History Main / IAmNotLeftHanded

[[folder:Folms - Animated]]

* In ''Videogame/AsurasWrath'', half-way through the fight with Augus, he relishes the fact that Asura is putting up a decent challenge and takes out his sword Wailing Dark, proclaiming that not even the finest wine or the fairest maiden excites him as much as using his blade. The game then cuts to Yasha and Deus, who senses this and notes that Augus has only ever used his sword once before, and that was with [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Deus]] himself.

* In the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, Stephen is always shown in a wheelchair, [[MrExposition provides necessary exposition]], developed essential tools for combating demons such as the Demon Summoning Program, and can heal the player's party. Beyond that, he doesn't do much. In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', [[spoiler:not only does he reveal himself to be capable of offensive abilities in combat, but, as part of a SecretTestOfCharacter to Nanashi and the protagonists of the previous four mainline ''SMT'' games, he can also stand up just fine and become the hardest BonusBoss in the game at level 128, putting him at an even higher level than YHVH (100), the game's FinalBoss; in other words, Stephen is more powerful than ''God Himself'']].

* Kyril Sutherland from ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' typically fights like an end-game level ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' [[HunterOfMonsters hun]][[PlayerCharacter ter]], [[AttackAttackAttack highly offensive]] and all. He can [[HealingPotion heal up]] quickly, and he [[ResurrectiveImmortality cannot die]]. How much stronger can this guy get? Aside from his [[SuperMode Beast Blood Pellet power-up]], it turns out that [[spoiler:his [[HumanoidAbomination human]] [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith vessel]] is just a mask for his nature as a [[EldritchAbomination great one]], which, like any horror found in a CosmicHorrorStory, is the harbinger of [[BrownNote many]] [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm horrible]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation things]]. Thankfully, he manages to avert the BlueAndOrangeMorality that comes with it, but that would mean that he [[WillfullyWeak fears the consequences of going all out]]]]. [[spoiler:The one time Kyril slips off his mortal mask just a tiny bit is when his two apprentices get injured from fighting OneWingedAngel Shamuhaza. The fight ends immediately because he gets {{mind rape}}d by glimpsing what is behind Kyril's mask. There is a reason why he has yet to show off his full power or true form in the series. Never has holding back and then taking one's power up a notch this [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] before.]]

** Happens as early as the second episode in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]]. Ed opts to allow Cornello to think that it's the State Alchemist watch that lets him perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. Then, when the time comes to show otherwise, he bluntly tells Cornello "My skills don't come from a pocket watch!"

* ''Anime/PumpkinScissors'': Alice L. Malvin pulls this bit in the final duel of the series when she switches hands mid-fight.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** She also pulled this on Hild in an earlier arc. The latter thought that she couldn't fight since she no longer had her angel, Lind ([[spoiler: and Keiichi's]]) reply can be summed up as [[spoiler: I Am Not Single Angeled]].

** After taking a hard hit from second-form Frieza, Piccolo ditches his weighted cape and powers up to a higher level. This gives him the advantage until Frieza one-ups him by going to his third form.
** Goku tries this against Nappa, refusing to use the Kaio-ken and handily beats him. Then he tries to kill Gohan and Krillin, forcing Goku's hand.

** Kagura pulls this on [[spoiler:Abuto]]. They seemed a pretty equal match until he has her pinned to the floor and helpless, but it turns out she [[spoiler: wasn't fighting with her full power; she then goes full-on Yato on him and proceeds to give him a thorough thrashing]].

** A particularly crazy example that spoils an awesome twist: [[spoiler: Despite being physically weak and ill, Nanami starts the series able to easily defeat her brother, who defeated the official Greatest Swordsman in Japan. Turns out, she can also [[PowerCopying copy any skill]] she sees, including super-strength, spontaneous claw growth, and walking on water. Then it turns out that she has inhuman resilience and can't die no matter how sick or poisoned she becomes. ''Then'' it turns out she's acquired one of the Deviant Blades, which cures her weakness and low energy. After all that, she still counts as WillfullyWeak! She uses others' skills because her own instinctive combat skills are utterly perfect]].

** [[spoiler: A, the Raikage, thinks he is still stronger than Bee when the latter challenges him to a Lariat strike. However, Bee reveals he has surpassed him, and completely overpowers him ''without'' his Hachibi Cloak.]]

