History Main / CirclingBirdies

* ''WebVideo/TheAnnoyingOrange'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXX1ltl94E Orange gets hit on the head by Cantaloupe,]] and has stars flying around his head. Then two cartoon-like birdies turn up complaining that the stars are stealing their jobs. Later, Midget Apple gets hit on the head as well, and the stars turn up again. But this time, the birds get ''really'' angry and start beating up the stars.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEXIJYCg7lk The commercial]] for the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' {{licensed game}}s for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] and UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis ends with a critic appearing alongside the games' box arts, saying "I give it four stars." Wakko then emerges from the Genesis version's box art and hits the critic on the head with a hammer, causing five stars to spin around it. Wakko then says, "I give it five."

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K783SDTBKmg US commercial]] for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' ends with Yoshi hitting Donkey Kong with a hammer, resulting in UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 logos circling his head.

** Many seasons later, on the U.S. version of "Big Brother 17," former contestant Caleb Reynolds experienced the trope when he came to host a challenge. Caleb broke a board [[Main/HardHead with his head]], and the next shot showed him looking dazed with animated stars around his head, [[https://youtu.be/AlWoYjkBodY?t=2m36s as seen here]].

* CBBC uses bird sounds on occasion when a presenter gets clonked. It happened with considerable frequency to Chris Johnson after Ed Petrie would hit him with a giant boxing glove or other object to introduce Total Wipeout, as seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmD72H3AW1E this montage]]. It also happened to Ed, Iain Stirling and, after a barrage from a [[FryingPanofDoom frying pan]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZZRSU3Mw2c Dominic Wood]].

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsxLp3PTyXA this "Krono Tips" short]] from the Nickelodeon series Series/Club57, Miguel (Jonathan Jose Quintana) hears tweeting birds briefly after bonking his head on a hanging lamp.

* Website/DeviantART user ~Nachturnal once created a story called [[http://nachturnal.deviantart.com/art/Spin-212048441 "Spin"]], where a female Whimsicott, who played pranks on shiny Pokémon because she was jealous, tries to make a Spinda dizzy, but only made herself dizzy. Cue circling stars around Whimsicott's head. According to the story, "it took a while for Whimsicott to stop seeing stars."
* The Website/YouTube comedy short [[https://youtu.be/tlMXgCSSA8w "The Perfect Spot"]] uses circling stars at the end when one of the actors crashes headfirst into a tree. Bird sounds also are used throughout the video as the two guys undergo various slapstic antics.

* At the end of the video, Ice Cream and Guacamole, the main character gets tired from dancing an falls to the ground. He then sits up to see Ice Cream and Guacamole circling his head.
* Both Ego the Cholo Website/{{YouTube|r}} Eric Ochoa aka SUPEReeeGO) and bodybuilder C.T. Fletcher hear birds in [[https://youtu.be/sfyWqEx-pdM this Street Fighter parody.]]

* Italian Website/YouTube stars Cap e Kazu sometimes use the circling stars version when one of them faints.
* Website/YouTube star Kristopher London sees circling stars and gets cartoon-style rolling eyes to indicate his dizziness after trying to blow out candles [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt2Ufj53muA in this 100 Thieves video.]]

* Website/YouTube comedian Rad Dad sometimes hears chirping birds after his many falls, bonks and other comic mishaps. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpE4Roal1VU In this clip,]] for example, a series of RakeTake incidents followed by walking into a post leaves him on the ground, hearing birds and muttering about "pretty stars."

