Soft Glass: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Glasss.jpg|frame|[[Don't Try This At Home|Don't try this at home.]]]]

 

{{quote|'''Kazumi:''' Didn't that hurt?

 

[[Reality Is Unrealistic|Glass is harder than you think it is.]] It takes a lot of force to break a glass window, and, even if you succeed, you have many shards of sharp glass all over the place that are very likely to injure you. However, [[Rule of Cool|that isn't cool.]] It's so much cooler to have your [[Badass]] [[Action Hero]] effortlessly leap through a window and come out unharmed.

 

See also [[A Glass in the Hand]], and [[Grievous Bottley Harm]] where the strength of glass is also underestimated.

{{examples}}

== General ==

* Virtually all bar-fights in any [[The Western|Western]] series result in at least one cowhand going through a saloon window, often followed by him getting up and running back into the fray.

 

 

* In ''[[Ranma ½]]'', sending someone flying through a window is a favorite pastime of the characters (especially female ones). Akane's bedroom window, and the homeroom window at school, are the most common victims. Ironically, after Akane tossed Ranma through the ''open'' window one time, he tried to leap back up, only to smack firmly into the glass when she closed it.

* Subverted in the first episode of ''[[Welcome to The NHK]]'' where Satou tries to break a beer bottle with a karate chop and cuts open his hand doing it.

* Subaru of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' has a tendency to smash through windows both intentionally and unintentionally, though {{spoiler|being a [[Hollywood Cyborg|Combat Cyborg]]}} certainly helps the plausibility of her doing this. Also, she's wearing a Barrier Jacket (essentially clothing with magical [[Deflector Shields]]), which have been shown to withstand some seriously impressive impacts with no damage to the wearer at all.

* Somewhat averted in the ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' manga, in that when Kyo punches a school window in anger, it does break, but he also is visibly injured by it.

* In ''[[Darker than Black]]'', during Hei's training of Suou he blocks a punch of hers with his [[Drowning My Sorrows|liquor bottle]], it shatters, her hand has no visible injury, and she only seems mildly annoyed.

 

* ''[[Spider-Man]]''

** Hilariously subverted in an issue of ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', where Spidey, trying to make a dramatic entrance into the Kingpin's office, finds that Fisk has installed much stronger glass than last time Spidey was around.

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''[[Thieves and Kings]]''. While Rubel does go through a couple windows, in the first case he is just ''opening the window'', not breaking it, and in the second case, [[Discussed Trope|recognizing that going through a window can kill you]] but having no choice, he hides in a large iron pot.

* ''[[Watchmen]]''

** Played straight(-ish) later when Rorscharch is escaping the set-up at Moloch's home: he leaps through the window to escape the cops, and doesn't appear to be cut by the glass. He is damaged by the fall, however, and is quickly arrested. It's possible that his long-coat and mask protected him from the glass but, since they don't appear to be armoured at all, this is improbable.

** Averted again later in a bar Rorschach frequents for information, where he brutally pumps information out of a guy by breaking a glass cup in his hand, then proceeding to ''squeeze'' it.

** Another glass-proof Angel is Warren, who is able to jump through a skyscaper window without attaining so much as a scratch, ''shirtless''.

** And then there's Storm, whose face is slammed through a glass table during a fight scene and yet she doesn't suffer the slightest scratch.

** Subverted shortly after the part where Angel runs through the door when the criminal dives through a pane of glass and gets a bad cut on their leg leaving blood on the glass.

* Averted in ''[[Memento]]'', Leonard knocks a guy out with a wine bottle without breaking it, and specifically choosing it for this earlier when he needed a weapon.

* Believe it or not, ''[[Commando (film)|Commando]]'' averted this trope. A friend of Jon Matrix (Schwarzenegger's character) died after being driven on the hood of a stolen car through a window. The close up of the guy shows him badly cut from the shards.

* ''[[Last Action Hero]]'', as part of the premise, subverted this and many, many other tropes. After [[Trapped in TV Land|coming out of movieland]], Jack Slater takes control of a car by punching through the window. Shortly thereafter, he says that doing that "really hurt".

* During the shooting of another film of his, ''[[True Lies]]'', Arnold accidentally smashed a real car window instead of the one made out of sugar.

* ''[[Die Hard]]''

* Averted gruesomely in ''[[A Home At The End Of The World]]'', where a character's brother runs through a sliding door he thought was open. The jagged shards of glass puncture his neck, making him bleed to death in seconds.

* Averted, humorously, in the film ''Love, Honour & Obey''. A gang enforcer tries to punch through a car door's window to grab someone who owes money. He punches it, hard, and keeps punching it again and again with the gang standing around discussing whether they think he will give up before it breaks. {{spoiler|you hear it shatter offscreen after a few minutes of conversation}}

* Subverted in ''[[I, Robot (film)|I Robot]]''. Detective Spooner attempts to debunk the theory that Dr. Lanning defenestrated himself to commit suicide. He does so by throwing a desk chair at the next pane of glass, and noting that, as safety glass, it shattered in place but did not break.

