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{{trope}}
[[File:
The application of high voltages to animated flesh and bone renders the former translucent and the latter luminescent, allowing the skeleton to be seen in the style of a classic X-ray for as long as the current flows. Despite the impressive light show, the victim will usually then still be alive, if a bit singed and shocked.
Sometimes this is not caused by electricity but by another source, like a [[Disintegrator Ray]]. In ''this'' case, it is more frequently lethal, the skeleton just showing up briefly before the whole body turns to dust. Or, [[Stripped to the Bone|the skeleton is the only thing left behind]].
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See also [[Harmless Electrocution]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== General ==▼
== Standard Implementation ==
▲=== General ===
* Was once a (non-[[Discredited Trope|discredited]]) live-action trope, appearing in various monster movies of the black-and-white era, as well as "The Borderland", an episode of the original ''[[The Outer Limits]]''.
=== Advertising ===
* One advertisement for Advertising/Orangina features [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9KopBHFepE a man-in-Orangina-bottle in a giant pinball machine], including X-Ray Sparks at one point.
=== Anime & Manga ===
* When Ash first meets Pikachu in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', Pikachu shocks him for a good ten seconds and his skeleton is shown every other second. This later happens to Professor Oak a few seconds after the attack ends.
* ''[[One Piece]]''
** A common result of Nami using her Climattack to shock some bad guys.
** Parodied by having it happen to, and be [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Brook, a living ''[[Dem Bones|skeleton]].''
{{quote|
* ''[[Gigantor]]'': "Battle of the Giant Robots" had a ''truck'' display an X-ray skeleton when hit by a robot's weapon.
* Shown in ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka de|Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou]]'' OAV episode "Kokoro no Yukue" when [[Small Annoying Creature|Kotengu]] is struck by lightning as a punishment for losing a tengu competition.
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=== Comic Books ===
* In ''[[Leonard Le Genie]]'', this happens almost every time Basile has to power up some new invention.
* Tends to happen to [[Wolverine]] whenever he's struck by a large amount of electricity. Like Storm's lightning.
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=== Comic Strips ===
* ''[[Baby Blues]]''. In one strip Hammie does it to his older sister with static electricity.
=== Films -- Animation ===
* In ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', briefly happens to Susan when Doctor Cockroach attempts to revert her to normal size.
* Occurs in ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'' when Flint attaches a jumper cable to an electrical tower at the power station.
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* Happens in ''[[Cats Don't Dance]]'', near the end when Darla hits a machine with a wrench, her skeleton is seen for less than a second before she flashes many different colors
* Happens to several pink elephants during this part of the song "Pink Elephants on Parade" from ''[[Dumbo]]''.
{{quote|
They're walking around your bed
On their heads! (Clippity-cloppity)
Arrayed in braids,
[[Title Drop|Pink Elephants on Parade!]]'' }}
* Happens to the goons in ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' when they're all hit by [[Big Bad|Maleficent's]] lightning.
* Happens to [[God Save Us From the Queen|the Evil Queen]] in ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs]]'' as she is becoming [[One-Winged Angel|the Witch]], although you could only see her hands.
* Played with in ''[[Winnie the Pooh (Disney film)|Winnie the Pooh]]'' when Eeyore is struck by lighting. Instead of bones, it's his stuffing.
* Happens to [[Red Shirt|several submarine crew workers]] in ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire|Atlantis the Lost Empire]]'' during the scene where [[Kraken and Leviathan|the Leviathan]] starts destroying the submarine they are in.
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* The first ''[[Hot Shots]]'' movie actually does this to a live-action Charlie Sheen, although he is only visible through the frosted window of an office door.
* The film ''[[Home Alone]] 2'' features Marv (Daniel Stern) being shocked; an effects shot briefly replaced him with a [[Real Life]] skeleton puppet wearing the same hair, beard and clothes as him, before turning back to his regular fleshy self.
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=== Live Action TV ===
* Since 1988, the Dalek energy guns on ''[[Doctor Who]]'' make the victim's body briefly flash lime green while their bones glow bright white. According to dialogue, the victim dies as their internal structures are chaotically rearranged. Earlier it was just a circular area of film around the victim turned negative.
* In the third episode of the Korean series ''[[Strong Girl Bong-soon]]'', this happens to a poor schmuck that Bong-Soon accidentally forces to taser himself while she's tying him up.
=== Music Videos ===
* Happens to [["Weird Al"
=== Tabletop Games ===
* ''[[Champions]]'' supplement ''Gadgets''. The illustration for the "Deathwind" Commando Suit shows the victim of its electrical charge attack displaying this syndrome.
=== Video Games ===
* Happens in ''[[Little Big Adventure]]'' whenever someone is electrocuted.
