Static Electricity: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}{{cleanup|This trope has been moved back to the Trope Workshop because it needs a better description. Two sentences, the first of which is an [[Example as a Thesis]], is ''not'' a suitable description.}}

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{{quote|'''Zappity Zap-Zap, Double D!'''

|Ed|''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode "Every Which Way But Ed" }}

[[The Other Wiki]] [[w:Static electricity|tells us]] that "'''Static electricity''' is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material", and goes on to tell us why and how it works in [[Real Life]].

So you're minding your own business and then you're about to touch something and then ZAP! You're in for a [[A Worldwide Punomenon|shock]].

Static electricity is slightly different in fiction, thanks to [[Did Not Do the Research|poorly-remembered physics classes]] or the [[Rule of Funny]]. Multiple people can get a static shock from touching the same door knob, rather than having the static charge be grounded by the first person who touches it. Metahumans and deities can shoot off lightning bolt after lightning bolt with no pause to recharge. Charges can be powerful enough to create [[X-Ray Sparks]]. And there's ''always'' a related sound effect - usually the "zap" of a discharging capacitor.

This shock is caused by a person rubbing themselves on a surface where electricity charges up. A character will shuffle across a carpet in socks to build up a charge to do this. There are other means that static electricity can be made, but carpets are the most common.

[[Shock and Awe]] is for when static electricity is weaponized.

Though in super hero or fantasy, the character in question uses static electricity to warm up so he can deliver [[Shock and Awe|an electric jolts]] to the [[Big Bad]], monster, or [[Mook|mook]], whereas in other fictional media, making static electricity is the power of the hero.