Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight/Playing With
Basic Trope: An unarmed fighter can defeat armed opponents.
- Straight: Dave pulls out a knife and is defeated by Bob.
- Exaggerated: Dave pulls out a gun, a baseball bat, a sword etc. and still gets defeated by Bob.
- Dave pulls out a rocket launcher and Bob still defeats him.
- Justified: Dave doesn't know how to use his weapon properly, while Bob is a highly-trained martial artist.
- Bob has Super Reflexes and easily avoids Dave's attacks.
- Inverted: Knives always beat fists.
- Subverted: Bob gives Dave a thrashing until the latter reveals a second knife and stabs him.
- Dave proves to be better than Bob expected and the latter can barely hold his own, not getting any good hits in.
- Double Subverted: Bob beats him anyway.
- Parodied: Dave brings so many knives with him that he can't stand up under the weight.
- Deconstructed: Since he cannot win in a fair fight, the next time they meet, Dave just shoots Bob from afar or stabs him in the back.
- Reconstructed: Bob starts wearing body armor or Power Fists to even the odds when fighting barehanded.
- Zig Zagged: Dave keeps pulling out knives, while Bob uses progressively more improbable barehanded disarms to take them away.
- Averted: Knives and fists are about even, no one is guaranteed to win based on their choice of weapon.
- Enforced: "We need to show how skilled Bob is in this scene, so let's have him bring down a better-armed opponent with his bare hands."
- Lampshaded: When Dave pulls out a knife, Bob points out that he's better at fighting with his hands.
- Invoked: Bob gives Dave a knife, knowing that he's inexperienced with it and won't be as skilled barehanded.
- Defied: Dave throws his knife away before the fight.
- Discussed: Bob explains how better-armed fighters get complacent and make mistakes.
- Conversed: "Hey, this guy just pulled out a knife. Bet you he's about to get his ass kicked."
- Played for Laughs: Bob keeps a running tally of how many times Dave's brought a knife to a fistfight. "You're a slow learner."
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