History Main / AGlassInTheHand

* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E05TheAssignment The Assignment]]", O'Brien is [[IHaveYourWife compelled to act normally]] at a party by a [[spoiler:pah-wraith]] [[DemonicPossession possessed]] Keiko. The stress becomes too much for him when she shows mock-affection for his daughter, and he shatters his [[INeedAFreakingDrink whiskey glass]].

** [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-1197-succubus-wrangler/ She also breaks a chunk of her pulpit]] after the [[spoiler:succubus lust aura incident, when Mr. Amoprhous suggests that Heatwave ought to experiment it too -- but he doesn't mean it in a bad way]].

* Dick Blaney crushes a glass in his hand while having lunch with his ex-wife in ''Film/{{Frenzy}}''. He's on the books as a {{Domestic Abuse}}r, and while he denies it the audience is never really sure.

* ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': Maxima is usually ''very'' in control of her SuperStrength, but the adolescent-level antics of her subordinates can sometimes upset her enough that [[https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-70-punked/ she'd crush her cellphone.]]
-->'''General Faulk:''' Do not break another phone, Colonel.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* ''Franchise/FantasticFour'': Lilandra's reaction to Reed Richards saving planet-devouring Galactus.
* In ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndianaJones'' #23, a jealous Hollywood star crushes a glass in his hand as he watches his costar flirting with Indiana Jones.

* In ''ComicBook/IFeelSick'', Devi grips a paint can while arguing with her living doll Sickness and ends up shattering it. Devi then complains at the doll for making her spill her paint. Sickness informs her that there ''was'' no paint in the container. Devi says a bad word.
* ComicBook/ScottPilgrim crushes the plastic booze cup in his hand when he first tries to talk to Ramona Flowers.
* In an issue of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', Doctor Doom shatters a diamond in his armored hand as punishment to the Black Fox for having stolen an emerald that once belonged to Doom's mother. That was likely what Doom had intended for the Fox himself, had Spidey not convinced Doom that the Black Fox never intended to steal from Doom.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach makes another person do this as an interrogation method, crushing the glass in his hand to cause tremendous pain.
* A TreacherousAdvisor type does this in ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' after two Rogues refuse to turn on one of their own.

* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'': This happens in the prologue of the episode "Days Past". Vince Pike, a notorious mobster who murdered Walker's old fiancée is let off on a reduced sentence. Walker sees the announcement from the TV in C.D.'s bar and pulverizes his drinking glass, mangling his hand with enough blood to make the shards cling to his flesh. So angry he doesn't even let anyone nurse his wound, he walks out to his Dodge Ram and stamps it with a bloody handprint when lays his damaged palm against the window as he seethes with rage and his eyes burn with a monstrous DeathGlare. C.D. even {{lampshade|hanging}}s this:

* This happens in the episode "Days Past" in ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger''. The person who murdered Walker's old fiancée is let off on a reduced sentence. Walker sees the announcement from the TV in C.D.'s bar and pulverizes his drinking glass, mangling his hand with enough blood to make the shards cling to his flesh. So angry he doesn't even let anyone nurse his wound, he walks out to his Dodge Ram and stamps it with a bloody handprint when lays his damaged palm against the window as he seethes with rage and his eyes burn with a monstrous DeathGlare.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Light, acting as L, "advises" Near to escape from a situation Light himself created to trap him. While smirking. Near crushes the toy in his hand at Light's brazenness in barely even trying to hide his satisfaction.

* Roberta does this with a beer mug -- holding just the handle -- at the Yellow Flag in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', one of the few hints we get that she's an utter badass before she breaks out the kevlar-lined ParasolOfPain and starts blasting people to hell. It also doesn't hurt her hand because she's wearing gloves or, more likely, because she is that badass. And, as the next episodes show, this is the bottom of what she can go through unscathed.
** In "Roberta's Blood Trail", she does this with an entire bottle (also in the Yellow Flag, or what's left of it).

* Shinn Asuka does this at least three times with soft drink cans in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]''.
* Was also by Michelo Chariot in the first episode ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'', although it was more from battle lust.
** Parodied in ''G Gundam the Abridged Series'' where he crushes the glass... and screams out in pain as we cut to the title.