* ''[[RoboCop]]''

* Averted in ''[[Maniac Cop 2]]'' where Officer Cordell fights off two officers, throwing one through a mirror. It's mentioned a little later that the thrown cop actually died.

* Even animals sometimes get in on this act, as in the velociraptor's crash through the laboratory window in ''[[Jurassic Park]]''. While scales might offer some protection against being cut, it really ought to have shown at least some damage from the collision.

** Batman in the ''Dark Knight Trilogy'' is covered in armor. As long as he doesn't dive face first, it should protect him.

** Averted in "The Dark Knight" when he fires explosive sticky charges onto a skyscraper window and detonates them before gliding through. Again, his armor likely would protect him from glass shards.

* Another painful one from Hong Kong- during the filming of ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'', [[Bruce Lee]] got quite badly lacerated during a take of his fight with O'Hara (Robert Wall), as the glass bottles Wall smashed to make his ersatz daggers were quite real

* Averted in ''[[Daredevil (film)|Daredevil]]''. Kingpin throws Daredevil full force at a glass window that cracks a lot but doesn't break. Bullseye is also thrown from a huge height onto a car windshield that doesn't break.

* Played dead straight in ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' when Obi-wan jumps headfirst through Padmé's window. This is particularly [[Egregious]] because according to the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] Coruscant's windows are made of [[Unobtainium|transparisteel]], not glass. This is a transparent material that is much tougher than glass (they use it for viewports on starships among other things). Of course, Obi-wan's a Jedi Master, [[A Wizard Did It|so check your assumptions at the door]].

 

* Averted in [[Jack London]]'s ''[[White Fang]]''. The title dog breaks through a window to reunite with his master and is badly cut up along his stomach for it.

* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]''

** Also averted several times in ''Witches Abroad'', as Granny Weatherwax smashes several mirrors during the course of the story, and almost gets killed by a shower of broken glass. (The ever-patient Nanny Ogg patches her up, lamenting, "Oh, Esme, you do take winning hard.")

** In Maskerade a panicked lady clobbers Nanny Ogg with a ''full'' bottle of champagne to try and knock her out so as to make an escape. The bottle doesn't break, but the book takes this moment to point out that somewhere in the Ogg family tree is a bit of dwarf, meaning Nanny has a skull you could break rocks with, so all getting hit really does is stun her momentarily.

* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]

** Both averted and lampshaded in the novel ''[[X Wing Series|Wraith Squadron: Iron Fist]]''. A team of New Republic spies instigate a bar brawl with a group of Imperial pilots by having one of their members hitting a fellow teammate in the head with a glass bottle. The bottle shatters because it is made out of stage glass. After the fight, the team member who took the bottle to the face stated that the first bottle didn't hurt him but complained that he was hit by a second bottle and that one was made out of ''real'' glass (the bottle didn't even break). Earlier in the book, in their inspiration for setting up the scene later, a person who instigated a bar brawl for similar reasons smacked a member of the team on the head with a bottle, which not only didn't break but gave him a minor concussion and was unable to fight for a while.

 

 

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Rawhide]]'', where Rowdy Yates goes through a pane of glass and is ''seriously'' cut up by it.

* ''[[Angel]]'' was rather fond of crashing through skylights. He also smashed through a lot of windows. The fact that he's a vampire might account for his ability to survive such an impact, but not the fact that he never gets cut. Subverted in one episode in which he's thrown out of a Skyscraper window. He recovers shortly after but is shown to be in extreme pain and spitting up Blood upon impact.

* Simultaneously subverted and double subverted in an episode of ''[[Bones]]'': It is known that a wine bottle was broken over the victim's head, after which the intact end was shoved into the victim. As it turns out, good quality wine bottles (such as those used in the winery where the body was found) [[Subverted Trope|don't break that easily]]. [[Double Subversion|A cheap knock-off of said winery's bottles, filled with cheap knock-off wine, sold as if it were from that expensive winery, though...]]

** Played straight ''and'' subverted in "Homecoming". Buffy, Cordelia, and a demon need to get out of a house that's about to explode. Buffy and Cordelia dive through a window, which shatters with no great hello. The demon dives through another window... except it's boarded shut and he just bounces right back onto the grenade. Buffy is a powerhouse, though, smashing through glass is much less of a problem for her.

* ''[[CSI]]''

** Averted in another episode, where one of the Miniature Killer's victims dies when her head goes through a plate glass window and the sharp shards essentially turn her into a Pez dispenser.