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFiles'': "Member B" has these after getting flung against the wall by Date following his arrival at the Kumakura office.
* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': Once an enemy has had their [[BodyArmorAsHitPoints armor bar]] depleted, they'll be immediately stunned, signified by a spinning star on their head. Likewise, if Ann gets hit with a heavy attack, she'll get stunned with the same effect until she [[SmashingSurvival gets out of it]].
* ''VideoGame/{{XenoGears}}'': This comes with the confused status effect, with circling stars above the affected party members.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'': When a character is stunned, they will stand groggily with stars circling just above their head.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': Whenever WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck and Goofy (or any of your other companions, for that matter) are [[NonLethalKO knocked out]], stars circle their heads.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': Unconscious guards are differentiated from dead or [[CatchingSomeZs sleeping]] guards by a little halo of stars merrily orbiting above their heads. As the guard gets closer and closer to waking up, one star at a time will cheerfully ascend heavenward and vanish. A guard with five stars won't be waking up for a while, but a guard with one star could open his eyes any time... (weirdly enough, the [=MGS=] games are usually considered serious. Of course, it does fulfill a gameplay function.)
* ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'': When someone is under the Stun effect, they will bend over (and may or may not hold their head as though having a headache) and have stars circling above them.
* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'': Once a characters has their armor broken or hit with a stun attack, they receive circling birds.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': When sneaking around the Gerudo Fortress, Link can stun Gerudo guards with either his Hookshot or arrows. If arrows are used, then the Gerudo falls down, and has stars circling her head.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'':
*** Auction house patrons see stars (which sound like birds) upon being stunned by Link's bids.
*** Link gets a halo of stars circling around his head [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScQFV_Y3nE&feature=channel after a Hurricane Spin attack]].
*** Medli is the only one who has actual birds circling her head, since she ''is'', herself, [[BirdPeople a bird]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures'': The Links can perform a Hurricane Spin after they power up the Four Sword during the level, and gets a circling crown of stars after performing one. You can also your buddies with various items such as hitting them with a slingshot, running into a wall with the Pegasus boots while another player is nearby or using a ChargedAttack with the magic hammer with a player nearby. All cases harmlessly stun the player. Shadow Link can also stun players with the Magic Hammer and can also be stunned during the various encounters.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' have Link become dizzy if he uses the SpinAttack too many times because the touch screen controls allows you to execute the attack much faster than in most other games. You'll also get dizzy if you roll too many times.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' has lights orbiting Link's head whenever he's knocked down by Blaino, a MiniBoss in Turtle Rock who soon uses the opportunity to uppercut Link back to the dungeon entrance.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' has this as a FunnyBackgroundEvent during the ending. [[spoiler:After the memorial tablet of Lorule's Triforce explodes, Ravio gets knocked down and his pet bird Sheerow can be seen flying over him in this manner.]]
* ''VideoGame/FeedingFrenzy'': Little stars spin on top of fishes temporarily paralyzed by jellifishes.
* ''VideoGame/HypeTheTimeQuest'': Defeated foes have spinning stars and circles circling above them while they disappear, while a chirping bird sound effect is heard.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': An actual bird circles the character being attacked by Confusion spell animation followed by question marks at the end of the spell animation.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' uses circling chocobos.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has been using this to show the StatusEffect Confusion since at least ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', although the ones there are bird ''balloons''.
** Circling birdies were part of the Dizzy Punch animation as far back as ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''.
** ''Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver'': In the minigames, the birds are replaced by Psyduck.
** In the Pokéwalker, the player's Pokémon experience this; when knocked out, in the journal, stars circle that Pokémon's head, Blissey for example. For large Pokémon, the stars that circle its head are not in the background, but above the background. Wild Pokémon do not experience this trope; when the HP hits zero, they run away.
** In the Gen V games during the Poke Transfer minigame, circling stars appear if two Pokémon bump into each other by mistake.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' removes the Confusion status in battles, but in Noble Pokémon boss battles, when a Noble Pokémon is open for a Pokémon to be sent out, when possible, stars circle that Noble Pokémon’s head. The circling stars effect also applies to the player’s Pokémon if they are sent out outside of battle with low HP.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' does this for Confusion, but ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity'' takes it to the next level; during the intro, the hero hears birds after falling from the sky. In the ''Adventure Squad'' games, this is also used storywise; Elder Slowking gives a tutorial on how the Stacking mechanic works, and he has two of the player’s starting Pokémon use an attack on him, resulting in him being knocked into the air and back onto the ground. The second time Slowking gets back up after collapsing, it is treated as if Slowking was confused with circling birds above his head, as he further explains on how Stacking works. After this, he collapses and this time doesn’t get back up, resulting in a BaitAndSwitch moment in which the game fakes a “The End” situation.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRumble'' also has this for Confusion, but ''Rumble Rush'' also does this during the Super Bosses; when a Super Boss reaches a certain amount of HP, it will put up a barrier that causes all attack to be unable to drop its HP down. To damage it again, the player must pull a ''Street Fighter EX'' and break its guard. When that happens, the Pokémon that was guarding will see stars, leaving it open for any attack and/or combo of attacks the player throws at it.
* Dizziness in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' was indicated by the character standing groggily with stars, bells, birds, or {{Grim Reaper}}s circling their head.
* In ''VideoGame/BoundByBlades'', most of the bosses will produce swirling stars above their heads after receiving enough damage, as a sign that your attack is working.
* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'' (not in the NES [or Virtual Console] version): When Bub/Bob dies, after he spins out, he falls on his back and dizzily sees stars above his head while his eyes circle around (no spirals) before poofing away. It's also in the first ''Puzzle Bobble''[=/=]''Bust-A-Move'' game, in which the sprite animations are based on Bubble Bobble's.
** ''Bubble Symphony'': Bub and Bob still fall backwards upon death (even though they spin out differently; their original spinouts being taken by Coro and Kulu) and their eyes circle around but no stars are visible.
** In ''Puzzle Bobble 4'' / ''Bust-a-Move 4'', when the player loses, Bub/Bob immediately gets dizzy, gains spiral eyes, twirls around, falls forward, and has birds circling above his head. Also the case for Bub in [[RemadeForTheExport the Game Boy Color exclusive]] ''Bust-A-Move Millennium'', and Bob in ''[[AC:[[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace SPACE]]]] Puzzle Bobble''. (Bob the unlockable character cries instead in ''[=BAMM=]''.)
** ''Bubble Bobble Plus'' ([=WiiWare=]): They spin out as fast as in the arcade original and end up lying on their back before they poof away. There are no hovering stars. [[http://gonintendo.com/?p=72242 According to this.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', a player hit with a baseball will be temporarily stunned and treated to a third-person view of their character in a dazed trance, complete with "[[UnsoundEffect BONK!]]" written over their heads with stars circling it.
** There's also the Halloween version (When they get in contact with the ghost in Harverst and one of the Headless Horseless Horsemann abilities), where instead of "BONK!" it's "YIKES!".
* In the Wii ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', when an opponent is stunned, birds circle around their head. Some fighters will instead have something else related to their nationality/gimmick circling their head- for example, Piston Hondo has circling egg sushi.
** Unsurprisingly, as it's basically a knockoff of the ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' series, Glu's Super KO Fighter 2 uses the trope in the same fashion when a fighter is knocked down. The fighter 15 Cent, a parody of 50 Cent, sees circling dollar signs, for example. Your character sees simple stars. The trope actually factors into gameplay, as the fewer circling items above the character's head, the more likely he is to be able to get back up.
* The Game Over screen of ''VideoGame/ApeEscape'' has Spike lying flat on his back with stars circling his head.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' to monsters if they get smacked in the head with a blunt weapon enough times, or if they get hit with a flash bomb. Can also happen to the hunters if they get hit with certain attacks, or receive too many hits within a short span of time (In which case the number of stars deonotes how much time is remaining in the stun).
