Human Cannonball: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

In fiction, particularly video games, the '''Human Cannonball''' act is, not much like [[Real Life]], a popular way for a character to choose to travel instantly (or, if they're really unlucky, unwillingly). However, [[Did Not Do the Research|unlike in real life]], fiction treats being shot out of a cannon in a very, '''very''' literal way. Unlike in actual acts, cannons used for this purpose in fiction are never powered by a large spring or compressed air, but by literal gunpowder and lighting the fuse. (Any explosions you might see in circus acts are just for show.) Expect characters to be shot really long distances too, on the country wide or even interplanetary scale. Expect them also to make a sudden stop via wall or solid piece of ground (or [[Soft Water|water]]) at the other end. In some works, there will not even be any apparent effects on gravity on anyone in mid flight, meaning their flight path will be a completely straight line from point A to B. May also be done with a large medieval catapult in some comical settings.

 

* One filler villain in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' anime has developed a martial art based on being a human cannonball. His entire army uses it.

 

* The Circus of Crime in [[Marvel Comics]] is, you guessed it, a traveling circus that doubles as a criminal outfit. One of its mainstays is the Human Cannonball, who is fired at enemies while wearing a suit of armor that makes him invulnerable to harm.

 

 

== [[Literature]] ==

 

== [[Music]] ==

* ''The Catapult Song'' filk.

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

** ''[[Mario Party]]'' had Wario's Battle Canyon in the original, where this was the only method of transport between areas.

** ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' had a giant Bob-Omb-powered cannon used to launch Mario to the moon...

* Used as a method of transportation in ''[[Secret of Mana]]'' and ''[[Seiken Densetsu 3]]''

* Several stages in the Subspace Emissary mode of ''[[Super Smash Bros Brawl]]'' feature the barrel cannons as a [[Shout-Out]] to ''Donkey Kong Country''.

* ''[[Monkey Island]]'' has two of those.

** In the Carnival Night Zone in ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|Sonic 3]]'', circus cannons appear throughout both acts, and allow the player to launch themselves into the air, and one is used to enter the next zone after the boss battle.

** ''Sonic Heroes'' features cannons where how it fires will depend on who the team leader is when you enter it.

** ''Donkey Kong Country''-style floating cannons appear in ''Super Star'' (''Ultra'').

* Most matches in ''[[Custom Robo]]'' start out like this, if Transforming Miniature Robot Cannon Cube doesn't stretch the definition too much.

* A good way to get around in [[Little King's Story]] is to purchase and use giant cow cannons, which made getting back to places like the Skull Plains a lot less difficult.

* You need to do this to cross a lake in ''[[Terramex]]''. By the time you reach the cannon, you will have collected three kegs of gunpowder of varying sizes. Use too much gunpowder and you will end up smashing yourself against a mountain, too little and you will fall into the lake. Choose wisely. {{spoiler|It's the medium sized keg.}}

* In ''[[Secret of Mana]]'', cannons are used for quick transport. Just use one of the cannon stations, and after a hilarious cutscene with your party tumbling through the air thousands of feet in the sky, you land where you need to go, the cartoonish nature of the game giving them a safe - if rough - landing.

* One of the many devices now available to ruin your day in ''[[Happy Wheels]]'' is a cannon into which you can slide and be blown across the board.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Zoe dated a professional Human Cannonball for a while. They met after he crash landed on another guy Zoe was trying to chat up.

* In one ''[[User Friendly]]'' story arc, Pitr is launched to the moon by trebuchet.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

** In "Krusty Gets Cancelled", he shoots his half brother Luke Perry out of a cannon. The shot missed, sending Luke out of the studio, through a sandpaper factory and a display of half-price acid at the Kwik-E-Mart before he landed in a mattress warehouse. Which was then blown up.

* ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)|Beetlejuice]]''; both the title character and Lydia are subjected to this in the opening credits, courtesy of a pair of [[Monster Clown]]s.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]