Trainstopping: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:trainsquashing.jpg|link=Superman
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It's up to a [[Superhero]] to stop it!
This trope is usually used because it doesn't need a supervillain (although sometimes one does exist to derail the train). It shows, thus, that the superhero does more than just fight useless battles against supervillains - which makes sense, as the supervillains usually appear after the hero's debut, making people [[Hero
In addition, it allows the hero to showcase their strength, and to save the lives of innocent people. It's also a good method of comparing heroes. [[Superman]] just holds the train until it stops, while [[Spider
Used more in [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]], when trains were a popular means of transportation in the US (where most [[Superhero]] stories come from), but still alive today. One could put on a [[Wild Mass Guessing|tinfoil hat]] to mention that, if not for the supers, there would be a lot of train crashes, and it seems the train regulation committee [[No OSHA Compliance|forgot OSHA Compliance]] when they noticed [[Holding Out for
Oh, also, sometimes there's just a hole in the bridge for the hero to fix. He'll usually put himself between the extremities and "act" as the missing rails.
See also [[Chained to
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== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' in More Fun Comics 1.
** In one episode of the [[
* [[Green Lantern]]'s first appearance.
** Of course, the ''[[The Golden Age of Comic Books|original]]'' Green Lantern's origin involves surviving a train ''wreck''. Does that make this an inversion?
* [[Superman]] loves it, and was probably the [[Trope Maker]]:
** In [[The Movie]], the title character does the "replace the rails with his body" bit to save a train from derailing after an earthquake rips a hole in the tracks.
*** ''[[Superman:
** The Superman cartoon where he saved a train falling into a canyon when the bridge is dynamited was "Billion Dollar Limited''. It's on [[YouTube]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f44K6VYU67g here]: the scene starts around 6:00.
** In one episode of the original (1973) [[
*** In the opening animation for that series, he's shown stopping a runaway train by grabbing the train's back end and pulling until the train stops. This may be a unique case, but it's a lot safer than the other method.
** Also, when he got his [[Dork Age|lame]] electric powers, he had trouble saving a train using his new abilities. Loser much?
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* There was an issue of ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' in the late '90s that paired up Gambit and Bishop, and involved them stopping a runaway train. It let the writer have fun with the combination of powers, where Gambit (an Energy Maker) pumped the engine full of kinetic energy, and Bishop (an Energy Taker) absorbed all of it into himself, before riding the rails to slow the train.
** A late '80s story had Rogue (with some help from Longshot's [[Born Lucky|fabulous luck]]) stopping a train before it could plough into a pit made by the Juggernaut, leaving Psylocke and Dazzler to try and stop the Juggernaut on their own.
** In ''[[
* Big Bertha of the [[Great Lakes Avengers]] is shown doing this with a runaway semi. While the kids are happy to not die, the crossing guard laments being saved by such an unsexy superhero.
* In ''Avengers'' volume 1, issue 1, the Hulk is tricked into destroying a train trestle. As a result he has to hold the tracks up so a train can pass safely.
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== Film ==
* In ''[[Spider-Man (
* In ''[[Hancock]]'', Hancock saves Ray by stopping a train from hitting his car. Somewhat like the trope picture, Hancock is a [[Flying Brick]] and straight up halts the train rather than slowing it gradually. As a result, he causes the train to derail into a messy pileup that will probably cost hundreds of thousands in damages and cleanup - Ray points out that it would have been much easier to just lift the car off the track.
* In ''[[The Incredibles]]'', Mr Incredible stops a train from riding over an exploded railtrack, although several people [[Hilarity Sues|sue him]] for the resulting injuries.
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== Video Games ==
* Subverted in ''[[
* In the strength-test arcade game ''Sonic Blast Man'', one of the scenarios that has to be resolved by punching things as hard as you can is stopping an out-of-control train.
* Jonathan and Charlotte must team up to do this to a ghost train at one point in [[
* Subverted in ''[[
* Subverted in ''Uncharted 2''. Perhaps to highlight Nate's accidental action hero status, the train he happens to be on at first starts off unscathed, until you are attacked by a Hind-D attack chopper, at which point the explosions start. The entire back end of the train is cut off, and the only reason you survive is because you go under a tunnel at the last second. The train gets stopped for good later when Nate shoots some propane tanks in a last stand, blowing the train up off the tracks, and it ends up dangling over a thousand foot deep Himalayan valley.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', Sabin suplexes the Ghost Train.
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* ''[[Batman Beyond]]''.
* ''[[Captain Planet]]'' used this one, with the Captain saving a runaway monorail car.
* ''[[Batman:
** On an earlier occasion, he is forced to stop a runaway tram, using the Batmobile. He manages to stop the tram, but also pretty much totals the car.
* ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' : Sinestro destroys a bridge so a train full of gold is forced to hit the brakes. It doesn't stop in time, but Sinestro creates a replacement set of tracks to divert it to a nearby mountain cave where he can rob it blind. Hey, he has a [[Green Lantern Ring|Yellow Lantern Ring.]]
* ''[[Superman:
* In a [[Shout
** In that case it was an 18-wheel semi.
* ''[[The Iron Giant]]'' has a variation, where the Giant must fix the rails... that he himself broke. {{spoiler|Then he spends so long making sure the fix is perfect that the train ends up crashing into his head.}}
* In his first theatrical cartoon, [[Popeye]] saves Olive Oyl, who is [[Chained to
** In another cartoon, Bluto pretends that he's [[Superman]] and can stop a train with his own strength. Of course, the train actually stopped of its own volition - they're standing just outside the train stop and the train had slowed to a stop right before reaching his hand.
*** At the end of that cartoon, Bluto ties Olive to the railroad tracks and ''Popeye'' has to stop the oncoming train. He stops it exactly the same way he did in his first cartoon.
* In ''[[Teen Titans (
** Same episode, Más Y Menos have to keep a train from going over a broken bridge. They don't stop the train, but they do pull the switch so it goes onto another (not broken) track.
* Subverted in ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]''. Two trains, one carrying fuel, the other passengers, were diverted onto one set of tracks, heading towards each other. Attempting to save the day, Jean tries to slow down one train. Jean, however, simply isn't that good, so Kitty has to phase one through the other. Kitty likewise isn't that good, so [[Stuff Blowing Up]] ensues.
* ''[[George of the Jungle|Super Chicken]]'' tries to do this in the opening of his cartoon shorts, the train just plows him over.
* [[Transformers Prime|Optimus Prime]] gets to do this when a train carrying a nuclear device is heading towards tracks that were just destroyed. He also did it the right way, taking his time to gradually slow it down.
* In ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]]'', Iron Man does both the push and pull versions in the pilot. He first attempts to stop a four-car train from the front. This particular model has a door on the front, though, so it just collapses under his weight. Then he disconnects the other cars so he can pull the first to a stop. This doesn't work completely, but he slows it down enough to lift it into the air once it flies off the unfinished track.
{{reflist}}
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