* This was a feature of Pikachu's electrical attacks in the original (and ONLY in the original) ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' [[
** On the other hand, when [[Kirby]] and [[Pokémon|Jigglypuff]] get hit by electric attacks, only their eyes are visible, implying (sensibly) that they have no skeleton.
* ''[[Touch Detective]]'' Nintendo DS game. One of the characters in Episode 2 can suffer from X Ray Sparks by fooling around with an electrical socket.
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** Returns in ''Crash Tag Team Racing'', where Crash shocks himself in the die-o-rama.
* This happens to characters from ''[[Darkstalkers]]'' when they are hit by an electric attack, but some don't show skeletons when hit (for example, [[The Alien|Pyron]] shows a constellation, [[The Dark Messiah|Jedah]] shows runes, etc.).
* Similarly, ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' does this with anyone who is capable of electricity-based attacks. Which used to just be Blanka, but there are probably new zappy characters here and there. Especially notable as every character had their own "zapped" animation, which was averted completely from the ''Alpha'' games onwards with a [[
** In ''Street Fighter 4'', the feature of X-Ray Sparks returned.
** ''Captain Commando'' too.
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** Predating this, sprites found from a prototype of ''Sonic CD'' revealed that Sonic was originally going to get this effect when shocked by the electric wires of Wacky Workbench, but this was scrapped due to policies regarding the image of the [[Sega|company's]] mascot (which must've been pretty strict, since in the original Mega Drive/Genesis title, sprites of Sonic being comically stretched while going down the high-speed elevators of Scrap Brian were removed from the final game).
* The title characters in some ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' arcade game show this effect when they are zapped by beams from roving robots on wheels.
* Touch any electrified material in ''[[
* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]''
** In ''Mortal Kombat 3'' (and only there), Nightwolf's lightning and Stryker's taser fatality will make the foe flash blue, and a skeleton can be seen throughout the lightshow. This was removed in ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'' (an update of the same game).
* Somewhat subverted in ''Mortal Kombat 9''. Stryker's X-ray attack has a part where he uses taser and the foe's entire skeleton can be seen, shaking.
* ''[[
** Any victim of Rachel's electric attacks. It's especially visible on the long-duration attack from the electric frog, [[Killer Rabbit|George XIII]].
** Also invoked with Iron Tager's Gadget Finger attack.
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* ''[[Bubble Bobble|Bubble Symphony]]''. Only, '''little''' voltage is required to kill a protagonist.
** ''[[Bubble Bobble|Puzzle Bobble 2]]'' (arcade): A VS CPU mode cutscene before facing off against a giant lightbulb thing has the player character getting fried.
* Used in the ''[[
* Occurs in ''[[Vanguard Princess]]'' when Luna Himeki or support character Eko blows an electrified "kiss" to their opponent.
* Happens in the ''[[Metal Slug]]'' Series whenever any of the main playable characters gets zapped.
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* This happens to any enemy in ''[[Fable]] 3'' when using the Shock Gauntlets. Killing them with it leaves their corpses as bare skeletons.
* Happens in Makai Kingdom when anyone is hit with an electric based attack.
* Happens to the characters in [[
* In Bloodrayne: Betrayal, if Rayne is struck by Kagan's lightning, her skeleton flashes for the duration of the spell. Also happens when you beat him the first time, he electrocutes her to stun her.
** The "Electric Eyes" Also do this if you try to go Raven Form in front of them.
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* In Nexon's game, Dragon's Nest, this happens if you or an enemy is affected by the "electrocuted" satus debuff.
* In ''[[Balloon Kid]]'', touching a spark at any time causes Alice to get electrocuted and [[Death Throws|knocked out]].
* During the Greek myth-themed season of ''[[Fornite]]'' released in early 2024, one of the mythics available is Zeus's lightning bolts. These can be thrown at other players, and if you hit, their skeleton will be very briefly visible.
=== Web Comics ===▼
* [[Exploited Trope|Exploited]] in [http://www.explosm.net/comics/1802/ one strip of] ''[[Cyanide
▲== Web Comics ==
▲* [[Exploited Trope|Exploited]] in [http://www.explosm.net/comics/1802/ one strip of] ''[[Cyanide and Happiness]]'' in order to take an ''actual'' X-ray.
* Spoofed in ''[[Rusty and Co.|Rusty and Co]]'': who would have guessed that [http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-4-16/ Mimic has a jawbone]?
=== Web Original ===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BG00B2nrI4 Senpai Notice Me: A Yandere Simulator Musical (feat. SparrowRayne & Nathan Sharp)], by [[Random Encounters (Web Video)]], happens after Yandere-chan 'gives a shower' to Oka. Oka doesn't survive.
* In V5E13 of ''[[RWBY]]'', Nora's skeleton is briefly visible through her flesh when the enraged Hazel is unknowingly charging her up with his electrical attack.