* In the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', such as in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', circling birdies denote being stunned, which can happen to pretty much anyone who suffers enough abuse in a short period of time, or if they get smacked upside the head with a Pow Hammer.
* Any enemy stunned by VideoGame/CommanderKeen's Neural Stunner in ''Keen 4'', ''5'', and ''6'' will see stars around its head -- if you don't, that means the stunning is only temporary. Fortunately, this applies to Keen himself if he gets stunned by his own fire in ''6''.
* The final frame of Mario/Jumpman's death animation in most versions of the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' includes a plain white halo. It was likely intended as this but limited by hardware.
* In the first two ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games, Diddy will get a ring of stars over his head if you lose a life while playing as him. In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', enemies you stun with the peanut popgun/ground pound get an actual birdie circle.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'': When Tutankoopa attempts to attack Mario with a spell, it backfires and ends up hitting him instead, stunning him with spinning stars.
** Most of the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' games feature this with birds if a character is stunned by something like dangerous areas or hazards on the game board. An example is the minigame Dizzy Rotisserie in ''VideoGame/MarioParty6'', which has all characters be freed from rapidly-spinning cages, remaining dizzy as a result and having stars orbiting their heads. They have to move into the dungeon's exit in 30 seconds or less (the dizziness alters the control scheme, so this is easier said than done), or else the Bowser statues will begin exhaling fire while rotating, roasting whoever remains.
** In ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'', when an enemy or boss that Wario can use a Mad Move on is punched enough (or, in the case of some enemies and bosses, if a specific method is done correctly, such as doing a GroundPound on them), they'll become dazed and birds will circle around their head. Now Wario is able to pick them up and use a Mad Move on them, though he has to do this before the enemy or boss recovers after a certain time. Of course, some bosses are immune to being dazed (such as Dual Dragon, as punching one of its heads enough times would simply leave it open to the other's fire breath attack, and Red Brief J, who cannot be hurt by Wario's punches at all), and Wario can also be dazed if he is hit by a powerful attack that deals a lot of damage, such as a shockwave.
** Boom-Boom in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'' and onwards has circling stars in his head.
** In both ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' circling stars appear over Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach and Rosalina (the latter three appear in ''3D World'') if they die.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** Any character [[http://ssbwiki.com/Stun stunned]] by a broken shield or reflector, exploded Deku Nut, Mewtwo's Disable move, Weavile's False Swipe, Wario's Wario Waft, or Luigi's Negative Zone will be rendered immobile and a tweeting sound effect is heard. ButtonMashing may get the player out of the "stunned" effect sooner.
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Stunned characters see circling stars. Additionally, Gogoat sees stars if it crashes into a wall.
* Falling from great heights causes this (and loss of a hit point) in ''VideoGame/TheLostVikings''. If you are in the unfortunate situation of already having only one hit point, the poor viking [[CriticalExistenceFailure hitting the ground will splash to tiny pieces and die.]]
** Also occurs if Eric tries to ram a wall that DOESN'T break on impact.
* Each ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' character has a different circling something when dizzy. Felicia has white cats, for example. Some, like Morrigan, have little versions of themselves.
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/BioShock2''. If you club a splicer while guarding a [[CreepyChild Little Sister]], she comments "Daddy's makin' you see stars 'n' birdies!"
* Stunning in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' causes stars to appear with bird sounds.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'': Whenever Samus uses a melee counter on an enemy, they will be stunned and have stars spin around them.
* A character in ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2'' whose guard has been broken will stand there, dazed and with yellow birds circling over his or her head.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** In one cutscene of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', as Chip explains on how he lost his memory, when he said "And then nothing," he sees stars and tiny versions of himself circling his head (Wii version only, for they are replaced with normal stars in all other versions), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHlyqlwjVtA&feature=related as seen here.]] In another cutscene, Eggman sees stars after a kid throws a rock at Eggman's head, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmFPbp-N3s as seen here.]]
** Any time a character in ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters'' is knocked onto their back, they briefly see circling stars.
** In ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', Knuckles gets circling... ''something'' orangey-yellow when he starts coming to after being briefly knocked out during a cutscene in Hidden Palace Zone. Due to graphical limitations and the size of the circling objects, they're hard to identify, although they are most likely birds or abstract shapes.
* ''VideoGame/CreatureWorld'' also has Seeing Stars Head Bonk, and Seeing Birds Head Bonk, in which users see stars, or birds when they wear the hat. There is also a hat in which users have hearts in their eyes and hearts circling the user's head.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' games sometime feature this with birds or stars when players or enemies are stunned. In ''Bomberman Blast'', if a player is stunned, the tweeting of birds can be heard from the Wii Remote Speaker.
* ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' has this trope; players and enemies that are dazed get a halo of circling mushrooms. This happens after taking damage by a certain enemy and so on.
* ''VideoGame/{{Toonstruck}}'' features circling stars at one point. And you need to take these as an item.
* ''VideoGame/TheNeverhood'': While they're not ''shown'', falling to the bottom of the drained lake for the first time will result in a cutscene of Klaymen being stunned, which is accompanied by typical "birdies" sounds.
* ''VideoGame/EasternExorcist'' have a halo of silver stars popping up whenever you inflict enough hits to stun enemies, which works even on bosses. They'll be disoriented for a few seconds, allowing you to spam a few more hits before they recover.
* In ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', Mickey sees Gremlins after getting slammed in the face while freeing one from a safe. The gremlin then flies over to him, takes a moment to glance between Mickey and the circling versions of himself, then comments on what a good likeness they are.
* ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'' has this trope with stars, birds, or angels circling a dazed fighter's head. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlk0gVSx28M&feature=related Click on this link to go to the sample combos, in which most fighters were dazed by combos.]])
* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'', in the original trilogy at least, sees stars whenever he's hit. Also, in the ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' Version of ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', Spyro's friends Sheila, Sgt Byrd, Bentley and Agent 9 also see stars whenever they are hit.
* ''Franchise/SlyCooper'': Whenever you knock out a guard, stars can be seen circling around them.
* Dirk from ''VideoGame/DragonsLair II'' has this trope, but only consists of circling hearts in one death scene... no, ''two'', in Level 3, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3s11LZOFOo&t=12m24s and circling stars in another death scene in this longplay.]]
* Wii Party features numerous ways to inflict this trope (stars with bird sound effects) upon your Miis, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-K1rjzgK0&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA&index=1&feature=plcp this montage]] demonstrates.
** ''VideoGame/WiiPlay'' and ''VideoGame/WiiPlayMotion'' also uses the stars to the duck in Wii Play and the Mii you selected in Wii Play Motion's minigame Cone Zone.
* In ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'', when Kirby is stunned, a bird circles Kirby's head. World 2's boss gets circling stars.
* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', if you defeat Vivi, a bat circles Vivi's head.
* ''VideoGame/PowerInstinct'' has this starting with the first game, but one of the stuns are flying hearts. The second game takes this to the next level with circling objects, such as people, sushi plates, chicks, and fish.
* So you are playing ''VideoGame/FightersHistory'', and you fight an opponent. However, if you hit a weak spot multiple times and when a character is stunned, this game has circling objects that differ from each character, similar to ''Darkstalkers''. Take Liu Feilin for example. When Feilin is stunned, she sees circling fairies. For another example, Liu Yungmie sees circling unicorns when she is stunned.
* Happens often in the ''VideoGame/RavingRabbids'' series after they get hit on the head with an object.
* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderOfCenty'', the first boss, the Big Bad Wolf, attacks by hitting himself on the head with a hammer, causing stars and birds to circle his head. He then uses these objects to damage you.
* In ''VideoGame/SheepDogNWolf'', Ralph gets stars circling over his head when running into a wall. And in one instance, Daffy Duck gets them too.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a character can get "dazed" if a monster hits him from behind, resulting in a 50% reduction to his movement speed for 3-4 seconds. While he's dazed, an animation of swirling stars appears over his head.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/SuperTanookiSkin2D'' has Mario seeing stars.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'', stars (or little birds in the remake) circling over a lying character indicate that they are simply stunned rather than killed.
