Convection, Schmonvection: Difference between revisions

** The poor sap who gets lowered before her ''does'' burst into flames.

** The [[Novelization]] goes into full detail of how excruciating the experience was for poor Willie. At one point it even explicitly says that her eyelashes singe and her dress starts smoking, and she eventually passes out from the high temperature.

** The other characters had to walk around the edge of the area to meet back up with him. This could be due to the fact that, as mentioned in many other pages, Goku is a super-powered alien and survived something like this in the original anime more than once. Or it could be due to the fact that this incarnation of [[Idiot Hero|Goku]] is ''incredibly'' dumb and completely missed the safer, cooler path around the pit.

* The destruction of the Cave of Wonders in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''.

* The ending to ''[[Godzilla]] 1985'' has the monster being trapped in a volcano. Not surprisingly, he's not affected at all by either the lava itself or any of the intense heat. Of course, he ''is'' Godzilla.

* In the movie ''[[Danger: Diabolik]]'', most famous for being the subject of the final episode of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', the eponymous character dons a protective suit near the end to keep him safe as he melts down a large bar of gold. He claims that in such a suit he could swim through the sun (though he doesn't say so, he presumably means he could survive the ordeal as well). While this itself is fairly stupid, one has to take notice that there is a noticeable gap between the bottom of the visor and his helmet, as if he didn't shut it properly. Although this does not appear to present a problem when he is later sprayed with molten gold and survives.

'''Cassie:''' (narrating) ''Sometimes I think hanging around Marco so much has given Ax a totally twisted sense of humour. Very un-Andalite.'' }}

** The same joke is used again (or before?) in the ''Hork Bajir Chronicles".

* Brutally and repeatedly averted in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', where fire magic almost always heats the air and sets nearby objects ablaze. In one case, a vampire used a flamethrower on Harry in a tight corridor, and he used his shield bracelet to deflect the napalm - but the bracelet only stopped the napalm jelly, while the ''heat'' from the jelly proceeded to roast his hand to the point that even with his wizardly [[Healing Factor]], it's still somewhat limited in use and covered in scar tissue for the rest of the series so far. Harry mentions on several occasions that summoning and directing fire requires a ''lot'' of force in order to make sure everything that's not the target doesn't get incinerated, and once that force is released, you'll still have to deal with the convection issue.

* In the ''[[Jedi Academy Trilogy]]'', Luke once walks through lava to impress a prospective student. He's stated to be using the Force to direct the heat away from his feet, so it's not much of a stretch to assume that he includes the rest of his body.

** The ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' series finale includes a scene where [[The Omnipotent|Q]] takes Picard back to primeval Earth. There are flaming pools of lava all around them, but Picard doesn't even seem to sweat. (Maybe Q shielded them from it?)

* In an episode of the original ''[[Knight Rider]]'', the car runs over a lava spillage not once, but ''twice''. The tires are a little melted, but the Magical Impregnable Alloy protecting KITT is just a little dirty. [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=brOfsNAQfU8 You can see it here in all its... glory?]

** It's a favorite trick of "life coaches" to demonstrate firewalking over wood or charcoal. Ask them to repeat the feat with a comparatively ''cooler'' metal plate.

* An episode of ''[[Eureka]]'' deals with a miniature sun springing into being over the title city, creating an unending, superhot day. It keeps growing and getting hotter until it collapses a silo, melts the tires on a Jeep and fries the circuitry on a rocket. No people suffer any ill effects worse than sweating, and the idea that a small sun might cause a fire in the forest it's hovering over is never even mentioned.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Not only that, but the game includes rules for related things like hypothermia, sunstroke, sandstorms and forest fires. Notable in that you ''can't'' outrun a forest fire, and smoke inhalation from a fire (or lava or volcanic vent) at first damages you, and then is quite capable of killing you. You don't even want to consider attempting to assault the [[Lethal Lava Land|red dragon's volcano lair]] without magical protections against the heat effects, or else the superheated air will kill off a party long before even seeing said dragon.

** Played straight however with certain spells. If a wizard casts a fireball spell and you are 20 feet away expect to take up to 10d6 damage, more than you'd get from sticking a foot in lava. If you are 20 feet and 1 inch away? You're fine. Possibly justified as being intentionally designed that way by whoever invented the spell, allowing you to roast enemies while not harming your allies. It ''is'' [[A Wizard Did It|magic]] after all.

*** Also in Sonic 3, the fire shield is an item that grants the player this as an ability, taken to an extreme - no fire/lava/magma in the game hurts if you have it, but it goes away if you touch water. Naturally, this makes many bosses (which have flames of some sort protecting the underside, and a couple of which use fireballs to attack), as well as Lava Reef much easier. Sadly, it only appeared in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

** ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' takes it to a very silly level as the entirety of the endgame takes place within the planet's mantle with absolutely no indication that such heat has any impact on the characters or structures at all.

