History Main / ClimbingClimax

* The lighthouses in both ''VideoGame/GoldenSun2001'' and ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge''.

* The lighthouses in both ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheBrokenSeal'' and ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge''.

* OlderThanTelevision: ''[[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]]'' did this way back in 1933, treeing himself at the top of the Empire State Building. {{Justified|Trope}} in that Kong was not exactly a mastermind and was likely operating more on jungle/mountain/island instinct than anything else.

* Somewhat inverted in ''Film/TheLastCircus'', as the protagonist and his love interest are chased up to the giant cross of the Valle de los Caídos monument by the MonsterClown boyfriend of the female lead and the State Police. The dubious inversion comes from the BlackAndGrayMorality of all three characters.
* In ''Film/PsychoBeachParty'', [[spoiler:Chicklet]] flees from the murderer by climbing up a movie billboard, because they were in the middle of nowhere at night.
* Angus in ''Film/SeachdTheInaccessiblePinnacle''.
* Used by a hero this time in the 2007 ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movie during the climactic battle at the end of the movie. Sam runs up a tall building (using an inside staircase) while carrying the [[MacGuffin Allspark]], during which [[BigBad Megatron]] follows him by just bashing through the different floors. Justified because an Army Ranger radioed for a helicopter to meet him on the roof of said building. [[spoiler:Said helicopter was then shot down by another bad guy seconds before it grabbed the Allspark from Sam.]]

* In the climax of ''Film/TrueLies'', Eliza Dushku steals the key needed to set off the bad guy's bomb, and then runs up the stairway, barricading herself in the building.
* Justified in ''Film/{{Darkman}}'', where the agile villain explains that his father had made him do construction work on skyscrapers early in his career. Luring Westlake to the top of a half-finished building, where he's more comfortable with the terrain than the hero, is an intentional ploy to cancel out Darkman's enraged strength and pain-resistance.
* In ''Film/WhiteHeat'', Cody Jarrett climbs to the top of a gas storage tower to escape from the police. Rather than follow him, the police just shoot him, whereupon he shoots into the tower shouting, "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" right before it explodes.

* In ''Film/ScotlandPA'', the final confrontation happens on top of the local fast-food restaurant.

* A ShoutOut occurs in the final scenes of ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''.
* A {{Justified|Trope}} example in ''Film/MinistryOfFear''. As Stephen and Carla exit her apartment, they see Nazi spies climbing the stairs below them. This leads them to flee to the roof.

* Possibly echoing the ''King Kong'' example, ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' climaxes with a showdown atop another building in New York. Lampshaded (as with everything in the film) in that the actual climb is extremely anticlimactic. The climb is justified within the plot in that the villain seems to be doing perfectly well at ending the world from where they are and the trope is played straight again with the giant Mr Staypuft scaling the building in proper King Kong fashion to get at the Ghostbusters.
* A the end of ''Film/KingKongEscapes'', King Kong and Mechani-Kong fight atop Tokyo Tower.
* The final fight in ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' between Holmes and Lord Blackwood takes place on the half-built Tower Bridge.
* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' ends with Indy and the [[ReligionOfEvil evil cultists]] climbing up a fallen rope bridge.
* At the climax of ''Film/CurseOfTheCrimsonAltar'', [[spoiler:Morley]] climbs on to to the roof of the Lodge as the building burns. He is last seen screaming defiance at the heavens as an [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane image of Lavina appears above him]], before the roof gives in and he [[DisneyVillainDeath plunges into the burning building]].
* Spoofed in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', when [[GentleGiant Ludo]] climbs to the roof of a simple house from the inside during the Battle of the Goblin City. On the other hand, he's at a convenient location to summon rocks and turn the tide of the battle.
* In ''Film/ReformSchoolGirls'', Edna attempts to escape the rioting girls by climbing the same tower that Lisa had jumped from when she committed suicide; firing a shotgun at them as she goes. Charlie then crashes a bus into the tower, causing it to catch fire.
* At the climax of ''Film/HorrorsOfTheBlackMuseum'', Rick attempts to escape from the police at the funfair by climbing up a Ferris wheel.

Compare EndingByAscending, when the climb itself is the climactic or final event rather than the prelude to it.

* ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' culminates in a [[Film/AttackOfThe50FootWoman fifty-foot woman]] climbing a tall tower whilst clutching a [[Film/KingKong hostage ape in one hand]]...

Compare EndingByAscending, when the climb itself is the climactic event rather than the prelude to it.

* The lighthouses in both ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' games.

** ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' - The dwarves and animals chase the transformed queen to the top of a cliff
** ''Disney/RobinHood'' - Robin tries to escape Prince John's burning castle until he jumps into the moat below.
** ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' - Basil's final confrontation with Ratigan occurs on the hands of Big Ben
** ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' - Gaston and the Beast fight atop the castle
** ''Disney/TheLionKing'' - Simba and Scar on the summit of Pride Rock
** ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' - Taking place, surprisingly enough, on Notre Dame cathedral
** ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' - The final part of the Mulan/Shan Yu fight takes place on the roof of the Emperor's palace.

