History Main / ShowSomeLeg

-->-- ''[[Creator/AlistairMaclean When Eight Bells Toll]]'' (1971)

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Oriana Thompson is a master martial artist, but she also enjoys adopting sexy poses, cupping her boobs, etc to get male opponents to pause mid-attack, landing her easier victories. She is one of the few women Touma Kamijo is attracted to, but he completely ignores her sexy tactics and punches her face in when they fight.

* ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'':

* In ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', Colbert has Siesta walk up to two guards and lift her skirt. While the guards try to flirt with her, the others get behind them and knock them out.

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic: The Second Raid''. The soldiers guarding Amalgam's giant mecha are pleasantly surprised when twin {{Emotionless Girl}}s Yu Fan and Yu Lan come in and start smooching and feeling them up. When a mook takes his hand off the AK-47 he's holding to accept a hotel room key, one of the twins grabs the weapon and promptly blows his head off. Everyone else dies rapidly after that.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': When Coriana Andrealphus faces Issei Hyoudou in a fight, she starts stripping. It works at first because Issei is paralyzed with lust and refuses to attack her. Unfortunately for her, she starts to pull her panties off, hitting a BerserkButton of Issei's (to him, a stripper must always pull their bra off first) and making him knock her out with an energy blast.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'':

* Subverted in the first ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD'' novel. Doris tries to distract D during their initial fight by dropping her robe, revealing that she is naked. It doesn't work.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' has Jessica, who actually has ''Sex Appeal'' as a skill. She has been known to shake her "pom poms" to distract enemies. Add a hint of playing to the fetishes, because of her {{Stripperific}} special outfits and that she can WhipItGood.

* ''Film/TheProfessionals''. Maria offers sex to Dolworth if he lets her escape, but tries to grab his pistol while they are smooching. Dolworth however is expecting this--his gun is not in his holster but ready in his hand. He doesn't take it personally and [[YouGotSpunk respects her willingness to do whatever is necessary.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]]: Jenny seduces a guard to get his weapon. She just flirts with him and snogs him, not taking anything off — the tight T-shirt rendering it somewhat not required... Subverted later on, when Donna suggests using her "womanly wiles". The Doctor says to save them for an emergency, clearly deeming the situation as not one. Mind you, some consider Ms. Tate an OldMaid.

** Played straight, however, in an OVA, using a [[GagBoobs much]] [[{{Stripperiffic}} more]] suited Naga and Lina's flying dropkick.

* The Elise boss fight in ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' sees Jack trying to break her grip during his [[ActionCommands power struggle]]. Thing is, once he breaks her hold, [[GagBoobs her rack]] is directly in his face. There's another action command to ''look away'' -- if you fail, Elise bites Jack's neck and drains his health, restoring her own.

* A [[www.imdb.com/title/tt2113273/ popular bathtub soap game in Brazil]] which exploded through expansive daytime TV coverage in TheNineties involves this as a possible tactic. The game features two contestants at a time, usually of opposite genders, inside a custom pool or Jacuzzi-style bathtub filled with a substance and a set of items, usually water and soaps; the object being for one player to get as many soaps as they can into a bucket held just outside the pool within a set amount of time (usually one minute) while the other person tries to stop them. Since the men are usually stronger than the women, the women can't really stop them from moving around—and frequently, nor can the men, since they often aren't allowed to hold the women in place too tightly. Thus, the defensive player tends to have the unenviable task of keeping a very mobile offensive player from grabbing the soaps. Between that and the fact that this involves two scantily clad, usually attractive people of the opposite sex in close quarters[[note]]women tend enter the pool/tub in bikinis while men enter in boxer shorts or speedos, and the TV shows made it clear attractive people are preferred for this game[[/note]], it was only a matter of course that particularly nimble or sensual defenders would sometimes shave seconds off the clock, or on rare occasions even outright stall their opposition for half the segment, by carefully maneuvering to draw said opponent into an embrace.

* A popular bathtub soap game in Brazil which exploded through expansive daytime TV coverage in TheNineties involves this as a possible tactic. The game features two contestants at a time, usually of opposite genders, inside a custom pool or Jacuzzi-style bathtub filled with a substance and a set of items, usually water and soaps; the object being for one player to get as many soaps as they can into a bucket held just outside the pool within a set amount of time (usually one minute) while the other person tries to stop them. Since the men are usually stronger than the women, the women can't really stop them from moving around—and frequently, nor can the men, since they often aren't allowed to hold the women in place too tightly. Thus, the defensive player tends to have the unenviable task of keeping a very mobile offensive player from grabbing the soaps. Between that and the fact that this involves two scantily clad, usually attractive people of the opposite sex in close quarters[[note]]women tend enter the pool/tub in bikinis while men enter in boxer shorts or speedos, and the TV shows made it clear attractive people are preferred for this game[[/note]], it was only a matter of course that particularly nimble or sensual defenders would sometimes shave seconds off the clock, or on rare occasions even outright stall their opposition for half the segment, by carefully maneuvering to draw said opponent into an embrace.

* In a flashback in ''WesternAnimaiton/{{Ducktales}}'', Scrooge, having freshly moved to America, is shown having little luck hitch-hiking. So he hitches up the hem of his kilt and extends his leg. Seconds later, a lady pulls her stagecoach over to pick him up.

** During "Needle Point", Skipper attempts to use this [[HoYay against the other penguins]] by performing a sultry dance.

