History Main / ReusableLighterToss

* In the web short Film/DirtyLaundry the "[[Film/ThePunisher2004 main character]]" subverts this trope by leaving the lighter behind after dousing the villain in alcohol. [[spoiler: Then it is played straight and justified by one of the villain's victims as she picks it up and tosses it on him.]]

[[folder:VideoGame]]

But this trope doesn't just need a light, it needs a light that stays lit when you toss it. Disposable lighters do not stay lit by design, as a safety measure. A cigarette, cigar, or flare just doesn't fit the scene (and the former two [[RealityIsUnrealistic don't actually burn hot enough to ignite gasoline]]). A match [[HardToLightFire might go out before it lights the fire]]. So what do you do? [[BrandNameTakeover Zippo]] to the rescue! Zippo lighters have a distinctive design that was originally based on a similar Austrian lighter made by IMCO. It is "windproof" (as described by Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter here]]) and uses a wick and oil to keep the flame lit until you close the top. They have been in use for decades, but this trope seems to be relatively new.

* In the first episode, "Non Est Asylum", John ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' tosses a lighter on a magic circle to help him trap a demon and send it back to hell. [[note]]He is seen playing with the lighter before that scene, and after the scene he is playing with a lighter again. It is not made clear if it is the same lighter or a new one.[[/note]]

* ''Series/Warehouse13'' season 2, episode 4, the villain of the week tosses a lighter to get rid of evidence.

[[caption-width-right:348: [[LampshadeHanging You do know that a Zippo costs about $20 bucks, right?]]]]

* ''Series/FBIMostWanted'': In "Dopesick", the leader of the [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels outlaw biker gang]] who helps Dr. Brock disappear has Brock's car crushed and douses it in gasoline. He tosses a Zippo to one of his underlings who lights it and tosses it on to the car.

* After Franchise/{{Wolverine}} was attacked by a man with a flamethrower, his assailant gets his fuel tank pierced, leaving him in a puddle of fuel. Then the burned-but-regenerating Wolvie notes that even though his clothes were burned off, his Zippo still works...

* Zigzagged in ''Film/DirtyLaundry''. ComicBook/ThePunisher breaks the legs of a gang leader who raped a prostitute, then douses him in whiskey, lights up a Zippo and places it on the ground just outside the pool of flammable liquid. Then he walks off and goes to finish doing his laundry. At that point the prostitute walks up, picks up the lighter and [[TheDogBitesBack plays the trope straight]].
** Averted in ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' when the Mafia hood soaks the jetty Frank Castle is lying on up to the stairway, then just holds his gold-plated Zippo against the fuel to set it alight.

* After {{Wolverine}} was attacked by a man with a flamethrower, his assailant gets his fuel tank pierced, leaving him in a puddle of fuel. Then the burned-but-regenerating Wolvie notes that even though his clothes were burned off, his Zippo still works...

** and tho it is less often seen - as body clean up seems to be mostly "off camera" - when they do show a body being burned, the series seems to have returned to the Zippo for the last seasons, right up to one last toss in the series finale.

* In ''Film/BlackSheep2007'', the titular mutant sheep are ended via a toss of a Zippo and their own methane gas. It's an explosive combination.

* ''Film/TheButchers'': After being soaked in kerosene when Kip smashes a lantern on him, the Zodiac Killer is set alight when Daisy tosses Simon JB's lighter, who ignites it and drops it in the spilled fuel.

** Averted in ''Film/ThePunisher'' when the Mafia hood soaks the jetty Frank Castle is lying on up to the stairway, then just holds his gold-plated Zippo against the fuel to set it alight.

** [[spoiler:Ricardo Diaz]] is murdered in his prison cell by being soaked with gasoline pumped through the sprinkler system, then someone throws a lit Zippo into the cell. He actually catches the lighter before it hits the ground, only for his hand and then the rest of his body to go up in flame.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In the episode "Burned", a pyro attempts to light someone on fire by tossing a lit zippo but Arrow in typical hero fashion fires an arrow at mid flight. It is still gone and never recovered.

But this trope doesn't just need a light, it needs a light that stays lit when you toss it. Disposable lighters do not stay lit by design. A cigarette, cigar, or flare just doesn't fit the scene. A match [[HardToLightFire might go out before it lights the fire]]. So what do you do? [[BrandNameTakeover Zippo]] to the rescue! Zippo lighters have a distinctive design that was originally based on a similar Austrian lighter made by IMCO. It is "windproof" (as described by Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter here]]) and uses a wick and oil to keep the flame lit until you close the top. They have been in use for decades, but this trope seems to be relatively new.

The main reason for this trope is about the mechanics of the device and how it can keep a flame while being tossed from the hand. While the character lighting the fire could use a disposable lighter, they would have to bend down to light the flammable item on fire, and that is just not cool looking (disposables are designed to self-extinguish when dropped as a safety measure). Often this trope is used [[RuleOfCool for dramatic effect]] as well. While the character flicks open the lighter and snaps the flame into existence, he or she can do a bit of monologuing (and possibly [[SmokingIsCool light a smoke for themselves]] or [[OneLastSmoke their victim]] into the bargain). At the end of the scene, they toss the lighter, the flames begin, and often this leads to someone's [[KillItWithFire death by fire]], or a [[StuffBlowingUp very big explosion]]. Equally often a character will do an UnflinchingWalk as the flames rage behind them.