* In the second volume of the manga ''Naisho no Tsubomi'', when strange men show up at the beach and try to lure the girls away, eventually even just grabbing them, En picks up a bottle from the sand and crushes it to scare them off.

* In ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'', Tsuzuki does this after his new partner Hisoka introduces himself very curtly.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Yugi's aura was once so powerful, he broke a glass in Pegasus' hand. ''Through a TV screen''.
* Mima from ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' does this with a tea cup in one scene.
* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': Tamaki does this with his cell phone in the second Kasanoda episode.
* In the ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', manga, Teana does this with a paper cup when Subaru suggests that they can, through effort, shake off their reputation as the "airheaded pair," before [[NecktieLeash grabbing her necktie]] and telling her it's her fault they have this reputation.
* In the ''Manga/MyHime'' manga, Haruka does this with a phone receiver when Shizuru informs her that Mai has defeated Nao.
* In ''Anime/{{Noein}}'', Yuu crushes a paper cup when he notices Haruka is fawning over Karasu.
* ''Manga/SpecialDutyCombatUnitShinesman'' has a RunningGag where Riko (the Salmon Pink Shinesman) crushes paper cups of hot coffee when excited. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when someone asks her "Doesn't that hurt?"
* Sasuke from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' does this with a hand-sized rock to try and size up the Sand village team before the start of the Chunin Exams.
* In ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', Makato Shishio crushes a ''wakizashi'' with one hand, a momento returned to him by his AWOL TheDragon, symbolic of his relentless belief in SocialDarwinism. The animated adaptation goes further and shows whatever remaining fragments in his hand afterwards was held so tightly that it ''vaporized''.
* VAVA in the ''Manga/MegaManX'' manga ends up doing this to a glass of liquid, as a demonstration of how it matters little to him as to what's in the drink to X (he comments that Reploids can't tell the difference between bourbon or mud in a glass). Such was even given a MythologyGag with his D-Arts action figure, where it shows him with a glass of bourbon and even comes with it.
* During the third round of ''Manga/LiarGame'', [[TheChessmaster Yokoya]] performs this maneuver with [[NauseaFuel mice]] during a minor VillainousBreakdown.

* In ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', Yang Wen-li crushed a disposable cup filled with hot tea with his hand when he received news of [[spoiler:the death of his mentor and friend Alexandre Bewcock]], scalding him in the process.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', when Z-one came to the conclusion that humanity was too wicked to be saved, he got so angry that he crumpled up the [[spoiler:Shooting Star Dragon]] card in his hand.
* In the TV ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' series, Alucard did this in the end after asking Sir Integra for orders. Given that he's immortal, he doesn't to care.
* ''Literature/DateALive'': In the HotSpringsEpisode, Origami Tobiichi gets so jealous of Tohka's relationship with Shido that she causes the unopened soda can in her hand to burst.
* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'', Usagi and Chibiusa were eavesdropping on a disguised Tigers Eye and Fish Eye, who were at the time targeting Makoto. Having danced with her before, Tigers Eye makes an offhand comment about how it's so easy to romance other girls and that he can have as many as he wishes. Usagi is so angered that she crushes a pack of food in her hands, shocking Chibiusa in the process.
* In ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'', Illya makes an unopened soda can in her hand burst when she sees Kuro flirting with Shirou.
* ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' has a variant where Lisha cracks the glass window she's leaning on when she sees Krulcifer kiss Lux twice.
* ''Manga/GingaTeikokuKouboushi'': ''Volume 2: Foundation'': Jorane Sutt and Hober Mallow are drinking wine while they discuss a compromise. Incensed by Mallow's declaration that he can gain a political seat despite Sutt's opposition, Sutt smashes his glass on the table between them and says that he can put Mallow in jail for twenty years if the trader won’t accede to his demands.
* ''Literature/{{Shimoneta}}'': When Anna catches her crush Tanukichi sharing a bed with Kosuri (in reality, Kosuri snuck in), she shatters a carrot in her hand.
* ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'': Rinko gets pissed off when Himari flirts with her crush Yuto and shatters a pen in her hand.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhTheDarkSideOfDimensions'': Seto Kaiba rants at his scientists about his desire for a real final match against the Pharaoh and ends his speech by crushing his metal drinking flask and then dramatically tossing it aside. He then concludes with this gem:
-->'''Kaiba:''' Fire whoever designed that bottle. [=KaibaCorp=] products should not bend that easily!
* ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'': At the end of Chapter 107, Eikichi crushes a glass in his clenched fist when he overhears Makoto telling his friend that "[[WeNamedTheMonkeyJack Onizuka and Danma are my dogs!]]"
* ''Manga/DrStone'': Village chief Kokuyo has a habit of crushing clay cups in his hand when he's angry.

