History Main / FlyingBroomstick

** And before her, Kamek from ''[=~Yoshi's Island~=]'' and ''{{Partners in Time}}'' fame.

* The Wicked Witch of the west rides one in the film version of ''Film/{{The Wizard of Oz}}''. (In [[TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the original novel]] she carries an umbrella instead of the traditional broomstick, because her secret weakness is... well... water.)

* The Wicked Witch of the west rides one in the film version of ''{{The Wizard of Oz}}''. (In the original novel she carries an umbrella instead of the traditional broomstick, because her secret weakness is... well... water.)

* The end of Act One of ''[[{{Theatre/Wicked}} Wicked]]'' shows how Elphaba, [[TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West]], succeeded in escaping the Wizard's thugs by enchanting her broom to fly, while singing "[[IAmBecomingSong Defying Gravity]]".

* In ''HocusPocus'', Winifred was the only one who got a (modern) broom. Sarah had a mop and Mary had the vacuum cleaner.

* In the ''HarryPotter'' universe, flying broomsticks come in a variety of makes and models. Then there's the spells that go with them and a popular sport, Quidditch, that employs them.
** In ''{{Quidditch Through the Ages}}'', it is said that brooms come with a cushioning charm on them, so ''Harry Potter'' has AWizardDidIt {{Handwave}}. ''Quidditch Through the Ages'' also lampshades how these are probably the magical community's worst-kept secret, stating that "no Muggle drawing of a wizard or witch is complete without one."

* The Lancre witches of ''{{Discworld}}''. And in ''Discworld/EqualRites'', Granny Weatherwax once had to make do with her protégé's wizard staff. (Earlier in the book, Esk had disguised the staff by sticking bristles on it, which is one theory as to the origins of flying brooms in the first place.)

* In the ''HarryPotter'' universe, flying broomsticks come in a variety of makes and models. Then there's the spells that go with them and a popular sport, Quidditch that employs them.

* In TheDCU, {{Starman}} foe the Prairie Witch rode on a flying broomstick. Starman was convinced that it was some kind of technological trick until he yanked it away from her (causing her to plummet to the ground) and discovered it was a perfectly ordinary broom.

* Kammy Koopa from ''PaperMario'' has one. Some of the Magikoopas do, as well.

This is AwesomeButImpractical, as brooms weren't designed to be ridden upon. You would crash more than on a motorcycle, and would then fall from very high up.

* The end of Act One of ''{{Wicked}}'' shows how Elphaba, [[TheWizardOfOz The Wicked Witch of the West]], succeeded in escaping the Wizard's thugs by enchanting her broom to fly, while singing "[[IAmBecomingSong Defying Gravity]]".

According to TheOtherWiki the idea of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broom#Brooms_and_witchcraft witches riding on brooms]] goes back to at least [[IstanbulNotConstantinople 1453]], making this OlderThanPrint. In the original woodcuts, they've got the head or brush part in front, logical enough since the original witch's broom was a staff with a carved phallic end and the brush was tied on as a disguise.

** And in ''Discworld/Thud'', the wizards speed up a carriage in part by nailing broomsticks to the bottom to make it hover.

* On his very first appearance in the ''[[{{ComicBook/Spider-Man}} The Amazing Spider-Man]]'', the Green Goblin flew around on a high-tech version of a broomstick. Subsequent appearances replaced this with the trademark Goblin Glider.

[[HarryPotter http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harrypotter_nimbus2000_49.jpg]]

->''"My Other Car Is A Broom"''
-->- [[SeenItAMillionTimes Bumper sticker]].

'''Examples:'''

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* In ''[[{{ptitlexrbr0err}} Kiki's Delivery Service]]'', Kiki normally uses a traditionally made broom. At the end of the film, however, she is forced to improvise, using a mass-produced deck brush. The deck brush works, but is extremely difficult to control.
* ''OjamajoDoremi'' had a button on the girls' taps in the first two seasons that summoned their brooms, but the cutscene is skipped in ''Motto'' and ''Dokkan''. Humorously, Majorika flew by using a ''dustpan''.
* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'', several minor magical characters have brooms, and Negi uses a staff that's functionally the same.

** In the manga, Urd's broomstick is so jazzed up with magic, it is sentient. When Belldandy borrows it, love blooms. Weird, twisted, 'sweep with me!' love. Yes, sweep.
* In ''SoulEater'', we first see Medusa riding a broom....that has an arrow/snakehead. JustifiedTrope in that Medusa can affect the gravity of ''anything'' with her arrows. So her broom has a gravity in the direction of the arrow.

* Dorothy of ''{{MAR}}'' rides a broom, preferring it even over the carpet the other characters ride. It doubles as her standard weapon. The broom is about her only trait that most would consider telling for her classification of 'witch'. In MAR Heaven, it's just the name of a person from a restrictive country. None of the other characters from the same place are seen with brooms.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

* Often seen (along with occasionally the vacuum cleaner variant) in the ''ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' comic.
* ''WendyTheGoodLittleWitch'' (CasperTheFriendlyGhost's friend) used to ride a broom (sentient in some stories, and called Broomie); now she rides a flying vacuum cleaner.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* The Wicked Witch of the west rides one in the film version of ''TheWizardOfOz''. (In the original novel she carries an umbrella instead of the traditional broomstick, because her secret weakness is... well... water.)
* ''BedknobsAndBroomsticks,'' [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin surprisingly enough...]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

** In ''QuidditchThroughTheAges'', it is said that brooms come with a cushioning charm on them, so ''Harry Potter'' has AWizardDidIt {{Handwave}}.
** ''Quidditch Through the Ages'' also lampshades how these are probably the magical community's worst-kept secret, stating that "no Muggle drawing of a wizard or witch is complete without one".

