History Main / SoftGlass

** In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', in which it is even more ridiculous because it is done by actual bats. Little animals like that aren't gonna be able to break through glass windows.

** The first film used so much sugar glass in its final action scene that it is sometimes nicknamed "Glass Story", even if it was somewhat of an subversion. The glass used was twice as thick than standard [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and it led to a lot of injuries among the stuntmen]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Parodied when Homer punches through a deli window to get some food, then walks to the pharmacy to punch the window to get bandages to wrap his glass cuts in.
** Homer does this by accident when trying to hit the jukebox and make it start playing a la [[Series/HappyDays Fonzie]]: "'aaaayyy.... (''smash'') AHH!! HEMORRHAGE-A-MUNDO!!!"
** In another episode Bart throws a brick against a store window only for it to bounce back and hit him in the head without cracking the window.
* ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' actually ''explained'' this trope. When a film crew is in town for a movie, they explain that the fish tank is actually made out of sugar and not glass, which Sam then proceeds to give a lick.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' had Wonder Woman stop a fast-moving car by ''punching it''. This is essentially the same as it hitting a wall [[note]]worse, even, since the wall would have likely dented a little and absorbed some of the impact[[/note]], and sending the drivers and passenger flying through the windshield (instead of just knocking the thing straight out) and ''into another car'', yet the guys not only survive, but weren't even unconscious.

** In "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy", like most times, Batman can send a grappling hook through a glass window like it was nothing. Then it was subverted when Batman was unable to break a large lightbulb by just throwing his utility belt at it, and had to throw a pole at it like a spear. Then, two minutes later, he throws the belt at a glass wall, ''and it goes straight through it''.

--->'''Joker:''' Either you've never heard of a door before or you like pulling glass out of your pants.
* In ''The New Adventures of Batman & Superman'' episode "Critters", Robin is running away from a giant bull, and he at least picks up a trashcan lid to leap through a window.
* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''. When fighting Green Goblin, Spider-Man is thrown out a window, catches himself, swings back up, and breaks back through another window, all while commenting on the definition of Defenestration.
* A weird place for this to be averted is the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' episode "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything". Three metahumans (metaducks?) and three normals are trapped in a glass tube, likely sealed at the top, as villain Negaduck taunts them. Granted, the powers involved are electricity, plant control, and water, but the glass did hold... [[spoiler:until a mechanical doll with an axe or seven took care of the issue]].

** Subverted in the episode "South Park Is Gay": Mr. Slave attempts to assassinate the cast of ''[[Series/QueerEye Queer Eye for the Straight Guy]]''. He manages to crash through their hotel window... and then lies bleeding on the hotel room floor.
** Later, in two episodes of the "Imaginationland Trilogy" this happens three times in order to break into the same room in the Pentagon. Twice by Cartman, once by Kyle. Part of the window was broken the first time; the second time the window was put together with tape and broken again; the third time Kyle simply dove into the non-broken part of the window.
--->[[FridgeLogic "Why is it so easy for children to break into the Pentagon?"]]
* Usually played straight in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', like in "The Pretender" where Yumi jumps through a window unharmed. The ravens in this episode also have no trouble flying through panes of glass -- but since they're possessed by XANA, they are basically super-powered birds.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' ironically averts this when there was no need to. In one scene Anakin slashes a window with his lightsabre, presumably to weaken it, then uses the Force to smash the glass. So... what was the lightsabre needed for? Considering the Jedi frequently send large metal robots flying across a room, surely this would be one scenario where the glass shouldn't ''need'' weakening. Transparisteel, perhaps?
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': Downplayed with Sergeant Hatred. When he's running to the glass door, he can't open it, with the reinforced steel about to lock him out, so he shoots the door several times to weaken it and jump through. He gets through because he weakened the glass, but the shards do no harm to him.
** Deconstructed in season 7, when Rusty demonstrates his rocket belt by jumping through the window and floats, he gets a lot of serious cuts all over himself and passes out from blood loss, he has to go to the hospital for it
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan and Bullock come to blows over Hayley, who Bullock had been dating. Just as Stan is about to finish him off, Bullock lies and proclaims that the entire fight was an act to test Stan's loyalty, complete with a nearby window being replaced with stunt glass. When Bullock tries to prove this, he finds that the glass is too rigid to jump through until he fires a few bullets through it, and is heavily injured when he finally breaks through.
* Completely averted in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch where a little boy meets his hero, the "Blue Knight", in a parking lot after a show. Among the many, many other things the Blue Knight does to shatter the kid's view of him, he wraps his shirt around his hand to try and break the window of his car after locking himself out of it - and rather than breaking the glass, he simply breaks his hand.
* ''WesternAnimation/WildCATS'': Subverted in the first episode when Warblade is about to jump through a window, he first grabs a heavy leather jacket that he uses to shield himself from the broken glass. It also helps that he's half-alien and ''much'' more durable than an ordinary human, though he doesn't actually know that at the time.
* Partly averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'', where Vax makes it through the window without bouncing off but is fairly cut up and has possible internal injuries by the time he lands (though that last might be due to the flagpole he hit on the way down).

