Sneeze of Doom: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

The sneeze is one of the most disastrous and powerful forces in the universe, up there with gravitation, electro-magnetism, the strong and the weak nuclear forces, the color force, [[Power of Love|Love]], [[Power of Friendship|Friendship]], [[Power of Rock|Music]], and [[Hot-Blooded]]. It always happens at the most unfortunate moments, usually when everything is going so well. Have you managed to sneak into the [[Big Bad]]'s fortress and you're now listening as he explains his evil plan? ''Atchoo!'' [[So Much for Stealth|All the guards are after you now]]. Have you created a very convincing [[Totem Pole Trench]] and fooled everyone? ''Atchoo!'' You're in a world of trouble now, matey.

The Sneeze of Doom rarely comes without warning - usually the unlucky sneezer will be shown inhaling air a few seconds before it happens. A [[Dead Horse Trope]] would be [[Anti-Sneeze Finger]], which is holding one's finger under one's nose to "stop it." ...it might, for a few seconds. Still, it's not much help—once this starts, a Sneeze of Doom cannot be stopped by any means known to man.

 

 

 

See [[Pepper Sneeze]]. Sometimes the reason the sneeze is dangerous is because of [[Involuntary Transformation]] or [[Malfunction Malady]]. Not related to [[Incurable Cough of Death]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* The evening that [[Ranma ½|Akane and Ranma]] are watching the house together alone is the evening when Ranma is cursed to hug anyone who sneezes, and Akane comes down with a cold. And wouldn't you know it, it's also the day she is given her first [[Hyperspace Mallet]].

** Invoked deliberately on occasion by other characters, whenever they require help against terrorists or need someone to clear a path to the tournament front seats.

* Being a specialist in wind-magic, [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Negi Springfield's]] sneezes have a lot of punch... [[Fan Service|and exquisite taste]]. Anytime he sneezes, it will, at the very least, [[Marilyn Maneuver|blow up several skirts]] - and at most, ''shred'' [[Clothing Damage|clothes, underwear or both]].

*** Turns out, he doesn't... but he goes [[Super Mode|Raiten]] [[Shock and Awe|Taisou]]. Yes, ''with a sneeze''.

* Played with in ''[[Kamichu!]]''. When the [[Miko]]s attempt a ritual to figure out Yurie's power, she sneezes strongly enough to knock them over.

* Iris's Axew in ''[[Pokémon]]'' does this a lot while trying to use Dragon Rage, knocking out everyone within 10 feet.

* In ''[[My Neighbor Totoro]]'', Mei climbs on the eponymous troll's stomach while he's sleeping. When she rubs his nose affectionately, it triggers a sneeze powerful enough to throw her to the wall near his feet.

 

 

 

 

== Films -- Animated ==

* In ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'', while the Beatles and Jeremy are in the Sea of Giant Heads, John lets out a big sneeze. This causes all the Heads in response to sneeze, which blows everyone into the Sea of Holes.

* In ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]'', Merlin turns himself into a virus and enters the dragon body of Mad Madame Mim, making her sick with the made-up disease malignalitaloptereosis. When Merlin mentions [[Sequential Symptom Syndrome|the final symptom]], sneezing, she emits fire from a monstrous sneeze that forces Arthur and Archimedes to duck and cover.

* In Disney's version of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'', while Alice is a giant and stuck in the White Rabbit's house, Dodo sends Bill down the chimeny to get her out. Of course, this causes a ton of ashes to come out of the fireplace resulting in Alice sneezing, which ejects Bill out of the house.

* ''[[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Peter Pan]]: Return To Neverland'' has a scene where Tinkerbell covers Jane in fairy dust. The resulting sneeze is enough to propel Tink several meters, with her ricocheting off everything.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

** Seemingly subverted at first, as Brains, one of The Hood's prisoners, manages to cover for him. Then Fermat mentions his allergies, so you know another one's coming...

* This trope is [[Older Than Television|extremely old]], appearing in the silent 1927 film ''The General''.

* In ''[[The Matrix]]'', the Gang is given away by Cypher while descending the wetwall to escape the agents. (May be a lampshade though as he intended to give them away.)

** Well, technically, this was a cough of doom, not a sneeze of doom.

* In the ''[[Hancock]]'', the super heroine explains the big hole in the wall of her house as one sneeze from Hancock.

* In ''[[Annie Hall]]'', Alvy and Annie are offered cocaine by friends of theirs. Alvy is reluctant to do so, and as the guy is explaining that the stuff is $2000 an ounce, Alvy lets out a big sneeze that sends the stuff flying everywhere. Reportedly a [[Throw It In]] that is one of the film's [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Crowning Moments of Funny]]

* Averted in ''[[Face Off]]''. Archer is told early on to be careful with the voice modification chip in his larynx as even a sneeze could dislodge it, but it never happens.