* Music/JustinBieber, Robert Pattinson, Nicki Minaj, Pitbull and the other various celebrities featured in the online boxing game "The Brawl" experience the stars version of this trope when they take enough abuse.
* ''Quik the Thunder Rabbit'' has circling birdies when the player character suffers CollisionDamage.
* True to its desert theme, in ''VideoGame/TinyAndBig'' when Tiny gets hit by a boulder thrown by Big without dying (or is stunned for, ahem, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard other reasons]]), a set of small rocks circle around his head.
* ''VideoGame/WiiSports'':
** ''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' has ''Cycling'', a bike sport. One of the features of this sport is that it has a stamina system. If a Mii's stamina runs out, he/she stops in his/her tracks with stars circling his/her head.
** ''Wii Sports Club'' has the ''Boxing'' sport from the original ''VideoGame/WiiSports''. One of the differences, though, is the inclusion of a stun system in which after a Mii's HP goes down to a certain point, he/she is stunned and sees stars, leaving him/her unable to punch, though he/she can still dodge.
* In ''VideoGame/LittleKingsStory'', you can cause a couple of bosses to get hurt in ways that induce CirclingBirdies And Stars while they're stunned. If the Onii King is in the throes of a tantrum when an Onii has thrown something to him for him to throw, he won't catch it, and be stunned. If you cut a totem pole while the Owl Hag is standing on it, she'll fall and be stunned.
* Iosa the Invincible from ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' has lights orbiting her head when stunned. She sees less and less as she gets close to recovering.
* This occurs a couple times in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', when an opponent is caught in Wonder Woman's lasso of truth or when Zatanna puts her opponent in a hypnosis stars will circle their heads.
* In one version of ''VideoGame/BattleChess'', Rook takes Knight and Bishop takes Knight both involve head trauma for the knight, complete with "cuckoo" sound effect.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Olimar has circling stars after he crash lands.
** In the second Pikmin short movie, "Treasure in a Bottle", the Yellow Pikmin's plan is to use a Bomb Rock to free the Red Pikmin trapped in the bottle. It works at first, but the Red Pikmin falls back into the bottle. When the three Pikmin go to the bottle, the Red Pikmin that was stuck is now dazed and has circling stars around its head.
* In ''VideoGame/ChipChanKick'', stars will circle over stunned enemies while a twittering sound effect plays.
* In a cutscene in ''Rita James and the Race to Shangri La'' a Yeti which gets clonked by a low-hanging stalactite sees light flashes and spirals.
* The Besmirched Noble's Son (with his default name being Sonny in the Switch version) in ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'' finds himself dizzy and circled by some stars after taking a beating from goblins in Easin Hills.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'':
** ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingCityFolk'' uses this trope when you go to the city and enter Katrina's Fortune Shop. No matter what you ask her, Katrina will drop an anvil or wash pail on your character's head and your character will hear tweeting birds and see stars for a few seconds.
** ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld'' onwards has the scorpion and the tarantula who can and '''will''' pursue you if you come near them with your net out, and if you miss or do not get away quickly enough, your character will see stars and then pass out.
* Stunned angels and demons in both ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' [[VideoGame/Bayonetta2 games]] have stylistic pentagrams circling above them when they are stunned.
* In ''Videogame/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', when a Nazi guard is knocked out during a fist fight, swastika-shaped stars appear over his head. Even in the German version, which otherwise went with NoSwastikas.
* In the video game version of ''VideoGame/Shrek2'', some enemies and bosses can be dazed, with birds circling above them. This can also happen to teammates who have their HP reach zero in battle.
* In ''LEGOLAND'', this occurs to two different characters when they hit their heads in the intro; JP sees circling bricks and wrenches while Bob sees circling flowers and leaves.
* In ''Farmcraft'' a chicken which gets hit on the head by a falling tractor part sees tiny chickens.
* In ''VideoGame/XCOM2'', a disoriented character has curved lines circling their head.
* In the ''VideoGame/PaRappaTheRapper'' related game ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'', this occurs to Lammy when [[spoiler:she slips on a banana peel before dying and going to Hell.]] This, however, only occurs in the Japan and PAL versions; in the USA version, this trope doesn't happen; instead, [[spoiler:Lammy gets her belt snagged on the shop door and flung back to the previous stages of the game before ending up on an island, causing an ImpactSilhouette.]]
* ''VideoGame/MonsterBoyAndTheCursedKingdom'' shows orbiting birds for the "stunned" status effect (usually inflicted on enemies via GroundPound, but a few enemies can also stun the player character).
* Creatures from the ''VideoGame/{{Creatures}}'' game series can fall unconscious and have stars circling on top of their head. If you don't try to help it, the creature will die.
* In ''VideoGame/TelepathRPG'', when you beat Cerzak in battle, rather than fading away in purple like everyone else, he'll fall over with stars circling over his head until you win the battle, this is the only time in the series that a character does not die when out of HP.
* The teacher from ''[[VideoGame/TheClassroomTrilogy The Classroom 1]]'' has circling stars when hit by a grenade launched into the classroom.
* In ''VideoGame/TheBugsBunnyBirthdayBlowout'', Bugs sees stars whenever he gets hit, which prevents him from using his hammer for a few seconds.
* In ''VideoGame/DinkSmallwood'' mod ''Lost Forest Romp'' Dink sees birds after being given a drink containing powdered slayer claw.
* ''{{VideoGame/Whiplash}}'': The enemies will have stars floating around their heads when they are stunned.
* ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' uses two circling stars to indicate that a character has been stunned.
* The first ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' has instances where Chibi Robo can become dazed, either through spinning on the control stick enough times or being bonked by a washpan after charging, in which case Chibi Robo sees pixelated birds. In the latter case, Telly Vision will count how many times the washpan has been dropped.
** Also in the first game, one instance in which Telly's attempt at singing "Teriyaki Blues" can get interrupted is when sitting down to watch Telly sing. In this case, right before Telly can even sing, the same washpan falls down and bonks Telly, causing him to see pixelated birds and look around. After this, he leaves, but not before giving Chibi Robo some Happy Points for his time.
* ''VideoGame/MrBeanAroundTheWorld'': Most of the time, when Mrs. Wicket catches Mr. Bean, she hits him on the head with a ruler, causing him to see stars.
* It had little effect on gameplay, but any head-on car crash in ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' would leave your biker struggling with twinkling stars as they got back to their feet.
* In ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', the way to defeat the Marauder is to wait for its eyes to flash green, then shoot it, which stuns it and leaves it open to further attack. While stunned, circling stars appear around its head along with a sound effect. The same applies to the FinalBoss of the DLC expansion "The Ancient Gods: Part 2".
* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' games, both Mega Man and enemies will have birds circle around their heads when [[InterfaceScrew confused]] by an attack.
* ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' averts this by simply showing the character standing groggily after being stunned for taking too much punishment.
* In ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple: The Clash of Ragnarok's Eight Fists''[[note]]Japanese title: ''Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi: Gekitou! Ragnarok Hachi Kengou''[[/note]], characters will have little stars circling above their heads when hit by an attack that [[RewardingVandalism breaks]] an environmental object, provided they stand close enough to that object.
* The icon for the Stunned status effect in ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' is represented by circling stars.
* Duo, the owl mascot for ''VideoGame/DuoLingo'' gets flashing stars in some of the game animations when he is dizzied, such as the completion screen when he gets spun around by Vikram.
* Stunned enemies in ''Sorcery School'' have little stars.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNinthLifeOfShermanPhelps'': At the end of the episode "Cloak & Stagger", Ronald gets run over by the spy's car. When the spy leaves, Ronald has a wrench, a nut, and a bolt circling his head. The tools fall on his head and knock him out.
* Frequently happens in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' and was invoked in the episode "Tails Prevails" by Tails, who is at a junkyard searching for items to be used a gift for Sonic. After an unstable pile of junk falls on his head, the resulting circling birdies prompt Tails to remark that he needs to add wings to Sonic's gift.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', in the episode "Never Say Nefir", flying rhinoceroses circle Aladdin's head after he's hit with a tranquilizer dart.
* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Home Adrone". Stan tosses a young man from a moving vehicle during a Chinese New Year parade, and after rolling down the street, the man sits up with tweeting birds, stars and other assorted objects circling around his head. The shot then zooms out to reveal the a boy is spinning a mobile above the man's head and blowing a whistle to make the bird sounds.
* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' experiences this frequently. In one instance, he sees tiny versions of his dream girl Rose running around his head after being knocked silly by a locker door. Jake's buddy Spud sees circling fish in another episode after a chair the throws boomerangs back on him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AnimalMechanicals'', whenever hit by something, Komodo always lands with circling tools around his head. In the reboot, Island Owl circles everyone's head if one gets dizzy.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' episode "Clan of the Cave Cow", a cave cow (mistaken for Otis) [[TapOnTheHead whacks Abby on the head with a club]]. Baby chicks circle around her head as she says "[[NonSequiturThud I'm a pretty ballerina]]" before collapsing to the floor.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Emperor Joker", after Jokermite hits Batmite over the head, Batmite sees bats circling his head. Later, after Batmite knocks out Jokermite, the latter sees flying joker fish circling his head.
* Ben Tennyson gets the circling stars version in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben102016'' reboot when sucked into the cartoon world of [[CloudCuckoolander Xingo]] after getting inflated, flying around as he deflates and crash landing in the episode "And Xingo Was His Name-O." One of Ben's alien alter-egos also sees circling stars when facing off against Xingo in an earlier episode.
* In "''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'''s Halloween Party" a party guest is hit in the head by an apple on a string and sees one big star, while a gatecrasher sees multiple stars when devil ghosts hit him with their pitchforks.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BeverlyHillsTeens'', Bianca [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6s6DKzUT6c sees circling birdies]] after hitting her head on a tree and falling. Pierce also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I1yfTUd_S8 gets circling birdies after a fall]], and they both suffer a case of IdentityAmnesia. In other episodes, both Gig and Wilshire experiences the circling stars version of the trope.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBrothersGrunt'', the eponymous brothers will sometimes have this trope happen to them with circling ''toilets''.
* The ''WesternAnimation/BumpInTheNight'' episode "In the Bowl of the Squishy Prince" has Mr. Bumpy's head encircled by yellow birds after getting concussed. Humorously, he ''eats'' one of them and later helps himself to another when the same thing happens to his friend Squishington.
* When Captain Caveman from ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels'' gets hit on the head he'll often see pterodactyls circling around his head.
* The ''Franchise/CareBears'' series used this trope frequently, especially in the Nelvana episodes. Beastly, Grumpy Bear, Braveheart Lion and Champ Bear were its most frequent victims, but most of the bears and Care Bear Cousins experienced it at one point, as did one of the kids the bears were trying to help. The show usually used stars but sometimes threw in other circling objects, most notably when [[EvilSorcerer No Heart]] saw circling bats after being knocked out by Grumpy.
* ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'': This happens to Snap in "Rapunzel" when Snap saves Queen Rapsheeba from getting crushed by the castle prop.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'', the episode "[[ValentinesDayEpisode Love Is In The Hair... Net]]" has Madison get [[TheDoorSlamsYou door slammed]] in the face. She falls to the ground with unicorns circling her head.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'': In "Frapp Attack", Cleveland Jr. remarks that he'd rather get hit with a mallet than attend Duke. He proceeds to hit himself, and as birds circle his head, he adds that his preferred sport is bird-watching.
* On the WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} "Pluto's Fledgling", WesternAnimation/{{Pluto}} is helping a baby bird who's learning how to fly. There's a RunningGag of Pluto falling off a tree, down a roof and onto the ground, seeing circling birds afterwards. When it happens at the end, the last bird is the fledgling, finally able to fly.
* ''WesternAnimation/DadX'': Princess and Cruck help Dad'X get his beard unstuck from the toy conveyor belt. He flies backwards onto Cruck, causing both of them to have circling stars around their aching heads. Princess gets similarly dizzy due to the strong magnetic waves present in Foudror's base.
* ''WesternAnimation/DragonBooster'': The title character comedically falls down a pipe, and when he hits the ground, a bunch of curvy stars -- his personal emblem -- circle his head.
* On ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'', Zak gets spinning stars around his head around the beginning of "Calling Dr. Zak" after he and Wheezie shoot out of their knuckerhole really fast and land right on their bottom.
* Used several times in ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'':
** Played with in the pilot episode when Sgt Blob tells Frizz and Nug to sneak towards the Dream Maker's tower and whistle him when the coast is clear. Frizz and Nug dart forward and run into a wall, causing whistling birds to circle their heads. Blob overhears and, assuming it's the signal, charges into them.
** Done again in "Hod" by Rufus and Amberley in one of their rare AmusingInjuries throughout the series.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'' episode "Flicker Rock", Snidely Whiplash pushes a big rock down on Dudley's head with no effect of killing him, but causes Dudley to deal the episode of seeing things like birds and trains that aren't there.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' episode "Queen What's Her Name" after Princess Whatshername throws Queen Slugforabutt against a wall, the queen sees little winged Earthworm Jims circling her head.
* Done all the time in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', but was invoked in "The Luck of the Ed", when Ed was trying to recount what happened when he lost Eddy's magazines:
-->'''Ed:''' Then I hit my head on that branch--\\
''(Ed smacks into a tree branch, then walks around to the other side of the tree)''\\
'''Ed:''' Nope. Sorry. It was this one.\\
''(Ed smacks his head on the other tree branch.)''\\
'''Ed:''' [[InvokedTrope Then I gazed at the stars...]]
** [[spoiler: Eddy's Brother]] has circling stars when he's defeated.
** A Creator/CartoonNetwork channel bumper/ident involved the Eds running at and into each other. As they fall down, a star appears above each one of their heads, and Ed remarks, "I see stars..."
* CM Punk (or, more accurately, CM Punk Rock) hears birds and sees stars after Barney knocks him headfirst into a turnbuckle in "The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown."
* In the pilot for ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Vicky gets the stars version after Cosmo and Wanda drop a giant cherry on her. In a later ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short, Timmy gets them after Cosmo accidentally drops a carousel on him.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing", Peter predicts a grand piano will fall on his head. About a minute later, it happens. Peter sees stars when this happens.
-->'''Peter:''' If you get a fortune cookie, don't open it!
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', the sign in front of The [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL]] Institute for Criminally Insane Robots has birds circling above it.
** In the Futurama Holiday Spectacular, Fry sees spinning Christmas, er, Xmas ornaments after Robot Santa clubs him with a candy cane.
* "WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi" uses the stars version very frequently. [[TwoGirlsAndAGuy Ami, Yumi, and Kaz]] are the most frequent victims since they are the two girls and a guy.
** In the final episode, Yumi and Kaz sees swirling yellow stars after Ami sees a neutral face with a man.
** In the beginning of second act of the episode "The Oddyguard", Ami and Yumi gets terrified while sees spinning stars when this happens.
** Done two times in "Visiting Hours", when being kicked up, Yumi gets the stars version while Ami sees a few symbols when this happens.
** In the second act of the episode "Neat Freak", Ami sends Yumi and Kaz flying when she yells "unacceptable". Yumi and Kaz sees both yellow and light purple stars when this happens.
** The third act of the episode "Record Breakers" uses the swollen bees version very frequently. He asks throwing the cotton candy off, Yumi does gymnastics while being hit with a cotton candy in the face while bees being swollen on Yumi. Yumi is being hit with guitars and sees stars above his head.
** Ami and Yumi gets the colored stars version, when being swinged in a rope in the episode "Camping Caper". One of the main characters sees spinning stars when being swinged in a rope.
* The ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Donald's Goofy World" has Donald being knocked out with tiny Goofy heads going "A-hyuck!" circling over him. When he regains consciousness, he kicks them away.
* At the beginning of the 1963 Disney TV special ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents Inside Outer Space]]'', Professor Von Drake falls off his high seat wiole stargazing from his observatory and lands on the floor, getting stars over his head.
-->'''Von Drake:''' I don't know about you, but I just saw stars I've never seen before!
%% Needs context * Happens on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''. [[CanineCompanion Cerbee]] chases them off.
* Parodied in the short ''WesternAnimation/JinxyJenkinsAndLuckyLou''. After Lou and Jenkins have their CrashIntoHello, one of the [[DisneyCreaturesOfTheFarce overly-friendly bluebirds who had been hounding Lou]] circles her head before flying off.
* Used fairly frequently in ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski'', usually with stars or just a plain circling line. The hard-luck Kick is the most frequent victim. In the episode "Free Gunther," he experiences it about a dozen times in a row while sustaining repeated blows from Magnuson's hammer.
* In ''WesternAnimation/KidVsKat'', this trope was experience in some episodes; however, Kat (aka Mr. Kat) has experienced this in some episodes being the only ones with Kat with the trope; for example, in ''Never Cry Sheep'', when Coop slams a trash can on Kat, Kat has stars circling his head.
