It's Raining Men: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"We're the ''Flying Elvises''! Utah chapter!"''
|''[[Honeymoon in Vegas]]''}}
Simply put, people falling from the sky, or at least a great height, then landing safely, at least for them. This is accomplished in [[Real Life]] via parachutes or gliders, but in [[Speculative Fiction]] it can be done through [[Powered Armor]], [[Jet Pack
Has nothing to do with the song it takes its name from.
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* [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]: The titular Evangelions (including {{spoiler|the ones mass-produced by SEELE}}) do hard drops once in a while.
* The Forwards in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] StrikerS'' frequently perform this without the aid of parachutes. Air Mages have [[Flight]] capabilities. Ground Mages have to settle for hard drops, with their Barrier Jackets likely cushioning the impact.
* ''[[Gundam]]:'' ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team]]'' does this in one episode.
** ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' and ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' have orbital drop operations, carried out using ship-launched [[Drop Pod
** ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' also have orbital entry ships, especially prominent in [[The Movie]]
* In ''[[Hellsing]]: the Dawn'', [[Battle Butler|Walter]] jumps out of a plane without a parachute while carrying [[Axe Crazy|A]][[Heroic Sociopath|l]][[God Mode Sue|u]][[Blood Knight|c]][[Complete Monster|a]][[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family|r]][[Dracula|d]] and his coffin. He lands perfectly unharmed, [[Charles Atlas Superpower|of course]].
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== Comic Books ==
* [[Captain America (comics)]] seems to do this a fair amount. Here's [https://web.archive.org/web/20100514163624/http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/4042187.html one instance], where he actually lets go of the parachute because "I better get down there faster!"
** On another occasion he was dropped out of a plane, ''in a tank''. He landed it on top of the Hulk.
** In the [[Ultimate Marvel]] universe, he was a member of the 101st Airborne Division during WWII, but curiously enough, he didn't wear a parachute because they were for girls.
* In [[Y: The Last Man]] every man on Earth [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|(except one)]] has been killed by a mysterious plague, but the protagonists encounter a Russian woman who claims that [[But What About the Astronauts?|two surviving male astronauts]] from the International Space Station will be landing in Kansas. Later in Kansas Dr Mann, who's been skeptical about the whole idea, looks up to see the re-entry vessel falling on the end of its parachutes.
{{quote|
'''Agent 355:''' "Halleluiah." }}
* "It's Raining Xavins!" during the Skrull Invasion in ''[[Runaways]]''.
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==
* ''[[
* ''[[And If That Don't Work?]]'' uses hard drops regularly, far more than canon. Such as the {{spoiler|Ramiel }}battle. Unlike the canon this time the pilots regularly sing paratrooper songs. It's that kind [[Real Robot|of fic.]]
== Film ==
* The films ''Drop Zone'' and ''[[Terminal Velocity]]'', were about skydiving along with an [[Xtreme Sport Xcuse Plot]].
* A scene in ''[[Point Break]]'', which the ''[[
* A similar scene in ''[[Moonraker]]'', where Bond catches up with the guy with the parachute and ''steals'' it.
** The another guy who falls from a place in the movie? He's called Jaws, he's [[Made of Iron]], and he ''survives the fall without a chute!''
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* At the climax of ''Honeymoon In Vegas'', Nicholas Cage parachutes onto the Vegas strip [[Elvis Impersonator|dressed as Elvis]].
* ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]''
{{quote|
'''Bugs Bunny:''' Eh, what's up, Doc? Jumping without a parachute? Kinda dangerous, ain't it?
'''Mickey Mouse:''' Yeah. You could get killed. Heh, heh. }}
* ''[[Battle of the Bulge]]'' (1965) depicted [http://tinyurl.com/4ldnko Operation Greif], with English-speaking Germans parachuting behind Allied lines to perform sabotage and disinformation missions.
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* The SF novel ''[[Footfall]]'' had a mass paratroop drop by invading aliens who looked like small two-trunked elephants.
* ''[[Honor Harrington|The Shadow of Saganami]]'' makes a big plot point out of a massed drop of [[Powered Armor|power-armored]] [[Space Marine|Royal Manticoran Marine Corps]] heavy company on a suspected terrorist hideout. They've dropped from the shuttle, though, not from the orbit, and used tethered countergravs, so it was actually very close to [[Real Life]] paradrop.
