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Man on Fire (trope): Difference between revisions
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[[File:SetOnFire 3250.jpg|frame|[[Can't You Read the Sign?]]]]
{{quote|''[[Give a Man a Fish|Make a man a fire, you keep him warm for a day.]] Set a man on fire, [[Half Truth|you keep him warm]] [[Black Humor|for the rest of his life.]]''
|'''[[Terry Pratchett]]'''}}
The human body is unexpectedly flammable, resulting in characters, particularly [[Spear Carrier]]s, [[Red Shirt]]s, [[Evil Minions]], and [[The Dragon|Dragons]] being engulfed in flames and walking or running around the scene. Thus ensuring steady work (and a lot of money) for stuntmen. These days it's as likely to be used for comedy as to be used straight.
Not to be confused with the [[Man on Fire|Denzel Washington film of the same name]], which ''doesn't'' feature a literal man on fire. Or with the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Human Torch]]. Or with ''[[w:Burning Man|Burning Man]]''. Or... you get the idea.
For the self-destructive version, see [[Self-Immolation]]. For the version that seemingly happens without any kind of external ignition source, see [[Spontaneous Human Combustion]].
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See also [[Kill It with Fire]] and [[Incendiary Exponent]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', {{spoiler|Makoto Shishio}} is only defeated when {{spoiler|his body temperature rises so much during his fight with Kenshin that Shishio bursts into flame.}}
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* In ''[[Baccano!]]'', two gangsters pour gasoline on {{spoiler|Szilard}}'s head and then throw a match at it. "We've never set a MAN on fire before!"
** In 2001, {{spoiler|Czeslaw}} throws himself into a fireplace to burn away some ropes that have been binding him, then walks [[Out of the Inferno]] and pushes past his terrified captors, [[Healing Factor|regenerating]] as he goes.
* [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
* In EP544 of [[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]] , May is visually set on fire after she realizes all of the food is gone (though no harm comes of it). Coincidentally, her fire-type Blaziken was about to engage in battle when the news was received.
* This is how
== Comic Books ==
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* In the film ''[[Ong Bak]]'', Tony Jaa's character kicks a man in the face while his legs are on fire. He then puts them out in a barrel of water. (Note: Tony Jaa did his own stunts. ''[[Badass|Damn]]''.)
* In the film ''[[Hobgoblins]]'', one character is set on fire after diving onto a grenade—a ''fragmentary'' grenade, mind you. (Being the sort of movie that it was, the character turned up fine in the next scene, the only consequences of his immolation being a little redness and a ''sprained ankle''.
* In one of the ''[[Scary Movie]]'' sequels (either three or four),{{verify}} a flaming man appears in the background walking a flaming dog.
* In ''[[Anchorman]]'', the rival news crews get involved in a violent street brawl and right in the middle a man on fire staggers through the scene. [[Rule of Funny|It's funny]].
{{quote|"There were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a man with a trident!"}}
*
** ''[[Licence to Kill]]'': Sanchez is doused in petrol and set alight by [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]].
** ''[[Diamonds Are Forever]]''
*** It was also a not-so-subtle attempt to poke fun of that particular villain's sexuality
* In ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'', a man on fire comes bursting out of a pub, with no explanation. It becomes something of a [[Brick Joke]], as we later learn that Rory Breaker had set the man on fire for turning the channel on his football match.
* ''[[Smoking Aces]]''
* During the climax of ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'', Freddy Krueger is set on fire (again) by the heroine, Nancy Thompson. Not surprisingly for the undead, Freddy manages to chase Nancy around while still on fire, and even get in a final kill (her mother). Even his footprints are flaming as well.
* In ''[[Be Cool]]'', Vince Vaughn is set on fire and runs into the shooting of a music video. Of course the director of said video [[Throw It In|leaves it in the final cut]].
* The [[
* In one memorable scene in the original 1951 ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'', the eponymous invader gets doused with gasoline and set ablaze; like the Freddy Kreuger example above, he/it continues to run amok. Especially notable in that this was the first time the stunt was attempted for a movie.
* Near the end of the D-Day scene of ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'', the Allies use a flamethrower on the Nazis. One of the Allied soldiers shouts [[War Is Hell|"Don't shoot! Let 'em burn!"]]
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** A nonmilitary example occurs in the opening scene of ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]''.
* The Scarecrow in the movie of [[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]].
== Literature ==
* ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]'' advised you against using fire to fight the undead, as the only thing worse than a zombie trying to eat you is [[Infernal Retaliation|a ''burning''
== Live
* ''[[American Horror Story]]'''s Larry Harvey was set on fire by his lover's son.
* ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' has at least two Corpses of the Week go up in flames in this manner:
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* In the ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' episode "The Burning Beekeeper", {{spoiler|Marshall's boss Mr. Cootes}} is wearing a beekeeping outfit doused in kerosene when he's getting food out of the oven. He runs ablaze out the front door and rolls in the snow to extinguish himself.
* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' has several during {{spoiler|the Battle of the Blackwater, due to copious use of wildfire and regular flaming arrows.}}
== Music ==
* [[Big Black]]'s ''Kerosene'' is about one contemplating living the rest of their life in a small town in total boredom. Self-immolation is seen as the cure to that boredom.