=== Western Animation ===
* Any number of ''[[Bugs Bunny]]'' and ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' cartoons.
** Happens in one ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon, where Taz gets zapped up by a christmas tree's lightbulbs.
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* In one episode of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', the title character was repeatedly shocked by a robot.
* In ''[[Home Movies]]'', Duane and McGuirk both show their skeletons in electrocutions, unusual for a show that's otherwise low-key and absent of exaggerated cartoony action.
* Played straight in ''[[The Fairly
* Asajj Ventress, when hit by Dooku's force lightning in ''[[Star Wars: Clone Wars]]''.
* Happens from time to time in ''[[Darkwing Duck]]''. Pretty much any episode with the [[Shock and Awe|lightning-wielding]] Megavolt.
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* Happens to Ed in the ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' movie finale, he also transforms into various forms of himself that has been used previously on the show.
== Disintegration variant ==
* In book 9 of the ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' series, ''The Cauldron of Fear'', it is shown [http://www.projectaon.org/en/xhtml/lw/09tcof/ill15.htm with this illustration] of a soldier trying to attack [[That One Boss|Zakhan Kimah]] while the latter is protected by the Orb of Death, the poor [[Red Shirt]] ending up disintegrated by the magical aura.
=== Films -- Animation ===
* Happens to Ursula at the end of ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', as a result of King Triton's trident electrocuting her just moments after Prince Eric stabs her with a harpoon.
* Happens with Jafar's [[Family-Unfriendly Death|death scene]] in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|The Return of Jafar]]''.
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* In the 1953 adaptation of ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' a soldier is hit by the Martians' [[Disintegrator Ray]]. There's a closeup shot of him as his body glows a bright green, with the skeleton showing through the glow, before the whole thing fades away and the unlucky victim vanishes into nothingness.
* During a battle in ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'', Crash and the Boys catch the business end of a [[Kill It with Fire|fireball]] launched by [[Bollywood|Matthew Patel]] and his backup singing Demon Hipster Chicks as he sings "[[Villain Song|Slick]]".
=== Literature ===
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' books, someone hit with balefire has their colors "inverted" and just fades from view in the brilliant white light of the [[Death Ray]].
=== Live-Action TV ===
* Notoriously used in the [[Made for TV Movie]] ''[[The Day After]]'' to show those closest to Ground Zero being vaporized. Not only is this appropriate, it's actually [[Truth in Television|pretty close to accurate]]
** The effects themselves were realistic, but the special effects department's choice of photographs on which to create the effects made less sense. A few seconds earlier, Kansas City was a scene of panic and rioting; the people shown being vaporized are enjoying a day by the riverside, at weddings, in schools, in bars and coffee shops, etc. Some of the photos used in the vaporization scenes are actually stills from earlier in the movie.
* ''Super Nova'', the second ''[[Lexx]]'' TV movie, shows Giggerota's skeleton briefly, because the super nova's shockwave dissolved her flesh and clothing a fraction of a second before her bones. It probably wouldn't happen like that in real life, but [[Rule of Cool|it looked cool enough that it was used in every version of the show's opening credits]].
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'' has the Particle Beam Gun, which vaporizes the flesh off its victims' skeletons.
* The taser weapon in the Sega Genesis game ''[[Jurassic Park]]: [[So Cool Its Awesome|Rampage Edition]]'' is insanely powerful, able to kill dinosaurs and people in a single shot. When you use it, you see the skeleton of whoever or whatever you use it on before they collapse into ashes.
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=== Web Comics ===
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', this happens to victims of the "Disintegrate" spell, whether they resist and only take damage, or are killed and next turn to dust.
* In ''[[Looking for Group]]'', Richard applies on Cale a [http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/3 fried-to-a-crisp-by-fireball] variant.
* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]''. [http://yafgc.net/
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' shows plasma hits on those without enough armor to stay mostly intact as bright disintegrating skeletons in a cone of light. Like [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-06-22 this] (spoiler) or [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2012-07-04 this].
=== Western Animation ===
* In ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Baxter Stockman was was placed in a disintegration chamber by Krang [[You Have Failed Me...|after one failure too many.]] A fly entered the chamber with him, and after a brief X-Ray spark Stockman was transformed into a giant mutant fly. This instance provided plenty of Nightmare Fuel; Baxter Stockman was pleading frantically for his life before and after being thrown in, and his screaming skeleton during the X-Ray spark was truly horrifying.
* [[The Simpsons (animation)|"Extremely high voltage? Well, I don't need safety gloves 'cause I'm Homer Simp-"]] [[Killed Mid-Sentence|(he touches the wires and is electrocuted)]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Amusing Injuries]]
[[Category:Zany Cartoon Tropes]]
[[Category:Graphical Tropes]]
[[Category:Rule of Perception]]
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