History Main / HelplessKicking

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': While being held by the dragon Zirconis, all Lucy can do is flail her legs in empty air out of fear of [[EatenAlive his intent to eat her alive]] after dragging (err, flying as it were) her into the sky. Even after narrowly avoiding being eaten alive by him thanks to her friends intervention, Lucy knows that Zirconis still intends to eat her, but all she can do is flail her legs in the air out of terror while still trapped in his grip.

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** In the Cell Saga both androids 17 and 18 kick as they are being absorbed by Cell. 17's kicks, while no less desperate, are a bit more restrained of the two. 18, meanwhile, flails her legs far more wild and aggressively as she is being [[SwallowedWhole swallowed alive.]]

* ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'':
** Burke is hiding from the ''Tyrannosaurus'' in a cave behind a waterfall when a snake falls on his neck. In a panic, he leaves the hiding spot and is caught by the dinosaur. Though his death happens off-screen, he is shown being lifted off the ground, his legs flailing violently before the waterfall is tinged red with his blood.
** During the ''T. rex'''s rampage through San Diego, it lifts a man by the torso. The victim screams and flails his legs helplessly before the dinosaur finally closes its jaws, killing him.
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': After the ''Indominus rex'' [[spoiler:convinces the Raptor Squad to turn on the humans]], the soldiers are killed one by one, with their deaths being presented from the victims' points of view, courtesy of the cameras installed on their suits. One of them is shown kicking helplessly while being dragged to his demise.
** During her fabulous death scene, Zara flails her legs about as she's [[KidnappingBirdOfPrey snatched up by a pteranodon]] then dropped in the Mossasaur lake. She continues flailing as a different pteranodon tries multiple times to carry her out of the lake. Which is probably what got the attention of the mossasaur that ultimately devours her.

* Music/{{Lit}}: "Music/{{Miserable}}." Happens multiple times at the end of the video. When GiantWoman [[Creator/PamelaAnderson Pam]]/[[Series/{{VIP}} Val]] is hunting down and eating the band members alive, she picks up drummer Allen Shellenberger and dangles him by his collar. Allen kicks his legs as she's dangling him and when she pops him into her mouth and devours him. After she grabs lead singer Ajay Popoff and dangles him much like she did Allen, Ajay also kicks his legs in a similar manner. However, his legs start kicking a lot more frantically when she tosses him in the air and catches him in her mouth.

-> ''His legs are dangling in a comical fashion - Oh! - it's the saddest thing I've ever seen!''

[[caption-width-right:350:Well this [[{{Pun}} sucks]].]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Music/{{Best Friend|2014}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20230322_083413_kindlephoto_2045200098.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Music/BestFriend https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20230322_083413_kindlephoto_2045200098.png]]]]

* ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'': In the Director's Cut, Seymour is wrapped in vines and ''slowly'' pulled into Audrey II's maw, only able to feebly kick his feet as the plant slurps him down.

-->-- '''Arnie Pye''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

-->-- Arnie Pye, WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons

* This happens often in ''Anime/BloodC'' whenever there's an Elder Bairn that can eat humans. Two prominent examples are the spider Elder Bairns who ambushes Saya's school and grabs one student who is screaming and helplessly kicking her legs until the Elder Bairns bites her and swallows her whole. Another Cerberus Elder Bairn [[spoiler:where it grabs Nono by the ankle and Nono futilely kicks the Elder Bairns' hand until the Elder Bairns rips her in half and grabs Kanako, who flails her legs while screaming, and tries to swallow her whole until Saya kills it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode "Children of a Lesser Clod", Homer attempts to evade the police by crawling through a large pipe, but gets stuck almost immediately and his exposed legs kick pathetically. The observing Arnie Pye comments, "His legs are dangling in a comical fashion - Oh! - it's the saddest thing I've ever seen!"

* Music/{{Lit}}: "Music/{{Miserable}}." Happens multiple times at the end of the video. When GiantWoman Pam/Val is hunting down and eating the band members alive, she picks up drummer Allen Shellenberger and dangles him by his collar. Allen kicks his legs as she's dangling him and when she pops him into her mouth and devours him. After she grabs lead singer Ajay Popoff and dangles him much like she did Allen, Ajay also kicks his legs in a similar manner. However, his legs start kicking a lot more frantically when she tosses him in the air and catches him in her mouth.

* ''Series/CarnivalRow'': In "[[Recap/CarnivalRowS2E5Reckoning Reckoning]]", [[spoiler:Jonah Breakspear]] kicks his legs helplessly as he's hauled off the ground and has his torso slowly devoured by the monster that's been hunting in the Burgue.

* The poster for the film ''Choke'' shows the silhuoette of a woman's legs and high heels sticking out of a man's mouth and kicking like she's being EatenAlive. Televised ads even showed the poor woman's weak little kicks in motion.

* Happens often on ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', owing to the fact that people getting eaten by mindless giants is part of the premise. Two notable examples are: a member of the Scout Regiment who, when his squad gets attacked by a group of titans, the last we see of him are his legs sticking out of a titan's mouth and squirming about right before it slurps him. The other is during the fall of Wall Maria, when a panicked civilian woman gets plucked up and eaten by a titan. As she's carried out of frame [[LosingAShoeInTheStruggle one of her slippers falls off and lands in the foreground.]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': While being held by the dragon Zirconis, all Lucy can do is flail her legs in empty air out of fear of [[EatenAlive his intent to eat her alive]] after dragging (err flying as it were) her into the sky. Even after narrowly avoiding being eaten alive by him thanks to her friends intervention, Lucy knows that Zirconis still intends to eat her, but all she can do is flail her legs in the air out of terror while still trapped in his grip.