* A TreacherousAdvisor type does this in ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' after two Rogues refuse to turn on one of their own.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach makes another person do this as an interrogation method, crushing the glass in his hand to cause tremendous pain.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''
** The arc "Prey" has Bruce Wayne break a glass when he hears Hugo Strange on a news broadcast perfectly outlining a profile for what might drive a man to become Batman; it's unclear if it's meant to be a MythologyGag to Strange smashing [[AGlassOfChianti a wine glass]] against a wall when Batman foils him in his debut.
** Batman does the same in the first part of the "War Crimes" arc, while watching a videotape of a show detailing Stephanie Brown's death.
* In [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine's]] first appearance, he stares down a biker who's hassling him in a bar. The man isn't very intimidated, until he notices that John crushed his glass when he made a fist and is still squeezing the shards. His hand seems fine soon after, so it may have been an illusion.
* In ''ComicBook/IFeelSick'', Devi grips a paint can while arguing with her living doll Sickness and ends up shattering it. Devi then complains at the doll for making her spill her paint. Sickness informs her that there ''was'' no paint in the container. Devi says a bad word.
* In an issue of Franchise/SpiderMan, Doctor Doom shatters a diamond in his armored hand as punishment to the Black Fox for having stolen an emerald that once belonged to Doom's mother. That was likely what Doom had intended for the Fox himself, had Spidey not convinced Doom that the Black Fox never intended to steal from Doom.
* In ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndianaJones'' #23, a jealous Hollywood star crushes a glass in his hand as he watches his costar flirting with Indiana Jones.

* In ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', Snape gets so angry during Harry's sorting that he crushes a ''silver goblet'' into a lump.

* Paul in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'' does this twice, once with a trash can lid and once with a stone cup. The first time, he is annoyed at John; the second time is inadvertent, and he douses himself with tea.
* ''[[Fanfic/MyLittleMagesTheNightmaresReturn My Little Mages: The Nightmare's Return]]'': When Twilight first mentions Nightmare Moon to Celestia, the princess breaks the handle off her teacup in surprise.
* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': After Sonata is exposed by Phoenix and Trixie, she furiously snaps a pencil in half with her magic.
* [[StepfordSmiler Sketchbook]] in [[http://sketchbook-and-tony-adventures.tumblr.com/post/101528585965/we-assumed-you-meant-the-green-one this]] ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' CharacterBlog.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2917960/1/Yu-Gi-Oh-Tilting-the-Balance Yu-Gi-Oh: Tilting The Balance]]'': Degas crushes his wine glass in his hand when Jean-Vic is defeated. He then ends his list of grievances with [[LampshadeHanging "And I have glass in my hand!"]]
* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve]] doesn't take hearing HYDRA is back well, resulting in this. The same thing also happens to Harry when he gets angry at a fellow student's idiocy-this one is rather justified, since Harry is just growing into his SuperStrength.

* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': In ''[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/dungeon-keeper-ami-sailor-moon-dungeon-keeper-story-only-thread.30066/page-9#post-12096923 A New Home]]'', [[spoiler:Mukrezar]] had the wine glass in his hand shatter, "as he suddenly clenched his fist" after learning the lethal amount of magic that Ami used, and he basically has no way of matching to one-up her.

* ''Fanfic/ImNobody'': * Roxas accidentlly crushes some chopsticks after he hears how [[FantasticRacism the Quarians are treated by the other species]]. The Chef bafflingly notes they were ''[[SuperStrength metal]]'' chopsticks.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'': Bob/Mr. Incredible is almost out the door to save a mugging victim when his boss threatens to fire him if he leaves. He lets go of the now crumpled doorknob.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart:'' Spoofed when Wyldstyle does so with a cup of overpriced coffee, when Emmet brings up "Everything is Awesome" and her dislike for it.

