Indignant Slap

"I can fend for myself!" the princess retorted, also having had her fill.
"And see what has come of it!" Shizuru hissed.
Natsuki's hand came out; heat exploded on the older woman's cheek.

— Inter Nos, Ch. 59 by ethnewinter

Someone has said something that strikes another person to the core, or they have done something morally questionable or reprehensible. This causes another person to be outraged and indignant, either morally, or at the very least on a personal level. What was said or done was an affront to them, so much so that they are literally at a loss for words, at least temporarily. Their immediate response, therefore, is much more visceral and organic. They slap them.

While not Always Female, slapping is often done more frequently by female characters, possibly because it's less likely to cause lasting harm, and possibly because it's expected that a man who is righteously outraged will jump straight to a punch, unless they're consciously trying to avoid inflicting permanent harm.

The slap need not be a hard one, as this trope can be played for laughs, but the harder, and louder, the slap, the greater the personal affront or moral indignation. This slap isn't a Bitch Slap (though there can be overlap in some situations) trying to assert dominance. It's a punitive action for something that has deeply wounded the other person's pride or sense of ethics, a swift and stinging rebuke. The comment need not have been about them, either. Defending a friend or lover is a common reason someone might engage in an Indignant Slap.

It can overlap with both Kiss-Kiss-Slap or Slap-Slap-Kiss but is just as likely between The Rival, or even close friends when someone has crossed a line and needs to be made aware of it quickly and sharply.

There are all sorts of characters who are on the receiving end of this, from the Innocently Insensitive to the Accidental Pervert (though they're just as likely to get a Megaton Punch), and the Smug Snake. The Alpha Bitch is also a frequent recipient, which also often overlaps with Bitch Slap, where it can be just as much about power dynamics as it can be about something crude or offensive being said.

If done out of indignation for another person, it will usually be a case of Beware the Nice Ones, typically a Team Mom, Team Dad, or Cool Big Sis. It could also be the result of Big Brother Instinct to protect someone who lacks either the standing or self-esteem to stand up for themselves.

Ideally, it will result in a Heel Realization or Jerkass Realization, and ostensibly a Heel–Face Turn. However, it could actually instigate or prolong a fight or disagreement, as well.

If the remark that prompted the slap wasn't all that severe, it could be a case of Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male.

Compare and Contrast Get A Hold Of Yourself Man, when someone slaps someone in the middle of an emotional or mental breakdown to restore them to sanity, Dope Slap, where someone does a quick slap to the back of someone's head when they say something more foolish or stupid than offensive, and Zen Slap, which is when a mentor hits their pupil in order to get them to focus or have a revelation. An indignant slap will always be face to face, and applied to the face.

