History Franchise / DieHard

** [[ADickInName Richard "Dick" Thornburg]] is the [[{{Paparazzi}} amoral reporter]] that ends up exposing Holly [=McClane=]'s identity by threatening the [=McClane=]s' housekeeper with deportation and terrorizing their kids, [[IfItBleedsItLeads all for the sake of a story]]. When Dick attempts to interview John and Holly, he [[TalkToTheFist recieves a well-deserved punch in the face]], courtesy of the latter. In ''Film/DieHard2'', Dick is mentioned to have made a scathing article about airlines and stewardesses, and to whit treats the stewardesses with disrespect. When Dick broadcasts on international TV that the airport has been hijacked, thereby causing a panic that the authorities were desperately trying to avoid, he is tased by Holly to shut him up.

It has spawned a number video games, some of which are directly based on the movies. In 2021, ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsColdWar'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWarzone'' had a crossover in which [=McClane=] was added as a playable Operator and Nakatomi Plaza was added to the latter's "Verdansk '84" map.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/die_hard_collection_531775b80b4c9.jpg]]

A landmark action thriller movie franchise that started with [[AnAssKickingChristmas the greatest Christmas movie ever made]] in 1988 when the world was introduced to badass John [=McClane=]. He is usually called "[[RightManInTheWrongPlace the right man in the wrong place at the wrong time.]]" Creator/BruceWillis stars as New York cop John [=McClane=], who usually has to employ his skills in a situation that has since been called DieHardOnAnX -- he is usually trapped inside a location and has to climb around in air ducts and counter the bad guys' plot. The setup is slightly different in each film (mostly depending on the location), but he always finds himself in the way of terrorists hatching some sort of plot (which ends up serving as an elaborate robbery).

A landmark action movie franchise that started with [[AnAssKickingChristmas the greatest Christmas movie ever made]] in 1988 when the world was introduced to badass John [=McClane=]. He is usually called "[[RightManInTheWrongPlace the right man in the wrong place at the wrong time.]]" Creator/BruceWillis stars as New York cop John [=McClane=], who usually has to employ his skills in a situation that has since been called DieHardOnAnX -- he is usually trapped inside a location and has to climb around in air ducts and counter the bad guys' plot. The setup is slightly different in each film (mostly depending on the location), but he always finds himself in the way of terrorists hatching some sort of plot (which ends up serving as an elaborate robbery).

On the comedic side, Bruce has made a {{Cameo}} as John [=McClane=] in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'' (1993) and allusion to [=McClane's=] use of AirVentPassageway for his appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'' (2019). In 2020, Bruce, Creator/ClarenceGilyard, and De'voreaux White reprised their roles of John [=McClane=], Theo, and Argyle for the commercial ''Advertising/DieHardIsBack''.

* QuoteSwearUnquote: The CatchPhrase of the film came from [=McClane=] mentioning Creator/RoyRogers was his favorite movie cowboy, and then taking Roy's CatchPhrase and adding swearing to it.

There were plans to make a sixth and final movie entitled ''[=McClane=]'', but it was shelved as a result of the Disney/20th Century Fox merger in 2021, and then officially died when Bruce Willis announced his retirement from acting due to his aphasia diagnosis in 2022.

-->'''John [=McClane=]:''' The [[Franchise/JamesBond 007]] of [[UsefulNotes/NewJersey Plainfield, New Jersey]]

There were plans to make a sixth and final movie entitled ''[=McClane=]'', but it was shelved as a result of the Disney/20th Century Fox merger in 2021, and then died when Bruce Willis announced his retirement from acting due to declining health in 2022.

* AdultFear:
** In the first three films in the franchise, this is the drive behind most of our hero's actions. The first film sees our hero getting caught in the middle of a terrorist takeover of a high-rise building, with no way out, holding dozens of hostages with [[IHaveYourWife his wife among them]] and the police officers arriving to save the day [[PoliceAreUseless being no help at all]]. The second one raises the stakes with dozens of planes full of innocent families coming home for Christmas trapped in mid-air at the mercy of a madman, who manages to [[spoiler:destroy one such plane, murdering every man woman and ''child'' onboard]]. The third film has a major subplot about a terrorist bomb in an elementary school.
** In the fourth movie, the antagonist uses HollywoodHacking to erase [=McClane's=] pension, mortgage, etc., destroying his financial stability with a few keystrokes.

There were plans to make a sixth and final movie entitled ''[=McClane=]]'', but it was shelved as a result of the Disney/20th Century Fox merger in 2021, and then died when Bruce Willis announced his retirement from acting due to declining health in 2022.

* FilkSong: Guyz Nite made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyw6cq86kY one]], which is even on the fourth movie's DVD.

It has spawned a number video games, some of which are directly based on the movies.

On the comedic side, Bruce has made a {{Cameo}} as John [=McClane=] in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'' (1993) and allusion to [=McClane's=] use of AirVentPassageway for his appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'' (2019).

* BusmansHoliday: Although John [=McClane=] is an NYPD cop, his first two adventures take place away from New York while he's trying to reconcile with his wife on Christmas Eve. It's not until the third movie that he finally gets to have an adventure in [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity the Big Apple]] - and even then, he's suspended and so isn't technically supposed to be involved.