* Sutler in ''Film/VForVendetta'' shatters a glass of warm milk as he sees a comedy sketch mocking his inability to stop V on television. Including a line mocking his fondness for warm milk, no less.
* ''Film/JamesBond''

** Film/DrNo crushes a golden goblet with his metal hand to intimidate Bond.

* ''Film/{{Deception|1946}}'': Hollenius shatters a champagne glass in his hand while he seethes with rage at the wedding reception of Christine, who used to be his mistress. After this display of temper he spends the rest of the movie in FauxAffablyEvil mode while he sets out to undermine and destroy Christine's marriage.
* ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' does this in a similar fashion to the ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' example above, except the guy doing it wanted the other guy to bow rather than for any practical purpose.
-->"[[BadassBoast If I am no king... why are you on your knees before me]]?"
* In ''Film/Catwoman2004'', the villain crushes her glass and marvels at how her hand is completely unscathed, an attempt at TheReveal. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well, considering how ground into the mind SoftGlass is.
* In ''Film/SupermanReturns'', during Clark's first day back on the job at the ''Daily Planet'', he picks up a picture of Lois and her son from her desk. Jimmy sees it and confirms that yes, "fearless reporter Lois Lane is a mommy." The glass in the frame cracks instantly.
* ''Film/EnterTheDragon'': After being defeated by taking that large kick by Bruce Lee's character, Oharra grabs a bottle and shatters it, intending to use it on Lee. Unfortunately for Oharra, this wasn't enough to prevent his death by being crushed underfoot by Lee.

* In ''Film/BreakingTheWaves'', a [[OlderIsBetter Church Elder]] at Bess and Jan's wedding spots one of Jan's fellow riggers chugging down a can of beer and chugs down his glass of lemonade in response. The rigger watches, then crushes his beer can and smirks in invitation. Not to be outdone, the old man crushes his glass with his bare hand.

* Dick Blaney crushes a glass in his hand while having lunch with his ex-wife in ''Film/{{Frenzy}}''. He's on the books as a {{Domestic Abuse}}r, and while he denies it the audience is never really sure.
* At the start of the otherwise forgettable Creator/ChuckNorris action movie ''Firewalker'', Chuck is staked out in the desert to die. To taunt him, the villain leaves a bottle of water in his hand. Chuck is able to break the glass with just his hand, giving himself the glass shards to cut his bonds.
* Calvin Candie does it in ''Film/DjangoUnchained''. It was not part of the script, but Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio stayed in character and kept going with the scene.
* ''Film/TheRibaldTalesOfRobinHood'': When Little John is informed of Tina's rape and murder at the hands of the Sheriff, he snaps his quarterstaff in half.
* In ''Film/FirstMan'', Neil Armstrong attends a reception at the White House when he receives a call notifying him about the Apollo 1 fire. After putting the phone down, he breaks the wine glass he was holding and cuts his hand.
* ''Film/BladeRunner2049'' plays this pretty brutally. Joshi [[TheAlcoholic frequently carries a glass in her hand]], but this trope only occurs when [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Luv]] begins actively crushing her hand as she holds the broken shards of one to torture her]].
* In ''Film/CorvetteSummer'', Kenny crushes a styrofoam Coca-Cola cup while he yells at his classmate Kootz for letting his beloved Corvette get stolen.
* In ''Film/TheConIsOn'', Gabriel shatters his wine glass in frustation over the increasingly bizarre situation he is facing at his dinner table, and the fact that he is paying for it.
* Done twice in ''Film/ReAnimator''. Herbert West does the pencil version during Hill's lecture to show his mounting TranquilFury over plagiarist Dr. Hill using theories he stole from West's mentor Dr. Gruber. And in a deleted scene, Dean Halsey, while being hypnotized by Hill, squeezes his drink too hard, shattering the glass in his hand.
* In ''Film/TheFifthElement'' Korben is standing with his hands on a light fixture while Munro is recruiting him. When Munro reveals he had already rigged a contest so Korben would be sent to Phloston's Paradise, Korben tears the light off the wall.
* In the 1994 film of ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' Darla does the kid version of this, crumpling a soda can in her hand to show her anger at Alfalfa.
* ''Film/{{Rope}}'': On arriving at the apartment, Mrs. Atwater sees Kenneth and mistakes him for David, promoting her to call out David's name... and Phillip immediately breaks the champagne glass he's holding, cutting his hand.
* Used humorously in ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', where (big strong tough guy) Quint crushes a beer can, and (bookish weaker guy) Hooper crushes a styrofoam cup in response. Note that in 1975, beer cans were made from tin rather than aluminum, so crushing one actually was an impressive show of strength.
* ''Film/HalloweenEnds'': When some bullies start taunting Corey Cunningham, he gets so pissed that he shatters a bottle of chocolate milk in his hand. This cuts up his hand.

