History Main / DoNotTouchTheFunnelCloud

* ''Film/FireTwister'': Although it's clearly a severe kind of tornado (or firenado, more specifically), since it left a lot of destruction in Los Angeles, the fire twister doesn't cause much effect beyond the range of things near the funnel part, aside from its attraction to heat.

* ''Film/FireTwister'': Although it's clearly a severe kind of tornado (or firenado, more specifically), since it left a lot of destruction in Los Angeles, the fire twister doesn't cause much effect beyond the range of things near it, aside from its attraction to heat.

* ''Film/{{Twister}}''

* In the second ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' game, Cate travels to a mobile home park in Ohio while it is under attack from a tornado. There, she has to discover clues about [[FunWithAcronyms H.A.R.M.]]'s plan while fending off waves of female {{Ninja}}. Meanwhile, the funnel cloud is moving around them conveniently destroying trailers while leaving everything beyond the immediate vicinity intact. Also, the fight with the ninja boss takes place in a trailer that ''has been picked up by the tornado''. The tornado is played semi-realistically in that you can clearly see rotation in the clouds and debris swirling about far outside the funnel, but only "semi" because, well, the boss fight takes place in a double-wide that's been picked up by a bloody tornado.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' subverts this as well during the twister episode. The winds are strong even before the funnel cloud strikes, with Bobby even trying to make an egg smash through a brick wall thanks to what he's heard from Dale, and literally gets egg in his face. Hank is only able to make it to the storm cellar with the rest of his family thanks to the eye of the storm.

** ''VideoGame/MarioParty5'': A particularly whacked-out example occurs in the minigame Twist 'n' Out, where the players end up ''inside'' a giant Tweester, and with hammers try to whack each other to the funnel winds surrounding them in order to eliminate them.

** A particularly whacked-out example occurs in a ''VideoGame/MarioParty5'' minigame, where the players end up ''inside'' a giant Tweester, and with hammers try to whack each other to the funnel winds surrounding them in order to eliminate them.

* Played more or less straight in one of the ''Anime/MazingerZ'' series. One of the weapons of ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' is Rust Tornado. The HumongousMecha blews ''three'' tornadoes from its grill mouth. Of course, anything it touches gets obliterated, and the wind gales kick big dirt clouds and leave a trail of destruction in its wake (in the movie it dug a wiiiiide trench across Mount Fuji). Though the area surrounding the attack does not seem so affected how it should. This is actually justified as the wind also unleashes acid that corrodes anything the wind touches. Mazinger Z and Anime/GreatMazinger's Rust Hurricane and Great Typhoon aren't as powerful as Rust Tornado, so they can't do the massive damage Kaiser can.

* Averted in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': the basic form of the Heaven's Dragon Blast (or Hiryuu Shouten Ha) [[FinishingMove ultimate technique]] creates a tornado with, depending on the methods and circumstances, varying degrees of intensity. Even the weakest form creates very strong winds in the vicinity, which have visible effects on objects (and people) fairly separate from the funnel. Note that the revised versions of the technique behave on wildly different principles and don't necessarily apply.

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', people and Pokemon can be seen narrowly dodging small funnel clouds - the result of the attack Whirlwind - without coming to any harm. On the other hand, Pokémon do get sucked into whirlpools.

* Inverted completely in ''{{Series/Roseanne}}'' in the tornado episode. Their area gets put under a tornado ''watch'' and they basically do everything short of writing their wills (though little in the way of actual useful preparations) they are so sure the tornado is going to encounter their specific house. The GallowsHumor they trade after receiving the watch wouldn't be out of place in ''Film/DrStrangelove''. For those of don't live in a tornado prone area, tornado watches just mean that conditions are right, it doesn't mean a tornado will necessarily form, much less that it will even be near your town.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange''. The tornado at the end of the game is clearly seen causing catastrophic damage to Arcadia Bay long before the funnel cloud even comes onshore.
* Interestingly enough, this is at least mildly averted in a particular side quest in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', where you meet Cyclos, the god of cyclones, and, even if you try to stop your boat, it continues to move closer to the cyclone the god creates, not to mention, your arrows which you are using to get him to notice you, are being thrown absolutely everywhere!
* Also barely averted in the Water dungeons of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', in which Link can still be sucked into vortices even if he keeps a distance, particularly if he is swimming rather than walking underwater (this could have been justified/hand waved by the anchoring weight of the iron boots in ''Ocarina of Time'', and by Zora Magic in ''Majora's Mask''). The radius of the vortices, however, is still not as broad as in real life.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II''. The Druid class has a few egregious examples, but the most offensive is the Hurricane skill, which is one of the Level 30 tree's-end techniques. Plainly, it summons a ''frickin hurricane that you then walk around in.'' Not only are you completely unharmed by it, neither are your allies. Enemies are not sucked in; instead, anything that comes into contact takes significant damage and dies. The lore says the druid is unharmed because he is in the eye of the cyclone. Also interesting are the actual Tornado and especially Twister spells: the latter produces ''three'' tornadoes that are so tiny as to miss targets two druid lengths in front of you, and getting hit only stuns you for a fraction of a second. The former correctly deals damage around it, where 'around it' is defined as the size of a large monster, and because it deals damage over time it cannot even interrupt monsters. This spell set goes nicely with the waist height volcano, but it is no surprise the sequel features Energy Twister, a tornado of [[SwirlyEnergyThingy whirling magic!]].

