History Main / BatteringRam

* ''WebVideo/CrossedLiness'': In episode 5, Nightmares, after getting word that Zebedee has been shoved into the scrapyard smelter shed by Whistler, Ince Castle commandeers a nearby breakdown train and uses it to ram the doors to the smelter shed open.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'': Near the end , the player character receives one as a weapon... which he carries himself. He can use to smash down doors and clear the room of obstacles and enemies in a single move. However, it slows him down to a crawl, turning him into a MightyGlacier.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has the Caestus Assault Ram, a spacecraft intended to get close to enemy flagships, fire a magnamelta shot at it, then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2v3KQcjX5M#t=31s ram through the now-softened armor]] to deliver a squad of SpaceMarines inside. Later someone figured that what can ram a MileLongSpaceship without damage to itself or passengers will probably work well against ground targets as well.

->''"Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs surrounded it, and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it..."''
-->-- '''''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Return Of The King]]'''''

* ''Series/KnightRider''. In "Knight of the Juggernaut", KITT gets seriously smashed up despite being MadeOfIndestructium when it's {{Car Fu}}ed by a massive armored vehicle with an extendible battering ram. They do better the second time round, when the OilSlick is used to make the juggernaut ram into a [[MadeOfExplodium truck loaded with aviation fuel]] instead.

* ''Series/KnightRider''. In "Knight of the Juggernaut", KITT gets seriously smashed up despite being MadeOfIdestructium when it's {{Car Fu}}ed by a massive armored vehicle with an extendible battering ram. They do better the second time round, when the OilSlick is used to make the juggernaut ram into a [[MadeOfExplodium truck loaded with aviation fuel]] instead.

* ''Series/Reno911'': In the opening theme for the first season, Dept. Jones tries to open a door by ramming into it using his shoulder. He only succeeds in hurting himself.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Quasimodo drops a long piece of wood onto the rabble attacking Notre Dame and the rabble use it as an improvised battering ram.

* ''Film/{{The War Lord|1965}}'': the story is set in the 11th century. For their second attempt to storm the Normans' tower, the Frisians build a battering ram with trees, and cow skin for protection. They damage the tower's door but the Normans manage to topple the ram into the moat. When they night comes, the Frisians come back and try to [[IncendiaryExponent burn down]] the damaged door.

* ''Literature/BenHur'' (2016): There's a HopeSpot when the Roman galley appears to have escaped danger, only for a Greek warship to come baring down on them and ram straight through their hull, causing their own galley to break up and sink. In a further horror, there's a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Roman prisoner strapped to the front of the ram]].

* ''Series/{{Masada}}'' features a battering ram with a massive ram-shaped metal head mounted on a siege tower to bring down the walls of the LastBastion of the Jewish Zealots.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': A highly modern one is used to breach Fury's [[CoolCar SUV, because the thing's armored like a tank.]]

* ''Literature/{{The Horse and His Boy}}'': In the climatic battle, Prince Rabadash attempts to use a battering ram to force his way into King Lune’s castle, in order to provide a safe haven for his troops in hostile territory. This fails for two reasons. One, his initial plan was to catch the people of the Northlands completely unprepared when he treacherously came to kidnap Queen Susan. Cutting down a tree to use as a makeshift ram was an improvisation (and sardonically noted, not a very good one at that). Two, the rams men find themselves facing down multiple big cats of the lion and panther variety before they can breach the castle gate. It ends poorly for them.

* ''Film/BenHur'': There's a HopeSpot when the Roman galley appears to have escaped danger, only for a Greek warship to come baring down on them and ram straight through their hull, causing their own galley to break up and sink. In a further horror, there's a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Roman prisoner strapped to the front of the ram]].

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'': Battering rams are one of the units that you can create.

* TabletopGame/{{Lancer}}'' has the Juggernaut Talent, for when you want to use your mecha as a massive ram. Several chassis also have innate abilities that help with this, such as Tortuga's Siege Ram

* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'': Attila and the Huns have this as a unique Ancient Era unit in the fifth game, where it is extremely effective in the Ancient Era, capable of taking down any city in two hits or less.

Sometimes, a person has to be substituted as the battering ram, mostly [[UseYourHead through his head]].

* There is a ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card called Battering Ram that destroys walls that block it. It's a relatively weak artifact creature in and of itself, but can team up with another attacking creature so that anything that blocks the one also ''has'' to fight the other.

