Disturbed Doves: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|"Upu, bleh, bleh, what's with all these doves? Did he go overboard with the theatrics again?"|'''Nagi Springfield''', ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]].''}}

Frequently subverted; not to be confused with the pigeon equivalent of the [[Cat Scare]].

 

 

{{examples}}

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'': When {{spoiler|Julia dies}}, the doves go flying. In slow motion, no less!

** Not to mention the frequent flapping and squawking of Vicious' pet bird during the Cathedral fight scene.

*** And the dove flyby over {{spoiler|Spike's dead body}}.

* In the novels of ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', during the making of the home movie, Haruhi decides that a flock of doves flying by Mikuru would make a perfect shot; unfortunately, all she can find are shrine pigeons. Of course, [[Reality Warper|after the shoot, they end up turning pure white...]]

** It happens in the anime episodes based on that storyline as well.

* ''[[Blue Drop]]'' anime does this a lot, too, except that it's mostly seabirds rather than doves.

* One of the signature poses of ''Golgo13'' has him standing in a field of doves taking flight.

* The climactic scenes of the first two ''[[Patlabor]]'' movies feature large flocks of seagulls.

* ''[[Maison Ikkoku]]'' Episode 20: Kyoto denies feeling lonely while Godai is away at his hometown for New Years, and he keeps delaying his return. Then she meets Kozue (interesting how the two women in the [[Love Triangle]] get along so well) and they start talking about Godai, and how he hasn't come back yet. Kozue then says "I'm lonely". A moment to take in Kyoko's reaction- and the suddenly a bunch of pigeons take flight (and they watch them go, possibly combining this with [[Airplane of Love|the bird of lost love]]?) First time through it seems a little off, but looking back that was a very important moment when Kyoko realizes that she is lonely, and that Godai has become an important part of her life (even if it's not romantic).

* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' in the beginning of the first episode. Haruhi walks down the school hallway and she passes a huge window while a flock of doves fly by. At the time she was thinking about her late mother. This is also her first day at Ouran and not long before she stumbles into the Host Club, an event that changes her life (and kicks off the rest of the series).

* Almost [[Running Gag|every episode]] of ''Mitsudomoe'' includes a scene where someone screams, cut to a picture of their house and a bunch of crows flying away.

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

** And indeed it does. In fact, the doves are even slightly relevant to the plot of ''Ex Machina'', since {{spoiler|they are not actually real birds but rather radio re-transmitters disguised as such by the villain}}. Come think of it, it might have even been a twisted meta-[[Red Herring]]: the viewers are ''expected'' to know [[Signature Style|what doves mean in John Woo movies already]] and to assume that this is also the case here, failing to connect the dots until [[The Reveal]]. Evil.

** In his video game sequel to ''[[Hard Boiled]]'', ''[[Stranglehold]]'', you can activate Spin Attack, which kills every mook in the room and summons doves. [[Rule of Cool|For no reason.]] [[Fridge Logic|Inside any building.]]

* Variation in ''[[The Matrix]] Reloaded'': Just before the "Burly Brawl" sequence, the Oracle had been feeding a flock of [[Animal Stereotypes|metaphoric ravens]] while talking with Neo. When she and Seraph leave, the ravens fly off in fright as Agent Smith approaches...

* This is done in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'', to the point where it's actually brought up in the commentary track as a John Woo reference

* At the climax of ''[[Blade Runner]]'' the decaying upper stories of the Bradbury Building are full of doves (and pigeon poop) as Deckard and Roy Batty play hide-and-seek, and Roy famously holds one in his hand as he delivers the magnificent [[Tannhauser Gate]] monologue, releasing it as he murmurs, "Time to die..." This may honestly be one of the earliest appearances of the trope as a Significant Emotional Moment reaction, as opposed to a Loud Noise reaction.

* ''[[The Notebook]]'' has a particularly [[Sickeningly Sweet]] instance of this.