* Fellow Arnold movie ''Film/TrueLies'' has him punch another car window without injury. Bizarrely, in reality Arnie actually missed the stuntglass and broke a real car window. He didn't notice.

** Justified in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' when a police officer gets defenestrated by an experimental weapon that also weakened the structural integrity of the window before she hit it and was still weakening and breaking down the window when she went through it. The woman's only lasting harm came from Diana stopping her from going splat against the pavement as she her momentum was stopped too quickly to avoid injuries.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} likes to throw himself through glass to surprise his opponents, usually with his cape spread out like a bat for added effect. Being heavily armored like he is, glass cutting him up isn't a problem, especially since he's dropping down from a ceiling. He'll usually cover up with his cape if he's throwing himself through a window, especially if he has someone with him.

* And yet ''another'' glass-proof Angel -- Nicholas Angel in ''Film/HotFuzz'', who managed to jump through a glass door without hurting himself. However, he threw a truncheon through it first so it shattered -- but still... That's actually played fully straight -- the truncheon goes through the ''window,'' and Angel then jumps through the ''door.'' He also gets straight-up thrown through another window later on, and is none the worse for wear even after hitting concrete. Then again, given the fact that the whole film is an AffectionateParody of several genres, realism wasn't high on their list of priorities.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', when Mei breaks the window of the music classroom, it appears no one in it is harmed by the glass not even a student standing right next to the window.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

** In another issue of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', Peter and his family are staying at Stark Tower, which has been fitted with indestructible windows. After Wolverine taunts him and Mary Jane a bit too much, Peter demonstrates how indestructible they really are by tossing Logan through them. At least Tony got his money back.

** Also subverted in an issue of ''Peter Parker: Spider-Man''. The Rocket Racer attempts to make a dramatic entrance, but the window turns out to be harder than he thought.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* Many things that require glass, but are more likely to break near people (refrigerator trays, shower doors, and most especially car windows and windshields) use tempered glass, which consists of several different layers of glass, with the outer ones compressed and the inner ones under tension due to heat treatments, which causes the glass to shatter into small, (relatively) harmless chunks upon being broken. It can still be sharp, but you are more likely to receive lots of superficial scratches and cuts, instead of being impaled on a single large wedge of extremely sharp broken glass.
** One downside to this is that, while more dangerous, a lot of large glass shards are easier to clean up than hundreds of tiny glass slivers. Because wondering whether you swept every last piece off the floor is loads of fun. [[ParanoiaFuel Keep your shoes on.]]
** These days, tempered glass uses patterned heat treatment to create a predictable network of strain lines within its bulk, so when it breaks, it does so in little uniform cubes with roughly 90° angles. This is much safer and easier to clean up than even the old-fashioned tempered glass, not to mention a normal non-tempered one. Tempering glass also has the added benefit of making glass generally even sturdier than it normally is.

** In ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' #5, a minor villian named Fox traps Spider-Man and The Human Torch in a big glass box, in an attempt to suffocate them. It takes Spidey multiple tries to just crack it enough so that air can be let in. Spider-Man can lift 10 tons by the way.

* The Defenestrator from DC Comics. Carries a portable window to put people through. Since he's a good guy, hopefully the intention is just on his pyschosis (through the window!) and not the shredding from dangerous glass.

* Defied in ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'', where [[OldMaster Mr. Miyagi]]'s strategy for [[CurbStompBattle humiliating]] [[EvilMentor Kreese]] after the tournament from [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 the first movie]] is to [[DeadlyDodging dodge his punches]] so Kreese puts his fists through the car windows behind him, cutting up his own hand; and then loses his temper, and ''[[TooDumbToLive does it a second time]]'', injuring his ''other'' hand.