See also Groin Attack for another form of painful attack often offered up for something someone has said. A Food Slap is often one of these.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: During a pop idol training session, the instructor Tina gives Hahari a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man slap, prompting her maid Mei to slap Tina across the face right back.
• Accel World: After Haruyuki accuses her of using him as a pawn to degrade herself, Kuroyukihime slaps him and starts crying because she's very hurt to hear him demean her feelings for him in such a way.
• The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao does this to one of the servants of an emperor's sick wife after discovering she was putting poisonous makeup on her, keeping her from getting any better. When she tries to explain herself, Maomao does it again, albeit lightly and with a handful of the toxic powder.
• Assassination Classroom: The students of Class 3-E try doing parkour without a sense of awareness of their surroundings, and accidentally injure an innocent old man. When the outraged Korosensei confronts them for this, all they do is make desperate excuses, leading to all of them facing this trope. It's the only time in the series that Korosensei goes against his agreement with the Government not to harm any of the students, and Karasuma overlooks it due to the context.
• Berserk: Rickert slaps Griffith after learning he was responsible for the Eclipse that killed all but three of the original Band of the Hawk.
• Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School: In Episode 4 of the Despair Arc, Chisa slaps Nagito after he considers himself a nobody with just lucky talent.
• The Devil is a Part-Timer!:Implied in episode 12. Maou has just rescued Emilia from Sauriel, She's woozy and groggy. He informes her that her shirt is open. She flushes bright red, and slowly closes her shirt. The next time we see Maou, he has a bright red handprint on his cheek.
• Digimon Adventure: During a flashback in "My Sister's Keeper", a younger Tai brings Kari (who has a cold) to the park to play soccer with him. She ends up being hospitalized when this cold turns out to be pneumonia, and his mother slaps him across the face for being so reckless.^note The English dub gets rid of the slapping scene, but still implies she's done it because there's still a big red hand mark on his cheek.
• Dragon Ball Super: God of Destruction Beerus has had enough playing around on his trip to Earth, and begins charging a blast to destroy Vegeta and the rest of the planet. He is interrupted with a slap on the cheek by Bulma, who is fed up with him ruining her birthday party.
• Fairy Tail: After Lucy hears that Gray wants nothing to do with the Fairy Tail guild as it means nothing to him anymore since joining the Avatar cult, Lucy is so upset by this that she promptly walks up to Gray and slaps him in the face.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Stardust Crusaders: As Joseph's body is slowly turning into a magnet, it causes a dress of a passing woman to be pulled up, who immediately accuses Joseph of doing it and slaps him.
  • Stone Ocean: After Jolyne is affected by Tongue Trauma, she tries communicating with Anasui to warn him, who assumes that she wants to kiss him instead, prompting Jolyne to slap him in annoyance.
  • JoJolion: Upon having Josuke Mistaken for Misogynist, Yasuho instantly gets freaked out by him and responds by slapping and tossing a photo-book at him.
• MegaMan NT Warrior: In Episode 38 of Stream, after Lan and Mayl defeat the Monster of the Week, Lan acts oblivious to Mayl's feelings when he mentions Jasmine is able to see Duo's comet, annoying her enough to deliver a slap.
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED has a rare moment of a guy slapping a girl for this reason and being in the right. Cagalli Yula Athha is furious with Andrew Waltfeld for razing a whole town, and even more pissed off when Mu La Flaga tries to make the fair point that Waltfeld was kind to let the people live despite destroying resources (though he didn't word it very sensitively). Cagalli immediately chases after Waltfeld's force of BuCUEs with nothing but a few people, some trucks and some rocket launchers, forcing Kira Yamato and the Strike Gundam to intervene and save Cagalli's company. But Cagalli is completely ungrateful and blames the death of one of her friends on Kira for not arriving sooner, trying to defend her case with how everyone has been desperately fighting against ZAFT to protect what's dear to them... and then Kira knocks the taste out of Cagalli's mouth with a sharp slap to the face. As Cagalli reels from the impact, Kira angrily asks her about what she hopes to protect when the only weapon she has is her emotions. Cagalli is literally cowed into silence by Kira's point, and silently seems to realize her mistake.
• My-HiME:
  • In a later episode, Yukino and Haruka are confronting Shizuru about her dereliction of duty as the Student Council President during a time of crisis. Then Yukino says if Shizuru won't return, she'll tell everyone about witnessing Shizuru do something untoward to Natsuki in her sleep. Shizuru neither confirms nor denies the accusation, instead deflecting by accusing Yukino of voyeurism. "You were enjoying watching other people? That's quite the hobby you have there." Haruka steps forward and slaps Shizuru, saying she had no right to accuse Yukino of anything.
  • Haruka immediately goes on a tear after the above moment, stating that relationships between women are disgusting, telling Shizuru, "You're filthy. Both you, and Natsuki Kuga!" Shizuru, at this point, slaps Haruka, saying calmly, "What happened was something I did to her. I will not allow you to insult Natsuki."
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: The titular character is on both sides of this trope, slapping Jean when he looks too closely at her breasts. She also receives three slaps during the adventure, one from Grandis for calling Nemo a murderer for letting Enseign Fait die, another from Nemo for shouting she hated him and the Nautilus crew and finally, after she survives her suicide attempt, a third one from Grandis.
• Otherside Picnic: Zigzagged. Toriko has a habit of striking Sorawo whenever the madness of the Otherside is threatening to overwhelm her, typically a case of Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!. However, when Sorawo makes an offhand remark that Toriko is turning into a domestic abuser, Toriko is clearly hurt by the remark and tries to refrain from doing so later, offering a Big Damn Kiss instead. However, when Sorawo is suffering from a case of Laser-Guided Amnesia, and can't remember Toriko, Otherside, Kozakura, Migawa, or UBL, Toriko slaps her in front of everyone. Kozakura and Migawa assume it is because Toriko is upset that Sorawo forgot her, making it an Indignant Slap, especially due to their recent Relationship Upgrade, while a still-amnesiac Sorawo thinks Toriko is flying off the handle. Toriko herself claims it was Percussive Maintenance, and that it had worked in the past. Toriko ends up having to use her invisible hand and insert a finger into Sorawo's MagicEye to restore her memory.
• Ranma ½:
  • In the first episode, after learning about Ranma's curse, Akane is stewing in anger while bathing. She gets out of the bath, only to run headlong into girl-type Ranma coming in. In a fit of pique at Ranma seeing her naked, again, she slaps him. Nabiki even notes that they were both girls at the time, so it should have been okay. Akane rejects that notion while Ranma nurses a swollen cheek.
  • During the story arc that introduced Ryoga, Ranma was rescuing Akane as she fell from a tree. Akane protested, demanding Ranma let her go. Ranma states that he (though now in girl form) isn't holding Akane because he likes her. Incensed, Akane slaps Ranma as they land. It does no real damage but does cause Ranma to realize he'd crossed a line. Unfortunately, it's at this point that Akane's hair is sliced during their argument, meaning Ranma's Jerkass Realization amounts to very little.
• Resident Evil: Degeneration, overlapping with Bitch Slap, after the characters are rescued from the zombie outbreak, the Senator watches Rani reunite with her Aunt, and remarks on how he hates kids. Claire marches right up to him and slaps him hard enough to knock him to the ground, saying, "Bastard! That little girl is going to have nightmares for the rest of her life because of you!"
• Secret of Cerulean Sand: Angered by his wife's callousness during the cruise, a passenger decides enough is enough when she falsely accuses Banshee of being a thief even after it had been proven her dog Wolfgang stole her jewels and slaps her.