* In ''[[Literature/LordPeterWimsey The Five Red Herrings]]'', Peter is talking to a witness/suspect while playing with a tube of paint. When the witness innocently says something important to the case, Peter accidentally bursts the tube. [[spoiler:The real clue here turns out to be the brand of paint.]]
* A mild variant of this -- the narrator crumpling a photograph in his hand when startled by a noise, then reflexively stuffing it in his pocket -- sets up TheReveal in Creator/HPLovecraft's "Literature/PickmansModel".
* Subverted in Creator/TimPowers's ''Literature/TheAnubisGates'': the protagonist ''tries'' to break a beer mug in his hand to show how tough he is and intimidate his way out of an awkward situation, but discovers, to his embarrassment and onlookers' amusement, that he isn't quite strong enough.
* In ''Magic Bleeds'', Literature/KateDaniels is on the phone with a man who tried to seduce her away from her love interest. Said interest listens to their conversation with a blank face while slowly rolling his plate into a tube. His ''metal'' plate. Kate has to explain the screeching noise as "construction". When he finally sets it down, it's been compacted into a ball an inch across.

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl and the Last Guardian'', Artemis convinces a fairy named Gobdaw (Who's just awakened after several millenia of slumber) that he's become something of a joke in fairy society in his time away. Gobdaw responds by snapping a martini glass in two and attempting to stab Artemis with the jagged end of the stem.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/SpaceWolf'', the title character Ragnar gets a new set of Power Armor. To demonstrate his new strength, he is given a fist-sized rock and told to crush it. He succeeds.

* The ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' has Justin Allard do this as a threatening gesture at Hanse Davion's wedding--he silently toasts Prince Davion as a WorthyOpponent before taking a drink of wine and then summarily crushing the wineglass in his hand. Notable for doing this with absolute calm when the wedding has just been thrown into chaos by Davion's announcement of the Fourth Succession War during the reception (and [[ItMakesSenseInContext a mad grab for dining plates]] and [[FoodFight cake being thrown everywhere]]). Justified by the fact that Justin has a [[ArtificialLimbs robotic arm]] with far more than enough strength in the limb to crush glass (see also the RealLife section below regarding prosthetics).

* In ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', this comes as a clear sign that Armitage is beginning to crack: at dinner, Case catches him staring blankly into space, and he snaps the stem off his wineglass when Case tries to get his attention.

* Done by [[TheCaligula Taur]] [[BloodKnight Urgas]] in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', crushing a golden goblet after drinking from it. Shortly after, he orders the butchering of a camp of foreigners. Part of this was to clear out potential spies before his upcoming invasion of the West, but mostly to feed his bloodlust.
* ''Literature/KateShugak'': In ''No Fixed Line'', Auntie Vi is so angry when she learns that the children rescued from the crashed plane had been sexually abused, she breaks a Pyrex measuring cup and a mixing bowl while making dinner, and Kate is sure these were not accidents.
* ''Literature/TheSyrenaLegacy'': In ''Of Poseidon'', Galen sees his LoveInterest Emma flirting with another boy during their temporary break-up. He snaps his plastic fork in half between his fingers.

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': The normally timid Charles Boyle has gone full MamaBear (his words) badass to get [[spoiler:his Latvian adopted son Nikolaj]] a Captain Latvia action figure. When faced with an apathetic import warehouse manager, he does this ''repeatedly'' to the man's mugs to intimidate him. Jake tries it once - and instantly begins screaming when the shards cut his hands.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'''s "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIOutOfTime Out of Time]]" has the Cat say of Rimmer: "You can tell he's tense by the way he scrunches up cups and throws them in the bin, and I'm not talking Styrofoam, I'm talking enamel." Of course, he is a HardLight hologram.
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' has the pencil-breaking variety in the first episode. The morning Laura Palmer's dead body is found, a teacher comes in to Laura's secret boyfriend James' homeroom, presumably to tell the homeroom teacher school is out early after the principal's announcement. They then see a girl run screaming across the courtyard through the window. James and Donna both look at Laura's empty desk, and the penny drops. Donna starts crying and James snaps the pencil in his hand in half.

** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E5Homecoming Homecoming]]" the other Scoobies abandon Buffy to support Cordelia's campaign for Homecoming Queen. Buffy insists to Giles that it's all just fun and nothing serious....and then grips her glass water bottle so hard it shatters. Then again she ''does'' have SuperStrength.

* In the sitcom ''Sparks'', a judge is talking about a criminal at a party, unaware that said criminal is all spruced-up and standing right next to her. The wine glass he's holding breaks when she calls him "scum".
* ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'' parodies this in one of their "John and Peter" sketches, where the normally hard-drinking mid-level businessmen have been reduced to operating a public restroom and sipping instant coffee out of paper cups. John, as [[LargeHam disproportionately passionate]] about their situation as ever, keeps crushing the empty cups in his hand, leading to the prematurely crushing of one that's still full of very hot coffee.
* Near the end of the run of the original ''Series/IronChef'', Chairman Kaga crushes a glass in his hand at the thought of closing his beloved Kitchen Stadium. We later see him holding a glass in his bandaged hand -- and, unfortunately, getting anguished enough to crush ''that'' glass too.

* In an interesting CutHimselfShaving twist, in ''Series/TheWestWing'' Josh's hand is (supposedly) cut up by a broken drink glass in the episode "Noel", when in fact he [[spoiler:smashed his hand through a window during a particularly intense reaction to his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.]]

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** When Clark does this to whatever poor object is in his hand, ''run''.
** Happens exactly so to Oliver Queen. This is, of course, not the first nor the last time in the show's history a character breaks something because they don't know their own strength or how to control it.
** Another notable example is glass-breaking girl Maddie who can control glass with her mind.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E05TheAssignment The Assignment]]", O'Brien is [[IHaveYourWife compelled to act normally]] at a party by a [[spoiler:pah-wraith]] [[DemonicPossession possessed]] Keiko. The stress becomes too much for him when she shows mock-affection for his daughter, and he shatters his [[INeedAFreakingDrink whiskey glass]].

* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9waEwRU7oBw this happens]] when a Victim Of The Day starts hitting on [[NoSocialSkills Parker's]] "pretzels". With a ''beer bottle.''
* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' has an episode where an artifact granted SuperStrength The man using it threatened the agents by crushing a cup.
* Bill from ''Series/{{Alphas}}'' crushes a coffee thermos when he feels a sharp pain in his chest.

* Jenna from ''Series/ThirtyRock'' in response to Liz throwing a deliberately lame bachelorette party for her.
* Happens to the butler in [=S3E1=] of ''Series/DowntonAbbey''. The aristocrat's youngest daughter has married a commoner with certain opinions about aristocracy that he freely shares at the dinner table. The butler is upset by his comments about the king.
* Lily from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is upset that Marshall took a judging position without consulting her, and every time she hears a legal term -- "judge", "court", "trial" -- she breaks the glass in her hand.
** The Mother broke a glass after she finds an ad placed by her jerkass bandmate seeking to replace her, and it insulted her looks in the process.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters:'' A teacher frequently does this with a juice box, a milk carton, and an orange, thus revealing her increasing irritation with Steve Urkel, who keeps interrupting her, then has the unmitigated gall to chastise HER for interrupting him.

* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls:'' Rose (normally a sweet woman, but also known as a poster child for BewareTheNiceOnes,) when suspecting her boyfriend Miles was cheating, shatters a ''coffee mug'' with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8cZrCPtTak one hand.]]
* This happens in the episode "Days Past" in ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger''. The person who murdered Walker's old fiancee is let off on a reduced sentence. Walker sees the announcement from the TV in C.D.'s bar and pulverizes his drinking glass, mangling his hand with enough blood to make the shards cling to his flesh. So angry he doesn't even let anyone nurse his wound, he walks out to his Dodge Ram and stamps it with a bloody handprint when lays his damaged palm against the window as he seethes with rage and his eyes burn with a monstrous DeathGlare.

