History Main / SmashedEggsHatching

* The ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'' episode "Chicken Pox", where Kyle is turned into a chicken as a result of the affliction and has to lay an egg to be cured, said egg eventually hatches into a fairy who turns Kyle back to normal after Fanboy and Chum Chum crack the egg due to being too rough with it out of carelessness.

** The Rookery in Upper Blackrock Spire (home of the original LeeroyJenkins video) is a chamber filled with hundreds of dragon eggs. Stepping on the eggs causes them to hatch, quickly overwhelming your raid party if you're not careful.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' does this multiple times, including during the quest "The Clutches of Evil." You are tasked with destroying 15 Proto-Drake Eggs, which have a random chance of spawning a battle-ready Proto-Whelp upon destruction (note that the "Proto" refers to them being the evolutionary ancestors of the dragons, not that they are not-quite whelps).

** The game has the card "Nerubian Egg." Its "Deathrattle" ability, which triggers when it is killed, causes a fully grown Nerubian to emerge.
** The Naxxramas game board has spider egg sacs that, when poked enough, release baby spiders.
** The Blackrock Mountain game board has dragon eggs that, when poked enough, are destroyed. Sometimes there is nothing inside, but other times a dragon whelp flies out and toward your screen.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', Air Man's stage has an enemy who is a bird that drops eggs. Upon hitting the ground, the eggs hatch into smaller birds. Potentially justified by the fact they're robots and don't have to be built to follow the rules of the biological creatures they resemble.

** In the penultimate boss battle of that game, Colonel Cluck throws eggs which reveal robotic chickens that attack Donkey and Diddy. Justified for the same reasons as VideoGame/MegaMan2 above.

Of course, this is an [[PregnancyDoesNotWorkThatWay absurd misunderstanding of eggs]]. In RealLife, crushing an egg would almost certainly kill what's inside. Even if it somehow managed to survive, the fact that it's in an egg means it's a developing creature, meaning it would be crippled ''at best''. This ''might'' be justified if the creature was already only a few minutes from hatching anyway, but often this is not the case.

* A variant occurs in the old ''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense X-COM]]'' game with the Chryssalid zombies - killing them would instantly spawn a fully matured Chryssalid in its place, unless heavy enough ordnance is used. In [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown the 2012 remake]]'', [[AvertedTrope if you kill the zombie, the gestating Chryssalid dies with it]].

Of course, this is an [[ArtisticLicenseBiology absurd misunderstanding of eggs]]. In RealLife, crushing an egg would almost certainly kill what's inside. Even if it somehow managed to survive, the fact that it's in an egg means it's a developing creature, meaning it would be crippled ''at best''. This ''might'' be justified if the creature was already only a few minutes from hatching anyway, but often this is not the case.

Of course, this is an [[ArtisticLicenseBiology absurd misunderstanding of eggs]]. In RealLife, crushing an egg would almost certainly kill what's inside. Even if it somehow managed to survive, the fact that it's in an egg means it's a developing creature, meaning it would be crippled ''at best''.

* RealityEnsues in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' when the Egg Corridor full of giant Sky Dragon eggs is destroyed in an explosion. Except for the one Kazuma hatched and the optional DualBoss the Sisters, the dragons in the eggs all either died or became malformed [[{{Dracolich}} "Dragon Zombies"]] due to hatching prematurely.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', the title character accidentally steps on a Cy-Bug egg at the top of the tower in Hero's Duty, releasing a baby Cy-Bug that he ends up dragging outside into Sugar Rush.

* Yoshi is found within eggs that are scattered throughout ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', as a CallBack to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. You need to break him free by destroying said eggs in order to ride him. Justified in-game as the eggs were designed to trap the already long-hatched Yoshi rather than as a container for an unhatched Yoshi.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' has a boss fight where the heroes attack an egg, causing it to hatch and reveal Birdo.
* Continuing the Mario trend, the fight against Sunnycide in [[WombLevel Yoob's belly]] in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' features this as a mechanic. Normally, the player can only do ScratchDamage to Sunnycide because of the boss's abnormally-high defense. However, should the player target the eggs that the boss summons for its attacks, the eggs will break open and free the Yoshi trapped inside, who will then begin pushing a large rock like the ones found earlier in the area. Once five Yoshis have been liberated, they'll be able to knock over Sunnycide with the boulder, lowering its stats and changing its attack pattern until it gets back up.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', the fastest way to hatch a Chao egg is via throwing the egg at a wall to break it open. The only downside of doing so is that the Chao will be unhappy when it hatches due to having been thrown at a wall.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', the fastest way to hatch a Chao egg is to throw it at a wall. The only downside of doing so is that the Chao will be unhappy when it hatches due to having been thrown at a wall.

** A boss in the Darkheart Thicket dungeon, Dresaron, is a corrupted dragon that attempts to weaponize this. Around the edge of the boss arena is a ring of eggs than spawn the dragon's whelpings when a player smashes through them. The boss has a move that actually pushes the players back in an attempt to push them into the eggs, so that more enemies will spawn.

* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}''

** In ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'', when Samus enters the Metroid's nest, one egg hatches and the infant metroid imprints on her. This metroid then becomes the MacGuffin of ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''.

* Dr. Rumack in ''Film/{{Airplane}}!'' pulls eggs from a sick lady's mouth, cracks them open and a bird flies out.

** ''TabletopGame/DragonLance'' setting. The Incubalum is a unique magic item: an egg-shaped object about a foot long made of a tough grey material. If it's broken an adult version of a land-dwelling, egg-laying animal will appear from it, anything from a songbird to a dragon. It is not under anyone's control and acts normally for its type.

** Played straight in ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus''. When Samus enters the Metroid's nest, the eggs hatch and she has to deal with the larvae before she can complete the mission. However, this also leads to the birth of the baby that becomes the MacGuffin of ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''.

* In ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', the title character accidentally steps on a Cy-Bug egg at the top of the tower in Hero's Duty, releasing a baby Cy-Bug that he ends up dragging outside into Sugar Rush.

* A bonus ScoringPoints opportunity in ''Dynomite!'' (a ''VideoGames/PuzzleBobble'' clone from [=PopCap=] Games); the gameplay involves smashing dinosaur eggs to progress, but eggs which are shaking are ready to hatch, and smashing them while they are still shaking results in the release of a cute baby dino which squeaks "Mama!" as it falls.

* A variant occurs in the old ''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense X-COM]]'' game with the Chryssalid zombies - killing them would instantly spawn a fully matured Chryssalid in its place, unless heavy enough ordnance is used.

* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeRedemption'', hitting spider eggs results in them breaking open and releasing a swarm of baby spiders that promptly attack.

* RealityEnsues in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' when the Egg Corridor full of giant Sky Dragon eggs is destroyed in an explosion. Except for the one Kazuma hatched and the optional DualBoss the Sisters, the dragons in the eggs all either died or became malformed [[{{Dragolich}} "Dragon Zombies"]] due to hatching prematurely.

[[folder: Film]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* In the web game, Website/DragonCave, one outcome of using the "Kill" action on an egg causes it to hatch instead. This is explained as dragons actually being ready to hatch early on, but the hatchlings stay in the egg for safety.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]