** The entire Negi/Kotaro vs. Rakan/Kage consists of the opponents one-upping each other ludicrous levels. [[spoiler: Negi does it ''five times'' in a single chapter.]]

*** Rakan in general is this trope. [[spoiler: After he was finally defeated by Fate and dissolved by the Code of the Lifemaker, he re-materializes when Fate taunts Negi and then gives Fate a final epic punch and tells Negi to kick his ass before dissolving for real.]]

** The Evangelions have large electrical plugs attached to their back, but [[spoiler:when Eva-01 goes berserk during the Zeruel battle it doesn't need power at all]]. They also have armor which doesn't protect them as much as it restrains them, even being referred to as "binders". [[spoiler: After the berserk Eva-01 mutilates and "awakens" after ''eating'' Zeruel it pops off its binders by ''flexing its muscles'', which scares Nerv enough to put it under quarantine.]]
** In general, when the Evas go berserk, they tend to do things that didn't seem within their capabilities beforehand (regenerating arms, taking damage that would have destroyed them earlier, and in Rebuild, [[spoiler: shooting eye beams and triggering new impacts ''by themselves''!]]).

* ''Perfect XXX'': After pitching a few perfect games with his left hand, an opposing hitter actually hits a home run off of one of Kenshiro's pitches in the first inning, so then in the next inning Kenshiro surprises everyone (well everyone on the other team and Ayato) by pitching with his right hand. [[spoiler: Apparently the whole reason Kenshiro even used his left hand for everything (eating, writing, etc.) was to try to score points with Ayato, because Ayato said "Lefties are cool".]]

*** Tezuka, [[spoiler: as a first-year, was already better than his senpais, so [[ValuesDissonance he hid the fact that he was better, to not insult them]]. When Tezuka's cover was blown, one of the senpais lost it and ''hit him in the arm with his racket'', this being the source of his infamous injury]].

** This also happens in the second movie, Battle of the British City, where after Ryoma's reveal of being left-handed, [[spoiler: Keith]] also switches to his dominant left hand having been using his right hand for most of the match.

*** Also with Shiraishi in the New Prince of Tennis, where it's revealed during a match that the reason his left hand was wrapped in bandages was because [[spoiler: underneath he was wearing a golden gauntlet.]] With that taken off, the power and speed of his shots become impossibly high.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Played for drama by Hiko Seijuro, who wears "a white cloak set with springs opposing the muscles and 10 kan (80 lbs) of shoulder-weights. It's been used by those who hold the name of Hiko Seijuro to restrain the inheritor of the Hiten Mitsurugi's power in times of peace." He takes the cloak off in preparation to [[spoiler: attack with the lethal and exacting Kuzu Ryu Sen, forcing Kenshin to master the succession technique or die trying]].

* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'': Fai/Fay begins the series with an elaborate phoenix tattoo which Yuuko demands as his payment for the fulfillment of his wish. Much later, it's revealed that [[spoiler: the tattoo was designed to prevent his magic from growing in power each and every time he uses it, as it would otherwise naturally do]]. The reason is [[spoiler:he's cursed to kill the first person he meets whose magic exceeds his own. Suppressing his magic only makes it more likely he'll run across someone stronger]]. And just as a reminder, [[spoiler:without that limiter, Fay's magic can destroy an entire world/dimension/at least country when he has a SuperPowerMeltdown]].

** In Vol. 4: [[spoiler: Emp confronts Fleshmaster, a former hero who'd turned his powers against everyone at Capes' award banquet. Emp's suit had been [[ClothingDamage shredded down to gloves]], rendering her naked and powerless. Fleshmaster gives her a quick {{Not So Different|Remark}} speech (They were both considered the {{Butt Monkey}}s of the hero community) and offers to spare Ninjette and Thug Boy... if Emp will give him a blow job. Emp goes "ShutUpHannibal"... before revealing that she could turn her suit invisible at will. Cue CurbStompBattle]].

