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At Arm's Length (view source)

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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"When did freakishly long arms become your superpower?"''|'''Spectacle''', ''[[The Adventures of Superhero Girl (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Superhero Girl]]''}}
 
[[File:JamesArmsLength.jpg|link=Pokémon (Animeanime)|frame|[[MC Hammer|Can't touch this]].]]
 
A taller character, A, is being attacked by a shorter character, B, and does one of two things:
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This works best on characters who are flailing in a panic or incoherently furious, since it holds them safe until they can calm down. It becomes less effective if the person realizes they can just hit the restraining arm. Or duck under the hand. Or take advantage of the fact that [[Groin Attack|legs tend to be longer than arms]]...
 
If you're looking for the webcomic of the same name, [[At Arm's Length (Webcomicwebcomic)|click here]].
{{examples}}
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* Happens repeatedly to various ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' characters.
* ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'': Itachi's "finger-to-forehead" flicks he gave to little Sasuke.
* Played straight to type in ''[[Macross Frontier (Anime)|Macross Frontier]]'', complete with attempted windmill punching, with the only variation being that the character being held at bay is at other times capable of ''stepping'' on the offender.
* Subverted in ''[[Fatal Fury]] 2: The New Battle''. Krauser lifts Terry Bogard up by the head and Terry's immediate reaction is to try to pry Krauser's hands off (To be fair Krauser also threatened to crush his head) His second attempt is to kick Krauser in the face, which is blocked. Finally, Terry knees Krauser's elbow, finally forcing him to let go.
* ''[[Vampire Knight (Manga)|Vampire Knight]]'': Happens to Yuuki Cross when she tries to hit Zero.
* ''[[Bobobobo Bobobo (Manga)|Bobobobo Bobobo]]'': Dengakuman gets treated like this by Don Patch during his very first fight.
{{quote| "I'll getcha, I'll getcha, I'll getcha, I'll getcha, I'll getcha, I'll getcha, I..."}}
* This happens to Lupin during his short lived boxing career in ''[[Lupin III (Manga)|Lupin III]]''.
 
 
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== Fan Works ==
* The page picture on [[Fan-Preferred Couple]] is a cute fanart example from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''.
 
 
== Films -- Animation ==
* In ''[[Mulan (Disney)|Mulan]]'', Yao, a short guy, is trying to fight, but is held up at arm's length by Chien Po, a tall fat guy... and Chien Po [[Warrior Therapist|uses the opportunity to try to teach Yao how to defuse his anger.]]
* A [[Duck Tales (Animation)DuckTales|Beagle Boy]] does this to Mickey Mouse in ''[[Mickey, Donald, Goofy: theThe Three Musketeers]]''. The fact that Mickey has a sword to swing around fails to make the slightest difference.
* Uttamatomakkin one-ups this trope in ''[[Pocahontas (Disney)|Pocahontas]]: Journey to a New World''. He holds two soldiers at arms length simultaneously, then [[Tap Onon the Head|bangs their heads together]].
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* Sarah does this to Hoggle after grabbing his bag of treasures in ''[[Labyrinth (Film)|Labyrinth]]''.
* Lone Starr uses this on Dark Helmet in ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]''. It's quite effective since Helmet is 5'4".
* Subverted in ''[[300 (Film)|Three Hundred]]''. Leonidas tries this when training with his son, who is apparently smart enough to realize that his arms are quite capable of reaching the arm on his head.
 
 
== Literature ==
* [[The Napoleon|A very small character]] dubbed "Super Gnat" is [[Berserk Button|notorious for starting fights with colleagues]] in the novel ''[[Phules Company]]'', and this is a common way to deal with her until she calms down. (She's actually a martial arts expert, but only fights well when she's calm.)
* In the short story ''[[Vorkosigan Saga (Literature)|Winterfair Gifts]]'', [[Super Soldier|SGT Taura]] described how she invokes version two of this trope when on bodyguard detail and simply looming (she's 8') or smiling (her fangs are scary even when she is not ''trying'' to be intimidating) do not make someone back down.
 