* [[CSI: NY]] had an aversion in an ep where the victim was killed after he fell backwards into the glass of his aquarium, shattering it and cutting himself to shreds.

* Averted in [[Harper's Island]]. When Trish is trying to escape from {{spoiler|Wakefield}}, she looks as though she is about to punch a window, but then thinks twice and grabs a lamp and smashes it with very little effort. For anyone interested, {{spoiler|she does get away from Wakefield... only to be killed literally two minutes after this scene by the other killer.}}

* Averted in the ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' episode "Pigeon": Bradan Caden is killed by glass shards upon crashing into a building.

** Carla has to get into Turk's car and brings fellow nurse Laverne along with her. The car's locked, so Laverne shouts a battle cry ("[[Leeroy Jenkins|Lavern Robaaaaaarts!]]") and punches out the window with nary a scratch. Carla is taken aback and cries "Laverne! I have the keys!"

** Averted in another episode, where J.D. tries to break a car window with a heavy object to prove a point. It takes him several minutes of repeated bashing before the glass eventually breaks.

** Near the end of the third season, J.D. and Elliot get [[Will They or Won't They?|back together]], then JD tells her he doesn't love her at the reception dinner. She shoves him onto the table, where he crushes several wine glasses. No injury occurs.

* Subverted in an episode of the original (black and white) ''[[Superman]]'' TV series. The Man'o'Steel has just deflected an asteroid and is feeling a bit woozy. Jimmy Olsen is over and thinks Clark is sick and puts him in the shower. We hear the crash of breaking glass as Clark falls through the shower door. Jimmy later comments on how lucky Clark was as "there wasn't a scratch on him."

** Averted when a woman is "attacked" by spiders in her shower... and in the flailing to get them off, puts her arm through the shower door and bleeds to death.

** Partly averted in another episode. Sam and Dean dive through the window of a church in order to flee from Alastair, and apparently manage to run away surprisingly quickly. However, a later scenes shows them taking care of their injuries; Sam [[Nausea Fuel|stitches up a pretty nasty cut on his arm]], while Dean sports a dislocated shoulder.

** Also averted when Castiel tries to "speak" to Dean in his angelic voice, shattering every window in the process. Dean tries to hide, but still can't avoid a few cuts. This was mirrored in Real Life. When the fake sugar glass being used didn't look visually stunning enough, real glass was used. [[Jensen Ackles]] received a cut as a result. In the same episode, Dean is shown to break into a deserted store, taking pains to wrap up his hand and sweep the frame to keep it from being turned into hamburger meat.

* Averted in ''[[True Blood]]''. Tara's mother hits her with an empty liquor bottle. It didn't break at all and in fact left a nasty wound on Tara's forehead.

** Very much not averted when Will Bailey breaks the "glass" between his and Toby's office. The scene showcased the extent of his frustration, as Toby has never been able to break it with his rubber ball no matter how hard he threw it. Funny thing is, the ''thump'' of the ball against the window always sounded like plexiglass before this incident. Go figure.

* Oh mercy, ''[[Doctor Who|The End of Time]]''. {{spoiler|Watching the Doctor plummet through Naismith's stained glass ceiling and land very painfully. He's cut up, but not as badly as the fall should have made him. (Of course, he probably broke most of the bones in his body on the landing, which wouldn't be quite so noticeably bloody and graphic, but still....)}}

** "Closing Time" - the Doctor jumps through a window to rescue Craig, and doesn't get so much as a scratch. ''Fixing'' the window before Craig's wife gets home is more of a problem (apparently, finding a glazer on a Sunday isn't easy even with a time machine.)

** Oddly averted in ''Partners In Crime''. Donna was even hitting that window with a wrench and nothing was happening. Maybe deadlocking windows to make them sonic screwdriver proof also strengthens the glass.

* In the HBO show ''OZ'', characters repeatedly break through glass walls. Which is even more bizarre considering the fact that it's set... in a maximum-security prison. A maximum-security prison where the walls are made out of glass. Not Plexiglass or even safety glass, but regular, breaks-into-nice-sharp-pieces-perfect-for-shanking-someone glass. Justified in that Em City is designed specifically like that. Also averted in that when Beecher smashes a glass window with a chair, a shard nearly blinds Schillinger

* Averted in the British police-drama ''[[Backup]]''. A policeman breaks a window and quickly enters a building through it. The next in line (the show is about an operational support unit who travel to incidents together) stands in front of the window and spends some time breaking the sharp fragments out of the frame with his baton.

* There were several instances in ''[[Highlander the Series]]'' where Richie crashed through a glass window. Justified at least once in that in the scene, he hit the glass at full speed on his motorcycle (though it's a surprise he wasn't cut, unless the motorcycle gear was heavy enough to protect him.)

