History Main / JustHitHim

* ''VideoGame/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' has a recurring villain, King Hippo, originally the WakeUpCallBoss of ''VideoGame/PunchOut''--a ''boxing'' game. This makes it very conspicuous that he basically never does the thing you'd expect a boxer to do--that is, throw a punch. He'll grab people or throw them in bags, but he's not going to actually use his boxing gloves for their intended purpose, when he fights at all.

* Mewtwo from ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' is the psychic version of this. Ash running towards him ready to sock him? Just levitate and launch into the nearby stone tower! That doesn't exactly work, however...

* Exceptionally egregious in ''Film/{{MenInBlack3}}''. The hero is dangling on the edge of a miles-high walkway, but proceeds to insult the bad guy - who responds by picking him up, choking him for a second, then throwing him... back onto the narrow walkway, the only spot in a 360 degree radius that WON'T kill him.

->''But like all good Terminators, this unthinking killing machine wouldn't hesitate to... ''dramatically hesitate''. And when this monster made of living knives gets too close to a main character, you can bet he'll... shove 'em ''real hard''.''

Of course, the usual explanation, from a writing and production standpoint, is a combination of RuleOfCool and RuleOfDrama. Seeing characters use superpowers to throw people across rooms or do fancy martial arts is much more interesting than a brawl, and if the villain actually ''does'' just hit him and it works, well [[TheBadGuyWins there's the end of your story]].

* The Russian from ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' was also an offender, especially when his throws keeping bringing Frank close to a hidden weapon or tool he uses to try kill or wound the Russian.
* The two hitmen sent to kill Jackie Chan in ''First Strike'' (aka ''Police Story 4'') decide they want to 'have some fun' with Jackie before they kill him. And how do burly Russian hitmen have fun? Throwing people across the room!

* WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}} makes use of this trope. When he's grabbed and about to get finished by his super-powered yet dumb nemesis Titan, he taunts him (with a massive dose of BrutalHonesty), and, instead of ripping him apart or melting his face with EyeBeams, an angered Titan tosses him across the square, [[spoiler: right next to Megamind's invisible car [[NiceJobFixingItVillain containing the depowering device]]]]. A minute later, Titan grabs and throws Megamind ''yet again'', [[spoiler: this time several hundred meters up, expecting that the fall would kill him, but instead it just gives Megamind enough time to save himself and get a surprise attack and for the depowering device to fully charge up]].

* In the video for Music/FallOutBoy's "Centuries," a gigantic gladiator tosses four smaller enemies around like toys with only brief attempts to try anything like a strangulation. While the impact clearly does hurt, it also means that by the time the giant actually picks up an axe to finish his foes, the smaller men have stayed in the game long enough to improvise a sling and bring the big guy down at range.

* The early days of ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' in many media featured this trope very heavily. Reportedly, ExecutiveMeddling at LEGO was very tentative about featuring their characters using dangerous weapons, despite all the Toa coming with swords, axes, claws, and so on. To compromise, it was decided that the weapons were "Toa Tools", which served to channel the wielder's elemental powers and nothing else--and as a result, look at most of the Mata Nui arc and you have a whole lot of instances of characters pointedly not using their weapons to hit things. Either they're hitting objects with them, shooting their respective element, fighting in complete darkness, or missing.

-->'''Lisa:''' ... the Manton effect is why most telekinetics can'’t just reach into your chest and crush your heart. Most people who can create forcefields can't create one through the middle of your body and [[PortalCut cut you in two.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' had this trope pretty hard, too. Despite Wolverine having [[WolverineClaws a trope]] he's known for, he wasn't allowed to do anything worse than body-check human or mutant opponents. Robots and monsters were still fair game for dismemberment, though. This trope was espcially noticeable given that there ''wasn't'' a restriction against bad guys hitting Wolverine, and in once notable instance in the early episodes he was taken out of commission by a brutal on-screen clawing from Sabertooth.

* According to Wrestling/YujiNagata, this is a ''fundamental'' step in the WrestlingPsychology of a strong style match. The wrestlers of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling would always start off with ''wrestling'' to prove they were better conditioned, more technically sound, harder working and more talented than their Wrestling/{{All Japan|ProWrestling}} counterparts. But inevitably one wrestler would start winning in which the loser would start forearming and kicking him while trying not to lose. It's also {{downplayed|trope}} in that a slam, throw, suplex, submission hold or such would often be what finished the match regardless, making it more like "just don't forget you can hit him too".

Of course, the usual explanation from a writing and production standpoint is a combination of RuleOfCool and RuleOfDrama. Seeing characters use superpowers to throw people across rooms or do fancy martial arts is much more interesting than a brawl, and if the villain actually ''does'' just hit him and it works, well [[TheBadGuyWins there's the end of your story]].

Of course, the usual ([[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]]) explanation is a combination of RuleOfCool and RuleOfDrama. Seeing characters use superpowers to throw people across rooms or do fancy martial arts is much more interesting than a brawl, and if the villain actually ''does'' just hit him and it works, well [[TheBadGuyWins there's the end of your story]].

Villains with super strength often just use it to throw heroes across the room instead of caving in their ribcage with a single body blow. Villains trained in martial arts will execute unnecessary jumps and spins that give heroes plenty time to dodge when they could've gone for a simple kick or uppercut. And those with MindOverMatter will opt for harmlessly tossing heroes around the room and telekinetically hurling the nearest object they can find at them when it's easier to just snap their necks without lifting a finger, or squish them into a human meatball.

Villains with super strength often just use it to throw heroes across the room instead of caving in their ribcage with a single body blow. Villains trained in martial arts will execute unnecessary jumps and spins that give heroes plenty time to dodge when they could've gone for a simple kick or uppercut. And those with MindOverMatter will opt for harmlessly tossing heroes around the room and telekinetically hurling the nearest object they can find at them when it's easier to just snap their necks without lifting a finger, or compress them into a bloody human meatball.

