History Main / CatapultToGlory

* Even appears in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', in ''The Book of Marvelous Inventions''. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, however, and the Manapult almost always kills its pilot.

* Near the end of ''VideoGame/HeroOfSparta 2'', after defeating Poseidon's mooks you then launch yourself towards Poseidon's island via catapult while avoiding flaming arrows coming towards you. It's also one of the longest catapult to glories in history, the subsequent stage having you thrown through the skies and remaining airborne for ''two minutes''.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' adventure ''Alpha Complexities'', [[MadScientist R&D]] offers a gigantic human slingshot as the only way the [[PlayerCharacter Troubleshooters]] can possibly get to their mission location on time. Given that even ''toothbrushes'' from R&D are usually fatal, the Troubleshooters are expected to insist on walking, especially after talking to the suspiciously nervous tech. [[spoiler:Anyone who uses the slingshot passes out from the G-forces, but then wakes up lying on a [[RefugeInAudacity giant mattress]], perfectly unharmed.]]

* In the third ''VideoGame/{{Monster Hunter}}'' game, one of the masks your two Shakalaka companions can use is the Artillery Mask, which will produce a cannon that fires one of them at a nearby monster. It does a massive amount of damage, but completely depletes the health of whoever serves as the ammo.

** This is how Link infiltrates the Forsaken Fortress in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck He's not happy about it, though.]]
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', the sole transportation method between the ground and the air city is via a pair of big cannons.
** Used in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' so that Link could reach an in-flight boss.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', while playing a CollectibleCardGame parody of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', Mr. Tensaided plays a combo which is depicted as [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-09-13 a dragon being shot out of a cannon]].

* In a famous ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' [[http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/50850/catapult+in+2+mordor/ series of animated GIFs]], Boromir's plan for the ring becomes this after a failed first attempt.

* In an episode of ''Series/NorthernExposure'', Chris builds a trebuchet as an art project, and is looking for something to "fling" from it. First he wants to fling a cow, but Ed tells him Creator/MontyPython [[ItsBeenDone already did it]]. Chris finally settles on a piano ruined by fire, saying, "It's not the thing you fling, it's the fling itself." Then in a later episode, his mentor (who died) sends Chris his corpse...[[http://home.comcast.net/~mcnotes/44.html]]

* Used as part of the ludicrous RubeGoldbergDevice transportation method in ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}''.
* A variation occurs in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' when Stitch uses an ''exploding tanker truck'' to launch himself at Gantu's spaceship.
* At the climax of ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', Joy manages to launch herself and Sadness back to Headquarters with the unlikely combination of [[spoiler:a human tower formed from a BagOfHolding full of clones of Riley's [[GirlfriendInCanada imaginary boyfriend]] and a giant trampoline.]]

* ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' parodies the ''Prince of Thieves'' example with the Sheriff of Rottingham, who gets catapulted into a very ''eager'' [[AbhorrentAdmirer Latrine's]] bedroom.
* Done by Creator/DouglasFairbanks in the classic silent movie ''[[Film/TheThiefOfBagdad1924 The Thief of Baghdad]]''.
* ''Film/YoungEinstein'' has the [[YoungFutureFamousPeople titular]] [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein character]] launch himself from a homemade catapult to test Newton's second law.

* Madmartigan against the two-headed dragon... thing in ''Film/{{Willow}}''.
* ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain''. With the help of a goat, Inspector Clouseau is inadvertently launched into a castle's window via catapult and lands on Professor Fassbender's DisintegratorRay device, disabling it and saving the day.
* A giant slingshot is one of the increasingly desperate measures the Lost Boys use in ''Film/{{Hook}}'' to try to rekindle Peter's ability to fly.

* The Series/MythBusters tested a myth regarding using this technique via a portable slingshot to illegally cross the U.S. border. Unfortunately, as Jamie put it, "humans are big, heavy things", and any slingshot powerful enough to accomplish the distances state in the myth (300 yards) wouldn't be even ''remotely'' portable; the [=MythBusters=]' use of ''radio towers'' wasn't enough to do ''that''. Not to mention the likely injuries suffered when landing after travelling that distance.

* Even appears in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', in ''The Book of Marvelous Inventions''. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, however, and the Manapult almost always kills its pilot.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' adventure ''Alpha Complexities'', [[MadScientist R&D]] offers a gigantic human slingshot as the only way the [[PlayerCharacter Troubleshooters]] can possibly get to their mission location on time. Given that even ''toothbrushes'' from R&D are usually fatal, the Troubleshooters are expected to insist on walking, especially after talking to the suspiciously nervous tech. [[spoiler:Anyone who uses the slingshot passes out from the G-forces, but then wakes up lying on a [[RefugeInAudacity giant mattress]], perfectly unharmed.]]

