History Main / KnockoutGas

* ''Film/CommandoCodySkyMarshalOfTheUniverse''. The villains use a spray to knock out guards when sneaking into Cody's office or rocketship. It's pointed out that the guards will think they fell asleep on duty and therefore wouldn't admit that anything was wrong.

In fiction, one of the easiest ways to incapacitate an opponent or group of opponents is to get them in a closed room and pump in Knockout Gas. Some forms of Knockout Gas are an area-effect form of InstantSedation: as soon as the victims breathe it, they cough weakly a few times and then slump to the floor unconscious. Other forms give the victim enough time to lay down comfortably before falling asleep.

Usually delivered as a visible fog, and often [[TechnicolorScience brightly colored]] as well, but invisible gas is also common, particularly in budget-conscious productions. Knockout Gas can be delivered through special vents just for that purpose, or it can be pumped in through the regular ventilation system. As with other forms of sedation, dosage doesn't seem to matter. The effects last just long enough for maximum tension or drama. Recovery tends to be just as fast as the onset, and the victims rarely suffer any lasting effects beyond, perhaps, a mild headache. Nobody ever seems to crack their skull or otherwise get hurt when falling down, either.

* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'': One of [[spoiler:Touka]]'s concoctions functions this way when tossed onto a fire, he has a version of it that is altered to be more deadly as well though it is possible this is the same concoction in different amounts since the "antidote" that prevents one from passing out dead asleep from the first version still works with it, it just does not prevent the victim from becoming ill and dying. It also takes a bit longer to put those inhaling it to sleep than most examples.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianding'', the {{Geisha}} dancer turns out to be a master thief, Kaguya, who reveals herself by dropping a SmokeBomb full of nerve gas knocking out everyone in a room in order to steal a valuable Macguffin item. Unfortunately for ''her'', you're a master thief yourself (of the JustLikeRobinHood variety) who beats her to the punch by pickpocketing Kaguya's intended victim, escaping before her gas affects you. She then challenges you to a duel leading to a difficult boss fight.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower She-Ra: Princess of Power]]'' once features a scene where villain Hordak sprays one of the heroes with some sleep gas from his [[SwissArmyAppendage Swiss Army Hand]]. The hero gets off an exclamation and keels over. Hordak then comments that he's going to have to have a word with his scientists; the victim shouldn't have had time to say anything before succumbing.

* Brainships in ''Literature/TheShipWho'' books are able to flood their compartments with "sleepygas" to knock out passengers. While it works without issue several times, it takes a few seconds to take effect, so sometimes characters counter it.

* ''Series/{{Believe}}'': Skouras tries to use this (or possibly DeadlyGas, but the fact that he has henchmen in gas masks with guns on hand suggests that the gas itself wouldn't have killed her) on Dani in the finale. She manages to neutralize it with her PsychicPowers, something that even with all of his years studying people like her he didn't think was possible.

* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967''. The sleeping gas used on Number 6 in his apartment in the first episode (and each episode's opening title).
* ''Series/Danger5:'' Used to knock out Tucker and Jackson in "Diamond Girls" while they guard a secure bank vault.
* ''Series/DoctorWho''. The Master uses this to subdue the Doctor and Jo Grant when they break into his TARDIS in "Colony in Space"
* A constantly-recurring staple of both villains and heroes on ''Series/Batman1966'', most often in the form of colorful Knockout Gas.
** "The Bookworm Turns". The sleeping gas released by the Bookworm's booby-trapped book renders Robin unconscious in seconds.
** "While Gotham City Burns". The Bookworm uses a package booby-trapped with sleep gas to render Alfred and Aunt Harriet unconscious so he can steal a book from the Wayne manor library.
** In "Hi Diddle Diddle" and "Smack in the Middle" the Riddler uses an aerosol can of sleeping gas to put Robin to sleep.
** "The Ring of Wax". The Riddler renders a guard unconscious with gas released from a candle.
** In "The Joker Goes To School" the Joker tampers with a milk machine so that it shackles the Dynamic Duo, then releases knockout gas before they can free themselves.
** Batman, himself, used it several times when there was a reason he had to bring someone to the Batcave. He even had a can of Bat Awake that could reverse the effects just as quickly.
* ''Series/SimonAndSimon'' episode "Under the Knife" has A.J. gassed in a hospital room and in danger of unnecessary surgery when the brothers get too close to the truth in a malpractice scam.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Space Seed". After Khan takes over the Enterprise, Kirk orders that all decks be flooded with Neural Gas, which would render everyone aboard unconscious. That attempt fails, but later the attempt succeeds.

