Gale Force Sound



Anyone with a basic knowledge of physics knows how sound waves work. Anyone who's been up close to the stage of a rock concert can tell how well they work when it gets loud.

This, though, is that feeling taken beyond what's possible in real life. A sound or series of sounds, if sufficiently loud, will push someone or something around as would the wind of a hurricane or tornado, well beyond what would happen in the Real Life. This trope is almost always played for laughs.

Note, however, that this doesn't cover sounds that are genuinely that loud, like a rocket launch, nor does it cover giant monsters like Godzilla or King Kong roaring in someone's face, where their breath would come into play.

Contrast this to Brown Note and Loud of War, where the sound has a purely psychological effect on the target, as opposed to the physical effect of Gale Force Sound. See also Glass-Shattering Sound, where the effect is limited to glass. Make Me Wanna Shout has a similar effect, but only caused by a person's voice.

Advertising

 * This old Maxell cassette tape ad is the Ur Example.

Film

 * Near the beginning of the first Back to The Future, Marty hooks up an electric guitar to a ludicrously huge speaker. He plays a single chord and is physically hurled backwards by the sound (the speaker is destroyed in the process).
 * Kung Fu Hustle features the Harpists, two villains who fight their opponents by playing a guqin (Chinese zither) that makes sounds loud enough to knock people down. This is easily topped by the Landlady's "Lion's Roar" technique, which shakes buildings and cracks stone columns. When this fails to impress the Beast, the Big Bad of the story, her husband helps her rip the top off a church bell and holds it up for her to use as a megaphone. The result is a sonic tornado that reduces the room to splinters, with the Beast becoming a rapidfire participant in Oh Crap and Blown Across the Room. This does impress the Beast, and when she moves in to give him a second dose, he promptly surrenders.
 * Near the end of the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Mike and Don send Shredder flying by turning the speaker he's standing in front of at maximum and hitting a chord.

Web Comics

 * The Whiteboard: Doc using new speakers
 * Schlock Mercenary: "If you want to really yell at somebody, Doctor, do it from the diaphragm."
 * Questionable Content: In A Very Sweet-Tits New Year Part 1.
 * El Goonish Shive:
 * Sarah was really upset about that Catgirl incident... could you tell?
 * And now another young lady joins the Sonic Boom Club!
 * This comic from Coach Random.

Web Original

 * In Volume 4 Episode 12 of RWBY, the Nuckelavee, a centaur-like Grimm, roars into Ren's face powerfully enough to blow his hair back.

Western Animation

 * In the Teen Titans mini-episode featuring Punk Rocket, Punk Rocket's guitar playing acts like this.
 * From Transformers Animated, there's the rock battle between Optimus Prime and Soundwave, in "Human Error, Part 2".
 * Strawberry Shortcake: Before Berrykin Bloom started taking lessons, his bassoon-playing shook the ground, to the point of knocking people over.
 * In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Luna Eclipsed", Princess Luna, using the Royal Canterlot Voice, has this effect.
 * The Whammer from Word Girl can crash his fists together to create shock waves that topple buildings.
 * In the 1951 Looney Tunes cartoon Bunny Hugged, wrestling champion The Crusher simply roars into the face of his opponent, Ravishing Ronald, sending his hair and arms (!) waving behind him in the resulting wind.