Literal Cliff Hanger: Difference between revisions

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Line 1: {{trope}} [[File:cliffhanger.jpg\|link=Homestar Runner\|frame\|"This dinner party is top dollar!"]] {{quote\|''Cliff Hanger! Hanging from a cliff! ''And that's why he's called Cliff Hanger! ''Can't...hold...on...much...longer!''~~\|''[[Between the Lions]]''}}~~ \|''[[Between the Lions]]''}} You're on a cliff and fall off. Unless you're a [[Looney Tunes\|wily coyote]], there will be a ledge or branch below that you can hang from. (Ignoring the fact that it's [[Not the Fall That Kills You]]). For some reason the standard cartoon canyon has dead trees growing out of the sheer rock face. It's what [[Cliff Hanger]] is named from. Line 12: This also includes the urban version: hanging from a flag pole. Another way to stop the fall in with a [[Blade Brake]]. When it's too much for writers to find a decent excuse, expect [[Cliffhanger Copout]]. If the character's items or equipment fall while or before they fall, you're being given a [[Plummet Perspective]]. This is one of the building blocks of [[Climb Slip Hang Climb]]. {{examples}} == Anime &and Manga ==▼ ▲== Anime & Manga == * ''[[Fruits Basket]]''. At the end, {{spoiler\|Akito corners Tohru on a cliff. The cliff collapses, Tohru falls.}} * In a [[Filler]] episode of ''[[Ranma ½]]'', both Akane and Ranma jump over a cliff to retrieve a [[MacGuffin]]. Ranma catches the MacGuffin, Akane catches Ranma's hand and a convenient branch on the side of the cliff. * A [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] is delivered to a character in ''[[Futakoi Alternative]]'' as she is being held up by her arm by the male protagonist. She's dangling a few hundred feet above the ocean, he's trying to left her up onto a collapsing bridge. == Comic Books == == Comics ==▼ * Happens to [[Donald Duck]] in the [[Don Rosa]] comic ''Incident at McDuck Tower''. After falling something like 50 meters from the top of a sky-scraper, he lands on a pole, which cracks under his weight. Just when he's about to reach a window, a bird settle on his head and the pole breaks. * Jeff Smith's ''[[Bone]]'': Line 26 ⟶ 25: ''(next panel, both rat creatures are hanging off the branch)'' Stupid, STUPID rat creatures!! }} * ''[[Elf Quest]]'', [http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ09/DisplayOQ09.html?page=39 here]. Yes, there are dead trees growing from the sheer cliff face. This was originally meant to be Skywise's big death scene but Richard Pini vetoed Wendy killing him off, so he lives to this day. * ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'' uses this trope for laughs as a running gag, with the heavy Sgt. Snorkel hanging from a branch while other characters rescue him.▼ * In ''[[Tintin]] in America'', Snowy falls onto a tree that immediately bends, ''imparting so great a horizontal component to his motion that he falls at 45 degrees onto a ledge beneath''. Tintin is sitting on the ledge and is implied to have come down by the same route. == Fan Works == * The ~~german~~German ''[[World of Warcraft]]''-Parody radio drama "Allimania" has a scene at the end of one episode where the character Cliff was literally hanging on a cliff off the Hellfire Citadel. His comment? "Oh no... It's a goddamn CLIFFHANGER!" * In the [[DC Comics]] fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4191221/1/Stripped "Stripped"]'', ~~when~~ [[Blue Beetle]] II and [[Booster Gold]] are [[Title Drop\|stripped]] of their technological advantages, ~~they~~ get beaten and thrown tooff a cliff. Beetle's leg, broken, catches on a tree and Ted tries to bear the pain while he holds on to the dangling Booster for hours. [[Tear Jerker]], [[Heartwarming Moments\|heartwarming]], and [[Ho Yay]] ensues. Most of the fic relies on the tension of wondering how long they can avoid dying. == Films -- Animation == Line 40 ⟶ 36: * ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'' has a character hanging on to the ledge of a six-story building. Fortunately, [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever\|said character]] is ''five'' stories high. * This occurs in ''[[Mulan]]'' during the avalanche scene. == Films -- Live-Action == Line 57 ⟶ 52: * This happens in ''[[Maverick (film)\|Maverick]]'' when the title character falls over the edge of the cliff, but manages to hold on the edge. The Marshal offers Maverick to [[Take My Hand\|take his hand]] but he refuses until he almost falls to his death and changes his mind. * ''[[Cliffhanger]]'', starring Sylvester Stallone as a professional mountain climber. The film's [[Cold Open]] even features a literal cliffhanger, leading to a [[Take My Hand]] moment that {{spoiler\|fails}}. * ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)\|The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'' features an example of this when Frodo and Gollum fight near the end of the movie. == Literature == Line 64 ⟶ 58: * The end of ''The Colour of Magic'' by [[Terry Pratchett]]. It's worth mentioning that the cliff in question is the ''edge of the [[Discworld]].'' ** An indoor version happens in ''[[Discworld/The Fifth Elephant\|The Fifth Elephant]]'', with Vimes climbing a spiral stairs made of logs hammered in a large stone column when the one he just stepped on breaking. * In ''The