Basic Trope: A male character scoffs at the idea that he should have any compunctions about hitting women.
- Straight: Eric, an Action Hero, has to face the Big Bad Ramona and her Amazon Brigade. He doesn't hold back against them.
- Exaggerated:
- Eric makes sure to avoid getting the men he fights too hurt but always does his best to disfigure and permanently disable the women he fights.
- Eric is willing to kick a woman in the crotch as a frontal ambush.
- Eric attacks Ramona with a weapon (such as a gun or a knife).
- Exaggerated to the point where the trope is Played For Horror: Eric is a Straw Misogynist Serial Killer who hates women so much where he constantly goes on horrific killing-sprees that are only applied to women.
- Downplayed:
- Eric only jabs women with sleepy drugs.
- Eric only hits women if they are attacking him.
- Eric only fights women by grappling and restraining them as opposed to hits.
- Eric gives a Dope Slap to his friend Alice after she says something dumb or offensive.
- Eric would hit a girl but not as hard as he would with a male.
- Justified:
- Eric is an egalitarian and also regularly fights men, so he sees it as sexist not to be willing to fight a woman.
- Eric is a He-Man Woman Hater, either Politically Incorrect Hero or Politically Incorrect Villain.
- Because of an unusual upbringing, being Not Quite Human, or even just being an Idiot Hero, Eric lacks the usual concept of gender roles and differences.
- Eric grew up in a land without woman and his race is One-Gender Race which causes him to lack knowledge and existence of womanhood, so he doesn't even know whether hitting a girl is right or wrong at all.
- Eric doesn't want to hit Ramona, but she poses a serious danger to his life right now, so he's forced to.
- Eric hates everyone equally.
- Eric is a survivor of female-on-male abuse.
- It's Personal with Ramona because of something she's done to Eric or someone he loves.
- Eric is a Combat Pragmatist who doesn't question anything, he does everything as long as it gets his job done.
- Ramona only looks like a woman. She's actually a Robot Girl, Shapeshifter, or Physical God.
- He was defending himself.
- Eric is in a Crapsack World with a kill or is killed agenda. So regardless of gender, he'll fight to see another day.
- Eric is in a setting where holding back against a girl is a good way to get your ass kicked.
- No matter the gender, it wouldn't be a fair fight if Eric didn't hit his opponents back.
- Inverted:
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl
- Would Hit a Guy: Erica the Action Girl has no qualms against attacking Ramone and his crew.
- Subverted:
- Eric confronts Ramona's crew and considers fighting them, but decides not to.
- Eric gets ambushed by Ramona's team, but his superior skill and powers completely outclass them all, allowing him to keep an impenetrable defensive stance.
- Double Subverted:
- But when they knock him around awhile, he attacks them.
- But then one of Amazons finally scores a blow. Bob decides this was enough and proceeds to turn her head into Ludicrous Gibs with a serious version of Megaton Punch.
- Instead, he chooses to lure them all into a corner for an ambush, one at a time.
- Parodied:
- 'Hitting' amounts to noogies, pantsing, and wet willies. Ramona and her minions are defeated all the same.
- Ramona and her henchwomen are all defeated by a series of pies hurled right in their faces, resulting in all of them leaving the scene in humiliation as everyone present laughs at them, complete with Ramona looking back at Eric in absolute rage, promising revenge for having ridiculed her that way.
- Eric says things like "Welcome to gender equality!" before laying the smack-down on Ramona and her crew.
- Zig Zagged:
- Eric always evaluates his opponent's potential before entering a battle. Depending on their strength, regardless of gender, he either accepts or refuses the challenge.
- Sometimes Eric has no qualms with hitting women and at other times he does.
- Averted: Eric wouldn't hit anyone, regardless of their gender.
- Enforced: "Male and female characters going all out makes for better fight scenes."
- Lampshaded:
- "Challenge me at your own risk, Ramona. I'm not going to hold back because of your ovaries."
- "I'd hit anyone who'd hit me. No exceptions."
- "Any opponent can kill you. It's stupid not to fight seriously just because my opponent's a woman."
- "That was with all your might..." "You think I'd hold back against such a splendid fighter?"
- Invoked:
- Eric is specifically assigned to bring down Ramona's brigade because of his attitude.
- Ramona taunts Eric to goad him into fighting her.
- Ramona wants him to not hold back because of her gender or wants him at his best, he answers by giving his power up to eleven.
- The Female Misogynist Action Girl is Leeroy Jenkinning directly toward Eric to being hit on purposes.
- Exploited: Interplay of Sex and Violence
- Defied: "Ramona, you're a woman and I'm not going to abase myself with battling you. Surrender quietly or I'll call Marian to take care of you and your girls."
- Discussed: "You wouldn't hit a girl would you?" (One Single-Stroke Battle later) "I would."
- Conversed: "How could Eric hit Ramona?! I thought he was The Hero of this story!" "He is! Ramona's a villain!"
- Implied: Eric is sent to take down Ramona's base, which is crawling with Bodyguard Babes. The aftermath shows the base in ruins, with everyone in it, save for Eric, lying unconscious on the ground.
- Deconstructed:
- Even if it was self-defense, Eric is viewed In-Universe as a monster for daring to beat up a girl.
- When Eric tries to attack Ramona, it is clearly shown that she was no mere human woman. She is an expert on how to take care of men with not only manipulation, but genuine hand-to-hand combat and having nearly superhuman strength of her own, as well, due to having extensively exercised her own body and mind. Eric was brutally defeated in her counterattack.
- Due to strength and size differences, Ramona isn't capable of inflicting serious harm on Eric by hitting him. However, now that he's hit her back, he's insulted her honor as a Proper Lady, and she is pissed. Now Ramona will resort to actually dangerous violence, like poisoning Eric or shooting him in his sleep.
- Reconstructed:
- Then they learn the hard way why he had no qualms in the first place.
- Eric lives to fight again another day. Having learned not to underestimate Ramona, he and his companions hone their skills further and study Ramona's moves to develop appropriate counters, before all going back to fight the villainess more ready than ever.
- Eric is a Proud Warrior Race Guy who considers things like holding back or Not Worth Killing to be the ultimate insult towards an opponent. His willingness to hit Ramona is his way of acknowledging and respecting Ramona's own strength.
- Yes, Ramona mopped the floor with Eric when he tried to fight her, but if he hadn't, she would have attacked him anyhow. That he offers as much resistance as he does keeps her from having time to finish him off.
- Eric isn't stupid, he's able to see Ramona's attempts from miles away. If she wants to kill him, she'll have to do it honorably.
- Played For Laughs: Slapstick
- Played For Drama:
- Eric delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Ramona and her minions, then his teammates wonder who the real villain is, allowing Ramona to deliver a scathing Hannibal Lecture. Eric calls his team out for not minding that sort of violence being used on a male villain, causing more tension which escalates in a civil war between the heroes, much to Ramona's satisfaction.
- Ramona's attack on Eric's best friend Bob relied solely on exploiting his idealistic view of women. With his Morality Pet being hospitalized, Eric's rage knows no bounds. He catches her Number Two off-guard and serves a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to the point of crippling her for life. Ramona and her team only now realize seriousness of their situation...
Beat the tar out of the female main page of Would Hit a Girl.
