Basic Trope: A character's One-Hit Kill has a noticeable delay in effect.
- Straight:
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook, and...
a) ... he taunts her for surviving her attack, just before falling over, dead.
b) ... he stares dumbfounded for a few moments before falling over, dead.
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook, and...
- Exaggerated: Cho uses the Taipan Tap. The Mook doesn't even register that he's been attacked, but a whole minute later, he drops dead.
- Downplayed:
- Justified:
- Cho's Sensei was a medically-savvy martial arts expert who designed finishing moves with delayed reactions from his knowledge of anatomy and physiology.
- Cho is fighting robots; her Viper Death Strike, in this case, dislodges their internal power source, but they have enough juice in their systems to run for a few seconds before powering off.
- Inverted:
- The Dragon headbutts Cho. Several seconds pass, and he dies instead.
- Cho attacks with the Phantom Dragon Hand, a technique that kills before it makes contact.
- Subverted:
- Cho uses a finishing move on a Mook. She tells him he's already dead, and he stares at her in horror for several moments. Then he doubles over in severe pain as his knees throb. She lied.
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on The Dragon. She counts the number of seconds left before he is supposed to die, then pauses, confused. The Dragon laughs contemptuously.
- Double Subverted:
- ... and then the Mook keels over, dead.
- The Dragon coughs up blood while laughing. Cho notes that the technique was still effective, but the Dragon lasted a little longer than usual due to a defensive technique, some kind of bio-augmentation or other means.
- Shortly after The Dragon starts laughing, Cho dies. The Dragon had made sure to use the same technique on Cho earlier in the fight.
- Parodied:
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook before escaping the Big Bad's Fortress of Terror. We cut to the next day, when said Mook is drinking coffee in a break room. He suddenly keels over, dead, with a large welt inexplicably appearing on his face.
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook and escapes the Big Bad's Fortress. The Medic proceeds to perform a full physical examination, and with a sober expression, informs the Mook that he is technically dead. The Mook manages a Flat "What" before keeling over.
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook. She pulls out an alarm clock, cranks it to 5 seconds, and it ticks. The alarm clock rings right as the Mook keels over.
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook. The Mook survives the battle and carries on with his life. When he finally dies of old age, people act as if the Death Strike was the cause.
- Zig Zagged: Another finishing move, The Cone-Snale Claw, will sometimes kill instantly or take several moments to take hold.
- Averted:
- Cho uses the Puffer-Fish Punch, which kills the Mook instantly.
- Joe The Gunslinger, Cho's partner, fires an Instant Death Bullet at a Mook.
- Enforced: The director of Viper Death Fury envisions Cho as quick and dangerous fighter who doesn't pause a fight until her foes are incapacitated or dead. But the actor playing the Mook has significant pull in the production, and feels that his character deserves a witty Final Speech. The writers come up with the Viper Death Strike, move with a delayed but abruptly fatal reaction, and Throw It In!.
- Lampshaded: "I though he'd never die!"
- Invoked: "Sensei, when can I learn the finishing moves with delayed effects?"
- Exploited: The Big Bad, knowing that the Viper Death Strike has a delayed reaction, takes advantage of the fact that his Mook is still standing and shoots Cho through the Mook's still-standing body.
- Defied:
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on the Big Bad. Joe The Gunslinger pulls out his gun and shoots him with an Instant Death Bullet. Cho comments that it was going to kill him in a few seconds, but Joe wasn't so sure.
- Pai uses his Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique on the Big Bad, which causes the target's heart to explode after taking five steps. The Big Bad orders his mooks to bring him a wheelchair, and laughs.
- Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on The Dragon. It turns out the Viper Death Strike only works on living creatures, and knowing this, the Big Bad sent in a machine to do the job instead.
- Discussed: "Can't your Finishing Move work any faster?" "Yes, but there's nothing like seeing my foes believe my attacks failed before dying. It's more fun this way."
- Conversed: "I'm pretty sure that's is medically impossible."
- Deconstructed: Cho uses the Viper Death Strike on a Mook, but the Mook has his finger on the trigger of a machine gun. He guns her down in the last few seconds he has before keeling over.
- Reconstructed:
- The Mook is panicked and does not score a fatal injury. Cho uses some form of meditation to avoid bleeding out until she can get medical attention, though it's a close call.
- It's delayed death...but it's death certain. Cho uses the strike as she's dying to ensure she's not alone in the afterlife.
- Played For Laughs: Following the Viper Death Strike, the Mook has an Internal Monologue that goes along the lines of: "Good, she's catching her breath. Man, I'm really sore; I could go for a nice hot bath. She's kinda hot, now that she's not beating me up. Wouldn't mind taking her with me! Eh, work's work. What should I do next... ah, I know! I'll just-" Thud.
- Played For Drama:
- Cho fights against enemies who specialise in the art of the Dangerous Forbidden Technique. When Cho guarantees their deaths, they have nothing left to lose by going all out.
- Cho is hit by a very delayed version of the technique, and begins The Last Dance.
Back to You Are Already Dead. Wha- HIDEBU!!