** In ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'', the team are confronted by a Sentinel. They line up and talk tactics but Cyclops is in no mood for such things -- he removes his glasses, and utterly ''eradicates'' the Sentinel from existence -- as well as about a mile of forest around. Later in the same run, he had his powers psychically de-activated by [[Characters/EmmaFrostWhiteQueen Emma Frost]] and had been captured and tortured by an alien warlord. When he finally tells the warlord that the X-Men's secret weapon "Leviathan", was completely fictional (thus throwing out any reason to keep him alive), he starts laughing. The warlord attacks him, demanding to know what else he's been lying about. [[spoiler: Then [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Gd8NBIma-zo/RzSgt3KLuhI/AAAAAAAABm8/hjnXT6PbLlA/s1600-h/scottLies1.jpg with the villain right up in his face,]] [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Gd8NBIma-zo/RzSguHKLuiI/AAAAAAAABnE/VsI5SKYySOM/s1600-h/scottLies2.jpg Cyclops reactivates his eyebeams and blasts the villain, leaving a massive hole in the building.]]]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Sigurd]]:''' ...I've got a confession to make. I'm actually left-handed. ''[switches his sword to the other hand]''\\

** During the FinalBattle, [[spoiler: Jade also reveals that the ExactWords of the rules for the Yade Khan game allow her to interfere and declare the winner. She just never has before because VictoryIsBoring]].

** In the sequel, Harry's having trouble in his fight with 'the Beast' [[spoiler: a.k.a. the Blob a.k.a. Dudley Dursley after several years of relative time under the influence of Sinister and the Red Room]], in large part because he's initially holding back (though having his PsychicPowers blocked, and the psychological impact his opponent's identity and NighInvulnerability, didn't help). After he gets pummelled a bit, he demonstrates just how dangerous he really is.
** In a much more dangerous example, Harry spends most of the ''Forever Red'' arc hinting that he's holding back. When he's finally pushed over the edge by a phenomenally brutal TraumaCongaLine, he shows just what he meant by [[spoiler: unleashing the Dark Phoenix]]. Since calling this a DangerousForbiddenTechnique would be an epic understatement, it is both a statement on how far gone he was that he used it, and a ''very'' good thing that he doesn't do so again.

* ''Fanfic/ShinobiOfTheHighSeas'': During the fight at Enies Lobby, Naruto reveals that his headband is a PowerLimiter, complete with a NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech. He then removes it and proceeds to [[spoiler: kick the crap out of one of the [=CP9=], destroy two-thirds of the Buster Call fleet, one-shot a Vice Admiral (who was using Armament Haki), and fight Admiral Aokiji to a stalemate]].

* In ''Film/MysteryMen'', Mr. Furious repeatedly claims how powerful he is, fueled by his endless rage. Like most of the characters in this movie, his powers are undercut by reality. It is even revealed that [[RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun the urban legend of him lifting a city bus]] was more accurately described as him giving it a push...while it was in motion. He goes head to head in the final act against Casanova Frankenstein, but is quickly knocked aside by the flamboyant villain. Down and out and off-screen, we hear...[[spoiler: Mr. Furious say "rage, taking over" - a line that he had said several times before but without much effect. Frankenstein dismisses him saying, "yah yah yah, we have heard this before." Furious jumps up into frame, new resolve on his face, and declares, "no no no, rage REALLY taking over"...and then kicks some serious butt.]]

* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', Captain Malcolm Reynolds is down-and-out, lying on the ground after having his butt handed to him by The Operative. The Operative employs a paralyzing technique that he had used earlier in the film, punching Mal in a nerve cluster in the lower back. [[spoiler: It is revealed that Mal had been injured in a battle, had that nerve cluster moved, and his weakness becomes his strength as he gets up and catches the Operative by surprise, overpowering him and winning.]]

* ''Film/{{Zatoichi}}'' (the 2003 film) subverts this: [[spoiler: as he is killing the last two {{Yakuza}} members, Zatōichi opens his eyes and the Yakuza boss assumes he can really see. In the very last scene of the movie, he trips over a rock and a voiceover says "Even with my eyes open, I still can't see a thing."]]

** In Drew Karpyshyn's ''Literature/DarthBane: Path of Destruction'', Bane eventually has to fight Kas'im, the Blademaster from the Sith Lord academy where he had trained, who uses a two-bladed lightsaber. Though Kas'im is the foremost MasterSwordsman of the Sith, Bane is stronger in the Force and, after training with Kas'im privately for countless hours, already knows all his moves. The pupil is at first beating the master... until [[spoiler: Kas'im detaches his saber-staff into two separate sabers, revealing that the ''real'' reason he has been telling his students DualWielding is useless is so that no-one else would learn it, or how to defend against it, which Bane indeed now can't]].

