Ceiling Cling: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Nobody ever looks back''

''Nobody ever looks up''

 

 

A character avoids pursuit or detection by hanging from the ceiling of the room or hallway. Thankfully, the upper reaches of the room have structures (walls, pipes, crossbeams, etc...) that are close enough for the hero to grab onto, even if they have to hold themselves up through sheer friction.

 

See also: [[Acrophobic Bird]], [[One-Dimensional Thinking]], [[Object Ceiling Cling]], [[He Was Right There All Along]]. Frequently used in conjunction with [[Fakeout Escape]].

{{examples}}

* Used in [http://youtube.com/watch?v=4ZhLDwU5Row this very strange ad for Emerald Nuts]. Robert Goulet messing up your stuff is ''nothing to laugh at.'' Though, [[Killed Off for Real|it's probably less of a problem now.]] No. [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|No, it isn't.]]

* One commercial had a ''little kid'' doing this while playing hide-and-seek with his dad.

 

* Ranma of ''[[Ranma ½]]'' frequently tries to ''escape'' distressing situations this way, to spy on people, and while sneak attacking—and he can cling to even a smooth, painted [[media:spyingFromtheCeiling.png|wooden surface]]. In addition, at least one antagonist, Kodachi, uses this to get the drop on Akane once.

** Once he even did a ''blanket'' cling when trying to hide from his mother as she pulled off the covers from his futon.

* [[Lupin III]] does this to dodge both Zenigata and avoid a [[Trap Door]] in ''[[The Castle of Cagliostro|The Castleof Cagliostro]]''.

 

* [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] doesn't even need to grab onto anything but the ceiling itself to hold himself up. This was parodied where the person ''did'' look up (thankfully he was a civilian, not a villain) and Spidey was forced to sign an autograph to keep him quiet.

{{quote|'''Spider-Man:''' You know you're not supposed to look up until a second after I'm gone, right?}}

* The "[[Fakeout Escape|escaping from the jail cell]]" version appears in the ''[[Super Mario Brothers|Super Mario Adventures]]'' comic book. Princess Toadstool fools the Koopalings into coming into her cell in this way, then beats them up and locks them in.

 

* Helen from ''[[The Incredibles]]'' does this. And she doesn't need the ceiling to be conveniently conformed to fit her body so she can hold on - [[Rubber Man|she does that part herself]].

* Used to great effect in ''[[Léon: The Professional]]''.{{Context}}

* The Bride does this to hide from Go-Go Yubari in ''[[Kill Bill]] Volume 1.''

* In ''[[Shanghai Noon|Shanghai Knights]]'', Chon's sister attempts to escape from jail this way.

* Xander does this in ''[[XXX]]'', but it is sabotaged by the fact that doing so on a rock ceiling. He jumps on top of the baddies when he accidentally catches their attention by knocking off some dirt.

* In ''[[Dracula: Dead and Loving It]]'', Dracula uses this to escape detection. A slamming door causes him to come loose.

 

* Lampshaded in Lois McMaster Bujold's ''[[Shards of Honor]]''.{{Context}}

* The villain in Peter F. Hamilton's sci-fi novel ''The Nanoflower'' is able to cling to the roof of a cave (in order to ambush a pursuer) thanks to his [[Power Armor]].

* In Roger McBride Allen's ''Caliban'', the eponymous robot gets past his pursuers in an underground tunnel by doing this.

 

* A common hiding/lurking tactic of River Tam in ''[[Firefly]]''. Notable for the fact that there were no special effects or visual trickery involved (other than [[Summer Glau]] as a [[The Cast Showoff|cast showoff]] effect.)

** Pictured is her ceiling cling from ''[[Serenity]]''. The beam on her right foot is there because the width of the hallway was ''slightly'' too wide to accommodate her splitspan.

** Though, the [http://blog.joelogon.com/2007/04/ceiling-river-is-watching-you-have-sex.html best one] is commonly called "Ceiling River is watching you procreate" or "Why all the Crazy Space Incest fics exist".

* Monica pulls this in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. If only she'd held on to her comic books...{{Context}}

** Also, when Peter shows up at {{spoiler|Mohinder's apartment for the first time}}, there's a sort of twist on this trope, as {{spoiler|Mohinder is telekinetically pinned to the ceiling by Sylar, though Mohinder winds up dripping some blood on Peter}}, cluing him in.