Comic Books

• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): Sally asks Sonic to finally stay with her, but he turns this down because he still has to defeat Eggman. Sally becomes positively furious and slaps him across the face, accusing him of being more concerned about beating Eggman up than about her.

Fan Works

• When Peggy discovers that Michael really is still alive in Agent Carter: Phanton Pain, she's at a loss of how to react. She opts to slap him in the face.
• The Heart Trilogy: When Kathryn learns in Heart of Ashes that unlike what she thought, Smaug has cheated death and turned into a human, she's so hurt he didn't tell her sooner that she slaps him twice and punches his jaw.
• Inter Nos: In Chapter 59, after Natsuki has suffered an amputation below the knee, Shizuru states that she intends to leave Natsuki in the port city of Argus while she marches on to take the Mentulean Empire. Natsuki balks at being treated like an invalid, saying, "I can fend for myself!" Shizuru, in frustration and fear, says, "And see what has come of it!" Furious at the slight, Natsuki slaps Shizuru, an act which surprises both women, and Natsuki immediately regrets it, while Shizuru has a Jerkass Realization and apologizes, kissing the hand that slapped her.
• Naru-Hina Chronicles:
  • Sai is about to go on a date with a girl named Jirian. However, when he tells her he picked her up because he wanted to lose his virginity and she looked like she would be easy, Jirian slaps him on the face and, while angrily walking away, yells that she would rather sleep with a dog than him.
  • Sakura does this to Sasuke when he gives her the same look he gave to her during the night where he left Konoha to join Orochimaru.
• In Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Marinette gave Adrien one of these when he insisted that she should stop trying to expose Lila because her lies "weren't hurting anyone". As a result, Adrien is secretly pleased to see how much she's suffered due to Lila's manipulations; to his mind, Marinette deserves to suffer for not listening to his advice...even though said suffering is evidence that Lila is hurting others with her deception.
• Paragons of Virtue and Glory: Weiss repeatedly insists that Sun Wokong must be a member of the White Fang terrorist group simply because he's a Faunus, and ran away from the boat. Ochako finally slaps her and calls her out on her assumptions.
• Shadows over Meridian: When Vera Bexley yells at her fellow captives who've chosen not to follow her example as Defiant Captives that they don't deserve to call themselves Meridian's protectors in Chapter 30, Amelia Emmony slaps her longtime rival and tells her off for daring to say that when she was the one who betrayed them all by using them as pawns of her personal revenge.
• The Ultimate Evil: When Valmont sees Valerie Payne in a black dress in Chapter 22, he mockingly says it makes her look so fabulous Shendu wouldn't be able to reign in his lust towards her. Furious that the greedy crime lord she detests would suggest such of the demon who've shown Noble Demon behavior towards her, Valerie slaps Valmont and tells him that as evil as Shendu is, even he has more honor than the crime lord.
• The Wolves in the Woods: Lila gives Adrien one of these when his Condescending Compassion and Skewed Priorites come to light.

