Flipping the Table



"Dave: "Whoa, the Big Guy made a dud call? Uh oh..."

Sara: "Please don't flip the table, Brian. Please don't flip the table."

Brian: "I'm... trying really hard not to, Sara, but... RAAAAAARRRGH!""

- Knights of the Dinner Table

When, out of anger or frustration, one character flips over a table that another character is sitting at, doing something on, or eating from.

In Western uses, it's almost always a sign of a hot-tempered or violent character, and is done in anger, but as an alternative to hitting a person; while in a Boke and Tsukkomi Routine, it's more likely to be caused by frustration.

Bonus Points if the table is covered with countless small objects which go flying everywhere when it is flipped.

See also Tantrum Throwing. If the action taking place at the table is a game of some sort, Flipping The Table often accompanies a Rage Quit.

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Anime & Manga
""THAT WAS OVER TWO EPISODES AGO!""
 * In the first episode of Bleach, Ichigo flips a table after hearing Rukia's explanation of Soul Reapers. The manga Lampshades this: a note taped to the table reads "CAUTION: For use in sight gags only!"
 * In Star Of The Giants, an old-fashioned father would flip over the family dinner table whenever he was morally outraged, while they were eating; the dinner would be subsequently ruined. Several subsequent occurrences of Flipping the Table were direct references to this scene, which appeared in the series' closing-credits montage; after undergoing Memetic Mutation, Flipping the Table became part of the visual meme-pool of Japanese comedy in general.
 * Yu-Gi-Oh GX has a card called "Flipping the Table". In one episode, used by Hayato's (Chumley in the dub) father who (in the Japanese version, at least) was a substantial drunkard and owns a sake company (in the dub, he just owns a hot sauce company). When played, a giant table does invariably appear and Hayato's father does overturn it fairly violently.
 * Referred to in two of the Slayers Non Serial Movies. In Slayers: Gorgeous", Lina and Naga are engaged in yet another duel of spells, and Lina has cast a spell that, by way of a side effect, froze the surface of a nearby pond; Naga retaliates by summoning up an earth golem and having it perform a chabudai-gaeshi with the sheet of ice -- it flips through the air and almost crushes Lina. In "Slayers: Great", while engaged in a battle that parodies the Super Robot genre, Naga purposely freezes a river the two are duelling near and uses her giant golem to flip the ice sheet to knock Lina's giant golem off of her feet.
 * One Piece: Franky does this during Luffy's fight with the Galley-La company, due to him being denied battling Luffy, since they were the ones fighting in the first place. Also done in Unlimited Adventure, where Franky actually builds a table from scratch, only to flip it mere seconds after finishing it. He also flips another table during the ending cinematic.
 * Ranma 1/2
 * Ranma, trying to scare someone away, flips a dinner table over. It didn't have the right effect as everyone at the table grabbed a plate and saved the meal and he got kicked into low earth orbit.
 * Subverted in the first episode, where instead of flipping the table over, Akane picks it up and smacks Ranma with it.
 * Genma has actually developed this as a martial arts technique, Wrath of the Father, which he uses against Nodoka (yeah, he's scum).
 * In Naruto, Shikamaru Nara gets mentally and verbally probed by his father Shikaku during a game of shogi after . Shikamaru finally snaps and flips the shogi board with a well-placed backhand.
 * In Mamotte Shugogetten, Tasuke does this in one episode in order to get Shao to think of him as a jerk in order to help her.
 * In the Mazinkaiser movie, Boss insists on Flipping the Table before revealing where he hid the Kaiser Pilder, much to Kouji's confusion.
 * Kyouya flips the table on Tamaki (amoung other things)on Ouran High School Host Club when Tamaki jokes that losing claim to his father's company would give him time for more interesting things. As third in line in his family, Kyouya is disgusted Tamaki is so close to having it all and is not willing to fight for it. Tamaki rebuttals that Kyouya is just projecting his frustrations on Tamaki and is mad that he isn't fighting for his father's company.
 * The second episode of Panda Z is made entirely of Talon, the main character, and his aged grandfather sitting down to a healthy meal of batteries (let's all use them properly). Talon tries various utensils to eat the batteries (fork, knife, screwdriver, scissors, etc.), but fails each time, and himself gets frustrated and angrily knocks the table over. After several of these, Panjii gets up, picks up another fully set table from offscreen, sets it down where the original table was, and flips the new one over himself.
 * Early in Fruits Basket Kyo upends a table during a heated exchange with Yuki... and unintentionally hits Tohru in the head with it. Then we find out why you don't anger Yuki...
 * Used seriously in Mahou Sensei Negima, against Big Bad Fate Averruncus.
 * Seitokai no Ichizon: Ken upon hearing Kurumi say she didn't do anything wrong on the exams. She got two 25s and a 27.
 * In Sora no Otoshimono, Tomoki sometimes does this when he's frustrated with the angeloids shenanigans (usually Ikaros'), such as when Ikaros failed to affect a smile or when the angeloids decided to make an entrance in the roof of his house.
 * Referenced by Death in the final episodes of Soul Eater when he flips over !
 * Egypt flips tables.
 * Stocking of Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt has this reaction to the calling her fat. She surprises even her usually more hot-blooded sister, Panty.


