She Fu: Difference between revisions

 

Do not confuse with the character Shifu from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', whose name is (mis)pronounced the same way but spelled differently, and means "master" in Chinese (but only if you pronounce it correctly).

 

* Anita King, the youngest of the Paper Sisters in ''[[Read or Die|R.O.D. the TV Series]]'' has a combat style that was designed by the animators via "observing monkeys, as well as the Royal Chinese Acrobats."

* Major Motoko Kusanagi in ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' exhibits She Fu thanks to her cybernetic body, to the point where her first response in a reasonably close-combat situation is usually to roundhouse kick the guy to the face.

** Both Road Kamelot and Lulu Bell of the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] are also capable of these movements in combat. In her first appearance, Road dodges attacks so lazily and easily that she looks ''bored.'' Justified in Lulu Bell's case as she truly does have [[Incredibly Lame Pun|cat-like reflexes.]]

* Kodachi Kunō of ''[[Ranma ½]]''. Justified in that she ''is'' a gymnast, and the pirouettes and acrobatics are an essential part of [[Martial Arts and Crafts|Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics]], her chosen discipline. Ranma Saotome also uses this sort of fighting style, even though he's ''male'', and fought this way ''before'' becoming a [[Gender Bender]]. The anime tends to save it more for when he's in [[Gender Bender|female form]], but in both canons, even as a guy he's prone to using a lot of flips, jumps, handstands, rolls and tumbles, all to either evade attack or beat on his opponent. There's also an occasional usage of [[Murderous Thighs]], but possibly only in female form (and/or only in the manga).

* Noel in ''[[Claymore]]''. Her rival, Sophia, favors a more brute-force approach.

* Even Anzu/Téa of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' gets in on the action during the mummy fight in [[The Movie]]. [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|The Abridged Movie]] drives this point home by adding the following line: "[[Street Fighter|Spinning Bird Kick!]]"

* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] in ''[[Teppu]]'': all fighting girls there practice MMA.

* Casca from ''[[Berserk]]'' centers most of her offensive and defensive maneuvers around flipping about the enemy, being the [[Fragile Speedster]] of the Hawks.

* ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]''. Cyborg girl Rico backflips toward [[Big Bad|terrorist leader Dante]] while he shoots at her with an assault rifle during the Turin Nuclear Plant siege.

 

** It should be noted, however, that this doesn't really stop Spider-Man from taking severe blows. Indeed, almost every videogame starring him features a costume selection that is torn up and ravaged from all the damage he takes during the game. Because of his [[Spider Sense]], he's never really blind-sided, but his enemies just tend to be ''that'' fast and powerful.

* In the Marvel [[New Universe]] series ''[[DP 7]]'', housewife Stephanie Harrington feels silly doing moves that she admits were from her days as a high school cheerleader, but her power gives her a degree of protection, so it actually works well enough in a fight.

* ''[[Jet Dream (Comic Book)|Jet Dream and her Stunt-Girl Counterspies]]'' were, as the name implies, Hollywood stuntwomen, and their fights tended to involve a lot of colorful acrobatic maneuvers.

* In all of the ''[[Sin City]]'' stories, Miho only gets struck once when she is caught up in a grenade's explosion (although there is a mention of her being at the mercy of Triads at one point). This is mostly to show how dangerous she is, rather than trying to avert the "no hitting girls" rules. ''[[Sin City]]'' doesn't exactly shy away from violence.

 

* ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Dragon]]'' has this, and it shows in at least several episodes, as both Cure Dragon and Cure Fortune employ this against the villains (with the latter making some good use of pirouettes in her fighting style). It's implied that both have had at least some gymnastics training.

 

== Films -- Live Action ==

{{quote|'''John:''' I'm tired of this kung-fu bullshit!}}

** He also comments that she was [[Evil Is Sexy|hot]].

* Averted in the 1982 ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' film with Valeria. Sandahl Bergman, an accomplished dancer, did all of her own stunts, but her sword-fighting is as free of extraneous motions (with the exception of a [[Wall Jump]] thrust during the rescue of the princess) as the male heroes.