* Averted with the Tornado spell in ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'': units in the target area go flying before the funnel cloud is even fully formed.
* Partially averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' - the Whirlwind spell damages everyone on screen. You can still '''jump''' over it though.
* Auron in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' can generate tornadoes in a special attack. Naturally, all enemies regardless of size are sucked up and party members aren't. Said tornado can also be [[IncendiaryExponent set on]] [[KillItWithFire fire]]. By throwing alcohol into it.
** The other two party members ''run away'' before it comes out, at least (and they only otherwise do so to make room for an aeon). Still doesn't explain why Auron himself is unaffected, of course.
* Likewise Cloud's [[OneHitKill Finishing Touch]] LimitBreak in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', wherein he generates a tornado around ''himself'' and then somehow flings it towards the enemy with his sword. [[TheCameo Also present]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2 A2]]'' have a minor aversion. The Cyclone spell (effectively a momentary magic tornado) has an AreaOfEffect (admittedly no bigger than that of bog standard Black Mage spells).
* A partial aversion in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'': most wind-based attacks (Garland's Cyclone, Terra's Tornado, Vaan's Windburst, etc) only hurt the opponent if they touch the funnel cloud in the center, but the attacks will absorb and pull them into the cloud if they're too close.

* Played straight in ''[[VideoGame/BackyardSports Backyard Football]]'', where the twister powerup blows the opponents away when they touch it.

* Shamal's Square attack in ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Battle of Aces'' produces small tornadoes that slowly track the enemy. Naturally, they only deal damage to you when you touch them.
** Everyone involved has [[DeflectorShields Barrier Jackets]] capable of standing up to kiloton-range energy blasts, albeit with heavy damage, as well as flight capability, so this is a JustifiedTrope for once.

* A particularly whacked-out example occurs in a ''VideoGame/MarioParty 5'' minigame, where the players end up ''inside'' a giant tornado, and with hammers try to whack each other to the funnel winds surrounding them in order to eliminate them.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'': This is probably the reason why [[Memes/VideoGames I Can't Defeat Air Man]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/NancyDrew Trail of the Twister]]'', you can direct Nancy's car freely around the map even when a big (and stationary) tornado is whirling away in one part of it. Turning the car towards the tornado does make Nancy complain about how she's going the wrong way, but you don't crash or get killed unless you drive right ''into'' the thing.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' had dust storm hazards in [[ShiftingSandLand Reptilia]] that resembled mini-tornadoes. They wouldn't suck Bug in, and would only damage him if he touched them.

* In the ''VideoGame/SkyOdyssey'' mission "the storm before the calm" the player is required to fly through a hurricane like storm over the Dark Sea. In this level you have to avoid touching the thunderclouds or else your plane gets blown into the ground. Also in the mission you get sucked into a tornado like vortex. You have to fly through the center of the funnel without touching the cloud walls. Failure to do so causes your aircraft to [[MadeOfExplodium explode]].

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* WebOriginal/SeventeenThousandSevenHundredSeventySix: In a future where humanity has stopped aging, nanobots protect humans from harm and injury, and humans have turned to playing sports as their main form of recreation, one football player deliberately jumps into a tornado to gain competitive advantage.

* WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts:

* ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'' has a [[RecycledInSPACE twister made out of spaghetti and meatballs]] averting this trope, as while the spaghetti twister doesn't do much damage, the meatballs are like a [[IncrediblyLamePun meateor shower,]] devastating the island.