* In the ''[[Dragonlance
* [[John Ringo]]'s ''
** The drop described here is actually treated in a realistic way. The paratroopers need to do an undetected HALO jump, so a stealth bomber is a perfect way to deliver them. The issues of oxygen and the cold are dealt with; the paratroopers are wraped in enough foam wrap to make them fill a bomb rack slot (make them thick enough for the bomb clamps) to protect them from the cold, and they are on supplemental oxygen at the HA part of the jump. Yes, rule of cool is a major factor, but it was treated realisticly.
* [[John Scalzi]]'s ''Old Man's War'' has the elite "Ghost Brigades" landing on an occupied planet through an orbital skydive. Scalzi described how their nanotech works to keep the heat from re-entry from reaching the cocooned trooper.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* Various races in ''[[Warhammer
** Although all troops who enter battle via
** How endemic is this? One of the Soul Drinkers novels gave us a ''drop assault [[Zombie Apocalypse]]''.
▲** Although all troops who enter battle via [[It's Raining Men]] are Deep Strikers, not all Deep Strikers rain down into the battlefield--some of them teleport or burrow instead.
** The Codex Astartes names this maneuver [[Memetic Mutation|Stheel Rehn]].
** One of the Space Ork special characters actually had his feet replaced with [[Power Fist|Power Klaws]] so that he could be more effective when dropped straight into close combat.
** Eldar Swooping Hawks and Dark Eldar Scourges do this by use of actual ''wings'' (mechanical in the former, bio-engineered in the latter).
* Similarly, ''[[BattleTech]]'' occasionally makes use of paradropped-from-orbit [[Humongous Mecha]]. The ''preferred'' method is still to let the [[Drop Ship]] touch down properly or at least get down far enough to let jump-capable 'Mechs make a low altitude drop onto the battlefield, but special reentry cocoons that break away at the proper altitude and free them to ride down the rest of the way using jump jets or packs make orbital drops feasible, if risky.
* The Airborne Elites in the tabletop war game ''[[Heroscape]]'' are paratroopers who have a habit of dropping out of nowhere and throwing grenades all over the place. [[All There in the Manual|Flavor text on the Heroscape website states that they are dropped in by]] [[Rule of Cool|Valkyries.]]
* ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' missions to Outside occasionally involve replacement clones being delivered by missile. [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|There isn't a 5% chance that the door will be stuck, causing the replacement clone to suffocate before they can get out]], [[Blatant Lies|and there]] ''[[Blatant Lies|certainly]]'' [[Blatant Lies|isn't a 10% chance that the missile will hit one of the other Troubleshooters]].
** In the adventure ''Vapors Don't Shoot Back'' the Troubleshooters got to make a parachute jump. Pity they weren't given adequate instructions on how to actually use their parachutes, which results in an approximately 2/3 chance of being killed.
== Video Games ==
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** Another recurring enemy are Lakitus who throw spikeys down at Mario.
** The giant Paragoomba boss in stage 3 of ''[[Super Mario XP]]'' drops Goombas on top of Mario's head as its primary form of attack.
* One of the Special powers gained from the Airfield in ''[[Command
** This was intensely more useful for the Allies in ''Red Alert 2'', as the Allied GI was significantly better than their counterparts, the Soviet Conscripts, and a half dozen of them could put up a significant fight. The USA subfaction also had a different paratrooper ability, which meant that they could conceivably drop fourteen GIs (pretty formidable), anywhere on the map, for free, every few minutes.
** In ''Tiberian Sun'', there's also the elite Orbital Drop
** ''Tiberium Wars'' allows for the rapid orbital deployment of Zone Troopers, which gets you three squads of Troopers anywhere on the map for only a few thousand credits, actually ''saving'' you a bit of cash and putting a dozen railguns into a position where they can inflict a ''lot'' of agony.
** ''Generals'' gives this ability to the USA faction, allowing them to deploy up to 24 Rangers via paradrop. In the ''Zero Hour'' [[Expansion Pack]], this is also available to the Chinese Infantry General.
** ''Red Alert 3'' gives the Allies the Century Bomber, which can load a group of infantry and then drop them at a selected location; the Soviets have the Bullfrog, which launches infantry (or [[Everything's Worse with Bears|bears]]) via a machine called the "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|man-cannon]]".
* ''[[Ace Combat]] Zero'' has a mission in which you protect dropping paratroopers and their transports from being shot by enemy gun placements. The whole game is a re-envisioning of [[World War II]] in the [[Ace Combat]] world, so the comparison is apt.
** ''[[Ace Combat]] 5'' has a mission with parachuting tanks. Supposedly, you can destroy them by shooting the parachutes off at high altitude, but it's easier to just let them land and shoot them to pieces with your guns. The last mission of the game also has friendly paratroopers taking objectives on the ground. It also put a [[Shout-Out]] to the US 101st Airborne (before a typo made it the 122nd)
* In ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'', units with the Drop Pods special ability can do air drops. Or "Orbital Insertions" anywhere on the planet, for the faction that builds the Space Elevator.