* Happens in the ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "[[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS9E11TheOpeningNightExcitation The Opening Night Excitation]]". Penny snaps her wine glass in half when she hears [[spoiler:Sheldon announce that he plans to finally have sex with Amy]].
* An unusual variation of this occurs in ''Series/BlackBooks''. Bernard, driven crazy by Manny's dad's incessant humming, looks ready to smash his teacup in frustration, but instead takes a ''bite'' out of it. Then goes back for seconds.
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S3E15TheRevelationsOfBeckaPaulson The Revelations of Becka Paulson]]", Joe Paulsen is electrocuted while holding a beer bottle, which he proceeds to crush in his hand.
* ''Series/ThePartridgeFamily'': When Shirley withdraws a large sum of money from the bank, the president is so enraged that the pencil he's holding snaps.

-->'''Tillerson:''' It's just crazy how, one day, you're the CEO of Exxon - a 50 billion dollar corporation - and the next day... you get fired by a man who used to sell steaks in the mail. ''[shatters glass]''
* In the ''Series/BroadCity'' episode "The Last Supper," Abbi shatters a wine glass she's holding, severely cutting up her palm, after she accidentally stabs herself with Ilana's [=EpiPen=].
* ''Series/FreshMeat'': Episode 1x4. Josie to Kingsley while he is washing a mug in the sink: "[[DoYouWantToCopulate Sex]]." He doesn't appear to injure himself with his reaction. Or at least he's able to brush it off with a casual "it's fine" easily enough to respond "yes, please!"
* ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland'': Alice breaks a glass after her stepmother suggests geting her married to a young man.

* In ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 3'', if you get the ending as a result of you fighting Shiva as the final boss, you see Mr. X staring at a monitor showing him defeated with the heroes standing triumphantly over him. He promptly crushes the glass of wine in his left hand.

* In an early cut scene in ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'', Max does this whilst getting absolutely blotto in his new Sao Paulo apartment.

* In Leon's campaign in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', Derek Simmons crushes his fancy cell phone [[spoiler:as he starts to [[OneWingedAngel transform]]]].
* In ''Videogame/AnarchyReigns'', Douglas and Max do this when they're selected in the multiplayer menu. In Douglas' case, he crushes his goblet with the {{Pilebunker}} built into his arm.
* Grodd in ''Videogame/Injustice2'' combines this with SkullCups in his intros, first drinking from a human skull and then crushing it in one hand.

* In one of the plot summaries for ''Private Eye'' for the Atari 2600, the plot summary of one of the cases mentions protagonist Pierre Touche doing this.

* ''Webcomic/DaisyOwl'': Mr. Owl does it with a note from Steve saying that the moon school called to tell him they'd kidnapped Daisy and Cooper. He resolves to go save them and...[[UnsoundEffect Justice]].

* In "7 Bosses You Had To Kill From The Inside Out, Ew", [[WebVideo/OutsideXbox Luke Westaway]] crushes a drinks can in one hand when discussing the boss battle against Galdon in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'', because of his sheer hatred of [[TheScrappy Tricky]]. He then requests another can, so that he can crush that one too.

* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where Mr. Burns is incapable of crushing a paper cup without Smithers' aid.
* Used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''. Yumi is in the middle of threatening Sissi when her cup (made of plastic or something otherwise hard to break, but not glass) shatters. Yumi's hand is mildly cut (but no blood) and Sissi wisely backs down. Somewhat subverted in that Yumi ''wasn't'' actually responsible for breaking the cup; XANA has been testing sonic vibrations to eventually knock down the school. Yumi is as surprised as Sissi when the cup breaking occurs. This ends up being lampshaded by Ulrich when he's helping Yumi patch herself up and she throws out the idea of the glasses being fragile, pointing out "We're talking about cafeteria plastic, not Venetian crystal."
* On ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', Isabella snaps a pencil in "Summer Belongs to You" when Phineas talks about failed romantic encounters in Paris, [[ObliviousToLove oblivious to the fact that she wanted one with him]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': [=SpongeBob=] does this in "Can You Spare a Dime?", when he starts getting sick of Squidward's demands and laziness. Being a cartoon sponge, the broken glass is never touched on after it happens.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': In "Ancient History", when Katar Hol spies his wife kissing another man, he crushes a stone railing to dust.

