Basic Trope: A strong character who would probably win easily if he directly struck his opponent only throws the other around.
- Straight: Drake ineffectually slams Bob into walls and floors.
- Exaggerated:
- Drake punts Bob through multiple loadbearing concrete walls but it is not enough.
- Drake has Mind over Matter and could easily use it to either crush Bob like a can, or remove Bob's head from his torso, but only uses it to throw Bob.
- Downplayed: Drake's throws are ineffectual only when smashing Bob through fragile drywall. A hit against concrete genuinely hurts.
- Justified:
- Drake is a grappler, judoka, wrestler or otherwise trained primarily in a throwing style and his instinctual choice of combat moves reflects this.
- Drake isn't executing the throws correctly. A poor throw impact connects on the back and spreads energy throughout Bob's body, while a strike impact is more focused and thus does more damage. Done right, such as connecting on the head, Bob would have been toast.
- Bob has some magical defence against mundane kinetic impact. Only strikes from an appropriate magical weapon can affect him.
- Bob has Super-Toughness. It'll take more than wall-shattering force to bring him down.
- Drake is statistically better than Bob in every way and arrogantly doesn't feel the need to fight seriously.
- Bob has a close-range Damage Over Time aura and Drake doesn't have any ranged options, so the best way for Drake to minimise harm to himself is to throw Bob.
- Drake is limiting himself to the rules of the fight.
- Drake is Bob's sensei and throwing him makes for more efficient training than knocking him out for each mistake.
- Drake is such a Dumb Muscle that he only knows how to throw people.
- Inverted: Drake punches Bob a hundred times to no effect, but when the former finally uses a throw, one good throw ends Bob.
- Subverted:
- Bob tries to get up from getting thrown and then slumps over dead. Looks like Drake did manage to bust him up through throws.
- The impact on the wall kills Bob.
- Double Subverted: Bob turns out to be faking.
- Parodied: Drake destroys an entire house by throwing Bob around to little effect.
- Zig Zagged: Bob tries to get up after getting thrown, but dies. Bob appears to be faking this, but Drake was aware of this, and threw him again. Bob really dies.
- Averted:
- Drake doesn't waste time doing throws on Bob but just tackles him for a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Alternatively, no throws are used in fights, as they tend to end swiftly via One-Hit Kill.
- Enforced: The writer is not a martial artist or doesn't have/ignores his martial arts consultant, who would know better.
- Lampshaded: "You'd think he'd get tired of just throwing me and punch my jaw off by now or something."
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Why do all these Giant Mooks from this show only know how to throw people around?"
- Deconstructed: Drake 'harmlessly' throws Bob. Bob, in a panic, lands wrong, breaks his neck and dies much more quickly than he would have if Drake had used punches.
- Reconstructed: Bob is trained in break-falling, and Drake is fighting him on soft ground. While Drake's throws would normally do tremendous damage, these two factors allow Bob to mitigate the damage, survive and drag the fight out.
- Played For Drama: Drake's already killed many of Bob's allies with his superior strength, and is simply tossing Bob around to drive the point home about how helpless Bob is and how he'll die as soon as Drake feels like it.
Stop throwing the trope page around! Just Hit Him already!