* Used twice in the Polish comic ''Kajko I Kokosz''. On one occasion Clumsy suggests that the brigands simply break down the town's gate (as opposed to coming up with scheme of the week) They agree to the plan but forget to bring the ram and end up using Clumsy's head instead. On the other occasion the one shot villains, the Falcon Band, break down the gate with a ram, only to realize that the heroes had covered it with glue the night before.
* Used by ComicBook/TheSmurfs in the comic book story "The Fake Smurf" (and its AnimatedAdaptation). Also used in "The Smurfs And The Book That Tells Everything" to pound open Brainy's door, until Brainy opens the door and lets the Smurfs with the ram enter only to crash into a wall.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* It's used rather frequently in ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'', often parodied too.
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* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': the villagers use a log to force open the Beast's castle door.
* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Quasimodo drops a long piece of wood onto the rabble attacking Notre Dame and the rabble use it as an improvised battering ram.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'': When Shan-Yu takes the Emperor hostage inside the Imperial Palace, Shang and the others use one of the guardian dog statues to try to break in.

* ''Film/BenHur'' (2016). There's a HopeSpot when the Roman galley appears to have escaped danger, only for a Greek warship to come baring down on them and ram straight through their hull, causing their own galley to break up and sink. In a further horror, there's a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Roman prisoner strapped to the front of the ram]].

* A highly modern one is used in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' to breach Fury's [[CoolCar SUV, because the thing's armored like a tank.]]

* In ''Film/{{Fury 1936}}'', an angry mob uses a large wooden beam to break open the door to the sheriff's quarters.
* After numerous unsuccessful assaults, at the end of the western comedy ''Film/TheGreatBankRobbery'', the Mexican bandits successfully smash their way into the fortress-like bank using a giant tree trunk as a ram, only to [[spoiler: learn the bank's already been robbed by someone else.]]

* Hilariously combined with UseYourHead in ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies''. When the orc forces begin their attack on Dale, a troll with huge chunk of stones tied to his head rams the wall as a living battering ram and then...promptly flops back after knocking himself out.

* In the [[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1923 1923]], [[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1939 1939]], and [[Film/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame1956 1956]] adaptations of ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Quasimodo drops a long piece of wood onto the rabble attacking Notre Dame, and the rabble use it as an improvised battering ram.

** Likewise, the orc army in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]'' (see Literature, below). Their standard battering ram has absolutely no effect on Minas Tirith's gate, so they bring up Grond...
-->'''[[FourStarBadass Gothmog]]''': What are you doing you useless ''scum?''
-->'''[[MookLieutenant Murgash]]''': The door won't give! It's too strong!
-->'''Gothmog''': Get back there, and ''smash it down!''
-->'''Murgash''': But nothing can breach it!
-->'''Gothmog''': ...Grond will breach it. ''[[SlasherSmile Bring up the wolf's head!]]''
* Some policemen attempt to use one to break into an apartment in ''Film/TheManWithTwoBrains''.

* Bunch of pirates after a treasure map in ''Film/TreasureIsland1934'' break their way through into an inn with a log acting as a makeshift battering ram.

* When the angry mob attacks the castle in ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'', they use Inspector Kemp (with his artificial arm extended) as their battering ram.

* Jake's rhinoceros morph and occasionally Rachel's elephant morph were the substitutes several times in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''.

* As quoted above, in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the army attacking Minas Tirith uses a battering ram called Grond against its gates.
* In the ''Literature/MastersOfRome'' series of novels, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar is fond of using "battering ram" as an UnusualEuphemism for his... you know what.

* ''{{Discworld/Pyramids}}'' has Alfonse, an pirate covered in highly explicit tattoos who appears to have found employment as a battering ram in the past. He also turns into a shamefaced wreck when the woman in charge of the palace handmaidens' education uses him as a living diagram, his fingers stuck in his ears as hard as he can.

* A device similar to the "big red key" is used by "real" S.H.I.E.L.D. to break into a Hulk-proof safehouse in the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "Afterlife".
* A smaller version that can be operated by one person, referred to by UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers everywhere as "the big red key", has shown up in ''Series/TheBill'' a few times, and probably a few other cop shows as well.
* ''[[Series/BrainiacScienceAbuse Brainiac: History Abuse]]'' had the Brainiac Battering Ram Squad, whose job was hitting things with a battering ram.

* In the ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' sketch "The Bishop", the Bishop's acolytes use one of their number as a battering ram at one point.

* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' crew once needs a battering ram to get through a series of doors. "All we need is something, say, I dunno, six foot long, fairly sturdy, with a flat top." [[WhyAreYouLookingAtMeLikeThat Everyone looks at Kryten]]. "Fifty-three doors!? You can't be serious!" [[GilliganCut Fifty-three doors later]]...

* In the opening theme for the first season of ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'', Dept. Jones tries to open a door by ramming into it using his shoulder. He only succeeds in hurting himself.

* Occurs in ''Theatre/{{Lysistrata}}'' when Greece's women have barricaded themselves in the Acropolis and [[LysistrataGambit vowed to withhold sex from their husbands]] until they call off UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar. So we get a scene where the much-deprived men of Athens grab a big trunk of wood and ram it against the doors of the Acropolis again and again, desperately trying to force their way inside...

* Battering rams are one of the units that you can create in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII''.

* The Norse get light man-portable rams in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''. The Egyptians and Greeks opt to use siege towers with rams in the base.
* In the first ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders'' rams are the most basic way to get past enemy walls. Even small villages can build them. However, their slowness makes them difficult to use.
* Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'', the [[NoNameGiven player character]] receives one as a weapon... which he carries himself. He can use to smash down doors and clear the room of obstacles and enemies in a single move. However, it slows him down to a crawl, turning him into a MightyGlacier.
* Attila and the Huns have this as a unique Ancient Era unit in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'', where it is extremely effective in the Ancient Era, capable of taking down any city in two hits or less.
* During the "Here Lies the Abyss" quest in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the eponymous military force assaults an ancient fortress called Adamant. Part of the assault involves swinging a battering ram at the door; it's shaped like a giant arm clutching some kind of weapon in its fist.
* One of the many siege weapons available in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''. ''8'' also has the "Siege Spear" wielded by Xiahou Ba: a bizarre fusion of a spear and a rocket-propelled battering ram.
* One of the siege weapons in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline''. Beware when using it, however: a player defending the keep may pour flaming oil down on you.
* In the early ages of ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'', the very first siege weapon available is the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Samson]], an infantry unit carrying a huge log he repeatedly bashes against whatever building he's pointed at. Due to TacticalRockPaperScissors, he's unable to attack anything but buildings. Later eras have wheeled battering rams that can still only attack buildings and are best used in large groups (the AI certainly will).
* The end of the ''Stomrblood'' story in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has a unique take on the trope. The huge door leading into the city of Ala Mhigo is sealed shut. How does the Alliance get it open? By having their black mages all cast their fire and ice spells on the door at the same time to weaken it, followed by a barrage of cannonballs until they blow a huge hole in the door.

* A reliable way to smash through city or castle gates in many ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' games, assuming enemy archers don't get lucky and set it alight with [[ArrowsOnFire flaming arrows]]... or it's not late enough in the game for the enemy settlement to have cannon towers that smash the ram to splinters in one shot. Unlike many video game examples, these rams aren't constructed normally, but built by your armies in the field once they besiege a settlement.

** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'' includes the ram when besieging, but it becomes redundant for some races who have access to monstrous creatures (such as giants, Dragon Ogres, or Varghulfs) who are more durable than a wooden ram and can smash a gate apart just as easily.
* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' has the Steam Tank / Siege Engine, which (despite being a steam-powered tank) is functionally a battering ram, as it has very short range and can only target buildings. In the expansion, it gains a MacrossMissileMassacre attack against air units.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Along with a more [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060814 traditional example]], ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' features something [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120917 a bit different.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' had a character called "Ram-Man."
* ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'' episode "Information Stupor Highway" used battering rams in a RunningGag.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': One time when Maggie Simpson was locked inside the bathroom all by herself, Bart used Homer's head as a battering ram to try to open the door.

* Luftwaffe named a heavily armoured and armed version of Focke-Wulf 190A-8 as ''Sturmbock'' ("battering ram"). Why? Because it was intended to bring down the Flying Fortress!
** Some time in the 1950s, ''Popular Mechanics'' ran a front-page article proposing to take this more literally. Machine guns and cannon couldn't reliably bring down a huge multi-engined bomber and reliable guided missiles were some way off, so why not design a fighter that could just smash into them and (hopefully) come through mostly intact? Not surprisingly, the idea was never pursued by the US Air Force or any aircraft designers.

** In ''The Two Towers'', the Uruk-hai use a battering ram against Helm's Deep's gates.
** Likewise, the orc army in ''Return of the King'' (see Literature, below). Their standard battering ram has absolutely no effect on Minas Tirith's gate, so they bring up Grond...