Film — Animation

• Mulan: When Mushu claims he can see through Mulan's armor (while looking at her chest), she angrily slaps him. This backfires, as Mushu starts proclaiming dishonor against her and her whole family. This has as much impact as a gnat blowing on a whale, but Mulan is quick to apologize.
• Sing: Buster tries to speak to several red pandas in Japanese but ends up insulting them by mistake. One of them gasps and slaps him before they all storm out in a huff.

Film — Live-Action

• Duck Soup: Played for Laughs - Fredonia leader Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is asking his advisor Bob Roland (Zeppo Marx) for a way to get rid of the Sylvanian ambassador.
  Bob Roland: We've got to get rid of that man at once. Now I've got a plan. You say something to make him mad, and he'll strike you... and we'll force him to leave the country.
  Rufus T. Firefly: That's a swell plan... why couldn't you arrange for me to strike him?
  Bob Roland: Ambassador Trentino is a very sensitive man. Perhaps if you insult him. He's very easy to insult. Why, I said something to Vera Marcal in his presence once, and he slapped my face.
  Rufus T. Firefly: Why didn't Vera slap your face?
  Bob Roland: She did.
  Rufus T. Firefly: What'd you say to her?
  (Roland pulls in close and whispers it in his ear. Firefly gasps and slaps his face.)
  Rufus T. Firefly: You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Where'd you hear that story?
  Bob Roland: Why, you told it to me.
  Rufus T. Firefly: Oh yes, I remember. I should have slapped Mrs. Teasdale's face when she told it to me.
• Groundhog Day: There is a montage of Rita slapping Phil as he repeatedly tries and fails to use the "Groundhog Day" Loop to get her to fall in love with him.
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York: When the concierge at the hotel (played by Tim Curry) smugly offers Kevin's mother an Ironic Echo of her own words about her son being lost in a major city after she says she's going out to look for him, she slaps him across the face. Chastened, he says she'll want to take a coat, as it's cold out.
• In The Horse Soldiers, Hannah hauls back and smacks Colonel Marlowe in the face when she learns that he has had his men keeping watch on her while she performed her ablutions.
• In the Heat of the Night: Has both an indignant slap and a indignant slap back in retaliation. When Black Detective Virgil Tibbs is questioning racist murder suspect Eric Endicott, Endicott slaps Tibbs in the middle of his line of questioning simply for daring to do his job and ask him questions. Tibbs immediately slaps him back, Endicott points out that there was a time when this sort of action would have gotten Tibbs shot in response, when Endicott had more sway over the local police.
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Henry Jones, Sr. is telling Indy that they have to go to Berlin to retrieve his diary, as it contains vital clues to finding the Holy Grail. Indy is more concerned about Marcus Brody. Henry says that Marcus would agree with him. Indy's reply, "Two selfless martyrs. Jesus Christ!" Henry slaps him at that point, and informs him that it was for the blasphemy.
  Henry Sr.: The quest for the Grail is not archaeology; it's a race against evil. If it is captured by the Nazis, the armies of darkness will march all over the face of the Earth! Do you understand me?
• Mrs. Kintner famously delivers one to Sheriff Brody in Jaws upon learning that he kept the beaches open after discovering that a young woman had already been killed in a shark attack, leading to her son Alex's death.
  Mrs. Kintner: I just found out, that a girl got killed here last week, and you knew it! You knew there was a shark out there! You knew it was dangerous! But you let people go swimming anyway? You knew all those things! But still my boy is dead now. And there's nothing you can do about it. My boy is dead. I wanted you to know that.
• Lost in a Harem: While passing through the city, Harvey passes by a woman and is clearly attracted to her. Unfortunately, she's a professional mind reader, hears his thoughts and slaps him for it.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: Happens to Jack three times. First, by Scarlet (a local of Tortuga), which he thinks he didn't deserve. Then by Giselle, for seeing Scarlet. This one he figures he might have deserved. Then he slapped by Anna-Marie for stealing ("borrowing") her boat. That one he admits he really did deserve.
  • Becomes a Brick Joke in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End where Jack is on a date with Giselle and Scarlet only to find Barbossa has done a mutiny and run off with the Black Pearl again. At breaking point Jack tells both several facts to the two women, including correcting their grammar and that "of course you look fat in it", but that this isn't as important to him as the fact his ship has been stolen. So they both smack him, and he in turn smacks the nearby Mr. Gibbs (who it seems was Thrown from the Zeppelin while asleep), who just shrugs and accepts it.
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Eddie Valiant was hired to get evidence of Jessica Rabbit's infidelity and shoots photos of her with Toontown owner Marvin Acme. Not long afterwards, Acme is murdered, and Roger is the chief suspect. While at the scene of the crime, Eddie is approached by Jessica, who slaps him across the face.
  Jessica: I hope you're proud of yourself, and those pictures you took!