* In ''Film/ReformSchoolGirls'', Edna attempts to escape the rioting girls by climbing the same tower that Lisa hd jumped from when she committed suicide; firing a shotgun at them as she goes. Charlie then crashes a bus into the tower, causing it to catch fire.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

* Used at the climax of Tim Burton's ''Film/{{Batman}}'', when the Joker flees up the steps of (the surprisingly tall) Gotham Cathedral, taking Kim Basinger's DistressedDamsel (surprisingly so for a movie made in the last months of 1989 - it's like she was paid per scream) with him. {{Justified|Trope}} on the Joker's side, since he radios ahead for a helicopter pickup and thus knows ''he'' won't be trapped, and takes repeated measures to stop anyone from following. Batman's inevitable pursuit is also somewhat justified by his concern for the Joker's hostage (plus his professional familiarity with {{Building Swing}}s).

* Whenever a writer isn’t sure how to conclude an episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'', the get out clause seems to be "shove the Doctor up a pole."

* Used in the GrandFinale of ''Series/TheFugitive'' in the prelude to [[spoiler:Kimble's showdown with the One-Armed Man at the top of the tower. You would think that, after being kicked in the head three times after as many unsuccessful attempts to follow him, he'd start to get the hint...]]

* The final fight in ''Film/SherlockHolmes'' between Holmes and Blackwood takes place on the half-built Tower Bridge.

* A variation of this happens in ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'': Dr. Breen [[VillainExitStageLeft runs]] from his office near the top of [[EvilTowerOfOminousness The Citadel]] to the nearby Combine Portal, which he intends to use to leave Earth while simultaneously killing Freeman. Said machine slowly lifts him up to the portal via a shielded platform, and you basically have to reach the apex before him and shut the gateway before he escapes. By that point, you're very high above City 17.

* The final leg of the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' is a dramatic ascent up a tower, with your two protagonists taking turns battling two bosses as they ascend in a flight unit/elevator before they reach the top and team up to battle the bosses' FusionDance form [[spoiler:and then each other]].

* It happens twice in ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', both leading into [[Main/BossBattle Boss Battles]].

** The second occurs late in the game. Jak and Daxter must get through the levels of a weapons factory to stop their ally Krew from completing a weapon that is in actuality a Main/DoomsdayDevice. Krew refuses to back down.

* In the movie-within-a-comic "Man on the Border" in Webcomic/NipAndTuck, the villain and the hero (played by Nip) end up in a desperate struggle on the catwalks in the roof of the Astrodome. Justified by the fact that the villain, thwarted in releasing a biotoxin through the fire sprinkler systems, was taking a distant second alternative by tossing the vials from the catwalk onto the crowds below...

** ''Film/{{Blackmail}}'' - On top of the British Museum
** ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' - On top of Mount Rushmore.
*** Parodied by ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
*** Also parodied by the live-action ''Film/RichieRich'' movie.
** ''Film/{{Saboteur}}'' - In the torch of the Statue of Liberty.
*** Parodied (and subverted) by ''Film/TheWrongGuy'' - it was a miniature.

* In the climax of ''Film/TrueLies'', Eliza Dushku steals the key needed to set off the bad guy's bomb, and then runs ''up'' the stairway, trapping herself in the building, rather than down it, which would have given her a chance of escaping.
** Cut her some slack. She's frightened and disoriented and probably not thinking clearly.
*** If she'd gone downstairs, the terrorists could have caught her and recovered the key as they had men downstairs, not up. By going up, it's true she's risking her life, but she's got a better chance of keeping the key away from them by dropping it over the side if necessary.

* Beautifully subverted, and possibly parodied considering what happened right after, in "The Other Guys" where Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne "Rock" Johnson chase a bunch of bank robbers upstairs to the roof of a building, [[spoiler: who proceed to ride a zip line down to the street. They cut the zip line and make their getaway. This has got to be one of the funniest scenes in a movie because Samuel and The Rock are so caught up in their celebrity that they attempt to jump off the building to catch the bank robbers. Hilariously the camera follows them as they leap and fall all the way to go splat on the pavement.]]

* Used by a hero this time in [[TransformersFilmSeries the 2007 Transformers movie]] during the climactic battle at the end of the movie. Sam runs up a tall building (using an inside staircase) while carrying the [[MacGuffin Allspark]], during which [[BigBad Megatron]] follows him by just bashing through the different floors. Justified because an Army Ranger radioed for a helicopter to meet him on the roof of said building. [[spoiler:Said helicopter was then shot down by another bad guy seconds before it grabbed the Allspark from Sam.]]