* {{spoiler|An alien soldier in the guise of}} a preteen girl tries this in an episode of ''[[The Middleman]]''. Unfortunately for her, ''nobody'' is more [[Genre Savvy]] than the Middleman.

* Slightly unorthodox: used by a villain in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Potential".{{Context}}

* Sidney Bristow in an early episode of ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]''. Unfortunately, she's holding herself up by the hot water pipes just as the [[Mook]] walks under her, so she has to very quietly move over to the other, cooler pipe. Being her, she pulls it off.

* Averted in an episode of ''[[Sliders]]'', where the titular group slides into a world still stuck in the Old West mode. Quinn and Rembrandt are framed for murder and jailed by the local crime boss and a corrupt sheriff, to be hanged the next day. They realize they could use their knowledge of westerns to trick the guards and escape. Quinn does a Ceiling Cling, while Rembrandt calls for help. Unfortunately for them, the person who walks in is the above-mentioned crime boss, who is also a dimensional traveler (and a Kromagg). He simply walks up to the cell doors without opening them and immediately looks up at Quinn, mentioning that [[Genre Savvy|Kromaggs have their own westerns]].

* The Silents from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' love to [http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkhsf2X7dw1qb6e5oo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1317694557&Signature=2R95%2Fmx8xvb%2FROU0n4KwtWKx4qc%3D roost on the ceiling.] In ''packs.''

 

* One of the best ways to avoid (or lose) guards in ''[[Splinter Cell]]'' games is holding onto a pipe overhead with all four limbs. Your superspy can also do a "split jump" in narrow halls, stretching your legs to opposite walls and balancing yourself thus. By extension, you can also hang upside-down from a pipe to strangle opponents, shoot them with your pistol, or with your assault rifle in a split-jump.

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' has the infamous Wall Master, which drops from above and [[Nightmare Fuel|attempts to grab Link]]. If you look up as it's falling though, it disappears...

'''Michael:''' [[Metal Gear|"!"]] }}

** Happens again in ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]] 2'', both during the story and in gameplay. In the story, [[Alas, Poor Scrappy|Chatot]] and the player are attacked by a group of particularly nasty bandits that drop from the ceiling. {{spoiler|Chatot recognizes this just in time and shields the player from attack, taking the brunt of the blow.}} In gameplay, there are the [[Difficulty Spike|Monster]] [[Scrappy Mechanic|Houses,]] which can be deadly.

* The "Going Rogue" [[Expansion Pack]] for ''[[City of Heroes]]'' added the Ghouls as a villain group. They like to cling to the ceilings of the subway tunnels and drop down on you as you pass under them.

* In the [[Master System]] version of ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', Dr. Alan Grant can somehow grab ceilings and move around.

* In ''[[Knuckles Chaotix]]'', Espio is the only character that can do this. Fittingly, the series later turned him into a [[Ninja]].

 

* Attempted and failed in ''[[Shortpacked]]'', thanks to Leslie being [[Genre Savvy]]. "[http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-12/01-dominus-jacobus/ceiling/ When you watch as much sci-fi as I do, you learn to look up in an empty room fairly immediately.]"

* Done by [[Hellboy (comics)|Kroenen]] a lot in ''[[Abe Kroenen]]'' (Abe's room has a convenient support beam). He's almost caught because of his unsecured [[Nice Hat]].

* [http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-01-29/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/predator/ This] ''[[Exterminatus Now]]'' shows us an infiltrator in the gang's quarters crawling along the ceiling. Unfortunately for him, [[Gory Discretion Shot|he runs into Blasphemy]].

 

* Poked fun at by ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''. Mr. Burns and Smithers attempt a Ceiling Cling in Homer's kitchen while trying to steal Maggie's teddy bear. Unfortunately Homer comes in at that very moment, and starts a marathon cheese-eating session that lasts until dawn. (That's when Smithers and Mr. Burns just give up and fall to the floor.)

{{quote|'''Burns''' (dusting himself off): Good day to you.}}

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', The Blue Spirit clings to the ceiling with two swords and a ''huge length of chain'' without making a sound or a move.

* ''[[Hoodwinked]]'', complete with {{spoiler|a sweat drop}}.{{Context}}

* Done in the ''[[Transformers]]'' episode "The Golden Lagoon". The Autobots cling to a prison cell ceiling, dropping down on the Decepticons who enter the cell.

 

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{{reflist}}

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]