Literature

• Discworld:
  • In Carpe Jugulum, Perdita is the one who makes a snide remark about Granny Weatherwax, but it's Agnes who gets subjected to the response; a smack hard enough to knock her off her feet.
  • Subverted in Small Gods, where Brutha starts winding up to deliver Vorbis one of these for all that he's done and is... and then doesn't. Vorbis seems more outraged by the fact Brutha didn't strike him.
• The Famous Five: In Five Run Away Together, George slaps Edgar's face, when he refuses to tell her why her mother has suddenly disappeared.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Hermione slaps Draco after he mocks Hagrid risking being dismissed as teacher for an incident Draco himself caused.
• The Wheel of Time:
  • Rand's self-appointed Honest Advisor Cadsuane slaps him across the face when he uses a Dangerous Forbidden Technique. He's not pleased, but is more concerned with the immediate crisis unfolding around them.
  • Seanchan Truthspeakers are required to be unrelentingly Honest Advisors to royalty. In an empire where a servant merely making eye contact with a royal can be a deadly offense, one famous truthspeaker publicly slapped the Emperor for his foolishness and was not punished.

Live-Action TV

• All in the Family: Edith is a very kindly and loving woman who has the patience to even put up with Archie Bunker as her husband. But when she does get angry, she is very much a case of Beware the Nice Ones.
  • In one episode, Archie has promised her that he won't gamble anymore. While he's in the upstairs bathroom they get a phonecall, which Edith answers, with one of Archie's friends asking her to tell Archie that he placed a bet for him, $10 for Glowworm in the fifth. When Archie comes downstairs and tries to crack a lame joke, Edith slaps him after telling him what the message was, as Archie had broken a promise to her.
  • In the second half of "Edith's 50th Birthday", Edith had been attacked by a would-be-rapist in the previous half, and Gloria was trying to convince her mother to go and report it, as Edith had done for her a few seasons back. Edith flat out refuses, prompting Gloria to accuse her mother of being a Hypocrite and declaring she wasn't her mother anymore. Infuriated, Edith slaps Gloria, but it snaps her out of her own depression. She apologizes to Gloria, then grabs her coat to go to the police station to ID the rapist. Gloria then cries from the pain, physical and emotional, of the slap, while her husband comforts her.
• Doctor Who: In the specials "Time" and "Space", the TARDIS has materialized within itself, causing a spacial loop. A bit of temporal drift causes a second Amy Pond to enter the TARDIS. The Doctor asks her what happened, and she says she entered the manifest TARDIS right after Rory got slapped. Rory asks why he gets slapped, and The Doctor says that they have to stick to the established chain of events or there could be a paradox and they could be stuck with two Amy Ponds for eternity and then what would Rory do? Rory gives Amy a look, and she realizes that he's imagining a Twin Threesome Fantasy with a side of Selfcest starring her, and she slaps him indignantly (though not hard, seeing as how she'd been flirting with herself earlier), and The Doctor shoves her in the box, rectifying the paradox.
• Fawlty Towers: Sybil does this to Basil: in "The Psychiatrist" when she believes he has been spying on a pretty guest, and in "The Anniversary", when she believes he has forgotten their anniversary. It is implied that she does this frequently.
• Haven: In season 4's "William," Nathan accuses Audrey of being interested in newcomer William while under the influence of a substance that induces paranoia. When he goes too far and makes a particularly crude remark, Audrey slaps him. It's a particularly pointed use of the trope, since Nathan can't feel anything except Audrey's touch.
• Leverage: "The Maltese Falcon Job". The team is preparing to escape via helicopter, but Nate reveals to them that he torched all of Sterling's evidence against them, meaning that in order to build his case against a dangerous arms dealer again, he will have no choice but to arrest Nate, and so Nate is willingly surrendering to buy safety for his team. After spending the whole time away from the team finding herself ^note In reality to cover for Gina Bellman's pregnancy, she slaps Nate for leaving her just as she had returned. She later alludes to this in "The Inside Job", when Nate asks if they're ever going to talk about the moment when they kissed, and she says she doesn't remember a kiss. She remembers a slap, and he's still working it off.
• The Mentalist: Being The Gadfly, Jane tends to get slapped often, generally accepting this as the cost of doing things his way. Averted with Lisbon the time he made her think they were going to die: she punched him.
  Lisbon: (After Jane gets slapped by a suspect) I hope that hurt.
  Jane: It did.
• Mulheres Apaixonadas: After the reveal that the biological mother of Helena's adopted son Lucas is an ex-prostitute (more specifically, the result of the affair between Helena's husband Téo and the former call girl Fernanda), Helena's sister Heloísa sarcastically says that the kid is "literally a son of a—", but Helena goes full Mama Bear mode and furiously slaps her before she could finish the sentence. Helena, whose maternal feelings for Lucas remain stronger than ever, promises to be even harsher if Heloísa dares to say something like this again.