* In ''[[World in Conflict]]'', it rains men when you order paratroopers through the tactical aid menu. Other infantry are delivered by helicopters, but unlike in [[Real Life]], it also rains heavy tanks and
* ''[[
* The ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), also known as the [[Squad Nickname|Helljumpers]], in ''[[Halo]]'' use SOEIVs (Single-Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles), also called HEVs (Human Entry Vehicles), despite the fact that [[Finagle's Law|their parachutes sometimes malfunction... or the pod hits the water and they drown... or they smash into cliff faces...]] This makes them the second most [[Badass Normal|hardcore]] soldiers on the human side, next to the [[Super Soldier|Spartans]].
** One of the novels also has Spartans landing from space... [[Badass|WITHOUT vehicles]]. Granted, four were killed on impact, six more were too badly injured to fight effectively, and everyone else was in various states of injury that would've left a regular soldier near-helpless. It's been established that standard-issue Spartan armor has [[Inertial Dampening]] and can "lock down" during an orbital fall, which comes in handy for Master Chief later in the games.
** The ODSTs' nickname comes from the fact that after the HEV's lead skin peels off, the ceramic layer begins to
* ''[[Section 8 (video game)]]'' is a FPS which utilizes this
** Since multiplayer involves Section 8 fighting the virtually identical Arc soldiers, their power armor can do all the same stuff.
* ''Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri'' uses the powered armour with jump-jets variety.
* Being a ''[[Warhammer
** [[Memetic Mutation|Multiple,]] [[So Bad It's Good|SIHMULTANEOUS, devastating defensive deep strikes]].
*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_S2g1w7Dew How Thaddeus makes his entrance].
* One level of ''[[No One Lives Forever]]'' takes place during a free fall, as you must shoot enemy paratroopers while falling to catch another one and steal his parachute, in an homage to the scene from ''Moonraker'' above. Once you do so, what follows is one of the [[Crowning Moment of Funny|most hilarious moments in the game]]:
{{quote|
* In ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield 2142]]'', the one of the fastest ways to get from point A to B safely on a Titan map is in a drop-pod launched from the [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier|Titan]]. You ([[Dummied Out|used to]]) get the added bonus of taking down any aircraft, troops, or light vehicles that you meet on the way down. If you're in a squad, and the squad leader deploys a spawn beacon, you can be pod-dropped (from really high up rather than just titan height) at the beacon's location.
* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] 2'', you get to ride a Basilisk war droid down to the surface, then continue your spree of badassery on the groud. This was set up in the original, where Canderous Ordo could relate a tale of his first raid, and you could gush "I want one of those droids!" You don't play the same character in the sequel, but you still get to enjoy it vicariously.
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* The initial wave of the human invasion of Stroggos in ''[[Quake]] II'' was to basically fire an entire army down onto the surface in individual drop pods. It (mostly) failed.
** It seems the main causes of death in the Quake games are drop pod issues, [[Artificial Stupidity|Marine stupidity]] and enemy fire. In that order.
*** In ''Quake IV'', the Marines seemed to have wised up and use [[Drop Ship
* ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Airborne'' of course.
* [[Metal Gear]]: Naked Snake drops into Russia twice. Once via HALO jump, then again via a small drop pod.
** In Ghost Babel, the non-canon Metal Gear for the Gameboy, Solid Snake does a Halo jump as well.
** Solid Snake also starts the original Metal Gear game by parachuting into enemy territory.
*** ...In the NES version. The [[MSX 2]] version is more closer to an underwater insertion. The canonical sequel ''[[Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake]]'' does have Solid Snake doing a HAHO jump into Zanzibar Land before climbing up a cliff, although [[All There in the Manual|this was only revealed in the backstory/mission log supplied in the manual.]]
* ''[[Syphon Filter]] 2'' opened with an FMV cutscene showing the hero on a transport plane. The plane is shot down, and the hero makes a freefall jump from the exploding wreckage. The player gains control of the hero while the parachute is still in the air, which the first time it happens comes as something of a shock.
* In ''Corncob 3D'', a 1992 Flight Simulator, parachutes were implemented in a fairly realistic (for the times) manner. Open them too early and you'll spend hours drifting to goodness only knows where. Wait too long to open them and you start blacking out due to terminal velocity. While none of the missions force you to paradrop, one scenario did require you to bail out of your plane before it crashed into the alien power generator and then fight your way back across the battlefield.