[[folder:FanWorks]]

** Burke is hiding from the ''Tyrannosaurus'' in a cave behind a waterfall, when a snake falls on his neck. In a panic, he leaves the hiding spot and is caught by the dinosaur. Though his death happens off-screen, he is shown being lifted off the ground, his legs flailing violently, before the waterfall is tinged red with his blood.

* ''Film/MenInBlack2'': After Serleena, the film's villainess, shapeshifts into a lingerie model she gets grabbed by a mugger. After he drags her behind a bush we hear him react with shock right before his legs fly up from behind and kick feebly before dissappearing as she swallows him alive.

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': This is a typical reaction of the damned who have their upper bodies stuck in a narrow cavity. Simoniacs are trapped headfirst in pits and their feet are costantly set on fire by mystical fire. Judas Iscariot, the ultimate traitor, can only flail his legs while Satan himself chomps his upper body and tears the skin off his spine.

* Music/{{Lit}}: "Music/{{Miserable}}." Happens multiple times at the end of the video. When GiantWoman Pam/Val is hunting down and eating the band members alive, she picks up drummer Allen Shellenberger and dangles him by his collar. Allen kicks his legs as she's dangling him and when she pops him into her mouth and devours him. After she grabs lead singer Ajay Popoff and dangles him much like she did Allen, Ajay also kicks his legs in a similar manner. However his legs start kicking a lot more frantically when she tosses him in the air and catches him in her mouth.

* ''WesternAnimation/BravestWarriors'': In one episode, the Bravest Warriors are tasked with saving the inhabitants of the flooding Planet Disproportia. Chris and Zachary Ryan are tasked with finding Ms. Irma, a hermit. They find her in a deep cave at the bottom of her well, stuck upside-down a hole, kicking her legs about.

[[/folder]]

!!Possible Indexes:

BodyLanguage

DeathTropes

HorrorTropes

StockOminousSigns

TheseTropesAreMadeForWalking

TropesOutOnALimb


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This is usually a visual shorthand to portray the victim as helpless and communicate their panic/fear, particularly in instances where their head or indeed entire upper body isn't otherwise visible. The [[BadAssTropes bad ass]] characters are usually not going to be shown going out like this, unless the story is trying to show how the thing or being killing them is so dangerous it reduces the toughest tough guy or ActionGirl to just another helpless, flailing victim, or because that said badass was caught off guard.

If the victim is an attractive female with nice legs, it often gets combined with FanService and/or InterplayOfSexAndViolence (even if unintentionally) as this trope by its very nature has some amount of LegFocus.

While more often a horror trope, it can just as easily be [[PlayedForLaughs played for comedy.]] Because the sight of a pair of legs flailing about can look rather goofy, especially in the right context and if the victim is ultimately alright once out of their predicament. And if the person's posterior is in the frame it adds a dash of JokeOfTheButt too.

* The poster for the film "Choke" shows the silhuoette of a woman's legs and high heels sticking out of a man's mouth and kicking like she's being EatenAlive. Televised ads even showed the poor woman's weak little kicks in motion.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** Babidi desperately kicks his legs when he his grabbed by the throat by Majin Buu, who turns on him due to threatening to seal him again.

[[folder:Films- Live-Action]]

* Film/MenInBlack2: After Serleena, the film's villainess, shapeshifts into a lingerie model she gets grabbed by a mugger. After he drags her behind a bush we hear him react with shock right before his legs fly up from behind and kick feebly before dissappearing as she swallows him alive.

[[folder:Films- Animated]]
* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'', when [[BrattyHalfPint Mowgli]] tries fighting [[BearyFriendly Baloo]], who effortlessly lifts him off the ground with both paws, pinning his arms to his side so all Mowgli can do is try repeatedly to kick at him, even though his legs clearly can't reach that far.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'': Played for laughs. Woody is pinned down by Bullseye and tickled by Jessie. When Andy's other toys arrive and witness the scene through a vent cover, they can't see much other than Woody screaming while flailing his limbs in the air, and conclude in horror that he is being tortured.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': this is a typical reaction of the damned who have their upper bodies stuck in a narrow cavity. Simoniacs are trapped headfirst in pits and their feet are costantly set on fire by mystical fire. Judas Iscariot, the ultimate traitor, can only flail his legs while Satan himself chomps his upper body and tears the skin off his spine.

* Music/{{Lit}}- Music/{{Miserable}}: Happens multiple times at the end of the video. When GiantWoman Pam/Val is hunting down and eating the band members alive, she picks up drummer Allen Shellenberger and dangles him by his collar. Allen kicks his legs as she's dangling him and when she pops him into her mouth and devours him. After she grabs lead singer Ajay Popoff and dangles him much like she did Allen, Ajay also kicks his legs in a similar manner. However his legs start kicking a lot more frantically when she tosses him in the air and catches him in her mouth.

* in the 2021 Christmas event of ''VideoGame/BloodyBattle'', there was a boss in the "Gift of Silent Nights" part of the event called the Unwrapper. If a player was caught by the Unwrapper, they'd be chewed up in its teeth. The animation that played while they were caught was the player flailing their legs around helplessly as they were being "unwrapped".

* ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'': [[spoiler: After beating Raven Beak in the final boss fight he stops messing around and grabs Samus by the throat, leaving her to struggle in helplessness until she hits her RageBreakingPoint]]

* PlayedForLaughs in the WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers episode "Hooray for Hollywood Planet." While a director is trying to shoot a scene with a giant alien lizard, it chomps down on him mid-rant. His stubby legs are shown comically flailing as they dangle out of the creature's mouth while he continues to rant. Unlike a lot of examples of this trope, it is non-fatal and he is fine in the next scene.

[[Music/BestFriend https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20230322_083413_kindlephoto_2045200098.png]]
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