* Amusingly averted in ''[[Winter's Bone]]'', thanks to a possible [[Throw It In]]: During the hunting trip, Sonny sneezes at the exact moment Ree is telling them to keep quiet. This proves to have no detrimental effect on the trip whatsoever.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''The Emerald City of Oz'' the Shaggy Man sneezes in the land of Miss Cuttenclip and her paper dolls, causing mass havoc.

* In ''Jurassic Park'' (the novel), Lex's coughing causes a second T-Rex chase at the river.

* One of Andy Griffiths' short stories has Andy and Danny competing to see who can fit the most marshmallows in their mouth. They are tied at 20 when Andy's crush Lisa declares (based on a palm reading book Andy had given her for her birthday) that Andy is her soul mate. Andy is suddenly showered with glitter and called on to kiss Lisa. Unfortunately, the glitter gets up his nose, and he sneezes, spraying marshmallows all over the floor, and seemingly ruining his chances with Lisa (until she challenges him to the same competition).

* Used once in Morris Gleitzman's ''Teacher's Pet'', (surprising, as the main character is allergic to cats). Ginger climbs a tree to escape from what she thinks is a savage dog (it isn't) but ends up with her nose too close to a fig flower. The resulting sneeze causes her to fall off the branch landing flat on her back.

* A literal instance, for the archaic meaning of "doom" (i.e. fate), comes from Xenophon's ''[[Anabasis]]''.<ref>On which ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]'' is loosely based</ref> After winning the Battle of Cunaxa but ultimately losing because Cyrus the Younger up and got himself killed, and then losing their leadership to a Persian trap, the army of 10,000 Greek mercenaries decides to hold a meeting about what to do. Everyone's sure that they're screwed, but during a quiet moment, somebody sneezes. Loudly. Everyone [[Pose of Supplication|drops to the ground in supplication]] (the Greeks considered a sneeze to be a sign from the gods). Then they get up, elect ten new officers, and decide to start marching their way back to Greece. (They make it, in case you were wondering.)

 

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* [http://www.platypuscomix.net/otherpeople2/hamsitup6.JPG This] [[U.S. Acres]] strip has what [[Platypus Comix|Peter Paldrige]] called "the biggest sneeze to ever take place in comic history".

 

== Theatre ==

{{quote|''A warm, gentle breeze causes a tickle on your face, but as you go to brush it off, you find you cannot move your arms. Looking at your skin, you realize that it has turned to a brittle, green glass. Standing perfectly still, you breathe in shallow gulps of air, knowing that moving would cause your skin to shatter into thousands of pieces. The tickle on your face worsens, and you know that you are about to sneeze. As your skin shatters, you wake up sweating.''}}

* In ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3|Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds]]'', [[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LILhai7IHI&feature=player_embedded uses this] ''as a normal attack.''

 

== Webcomics ==

* While it isn't quite the sneeze itself, the one Ellen lets loose in [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-04-11 this] ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' strip ends up having [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarious]] [[Involuntary Transformation|repercussions]].

** [http://egscomics.com/?date=2007-03-20 The previous night], Nanase tries to wake up Ellen by rubbing her nose with her fairy tail. The resulting sneeze is off-panel, but was apparently messy enough for Nanase to need a bath in the sink.

* Chloe in ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' [http://www.eeriecuties.com/d/20091230.html unleashes one] that covers the whole school in succubus pheromones.

* In ''[[Slightly Damned]]'', [[Our Angels Are Different|Kieri]] (AKA "[[Some Call Me... Tim|Snowy]]" to those who [[The Unpronounceable|can't pronounce her name]]) [[Involuntary Transformation|turns into a snow bunny]] whenever she sneezes.

* In ''Monster By Mistake'', Warren Patterson is accidentally cursed to transform into a monster and back whenever he sneezes. Naturally, he has really bad allergies.

* Mid-1970s Hanna-Barbera character Great Grape Ape had such a disastrous allergy to grapes. It used to be a major plot point in early episodes, but may have been forgotten later on.

* Anne Chan falls victim to this in ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]'' episode "The Greek Caper" when she, Alan, Tom and Suzie are being chased by a masked stranger in a museum and disguise themselves as statues. Alan tries to stifle it with his finger and it works...for about half a second.

* Happens to Gina in [[Dennis the Menace]] when she and Dennis follow a pair of art thieves to their hideout.

** There's an episode of the G1 [[My Little Pony]] series where Megan and some ponies are sneaking through a castle. Gusty sneezed a few times, which caused numerous problems for the group such as their torch blowing out and of course, getting caught.

* Both [[Inspector Gadget]] and his [[Spinoff Babies|kid]] [[Expy]] [[Gadget Boy and Heather|Gadget Boy]]'s gadgets have a tendency to pop out and cause mischief when they sneeze. [[Accidental Hero|Not that]] [[Swiss Army Appendage|their gadgets]] [[Useless Protagonist|don't normally]] [[Rule of Funny|act up anyway]].

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Nose Tropes]]

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]