** ''War of Honor'' [[DeconstructedTrope shows what happens]] when you reveal this too early: The Manticorans are forced back onto their heels by the Havenites unexpectedly pulling this, thanks to Admiral Shannon Foraker being a very busy girl during the Cease Fire. They reveal some devastatingly powerful new superweapons, but they are not ready to deploy them to the entire fleet yet. Realizing this, the Havenites send what is, at that point, the largest battle fleet in history in an all-or-nothing bid to crush the Manticoran homeworlds' defenses and force a surrender. [[spoiler: They fail, but not before over a million people on both side die in the battle.]]

** Unfortunately for the Manticorans, this was ''also'' the case for the [[spoiler: Mesan Alignment Navy]], who managed to conceal their entire ''existence'' behind the front of the comically inept and corrupt Mesan Navy. Their first move against the Manties? [[spoiler: [[SittingDuck Oyster]] [[CurbStompBattle Bay]].]]

* Jaime Lannister averts this trope in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' in the most heartbreaking way after [[spoiler: the Bloody Mummers cut off his right hand]]. He tells people jokingly that he only let them do it because he wanted to make swordfighting more interesting. In reality, however, he's not remotely competent with his left hand - he can't even hit a bear with a thrown bone.

* Daylen Namaran in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' possesses [[SwissArmySuperpower a ton of useful powers]], but as a MasterSwordsman who thrives on competition and combat, he holds back on using them for most of his fight with [[spoiler: [[SkyPirate Captain Blackheart]]]] simply because he enjoys fighting someone who can give him a real challenge.

* Sometime after [[spoiler:his death]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', Greil is revealed to have [[spoiler:crippled his sword arm because Lehran's medallion caused him to go AxCrazy and kill his wife]]. When [[spoiler:the Black Knight finds out he didn't fight the true Greil because of this, he holds back in his final fight in [=PoR=] so that Ike will become stronger and show him what Greil was truly capable of]]. And the person that reveals this to the player also counts.[[spoiler: Volke is actually an assassin hired by Greil to kill him just in case he goes berserk again. After the revelation, Volke gets his promotion from thief to assassin. And then makes the same deal with Ike.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' Regal Bryant fights only using kicks, keeping his hands shackled. [[spoiler: Late in the game, you find out firsthand that when he fought using his hands, he was as or more powerful then, than the team is currently, and that was without the Exspheres that allow them to be powerful.]]

* Ragna the Bloodedge from ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' holds great power in the Azure Grimoire [[spoiler: copy/fake]] that makes up his right arm, but refuses to use it for much of the game. When he does, stuff starts hitting the fan ''very'' quickly. BigBad Hazama/Terumi does this too [[spoiler: as he created the Azure Grimoire]].

** Wazy from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsToAzure'', leader of "Testament" gang, is constantly at odds with leader of a rival gang "Saber Vipers", Wald, to determine which of the two gangs hold authority in Crosbell's downtown. In Ao prologue when Wazy joins SSS, Wald challenges Wazy for another match only to be [[CurbStompBattle easily defeated]], showing that he has been holding back in their previous duels. Near the end of the game, it's revealed that the reason Wazy was that strong is that he's [[spoiler: one of Dominion, twelve strongest fighters in Septian Church's [[ChurchMilitant Gralsritter]] with the nickname "Blue Testament"]].

* In ''VisualNovel/SharinNoKuni'' [[spoiler: when Kenichi fights Houzuki, he finds out that Houzuki's leg is actually completely fine, and promptly loses the fight as a result]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Juathuur}}'', Rowasu [[spoiler: considers his sword a ''handicap''. Notice that two opponents tried to disarm him]]. More specifically, [[spoiler:once the sword is no longer in his hand, ''the hand itself'' becomes a weapon]].

* General Grievous at the end of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars''[[note]]the 2003 series, not the 2008 one[[/note]]. You thought he was tough with two arms? Well, turns out he has ''four''.
* A darker version occurred in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' - Damian Wayne and Blue Beetle get into a fight and Damian asks who's fighting, him or the Scarab. Beetle replies that he hopes it's him. This wasn't a boast, though -- it's a warning as he's restraining the Scarab from taking any kill-shots. Indeed, the moment control was lost, the Scarab takes over and flash-fries part of Damian's face.

