Harmless Electrocution: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

From the same twisted laws of physics that allowed people to be [[Harmless Freezing|frozen without problems]] comes harmless electrocution! Whether it's cartoon, comedy or action film, electricity just doesn't seem as damaging as other hazards; no, at worst you'll fall over with a [[Non Sequitur Thud]] and be left with soot all over your clothes and face, and your hair all messed up. Despite briefly conducting enough juice to [[X-Ray Sparks|make your skeleton visible through your skin]], there'll be no lasting damage, even from the most traumatic [[Electric Torture]].

'''[[You Keep Using That Word|Fun Fact]]:''' The strict definition of [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/electrocution electrocution] is "to ''kill'' by electricity."<ref>Making the title of this trope an oxymoron.</ref> [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/electrification Electrification], on the other hand, means "to charge with or subject to electricity."

 

{{examples}}

** In the early episodes Ash gets shocked at least once per week (without any long term suffering) and some time later he even teaches a girl to respect her own Raichu by resisting its shocks.

** An extreme ''Pokémon'' example: Ash's successful tactic in the episode ''Pikachu Re-Volts'' relied on his ability to stand up to his hypnotized Pikachu's malicious electric attacks as they caused nearby machinery to explode.

** Strangely averted when everyone seemed worried when Clair got hit by one of Pikachu's electric attacks while protecting her Dratini. Jarring since the main characters (Ash in particular) have been shocked so many times that it's surprising they even flinch any more.

** However, ''[[Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions]]'' subverts this HARD with [[Big Bad|Kodai's]] [[Weapon of Choice]], an extending claw with a powerful electric shock, which is specifically shown to be able to kill {{spoiler|and almost does when he uses it to mortally wound Zoroark and [[Cold-Blooded Torture|torture]] and almost kill Zorua.}}

* ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'': This happens to Excel in the anime while she was a prisoner. She even [[Too Kinky to Torture|asks for more]] just as the next prisoner supposedly dies from the same electrocution.

* Ed ends up electrocuting herself in one episode of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]''. After Faye and the others question if she's dead, she literally springs back up and continues on her business as if nothing ever happened.

* The ''Riding Bean'' OVA shows how a taser isn't enough to awake Bean when he's taking a nap. Played for laughs but also telling us that he is [[Rule of Cool|absurdly]] [[Made of Iron]].

* Thankfully averted in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' with {{spoiler|Shion's}} taser of doom.

* [[Inuyasha]] gets struck by lightning in one of the movies, and is perfectly fine less than two minutes later.

** In an early episode, he gets hit repeatedly with a lightning-shooting halberd and is shown to be in considerable pain with each strike, but again has no problems less than a minute later.

 

* The Ranzz family from ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes]]''. They all got powers from being repeatedly electrocuted by lightning beasts.

* Subversion: In the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]], Storm's powers go awry and she ends up badly burned by a lightning strike she created, which is part of the reason she spent awhile as Mohawk Storm.

* In ''[[X Wing Series|The Phantom Affair]]'', Wedge Antilles is shocked twice by some electrified bars. Both times, afterward he's obviously limp and in pain, but manages to drag himself to his feet in both cases, and then escape to fly combat.

 

* In ''[[Spies Like Us]]'', Emmett (Chevy Chase) uses his own body to close an electrical circuit. Partially justified in that {{spoiler|he was doing it to save the world}}.

* In ''[[Our Man Flint]]'', Derek Flint and Lloyd Cramden use an electrical socket and their own bodies as an impromptu defibrillator. They're both fine afterwards.

*** In the same movie, Vader [[Torture First, Ask Questions Later|tortures Han]] with some sort of electrical device that causes a lot of pain but doesn't injure him badly.

** In ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', when the Emperor [[Electric Torture|tortures Luke with Force lightning]], he seems to recover from it just fine, although it's clear his life was in danger moments before. [[Heroic Sacrifice|Darth Vader, on the other hand, doesn't.]]

* A minor character in the comedy ''The Great Outdoors'' had apparently been struck by lightning ''66 times'' and survived, albeit with a near-inpenetrable stutter, constant palsy-like trembling, and [[Disability Superpower|the ability to detect thunderstorms]] (not that it does him much good: he gets struck for the 67th time before the ending credits roll).

* In the second ''[[Home Alone]]'' movie, one of the Wet Bandits, Marv, is electrocuted by one of Kevin's traps, complete with [[X-Ray Sparks]], but seems fine afterward.

 

* Subversion: In Charlaine Harris' other series, the main character has the ability to detect the location of the dead after being struck by lightning. In addition, she is scarred, and has muscle spasms and debilitating migraines as a result of the lightning strike as well.

* In the ''Invasion'' crossover event in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[Expanded Universe]], Neelix falsely claims to be immune to the dangerous effects of electricity so that the team will let him short-circuit a lock by sticking his fingers in a light socket. Why this matters is unclear, since Janeway also needs to link hands to complete the circuit. Neelix recovers, but is knocked to the floor; Janeway is mostly uninjured but finds that her arm is stuck between the bars because her muscles have gone into spasm. Their limited resources mean Janeway has to be phaser-stunned to escape.