* There are at least three places in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' where you can do this:
** One is in the first bossfight of the Ulduar raid, where the players get to control siege vehicles and fight against a giant steam-tank. A passager of the catapult-like siege vehicle can load himself in the catapult and be fired onto the boss, where he can destroy some turrets and temporarily immobilize the boss.
** Another is in the Isle of Conquest battleground, which also features vehicles, one of which is a catapult specifically designed to do this. It has low health and no weapons, but it can be used to launch people over the walls of the enemy keep or onto their keep towers.
** And finally, a quest in the Worgen starting zone involves hijacking a Forsaken Catapult and using it to launch yourself onto their invading ships.

* The Flying-type Gym in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' games requires the player to shoot himself out of cannons through the gym to reach the Leader. And the last one ''smashes him/her against the wall''.

** Used again in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' so that Link could reach an in-flight boss.

* In ''VideoGame/SkunnySaveOurPizzas'', Skunny can use small catapults to launch himself across chasms.
* There's an ad for ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline'' showing an Orc doing this to clear a castle wall. Orcs being the PluckyComicRelief race of Warhammer, he goes too low and splatters against the wall before landing on a pile of dead orcs who had no doubt tried the same thing.
** In-game, you ''can'' fire yourself out of a Rock Lobber to get to the top of a dam in ''Warhammer Online'''s Greenskins campaign. Fortunately, the crew has had time to correct their aim.
** In the second cinematic trailer for the game, in a real blink and you'll miss it moment, you see another Orc smash into a rooftop, presumably being fired too high this time.
* Some multiplayer maps in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' have [[http://www.halopedia.org/Man_cannon Man Cannons]] as an alternative to teleporters; they also show up in some of the later games' campaigns.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' sees this done a couple of times throughout the series. In ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarII GoW 2]]'', Kratos launches himself from a catapult so he can get up close and personal with the animated Colossus of Rhodes. In ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarIII GoW 3]]'', he hitches a ride on the boulder launched instead.

* ''VideoGame/SheepRaider'' (or ''Sheep Dog and Wolf''), being based on WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes and [[strike:Wile E Coyote]] Ralph Wolf, naturally has these.

* ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' is all about this. On one side, birdbrained birds and a sling. On the opposed side, evil pigs hiding in elaborate-but-not-unbreakable structures. You must smash the pigs.
* ''VideoGame/BurritoBison'' similarly uses this as its core mechanic. Bison launches himself off the wrestling ring rather than a real catapult, though.
* The dramatic ending to the tutorial zone for VideoGame/ChampionsOnline features your character carving a path through the Qular invasion into the Hall of Champions. Once there, you finally pound through to the controls for the massive cannon outside. BUT WAIT, you're [[SarcasmMode undoubtedly thinking]] to yourself, "We've established that nothing we've tried can penetrate the mothership's shields!" Well that's when [[NighInvulnerable Ironclad]] climbs into the cannon... And he [[RuleOfCool one-shots the entire mothership]].
* In ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander2'', the UEF side can build a giant artillery cannon that is also a giant factory. It builds a small army (more quickly and more cheaply than regular factories do) and fires them across the map where they parachute to the ground. It's useful for parking a force right inside an enemy base.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', this is one of the more amusing applications of the Reality Shift function, it being used to load Pete and Beagle Boys into a cannon and fire them out of it; first blasting the latter into the former to get him to come down from his perch, then launching the former into a wall as a finisher.

* ''Videogame/SengokuBasara'' has ballistas in certain stages that can be used to launch the player across the stages, either for shortcuts or to hidden areas.
* In the third ''VideoGame/{{Monster Hunter}}'' game, one of the masks your two Shakalaka companions can use is the Artillery Mask, which will produce a cannon that fires one of them at a nearby monster. It does a massive amount of damage, but completely depletes the health of whoever serves as the ammo.
* While nigh-impossible to achieve, it is possible in ''VideoGame/BoardGameOnline'' to get a random event that makes you able to launch yourself out of a catapult, and land on another player, killing them and ensuring you get away scot-free.
* ''Videogame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy:'' In all three games, Samus takes advantage of her ability to become cannonball-shaped to use various types of "Kinetic Orb" cannons as transportation.
* In ''VideoGame/PropCycle'' the player character and his flying bicycle is shot to the final level in a sky with a giant slingshot.
* Very early on in ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}} II'', your path is barred by a wall with a locked gate. There's a catapult nearby, and when you get close, a sheep helpfully demonstrates the launch angle and what you need to do to get to the other side.
* ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' catapults the player(s) into battle against the Coneheads during the mission at Flower Fields.
* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'': During a level on a space station in Mars' orbit, the Doom Slayer hijacks a nearby ion cannon, kicks the cannonball-shaped projectile out of the way, and launches himself to where he needs to go much to the exasperation of [[spoiler:Dr. Hayden]].
-->'''[[spoiler:Dr. Hayden]]''': That is a ''weapon'', not a ''teleporter''.
** The Slayer pulls the same stunt in part two of ''The Ancient Gods'', where [[spoiler:the Night Sentinels load him into a catapult and launch him into the walls of [[{{Mordor}} Immora]] without protest]].
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', during the final assault on Outer Haven to stop Liquid Ocelot's plans, Snake, Meryl, and Akiba use rocket-powered catapults to launch themselves onboard. Only Snake manages to hit his mark -- Meryl ends up on a different part of the vessel and breaks her ankle, [[ButtMonkey while Akiba smacks into the hull of the ship and plunges into the water]].

