Basic Trope: A flying character either refuses or forgets to fly when in situations where flying could easily solve the problems.
- Straight: Lenny the bird is being chased by a cat out in the yard and never thinks to fly up and out of reach.
- Exaggerated: Lenny falls off a cliff, and instead of flying, continues to fall until he smashes against the ground.
- Downplayed: Lenny moves faster when flying and does so, however it rarely occurs to him to fly straight up to get out of trouble.
- Justified:
- Lenny is a species of bird that isn't known for flight, like a chicken or a dodo.
- Lenny is literally afraid to fly, or else has a broken wing.
- Lenny is blind.
- Lenny wasn't originally a bird, he was shape-shifted into one. He still thinks like a land animal.
- Lenny was traumatized in his childhood when he fell off to the ground, he's unwilling to try flying again.
- (for downplayed) Lenny is a forest bird, flying straight up/above the forest crown, means becoming a buzzard's meal.
- Lenny is in an open field and doesn't have the stamina for sustaining flight till he reaches the forest.
- (For exaggerated) Lenny had painstakingly planted gravity defying trees on the cliff, and has willingly jumped off to simulate the feeling of flying.
- Lenny is participating in a ground race, he likes being in last place just as much as Felix, but he ain't no cheater.
- Inverted: A bird character forgets he can walk and only flies to get everywhere.
- Subverted: Lenny the bird is being chased, but then remembers he can fly and does so.
- Double Subverted: And then he remembers he's afraid of heights or has a broken wing and falls.
- Parodied: Lenny claims he is a flightless bird against all evidence, never flies, and ends up in a lot of danger due to it. Despite all of his friends telling him again and again to fly.
- Zig Zagged: Lenny either flies to escape danger or doesn't, depending on what's needed for the plot.
- Averted: Lenny always remembers to fly whenever applicable.
- Enforced: "We can't just have Lenny fly away at this point; that would destroy all the tension of the scene."
- Lampshaded: "I forgot I could fly."
- Invoked: Lenny injures his wings prior to the story's start, and for some reason, he avoids telling his comrades (and the audience) about it.
- Exploited:
- The Big Bad knows Lenny's afraid of flying and uses it for his advantage.
- Since Lenny has a tendency to not fly, he uses his wings for other purposes, such as wielding weapons.
- Defied:
- Lenny overcomes his fear of flying and flies away from any danger.
- Lenny's friends realize just how much danger he puts himself into, and try to teach him how to fly up out of danger.
- Discussed: "Why doesn't Lenny try to fly? It's not like this is a movie and he has to make it a dramatic chase scene."
- Conversed: "Did the writers forget he could fly?"
- Implied:: Lenny is The Ghost, but other birds mention him as being unable to fly.
- Deconstructed:
- Lenny is treated as an idiot by his friends for never thinking to fly out of danger. They advise him to see a therapist before it gets him really hurt.
- Lenny is promptly killed for not trying to fly. The Downer Ending version.
- Reconstructed:
- Lenny points out that he never has been seriously hurt, because taking off is what the cat is expecting him to do, while running allows him to hide under low obstacles his pursuer can't get at.
- Lenny is deliberately not flying as part of a clever plan to trick his enemies, for instance by acting as a decoy. Seriously, real birds do it.
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