Out of the Inferno: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''So we will walk through the fire, And let it...burn! Let it burn! Let it burn! Let it burn!''|''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', "Once More With Feeling"}}

Cue [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Music]]...

 

 

A very old trope, to the point that "passing through the flames" and being unharmed/transformed is a classic metaphor.

 

See alse [[Outrun the Fireball]], for the [[Not So Stoic]] version.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Sho Shinjo from the OVA of Battle Arena Toshinden does this, after performing a melee attack against an attack helicopter, causing it to explode around him, the burning wreckage of which he emerges from.

** All seven (so far) JoJos have [[Normally I Would Be Dead Now|survived injuries that should have killed them]] including losing hands, getting blown into near-space from a VOLCANO, getting stabbed in the lungs by wooden stakes, being shot in the back and left for dead, and having knives thrown at one of them by a time-stopping vampire that threw them in a way that seemed like they were all thrown at the same time. And yet there is no real equal to the moment leftmost in the picture above. {{spoiler|''He stopped time''}}. This actually justifies exchanging the iconic steamroller for an oil tanker.

* In ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', Kenshiro is apparently able to remain completely unscathed, despite having fallen several foot into a pile of rubble, from a roof that he punched in because it had been set on fire, and then being hit repeatedly in the face with a huge stone collumn. This occurs mere seconds before he makes his shirt explode. Naturally.

* Phoenix Ikki of the ''[[Saint Seiya]]'' anime, has his resurrection scene with the fire that was burning a forest and his brother, he appears out of the fire carrying his brother and extinguishes all the fire with his cosmos. Not surprising given his control over fire, and him generally being a [[Badass]].

* Tetsuo Shima from ''[[Akira]]'' has a big scene where he faces down some tanks after doing this.

** In the ''[[Pokémon Special]]'' manga, Magma Admin [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Courtney/Marge]] of the Three Fires does this after Ruby attempts to [[Hoist by His Own Petard|hoist her by her own petard]] by dropping her right into her out of control flames, only to calmly emerge from the inferno with some burns and [[Clothing Damage|charred clothing]] after Ruby completes his escape.

* [[Zoids: Chaotic Century]] has Raven in his Zaber Fang striding out of the flaming ruin of a Republic base on Mt. Osa to battle Van during Prozen's invasion. This scene is shown in the opening theme of the anime.

* In [[Cowboy Bebop]]'s session #6, "Sympathy for the Devil", after Spike made Wen crash into a gas station that blew up as a result.

* ''Gundam Wing'' features several of these moments, notably after the Deathscythe Hell (which wasn't even finished at the time) takes a barrage of gunfire and seemingly explodes, causing the enemies to lower their guns. Afterward it steps out calmly and destroys them all in what this editor considers a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].

* Ryoko does this in the opening episode of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]''. Her next line is, "Hey! That's no way to treat a lady!"

* [[Digimon Tamers]] presents the first version of this in the Digimon Series, executed by Dukemon/Gallantmon in episode 36. Notable since "the inferno" had been the collateral of an earlier attack of him. The scene is a mix of [[Dragonball Z|Gohan SSJ 2]], and [[Knight in Shining Armor]] that moves like an [[Humongous Mecha]] with a [[Badass Cape]] that puts out the fire. Yes, that awesome.

* [[Madlax]] does that in the first episode with an exploding tank.

* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Anya]] attempted to do this in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' when she reappeared before Negi. She was doing pretty well too, until she capped it off with a dramatic [[Flung Clothing]] that ended up with her robe catching on fire. Then when she tried to put it out, her hair caught on fire. Then when she ran around in a panic, her skirt caught on fire. See kids? This is why you shouldn't try this at home.

** At the end of the Little Garden arc, Nami, Vivi, and Zoro pull this off to take Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, having been trapped on a wax construct for the past few episode that could only be destroyed when Ussop enveloped it in a massive inferno. Zoro, of course, combines this with [[Infernal Retaliation]].

** In a flashback, Rob Lucci is bombarded with cannonfire by pirates, and responds by [[Finger-Poke of Doom|turning their captain into swiss cheese.]]