* In the Earthsiege/[[Starsiege]] games, the Cybrids were big fans of Herc pods, drop pods containing one Herc (mecha) each. Of course, considering the fact that you can only play as a Cybrid in Starsiege, they are mostly just used in the first two games as a way to put enemies on the map from out of nowhere.
* In the classic Run and Gun game ''MDK'', every level started with an orbital drop in which you dodge incoming AA fire on the way to the mine crawler you were looking to wreck.
* All the WWII methods of airborne insertion are used in ''[[Company of Heroes]]''. US Paratroopers are some of the best infantry in the game, with an optional antitank weapon and a default ability to build field defenses. They can reinforce lost squad members anywhere, and given the extreme flexibility awarded to infantry in this game, are basically all you need on the campaign missions where they are used. Some of the [[Support Power
* ''[[America's Army]]'' lets you train your character to take part in para missions.
* The WWII MMOFPS ''WWII Online'' now features paratroopers. Players can coordinate and fly their own para missions.
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** The very first ''[[Call of Duty]]'' had you play as a pathfinder in the 101st Airborne for the American section of the campaign, with the British section of the campaign having you play as a member of the 6th Airborne Division instead. The ''United Offensive'' expansion also has you as a (different) paratrooper in the 101st Airborne for the American section of the campaign.
* Using some sort of airborne vehicles to drop units is a staple of both TBS and RTS genres. This can be done both for actual ground conquest and for suicide missions.
** ''[[
** ''[[Advanced Strategic Command]]'' has paratroopers and the [[Fragile Speedster|Weasel]]
* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] seems to love doing this a lot after blowing up whatever space station Eggman is situated on, but usually, he'll be caught by Tails in the Tornado airplane.
** In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic breaks out of a plane, tears off part of the wing and falls out of the sky into a very San Francisco-ish city...and then slides down the hills using that wing piece.
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* ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'': [http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos118.html "Is this a common thing for Martians, re-entering without a spacecraft?" "Actually, it's never been done before."]
* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'': The [[Alt Text]] in [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p37 this strip.]
* ''[[A Beginner's Guide to the End of the Universe]]'' has a bunch of people descend while using the protagonist itself, who is wearing [[Not Quite Flight|gravity-defying armor]], as a parachute. [
* In ''[[Looking for Group]]'' Richard simply [https://web.archive.org/web/20171013093627/http://www.lfg.co/page/457/ dumped bones] that reassembled into skeletons. But later there were gnomes (and one dwarf) [https://web.archive.org/web/20171013091323/http://www.lfg.co/page/659/ on hang gliders].
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Skippy's List|Skippys List]]'' has examples:
{{quote|
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Justice League]]'' used this in the [[Grand Finale]] "Starcrossed" with the Thanagar army descending from the sky. Considering they are all [[Winged Humanoid
** And inverted in ''JLU'' with Cadmus sending missiles at the watchtower filled with [[Cloning Blues|clone]] [[Tyke Bomb
* The theme song for ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama World Tour]]'' features the castmates falling off the Jet, parachuting to the ground and landing safely. ...[[My Friends and Zoidberg|Except Ezekiel.]]
* ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'' had one episode where [[Captain America (comics)]] and [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Wolverine]] performed this in World War 2. Since their mission required quickness, they did it without parachutes. Justified in that both have a healing factor and the plane nearly landed to accomplish this.
* One episode of ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' had them joining the army to become full fledged tank paratroopers. (That is, they were put into tanks that had parachutes strapped to them that were then dropped from planes. Seeing as how the tanks were on fire and falling like stones in ''spite'' of the parachutes, one can only assume they were on a suicide mission.)
* One scene in ''Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'' involves soldiers jumping from a plane, but instead of using parachutes, they deploy some kind of gel that slows their fall, then dissolves.
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* ''[[The Perils of Penelope Pitstop]]''. In "Jungle Jeopardy" Penelope used her scarf as a parachute after jumping from a plane.
* Played with in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Tip of the Zoidberg" during a flashback sequence where a young Zoidberg and (relatively) young Farnsworth scream in terror as they are tossed out of a plane until their parachutes open, where they ''immediately'' switch to a casual conversation. Their landing, along with the rest of their peers, isn't quite so casual.
{{quote|
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** America is ''in love'' with this trope. Rangers, Green Berets, and by proxy Delta Force all require you to have gone through Airborne school. Air Force pararescue units are held to the same standard that Special Forces are in training. And Marines are training to do [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_femhrxbNtS0/SnQ34XtDbKI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/RIykXgHEVVg/s1600-h/V22_OSPREY_AIRBORNE_OPs.jpg this.]