** If anything, Nemesis does this even more in the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake Remake]], as there is one scene where he has Jill dead to rights with his head around her face, and still insists on tossing her aside to initiate a boss fight. It's so prominent its arguable he had an AdaptationalPersonalityChange into an EgomaniacHunter that can only kill Jill ''after'' she fights back.

* Subverted in the Subway Showdown in ''Film/TheMatrix'', in which Smith throws Neo across the room a lot, but also pins Neo to the wall and punches him silly.

See WhyDontYouJustShootHim for relevant {{Stock Phrase}}s. Compare BondVillainStupidity. Contrast WrestlerInAllOfUs, particularly its subtropes MeteorMove, SpinningPiledriver and SuplexFinisher, where throws are genuinely dangerous. Contrast OnceIsNotEnough when the hero KO's the villain and then chooses to flee instead of finishing him off. When this is applied to any sharp weapon, see InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy. Also see MonsterThreatExpiration.

* Lampshaded in ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' (the movie if not the book). Fezzik doesn't want to kill Westley right away because he hates for people to die embarrassed. He mentions during the fight that he's really much more experienced fighting large groups than just one man, explaining that one uses very different tactics and moves against a dozen men.

See WhyDontYouJustShootHim for relevant {{Stock Phrase}}s. Compare BondVillainStupidity. Contrast WrestlerInAllOfUs, particularly its subtropes MeteorMove, SpinningPiledriver and SuplexFinisher, where throws are genuinely dangerous. Contrast OnceIsNotEnough when the hero KO's the villain and then chooses to flee instead of finishing him off. When this is applied to any sharp weapon, see InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy.

* ''Film/Overlord2018'': After the BigBad Wafner gains SuperStrength, he spends a lot of the film simply tossing Americans around rather than breaking their bones with punches.

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* According to Wrestling/YujiNagata, this is a ''fundamental'' step in the WrestlingPsychology of a strong style match. The wrestlers of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling would always start off with ''wrestling'' to prove they were better conditioned, more technically sound, harder working and more talented than their Wrestling/{{All Japan|ProWrestling}} counterparts. But inevitably one wrestler would start winning in which the loser would start forearming and kicking him while trying not to lose. It's also {{downplayed|trope}} in that a slam, throw, suplex, submission hold or such would often be what finished the match regardless, making it more like "just don't forget you can hit him too".[[/folder]]

-->'''Lisa:''' "... the Manton effect is why most telekinetics can’t just reach into your chest and crush your heart. Most people who can create forcefields can’t create one through the middle of your body and [[PortalCut cut you in two.]]”

* Much like DeadlyDodging on Spidey's part, JustHitHim was thoroughly exercised by various supervillains and superheroes alike on ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' due to the fact that the network suits didn't allow anyone to throw punches. Try to imagine the otherwise badass Kingpin or Venom being limited to picking up Spidey, then lightly dropping him again and proceeding to pronounce how invincible and deadly they truly are. To be fair, Kingpin is known for handing out spine-crunching bear hugs to his opponents, and despite this handicap, [[PragmaticAdaptation Venomis still scary as hell.]]
* Also comes up in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderman''; in his first fight with the web-head, Rhino repeatedly grabs him and throws him away. This is after it has already been made abundantly clear to both of them that Spidey is a (relatively) FragileSpeedster while Rhino is a MightyGlacier, and that the fight would be over immediately if Rhino just kept hold of him and tore him apart. Averted later, when Silvermane has Spidey in a bear hug. Even when blinded, he doesn't let go and opts just to crush Peter.

* Thanks to censorship, this applied to most of the bare-handed fights in ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}.'' Skewered by {{Creator/Seanbaby}} [[http://www.seanbaby.com/superfriends/grundy.htm here.]]
-->''The cartoon's No Punching Rule was harder on Grundy than it was for the other villains. Most of them still had things they could throw or gadgets they could push buttons on. If you take away Solomon Grundy's ability to punch, he's as useless as a first base coach. The only thing he could do during a fight is something we called the "Grab Attack" as kids. It was a complicated move where he grabbed the other guy until they pulled free or shoved him off. Sometimes they waited until he carried them around a little bit. You might have inadvertently used this same move on your kitten or a bag of groceries. Just remember, every time you're carrying a case of beer to the hooker in your car, you're kicking as much ass as Solomon Grundy, and that's not even counting when you punch the hooker.''

* The Russian hitman from ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' was also an offender.

See WhyDontYaJustShootHim for relevant {{Stock Phrase}}s. Compare BondVillainStupidity. Contrast WrestlerInAllOfUs, particularly its subtropes MeteorMove, SpinningPiledriver and SuplexFinisher, where throws are genuinely dangerous. Contrast OnceIsNotEnough when the hero KO's the villain and then chooses to flee instead of finishing him off. When this is applied to any sharp weapon, see InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy.

See WhyDontYaJustShootHim for relevant {{Stock Phrase}}s. Compare BondVillainStupidity. Contrast WrestlerInAllOfUs, particularly its subtropes MeteorMove, SpinningPiledriver and SuplexFinisher, where throws are genuinely dangerous. Contrast OnceIsNotEnough when the hero KO's the villain and then chooses to flee instead of finishing him off.

Villains with super strength often just use it to throw heroes across the room instead of caving in their ribcage with a single body blow. Villains trained in martial arts will execute unnecessary jumps and spins that give heroes plenty time to dodge when they could've gone for a simple kick or uppercut. And those with MindOverMatter will opt for harmlessly tossing heroes around the room and telekinetically hurling the nearest projectile at them when it's easier to just compress them into a bloody human meatball.