* ''WesternAnimation/KuuKuuHarajuku'': "Multi Tasking" has Baby roller skating during rehearsal. She winds up slamming into the rest of the girls, causing them to see stars for a brief moment.
* ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'': In "You Can't Move the Moon", when Luna knocks out Jiro during the sumo wrestling match, the latter gets circling stars around his head for a few seconds.
* It is definitely easier to list those WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes shorts that ''don't'' use this trope. Among those that do:
** In "Daffy Goes Hollywood", WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck tries to get past a studio guard in order to see movie stars. At the end, the guard decides to help him see the stars -- by hitting Daffy over the head with his nightstick. Daffy then calls the "stars" by name: "There's Alexis Smith, and Dorothy Lamour (a star in a sarong!)... Sufferin' succotash! It's Creator/AnnSheridan!" and even gives one a kiss.
** In "Rabbit Hood", WesternAnimation/BugsBunny [[KarmicTrickster tricks]] the Sheriff of Nottingham by telling him that the [[LookBehindYou king is coming]], and then hitting him over the head when he turns and bows. The Sheriff then sees little kings walking around his head, leading to the classic line, "Odds-fish, the very air abounds in kings."
** The Road Runner short "WesternAnimation/GoingGoingGosh" has Wile E. Coyote getting run over by a truck, then having little miniature trucks circling his head in place of birds or stars.
** In "WesternAnimation/BaseballBugs", one of the Gashouse Gorillas is knocked out, and surrounding his head are four little baseball players with angel wings, tossing baseballs among themselves.
** In "WesternAnimation/YankeeDoodleBugs", Bugs visits UsefulNotes/BetsyRoss to check on the progress of the new U.S. flag. Feeling the blue field is too plain, he paces around the lawn trying to think of something to "snap it up a bit"... and carelessly [[RakeTake steps on a rake]]. Pointing to the resulting stars orbiting his head, he asks, "Hey, Betsy, does this give you an idear?"
** "WesternAnimation/APizzaTweetyPie" definitely satisfies the "cartoon cats" criterion above.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Parodied in "No Spoilers", when Walt the canary flies around Lincoln's head after he falls down the stairs.
** The show's spinoff, ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' uses the stars version somewhat frequently. Sid in particular tends to get them a lot, such as when she's dizzied during a wrestling match. Bobby, somewhat the ButtMonkey of the series, also sees circling stars at times and gets the birds variety after a bicycle crash in the episode "Fast Feud."
* Happened quite a few times on ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'':
** Happens to Bogus, while he's dressed as an Eskimo in the first act of the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS1E8NoSnoozeIsGoodNews No Snooze Is Good News]]", but he sees ice cream cones circling his head, as he grabs one and eats it.
** At the end of the first act of the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E2BabysittingBogus Babysitting Bogus]]", Bogus sees winged babies circling his head after getting hit on the head by the baby's milk bottle.
** In the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E5BadLuckBogus Bad Luck Bogus]]", Bogus sees stars circling around his head after hitting the ground from missing landing on the couch.
** Bogus sees buses circling around his head after landing inside the video store in the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E6TotallyBogusVideo Totally Bogus Video]]".
** This also happens to [[CardCarryingVillain Baddus]] after landing in a tree in the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E8BogusToTheRescue Bogus To The Rescue]]", but instead of birds, he sees [[ItMakesSenseInContext winged Boguses]].
** It happens to Bogus once again in the second act of the episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS3E3WaterboyBogus Waterboy Bogus]]", after RunningIntoTheWindow trying to get into the penguin exhibit, but sees penguins circling his head.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', the episode "Puppet Bride" features Jenny getting hit on the head with a cane. Blue stars circle her head for a brief moment before she shakes them away.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'':
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyTalesS1E9ThePlaysTheThing The Play's the Thing]]": Clover gets the spinning stars and planets with the sound of chirping birdies variant while being spun around in a barber's chair.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyTalesS1E24JustForKicks Just for Kicks]]": Ace gets the spinning soccer balls with the sound of chirping birdies variant when Patch kicks the soccer ball [[NasalTrauma right in his nose. Ouch!]]
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': When a character gets dizzy, be it from [[AnvilOnHead any]] [[CrashIntoHello kind]] of [[AmusingInjuries amusing blunt trauma]] or [[NauseaFuel motion sickness]], they will usually have stars circling their heads for a short while.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 The Return of Harmony Part 2]]": Twilight sees lots of stars after slamming face-first into Tom the boulder.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E13HearthsWarmingEve Hearth's Warming Eve]]": During a snowball fight with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, Rarity is beaned in the head and gets a halo of circling stars, which she shakes away with an angry expression on her face.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E4DaringDont Daring Don't]]": Parodied; when Rainbow runs into a tree where Fluttershy is helping some baby birds in their nest learning to fly, the chicks fly and circle around Rainbow's dazed head.
* On ''WesternAnimation/NatureCat'', when the TalkingAnimal characters are walking through the woods on the way to a Talking Blue Jay's music concert, Nature Cat gets bonked on the head and sees circling ''blue jays''.
* Used several times in the ''Music/NewKidsOnTheBlock'' cartoon series. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmkfk4EN6JQ&feature=related this episode,]] when Jonathan is knocked out by a falling surfboard, he hears tweeting birds and sees tiny surfers around his head (he then develops amnesia and thinks he's a pro surfer). After Donnie is thrown from a horse, he sees miniature versions of himself on horseback circling his head. The New Kids' bodyguard Bizcut sees circling music notes when dazed in another episode. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyFh1ctqLu0&feature=related this episode,]] Danny hears tweeting birds after a hard fall.
* In ''WesternAnimation/NutriVenturesTheQuestForTheSevenKingdoms'', Episode 3 has Nina seeing stars after landing in a trash can.
* The ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short "Blotto" ends with the titular character getting hit on the head by his girlfriend Dotto, resulting in Blotto stunned while stars spin around his head.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PackagesFromPlanetX'', lead character Dan sees circling soccer balls after a hard fall during a soccer game.
* In the animated TV series "The Osmonds," characters occasionally see circling stars, especially Fuji and Jimmy, but the whole Osmond clan experience it togetether in the Transylvania episode after rolling down a hill in a BigBallofViolence and crashing.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'':
** In "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E4TheYardSale The Yard Sale]]", a Roman gladiator accidentally smashes headfirst into a column, and three images of people riding chariots circle around his head.
** In "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS2E3TenAndOneToiletsFamilyPlotz 10 & 1 Toilets]]", after [=GrandPat=] plunges a toilet to get a donut back from it, the toilet has stars, donuts, and toilet paper rolls circling its head.
* The stars version appears occasionally in ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn''. Milo, for example, sees them after taking a hard hit during football practice, and [[ButtMonkey Crash]] sometimes sees them after his frequent AmusingInjuries.
* Played with in the WesternAnimation/{{Pixar Short|s}} ''Day and Night'', whose characters have scenes visible inside them. When Day gets hurt, birds are seen flying inside his head.
* Bird sounds frequently play in ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'' when a character is injured or dizzied, often as their eyes spin in opposite directions to add to the effect.
* Characters occasionally get these in ''Les Podcats'', usually just the sound of chirping birds but occasionally accompanied by circling stars as well. Senzo tends to be the most frequent victim.
* The stars version appears fairly frequently in ''WesternAnimation/ProblemChild''. For example, in the episode "Junior Meets Tiny Ben," a rare instance where Junior finds himself the ButtMonkey for much of the episode, Junior sees circling stars three different times.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'', Randy sees various food items circling his head after being tossed into a food cart.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Reguarding Stuie" after Stu hits his head on a robot duck weathervane and falls off the roof he sees stars and ducks spinning around his head.
* Happens to Salem in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries''. Being a cat, he eats one of them.
** Sabrina and Harvey also experience this on occasion throughout the series. In one episode, a dizzy Harvey, having been thrown from a spinning art display, sees images of portraits circling his head.
* ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'': In the episode "The Nose Knows", Two's enormous nose ends up making him accidentally drop his pop-up book out of the window, where it ends up hitting the monsters' pet cow Belinda in the head, causing miniature versions of Belinda wearing tutus to spin around her head.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' "Treehouse of Horror" version of ''The Raven'', Homer tries to drive off Bart the Raven by throwing a vase at him, only for to miss and hit himself in the head, resulting in tiny Bart Ravens circling his head saying "Nevermore! Nevermore! Nevermore! Nevermore!". Bart himself experiences this trope in a later "Treehouse of Horror" spoof of ''Nightmare on Elm Street''. In his dream, after being hit with a Frisbee, birds circle his head while [[WingdingEyes "No Sale" signs]] pop up in his eyes.