* In ''Webcomic/MiscellaneousError'', Jack attempts to catapult himself over a pool filled with [[ThreateningShark sharks]]. ForScience
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** During the siege of Azure City, Redcloak loads the goblinoid army's catapults with Titanium {{elemental|embodiment}}s (just as strong as Earth Elementals and 40% lighter) he'd {{Summon|ingRitual}}ed: not only do they [[BreachingTheWall breach the walls]], they stick around to fight.
** Later in the same siege, HeroicComedicSociopath Belkar suggests that the Order do the same thing to reach the throne room, after flinging the [[RedHerringShirt two nameless soldiers]] first to adjust their aim. Predictably, no one agrees.
* In ''Webcomic/QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger'' the Patoodines do this as punishment, the severity of the crime determines distance thrown and therefore the likeliness of survival.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the MoralGuardians protest the ToiletHumour ShowWithinAShow "Terrance and Phillip" by catapulting themselves against the headquarters of the network.
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife''. Heffer thought it a good idea for Rocko to use a catapult over public trasportation so he wouldn't be late for work.
* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', Jimmy once punished Samy this way.
* The animated ''WesternAnimation/{{Ivanhoe}}'' had one episode about a Creator/LeonardoDaVinci -like character, who built one to test his gliding apparatus. However, his sponsor Prince John was only interested in the catapult itself, so the inventor eventually sabotaged it, buried his plans in a secret crypt, and fled the country by gliding from a cliff instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman again, this time in the famous episode "Almost Got 'Im", where Two-Face straps Batman to a giant penny, with the intention of catapulting it high into the air. Batman escapes, captures Two-Face, and even gets to keep the penny.

** In the First Battle of Liesse, after an important shot misses with the first stone, Catherine could distantly hear her Senior Sapper screaming that if the second shot is off that badly, the third shot will be launching the offending targeteer.
** During the Second Battle of Liesse, Adjutant rides a trebuchet stone into battle to join Catherine for the taking of the outer bastion. He ends up injured, but not badly enough to slow him down.
** While fighting the Dominion, General Rumena reinforces a faltering battle line by catapulting Mighty Jindrich into the enemy lines.

* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'', during one battle General Rumena backs up a faltering battle line by launching Mighty Jindrich into the enemy lines from a trebuchet.

* In Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'', during one battle General Rumena backs up a faltering battle line by launching Mighty Jindrich into the enemy lines from a trebuchet.

* Even appears in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', in ''The Book of Marvelous Inventions''. RealityEnsues, however, and the Manapult almost always kills its pilot.

* ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'': Van was shot from the Gravity Cannon in his Blade Liger in order to take out the Death Saurer.

* ''Anime/{{Zoids}}'' Van was shot from the Gravity Cannon in his Blade Liger in order to take out the Death Saurer.

* of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While it is not seen used for such Paradise Island has an odd cannon-like contraption designed to fire Amazons at attackers. In story it's used as part of a kanga jumping game by shooting a bunch of balloons up in the air.

* ''Fanfic/IfWishesWerePonies'': Once Harry and the [=CMC=] finish building a larger trebuchet, some enterprising pegasi decide it would be great fun to use the flung ponies to play dodge-ball. Then an equally enterprising unicorn decided to make the dodging pagasi's jobs harder by firing off spells while they're still mid-flight. The pegasi in question just take it as a challenge.

* The Soviet amphibious transport vehicle from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' is capable of launching (with parachutes) any infantry (which includes {{bears|AreBadNews}}) through a cannon. There isn't any saner way to exit the craft, though.

* A variation occurs in ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' when Stitch uses an ''exploding tanker truck'' to launch himself at Gantu's spaceship.