Thrown Out the Airlock: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Throwing someone out a spaceship or space station's airlock without a suit, or as some universes call it, "spacing," or simply "airlocking," is a common method of killing someone in sci-fi works involving space travel. This one is usually reserved as a last-ditch effort to get rid of a bad guy, though certain [[The Captain|Captains]] (especially [[Space Pirates]]) have been known to use this as a method of execution. By all accounts, getting exposed to the hard vacuum of space is not a pleasant way to die, and the effects of this on the body are covered in much more detail on the [[Explosive Decompression]] page. A somewhat crueler version involves giving the executed a spacesuit with enough air to let them last a while so they can fully appreciate their upcoming death.

 

Appropriate, given that [[Space Is an Ocean]], and parallels can be drawn with keelhauling or [[Walk the Plank|walking the plank]]. Note that the loss of oxygen from the ship's system will never be a problem no matter how much you do it.

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* In one episode of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', Spike spaces a rogue {{spoiler|refrigerator}}. Notably, the [[Hollywood Science]] aspects of the trope were averted as the would-be spacee had to be physically kicked out of the ship when air movement proved insufficient to do the job.

** He also, as detailed on the [[Explosive Decompression]] page, jumps out himself in another episode.

* Benten of ''[[Cyber City Oedo 808]]'' tries this against the main bad guy of his [[A Day in the Limelight|focus episode]], who is a [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampire]]. It doesn't work.

* In ''[[Trigun]]'', a human who {{spoiler|bullied Rem, Vash and Knives}} and tried to {{spoiler|kill the twins}} dies like this.

* Happens in the original [[Gaiking]] series, to the wife of [[Anti-Villain|an alien enemy]] some time before their daughter is {{spoiler|shot to death and he's brainwashed into becoming Darius's minion.}}.

** In the backstory of ''[[G Gundam]]'', Canada's future Gundam Fighter lost his wife to decompression during an attack by [[Space Pirates]] lead by Russia's future Gundam Fighter. {{spoiler|Though he was actually trying to save her.}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* As part of a plan to fight aliens with 'bring one back to life' über-technology, Cyclops of the [[X-Men]] throws himself out an airlock into space and dies. Intentionally. Knowing he lacks (and will lack) access to his powers. That's how much of a badass he is.

{{quote|We eventually introduced a character named Mystek, but I killed her off when her miniseries was not approved. Mystek was supposed to be a creator-owned character, developed under a first-look deal, and I was instructed to put her into JLTF to introduce her to the fans in preparation for her miniseries. Then there was no series, so I shoved her out an airlock in JLTF #32.}}

 

== Film ==

** In the fourth film, the monster is not simply shoved bodily out of an airlock, but sucked into the vacuum of space through a small broken port window. It was not pretty.

* In ''[[Event Horizon]]'', Justin almost kills himself messily this way when the titular ship takes him over.

* This is how Scroop actually kills Mr. Arrow in Disney's ''[[Treasure Planet]]''. Later, Jim actually kills Scroop the same way as revenge for Mr. Arrow's murder.

** Technically, it was into a black hole, as space had air.

 

== Literature ==

* Ford and Arthur in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.

** They survived the airlock toss. This was thanks to the Infinite Improbability Drive, in a surreal scene involving {{spoiler|detached limbs, penguins, and an infinite number of monkeys using an infinite number of typewriters}}. It's kind of hard to explain.

* In ''[[Infinity Beach]]'', Solly tries to blow the Shroud out of the ''Hammersmith'''s airlock, explaining that he [[Saw It in a Movie Once]]. But unlike in ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'', it doesn't work.

 

* In the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "Ariel" mentioned in the above quote, Mal almost does this to Jayne for ratting Simon and River out to the Feds on Ariel for the reward money. Jayne fearfully states that this "ain't no way for a man to die," and though Jayne wanted both of the Tams off the ship for a variety of reasons, as Mal vehemently points out during the confrontation, "[[True Companions|you turn on any of my crew, you turn on me!]]"

** In addition, Mal threatens to do this to Simon in the pilot if he fails to save Kaylee, who is laid up with a nasty gunshot wound after being accidentally shot by the Fed trying to bring Simon in, since Simon had refused to treat her unless Mal got them away from the Feds:

'''Mal:''' Kaylee comes through, you and your sister get off at Whitefall.

