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Falling Chandelier of Doom: Difference between revisions
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"[[Genre Savvy|That looks like an accident waiting to happen if ever I saw one]]", she mumbled.''|''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'' }}
When in high-class surroundings, the standard way to create chaos or kill people is inevitably to drop the enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling. This is usually intentional on the part of the character (and strongly indicative of [[Badass|Badassitude]]), but occasionally it happens by accident. A frequent comedic subversion is for the hero to accidentally drop the chandelier on his own allies.
This is most common in film and theater, since it exists mostly as a way to create a visually spectacular effect.
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** Well, since their souls were literally ''pulled out'' by a Haunter, it was probably a case of [[Only Mostly Dead]].
* Happens to {{spoiler|one of the Zahlen Scwhestern}} in the final episode of ''[[Phantom of Inferno|Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom]]''.
* In [[Haikara-san ga Tooru]], {{spoiler|local [[Ill Girl]] Larissa dies as she pulls a [[Diving Save]] to rescue Shinobu from one and gets hit instead.}}
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* Subverted in ''[[The War of the Roses]]'': Barbara (Kathleen Turner) prepares to drop a chandelier onto her husband, Oliver, but he moves out of the way before she can drop it. {{spoiler|It ends up killing them both when, during a later fight, they both get on top of it and the supporting cables snap. This may not count, since they're both on top of the chandelier at the time.}}
* In ''[[Godzilla (film)|Godzilla]]'' (1998) the heroes clear a path through a host of baby Godzillas by shooting down a succession of chandeliers.
* Cruelly parodied in ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!'', as this is how the First Lady of USA (Glenn Close) dies:
{{quote|'''Marsha''': The Nancy Reagan chandelier! Woooooooh! * crash* }}
* ''[[The International]]'' (2009). The museum shootout is brought to an end by dropping a chandelier-like construction that suspends several projection screens on a couple of mooks.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' contains what is probably the most famous example of this trope.
** Gaston Leroux reportedly based this scene on [[Truth in Television|an actual incident]] where one of the counterweights of the Palais Garnier's chandelier (not the chandelier itself) fell into the auditorium and killed a woman.
** In a ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' parody of Broadway, the Phantom loses patience with his fellow Broadway characters, and uses his light fixture collapsing power on them. However since they are in a diner, the results are unimpressive.
* [[Discworld]]:
** Despite the above quote (and the fact that it's parodying ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]''), ''[[Discworld/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'' subverts this--everyone keeps talking about how dangerous the Opera House chandelier is, and the villain plans on dropping it, [[Bait and Switch|but it never actually falls]].
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** In ''[[Discworld/Reaper Man|Reaper Man]]'', the extra life force caused by Death's downsizing results in the giant chandelier in Unseen University's Great Hall unscrewing itself. Luckily, it does so one screw at a time, giving the wizards ample warning to get away.
* ''[[Harry Potter]] and the [[Deathly Hallows]]'' has Dobby dropping the Malfoy's chandelier over them and Bellatrix.
** And in book 5, Peeves is trying to drop one at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall quietly gives him some advice when he's not getting it:
{{quote|'''McGonagall:''' It unscrews the other way.}}
* One gets pulled down intentionally during the ''[[Legacy of the Force]]'' novels (''Exiles'' by [[Aaron Allston]], page 285). Of course, nobody dies, since there are two telekinetics in the room, but it was a good diversion.
* Much of the [[Dean Koontz]] novel ''Forever Odd'' takes place in the ruins of the Panamint Resort and Spa, which was severely damaged by an earthquake. Several people were killed in the ballroom when a massive chandelier fell on them during the quake; although this was an accident, it happened because the builders cut corners and suspended the chandelier from a wooden beam rather than a steel beam.
* The second [[World of Tiers]] book ends with the villain accidentally cutting down a giant chandelier and being crushed with it. {{spoiler|She}}, however, is still alive and manages to struggle free and attack the protagonists who's trying to help {{spoiler|her}}, only to be finished with {{spoiler|her}} own weapon.
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* In ''[[Hitman]]: Blood Money'', setting a bomb on the rope of a chandelier is one of the ways you can make a 'hit' [[Make It Look Like an Accident|look like an accident]]. Several missions practically invite you to drop chandeliers on people like this. In one mission, you actually got the chance to murder both a father and his son, by two separate chandeliers.
* In ''[[Luigi's Mansion]]'', when the mansion is first entered, walking straight ahead (directly under the chandelier) results in it falling. However, the game gives you time to move, and only happens once.
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and The
* In ''[[James Bond]]: [[James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing]]'', you must drop a whole lighting rig on some bad guys during the second half of "The Kiss Kiss Club" level.
* In the fine [[Sierra]] tradition of [[Everything Trying to Kill You]], [[Laura Bow]] in ''[[The Colonel's Bequest]]'' can be killed by a falling chandelier if she steps on the wrong part of the hallway.
* ''[[Braid]]'' requires the player to {{spoiler|kill the game's Bosses}} by creatively manipulating such chandeliers. And drop a single chandelier on a boss several times.
* ''[[Final Fight]]'''s last stage featured falling chandeliers. Which contained.. Turkeys, radios and two by fours..?
* In ''[[House of the Dead]]: Overkill'' you can create one on a bunch of mutants as they break into Papa's house of Pain.
* ''[[You Have to Burn The Rope]]''. Doing that will means a [[One-Hit Kill]] on the boss.
* ''[[Castlevania]]'': Appears multiple times as an obstacle in richly-adorned environments. [[Stalactite Spite|Tries to fall on you if you walk past them]]. In ''Castlevania Adventure: Rebirth'' some of the chandeliers can be used to kill enemies.
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* ''[[Kim Possible]]'''s brothers try to drop the chandelier on the escaping villain, only to have the wrong chandelier drop on the stolen [[Wave Motion Gun]]. They get it right the second time.
* The castle in ''[[Count Duckula]]'' come equipped with one. Too bad Igor relies on Nanny to trigger it.
* ''[[Batman and Mister Freeze Sub Zero]]'': Mr. Freeze uses his... uh, [[Freeze Ray]] on a chandelier to cover his escape.
* Happens to Mr. Botsford in the ''[[Word Girl]]'' episode where Nocan the Contrarian makes his first appearance.
* A chandelier falls on a [[Mook]] in [[The New Batman Adventures]] in the episode Joker's Millions
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