** Also seen in the Season 20-present CouchGag, in which Jebediah's statue's head falls on Ralph's. One of the things he says after being hit is, "I see stars!"
** In "Homer the Father", after Bart sells nuclear secrets to China in exchange for a dirt bike, only for Homer to give him the same kind of bike the next day, he has an ImagineSpot of him getting beaten up by Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty for committing treason for no reason, telling him he'll be "seeing stars and stripes forever".
** In "Puffless", Maggie befriends some animals and recruits them to save an opossum from a dog. During the fight, a bird knocks the dog away, and the dog sees circling chirping birds around his head. But then the dog hits back, and the bird ends up seeing circling barking dogs around his head.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' provides an interesting take on this in the episode "Papa's Puppy Prescription"; when Gargamel gets dazed by running into a rock, in his next scene he tells Azrael how he sees birdies and little stars flying around his head. Azrael, of course, cannot see these "birdies" and "little stars" Gargamel speaks of -- and neither can we as a matter of fact -- leaving him confused about what his master is talking about.
* This occurs on several occasions in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. The common example is stars, anchors or scallops, although different circling objects can appear. For example, in the episode "Survival of the Idiots", Patrick gets hit in the head and sees chicken drumsticks.
-->'''Patrick:''' [[NonSequiturThud Hot... wings]].
** Another example occurs in another episode "Teacher's Pests" Mrs. Puff hits Mr. Krabs and Plankton with a tree and they see circling stars. Spongebob, deciding he wants some as well, drops a tree on his head until he sees stars and Mrs. Puff takes them away.
** Another example occurs to Karen in the episode “Karen’s Virus”, where she sees circling ones and zeroes after ramming into a wall due to having a virus, and she comments on them.
** In "Rock Bottom", little scallops swirl around [=SpongeBob's=] head when he runs into a wall.
** In "Shopping List", Mr. Krabs had just gotten beaten up by Sandy, who was angry that she and [=SpongeBob=] had to go on a wild goose chase for nothing, and as she walks out with a bag of money to pay for her submarine that was lost, Mr. Krabs dizzily walks out with small clams circling his head before he is finally launched into the sky by Sandy.
** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS12E17TheGhostOfPlanktonMyTwoKrabses The Ghost of Plankton]]", Squidward gets knocked unconscious and clarinets circle around his head.
** In "Patrick's Tantrum", after getting knocked out by Patrick, Harry the Health Hazard has circling Patricks saying "Tweet".
** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS13E13AbandonTwitsWallhalla Abandon Twits]]", when Squidward gets bashed on the head with an anchor, three images of him sailing in a little ship circle around his head.
* The guys of ''WesternAnimation/SupaStrikas'' experience this trope after a hard hit during a game or other head injuries. Bo sees circling stars after a slip on a banana peel that also leads to EasyAmnesia. The guys also occasionally see circling soccer balls, such as when Chuck takes a hard crash during a game or when Klaus is [[TheDoorSlamsYou whacked by a door]] and knocked off a train.
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBrosSuperShow Super Mario World]]'' cartoon, Mario gets hit in the head while trying to find something useful in the blocks. Due to this, when he does find something (a feather), he's too dazed to be able to catch it. He then grabs one of the stars circling his head, and is able to use it as if it were [[InvincibilityPowerUp a Starman powerup]].
** It also happens on the ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' episode "Pirates of the Koopa", when Mario asks for a star that is circling the parrot's head after he bumped it on the top of the crow's nest.
* ''Spy vs. Spy'': In "Beach", a bird circles the black spy's head after running into a wooden stake (in which the white spy was able to get a photo from a woman to trick the black spy into running into the wooden stake.)
** Also happens in "Wall", in which the white spy gets circling stars after getting smacked by a fence. (Strangely enough, stars also circle the hand at the beginning of the episode when the white spy punches the brick wall.) Also, early in "Basketball", the black spy enters the scene in which the white spy notices the black spy and screws up, in which, as a result, the basketball hits the white spy in the head. Bird sound effects then play, as the white spy staggers in a daze, right before the black spy steals the ball. Also, in "Toilet Plunger", the white spy sees circling birdies after a hit to the head with a toilet plunger, with a rock attached to it to make it look like as if it were a HAMMER.
* Normally in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' cartoon, BlankWhiteEyes are used. However, circling stars were used in the episode "Switched" when Puppet King-controlled Robin accidentally hit himself with his own baton.
** Used much more frequently in the decidedly more cartoony series ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo''
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', where animal lover/killer Elmyra gets trapped in the mall after closing time. At one point she gets hit on the head, send birds flying around her head. Then Elmyra grabs one of the birds and hugs it, which also has smaller mini-birds circling around ''its'' head.
* The ''Tommy & Oscar'' animated series uses birds and/or stars in nearly every episode, and characters frequently comment on what they are seeing. For example, when both Tommy and Oscar see stars after taking a tumble on the set of a ''Franchise/StarWars''-like film, they mention how great the special effects are for the film.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'':
** Chris bullies Duncan over his crush on Courtney in "[[Recap/TotalDramaTrialByTriArmedTriathlon Trial by Tri-Armed Triathlon]]", so Leshawna helps her challenge partner out by knocking the host out. She and Duncan win the challenge moments later, so Chris groggily forces himself back on his feet to declare "Bedunca" and "Shewaninin" the winners as three stars and UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} circle above his head.
** Courtney slams into a wall surrounding Camp Wawanakwa in "[[Recap/TotalDramaTotalDramaDramaDramaDramaIsland Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island]]". She gets up from being knocked back as four birds chirp and circle her head. Annoyed, she [[MediumAwareness shoos the birds away]], prompting one of them to chirp something rude at her.
** To prevent her own team from winning in "[[Recap/TotalDramaTheChefshankRedemption The Chefshank Redemption]]", Gwen smashes their one shovel in pieces over Harold's head. He goes down while four stars and a blip circle above his head. Despite no birds being present, bird sound accompanies the stars.
** Vito takes Scott to the final landmark in "[[Recap/TotalDramaGrandChefAuto Grand Chef Auto]]", at which point Scott no longer needs him. When the other's back is turned to him, Scott clubs him down and leaves Vito lying out cold with four stars and several flashes circling above his head. Despite no birds being present, bird sound accompanies the stars.
** To turn an enamored Dave hostile towards Sky for the finale in "[[Recap/TotalDramaLiesCriesAndOneBigPrize Lies, Cries, and One Big Prize]]", Chris shows him her audition tape in which she mentions her boyfriend Keith. Dave blanks at this devastating reveal, which is reflected by three Sky heads circling his head while they repeat "boyfriend Keith" in slow-motion.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaRama'' uses the trope on occasion. Owen, for example, sees circling images of his treasured toy ball circling his head after running into a door. Cody gets a ring of sheep circling his head after fainting from fear. Duncan sees stars followed by the images of chirping birds when he gets slammed in the face by an Easter egg.
* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTalesInTheHouse'' episode "Laura at Bat" had this happen to Jimmy Gourd after getting beaned in the head by a ball while he was announcing the climactic ball game. In this case, however, he sees baseballs circling his head.
** Happens to [[JerkassBall Larry]] in "IT", where it's [[BrickJoke circling lemons]] on him.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'', Todd sees stars after a fall. Mrs. Jewls then told Todd to get his head "out of the stars," and it turns out that the stars were really on a project involving a globe.
* The cartoon versions of Chris and Martin Kratt often experience this in their animated series ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts''. The circling creature usually corresponds to whatever critter they're following that day. For example, after a fall from a tree in one episode, Chris sees circling lizards. Another episode features Chris seeing circling walruses and Martin seeing circling polar bears after a blow to the head.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' cartoon "The Barber Of Seville'' when Woody shrinks an Indian Cheif's headdress he chases Woody with his tomahawk trying to scalp him, Woody responds by hitting him on the head with a mallet he then sees little birds with turkey feathers on their heads doing the stereotypical war whoop.
* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/ZekesPad'' sees circling pancakes twice after mishaps during gym class in the series's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQvQ28W8JBE first episode]]. Zeke had eaten a lot of pancakes for breakfast, resulting in numerous slips and falls during gym.
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* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'': In "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E4TheYardSale The Yard Sale]]", a Roman gladiator accidentally smashes headfirst into a column, and three images of people riding chariots circle around his head.

