Basic Trope: A character throws a punch and the opponent catches it.
- Straight: Alice throws a punch at Bob during a fight and Bob catches it.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice leaps off a table and performs a flying punch. Bob not only catches the punch effortlessly but he catches Alice herself and holds her off the ground by her fist.
- Bob catches Alice's punch with a single finger.
- Downplayed:
- Instead of catching the punch with one hand, Bob catches the punch with both hands on the sides of Alice's wrist like a Bare-Handed Blade Block and then redirects the momentum.
- Bob dodges Alice's wild, over-committed punch and grabs her forearm.
- Bob simply grabs the punch, pulls it down, and throws a nice little counter to her.
- Justified:
- Alice is wearing Spikes of Doom all over her costume except for her gloves. Bob has nowhere to dodge as she comes at him so he opts for catching her fist instead.
- Bob does this in a sparring match, training Alice on self-defense.
- Inverted: Alice tries to strike Bob open-handed and he holds out his fist to block, forcing her to catch it.
- Subverted: Bob catches Alice's fist but does not stop her momentum due to her Super-Strength and she ends up tearing his arm clean off...
- Double Subverted: ... but Bob is actually a Cyborg and his severed robotic hand holds onto Alice no matter how hard she tries to shake it off, eventually spraying her with some Knock Out Gas
- Parodied: Bob catches Alice's first punch; then her second punch. She tries to kick and somehow, a third hand comes out of nowhere and catches her foot too.
- Zig Zagged: Bob catches Alice's first punch but she hits him with her free hand. She tries her luck again but he catches her next punch. Then she goes in for a headbutt.
- Averted: Bob misses completely and Alice gives him a bloody nose.
- Enforced: "we need to show why Alice is Bob's disciple." "Just have him catch all her punches, that, along with his age, should convey why he's her master."
- Lampshaded: After Bob catches her punch, Alice looks down and remarks, "Okay, I admit, that was pretty cool".
- Invoked: Bob warns Alice beforehand that she will not succeed in hitting him. She tries to punch him anyway and this trope happens.
- Exploited:
- As a cyborg, Bob just so happens to have a shut-off switch in the palm of his hand. All Alice has to do is trick him into trying this trick.
- Bob crushes the fist after catching it.
- Defied: Bob catches her punch but ends up hurting his hand in the process, setting him up for a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from Alice.
- Discussed: Alice asks Bob if he can do this, how he does it, and if he can teach her.
- Conversed: Two martial artists groan when they see this happen in a movie, discussing how stupid and impractical it is in real life.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob tries this but ends up flubbing it, turning the whole thing into more of a Punch Parry.
- Bob attempts this, but his wrist breaks due to having just been punched directly in the hand.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob uses the parry to quickly get another punch in, and uses his boxing knowledge to get into a clinch up close and personal where he can deliver as much punches as much and as fast as he wants to before Alice kicks him off.
- Even though Bob was injured trying this trick, it also hurt Alice in the process. In fact, she seems to have been hurt worse, allowing Bob to continue the attack.
- Played For Laughs: Bob catches Alice's fist with a baseball glove.
Hey troper! Think fast! *catch*