 * Shizuo Heiwajima of Durarara has an infamous habit of flipping and tossing the nearest 400-pound object whenever he gets angry. Tables are not excluded.
 * In Zettai Karen Children, BABEL has different interview rooms specially designed for different situations. The "Gift of Children" arc shows one for talking to an esper-hater if their child awakens as an esper. It includes a tea table specifically so the parent can flip it if they get angry.
 * Done hilariously in Magico by a samurai when he finds out that her wife had been lying about her BWH measurements.
 * Haruhi Chan had this in episode 3, which is Achakura's first episode. When Achakura is given a doggie dish, the doggie dish appears to contain dog food. Nagato thinks it's a joke and proceeds to give real food to Achakura in said doggie dish. Achakura's response? She flips the dish. Achakura acually does this with every other food Nagato gives her.

Board Games

 * In the world of Go, a common act of violently sore losers is referred to as the "nuclear tesuji", AKA "Throwing The Board Against The Wall, Denting The Wall And Board Prior To Uppercutting Your Opponent". See the page image for Rage Quit for an example.
 * Note: Your local go club may have different policies in place than those found on the above page.
 * Is rather common in ANY board game, to the point where jokes are made that it's often the only way to end a game.

Comic Books

 * Brian from Knights of the Dinner Table flips the table he and his friends play Hackmaster at when the other players drive him into an Unstoppable Rage somehow. Bob sometimes attempts it but usually can't lift the table.

Film

 * In Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, the newly married Milly flips the table her uncivilized brothers-in-law are sitting at after witnessing their disgusting table manners.
 * You will see this once in a while in American sports movies; usually the coach of a losing team flipping a table or bench loaded with Gatorade in order to shock his team into being serious.
 * In Beauty and The Beast, Gaston flips over a table that men are playing checkers on. No reason really, probably just that nobody flips tables like Gaston.
 * Jules does this early in Pulp Fiction, at the beginning of the famous "what?" exchange.
 * In the Thor film, Odin berates Thor for his belligerence and withholds his Kingship. Thor does not take this well. The scene them immediately cuts to him flipping over an entire banquet table in frustration.

Live Action TV

 * Battlestar Galactica: Colonel Tigh is playing a game of cards with some of Galactica's pilots. He and Starbuck obviously don't get along, due to her being a Military Maverick and Tigh being a bitter obnoxious drunk. Eventually, the two antagonize each other to the point where Tigh finally loses it and tosses the table, leading to Starbuck reflexively punching him in the face. She gets locked up for her troubles, but Tigh agrees with Commander Adama not to press charges because he was too drunk to remember who started the fight.
 * Parodied in a Kids in The Hall sketch where a disgruntled employee barges into his boss' office to berate him. He tries to flip the desk over but it proves too heavy. He makes several attempts but fails each time, eventually settling on throwing a pen across the room.
 * An episode of Monk involved a play where the male lead was supposed to flip over a table in anger. After he becomes the Victim of the Week, Adrian -- after having memorized the entire part just from watching the rehearsal and turning out to be a good actor in his own right -- ends up taking over his role. When it comes around to the table flipping scene, he can't bring himself to do that; instead he removes everything that's on it before carefully turning it on its side.
 * "WHERE'S MY MAC AND CHEESE?" -- Thirty Rock, "Sandwich Day"
 * Later parodied when Josh tries to storm out in disgust. He's unable to overturn the table, and Lemon urges the other writers to help him.
 * On Top Gear, when James May attempted to play a car-themed version of Top Trumps with The Stig, Stig overturned the table and stormed off in disgust.
 * On Glee in 'The Sue Sylvester Shuffle' coach Beiste flips a table after losing a game
 * On Man Vs. Food Adam Richman flipped a table after winning a spicy food challenge.
 * Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives Of New Jersey. right here.

Music Videos

 * The video for Duran Duran's Hungry Like The Wolf has the lead singer flip over a table in a restaurant. This is due mostly to sexual urges than anger, however.
 * Also done in the video for "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel, and quite appropriately, at the line "I can't take it anymore!"
 * In one live performance (one of the concerts he did in the USSR in 1987) he noticed that audience members who were enjoying themselves became uncomfortable when the lights fell on them. He lost his temper, and ended up flipping over his piano.
 * In the video for "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, during the scene when frontman Brandon Flowers is playing checkers with Eric Roberts.
 * About 2:25 into the music video for Rihanna's song "Hard", she flips the table during a card game.
 * This is also done to the boardgame "Mouse Trap" in a parody of OK GO's "This too shall pass".
 * At 2:00 in the Bruno Mars "It Will Rain" music video.