** In the pilot, he averts the trope, cutting Mac's antique shop window with a glass cutter.

 

* For an angle in [[WCW]], Bill [[Goldberg]] was required to punch through a real glass window of a limousine. He was originally supposed to conceal a small piece of pipe in his hand to aid with the punching, but after the cameras started rolling he lost it and decided to punch through the window with his bare fist. A shard of glass caused a huge gash down his forearm and he was out of action for months. [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3i5Ju0mhjAE Watch it here.] Watch for him checking his arm after smashing the third window and the subsequent splatter of blood when he pounds on the white hood.

** If you listen to the match commentary on the DVD with Shane and Kurt they talk about this, and proving that he's actually got a bit of badass in him, Shane apparently told Kurt once they were through the first one to just fling him head-first through the glass on the way out. He did, and it looked awesome.

* Sabu and [[Mick Foley|Cactus Jack]] had a match in [[ECW]] where they brawled through the crowd and backstage area. Sabu got hold of a bottle, which he proceeded to break over Jack's head. Except that it was a real, non-gimmicked bottle, and took several attempts...

* The set for Brutus Beefcake's [[Talk Show With Fists]], ''The Barber Shop'', has a big glass window that was just begging for someone to be thrown through it. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCljiGVZ5fE That someone was Marty Jannetty,] courtesy of his tag-team partner [[Shawn Michaels]], in a move that solidified Michaels's [[Face Heel Turn]] and launched his singles career. Note that in [[Real Life]], the window was not real glass, and Jannetty was applying the blood while he was draped over the windowsill and his face was out of sight. (Interestingly, many people misremember this as "Michaels superkicking Jannetty through the glass," when what actually happened was Michaels superkicking Jannetty to the floor, then picking him up and ''throwing'' him through the glass.)

* This happens a lot in Japanese and American "Death Match" or other [[Garbage Wrestling]] venues. The lucky ones work for a league that invests in prop beer mugs and break-away panes of glass that, like most pro wrestling, looks horrid but is relatively safe. The unlucky ones get dropped through actual, thin window panes, have actual glasses and bottles busted over their heads, and get hit with/thrown through actual fluorescent tubes. The latter of which, btw, shatter into countless razor-sharp shards, tend to [[Nausea Fuel|turn the upper layer of skin and flesh into hamburger]], and [[Too Dumb to Live|contain potentially carcinogenic chemicals]].

 

== Video Games ==

** Averted when Stan and Francine spies on George Clooney to get to him. In a fit of rage Francine punches a glass window, her hand gets bloody, and has shards of glass stuck in it.

* Averted about three minutes into the first episode of ''[[Clone High]]'', when Abe Lincoln, trying desperately to look cool in front of Cleopatra, leans against the high school's glass trophy case; his arm crashes through it and he immediately starts bleeding.

* ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' ironically averts this when there was no need to. In one scene Anakin slashes a window with his lightsabre, presumably to weaken it, then uses the Force to smash the glass. So...what was the lightsabre needed for? Considering the Jedi frequently send large metal robots flying across a room, surely this would be one scenario where the glass shouldn't ''need'' weakening.

* Happens all the time on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''. Though, given [[And I Must Scream|some of]] [[Buried Alive|the other]] tropes these characters are subjected too, it might be a mercy move.

** In a mall scene of ''Police Story'', the glass is made thicker than usual so it'll look more real. This had a rather unfortunate (or fortunate) side effect of visibly cutting the actors. In fact, Jackie has gone on record in his documentaries saying that his team uses real plate glass anytime it's possible, because fake glass looks too, well, fake. There's a very good reason his stunt team is considered some of the most badass people on the planet (and why they can't get insurance).

** There is a rumor that during the filming of the car window punching scene from ''Terminator'' Arnold broke his his hand punching out the wrong window, which hadn't been replaced by breakaway glass.

* [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205737/Man-killed-shards-glass-hurling-girlfriend-shop-window.html??88 An abusive man in England killed himself by accident] when he hurled his girlfriend into a plate glass window several times. A shard of this broken glass apparently impaled him and severed an artery. [[Laser-Guided Karma]], anyone? At least one internet forum reported this story with the thread title "[[A Worldwide Punomenon|Windows: Fatal Error]]".

* Behold the insane true story of [[wikipedia:Alan Magee|Alan Magee]], a [[WW 2]] B-17 gunner. His plane was shot down in 1943 (receiving 28 shrapnel wounds in the process), and after bailing out discovered his parachute wouldn't work. Magee free-fell 22,000 feet, through a train station's glass ceiling... and lived. It's speculated that the glass may have broken the fall.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Television Is Trying to Kill Us]]

[[Category:Artistic License Physics]]

[[Category:Did Not Do the Research]]

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]

[[Category:Tropes Examined by the Mythbusters]]