** In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', Superman builds The Miracle Machine, which can grant one wish. [[BigBad Mandrakk]] arrives and says he did that for nothing, as he has no power source great enough to activate it. Superman [[spoiler: unleashes the stored yellow sunlight within his own body, turning it on. He wishes for... [[EarnYourHappyEnding a happy ending]]. This simply ensures that the good guys will win this battle]].
*** Likewise, Mr. Tawky Tawny is involved in this crisis and the Tigerman leader he fights - Kalibak, the son of ''Darkseid'' - learns the hard way that while he may look like a wimp in his tweed business suit and bowtie, he is still a mighty ''tiger!''

** In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' Thor is desperately trying a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan to Loki. He seems to consider it, [[spoiler:and then stabs Thor sneering at the "sentiment". Thor promptly grabs Loki, lifts him into the air, before slamming him onto the ground]]. Director Creator/JossWhedon even described this point as Thor "finally having enough of Loki's shit."

* ''Manga/DragonBall Z'': Whether hero or villain, the characters tend to do this very frequently.

** Kenpachi's third seat,[[BloodKnight Ikkaku Madarame]] likes to be straightforward in battle. His skills, however, are anything but.

** This is always the case in your first fight with a Gym Leader. Their job is to test new trainers, not utterly crush them, so their initial team is scaled to where the player is expected to be, despite being explicitly the most powerful trainers in a region who aren't the Elite Four or the Champion. In games allowing rematches, they go all out in the rematch, using Pokémon of a ''much'' higher level and often Pokémon they didn't use in the initial battle.

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'': Saitama takes this trope leaps and bounds beyond most. Most of the time, every threat he finds, he can trounce without putting an ounce of effort. And then the really powerful villains show up, start thrashing the entire league of superheroes, and he decides he'll get slightly serious about it. And ''that'' is when the near-apocalyptic punches start coming out. Woe betide anyone he actually has to punch ''twice''.

* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/050227c (Non alternate) Mynd tries it.]]
* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' parodies it [[https://www.dominic-deegan.com/comic/1010-20050928/ as well]].

* Near the end run of ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey, the team moves their headquarters from Metropolis to Platinum Flats, which just happens to be the next town over from where former member ComicBook/BlackCanary is now living. Of course, it ultimately results in a LetsYouAndHimFight between Black Canary and current Bird of Prey member ComicBook/{{Manhunter|DCComics}}. As they battle Manhunter prattles about her recent fights against other superheroes, explaining the successes she has had in sparring matches against the likes of Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}} and is happy to finally have a chance to see how she compares against such a famed martial artist as the Canary. Eventually, she asks why Canary [[FightsLikeANormal has not used her signature Canary Cry sonic attack]]. Canary says she "is trying really hard not to put [the Manhunter] in the hospital." Canary wins the fight.

* During ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'', ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, here called Weapon X, lost his left hand to Cyclops and it seemed that he had also lost his claws on that hand, too. However, during the final confrontation with Donald Pierce, Weapon X revealed that he had actually ''retracted'' his claws before he lost his hand, and promptly gutted Pierce with them.

* Quite infamously in ''ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics'' by [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]]. After Wolverine badly wounds him, Magneto had reached his breaking point and decided to stop pussyfooting around, casually ripping the adamantium out of Wolverine's body through his pores.

* Kyril Sutherland from ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' typically fights like an end-game level ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' [[HunterOfMonsters hun]][[PlayerCharacter ter]], [[AttackAttackAttack highly offensive]] and all. He can [[HealingPotion heal up]] quickly, and he [[ResurrectiveImmortality cannot die]]. How much stronger can this guy get? Aside from his [[SuperMode Beast Blood Pellet power-up]], it turns out that [[spoiler:his [[HumanoidAbomination human]] [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith vessel]] is just a mask for his nature as a [[EldritchAbomination great one]], which, like any horror found in a CosmicHorrorStory, is the harbinger of [[BrownNote many]] [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm horrible]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation things]]. Thankfully, he manages to avert the BlueAndOrangeMorality that comes with it, but that would mean that he [[WillfullyWeak fears the consequences of going all out]]]]. [[spoiler:The one time Kyril slips off his mortal mask just a tiny bit is when his two apprentices get injured from fighting OneWingedAngel Shamuhaza. The fight ends immediately because he gets MindRaped by glimpsing what is behind Kyril's mask. There is a reason why he has yet to show off his full power or true form in the series. Never has holding back and then taking one's power up a notch this [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] before.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone'': Applies to all of the four, really, but especially to Paul (who, ironically, is left-handed in [[Music/PaulMcCartney Real Life]]) and George, both of whom have many more abilities than anyone could possibly guess—even themselves!—and who are entirely unwilling to tell outsiders about them until it becomes necessary to actually use them.