Professional Wrestling

• This is how MNM went their separate ways back in 2006. After losing the Tag-Team titles to London and Kendrick at Judgement Day and blaming their loss on Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro and Melina demanded that Theodore Long do something about their situation, who turned them down. Enraged, Melina slapped Long, who immediately fired both of them instead. Ultimately, it didn't matter since all it did was transfer them from SmackDown to RAW (except for Mercury, who was not seen again until MNM reunited later that year.)
• On the episode of RAW before the 2012 Over the Limit PPV, John Laurinaitis was about to make an announcement that would change the WWE forever until John Cena came out to spend the entire promo mocking and chiding Laurinaitis as payback for his humiliation of the Big Show before firing him. However after learning that he and Cena were going to have a match at Over the Limit that would have Laurinaitis fired if he lost, Laurinaitis ultimately gets fed up with Cena's teasing and slaps him, with his big announcement never getting made.

Video Games

• ANNO: Mutationem: In a Pensieve Flashback scene, Ann learned Ryan had joined a rogue gang and tried to talk him out of it. When he refused to listen, Ann angrily slaps him, prompting the other members to retaliate.
• Higurashi: When They Cry: During the Cotton Drifting Arc, Rena reveals to Keiichi that everyone in town knows that he and Shion were the ones who violated the ritual tool shed the night of the Festival. She's also deduced just what happened to the people who have gone missing after that night, and who is responsible, and knows that it comes from Keiichi and Shion going into the shed. Then she slaps him hard, declaring, "I don't think anyone's punished you yet." Keiichi doesn't protest.
• Persona 3: When Minato regains consciousness in a hotel room and comes across Yukari coming out of the shower, she immediately slaps him before running back to get dressed.

Western Animation

• Futurama:
  • In "Insane in the Mainframe", Leela declares she's going to help break Fry's delusion he's a robot "the way only a woman can." The Professor asks if this means she's going to do his laundry, and Amy immediately slaps him.
  • Parodied in "Zapp Gets Cancelled" when the Hyper-Chicken/Matcluck thinks Zapp referred to him as "frivolous poultry". Since he's, well, a chicken, the "slap" is just a half-flap of his wings that softly brushes Zapp's face.
• Superman: The Animated Series: In the episode "Brave New Metropolis," Lois goes into an alternate reality where Superman went off the deep end and partnered with Luthor to make Metropolis into a police state. When Superman tries to justify how he's trying to make the world safer after his Lois was killed by using more heavy-handed tactics, she slaps him saying he was using her death as an excuse to abuse his powers.

Real Life

• In 1972, the MP Bernadette Devlin slapped the Home Secretary Reginald Maudling across the face in the House of Commons. This was during The Troubles, and Devlin was a Northern Irish Catholic activist. She was a member of Sinn Féin, the big pro-Republican party, whose MPs traditionally refused to sit down in Parliament to avoid pledging allegiance to the Queen. Devlin bucked that trend and took her seat — at great risk to her chances for re-election — to try and get things done. That's why it was a big deal when she slapped Maudling, specifically for his claim that British soldiers during the "Bloody Sunday" massacre only fired in self-defense — contradicting Devlin's personal eyewitness account.

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