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See also [[Waif Fu]].
Do not confuse with the character Shifu from ''[[
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime
* Anita King, the youngest of the Paper Sisters in ''[[Read or Die
* Major Motoko Kusanagi in ''[[Ghost in
* The Angels in ''[[
* Lenalee Lee of ''[[D
** 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
** Justified in that Ranma's school specializes in adapting various other styles, many of which (at least in the world it exists within) appear to specialize in mid-air combat, thus, Ranma's ability to do this even in male form before the curse makes sense.
* Noel in ''[[
* Even Anzu/Téa of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' gets in on the action during the mummy fight in [[The Movie]]. [[Yu-Gi-Oh!:
* Maki of ''[[
** ''Air Master'' also tends to subvert the trope just in general; while all the martial artists of the series do at least some outlandishly impossible stuff, the ''damage'' that gets thrown around never shies away from leaving everybody in the fight a bloody
* [[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.
== Comic Books ==
* One of the most prominent comic book examples would have to be, [[Gender
▲* One of the most prominent comic book examples would have to be, [[Gender Inverted Trope|ironic as it might seem]], [[Spider Man]]. As a consequence of his powers, he fights reflexively. However he is ''extraordinarily'' limber and agile, so by reflex he jumps, twirls, twists, and contorts all over the place to dodge blows and missiles. As a result, [[Female Gaze|everyone gets a good look at Peter Parker's toned gymnast body from all angles]].
** 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.
* Another [[Gender
* In the Marvel [[New Universe]] series ''[[
* ''[[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.
== Fan Works ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Final Stand of Death]]'' has Fusion Gundam showing off their moves, such Spur taking over a [[Mini-Mecha]] twice her size, controlled by [[Blink-182]]. Redd also show her signature kick when [[Frankenstein's Monster]] got to close, after a [[Full-Frontal Assault]]. Since they were once human, who happened to know some martial arts, they still let them have it.
▲* ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Dragon (Fanfic)|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.
* In ''[[Drunkard's Walk]] II'', [[Bubblegum Crisis|Lisa Vanette]] is established as a former gymnast, possibly good enough at one time to compete in the Olympics. In ''[http://accessdenied-rms.net/deadbang.shtml Dead Bang]'', the official sequel to ''DW2'' by Ian McLeod, Lisa combines her gymnastic skills with her recently-acquired telekinesis and "danger sense" to turn herself into a spinning, flipping fury on the battlefield that just can't be hit.
== Films -- Live Action ==
* ''[[Live Free or Die Hard]]''
{{quote|
** He also comments that she was [[Evil Is Sexy|hot]].
* Though not technically combat, Agent 99 uses nimble backflips and other gymnastics moves to thread her way through a laser web in the 2008 ''[[Get Smart (
** A similar bit appears in ''[[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]''.
* The ''[[
* In ''[[
** In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Iron Man
* Bambi and Thumper from ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior'' on [[Disney Channel]].
* 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...
* Averted hard by the ''[[
== Live Action TV ==
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** It can be noticed, though, if you watch e.g. ''Buffy'' closely: it's not jarringly over-abundant throughout the show, but it ''is'' there occasionally nontheless. Might depend on the director of the episode in question. Probably the most ''bizarre'' case of weird flip-stunts occurs in the season 3 episode "Earshot", when Buffy uses a combination of flips that ''defy the laws of physics'' to get up to her high school's clock tower as fast as possible. Likewise, if you watch River Tam's bar fight scene, it's there once or twice (after all, [[Summer Glau]] is a [[Dance Battler|ballet dancer]] herself.)
** Not surprisingly, Whedon himself lampshaded this in the commentary for the episode "The Harvest", where he states that he dislikes the use of it since it's more time-consuming to deal with the stunts and choreography.
* After becoming an [[I Know Karate|instant twelfth-degree black belt]] followed by gaining levitation abilities, Phoebe of ''[[
* ''[[Andromeda]]''
* ''[[Birds of Prey (TV series)|Birds of Prey]]''
* ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' is the queen of She Fu, and yet she still takes ''plenty'' of punches.
** Callisto in the same series is also a skilled practitioner. Over the course of the series Gabrielle also (slowly) learned the art, though generally she failed humorously when she tried.