'''Simon:''' If she ''doesn't'' come through?

** In the ''Serenity'' tabletop RPG, getting thrown out an airlock [[Chunky Salsa Rule|is instant death]].

* Almost happens to Harlan in the second episode of ''[[Space Cases]]''.

** Often, it is not the airlock that is used, but Galactica's launch tubes - usually used for launching the ship's Vipers. [[Justified Trope|which justifies the long tube with a quick-opening door at the end.]]

** Additionally, Cally and Chief Tyrol have to airlock ''themselves'' in order to be rescued by a Raptor when escaping from a faulty airlock.

** Another variation, seen in {{spoiler|"Blood On The Scales"}} is to have the person or persons killed while in the launch tube, which would then be opened. Execution and burial, all in one.

* In ''[[Babylon 5]]'', a character is threatened with execution by spacing after it is discovered that he {{spoiler|shot Garibaldi in the back}}. A character in another episode is actually (hyper)spaced by Bester and another Psi-Cop.

* An episode of ''[[Farscape]]'' had a kamikaze baddie that could magnetically attach herself to metal, and guide some [[Negative Space Wedgie]] missile. At the end of the episode, after she escapes her cage and attaches herself to a wall, Crighton nonchalantly informs her that she attached herself ''to an airlock'', and a detachable one to boot. Moments later, the airlock itself is thrown out, taking her with it.

** D'Argo is accidentally spaced when he is ejected from Moya in "They've Got a Secret", however due to his Luxan physiology, he survives. Over the course of the series, most of Moya's crew (save Aeryn, Zhaan and Sikozu) find themselves spaced (unintentionally or intentionally), but all survive with little if any ill effects. Most notably, during the "Look at the Princess" trilogy Crichton spaces himself without any form of spacesuit or protection in a desperate attempt to escape a doomed spacecraft, and is able to survive for more than a minute before he is able to get himself on board a nearby craft. The only ill effects are frostbite-like symptoms that are virtually shrugged off a few scenes later.

** And then in ''The Time of Angels'', River Song throws ''herself'' out of an airlock with intent to land in the TARDIS, to whose occupants she has just given the coordinates via [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]. Don't worry, the TARDIS has the capability to create an "air corridor".

*** The worrying part is that she is trusting her life to the Doctor eventually finding her message - which he does, ''12,000 years later''. One of the nice things of the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] is that it is never too late for a retroactive [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment.

** In the classic story "The Daleks' Master Plan", short-lived companion Katerina spaces herself as a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to kill the homicidal psychopath who's holding her hostage.

** In another episode, Avon tries to airlock {{spoiler|Vila}} when they're both stuck on an escape pod that needs to lose a lot of weight quickly to avoid crashing. Things get... pretty dark before an alternative solution is found.

* The '80's revival of ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' had an episode where this is threatened to a stowaway on a ship.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In ''[[Fading Suns]]'' this is what happens to you when you piss off the Guilders.

** I figured it was what automatically happened to the cylon when he was revealed, considering he goes to the Resurrection ship immediately.

* Some of the background fiction in the ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' rulebook has a reference to using the airlock to [[Shoot the Dog]] - but if you're going to stop someone from infecting others with [[The Virus|the Exsurgent virus]], well, hard vacuum is grimly convenient.

** In the starting adventure included in the "quick start" PDF there's a point where the PCs have to jump out an airlock, vacsuits optional. Game effect, some [[Sanity Slippage|stress points]] when they download into their next morphs.

 

== Toys ==

* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', Teridax teleports Miserix, Helryx, Hafu, Kapura, Tuyet, Artahka, Brutaka and Axonn out into space. Fortunately, [[Blow You Away|Lewa]] managed to interfere with the process and get himself teleported too, so he could create a large air bubble so that everyone could breathe.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Conker's Bad Fur Day]]'' throws an alien out an airlock, even if it is blatantly spoofing the same scene from ''[[Alien]]''.

* The player can toss just about anything out the airlock in the game ''Creatures 3'', from random trash you don't want lying around to living creatures. Sometimes the latter will accidentally throw ''itself'' out the airlock by crawling inside and pressing the button, thus proving that artificial life is ''not'' the same as artificial intelligence.