* The first time paratroopers were used was during the German invasion of Denmark on April 9, 1940, where they captured the Storstrømsbroen bridge. Whilst certainly critical to the invasion, more conventional methods may have worked just as well, since the fortress guarding the northern end of the bridge was manned by only ''three'' Danish soldiers.
* Operation Market Garden (September 17, 1944
** [[Downer Ending|And it was a failure]]. The troops were scattered, and the 1st Airborne were dropped far away from their target (the critical bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, the whole reason for the operation). There were more German troops nearby than expected, namely two Panzer Divisions resting up (intelligence from local resistance forces on German troop concentrations was received by the Allies, but was ignored). The 1st Airborne [[Badass|managed to take the bridge anyway]], but they were eventually overwhelmed and forced to surrender before the Allied relief forces could arrive. Despite the taking of several other bridges leading to Arnhem by the rest of the Allied airborne units, the primary objective of the operation, capturing a bridge over the Rhine in order to bring an end to the war in Europe in 1944, was not achieved. Estimated Allied losses are between 15,000 and 17,000 people.
* One of the largest air drops in history was on the eve of D-Day, where Allied airborne units landed to take strategic locations in preparation for the amphibious landing. Due to mistakes in recon, some paratroopers ended up being dropped in waterlogged fields with some of them ending up drowning in water that was maybe
** Covered in various media, such as the ''[[The Longest Day]]'', ''[[Band of Brothers (TV series)|Band of Brothers]]'' and ''[[Medal of Honor]] Airborne''.
** And also where the concept of [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/airborne-tactics.htm Little Groups Of Paratroopers] was realized:
{{quote|
* [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Operation_Varsity Operation Varsity], an airborne drop intended to aid the crossing of the Rhine towards the end of WWII, is the largest single-day drop at 16,000 men.
* German paratroopers during World War II:
** [http://tinyurl.com/3swrrk Fallschirmjäger] were used in the invasions of [http://tinyurl.com/5xej9q Norway], [http://tinyurl.com/4rfksb France], [http://tinyurl.com/46mv64 Crete] and [http://tinyurl.com/46mv64 Greece], and in [http://tinyurl.com/4qk4zy Operation Stösser] during the Battle of the Bulge.
** [http://tinyurl.com/4ldnko Operation Greif] during the Battle of the Bulge had English-speaking German soldiers paradropping behind Allied lines to perform sabotage missions. [[Cry for the Devil|(It failed).]]
***Parachute insertion of operatives was effectively done by the Allies too. The concept in fact had a more reliable success rate than mass drops some of which were successful but some disasters. It was a common way to get cadre agents and supplies to the resistance.
***Of course you can't reverse-parachute when debrief time comes. So secret airfields were actually maintained [[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines|behind enemy lines.]]
* There's also plenty of this in modern warfare, of course. [[wikipedia:HALO jump|For example]], '''H'''igh '''A'''ltitude '''L'''ow '''O'''pening deployments, which are designed to get recon troops inside enemy territory undetected.
* Old Joke: The commander went to the assembled men and laid out the mission: ''"We need to precisely insert a team of commandos deep behind enemy lines. To avoid German radar we'll have to fly low and fast, no more than 200 feet off the deck. It will be dangerous and some of you may not survive the jump, so we need 20 men. Anyone who wishes to volunteer, take one step forward."'' A slim handful stepped forward, all Green Berets. The commander was disheartened until a grizzled sergeant whispered to him. "Parachutes will be provided!" he announced, and the rest stepped forward.
** Variation on the above: Commanding officer in the Gurkha regiment is called in to see the top brass. TB say "Now look here, we need to insert your squad behind enemy lines. In order to do so, you'll be deployed from aircraft flying at 200 feet to avoid radar. Can you do it?". Gurkha CO shakes his head. "The planes must fly at 100 feet." Top brass look baffled. "If they fly at 100 feet your parachutes won't have time to open." Gurkha officer perks up. "Oh, we get parachutes?"
* Non-military example: [[wikipedia:Smoke Jumpers|Smoke Jumpers]], the most [[Badass]] firefighters of all.
* [[wikipedia:United States Air Force Pararescue|
** And in an awesome example of compensating, they come from the [[Hufflepuff House|Air Force.]]
*** This is great compensation because the Air Force is viewed as a sort of cushy Wesley in the armed forces. Its status as [[The Scrappy]] is second only to the Coast Guard.
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{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Death in All Directions]]
[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]
[[Category:Skydiving Tropes]]
[[Category:This Index Is Not an Example]]
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