** This song is considered the band's [[Incredibly Lame Pun|''Light My Fire'']] by many fans.
* The [[Hipgnosis]] cover of [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''Wish You Were Here'' album includes a photo of two businessmen, one of whom happens to be on fire, casually shaking hands. This is intended as a visual metaphor for getting burned in the music business.▼
** The man on fire could also be the Devil ([[Fire and Brimstone Hell|since Hell is full of that stuff]]), and the two shaking hands could equate going into the music business as making a [[Deal with the Devil]].▼
* The original album cover to [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]]'s ''Street Survivors'' had the band standing in the middle of an inferno, which gave the illusion of half the band being on fire. [[Tempting Fate|Three days after the album's release]], the band's flight [[Tear Jerker|crashed]], killing four bandmates and the two pilots.▼
* Sid Wilson of the band [[Slipknot]] has been known to ''set himself on fire'' during live shows. He's stopped doing this in recent years for fears of being arrested for attempted suicide. Yes, being arrested is his main fear for his human inferno act.
*
{{quote|I'm on fire.
I'm on fire.
I am, quite literally...
<big>ON FIRE!</big> }}
* Electric Six's album ''Fire'' has a Man on Fire...at the disco. Could be the hit single "Danger! High Voltage" and its constant refrain of "Fire in the disco!" Or it could be their [[Running Gag|inexplicable obsession with the word "fire."]]▼
* Till Lindemann of [[Rammstein]]. Aside from his constant fiery antics on stage, the "Du Hast" video has the drummer Christoph Schneider do this as well. And let's not forget that the first song on their first album is called "Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen?" (for the non-German-speakers, that's "Do you want to see the bed in flames?").
* [[
* The [[Autopsy (band)|Autopsy]] song "Charred Remains"
* [[Evile]]'s song "Burned Alive"
=== Album Covers ===
▲* The [[Hipgnosis]] cover of [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''Wish You Were Here'' album includes a photo of two businessmen, one of whom happens to be on fire, casually shaking hands. This is intended as a visual metaphor for getting burned in the music business.
▲** The man on fire could also be the Devil ([[Fire and Brimstone Hell|since Hell is full of that stuff]]), and the two shaking hands could equate going into the music business as making a [[Deal with the Devil]].
▲* The original album cover to [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]]'s ''Street Survivors'' had the band standing in the middle of an inferno, which gave the illusion of half the band being on fire. [[Tempting Fate|Three days after the album's release]], the band's flight [[Tear Jerker|crashed]], killing four bandmates and the two pilots.
▲* [[Electric Six]]'s album ''Fire'' has a Man on Fire...at the disco. Could be the hit single "Danger! High Voltage" and its constant refrain of "Fire in the disco!" Or it could be their [[Running Gag|inexplicable obsession with the word "fire."]]
* The cover of [[Rage Against the Machine]]'s first album is a well-known photo of Thich Quang Duc (see Real Life folder).
=== Music Videos ===▼
▲== Music Videos ==
* The clip for [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPT7q825gwI "California" by Wax], directed by Spike Jonze, consists almost ''entirely'' of a Man On Fire!
* The [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] music video for "Smells Like Nirvana" has a burning man in the background of one of the shots.
* Christoph Schneider's character in the [[Rammstein]] video "Du Hast".
* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hgVeNjYiGo The Everlasting]'' by the [[Manic Street Preachers]] has multiple people on fire. [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|It probably means something]].
== Tabletop Games ==
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==
* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' - Dan McNinja's superior reasoning ability leads him to conclude that the best way to avoid being caught by other ninjas is to set himself on fire (granted, the ninjas in question are actually teenagers on a "ninja drug", and therefore are rather reluctant to grab someone on fire). He does have the advantage of a fireproof ninja suit, though.
** In a later comic the [[Big Bad]] of the same arc (who ''doesn't'' need the drug for his ninja skills) admits that setting yourself on fire does prevent ninjas in general (himself included) from catching you... {{spoiler|[[You Have Failed Me...|after telling the ninjas who failed to catch Dan to set themselves on fire to prove otherwise]]}}.
* ''[[8-
** [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/12/12/episode-1203-maligned/ Also happened to Black Mage when he tried to equip a holy weapon:]
{{quote|'''Black Mage:''' [[Major Injury Underreaction|I appear to have come
* In ''[[Cuanta Vida]]'', Bleu has done this once. [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|And guess what he is the most afraid of?]]
* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20110602051139/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/323 this strip] of ''[[Loserz]]'', for no apparent reason.
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', at least three dreamselves are killed by being set on fire: Kanaya's, {{spoiler|Aradia's}}, and Karkat's. Although in Karkat's case, it's not so much the fire that kills him as being right in front of a person causing a massive explosion powered by green fire.
* In Lethal Doses, a long-gone
== Web Original ==
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* Parodied in ''[[Homestar Runner]]'''s Trogdor games with the "burninated" peasants.
