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Exactly What It Says On The Tin
Whether it is via the use of a Berserk Button or a Restraining Bolt, you know you can get a very precise reaction from a character if you do the right thing. Sometimes there's Genre Savvyness or some Animal Stereotype involved, but typically, it's according to the Rule Of Funny or the Law Of Disproportionate Response.
See also Damn You Muscle Memory.
General
- The "Two Bits" example from Who Framed Roger Rabbit in Shave And A Haircut. Similarly, the Toons' uncontrollable laughter is a Response that Valiant exploits to kill the Judge's mooks.
- Freefall: "BALL!
 ", "DOGGY!", "FRISBEE!"
- In The Tuxedo, the titular tux always send someone who taps on its shoulders flying.
- And smoothly pulls out a lighter if someone puts an unlit cig in their mouth.
- Real Life: The ever-popular "Check her out!" "Who, where?" Especially funny when the person being baited is married and/or in a serious relationship, and his wife/girlfriend is right there, forcing him to backpedal. "Whoever she is, she can't be as pretty as you are!" or "Who cares, I have the most beautiful woman in the world right here!"
- Felicity from the webcomic The Dreamland Chronicles has to steal anything sparkly, no matter what sort of life and death situation the protagonists might be in at the time and how ill-advised stealing the glowing magical pendent hovering in mid-air might be. It's surprising that she's not an anthromorphic ferret or magpie, but rather a cat.
- A stock phrase whenever a Pungeon Master is around: "Dont. say it.".
- A surprising real life example: Once, when police were entering a house to look for a burglar, one of them said "Marco" in order to inject some humor into the situation. Guess how they found the burglar?
- In Abbott and Costello's Hold That Ghost, one of the heroines is being followed down the stairs by a man with a sheet over his head, who's miming her footsteps to hide his own. She gets suspicious, and taps out "shave and a haircut" with her feet and his cover is blown when he finishes with the "two bits."
- One episode of the Gotham Girls web series has Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy playing Keep Away with some loot, keeping it from Batgirl. Batgirl gets it by yelling out "Over here!" to Harley who, caught up in the game, tosses it over before she realizes what she's doing.
- In Legally Blonde, the lawyer played by Luke Wilson confirms Elle's suspicion of a witness's homosexuality (thereby disproving his testimony), by asking rapid fire, innocuous questions (How long have you been working for the defendant? What was your job? etc.) before ending with, "And your boyfriend's name is?" The witness answers reflexively, outing himself.
- There's a long list of things you shouldn't do if you want to survive a meeting with Golgo 13. Among them: don't touch his right hand, don't reach into your coat, and don't open a handbag. (He will attack at all of these.) His habit of standing when he meets a client comes from an early occasion where he killed a client's aide - the poor man made the mistake of walking up behind him while he was seated.
- Naru from Love Hina has a He Is Not My Boyfriend! reflex, whenever someone mentions Keitaro. She even does it after they're engaged.
- In one episode of Bonkers a toon criminal forces Bonkers to activate a deathtrap by placing a "Do Not Press This Button" sign on the activation button. As a toon, Bonkers is incapable of resisting a temptation like that.
- Agent 99 of Get Smart instinctively judo throws anyone who sneaks up behind her. She also does it when she attempts to explain this.
- An old comedy sketch, made popular by The Three Stooges, had one man explaining to a stranger how his wife ran off with another man. Since he caught up with them at Niagara Falls, he goes berserk every time he hears those words...
Television
- In one "Weekend Update" sketch from Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Fallon believes that Tina Fey is about to tell the viewers that he has a small penis, and suckerpunches her in the face. She asks if his paranoia is proof that it's true, and he hits her again. She then blurts out "small penis" and gets hit yet again. When she glares at him, he giggles nervously and explains that "It's an instinct."
Animal Stereotype
- In Men in Arms Gaspode the wonder dog used his ability to 'speak human' on a pack of mad dogs by taking advantange of a Dog's instinct to obey a sharp human voice to SIT.
- In the air.
- In The Fifth Elephant, Vimes kills a werewolf by throwing a flare that the wolf instinctively tries to fetch. Ouch.
- In Tom and Jerry — Tom has used the Dog's urge to fetch to get Spike off his back, only to come across the problem that once a Dog starts fetching, they won't stop.
- Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck has pulled the fetch stunt on a few hunting dogs a few times during their career as well.
- Monterey Jack's Follow Your Nose reactions upon smelling cheese.
Restraining Bolt
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