** In A season 26 episode, Maggie befriends some animals and recruits them to save an opossum from a dog. During the fight, a bird knocks the dog away, and the dog sees circling chirping birds around his head. But then the dog hits back, and the bird ends up seeing circling barking dogs around his head.

** In "Patrick's Tantrum", after getting knocked out by Patrick, Harry the Health Hazard has circling Patrick's saying "Tweet".

* In WesternAnimation/TheBrothersGrunt, the eponymous brothers will sometimes have this trope happen to them with circling ''toilets''.

* ''ComicBook/AllNewUltimates'': ComicBook/MilesMorales saw stars when Taskmaster attacked him.

* In ''Search the Sky'', by Creator/FrederikPohl and Creator/CyrilMKornbluth, there's a scene where Ross is made to TalkToTheFist.

* In ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'', Miss Piggy has animated birds circling her head as she sees Kermit for the first time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'': When someone is under the Stun effect, they will bend over (and may or may not hold their head as though having a headache) and have stars circling above them.

* Sometimes used on the 90s version of ''{{Series/Zoom}}''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGbx0dZHlr0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUffBt8Lsi5lpJJ_S7083obA In this clip]], for example, Zoom-er Kenny hears birds after a few mishaps during an exercise session. In another episode, a kid exploring the beach hears birds after being bopped with a football.

* In David Lindsay-Abaire's play ''Fuddy Meers'', the son Kenny mentions having cartoon birdies flying around his head when recalling abuse by his father, adding a small bit of levity to an otherwise serious scene.

** In ''Puzzle Bobble 4'' / ''Bust-a-Move 4'', when the player loses, Bub/Bob immediately gets dizzy, gains spiral eyes, twirls around, falls forward, and has birds circling above his head. Also the case for Bub in [[RemadeForTheExport the Game Boy Color exclusive]] ''Bust-A-Move Millennium'', and Bob in ''[[AC:[[RecycledInSpace SPACE]]]] Puzzle Bobble''. (Bob the unlockable character cries instead in ''[=BAMM=]''.)

** He sees circling stars and birds [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So1gkOWDAKc in this video] as he gets dizzy while watching Toshi run in circles around him.