* Averted in most of Cynthia Rothrock's films. Her moves weren't any showier than male martial arts actors of the time, and she would regularly get brutally beaten by guys twice her size until the [[Heroic Second Wind]] kicked in. Or third wind, or fourth...

 

== Live Action TV ==

* The Queen in ''[[Queen of Swords]]'' mixed a large amount of acrobatics into her fight scenes.

* Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl in ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'', was a trained ballerina. Batgirl's fighting style was heavily [[Dance Battler|dance-influenced]], with lots of spins and high kicks. Unlike Batman and Robin, she never threw or took a punch (though she would fairly often throw or wield an [[Improvised Weapon]]).

 

== Pro Wrestling ==

 

== Toys ==

* Applies to just about any female character in ''[[Bionicle]]''. They tend to have higher "Agility" stats and lower "Strength" and "Toughness" stats than their male counterparts. [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|Lariska]] is probably the most obvious example in-story, however, being incredibly acrobatic with ninja-like abilities.

 

== Video Games ==

** Also played straight with Cammy.

* Mai Shiranui of ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' and ''[[King of Fighters]]''

** Sheva and later {{spoiler|Jill}} perform lots of acrobatic somersaults and cartwheels for their physical attack follow-ups in ''[[Resident Evil 5]]''. Mercenaries Reunion would let Excella Gionne get in on the action, as well. Surprisingly averted with Rebecca Chambers, who's more of a [[Combat Pragmatist]].

* Morrigan Aensland of ''[[Darkstalkers]]'', combining Shotoclone goodness with [[Evil Is Sexy|sexy]] [[Hello, Nurse!|moves]]. Including hitting people with her [[Prehensile Hair|hair]]. Felicia also falls in this with her movements, showing just how flexible her cat body is, including using her own tail as a stand or weapon.

* Lightning from ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]''. Partially justified in that she has a gravity manipulator and, once that breaks, magical l'Cie powers. Seriously, her fourth ATB attack is backflipping and firing a gun simultaneously.

* Alora, a Dark Jedi and [[The Dragon]] in ''[[Jedi Academy]]'', moves very acrobatically the second time she's fought, even compared to the other Force users in the game, who can all or almost all do flips easily. Her no-nonsense outfit eliminates the element of showing off anything thereby, though.

 

== Web Comics ==

'''Antimony:''' ''(angrily)'' Why? Because she's a woman?

'''Eglamore:''' What? No. At this range and indoors, Jones would ''flatten'' me. }}

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' lives by it. Got her on the cheerleading team, too.

* The heroine of ''[[Cybersix]]''.

* ''[[Stripperella]]'' is prone to using sexy martial arts and "killer stripper moves" derived from her pole-dancing routine.

* Turanga Leela from ''[[Futurama]]'' frequently parodies this trope by showing the audience her martial-arts moves at the drop of a hat (doing a handstand to sneak over a subway turnstile, for instance).

** Harley Quinn did so on rare occasions, although she normally prefers the ranged novelty-weapon attack. Part of her backstory is that she was a champion gymnast in school too.

* Yumi from ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' frequently uses such moves when fighting in the virtual world, thanks to her increased agility and the low gravity of Lyoko. Less so in the real world, though, where she sticks to more basic martial arts.

* Blackarachnia in ''[[Beast Wars]]'' did this to a small extent, but when she got a new, sexier body in ''[[Beast Machines]]'', she was suddenly all about twisting and stretching.

* ''[[Dragons Fire and Ice]]'' has Kyra using loads of flips and kicks during her duel with Dev, who just uses archaic and brutish forms of "swing the sword in that general direction until something dies".

[[Category:Fight Scene]]

[[Category:Foo Fu]]