Basic Trope: A character snatches (and sometimes kills) a flying insect from out of the air because their reflexes are so acute (Sometimes with the aid of chopsticks.)
- Straight: Kung Fu master Bob is really old. His student, Alice, scoffs at him because of his advanced age. Master Bob proves his skill by snatching a fly out of the air. Alice gasps and Master Bob releases the insect, letting it fly away.
- Exaggerated: Master Bob slices a beehive with a katana. The bees swarm around Master Bob but he slices all of the bees in half before they can sting him.
- Downplayed: Master Bob catches a clumsily flying maybug at the third attempt.
- Justified:
- Master Bob can either move really fast or stop time.
- Master Bob puts a super sweet solution on his hands that naturally attracts flies.
- Master Bob's hands smell like crap.
- Master Bob is an anthropomorphic frog or chameleon.
- Inverted: Master Bob is terrible at killing insects, even if they're moving slowly or are otherwise easy to hit.
- Subverted:
- Alice and Master Bob sit across from each other as a fly buzzes annoyingly around the room:
Alice: "How will you be able to teach me Karate? You're just some slow, doddering, old fool."
Master Bob: "Oh, really? If I was just some fool, how come I can do this!"
He lashes out a hand into the air and then snaps it shut with a victorious grin on his face. Alice raises an eyebrow to the fly still buzzing around the room and Master Bob opens his hand and looks at it confused.
Alice: "You were trying to catch that fly, weren't you?"
Master Bob: "No... I was trying to catch that ''other'' fly."
Alice: "I didn't see a second fl—"
Master Bob: "It was there! ...But I caught it before you could see it."
Alice: "Then where is it?"
Master Bob: "...I must've accidentally squeezed it out of existence with my highly atun—"
Alice: "I'm going home now.
Master Bob: "No, wait!" - Double Subverted:Alice: "I'm going home now."
Master Bob: "No, wait! Please Don't go! Don't make me beg!"
Master Bob falls to his knees and snaps his hands together in a begging motion just as the fly buzzes inbetween his palms, thus he inadvertently catches and kills the fly. Alice and Master Bob just look stunned at one another for a moment before the victorious smile returns to his face and he hops onto his feet.
Master Bob: "Awww, yeah! Look at that skill! I'm like Mr. Miyagi, bitches!"
Alice: "Actually, Mr. Miyagi didn't catch a fly, Daniel did. And that was by luck."
Master Bob: Psht! Whateves! Suck it!" - Parodied: Master Bob proves his skill by catching snails.Alice: "That's not all that impressive."
- Zig-Zagged:???
- Averted: ???
- Enforced:Writer: "We'll showcase Master Bob's badass-itude by having him catch a fly."
- Lampshaded:
- Master Bob catches a fly out of the air:
Alice: [impressed] "Woah! Either that was totally not as hard to do as it looks, or you really are a Kung Fu Master!"
Master Bob: "Told you, kid, I'm just that good. Like Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid.
Alice: "Mr. Miyagi didn't catch a fly, Daniel did. And that was by luck." - Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:Alice: "I've seen enough Kung Fu movies to know that a real karate master would be able to snatch that fly out of the air."
Master Bob: "If you don't believe of my skill, get out. This is not a movie and my abilities will not be judged by what you've seen in the theaters. I'm not Mr. Miyagi."
Alice: "Actually, Mr. Miyagi didn't catch a fly, Daniel did. And that was by luck." - Discussed: See Defied, above.
- Conversed:Tom: "In the first episode, Master Bob snatches a fly out of the air with his bare hands. Then he compares himself to Mr. Miyagi."
Lydia: "But Mr. Miyagi didn't catch a fly, Daniel did. And that was by luck."
Tim: "Yeah, one of the other characters, points that out to him."
Master Bob: "Hell yeah! You see me snatch that fly out of the air with my Super Fly Reflexes? I'm like that guy from The Karate Kid! What was his name? Oh yeah: "Daniel."