** As does ''[[Sonic Rush Series|Sonic Rush Adventure]]'', whose final level also takes place deep underground.

* Exception: The ''[[Metroid]]'' series, where you'll incur constant, significant damage from being in a hot area without the Varia armor upgrade. In the ''[[Metroid Prime|Prime]]'' series, your HUD will also warn you that your life-support system is in danger of failing due to overheating.

* ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]'' and its sequels have plenty of lava which is completely safe... until you touch it. Then it's ''very'' lethal.

* Justified in ''[[American McGee's Alice]]'', as Wonderland is entirely inside the heroine's own mind.

* Taken to ridiculous extremes in the last two levels of the eleventh ''[[Touhou]]'' game, Subterranean Animism. In the fifth level, you fly amidst the fires of Hell, which are portrayed as an endless sea of towering flames that seem to be just below you the entire time. Naturally, being right above them doesn't burn or affect either of the playable characters at all. The final level is even more ridiculous, as the heroines fly through the corona of a ''second sun'' created by the game's final boss. Said final boss plans to use her power over nuclear fusion to melt the entire Earth away, yet when you fight her, you can get mere millimeters from the miniature suns and nuclear explosions she produces without even getting singed.

** That said, the trope is also [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the same game: in the composer's notes for the track to the sixth level, ZUN talks about how lava levels are pretty common in shooters, and then states, "I guess it's normal for shrine maidens to fly above lava. Crows also."

* Arachnia in ''[[Bug!]]!''. Bug can be perfectly fine even when he is on a rock floating on a sea of lava. But once he [[Ash Face|touches]] [[One-Hit Kill|the]] [[I'm Melting|lava]]...

* ''Color Dark Castle'', the [[Video Game Remake|remake]] of the first ''[[Dark Castle]]'', replaced the log platforms floating in water with log platforms floating in ''lava'', essentially replacing [[Super Drowning Skills]] with this trope.

{{quote|'''Lava Flow Miner Dwarf''': Logically, convection should make the air in this chamber hotter than an oven, and we'd all roast alive. But for some reason that doesn't happen!}}

* ''[[Heretic]]''. Episode 2, Level 4 is "The Ice Grotto". On this level, there are stretches of ice, ''right next to lava pits''. Obviously, [[A Wizard Did It|D'Sparil did it.]]

* Taken to it's obvious extreme in [[Futurama]]: The Game. The crew lands ''in the sun'' and they're just fine... as long as they don't touch the lava "floor".

* Averted in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NUL89jx7CDE#t=210s this] volcanic level of [[Bomberman]] Hero, where the player steadily loses health due to the heat of the lava below and must heal by entering "cooling rooms" conveniently placed inside the volcano.

* ''[[Vessel]]'' plays this completely straight. You can even run through lava splashes if you are fast enough. Though lava doesn't seem ''that'' hot in this game, as water cools it down pretty easily.

* Twice ([[Timey-Wimey Ball|well, sort of twice]]) during Season Two of ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'', the duo wind up stranded on a small rock outcropping surrounded by lava. As you learn when you revisit the scene later, though, {{spoiler|it's Hell, and physics may not apply}}.

** Likewise, in "Volcano" Lois is right next to molten lava and is completely unaffected, even doing a hand-over-hand climb over a field of lava without being even singed.

** This is amended in later episodes, where Lois Lane is imperiled by fire, and passes out or is burned outright by the heat.

* An episode of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' involves Bruce Wayne battling a ninja rival on an erupting volcano. The climax of the fight comes when they are separated on the rocks and Wayne [[Save the Villain|throws a rope for the ninja to catch, thinking that if he jumps while he pulls he could make it.]] The ninja kicks the rope away, but not before giving a look that both says "I don't want your help" and almost looks as though he is thinking "Please, don't be so stupid."

* The trope is treated as a game of ping pong in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. In "The Awakening," Aang stands on top of solid but still-glowing lava rock in bare feet without getting burned. Curiously there is a subversion in the same scene, as his wooden glider caught on fire by just being next to a lava stream that Aang had just stepped by. In a later episode, Aang, Sokka, and Toph are running through tunnels within a dormant volcano with no problem running over the rock crust that has formed over a river of magma or soaring over an underground lake of the stuff. Strangely enough, in "The Avatar and the Firelord," a major character actually dies from the toxic gases released by an erupting volcano.

[[Category:Lava Tropes]]

[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]

[[Category:Heat Index]]