Basic Trope: A character has wings but cannot fly.
- Straight: Bob has wings coming out of his back but cannot fly.
- Exaggerated: Despite having huge wings that are almost as big as the rest of his body, Bob cannot fly.
- Downplayed: Bob can use his wings to glide short distances like a flying squirrel.
- Justified: As with flightless birds, Bob's wings are too small proportionate to his body to carry his weight. He also has solid bones.
- Inverted:
- Bob can fly even though he has no wings or other body part that could let him fly, and is explicitly stated to have no supernatural powers.
- Bob's wings are used for anything but flying.
- Subverted:
- After practice, Bob learns how to fly.
- Bob cannot use his wings to fly, but it's because his wing was injured.
- Bob's wings are functional ... for something other than flight.
- Double Subverted:
- Bob has wings, but doesn't need them to fly, so they're basically decoration.
- At least he thinks so, but it was All Just a Dream.
- Even before they were injured, Bob's wings didn't work.
- Later, Bob loses even that non-flight use of his wings.
- Parodied:
- Bob can fly, but frequently picks up the Idiot Ball and forgets this.
- All characters without wings can fly, while no character with wings can.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob has wings but can't fly, but he uses them in an unconventional manner other than flying (such as using them to grab things from afar).
- Averted:
- Bob can use his wings.
- Bob has no wings.
- Enforced: Bob is a character in a Video Game which uses the Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence. His wings are an iconic part of his appearance, but letting him truly fly would bring up even more Fridge Logic.
- Lampshaded: "No, I can't fly. I somehow grew wings not too long ago, but boy, was I disappointed when I found out that they don't work."
- Invoked: Bob gets a non-working pair of wings grafted on.
- Exploited: Bob may be unable to fly, but he can use his wings to fan himself and his friends on hot days.
- Defied: Bob realizes his wings could theoretically be used to fly, and so with practice, and perhaps some surgery and magic, learns to do so.
- Discussed: Bob meets what he suspects is a very Literal Genie and wishes for wings, but is quick to stipulate that "I'd better also be able to fly with them."
- Conversed: "Why don't Bob's wings work? They certainly look like they should, and he's never mentioned any sort of injury to them."
- Implied: Bob has wings, but is never shown flying; instead, he walks everywhere.
- Deconstructed: Beyond being useless, Bob's wings are a liability: he has to take out all his shirts and preen his feathers, and they get stuck in doors, to say nothing of how painful they are when they get hit. He eventual elects to have them removed and live a normal life.
- Reconstructed: With Bob's species, wings are like hair: they're an expression of personality, and so are mostly important for social reasons. Bob simply has his feathers trimmed, leaving him with more conveniently-sized wings.
- Played for Laughs: Other characters hang their coats on Bob's wings, often against Bob's will.
- Played for Drama: Bob falls to his death thinking his wings will work.
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