* Averted in ''Series/StormChasers'', a Creator/DiscoveryChannel documentary series that follows teams of storm chasers as they pursue tornadoes across the countryside, the potential lethality of the storms being constantly reiterated. It is even highlighted when in one episode [[CoolCar a purpose-built armored vehicle designed to drive into a tornado and survive]] has one of its windows blown out when a tornado suddenly intensifies on top of them, the driver and one of the passengers suffering cuts to their faces from flying glass. The fourth season starts off showing the effects of the [=EF4=] tornado that struck Yazoo City, Mississippi in April 2010, one man being shown with a bloodied head and another man is found on the ground unconscious. The 5th season takes this UpToEleven with multiple tornadoes striking major cities throughout the Midwest and Southeast. SceneryGorn out the wazoo.

Tornadoes. One of the most beautiful, deadly and terrifying manifestations of nature's fury. They can strike anywhere at any time, claim hundreds of lives each year, and cause billions in widespread property damage.

...unless, of course, you live in [[HollywoodScience the land of make-believe]]. There, only the visible funnel cloud is capable of doing any damage. Never mind that a RealLife tornado is a rotating area of 100+ MPH ground winds -- of which the funnel cloud is only the ''center'' -- and those winds will be ripping up trees, cars and [[Film/{{Twister}} cows]] and turning them into projectiles. Never mind that those same winds can sweep entire houses off their foundations... and turn ''them'' into projectiles. In fiction, you'll be perfectly safe, no matter how close you are to the storm, as long as the funnel cloud itself does not touch you.

Is this the kind of thinking that can get you seriously injured or even killed in RealLife? [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs You'd better believe it]]. Persons who have survived close proximity to a funnel cloud say afterward that they were convinced they were about to die. Even experienced storm chasers have been fatally wrong about the size and direction of the tornado. The high-velocity ''horizontal'' winds circling the funnel -- and the debris they're carrying -- are a much greater threat to your life than the funnel itself. In short, if you're less than a mile away from the storm, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck you're in trouble]]. '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Big]]''' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck trouble]].

Though this trope runs on some heavy use of ArtisticLicense, it's [[TruthInTelevision well-documented]] that tornadoes can be... capricious in their damage, destroying one house but leaving the one next door completely untouched, due to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_vortex multiple vortices]] inside the tornado area. Still, would you bet your life and safety on winning this meteorological lottery? Didn't think so...

...unless, of course, you live in [[HollywoodScience the land of make-believe]]. There, only the visible funnel cloud is actually capable of damaging anything, and even then they usually don't even stir up any debris. Never mind that a RealLife tornado is a rotating area of 300+ MPH ground winds -- of which the funnel cloud is only the ''center'' -- and those winds will be ripping up trees, cars and [[Film/{{Twister}} cows]] and turning them into projectiles. Never mind that those same winds can sweep entire houses off their foundations... and turn ''them'' into projectiles. In fiction, you'll be perfectly safe, no matter how large and dangerous the storm, as long as the funnel cloud does not touch you.

Is this the kind of thinking that can get you seriously injured or even killed in RealLife? [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs You'd better believe it]]. Persons who have survived close proximity to a funnel cloud say afterward that they were convinced they were about to die. Even experienced storm chasers have been fatally wrong about the size and direction of the tornado. The high-velocity, rotating, ''horizontal'' winds -- and the debris they're carrying -- are a much greater threat to your life than the imaginary "suck zone" in the funnel itself. In short, if you're less than a mile away from the storm, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck you're in trouble]]. '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Big]]''' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck trouble]].

Though this trope runs on some heavy use of ArtisticLicense, it's [[TruthInTelevision well-documented]] that tornadoes can be... capricious in their damage, destroying one house but leaving the one next door completely untouched, due to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_vortex multiple vortices]] inside the funnel. Still, would you bet your life and safety on winning this meteorological lottery? Didn't think so...

The only instance in which this trope comes within spitting distance of TruthInTelevision is 'dust devils', which can be confused for small tornadoes, but aren't associated with a parent cloud, and are dozens of times smaller and weaker, in which case even if it's strong enough to lift you up (which is rare), you'd probably be fine even if it passed right over you, besides inhaling a lot of dirt. They're still capable of putting a halt in outside activities until they pass, however, and you should probably not stand close to one just on principle.

...unless, of course, you live in [[HollywoodScience the land of make-believe]]. There, only the visible funnel cloud is actually capable of damaging anything, and even then they usually don't even stir up any debris. Never mind that in real life the funnel cloud is not the tornado itself, but only the ''center'' of it, with a wide radius of 300+ MPH ground winds rotating around it and ripping up trees, cars and [[Film/{{Twister}} cows]] and tearing entire houses out of their foundations. Forget the fact that even an EF-1 power tornado (on a scale of 5) can rip the roofs off buildings and destroy mobile homes (an EF-5 tornado's damage level is scientifically described as [[StuffBlowingUp "explosive"]]). In fiction, you'll be perfectly safe, no matter how powerful the storm, as long as the physical funnel cloud does not touch you.