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', a gun salesman is trying to teach Marty how to shoot, to demonstrate the Colt Peacemaker, and laughs at Marty's terrible shot. However, turns out Marty is not left-handed, he switches to his good hand... It might be worth noting that the salesman seems to deliberately thrust the gun into Marty's left hand. Marty does try to switch hands, but the salesman stops him. As noted on other pages concerning this, revolvers were shot in the left hand during those days. This was because you needed your right hand to hold the reins of the horse.

* In an episode of the ''Series/MadTV'' recurring skit "Average Asian", a man challenges said Asian to a game of ping pong. After losing, the Asian says "Let me put the paddle in my OTHER hand" needless to say, "He's an expert Asian! When it comes to ping pong!"

* ''Series/TetanggaMasaGitu'': Adi get the upper hand early in a pingpong match against Angel's ex-boyfriend Ruly Ernando. Once Angel arrives, Ruly decides to start playing seriously and utterly demoilishes Adi.

* In the 1957 Disney ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'' TV series, Don Diego de la Vega is a master swordsman, with many awards for his swordplay in Spain. When he decides to become a sword-fighting vigilante, one of the first things he does is to dispose of his awards so as to better pass himself off as a clumsy IdleRich to his new neighbors in California. One episode's plot naturally revolves around Don Diego being challenged to a duel and having to somehow win while ''still'' fighting left-handed (figuratively speaking) so as to avoid blowing his cover. Interest enough, [[spoiler:it doesn't fool the Capitán. If anything, it more or less confirms for him that Don Diego is Zorro.]]

** When he first encountered [[ComicBook/WhatsSoFunnyAboutTruthJusticeAndTheAmericanWay Manchester Black and The Elite]], he pulled off a BatmanGambit to show how scary he'd be if he ever really cut loose.

** Spidey, competitor Marvel's flagship character, does something similar to Superman, too, albeit at a much lower level; after all, Spidey collars ordinary crooks almost as often as he clashes with super-villains (and several of them still have only human-level toughness), and using his full strength to punch out a non-superpowered bank robber would end up rather messy. Often, he avoids this simply by webbing up normal guys rather than fighting them directly. A rare example of his actually taking the kid-gloves off occurred In ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' when he was goaded by [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin The Kingpin]], someone who had always been considered a worthy match for him before -- but not now. With nothing left to lose, [[CurbStompBattle Spidey wiped the floor with him]], letting every witness (and there were ''plenty'') know he could have done that ''any'' time he had wanted. A ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' story showed he was ''still'' holding back: had he wanted he could have [[OneHitKill ripped Kingpin's heart without much effort]].

'''Inigo:''' [[TropeNamers I am not left-handed!]] ''[switches the sword to his right hand and starts driving him back]''

[[caption-width-right:350:Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} had always figured that he and the Flash had the same level of SuperSpeed -- until the Flash decided to stop powerwalking.]]

* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': The same trope naming instance occurs in the film as in the book; a swordsman switching to his dominant hand to gain an advantage. Unfortunately for him, in both iterations, it then turns out that his opponent is not left-handed either and promptly regains the upper hand.

'''Inigo:''' I am not left-handed! ''[switches the sword to his right hand and starts driving him back]''

* Can be invoked when battling in a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' game. Whenever some boss, such as the champion, evil team leader, etc. sends out their last Pokémon as a last resort, as a general rule, it's usually the most powerful. Taken even further in generation six and onward, with the introduction of Mega Evolution; NPC trainers with a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution will always send out that Pokémon ''last'', and most players will try to do the same unless their Mega-capable Pokémon is forced out by an opponent's attacks.