* [[Paper Master|Konan]] from [[Naruto]] did this in the [[Adaptation Expansion|anime version]] of her fight with the Aburame clan. Apparently, she did this by saturating her body with water, so despite being made from paper she's was made ''less'' flammable than a regular person.

* Himura Kenshin, the legendary Hitokiri Battōsai (人斬り抜刀斎), was introduced in the first episode of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' handing out a can of whoop-ass to enemy swordsmen in a raging battlefield with fire.

* ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' OVA opening starts with Team Natsu, Wendy and Charle walking/flying through flames.

** Natsu kinda does this, except for the "walking out" portion. He eats the fire.

* Lady Kayura of ''[[Ronin Warriors]]'' (Yoroiden Samurai Troopers) does this a couple of times against Ryo of Wildfire.

* In ''[[IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix]]'', The Rocket crashes his mech in a flashback. He is then shown walking away from the burning mech like a bad ass.

* In ''[[D.Gray-man]]'' Arystar Krory does this after blowing his own castle before leaving to the order. Allen and Lavi think he killed himself by staying inside the explosion, until he appears from the flames, unfazed.

* ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'': Some crooks kidnapped Hyatt. When she performed her daily [[Ill Girl|"no breathing, no heartbeat" routine]], they tried to cremate her. While the fire was still raging, she walked out, completely unharmed. Even her clothing survived :(

 

== Comic Books ==

== Film ==

* ''[[The Terminator]]'' series is very fond of this one, and definitely popularized it. In fact, the whole series exists ''because'' of this trope: [[James Cameron]] based the first film on a fever dream he once had, in which a robot skeleton strode out of an inferno after a fleeing woman.

* Arnold Schwarzenegger is good at this trope in general. In ''[[Raw Deal]]'' he plays an ex-FBI agent turned sheriff who fakes his own death before going undercover as a mob hitman. He drives his squad car into an oil refinery, opens a few valves then blows it up with a flare pistol. Cue shot of Arnie riding out of the flames on a motorcycle.

* Done with V (or is it?) in [[V for Vendetta]], utterly terrifying one of the few survivors.

** At the end of the first volume, after her husband has died, Daenerys Targaryen places him and her three dragon eggs onto a funeral pyre, and, distraught, purposefully allows herself to be caught in the blaze. However, when the fire burns out, she is standing there unharmed (relatively speaking; all her hair has been singed off), and ''holding three baby dragons'' hatched from eggs previously assumed to be petrified.

{{quote|[[Chekhov's Gun|"Fire could not kill a dragon."]]}}

* ''[[Good Omens]]'' has [[Noble Demon]] Crowley walking unscathed out of a burning bookstore, just after the firefighters have started saying things like 'Poor guy. Horrible way to die.'

** Not as good as when he stops the Bentley to ask a random passer-by for directions. Said passer-by spends most of the conversation wondering whether it's a good idea to point out that ''the car is on fire''.

* [[Zombie Apocalypse|The zombies]] of ''[[World War Z]]'' do this at the Battle of Yonkers after the US Army and Air Force hit them with every big weapon they have. Watching the zombies do this crushes the morale of the soldiers watching.

{{quote|I found myself staring into this cloud of black smoke where the horde had been. I vaguely remember other guys getting out of their holes, hatches opening on tanks and Bradleys, everyone just staring into the darkness. There was a quiet, a stillness that in my mind, lasted for hours. And then they came, right out of the smoke like a freakin' little kid's nightmare! Some were steaming, some were still burning... some were walking, some were crawling, some just dragging themselves along on their torn bellies... maybe one in twenty were still able to move, which left... shit... a couple thousand? And behind them mixing with their ranks and steadily pushing toward us, the remaining million the air strike hadn't even touched! And that was when the line collapsed.}}

* There's a point in ''[[X Wing Series|Solo Command]]'' where the Wraiths are lured into a trap and dumped into an incinerator. They use [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosives]] to create a hole. The Force-Sensitive member gets out with all the unscathed coolness that this trope calls for; the others, not so much. They are burned/on fire and not remotely dignified. Still, their furious determination as soon as everyone is present and accounted for fits the trope very well.

