History Main / SoftGlass

* At the end of ''Film/TheGame'', Nicholas [[spoiler: attempts suicide after he thinks he accidentally killed his brother]] and falls several stories into a giant pane of glass. He lands on one of those giant air bags stunt men use and is told to lie perfectly still; he fell through breakaway glass, but it could still hurt him if they don't brush it off.

* Quite a painful one in the Jackie Chan film ''Police Story 2'', where he jumps through a window from the roof of a moving bus. A candyglass window was set up for the stunt, but Chan misjudged how far the bus had traveled and ended up jumping through a real one. The outtakes over the credits show how painful this was.

* Subverted in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' when Dio gets smashed through a window during his fight with Jotaro. He gets several nasty gashes and one of his legs even gets sliced off by a particularly large chunk of glass.

* Tends to be averted in ''ComicBook/ThePunisher''. Jigsaw's shredded face is the result of being thrown through a window, and Frank throws a woman against a window dozens of times without it breaking in [[Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX the MAX series]] (this was the point, as she's a human trafficker).

Also note that the stunt glass you see people jump through all the time in movies is not real glass. Traditionally, it's actually made of sugar - a clear, thin sheet of hard candy that looks like glass, but breaks much more easily and is less likely to cut the stuntman to ribbons (the iconic crashing noise is added in post-production). Afterwards, the crew can quickly clean up by either picking up the pieces or simply spraying the area down with a hose to dissolve the sugar. As it's literally just sugar, it's edible too! Modern "breakaway glass" is usually some form of plastic such as acrylic.

Also note that the stunt glass you see people jump through all the time in movies is not real glass. Traditionally, it's actually made of sugar - a clear, thin sheet of hard candy that looks like glass, but breaks much more easily and is less likely to cut the stuntman to ribbons (the iconic crashing noise is added in post-production). Afterwards, the crew can quickly clean up by either picking up the pieces or simply spraying the area down with a hose to dissolve the sugar. Modern "breakaway glass" is usually some form of plastic such as acrylic.

* Like his mentor, ComicBook/{{Robin}} has a tendency to throw himself through windows, but Tim Drake reserved doing so only for emergencies where time is of the essence specifically because he knows he could still end up hurting himself or inadvertently hurting someone else with the shards despite his armored suit.

* Like his mentor ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} has a tendency to throw himself through windows, but Tim reserved doing so only for emergencies where time is of the essence specifically because he knows he could still end up hurting himself or inadvertently hurting someone else with the shards despite his armored suit.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', during the Lost Agent arc, after Tsukishima uses his powers [[BackstoryInvader to insert himself into the past]] of Ichigo's friends and sisters, he torments Ichigo further by speaking with Orihime through a phone, angering Ichigo enough to punch him so hard he breaks a window upon impact. This results in Ichigo getting a WhatTheHellHero moment from everyone.

* During the Water 7 arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy breaks into Galley-La headquarters by slingshotting himself through a window, and is completely unharmed despite the many large, dangerously sharp-looking pieces of glass on-panel and him using only his bare arms to shield himself. That said, Luffy is made of rubber and has a fair resistance from cuts and piercing (blunt damage is totally negated).

* Subverted in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' when Dio gets smashed through a window during his fight with Jotaro. He gets several nasty gashes and one of his legs even gets sliced off by a particularly large chunk of glass. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal He gets better]] but it was still a subversion.

* Averted in ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'' when a car gets smashed into a cafe where Kara Zor-El and ComicBook/LanaLang are having breakfast. The impact shatters the shop's window panes, and although Kara logically doesn't get harmed, Lana gets dozens of tiny cuts.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', during the Lost Agent arc, after Tsukishima uses his powers to insert himself into the past of Ichigo's friends and sisters, he torments Ichigo further by speaking with Orihime through a phone, angering Ichigo enough to punch him so hard he breaks a window upon impact. This results in Ichigo getting a WhatTheHellHero moment from everyone.

** Related case in ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' (TheOneWith [[GreenAesop The Whales]]), where a plate glass window at Starfleet HQ shatters in a storm, hurting nobody. Once again, this raises issues, as the ubiquity of transparent aluminum in Starfleet (to the point where Scotty knows the formula by heart) and the extent to which it's better than glass, are actual plot points in the film. They actually compare the strength of glass to the strength of transparent aluminum in dialogue, and quite a bit of time is spent getting an acceptable 20th century substitute. The implication is that it's completely superseded glass. You'd think they might have sprung for some in the main control room at headquarters, but apparently not...

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* Fellow Arnold movie ''Film/TrueLies''has him punch another car window without injury. Bizarrely, in reality he actually missed the stuntglass and broke a real car window.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Tony Stark without the armor is bodily thrown by Loki through a glass window of his penthouse, from a ''distance'', yet Tony is still unhurt and alert enough to call the armor to him right before he turns into sidewalk pancake. Hawkeye also looks unscathed when he hurls himself through a window, but at least Creator/JeremyRenner makes it look like it hurt like a bitch.

* Zhora does this when being chased by Deckard in ''Film/BladeRunner.'' She ''is'' a replicant, though.

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* In the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' book ''Written In My Own Heart's Blood'', Jamie and William need to gain entry to a house through a window. Jamie's solution (taught to him by Brianna) is to smear treacle syrup on a pane of glass, plaster a sheet of paper over it, and then give it a sharp strike with his fist, bringing all the shards with the paper when he peels it away.

** Oddly averted in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E1PartnersInCrime "Partners in Crime"]]. Donna was even hitting that window with a wrench and nothing was happening. Maybe deadlocking windows to make them sonic-screwdriver-proof also strengthens the glass.
** Oh mercy, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]. Watching [[spoiler:the 10th Doctor]] plummet through Naismith's stained glass ceiling and land very painfully. He's cut up, but not as badly as the fall should have made him. (Of course, he probably broke most of the bones in his body on the landing, which wouldn't be quite so noticeably bloody and graphic, but still....)
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime "Closing Time"]]: The 11th Doctor jumps through a window to rescue Craig, and doesn't get so much as a scratch. ''Fixing'' the window before Craig's wife gets home is more of a problem (apparently, finding a glazier on a Sunday isn't easy even with a time machine).

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' averts this, it happens once in the fifth season, in the real world Emma and the BailBonds Woman after her escape the police through a broken window, the woman lands on a shard of glass that winds up lodged in her abdomen, she doesn't realize until the adrenaline wears off but she succumbed to the wounds and died.

* ''{{Series/Probe}}'''s "[[Recap/ProbeQuitIt Quit-It]]": After [[SuperWindowJump escaping through a window]], Austin is completely unscathed.

* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
** Very much not averted when Will Bailey breaks the "glass" between his and Toby's office. The scene showcased the extent of his frustration, as Toby has never been able to break it with his rubber ball no matter how hard he threw it. Funny thing is, the ''thump'' of the ball against the window always sounded like plexiglass before this incident. Go figure.

** 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 [[RealityEnsues and it led to a lot of injuries among the stuntmen]].

* Played straight in the YA novel ''Lisa, Bright and Dark''. The title character, a young girl going mad, walks through a glass patio door in a desperate cry for medical attention. Let's just repeat the relevant bit: She ''walks'' through the glass ''patio door''. The narration makes it very clear this is what's happening -- no running, no jumping, not even any hard shouldering. She does end up badly cut, but still...