* In ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'', Ash crushes a pewter mug with his new gauntlet-hand.
-->"[[CharacterCatchphrase Groovy]]!"

* ''Literature/KateShugak'': In ''No Fixed Line'', Auntie Vi is so angry when she learns that the children rescued from the crashed plane had been sexually abused, she breaks a Pyrex measuring cup and a mixing bowl while making dinner, and Kate is sure these where not accidents.

-->"[[CatchPhrase Groovy]]!"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Bob/Mr. Incredible is almost out the door to save a mugging victim when his boss threatens to fire him if he leaves. He lets go of the now crumpled doorknob.

* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime2000'': Ganondorf crushes the ocarina Link got from Saria when he realizes that it is not the Ocarina of Time.

* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Ganondorf crushes the ocarina Link got from Saria when he realizes that it is not the Ocarina of Time.

* VAVA in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' manga ends up doing this to a glass of liquid, as a demonstration of how it matters little to him as to what's in the drink to X (he comments that Reploids can't tell the difference between bourbon or mud in a glass). Such was even given a MythologyGag with his upcoming D-Arts action figure, where it shows him with a glass of bourbon and even comes with it.

* At the start of the otherwise forgetful Creator/ChuckNorris action movie ''Firewalker'', the MemeticBadass is staked out in the desert to die. To taunt Chuck, the villain leaves a bottle of water in his hand. Chuck is able to break the glass with just his hand, giving himself the glass shards to cut his bonds.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter''

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': The normally timid Charles Boyle has gone full MamaBear (his words) badass to get [[spoiler: his Latvian adopted son Nikolaj]] a Captain Latvia action figure. When faced with an apathetic import warehouse manager, he does this ''repeatedly'' to the man's mugs to intimidate him. Jake tries it once - and instantly begins screaming when the shards cut his hands.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', O'Brien is [[IHaveYourWife compelled to act normally]] at a party by a [[spoiler:pah-wraith]] [[DemonicPossession possessed]] Keiko. The stress becomes too much for him when she shows mock-affection for his daughter, and he shatters his [[INeedAFreakingDrink whiskey glass]].

* Happens in the ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "The Opening Night Excitation". Penny snaps her wine glass in half when she hears [[spoiler:Sheldon announce that he plans to finally have sex with Amy.]]

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson", Joe Paulsen is electrocuted while holding a beer bottle, which he proceeds to crush in his hand.

* Downplayed and PlayedForLaughs in ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. When Godou tells Liliana that her hobby of writing romantic novels is nothing to be ashamed of, she becomes flustered and crushes the ice cream cone she's holding, then throws it at him before running off in embarrassment.
* Shizuo ends up doing this in vol. 5 of ''Literature/{{Durarara}}''. Since it's [[SuperStrength Shizuo]], he doesn't break a glass. Instead, he crushes a steel cup into a ball of foil. [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Accidentally.]]f

* Shizuo ends up doing this in vol. 5 of ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''. Since it's [[SuperStrength Shizuo]], he doesn't break a glass. Instead, he crushes a steel cup into a ball of foil. [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Accidentally.]]

* Downplayed and PlayedForLaughs in ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. When Godou tells Liliana that her hobby of writing romantic novels is nothing to be ashamed of, she becomes flustered and crushes the icecream cone she's holding, then throws it at him before running off in embarrassment.

* ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' has a variant where Lisha cracks the glass window she's leaning on when she sees Krulcifer kiss Lux twice.

* ''LightNovel/{{Shimoneta}}'': When Anna catches her crush Tanukichi sharing a bed with Kosuri (in reality, Kosuri snuck in), she shatters a carrot in her hand.

* In ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', the [[{{Yandere}} White Queen]] is happily cooking breakfast when Kyousuke [[BerserkButton says another girl's name in front of her]]. She crushes the handle of the frying pan.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' has a moment early in the first campaign where Creator/TravisWillingham gets so angry at Vax's prank of shaving half of Grog's new beard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxCrEP6CmZ8 he breaks his mechaninal pencil with one hand.]]