History Main / AcrophobicBird

* ''VideoGame/LegoBatman: The Video Game'' has the Scarecrow and the Joker running from Batman and Robin. The two villains set up obstacles to slow down the heroes, but there is one problem with this picture. They're all in aircraft! Batman and Robin [[IdiotBall could have easily flown over all of the obstacles]], but [[TooDumbToLive they didn't.]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAlvinShow'' had the chipmunks build a birdhouse, with their first tenant an eagle who simply puts his head in it. They name him Stanley and the discover he's afraid of flying. It's when Alvin instills a sense of patriotism in Stanley that he summons up the courage to fly.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' centers around five girls, collectively called the Guardians if the Veil, each of whom is granted the ability to control one of the elements of nature as well as flight in their guardian forms. Taranee, the Guardian of fire, is shown to not only be afraid of heights (she mentions getting nauseous just wearing heels) but fire as well. However, this applies only to the first episode of the series and Taranee never displays these fears again.

* In ''Anime/TheAdventuresOfPeterPan'', the characters are unable to fly once they reach Neverland, making it that much easier for the writers to put them in danger. The exception is Peter Pan himself, who completely averts this trope by flying ''all the time.''

** An explanation offered by Bulbapedia is that the original Japanese name of the move could be read as "super jump," explaining how Doduo could learn the move (the Pokédex entry mentions it can jump very well). However, many future Pokémon were also noted as being able to jump well but couldn't learn the move.

** However guaranteed it may be that the Road Runner will elude whatever traps Wile E. Coyote sets, it's ''never'' because the bird remembers he can fly. Nor does the Coyote ever take the Road Runner's ability to fly into account, when designing said traps. [[JustifiedTrope|Justified]] by TruthInTelevision. Real life greater roadrunners are very poor flyers and lack the keel on their breastbones to anchor the well-developed pectoral muscles found in birds that are longer distance flyers. They really do just stick to the ground.

** In the episode "Cootie Gras", the girls are trapped in a pit with a boy they think is afflicted with the terrible disease of "cooties". They run around in the pit, trying to dodge the cootie boy attempting to kiss them, never ''once'' attempting to fly and only doing so after they realize Cooties isn't really anything and let him have the kisses he was so eager for.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' version of Falcon is afraid of heights.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans,'' Beast Boy seems to forget that he can change into a flying creature to get out of trouble (notably in the first episode with Mad Mod). Much of this is played for laughs or can be explained by remembering that Beast Boy isn't the brightest tool in the shed. Although, he DID [[LampshadeHanging outright state]] once or twice that his biggest issue was thinking ''which'' creature would actually be the most beneficial to a situation... Hence why him turning into a giant, heavy beast when on unstable footing was [[PlayedForLaughs usually comedy relief.]] On occasion, he has tried to fly away and promptly been shot down by a ray-gun, force-field, or what-have-you. He also mentions at one point that transforming into a flying animal is very tiring.

* In ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'', several of the enemies encountered by the player are birds. Some of them, like the dodos, cannot fly. However, there are others , such as vultures, herons or pigeons, that can do it, yet all of them prefer to fall to their deaths if knocked out from high places or into the water, instead of just coming back flying.

* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}

* ''Film/Godzilla1998'' features the eponymous lizard chasing attack helicopters through the streets of New York. The helicopters fly around the streets, [[HelicopterFlyswatter being caught]] [[MookChivalry one by one]], but never pulling ''up'' and flying away from it... [[note]]Helicopters fly forwards faster than they can climb, due to the added push from the forward momentum. Climbing not only taxes the engine more, but it bleeds off your forward momentum and slows you down. If you are trying to climb straight up, from a stationary position, the ascent is slower still. Bottom line, if you have a 300-foot mutated iguana [[ArtisticLicenseBiology chasing you at 200 mph]], moving forward is the fastest way to put distance between you and him/her (or whatever they determined that thing was). However, this doesn't excuse the fact that they flew that low to begin with; in fact, it would be easier to get a shot on the monster from a high angle where buildings wouldn't give it so much cover.[[/note]]
* ''Film/GodzillaMinusOne'': Shikishima repeatedly strafes close enough in his fighter plane that Godzilla's claw and tail swipes only barely miss him by a few feet, but [[JustifiedTrope he's doing this intentionally]] to DrawAggro, and has to fly extremely close to annoy the hell out of the monster and ensure it keeps its attention on him.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': The various flying enemies throughout the franchise, such as bloatflies, cazadores, and stingwings never bother to fly above about head-level.

** An explanation offered by [[TheWikiRule Bulbapedia]] is that the original Japanese name of the move could be read as "super jump," explaining how Doduo could learn the move (the Pokédex entry mentions it can jump very well). However, many future Pokémon were also noted as being able to jump well but couldn't learn the move.

** However guaranteed it may be that the Road Runner will elude whatever traps Wile E. Coyote sets, it's ''never'' because the bird remembers he can fly. Nor does the Coyote ever take the Road Runner's ability to fly into account, when designing said traps. Given the Road Runner's exaggeratedly large neck and legs (as compared to a real-life road runner), it's entirely possible that he ''can't'' fly.

** There's a ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' cartoon where [[DieOrFly Woody falls from a great height, starts flying]], and admits, "[[ForgotICouldFly Hey, I forgot I was a bird!]]"

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'': Any and all of the various flying (and occasionally climbing) characters from the franchise have probably been subject to this at some point, in and out of the games. Granted, the thing that's after them may be very tall (and flying isn't as fast as running), but in some cases, it's just strange. For instance, there's a cutscene in [[LethalLavaLand Lava Reef Zone]] in ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic 3 & Knuckles]]'' where Knuckles pushes a boulder down some stairs just after whichever character you're playing as (either Sonic or Tails) goes up them, knocking them back down again so they have to go up again. If you're playing as Tails, the game doesn't let you fly over the (slow-moving) boulder!

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Despite being explicitly shown to be capable of flying into the clouds, Appa is frequently forced to dodge projectiles launched from catapults that couldn't be reaching heights of more than a couple hundred meters instead of just staying out of their range.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. According to extra-Biblical Christian lore, St. Peter defeated Simon Magus, a magician using demonic power to fly, by kneeling down and praying, causing God to nullify Simon's magic and send him falling to his death. Although magicians in the ''To Aru verse'' could theoretically fly using magic, access to the spell used by St. Peter is ubiquitous and would negate any flight spells, so magicians by and large do not bother with flight for their own safety.

* ''VideoGame/LegoBatman: The Video Game'' has the Scarecrow and the Joker running from Batman and Robin. The two villains set up obstacles to slow down the heroes, but there is one problem with this picture. They're all in aircraft! Batman and Robin [[PlotInducedStupidity could have easily flown over all of the obstacles]], but [[TooDumbToLive they didn't.]]