to clash with females and facing either "dishonor" or death at the hands of their ovary-equipped opponent.
* '''Played For Laughs''':
** The hero is a ChivalrousPervert. The girl is [[BestHerToBedHer The Red Sonja]].
** Veridian is a masochist, who wants Jim to hit her.
* '''Played For Drama''':
** The hero has to beat a woman to save his friends. Can he?
** The hero's enemy is a sadistic DarkActionGirl, he refuses to hit her, she completely beat the shit out of him with a SlasherSmile, insulting and toying with him, and leaving the guy crippled at the end, with several bones of his body broken. He realizes that the mental scars are so severe that he won't be able to fight anymore, so he will be an invalid the rest of his life.
*** On the flip side of this, the DarkActionGirl insults and toys with him while fighting, and the hero, seeing he has no other choice, [[RageBreakingPoint sheds]] [[IAmNotLeftHanded his]] [[LetsGetDangerous inhibitions]] and proceeds to [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown epically beat the fuck out of her]], killing her. He can only [[TheseHandsHaveKilled look at his hands]] in horror afterwards.
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???