* Melina Frost of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' is briefly set alight in one scene. By all accounts this results in her looking like [[Batman|Two-Face]]. - She actually survives this, as the fire is quickly extinguished.
**
* ''[[College Saga]]'' has a brief scene in which an NPC lit on fire runs across the room while the party walks by. [[Non Sequitur Scene|The team does not interact with this NPC, the story behind this NPC is never addressed, and he is never spoken of afterwards]].
* Caboose manages to set his combat armor on fire (while wearing it, of course) in the trailer for ''[[Red vs. Blue]]: Recreation''.
* In ''Wink The Game'', the PC Wink can grab torches and toss them on enemies. They set on fire, running around making [[Speaking Simlish|screaming noises]] until they disintegrate into ash
* ''[[Asdfmovie
* [https://web.archive.org/web/
== Western Animation ==
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'''Ned''': It's not working! [[Broken Aesop|It just spreads the flames!]] }}
** Getting stuck in a tar pit and rescued by Stampy the elephant Barney Gumble thanks him as he lights a cigarette and due to being covered with tar he catches on fire. It doesn't seem to bother him much.
** Then there was the ridiculous [[Treehouse
* Mr. Krabs in ''The [[SpongeBob SquarePants]] Movie'':
{{quote|My pants are on fire! Me underwear's on fire! ''I'm'' on fire!!}}
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* Humorously and accidentally averted in an episode of ''[[The Smurfs]]'', when Clumsy splashes water on Papa Smurf and is thanked by him for putting out his beard.
* In ''[[Futurama]]'', one episode had Bender (a ''robot'') on fire, with no explanation whatsoever. After a moment, several members of the crew put him out, [[Non Sequitur Scene|and the incident was never brought up again]].
== Real Life ==
=== Self-Immolation as Protest ===
* Perhaps the most famous was [[wikipedia:Thích Quảng Đức|Thich Quang Duc]], a Buddhist priest who set himself on fire in protest of the South Vietnamese government in June 1963. Because he notified the press, photographers were on hand to capture on film Duc dousing himself with gasoline, lighting up, and then ''serenely sit there'' as [[Dying Moment of Awesome|he burned to death]]. His death prompted massive public protests that led to the coup that killed President Diem. Duc's heart remained intact, even after a second cremation to reduce the body to ashes for safe-keeping. The heart was kept and revered as a sacred relic.
* Richard Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing and literally did run down the street while ablaze in 1980. In his next big special, he [[Take That Us|made jokes about it]].▼
* Has happened more than once in [[Formula One]] and other racing sports. Some fuel sprinkles here, then it catched heat, and BOOM. Jos Verstappen's case is the most recent, but Niki Lauda and ''specially'' [[Tear Jerker|poor Riccardo Paletti]] take the cake.▼
** The worst is probably that the fire burns invisible. In other words you are on fire and no one notices it to come and help you because they don't know you are on fire.▼
* The Tunisian ("Jasmine") Revolution of 2010-11 was started when a young man, Mohammed Bouazizi, [[Kill It with Fire|attempted suicide by fire]] as a protest against bad conditions in the country (he died later in the hospital). Besides a full-blown revolution in Tunisia, Bouazizi's actions have inspired four copycats in Egypt, where the Mubarak regime fell one month after Bouazizi's death. Other Middle Eastern nations - Jordan, Syria, Algeria, Libya, Bahrain, and Iran - are undergoing mass protests in response to what happened in Tunisia and Egypt.
** The protests in Libya developed into a full-blown revolution, which, as of this writing,{{when}} is close to overthrowing the Libyan government. Given its efficacy in Vietnam in the 60s, and the fact that it resulted in regime change in three countries this year, this makes the present trope seem a very effective form of protest.
** At least one video has emerged of protestors accidentally setting themselves ablaze with poor Molotov throws.
* Actually happened in the Vietnam era in the USA. [[wikipedia:Norman Morrison|Norman Morrison]], a Quaker protester of the war, set himself on fire outside the Pentagon in 1965.
* Self-immolation also happened in protests against the Chinese government's suppression of Falun Gong.
* Several people committed a suicide by self-immolation as a protest against Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia: [[wikipedia:Ryszard Siwiec|Ryszard Siwiec]], [[wikipedia:Jan Palach|Jan Palach]], [[wikipedia:Jan Zajíc|Jan Zajíc]] and [[wikipedia:Evžen Plocek|Evžen Plocek]].
=== Other Cases ===
▲* [[Richard Pryor]] set himself on fire while freebasing and literally did run down the street while ablaze in 1980. In his next big special, he [[Take That Us|made jokes about it]].
▲* Has happened more than once in [[Formula One]] and other racing sports. Some fuel sprinkles here, then it catched heat, and BOOM. Jos Verstappen's case is the most recent,{{when}} but Niki Lauda and ''specially'' [[Tear Jerker|poor Riccardo Paletti]] take the cake.
▲** The worst is probably that the fire burns invisible. In other words you are on fire and no one notices it to come and help you because they don't know you are on fire.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Man on Fire]]▼
[[Category:This Index Is On Fire]]
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Spectacle]]
▲[[Category:Man on Fire]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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