* Mandatory [[Discworld]] example: In ''Reaper Man'' Death (aka Bill Door) walks out of a burning house, a small girl in his arms, ''smouldering''.

== Music ==

* [[Mascot|The Guy]] on the cover art of [[Disturbed]]'s ''Indestructible'' album.

* The end of the video for "''Lowlife''" by Theory of a Deadman.

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

 

== Video Games ==

* Sephiroth from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' does a badass walk ''into'' the flames of Nibelheim. It's become his signature scene and has constantly been reproduced in other games.

** The Ancient Minister in {{spoiler|ROB's reveal.}} Though that's not exactly walking ''out'' of the flames, and more fighting unhindered ''while [[Incendiary Exponent|on fire]]''.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|Knights of the Old Republic 2]]'' provides a few examples:

* Played straight in the PC game "[[Advent Rising]]", in a cutscene, by the main character. Carrying the second female lead. Using a force shield bubble. And flying. The inferno in question is the self-destruct sequence of a base stationed on top of a volcano. To be fair, you (humans) being a deity is pretty much the point of the game. [http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8356/adventrisingscreenzg7.png Screen]

* Done with a slight variation in ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]''. On two occasions, Ramirez ominously emerges from flames in order to confront the main characters. On both occasions, the flames are the aftermath of heavy bombardments against the defenceless, which he initiated. In both occasions, he's a [[Hopeless Boss Fight]] as well.

* Also, Bitores Mendez of ''[[Resident Evil 4]]''. Leon ignites some gasoline by his feet setting off a 6 foot high explosion. Not only does Bitores survive, but he proceeds to grow 5 inch nails, grow 5 feet taller, and get 2 more limbs. The only thing Leon succeeded in doing was burning his coat.....

* Ganondorf gets one of these in ''[[The Legend of Zelda|Twilight Princess]]'', only there it's more of an {{spoiler|Out Of The Exploding Hyrule Castle.}}

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' inverts this, with Antimony marching ''into'' a burning room. The boy inside sees her emerging, unscathed, from the flames all the same. ({{spoiler|Granted, the fire was [[Master of Illusion|illusory]], but it looked real enough that the fire walk required tremendous courage on Annie's part.}})

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Grace's final showdown with [[Arch Enemy|Damien]] ends with him about to [[Taking You with Me|self destruct]] rather than taking up Grace's offer to redeem himself. Grace reluctantly decides to save herself, but is still caught in the explosion, and would have probably died (or not<ref>if you take into account her fireproof fur, perhaps only hurt</ref>), if not for {{spoiler|[[Deus Ex Machina|the timely intervention]] of a character from the [[Alternate Universe|Alpha]] [[The Multiverse|Universe]] [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|who by sheer chance]] (or not<ref>if she was already monitoring the battle nearby since the target of her task ''was'' in the immediate area</ref>), [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|happened to appear in the main universe in the same place and the same time to do an almost completely unrelated task.]]}}

 

 

* If fire isn't enough, try ''lava''. Megatron of ''[[Beast Wars]]'' emerged from a pool of lava in a new body near the end of the series, and it was ''awesome''.

** And in [[Beast Machines|Beast Machines']] final episode, Megatron (in a new body modeled after Optimus Primal's Optimal Optimus body from the third season of Beast Wars) is caught in a gigantic explosion caused by Optimus, which includes his severed-at-the-elbow arm flying out the of explosion.

** In the G2 Marvel comics, Megatron strolled through a cloud of the metal-eating Swarm. After falling from ''orbit''.

* Subverted in [[Superman: The Animated Series]]. When Superman and [[Evil Overlord|Darkseid]] fight at the end of the series, Superman grabs Darkseid's face so his Omega Beams get set off point-blank. There's a tremendous explosion that sends both flying. Next we see Superman weakly pulling himself out from underneath some rubble, then the camera pans over to where smoke is obscuring Darkseid, except for his [[Glowing Eyes of Doom|glowing]] [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red eyes]] and we think he's about to do this... then the smoke clears a little more and we see Darkseid is badly hurt and barely able to stand. In fact, all he can do is walk towards Supes and collapse at his feet.

[[Category:Combat Tropes]]

[[Category:Badass]]