Line #8 Main/IfICanOnlyMove


1	->''"If only... I could lift my sword..."''
2	-->-- '''Cecil''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''
3
4	There are times when the most important thing a hero can do is the slightest move.
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6	For instance, the hero is immobilized and is facing certain doom if he remains that way. Suddenly, ''everything'' depends on moving just enough to reach and activate something vital like his [[KidWithTheRemoteControl giant robot remote control]] or TransformationTrinket to summon help or activate his power mode to break free before it's too late. Unfortunately, the thing needed is often seemingly out of reach.
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8	With the maximum of suspenseful music and editing, the hero, often saying "If I can only move.." gives it everything he's got and just barely makes it. With that, help is summoned or the transformation, set to a ThemeMusicPowerUp, has begun and he's back in action.
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10	A variant is when a patient in a hospital has a severe back injury and there is a real danger of paralysis. In that case, the medical staff and patient tensely hope against hope for any movement to indicate the limbs are still functioning.
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12	Professional Wrestling has a specific subtrope: RickyMorton
13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	[[foldercontrol]]
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18	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19	* In ''Manga/OnePiece,'' near the end of the Enies Lobby arc, Luffy is exhausted and trapped in the ruins of a tower with several battleships poised to blow him away. Problem is, his fight with [[BigBad Rob Lucci]] took all his usual {{Determinator}} tendencies to bring down, leaving him so weak he really ''can't'' move at all, even with a few scenes of numerous allies cheering him on. Fortunately, [[PlotTailoredToTheParty Robin's ability allows her to move him herself from a distance]].
20	* The finale of the climactic fight between Vash and Knives in the anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Knives has gained the upper hand, and is about to use the devastating Angel Arm to annihilate Vash. As an exhausted Vash struggles to get up, he hears [[NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay the voice of Wolfwood]], telling him that all he has to do is reach down slightly to reach the trigger of the Cross Punisher that he had previously dropped. The resulting burst of gunfire disarms Knives and lets Vash seize the advantage.
21	* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Asato Kido doesn't allow his paralysis to stop him from telling Yusuke who the [[DeadlyDoctor evil doctor]] is by [[CouldntFindAPen writing the name with his own blood]].
22	* In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', this happens to Yami Yugi in the second and fourth episodes. Thanks to advice from Yugi and some quick thinking, he's able to save the day.
23	[[/folder]]
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25	[[folder:Comic Books]]
26	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': "If I can just reach my utility belt..."
27	* ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'': [[spoiler:Thorn is pinned only inches from the Crown of Thorns, and all she has to do is touch it and the world will be saved. Fone Bone holds her hand and touches the Crown, producing the same effect as if Thorn had touched it. Probably.]]
28	* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Dr. Donald Blake has been tied up at least once and has to struggle to reach his walking stick to strike it and transform into Thor.
29	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': One of the most famous panels is Spidey pinned beneath tons of rubble. The rare isotope that his dying Aunt May needs is mere feet away, and the room is being filled with water. He keeps trying to lift the rubble enough to escape, but it's VERY heavy. Cue the final Herculean effort!
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
33	* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'', Tai Lung was kept immobilized in a top security prison for years. Once he could take the very first step, he got out easily.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
37	* ''Film/KillBill'': "Wiggle your big toe." Maybe not 100% true to this trope but the Bride does this after coming out of a coma and trying to solve the problem of atrophy. Her arms however had been getting plenty of exercise, apparently.
38	* ''Film/WhatLiesBeneath'', the scene with Michelle Pfeiffer slowly drowning in the bath tub, trying to pull the plug out with her toe.
39	* ''Film/Predator2''. Lieutenant Harrigan is on a ledge on the side of a building with the Predator hanging onto him. The Predator has activated his SelfDestructMechanism, which will destroy a large area and kill thousands of people. The Predator's cutting disk is embedded in the wall ''just'' out of Harrigan's reach.
40	* ''Franchise/StarWars'' Episode V: ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' has a variation: Luke Skywalker is trapped in the wampa's cave, dangling by one foot, and about to be turned into a meal by the monster. His lightsaber is just out of reach, but he's able to call upon the ability of The Force to call it to his hand and cut his way to relative safety at the last moment.