Fires of Heaven'' (book five of ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' ~~book 5~~), Asmodean describes an incident in which he saw a man dangling from a cliff with nothing to grab but a weakly-rooted tuft of grass; having no better hope of saving himself, the man grabbed it, and of course it pulled loose. Full circle in that Asmodean is using this real incident as a metaphor for his own situation. When asked whether or not he helped the man, he evades the question. * ''[[The Action Hero's Handbook]]'' devotes a chapter to "How to Save Someone Who's Hanging From a Cliff". * According to ''[[The Meaning of Liff]]'', the horizontally-growing bush characters cling onto is called a "grimmit". * In ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', Leafpool accidentally gets knocked off the edge of the cliff at the top of the quarry. She's only holding on by her ''claws'' hooking over the edge. Just as she slips, Crowfeather grabs her scruff and pulls her to safety. == Live-Action TV == Line 80 ⟶ 73: * ''[[Heroes (TV series)\|Heroes]]'', with Hiro, a roof and a flagpole. * ''[[The X-Files]]'', "Revelations". An insane businessman grabs a boy and jumps into a paper recycling shredder. When a horrified Scully rushes over, she finds the boy holding onto the railing above the bloody mess. * In the season 2 finale of ''[[Knots Landing]]'', we get a quite literal cliffhanger when Sid drives off a cliff when the brakes go out in his car. * ''[[Green Wing]]''. Both series end with a number of major characters in an ambulance, literally teetering half-on and half-off the edge of a cliff. The first one is resolved in the second series, the second is (sort-of) dealt with in a one-off special episode. * Occurs in "Eternity", an episode of ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]'', when Richard and Kahlan try to get over the cliffs of insanity. {{spoiler\|Kahlan falls.}} * ''[[100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd~~\|One Hundred Deeds for Eddie Mcdowd~~]]'' has the title bully putting Justin on a flag pole as revenge for spilling milk on him. ▲== Newspaper Comics == ▲* ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'' uses this trope for laughs as a running gag, with the heavy Sgt. Snorkel hanging from a branch while other characters rescue him. == Video Games == * ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]: [[Advent Children]]'': {{spoiler\|Cloud manages to make Kadaj hanging from a block, not cliff. It happens before Kadaj drops off the box containing Jenova's cells and the reunion starts.}} == Web Animation == Line 94 ⟶ 88: {{quote\|'''[[Cloudcuckoolander\|Homsar]]:''' This dinner party is top dollar! '''Strong Bad:''' ''(while carrying the [[Running Gag\|Bigg Nife]])'' Okay, cliffhangers! Prepare to be resolved! }} * Tucker invokes this trope in the finale of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]\|Red vs. Blue: Revelation]]'' when {{spoiler\|[[Big Bad\|the Meta]] drags Grif along with him to his untimely demise over a cliff}}. == Web Comics == Line 103 ⟶ 96: * ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' has Shelly hanging from the edge of a [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/08202004/ billboard.] {{spoiler\|Luckily the long fall is only an illusion. She will land on a rooftop not visible due to the angle.}} * One [[Infinite Canvas]] strip of ''[[Supermegatopia\|By Way of Booty Bay]]'', simply called "Cliffhanger", featured a slew of ''WoW'' characters hanging unto each other, the top one clinging to the edge of a cliff. == Western Animation == * ''[[Code Lyoko]]'': This happens close to [[Once an Episode]] in the digital world, for about any of the heroes. Hanging from a ledge is most distressing for the Lyoko Warriors, since a fall in the Digital Sea would be fatal, unlike the usual devirtualizations. A few Literal Cliffhangers also occurs in the real world. * In ''[[Batman: The ~~Animated Series\|Batman the~~ Animated Series]]'', Batman has done this repeatedly, using a flag pole or awning to slow his fall whenever he falls off a cliff and cannot [[Building Swing]]. ** At one point, Bruce Wayne is forced to fall back off a high rise tower to avoid getting shot. He falls several stories before [[Charles Atlas Superpower\|grabbing another floor]] and hangs there as the goons [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy\|continue firing upon him.]] * Lampshaded in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' episode "I See a Funny Cartoon in Your Future" Line 113 ⟶ 105: [[Ear Worm\|AND THAT'S WHY HE'S CALLED CLIFFHANGER!]] "Can't...hold...on...much...LONGERRRRR!!!" * Done in the second episode of ''[[My Little Pony: ~~Friendship Is Magic\|My Little Pony~~ Friendship Is Magic]]''. * ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]''; in one episode, He-Man takes a bad hit from his [[Evil Knockoff\| evil imposter Faker]], and ends up dangling over the abyss under Castle Greyskull. Faker decides (as villains often do) to stop and gloat a little: {{quote\|'''Faker:''': It's [[Understatement\|a long way down,]] He-Man. Need a hand? Line 123 ⟶ 115: {{reflist}} [[Category:Pages needing more categories]]▼ [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] [[Category:Cliff Hanger]] ▲[[Category:Pages needing more categories]]