* Used to interesting effect in ''[[Metroid Prime|Metroid Prime 3: Corruption]]'', where the chaotic first level features space pirates and federation troopers being sucked out of damaged airlocks and holes in the ship (there's a bonus for getting the blast doors down in time to save one trooper). Samus also ends up being shot out of an airlock, then manages to get back inside through another.

* In ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces|Jedi Outcast]]'', on the Cairn installation, the player can depressurize an entire hangar bay, sucking at least five poor bastards out with gale-force speed.

** Later on, on the Doomgiver, there are 3 full hangers packed with pilots and stormtroopers that you can send flying into space. Of course, you can also do it to yourself - by accident.

* If you manage to find the Comm Satellite secret level of ''[[Quake II]]'', you'll notice a threshold with danger markings at the beginning of the level. Beyond the threshold is [[Schmuck Bait|a stash of goodies placed conveniently near an opened airlock]]. Do the math.

* In ''[[Lemmings]] 2: The Tribes'', [[Malevolent Architecture|automatic airlock doors]] are a deathtrap that the Space Tribe must avoid.

* In ''[[Bulletstorm]]'', Gray does this to a captured bounty hunter in the very first scene of the game.

* Master Chief [[Riding the Bomb|rides the bomb]] out of an airlock in ''[[Halo 2]]''. In ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', Jorge throws Noble Six out an airlock of the Covenant supercarrier just before the slipspace portal bomb goes off, sending Jorge and most of the ship to oblivion.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Narbonic]]'' parodies "The Cold Equations" (mentioned above) in [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php?view=archive&chapter=39493 this week] of strips.

* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', Petey dumps a bunch of [[Space Marine]]s out of an airlock that wasn't there until he boarded the ship. (He didn't just cut a hole; he "installed" a complete airlock.) But the marines are all wearing [[Powered Armor]], so they should be able to reach one of the other ships nearby.

* In one of the fillers for [[SSDD]] the misconceptions about throwing people out the airlock were addressed, apparently spacing is a slow and painful way to die and they just stay in the airlock until poked with a stick though if you have a window in the airlock you can [http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20090515.html watch them WRIGGLE!!]

* In ''[[Vexxarr]]'' it's pretty much a [[Running Gag]] from [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=071805 early on], especially given that all AI are more or less malicious and the Bleen can survive in vacuum for a while. Once scavenger robots mistook Minionbot for a deposed ship captain because [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=121912 they thought a crewmember would be incarcerated or shot, and equipment would be shut down]... [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=112612 and it's pretty much a tradition for themselves]. "[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=122512 From the friendly automata]"!

 

== Web Original ==

* Occasionally happens to characters in ''[[Chakona Space]]''. Though in at least one story, the appropriately named [http://www.chakatsden.com/chakat/Stories/TOFC-18.html Briar Patch], the "victims" were genetically engineered to survive in vacuum {{spoiler|the pirates whose space suits they cut open, not so much}}.

* Cortana in ''[[Arby 'n' the Chief]]'' was {{spoiler|thrown into the centre of an alien sun after a gay alien that looks suspiciously like the creator of the show's chin raped and ate her friends Travis and Todd}}

 

== Western Animation ==

* Used in a ''[[Star Wars]]'' parody on ''[[Robot Chicken]]'', when Vader gets rid of [[The Scrappy|Jar Jar]] this way: "If this is the escape, then where the pod?"

* Used in ''[[Transformers: The Movie]]'', where the heavily damaged Decepticons were thrown out into space so that Astrotrain could...well, it was bad physics, but they needed to lose weight or something bad would happen. Naturally, being machines, this didn't immediately kill them, but it was implied that eventually their batteries would run dry or they'd drift into a sun.

'''Irken among the public:''' I don't.

'''Almighty Tallest Purple:''' SEIZE THAT GUY, AND um... throw him out the airlock!

'''Almighty Tallest Purple:''' That was the ''wrong guy'' but... that's okay! I think everyone gets the point! }}

* Used at the end of a segment in ''[[Heavy Metal (animation)|Heavy Metal]]'', when Captain Sternn pulls a lever and sends Hanover Fiste out of a space station airlock. Fiste subsequently [[Space Does Not Work That Way|catches fire in the vacuum of space]]. Or he might have [[Reentry Scare|burned up on reentry.]], if you're feeling charitable.

[[Category:Tropes in Space]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]