Basic Trope: An ordinarily flightless bird is shown being able to fly.
- Straight: Penny the penguin can fly.
- Exaggerated: Penny the penguin's friends include Oscar the ostrich, Kenny the kiwi, Emily the emu, and Dana the dodo, which can all fly despite their species not being able to do so.
- Downplayed:
- Penny can only fly short distances.
- Chuck the chicken, Tara the turkey, and Peter the peacock can fly perfectly fine, even though their species are only known for flying short distances in real life.
- Justified:
- Penny is the result of genetic engineering.
- Penny is of a previously unknown species of penguin that can fly.
- Inverted: Despite being a type of bird that can fly, Edward the eagle cannot fly for whatever reason.
- Subverted: Penny seems to be flying, but she was actually shot through the air with a cannon.
- Double Subverted: Without the cannon, however, she's still pretty good at flying for a penguin.
- Parodied: Penny randomly grows wings and starts flying, and suddenly loses them after she's done. This is never explained.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Flightless birds are never shown with the ability to fly.
- Enforced:
- The creator of the series was misinformed on what types of birds can fly and which ones can't.
- "Wouldn't it be cool if a penguin could fly?"
- Lampshaded: "Is that a penguin flying?"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Penny needs to escape from danger quickly, so she flies away.
- Defied: Penny gets her wings clipped so she's unable to fly.
- Discussed: "Sometimes I wish I were able to fly."
- Conversed:
- "According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a penguin should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. Penny, of course, flies anyway because she doesn't care what humans think is impossible."
- "How come there's a penguin flying in this show? I thought penguins were flightless!"
Back to Flying Flightless Bird, where we can watch a bunch of ostriches fly overhead.