Is this the kind of thinking that can get you seriously injured or even killed in RealLife? [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs You'd better believe it]]. Even experienced storm chasers have been known to be killed by these tornadoes. There have been people who have survived coming remarkably close to tornadoes, but by every account every one of them was convinced they would die even as it happened. The even greater risk lies in being bludgeoned by one of the objects circling in the air around it. In reality, if you're less than a mile away from the storm, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck you're in trouble]]. '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Big]]''' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck trouble]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy,'' the funnel cloud is in the Griffins' front yard before they decide that they should run for the storm cellar.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

Uses the same [[RuleOfPerception "scientific" principles]] as ConvectionSchmonvection, which basically state that only the visually obvious thing is dangerous -- you can come very close to natural danger but if you don't touch it, you'll be fine. See also UnrealisticBlackHole, which is this trope [[AC:[[RecycledINSPACE In Space!]]]]

...unless, of course, you live in [[HollywoodScience the land of make-believe]]. There, only the visible funnel cloud is actually capable of damaging anything, and even then they usually don't even stir up any debris. Never mind that in real life the funnel cloud is not the tornado itself, but only the ''center'' of it, with a wide radius of 300+ MPH ground winds rotating around it and ripping up trees, cars and [[Film/{{Twister}} cows]] and tearing entire houses out of their foundations. Forget the fact that even an EF-1 power tornado (on a scale of 5) can rip the roofs off buildings and turn cars into flying battering rams (an EF-5 tornado's damage level is scientifically described as [[StuffBlowingUp "explosive"]]). In fiction, you'll be perfectly safe, no matter how powerful the storm, as long as the physical funnel cloud does not touch you.

* The most obvious example is, of course, ''Film/{{Twister}}''. But pay special attention to when the giant F-5 tornado picks up TheRival's SUV only after the physical funnel cloud touches it, and how the heroes are able to survive being out in the open during that same mega-twister without being flayed alive by the super-strong winds and flying debris. It's at least inconsistently averted, though, because there are multiple times where you'll see stuff being thrown around when the visible funnel clouds are actually quite distant. Notably, the "flying cow" scene. Interestingly, while the winds are apparently strong enough to blow a house off its foundations and roll it (intact) across the road our heroes our driving on, it's apparently not strong enough to, say, roll their ''midsized pickup truck'' off the road. And how everything except the heroes and whatever they're driving gets picked up/ripped out of the ground/pulled toward the tornadoes (fence posts being yanked out of the ground right behind them while the F5 is still a ways away, the tanker truck flying around while their pickup is still grounded, the jumping tornado yanking up a series of power poles and throwing motorboats around, etc.). The AppliedPhlebotinum that is the focal point of the movie functions correctly outside the funnel cloud, even though it requires high winds to work.
** It could also be interpreted in that all the main characters and their vehicles have PlotArmor that protects them until the funnel cloud touches them. Everything else reacts as it would in a real tornado.

* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'': When Furiosa is chased into the enormous sandstorm she is chased by warboys in smaller cars. When one gets close, she ''eases it into a tornado'' by pushing against it with her own truck, while her own truck is unaffected.

*** Because he's [[MemeticBadass Auron]]?
*** Possibly because he's [[DeadAllAlong Auron]].

* Jumping [[FunnelCloudJourney into a tornado]] in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', perhaps ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' is encouraged. Not to mention the surrounding platforms are completely unharmed except for occasional flying debris. Possibly lampshaded in the latter; Knuckles shouts for help when sucked up, despite it being the only possible way forward for himself and Shadow.

* In the second ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' game, Cate travels to a small town in Ohio while it is under attack from a tornado. There, she has to discover clues about [[FunWithAcronyms H.A.R.M.]]'s plan while fending off waves of female {{Ninja}}. Meanwhile, the funnel cloud is moving around them conveniently destroying houses while leaving everything beyond the immediate vicinity intact. Also, the fight with the ninja boss takes place in a house that ''has been picked up by the tornado''.