* A flock of disturbed seagulls take off when Harry Waters arrives ''[[In Bruges]]''.

* The [[Widget Series|exceedingly bizarre]] movie ''Branded To Kill'', director Seijun Suzuki didn't have the budget to buy birds, so he just superimposed their silhouettes on the scene he wanted them.

* Subverted to a degree in ''[[Big Fat Liar]]'' when the main character jumps off a roof, it is shot in slow motion with doves flying in the background. The subversion is that the birds were placed there on purpose to do just that.

* Used subtly in [[Mulholland Drive]] when Adam Kesher smashes the Castiglianis' limo with a golf club.

* Mercilessly parodied in ''[[Scary Movie]] 2'' with a game of wheelchair chicken...indoors.

* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in ''[[The Bourne Identity]]'' when Bourne is being tracked through tall grass by Clive Owen's [[Cold Sniper]]. Bourne lets off a shotgun, disturbing some very noisy birds, and runs for cover while the ensuing cacophony covers his footsteps.

* In ''[[Penelope]]'', when Penelope's mother discovers she's run away, and runs out the front door of the house calling after her, startled pigeons fly up in the background. They're more conspicuous in the trailer than in the actual film, though.

* In the second [[Shrek]] movie, birds are strategically released when Fiona and Shrek are announced to the kingdom. However, when everyone realizes that they're ogres, the birds crash into a wall.

* In the French horror film ''[[Eyes Without a Face]]'' disturbed doves are used for the haunting ending. This actually inspired John Woo in ''[[The Killer]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* [[The Art of War]] gives this as one of the signs the enemy is on the move.

 

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* [[The Colbert Report]] lampoons a group of people claiming that birds taking off during their rally was a sign from God, saying something along the lines of "What are the odds that birds would take off the moment a hundred people started clapping at once?".

* In Disney's ''The Swamp Fox'' series, using a gunshot to scare the birds near Marion's hideout into flight was a frequent way to summon the brigade. Could be real-life based, but unverified.

 

== Music ==

 

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

* Randy Orton's signature taunt, where he leans back slightly with his arms extended outward and upward (sorry, best description I could come up with) has been [[Memetic Mutation|given the]] [[Fan Nickname|nickname]] of "the 'RELEASE THE DOVES!' pose".

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Metal Gear]]:''

* In ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'', doves gradually gather around Mono's altar; they will fly away if you get too close (or shoot arrows at them). Given that there are so few animals in the game, and that a new dove appears for each colossus killed, this is almost certainly symbolic, but [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|exactly what they symbolize]] [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|is anyone's guess]].

** In the first game, flocks of doves mark points where it is safe to take a [[Leap of Faith]], so you'll probably disturb them yourself as you jump.

* ''Condemned: Criminal Origins'' has this somewhat: dead birds started showing up during and before the course of the game, related to the evil jaw-thing at the end of the game.

* ''[[Canabalt]]'' has the protagonist run through flocks of birds perched on the rooftops, which fly off as he passes.

* The Demo Video for the [[Guns Akimbo|Dual Pistols]] Powerset in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' featured Doves as part of it's finishing move: "Hail of Bullets". The Doves were a joke added in by the animator, and were removed before the Powerset's final release. (Mostly because he didn't want to deal with ''customizing'' the Doves.)

** To the sadness of many a Dual Pistols player, and the relief of others who think the set is entirely too silly and flashy as it is.

** You can also get a taunt which allows you to perform this at any time you want. The item's description is this;

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Referenced in ''[[Questionable Content]]'' [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=696 #696].

 

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In the beginning of the first [[Made for TV Movie]] of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', ghost ravens (or it is raven ghosts?) caw and fly off as Vlad Plasmius awakens Pariah Dark.

* 12 Oz. Mouse does this during one of the shootout scenes. Actually, considering [[Acid Trip Dimension|the show itself]], that's actually quite normal.

 

 

[[Category:Animal Tropes]]

[[Category:Flying Tropes]]