A character (almost AlwaysFemale) [[WeNeedADistraction provides a distraction]] by flirting with and/or showing some skin to an opposing guard, SpearCarrier and/or RedShirt characters. Of course [[BuxomIsBetter if you have large breasts]] it's a lot easier. And some characters [[HeadTurningBeauty are distractions all by themselves]].

* In the ''Film/CityHunter'' film with Creator/JackieChan, the group of protagonists sends one of the BuxomIsBetter girls to distract a male mook, only for said mook to punch her in the gut and chase instead one of the male characters.

* Subverted in ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' prequel ''Rise of a Warrior'' when Mathayus and his friends need to bypass some guards. [[TheSmartGuy Ari]] tells [[TheChick Leila]] to use her feminine charms to distract them. She gives him a disapproving look, but seemingly goes along with it. When she accosts the guards, they [[MistakenForProstitute mistake her for a concubine and direct her to her intended location]], and she opts to knock them out instead.

* This was a RunningGag for [[TheChick Penny]] on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory.''

* In ''VideoGame/{{Desperados}}'', TheChick of the team, Kate O'Hara, can do this to attract some kinds of enemies and lead them away from their posts and into deadly traps – you know, like in real life. It's far from the GameBreaker it seems to be, though: a good deal of the enemies are disciplined enough not to approach her, the trick doesn't work if the mook's too agitated, and even the dumber ones will pretty soon get that Kate is stringing them along and will knock her out or even shoot her – once again, as in real life. In fact, in later levels, it's a better tactic to leave her out in the open ''without'' using the garter trick, wait for them to come restrain her once she's spotted and knock them out once they get in range of her boot – the enemy types that will fall for this ISurrenderSuckers move are much more varied than the lustful ones.

* ''Film/RawDeal1986'' has a scene where a Mafia mook is sitting in his car, gaping at the sight of a female jogger {{Gainaxing}} towards him. She leans down with a big smile, sticks a gun in his face and suggests he go tell the drug house he's guarding that he needs to take a leak. With the sentry taken care of, detectives come out of the woodwork and pull a crash-bang-gotcha on the occupants.

See also: {{Fanservice}}, BathKick, DistractedByTheSexy, ActionDressRip. See also LegFocus, a more general trope about legs as fanservice. Compare FakeOutMakeOut. See also IHaveBoobsYouMustObey, where flirting and acting sexy is done to gain a favor, rather than distraction. Contrast IgnoreTheFanservice.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]]: Jenny seduces a guard to get his weapon. She just flirts with him and snogs him, not taking anything off — the tight T-shirt rendering it somewhat not required... Subverted later on, when Donna suggests using her "womanly wiles". The Doctor says to save them for an emergency, clearly deeming the situation as not one. Mind you, some consider Ms. Tate a ChristmasCake.

* The [[HornyDevils Elise]] boss fight in ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' sees Jack trying to break her grip during his [[ActionCommands power struggle]]. Thing is, once he breaks her hold, [[GagBoobs her rack]] is directly in his face. There's another action command to ''look away'' -- if you fail, Elise bites Jack's neck and drains his health, restoring her own.

* Attempted in ''Fanfic/VowOfTheKing''. Bambietta hikes up her skirt when cornered by Tosen and Hisagi, only to shoot at them mid-sentence. Hisagi dodges while Tosen merely smacks the bullets aside.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant This trope does not mean]] characters whose outfit only covers their top half; that's {{Stripperiffic}} or ShesGotLegs. This trope is probably the only reason a female warrior would even ''consider'' a ChainmailBikini. Might be more directly applied via a KissOfDistraction.

See also: {{Fanservice}}, BathKick, DistractedByTheSexy, ActionDressRip. See also ShesGotLegs, a more general trope about legs as fanservice. Compare FakeOutMakeOut. See also IHaveBoobsYouMustObey, where flirting and acting sexy is done to gain a favor, rather than distraction. Contrast IgnoreTheFanservice.

* ''Avalanche Express'' by Colin Forbes. TheSpymaster requests that the female member of his team, who is helping him courier information sent by a Soviet defector, cross her legs while on the flight to Britian, so that if anyone catches him looking at her "the [[ShesGotLegs sight of your legs]] will provide sufficient explanation." She snarks that another explanation is that he's misusing his authority for immoral purposes.

[[quoteright:320:[[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_3619716_afflsyyys.jpg]]]]

* In one old joke, a gorgeous woman in a low-cut, slinky dress sidles up to the craps table as a shooter. She leans forward and pushes a large stack of chips toward the betting line and says, "I always feel a little luckier without this dress." She lets it drop, grabs the dice, and throws. The woman screams out, "I won, I won!" while jumping up and down, then hastily scoops up the chips and her dress. After she leaves, the croupier says, "Hey, what did she roll?”

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Captain Janeway of all people does this in "Resistance". There are guards in the tunnels under the detention area she's trying to break into, so she dresses as a prostitute. The guards say that "you girls aren't allowed down here any more", but as they're bored she easily convinces them to walk off with her into a dark place where they can be knocked unconscious.

* In PennAndTellerBullshit, on an episode about state surveillance, they set up hired stooges in a van with a controllable camera to watch some supposed Homeland Security target. Just when they were bored, a hired pornographic actress named Taimi Hannum, wearing some revealing clothing, would have a staged argument and make-up spicy times with another actor. The "target" would then leave. Most of the bored stooges fell for it.

** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''. When James Bond is infiltrating TheDragon's residence in Spain, one of the owner's own harem girls provides the distraction he needs by choosing that moment to smooch with one of the guards.