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
44	* A routine seen commonly is where one wrestler is wrapped up tightly in his opponent's painful submission move. Languishing in the hold, the wrestler on the receiving end of the submission is juuuust barely able to make it to the ropes so the referee will call for the hold to be broken. Almost always, there will be a couple of seconds where their hand will dramatically be mere inches away from touching the rope right before they put in that last burst of effort and grab it.
45	** Another version of this is when a wrestler is in a headlock-type maneuver (like a sleeper hold) that makes them pass out. Here, the ref raises their arm and lets it drop; if he does that three times without the wrestler keeping the arm up, he loses by submission. This almost never happens; they always come to life as their arm drops for the third time.
46	* Typical wrestling match rules dictate that if a wrestler stays outside of the ring for the referee's full 10-count, they thereby lose the match. This makes for an often-seen spot where one badly-beaten wrestler has fallen outside of the ring and lays motionless until the fifth or sixth count, then begins to struggle to slowly but surely pull themselves up by the ring apron. At the count of nine, they finally heave themselves in to the ring, saving themselves from a loss.
47	[[/folder]]
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49	[[folder:Video Games]]
50	* At the end of the Creator/{{Infocom}} game ''[[VideoGame/{{Enchanter}} Spellbreaker]]'', the BigBad paralyzes you and then starts a JustBetweenYouAndMe speech that goes on just long enough to let you make one move at the last second to stop him. Unfortunately, by that point [[DownerEnding your options are limited]]. Even more awkwardly, you have to deliberately provoke him into paralysing you as soon as possible, so the paralysis wears off in time for you to act; if you try to remain under the radar he'll eventually paralyse you anyway and it won't wear off until after he's already won.
51	* The player in the final battle of ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'' - insofar as it can be considered a 'battle'.
52	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': During the fight with the Dark Elf, the party is struck down due to how their metal equipment is magnetically pinned down. Cue Cecil lamenting, "If I could only lift my sword!"
53	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': At one point Tifa is attached to a chair and has to wriggle ({{Fanservice}} suspected) enough to reach the key on the floor with her feet and use it to free herself before the room fills with gas.
54	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4'' ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' has some minor instances of this, notably at the end [[spoiler: where you must look to Captain Price, who throws you his gun to shoot Zakhaev and his guards]]. But this plays an even bigger role in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', particularly [[spoiler: in space, where you must move slightly as the astronaut in order to progress the scene]] or even more pivotally [[spoiler: where you must pull a knife out of your chest to throw at the enemy to save Captain Price.]]
55	* Spoofed in the ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2'' game with one of the exchanges that can happen during an armored car robbery:
56	-->'''Cop:''' If I could just... reach... [[ComicBook my utility belt!]]\
57	'''Robber:''' Quiet, you!
58	[[/folder]]
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60	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
61	* ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'' has a psychological example. The first step the protagonist needs to take out of his crippling depression is to leave his bedroom.
62	[[/folder]]
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64	[[folder:Web Animation]]
65	* In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', all Wash has to do in his fight with [[spoiler: the Meta at the end of season 6]] is distract him long enough to activate the EMP.
66	[[/folder]]
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68	[[folder:Western Animation]]
69	* Like many of his famous comic book scenes, the above example in Comic Books is given a ShoutOut in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', only Spidey is trapped under a ceiling fixture and it's Gwen Stacy who's in trouble.
70	* ''WesternAnimation/FrankensteinJr'': Played straight in "The Menace from the Wax Museum" where Buzz Conroy is immobilized with wax and everything depends on moving his ring to an open candle flame to contact his robot.
71	* Frequently invoked in old ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhost'' cartoons: "I... can't reach... my... power bands!"
72	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' always seems to get stuck with his spinach just out of reach.
73	* Zan and Jana of the ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' often find themselves in this situation with the need to activate their powers and they are both just out of reach. However, Gleek often solves the problem since his body can act as a conduit for their powers.
74	[[/folder]]

Context Main / IfICanOnlyMove