Death by Looking Up: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"You know, the strange thing is, the closer it gets, the more it looks like a piano."''|'''Frankie Boyle''', ''[[Mock the Week]]'', "Unlikely Last Words",}}

 

 

They will usually be alerted by a [[Bomb Whistle|whistling sound]], combined with the [[Shadow of Impending Doom|rapidly growing shadow]] of the object that is around them. Of course, they are always comically slow in looking up to see the object...and even once they see it, they refuse to do anything useful such as leap out of the way. They instead choose to stare at it in shock until they are crushed. Of course, it's probably fairly surprising to see a piano bearing down on you in the middle of the sidewalk...but you would think survival instinct counted for something. Sometimes, a character, if trying to invoke the trope on someone they are fighting against, will also point up slightly to hint that they should look up, to which the enemy inevitably falls for it just as they are flattened.

 

 

 

{{deathtrope}}

{{examples}}

== Anime & Manga ==

 

 

* In Recess: School's Out, after Gus (who acted as the commander of the children faction of the resistance against Benedict's No Recess group) sprayed soda on the ninjas, the ninjas attempt to attack Gus out of revenge, but then Gus tells them to stop, and then points upward. The Ninjas take the hint and look up... only for Spinelli to flatten them with a flying press.

* At the end of ''[[Ice Age]]'', the evil saber-toothed cat Soto is impaled by several falling icicles.

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' has such a scene, though it's a bit different: it was a car bomb. One of the Joker's victims was given an envelope telling her where she was going into hiding, and the only word inside was "up". She looked up... and then the car ''went'' up.

* ''[[The Transporter|Transporter 3]]'': The warehouse fight scene ends with Frank Martin hitting a switch that drops a car onto two temporarily incapacitated bad guys, who look up, scream, and hold their hands up (ineffectually).

* ''Over Her Dead Body'': The [[Villain Protagonist]] dies at the beginning of the film because she just stood there staring at the falling statue, even though [[What an Idiot!|she had plenty of time to get out of the way]].

* [[The Dragon]] from ''[[Lethal Weapon|Lethal Weapon 2]]'' got a face full of shipping container.

* The villain of ''[[Con Air]]'', [[Rasputinian Death|following a long and difficult death process]], ends up on a conveyor belt... and is condemned to see the rock crusher at the end of it.

* One of the victims in ''[[Final Destination]] 2'' looks up just in time to see a large window literally smash him into a bloody mess.

 

== Literature ==

* In the first ''Redwall'' book, Cluny the Scourge is rooted to the spot in shock, staring up at the bell falling from above.

 

* Dr. Romano from ''[[ER]]'' looked up just in time to see a helicopter crash on him, killing him. This after he had survived a helicopter cutting off his arm; they really don't like him.

* A [[Victim of the Week]] on ''[[Castle]]'' looked up to see a gargoyle's head dropping down upon him.

 

 

== Music ==

* From the Lovin' Spoonful song "Pow!":

I'm the guy underneath 'em lookin' up...'' }}

* Parodied in Los Prisioneros's "We are South American Rockers", where some paint-filled eggs were thrown around in the video and the last one, right as the song finishes, is tossed with whistling sound effect and as if it was a piano, as the group members stare in horror.

== Video Games ==

* At the end of ''[[Resident Evil]]: Code Veronica'', Wesker, having just opened a can of whupass on Chris, does a leaping punch to finish him, but Chris uses his last ounce of strength to fling himself out of the way out of Wesker's attack and straight at a lever. Cue loud noises, and Wesker looking up just in time to catch an I-beam with his face right before an entire pile lands on him. Subverted into a [[Hope Spot]], however, considering what said character's [[No One Could Survive That|already had happen to him]].

** In the series, there was a returning enemy called a <s>stairmaster</s> wallmaster, which would appear [[Wall Master|suddenly]] in dungeons, scare the crap outta you, grab onto your face, and pull you into oblivion. In most games this would incur some damage, and if you were on the brink of doom, you would crumple to the ground as soon as you reappeared at the beginning of the dungeon.

* This has a very low chance of happening in ''[[The Sims 2]]'' when sky- or star-gazing: they look up shortly before dying from falling satellite. On the plus side, you can sell the satellite in question for fun and profit afterward. No, really.

* This happens in ''[[Brutal Legend]]'' to General Lionwhyte, though somewhat averted; he looks up in time to see a giant mirror falling towards him, and reacts in time by [[Make Me Wanna Shout|shattering it with his voice]]... [[Karmic Death|resulting in his death by multiple shards of broken mirror]].

* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'': Averted in the Skyrim trailer, in which the fellow looks up and then proceeds to unleash his fury on the offending dragon.

 

* ''[[Goblins]]''

** The goblins of the warcamp, [http://www.goblinscomic.com/10232005/ from a falling tree].

 

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* A running gag in ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' is that some unlucky patron (usually a audience member or a production staff) looks up just as chaos erupts. And something sharp flies through the air then impales him in the face.

* From ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'': "What do Jagulars do?" "Well, they always call 'Halloo!' And when you look up, they drop on you." "I'm looking d-down, Pooh."

== Real Life ==

* Rock climbers never yell "heads up" or "look out" for exactly this reason; people looking up may get hit in the unprotected face instead of on the top of their helmets. Instead, climbers shout "Rock!" (even if what's falling is a piece of equipment or some other non-rock object), which means to get your head down and stand close to the wall. If something very large falls, the shout is instead "Boulder!", which means you ''should'' look up, at least so you can see what's about to smash you.

* Theater. One of the first things they teach on tech crew is ''don't'' look up when people yell "heads up," as that's a great way to get a faceful of molten plastic, shattered glass, broken light, falling planks . . . you get the picture. Run, duck, cover your head, just ''don't'' look up.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]