Video Games

 * One of Kliff's opening poses in Guilty Gear involves angrily flipping a table.
 * Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto is known within the company for "upending the table" on projects which he was unsatisfied with, like the father in Star Of The Giants.
 * One of the sillier Finishing Moves in the Humongous Mecha Fighting Game Tech Romancer involves one of the Mecha flipping the table on the other mech.
 * Referenced in Super Robot Wars. One of Masaaki's possible spoof-Calling Your Attacks for his Psybuster's basic Discutter is "Magic Blade: Ether Table Flip Attack! ...just kidding."
 * In Final Fantasy VII in the snowboarding minigame where you're weaving through igloos, one of them has a Moogle at a table. Crash into it and the Moogle will throw the table at you, imitating this trope.
 * One of Zangief's attacks in Super Gem Fighter, complete with him reading a newspaper before getting angry at the opponent and ripping it in half before flipping the table at them.
 * In the game One Piece: Unlimited Adventure, Franky flips a table as part of his animation when creating a new invention in his workshop.
 * Team Fortress 2's The Heavy in Poker Night At the Inventory does this when he loses a large hand--he follows this up by spinning his minigun, which thankfully, has no ammo.
 * Akihabara now has arcade machines that allow players to do this, with the goal being to incur as high a damage cost as possible from all the flying debris.
 * In the Mass Effect 2 DLC Lair of the Shadow Broker, the Shadow Broker is revealed to be . When talking Shepherd and Liara into giving up doesn't work, he jumps from his seat and throws his entire desk as them before charging into battle.
 * Meta example: During the development of The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures, Eiji Aonuma described Miyamoto as "upending the tea table" in the story development, leaving the plot rather... messy. He felt it was too complicated. The phrase has since become a minor meme to the fanbase.

Webcomics

 * Frank in New School Kids flips the table during a bad game of "Trevopoly."
 * Comedic rage example in The Adventures of Dr. McNinja.

Web Original

 * Table-flipping has been taken to new heights with the Kaguya Table Flipping RPG. It was originally a simple flash animation on Walfas, but was turned into a game. Kaguya's Five Impossible Tasks just became six, with the goal of Rebirth requiring, by most estimates, several thousand times the age of the universe to accomplish. Strangely, through several patches and even Dividing By Zero, obsessive players have already achieved this.
 * The latest version includes special moves called "Enlightenment" and "Master Slice", both of which make achieving Rebirth not only possible to do legitimately, but much quicker and easier.
 * I spilled table all over my liquids!
 * On an episode of Loading Ready Run's Commodore HUSTLE, Matt attempts to flip a table after a particularly nasty Magic the Gathering loss, then finds it to be too heavy. Then Alex brings in a smaller table specially designed for flipping.

Western Animation

 * The Adventure Time episode What Have You Done? has Princess Bubblegum flipping a table in both the title card and in the episode itself.
 * On Jimmy Two-Shoes, Jimmy attempts to do this when subjecting Beezy to some Perp Sweating. He ends up being too weak to do so, and asks Beezy to help him. He does.
 * Averted in Metalocalypse. The band's manager has their tables bolted down since Nathan does this so often.
 * Muscle Man on Regular Show flips the table out of anger of being splashed with a soda twice.
 * On one episode of Family Guy, Cleveland was living with the Griffins, and in the midst of a messy divorce. While watching tv with Stewie, he finally snaps and says "I hate Bewitched!" when it comes on, and flips the couch over. While Stewie was sitting on it. Stewie responds "Yeah, that was totally reasonable reaction..."

Real Life

 * Jackson Pollock did this to the dinner table, for seemingly no reason (he didn't even seem angry). Bonus points for Thanksgiving dinner being on the table,
 * Reportedly happened in real life when Ed O'Brien of Radiohead lost his patience at a restaurant. "He thought he was Jesus in the temple of the moneychangers," fellow bandmember Colin Greenwood commented.
 * This can be done with any Board Game as a method of Rage Quitting, as seen on the image for that page.
 * Stories about players flipping tables are very common in competitive Magic the Gathering.
 * Football player Jim Everett did this to sports reporter Jim Rome when Rome called Everett "Chris" right after Everett asked him to stop doing so.
 * While King Canute and the Danish Earl Ulf were playing chess, the latter overturned the chessboard out of anger over the former taking back a move. The king's courtman executed the Earl in church shortly after.

Religion

 * Jesus in the temple with the moneychangers. Older Than Feudalism.

Other
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