* The Lancre witches of ''{{Discworld}}''. And in ''Equal Rites'', Granny Weatherwax once had to make do with her protege's wizard staff. (Earlier in the book, Esk had disguised the staff by sticking bristles on it, which is one theory as to the origins of flying brooms in the first place.)
** In ''Wyrd Sisters'' it's said you need magic to keep a broomstick up, but other books suggest the magic is intrinsic to the broom, and even Rincewind can fly one. (In ''Lords & Ladies'' Nanny Ogg complains her grandkids keep joy-riding on hers, and in ''Going Postal'', Moist Von Lipwig just paints an ordinary broomstick blue with stars, in order to fool the antagonist into thinking it was a real one.)

** Granny's broomstick is described as [[TheAllegedCar the magical equivalent of a split window Morris Minor]], and the dwarf craftsman who looks at it is amazed it flew at all. In later books it's been fixed up, but still needs a running start.
*** Or, as in one case of escaping danger, just outright jumping off a cliff qualifies as a 'running start'.

** And in ''Thud'', the wizards speed up a carriage in part by nailing broomsticks to the bottom to make it hover.

* There's a book about an apprentice witch titled ''Wise Child''. There's a scene where the main character must go on some kind of spirit quest or something and she actually used the broomstick in, uh, the way described by Meiriona; the whole "flying" effect was due to the hallucinogenics being absorbed through a, shall we say, tender area.

* Meg, from the ''MegAndMog'' children's book series, rides a broomstick.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

** NicoleKidman (aka Samantha) rides one in the 2004 film.
* At least one episode of ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' had her on a flying vacuum cleaner.
* ''MahouSentaiMagiranger'' had a spin on this, hoverbikes that transformed from brooms. There was also a flying carpet for the SixthRanger.

* A Halloween episode of ''{{Charmed}}'' reveals Phoebe's dislike for the "cackling hags on broomsticks cliche", until time travelling shenanigens reveal that she created the cliche, much to her amusement.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* One magic item in most editions of ''DungeonsAndDragons'' is some kind of flying broom, along with a magic carpet and a winglike cape. Notably, near any object could be enchanted for this purpose... Autonomous ass-kicking animated broom is also available.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Maple the Witch from ''TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' has first a broom, then a vacuum cleaner, then a ''flying saucer''.
** Koume and Kotake from ''OcarinaOfTime'' also ride broomsticks.
* Arche from ''TalesOfPhantasia'' flies around on a broom.

** This appears in the anime, fittingly enough in an episode involving a pastiche of the HarryPotter books. (BetterThanItSounds)

** And before her, Kamek from ''[=~Yoshi's Island~=]'' and ''PartnersInTime'' fame.
* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' during the Hallow's End event, the summoned Headless Horseman can sometimes drop flying brooms that can be used as mounts as part of his loot. Unfortunately for players, they only last 14 days.

* [[FreedomForce Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich]] features Red Oktober, a [[RussiansWithRustingRockets Soviet]] witch. When she flies into the air, it's on a broomstick.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* {{Hanna-Barbera}}'s ''WinsomeWitch.''

** In ''Bewitched Bunny'', HanselAndGretel - having been warned off by BugsBunny - jeer at Witch Hazel as they're departing her cottage: "Ahhh, your mother rides a vacuum cleaner!"
* In ''ChipAndDaleRescueRangers'', there is a cleaning woman-gone-witch named Winifred who flies around on a magic hoover.

* Witch Hazel from the ClassicDisneyShort ''Trick or Treat'', and subsequent appearances in Dusney comics, has a broom named Beelzebub, which acts as both her servant and her mode of transport.

* ''BedknobsAndBroomsticks''

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the 4Kids dub of ''WinxClub'' when Tecna says, "Real witches don't ride brooms, Zing. You've been watching too many of Bloom's Earth DVDs."

This is AwesomeButImpractical, as brooms weren't designed to be ridden upon. You would crash more than on a motorcycle, and would then fall from very hogh up.

** In battle too, refreshingly. She also uses them for her weapons.

* Somehow subverted in ''{{Narutaru}}'' with Jun Ezumi, a girl who rides a flying broom that really is a "dragon", one of the {{Mons}} equivalent of the series. The protagonist Shiina even mistakes her for a witch, but Jun, if this troper can remember well, says she choose that specific form for her dragon (aptly if not creatively named "Broom") just for fun.

* Dorothy of {{MAR}} rides a broom, preferring it even over the carpet the other characters ride. It doubles as her standard weapon. The broom is about her only trait that most would consider telling for her classification of 'witch'. In MAR Heaven, it's just the name of a person from a restrictive country. None of the other characters from the same place are seen with brooms.

* In the indie comic Underburbs, main character Angela is a witch who rides a broom, complete with a black cat living in it. Bearing in mind the broom was part of a Halloween costume made real by magic.

* The fourth installment of ''Fantaghiro'' played with this one hard: When Xellesia and the Black Queen realize that the latter can't transform into anything that flies, they seek an alternate means (including carpets, rejected because they only work well in [[ArabianNightsDays Arabian Nights Land]]) and eventually settle on the brooms, despite the Black Queen complaining that they will look ridiculous.

* A Halloween episode of {{Charmed}} reveals Phoebe's dislike for the "cackling hags on broomsticks cliche", until time travelling shenanigens reveal that she created the cliche, much to her amusement.

* {{Hanna-Barbera}}'s ''Winsome Witch.''

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