Is this the kind of thinking that can get you seriously injured or even killed in RealLife? [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs You'd better believe it]]. There are several examples in the RealLife tab below, including a tornado that killed four experienced storm chasers. There have been people who have survived coming remarkably close to tornadoes, but by every account every one of them was convinced they would die even as it happened. The even greater risk lies in being bludgeoned by one of the objects circling in the air around it. In reality, if you're less than a mile away from the storm, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck you're in trouble]]. '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Big]]''' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck trouble]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Naturally averted. However, for lower grade tornadoes, this really isn't a concern, so long as you stay in a safe location. Once you start getting up to F3 and beyond, it's time to run... to suitable cover. Where you will hunker down, with something soft protecting you, while praying to the deity of your choice, if you so desire. Just to make things clear, you should ''not'' be attempting to outrun a tornado. Even assuming you could move faster than the funnel cloud, you'd probably get a 2x4 through the head for being out in the open, or [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz get hit by a house]].
* If conditions are right there can be no visible funnel at all. It's made from debris and water vapor after all.
* The violent [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYe5NsxeB6M Manchester Tornado]] is a very good example of the deceptive size of these storms. While the condensation funnel is hardly small, the dirt whipped up around it ''tripled'' the size of the visible funnel, which causes it to represent the size much more accurately. If the ground had been wet enough however, it's very likely that the chasers would have been sucked into the vortex getting as close as they did to the funnel cloud.
* On March 28, 2000, [[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas]] was severely damaged after a particularly bad storm system spawned a number of tornadoes. One managed to beat the odds and run right through downtown Ft. Worth--some buildings were destroyed outright, and a few skyline buildings had to be demolished later. That the tornado sucked up so much debris complicated the cleanup process. Since most of the highrise buildings in Ft. Worth and other major Sunbelt cities are faced entirely of reflective glass, to cut down on air conditioning costs, the tornado amounted to a [[FromBadToWorse funnel cloud made out of shards of broken glass]]. Downtown Ft. Worth was barricaded off for a few days after the storm, because large pieces of broken glass continued to fall out of the window frames.
** In 2012, some [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17605586 striking images]] of another tornado in the DFW area have emerged, stirring up ''whole trucks''.
* A tornado that [[MillionToOneChance blew through Salt Lake City]] happened during the lunch hour news broadcasts. One reporter called the news studio while only [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8HgzXzZQgc a couple of blocks away from the funnel.]] The effects of the tornado can be heard in the audio, despite the reporter's distance from the funnel. In typical tornado fashion, damage was strangely haphazard--an exposition was being held in two enormous tents set up next to one another. The tornado destroyed one (killing a man) and left the other virtually untouched--neither were hit directly by the funnel, however.
* On May 31, 2013, several storm chasers had their vehicles hit by an EF-3 multiple vortex tornado that was '''2.6 MILES WIDE''' just south of El Reno, Oklahoma. Among them was respected tornado scientist Tim Samaras, who was killed along with the two other people in the vehicle, his son Paul Samaras and colleague Carl Young. [[http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?29858-2013-05-31-MISC-KS-OK-MO-IL/page19 Some other chasers and meteorologists]] who witnessed the storm have speculated that this tornado had an unusually large area of extremely intense winds extending away from the visible funnel cloud, which may have contributed to the veteran chasers being caught off-guard.
** It was, unfortunately, a real life example of touching the funnel cloud. The tornado suddenly expanded to record size and started moving at [[AdvancingWallOfDoom 55mph]]. One chaser was caught but managed to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxgU1QcFMJM drive out of the tornado]]; Tim Samaras was just a few seconds behind on the same road and ran into a subvortex that had moved onto the road between the two cars.
** [[https://youtu.be/TBjr-nvA2Jg?t=20m34s The difference between the condensation vortex and the radius of the tornadic winds.]]
* As described above, tornadoes can be incredibly capricious. The 2013 Moore, Oklahoma tornado destroyed most of the town, including smashing a bowling alley to bits. However, in one lane it left all 10 pins standing.
* Tornadoes can also happen in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia, much to the surprise of people who think it [[OnlyInAmerica only ever happens in the USA]]. British tornadoes are nowhere near the power and intensity of their American relatives but can still cause structural damage and consternation. The exposed and largely flat UsefulNotes/EastAnglia is Ground Zero, though they can occur anywhere if the conditions are right. One tornado, which began as a waterspout in the North Sea but came inland, is blamed for having caused an otherwise inexplicable [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial rain of fish]] over the coastal town of Cromer, Norfolk.
** To be fair, over 75% of all tornadoes occur in the US, which averages around 1,300 a year. The second country on the list is Canada, which averages only 100.
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* ''[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Wonder Woman 600'': [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica Cyclone]] creates a funnel that picks up a whole slew of adult men but doesn't effect anything or anyone right next to it.