Too Slow - Television Tropes & Idioms

Stock phrase. Often used if the character appears right next to or behind an opponent and then ends the battle with a single shot/blow. Most commonly happens in shows where at least one character is capable of Super Speed or Flash Step.

Examples

Anime and Manga

Ichigo against Ikkaku in Bleach.
- also Byakuya Kuchiki against Ichigo when they take Rukia to soul society, first using Flash Step he breaks ichigo's sword from 20 metres away before stabbing him twice and saying: "you're even slow to fall".
Setsuna in Mahou Sensei Negima! said this in an unimpressed manner to Negi when she found that he wasn't quite focused on the fight.
- Quintum says this to Tertium Fate during their fight.
Also a catchphrase of epic-tier Mecha pilots like Char Aznable and his expies.
Pizza, and later, Soldat J, loves to taunt Guy with this, paraphrased:
"It is not that I am fast - you are merely too slow."
Parodied in Busou Renkin. While fighting in the school, Shusui and Kazuki zip behind each other with the respective taunts "Too slow." and "Oh yeah?!" The twist is, they do so repeatedly, eventually working their way out of the gymnasium entirely and into the courtyard. Kazuki reveals that it was all part of his plan to avoid damaging the school. Tokiko doesn't buy it.
Brought up in One Piece multiple times, but the two most notable are Kizaru owning the hell out of Luffy at Marineford while Lamp Shading this fact, and Luffy later performing the same feat against A Pacifista's laser right before stomping it into the ground.
The Major says this word for word to Schrödinger. Schrödinger had, just moments ago, gone Millenium headquarters to London, gotten shot in the face, got better and went back to the base in a few minutes. He is not amused.
Said by Gopher to Maka in the 64th chapter of Soul Eater

Live-Action TV

Red Dwarf: "Too slow, chicken marengo! Too slow for this cat."
Smallville's version of The Flash often mocks Clark Kent like this, as Clark's Super Speed is nothing compared to his.

Video Games

The World Ends With You: "So zetta slow" is Sho Minamimoto's Catch Phrase.
The Scout in Team Fortress 2: "Yoink! Too slow! I'm a freakin' blur here!"
Pictured above, Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl: "You're too slow! You're too slow! You're too slow!"
This is one of Raphael's quotes in Soul Calibur 2.
- And Setsuka in 3.
In Legend of Dragoon, during the Boss Battle against Lloyd, he says "Too slow!" if he dodges one of your attacks.
If you hear this fighting Carl Clover there's a good chance he has you in the clap trap and you are about to hear it a lot more right before you die. Ironically, this isn't because Carl is particularly speedy; an oversight makes his throw essentially unbreakable in that situation.
Zidane in Dissidia: Final Fantasy says exactly that during some dodges—the others get a smug "I'm right here!" Sephiroth tosses out a few more reserved ones when he attacks.
Jon Talbain /Gallon in Darkstalkers has the battle victory quote "Torioze!" which more or less translates to "you're too slow!"
Hermes in God Of War 3, constantly.
"You may have brute force - but you lack speed!"
"I have the speed of Olympus with me, mortal!"
"So slow."
"I will always be faster than you!"
Vanitas in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep says this whenever he dodges one of your attacks. Which is a lot.
- Also in Re:Chain Of Memories where Riku-possessed Ansem flash-step kills Lexaeus after the latter sent the former flying into the ceiling.
Prototype: Captain Cross taunts you with this during his boss fight.
In most of the good endings of Yo-Jin-Bo, Harumoto temporarily incapacitates the heroes by throwing a handful of hallucinogenic powder at them - except for in Ittosai's ending, in which Ittosai simply dodges it with a contemptuous "Too slow!"
Dragon Ball Z uses this or not, depending on the game. They vary from "Over here!" to "Yikes!" to just grunts or chuckles. Interestingly, sometimes the opposite of this happens and the other character expresses frustration with "Where are you?!" or similar phrases.