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* One of ''[[Chuck]]'''s adversaries was a former gymnast who used He Fu to escape from the protagonists. His mistake: {{spoiler|he stuck the landing, whereupon Sarah shot his kneecap out.}}
* Purdey of ''[[The New Avengers]]'' fought with moves learnt from her ballet career.
* ''[[
* The Queen in ''[[
* 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]]).
** There's one interesting exception to the above rule about punching. Batgirl takes several punches in "The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra"
* [[Amy Jo Johnson]] used to be a pro gymnast, so her character Kimberly from ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' naturally used
== Pro Wrestling ==
* Tons of [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] Divas.
== 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 ==
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* ''[[Devil May Cry]] 4'' introduces a new character named Gloria, whose debut scene involves extensive She Fu complete with numerous [[Panty Shot|upskirt]] and [[Male Gaze|cleavage shots]]. This scene is a particularly blatant example considering that {{spoiler|she is actually Trish in disguise and you never fight her or play as her in the game}}.
** Also, Lady of ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'' fights this way, when she's not [[Sarcasm Mode|simply]] [[Gun Fu|shooting]] her enemies. In one cutscene, she sits with one leg over the other on a scythe stuck in a wall before ''spreading her legs'' in order to kick at two enemies simultaneously.
* Samus Aran, especially in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]].''
* Chun Li. Say it with me, ''[[Street Fighter]]'' fans: "Spinning Bird Kick!!"
** Also played straight with Cammy.
* Mai Shiranui of ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' and ''[[King of Fighters]]''
* [[Gender
* Also [[Gender
** 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 ''[[
* Swordmasters of both sexes in most ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games.
* Tiffany Lords from ''[[
* How can we forget Echidna, from Squaresoft's ''[[The Bouncer]]''? Though she was definitely practicing Capoeira.
* Jade from ''[[Beyond Good
* Until the second game the only practitioners in Bloody Roar (Long and crossdresser Fox) were MALE. Then Long takes the now-defused Tykebomb Uriko under his wing. Alice's kicks and flips are moderately more functional, being short, quick, and not too flashy, at least until she breaks out her beast form. Justified in that her beast form is a rabbit, though.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'':
** Aqua in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep]]''. Her male friend Terra gets a long-distance forward dash, and her 'little brother' Ven gets the series-standard "Dodge Roll" somersault. Not Aqua. She ''cartwheels'' away from enemies.
** Larxene as well. Her game play and battle style are ''full'' of this, especially in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
** [[
* Lili from ''[[Tekken]]'' fits this trope to a T. Has stylish balletic moves, with liberal use of flips. And a move where she does an aerial somersault; if she lands on the opponent's head, she does a double snap kick in the air. Take that, Reality!
* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'': Sonya Blade says hi. Her signature move is doing a backflip, grabbing the opponent between her legs, and throwing them. She also uses this move to break Kano's neck in one of the movie versions, and in ''Mortal Kombat 4'' she has a fatality where she does a handstand and ''tears the opponent in half with her legs''.
* This list wouldn't be complete without mentioning ''[[Bayonetta]]''. Acrobatic backflips are her standard dodge, so expect to be doing this a lot since it triggers [[Bullet Time|Witch Time]]. She can even do this in mid-air!
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* 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 ==
* Oasis from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' uses this in spades, what with being a gymnast assassin and all.
* Jones from ''[[
{{quote|
'''Antimony:''' ''(angrily)'' Why? Because she's a woman?
'''Eglamore:''' What? No. At this range and indoors, Jones would ''flatten'' me. }}
== Web Original ==
* Chaka of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' specializes in this style of fighting, even though her first big superhero fight caught her in nothing but a short nightie, with an appreciative audience of other students.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' lives by it. Got her on the cheerleading team, too.
* The former circus acrobat Ty Lee in ''
* The heroine of ''[[Cybersix]]''.
* ''[[Aeon Flux]]'', to the point that you start wondering whether she has any extra vertebrae. (which, given the [[
* ''[[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).
* ''[[Batman:
** Robin actually had a fighting style like this. He was a trapeze artist in a circus before becoming Robin.
** In a straighter example, Batgirl was a skilled gymnast, and a girl in a skin-tight outfit, so she had this kind of fighting style.
** 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.
* The girls of ''[[Totally Spies!]]!''
* Blackarachnia in ''[[
* ''[[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".
* ''[[DC Showcase: Catwoman]]''
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:Foo Fu]]
[[Category:
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