* Subverted in ''[[The Truce At Bakura]]''. Set directly after [[Return of the Jedi]], throughout the book Luke Skywalker aches and suffers from [[The Emperor]]'s Force Lightning, even though he hadn't been shocked by it for all that long.

 

 

 

* Chiara from ''[[Bionicle]]'' regularly hurls lightning around and zaps people just to prove a point. They don't seem to suffer any permanent damage, but Chiara has been shown to be more than capable of killing creatures with her powers when she wants to...

 

* Video game characters in general can usually be on the receiving end of electrical attacks with no lasting damage.

* Video Games example: in ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'', Batman doesn't actually suffer any terribly noticeable injury to himself if he runs into an electric field, unlike mooks who get knocked right out. On the other hand this might just be because, well, [[Badass|he's Batman.]]

** Batman's armor takes the brunt of shock. Same thing happens with getting too close to explosive gel blasts.

* In ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'' you get a gadget that acts as a wireless taser. Given that it causes enemies to spasm and hit each other, though, it might be an aversion...

* In the opening credits of ''[[Dawn of War]] 2'', it is averted with the Farseer quickly killing a [[Space Marine]] with a bolt of lighting from her hands. It doesn't kill the Force Commander she attacks with it afterwards, but he is breathing heavily and worse-for-wear from it. On the other hand, electric attacks in the gameplay fall completely under [[Critical Existence Failure]].

* ''[[Pikmin]]'' will be instantly fried by bursts of electricity, though the yellow ones and Bulbmin are unaffected.

* While most Electric attacks in ''[[Pokémon]]'' deal damage, Thunder Wave is a weak jolt of electricity that deals no damage, but instead just inflicts the Paralysis effect. And if the target is already sleeping, poisoned, or burned, it does nothing whatsoever.

* Averted in ''[[The Sims]]'', where getting electrocuted makes all your needs drop severely. If they drop low enough, the Sim will die.

** In the Sims 3, being electrocuted gives you the singed attribute, which lasts an indefinite length of time but always more than a day. Not only does it ruin their mood, but doing any further electric work is more likely to fail, and if they get electrocuted again while singed, they automatically die.

* Played straight, and eventually averted, in ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]''. Zoe, a fairy who auto-saves your progress, zaps you. In ''Hero's Tail'' it's revealed that it hurts, and that it's making Spyro's brain cells disappear.

* A few ''[[Street Fighter]]'' characters have the ability to electrocute opponents (Blanka and Crimson Viper being the most notable,) [[X-Ray Sparks|visible skeleton and all]]. The opponent is flung away and knocked flat on his or her back, but is really hurt only as much as if hit by a fierce punch and goes right back to fighting.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Played straight with Mr. Mighty in ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'', who just suffered a little [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=188498 humorous damage]; averted by J.P. Wunsch {{spoiler|aka Wrecking Paul}}, who [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=156671 wasn't so lucky].

 

== Western Animation ==

* Likewise, too many [[SpongeBob]] episodes to count, as well as other [[Nicktoons]] intended for comedy as opposed to exposition ([[Fairly Oddparents]], [[Mighty B]], [[My Life as a Teenage Robot]], etc.)

* In one episode of ''[[Megas XLR]]'', Kiva finishes her rushed attempt to fix Megas in time to stop a Glorft attack by telling Jamie to hold a couple of wires for her.

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' sometimes uses this trope, but there is an unexpectedly subversion in one particular episode. A new worker called Frank Grimes gets employment at the power plant, but is aggravated at Homer's terrible ineptitude and how good his quality of life is compared to his own. His frustration builds throughout the episode until it climaxes in him going insane and imitating Homer - eventually he grabs a live power cable believing that he will survive the electric shock (like how most characters would do in the show), but he doesn't. He dies. And still gets no respect.

* After [[Kim Possible]] kicks her into a signal tower that zaps her and collapses on top of her in ''[[The Movie|So The Drama]]'', Shego receives only minor damage to her clothes, hair, and dignity.

** Possibly justified since she IS an energy-channeling metahuman.

** Played straight in a non-typical manner when Iroh gets struck by natural lightning. He isn't injured by it (managing to use his technique to redirect lightning), but nevertheless ends up with the usual charring and hair on end.

* Happens to Fry on ''Futurama'' in the episode the Luck of the Fryrish while he attempts to retrieve a horse racing ticket from some electrical wires while using a conducting rake.

 

== Real Life ==

* A static discharge can be pretty painful without inflicting any noticeable injury.

* While technically not electrocution (which is defined as death by electric shock) plenty of people survive encounters with household electricity with nothing worse than a tingly arm. However, electricity is capricious. Slight changes in what the person is touching can mean the difference between a shock passing harmlessly between the thumb and forefinger or fatally between the thumb and foot by way of the heart.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Amusing Injuries]]

[[Category:Television Is Trying to Kill Us]]

[[Category:Thunderbolts and Lightning]]