* ''Series/TheWildWildWest''
** In the episode "The Night of the Sudden Death", invisible gas pumped in from a gaslight lamp [[AndSomeOtherStuff with an unspecified additive]] is used to fill a very large U.S. Mint set and knock out several people within seconds.

* In the "Biology 101" episode of ''Series/{{Community}}'', a variant of Knockout Gas intended for monkeys ("Chimpan-Zzz" brand) is pumped into the Greendale air vents. It turns out to work on humans too, with the additional side effects of causing hallucinations and references to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
* In the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "Inquisition", Atlantis' first team is taken out by Knockout Gas in a cell, before being moved to another planet through the Stargate so the rest of the expedition can't find them.
* In ''Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow'' episode "Cobraman!", while the team is trapped inside the Battletram by Carl, who forces the team to watch the MC Bat Commander fight the Cobraman, Jimmy the Robot detaches one of his hands and remote controls it so as to access a knockout gas button that, when activated, knocks out Carl and the rest of the team inside (Jimmy, being a robot, isn't affected by the gas), effectively freeing the team from Carl's clutches.
* Skouras tries to use this (or possibly DeadlyGas, but the fact that he had henchmen in gas masks with guns on hand suggests that the gas itself wouldn't have killed her) on Dani in the finale of ''Series/{{Believe}}''. She manages to neutralize it with her PsychicPowers, something that even with all of his years studying people like her he didn't think was possible.
* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': An instantly sedating knockout gas was one of the weapon systems on the attack helicopter in "Honest Abe".
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''.
** In "Lady Killer", Root escapes from the mental hospital this way, as per the page quote.
** In "Razgovor", Shaw and the VictimOfTheWeek do an AirVentEscape in an old apartment building, so TheMafiya thugs chasing them do a field improvised version by puncturing the air conditioning system, causing chlorodifluoromethane to flood into the vents.
* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Need to Know", the KGB snatch a DoubleAgent from a VulnerableConvoy, but don't want to invite retaliation by killing British agents, so use stun gas instead. [[spoiler:We later discover the snatch is a BatmanGambit by George Cowley, who is covering his men with a sniper rifle in case the KGB decided to use more lethal means. Bodie and Doyle weren't in on the plan, so aren't happy when they regain consciousness.]]
* ''Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond''. Creator/IanFleming demonstrates a fountain pen that sprays knockout gas (among other [[ShoePhone gadgets]]) for some visiting top brass. Unfortunately, he does this by gassing his SassySecretary, who is not amused when she wakes up.
* In one episode of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', Megan puts out a canister of knockout gas when the boys keep her up at night with their arguing. She uses another one at the end of the episode when they get into another argument.
* Sona gas is mentioned specifically in the ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episodes "Mission to Destiny" and "Pressure Point". Presumably there are other kinds. In "Volcano", Tarrant and Dayna are walking through a BBCQuarry when aliens on the cliffs above fire a narcotic gas over their heads that drifts down as mist and knocks them out. A concentrated dose from the same weapon is later used as a DeadlyGas to kill someone.
-->'''Tarrant:''' It can't be raining? ''(keels over)''

* ''Series/TheBarrier'': A truck secretly transporting a group of children between two locations has its back filled with a gas that puts all its occupants asleep, except for the guard wearing a gas mask.

Though anesthetic and hypnotic gasses of many sorts exist, and are still occasionally used in veterinary medicine,[[note]]though "gassing down" is invariably a tactic of last resort,[[/note]] all have the properties of being fairly slow-acting, decidedly dosage-dependent, and fairly easily lethal, unlike the gasses in this trope. '''[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Therefore, please refrain from citing real life examples.]]'''

* ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} uses trick arrows, one of which, is a knock-out gas arrow.
* ComicBook/{{Batman}} has used knockout gas from various sources: bombs, canisters, guns, etc.
* As with the movie and TV versions, the comic versions of ComicBook/TheGreenHornet have also used knockout gas.

* Creator/DCComics' golden age hero [[ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre Sandman]], one of the members of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica, used a knockout gas gun. Later versions of the character also used knockout gas.
* In ''ComicBook/JetDream'', Jet uses "Kayo Powder" [[ShoePhone in a makeup compact]] for this effect.
* In ''Recap/TintinTintinInAmerica'', the Gangsters Syndicate of Chicago uses knockout gas on Tintin after dropping him through a TrapDoor and before dumping him into Lake Michigan. In the comic, they planned to use a DeadlyGas instead but got mixed up; in the Ellipse-Nelvana AnimatedAdaptation, they failed to account for Snowy instead.
* In ''ComicBook/AmericanFlagg'', Somnabutol™, in low doses, is a recreational drug. In higher doses, it's "the Official Riot Control Device of the 1996 East Coast Meltdown." Also described as "like a wet dream without the hot parts."