History Main / GracefulInTheirElement

SisterTrope to EloquentInMyNativeTongue and BunnyEarsLawyer (when someone's ''personality'' is extremely awkward, but they're an expert at their profession). See also CripplingOverspecialization, DancingRoyalty.

* ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}: One episode tested the myth that it was possible to swim as fast through syrup as through water, and as part of the testing, the crew requested the help of Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Nathan Adrian. The team had initially expected that he would be able to provide consistent swimming times -- his control tests for swimming in a trough full of water was indeed very consistent -- but once he got to the tests of him actually swimming in syrup, such consistency ended up becoming nonexistent to the point his results had to be thrown out, as evidently, it was such a bizarre and foreign experience to what he had trained for that [[DamnYouMuscleMemory it threw his technique completely out of whack]].

** Sea snakes have the same problem that sea turtles have, only worse: They don't have the ventral scales that their land-based cousins have and cannot move on land at all, and all true sea snakes give live birth in water.
*** This also applies to all of the extinct ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, and mosasaurs. They evolved to the point they never came to land at all and would die if beached.

** In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' Kong is left virtually defenseless in their first battle: unarmed and on a boat, Kong stands zero chance against the aquatic Godzilla. Their second fight, however, takes place in Hong Kong after Kong acquires his axe: allowing him to even the odds by utilizing an ape's two greatest skills-- tool use and climbing.

** Seals. On shore, they move with a kind of undulating motion that looks almost comical. Once they get into the water, they can give dolphins a run for their money.

* Orville the albatross in ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' and his brother Wilbur in ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder''. Landing or taking off is an ordeal, but once in the air, pure poetry. (TruthInTelevision for many seabirds)

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In one episode Melora Pazlar, a Starfleet officer from a [[LightWorlder light world]], is assigned to the station; because her muscles are designed for a light world she has to wear a special full-body brace in order to get around, which she does very clumsily. At one point some baddies have invaded; the crew turns off the ArtificialGravity, and she's the only one who can move about, quickly taking out the bad guys.

To a certain extent, this is TruthInTelevision. Moving in a different medium like asphalt, ice, and zero-g vacuum requires an entirely new skill set that doesn't completely map out with bipedal terrestrial locomotion. While being naturally graceful and aware of kinesthetics makes learning skating or piloting easier, it's by no means a free pass.

* A plot point in ''{{Film/Aquaman}}'': Arthur has spent most of his life on the surface, and is severely outmatched when forced to fight Atlanteans of similar skill level underwater. However, the Atlanteans are at a similar disadvantage when fighting on dry land.

* In the Franchise/DCUniverse, this is the background of one of the Sea Devils. He's a musclebound oaf on land, but he takes up diving and discovers he's a graceful swimmer.
* May apply to Awkwardman of the ''ComicBook/InferiorFive'' -- none of their cases takes place underwater.
* Manno the Merman, one of Wonder Woman's {{Distressed Dude}}s in the Silver Age comics who is pretty much even more useless than Aquaman outside the water. Beneath the waves, he is an excellent swimmer and a capable fighter. On land, however, he [[http://mermaid.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ronno_on_Land.jpg can only awkwardly hop around on his tail.]] At least Aquaman actually has legs.
* A milder example exists with Namor, the ComicBook/SubMariner. While he is by no means clumsy on land, it's been established he is much more agile and extremely fast (not to mention stronger) when he is in his element: the sea.
** This is the case for a lot of aquatic-themed heroes, who have to rely on their RequiredSecondaryPowers (such as the SuperStrength for pressure resistance) when on land and end up looking like fairly average bricks. When in the water, though, they're supremely fast and maneuverable, don't need to worry about air, and in many cases even get a further boost to their strength.
* Another merman example in Guy Guppy the Man Mermaid from ''ComicBook/BabeDarlingOfTheHills'', who manages to beat the superhumanly-skilled Babe Boone in a swimming race, but is virtually helpless on land, though he fares better once he gets a pair of crutches.
* Also applies to Franchise/SpiderMan, comparatively. On open ground, he can manage a decent athletic run or awkward but effective long jumps... but give him tall things to swing from and bounce off of and his entire mode of locomotion completely changes, and it becomes blatantly clear why people call him 'amazing', 'spectacular', and 'web-slinger'.
* Ehmte-Ciss-Ronn in ''ComicBook/{{Sillage}}''. He is a short, four-legged green alien lawyer, the last person you would expect of any athletic feats. However, he comes from an amphibian race and is a graceful swimmer, a fact that might catch his would-be assassins by surprise when he changes his office into a SharkPool with a push of a button.