 
== Live-Action TV ==
* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Extras (TV)|Extras]]'' where Andy tries this when [[Warwick Davis]] attacks him and he punches him in the wrist. Andy says it works in cartoons.
* Happens hilariously in an episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', where the eponymous character is keeping Taub away from the latter's phone while texting Taub's wife to take her clothes off.
* Occurs in one version of the story in ''[[DiffrentDiff'rent Strokes]]'''s "[[Rashomon Style|Rashomon]]" episode.
* Subverted in the Halloween episode of ''[[Honey I Shrunk the Kids (TV series)|Honey I Shrunk the Kids]]''. Amy's boyfriend Ray does this on Nick, but Nick punches him in the stomach.
* A ''[[The Kids in The Hall]]'' sketch has a lazy thief robbing a lazy man whose idea of self-defense is to hold out his hand so the robber can't reach him. It works as the thief walks right into the hand, twice, and then uses his "street smarts" to simply brush the hand away.
 
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== Theater ==
* Jefferson implies this will be the outcome if Adams tries to make him write the Declaration of Independence "by physical force" in ''[[1776 (Theatre)|Seventeen Seventy Six]]''.
* Seen used on Hermia by Lysander in a production of ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre)|A Midsummer Nights Dream]]''.
{{quote| '''Helena:''' And though she be but little, she is fierce.}}
 
 
== Video Games ==
* Grandpa Stinky does this to Max in ''[[The Adventures of Sam and& Max: Freelance Police (Video Game)|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' "The Penal Zone". See the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BDafZmMC2s video].
* Can be seen in the ''[[Just Dance (Video Game)|Just Dance]]'' clip for "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOnmvf8h7yE&t=2m10s Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting]".
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* ''The Law of Purple'': At one point, Blue does this to Dex in order to keep Dex from attacking Lette. In a variation, Blue opts to plant a foot in Dex's face.
* ''[[Narbonic (Webcomic)|Narbonic]]'': [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php?view=archive&chapter=45493#strip6 here].
 
 
== Web Original ==
* [[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|The Angry Video Game Nerd]] briefly employs this against [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] during the One Year Anniversary Brawl.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R29LlO1mcfk Parodied in one] ''[[Five5 Second Films (Web Video)|Five Second Films]]''.
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* Frequently used in cartoon boxing matches.
* In ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents (Animation)|The Fairly Odd Parents]]'', this happens repeatedly to Timmy (usually done by Vicky).
* Done by Sideshow Bob to Lisa on ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''. Nelson also does this to Bart in an early episode.
* ''[[Scooby -Doo (Animationanimation)|Scooby Doo]]'': Version 2 is frequently employed against [[The Scrappy|Scrappy Doo]].
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Toph does this to Sokka. Unusually, Sokka is actually the taller and longer-limbed party, but Toph was keeping him from taking back his club, which she had in her other hand, sticking out in the opposite direction.
* In ''[[DextersDexter's Laboratory (Animation)|Dexters Laboratory]]'', Deedee does this not only with her arm, but with her leg, putting her foot on Dexter's forehead. He's just ''that'' short.
* Frequently done by Mr. Krabs in ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (Animation)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', when his microscopic business rival Plankton attempts to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. Instead of holding him at arm's length, however, Krabs simply picks him up and tosses him bodily back to the Chum Bucket -- sometimes by creative means, such as blowing him through a straw.
* In the [[Classic Disney Short]] ''A Knight for a Day'', Cedric uses a makeshift lance made from a sword handle and the arm from his suit of armor to hold back Sir Cumference when he brings out his sword. It's an interesting flip-flop considering Cedric is the small and vulnerable protagonist, pushing back the hulking Sir Cumference.
* Aqualad does this to Beast Boy in ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]''. Eventually, Beast Boy stops flopping around and just swats Aqualad's hand away.
* ''[[Wakfu (Animation)|Wakfu]]'' gives us the lovers' spat variant. Evangelyne is held at bay {{spoiler|by Sadlygrove as he's reading her diary, which she'd written while thinking he was dead -- and thus is saying way-too-nice things about him to Eva's taste.}}
 
 
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