History Main / SoftWater

** In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'', Blackbeard makes Jack Sparrow jump off a high cliff into a river to retrieve a MacGuffin, though this time it's actually acknowledged that the fall could kill him (hence Blackbeard sending Sparrow instead of one of his more trustworthy crewmen). Blackbeard's Quartermaster "solves" this by throwing a [[HollywoodVoodoo Voodoo Doll]] of Jack into the river. Since the doll was undamaged, Sparrow himself was also able to make the jump unharmed. Or maybe he just got lucky.
** Earlier in ''On Stranger Tides'', Jack jumps from an exploding lighthouse into the sea. He's perfectly alright, though doesn't seem to have enjoyed the experience.
*** "Did everyone see that because I will ''not'' be doing it again."

* Ironically used in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', where Obi-Wan is believed dead after falling from a cliff into deep water from only about 60 feet-- which is not even enough to kill a normal person: in response, the Clone-troopers say [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat "he couldn't have survived that fall"]], despite knowing full-well that Jedi are capable of falling safely from extreme heights -- and likewise knowing that Jedi carry compact SCUBA equipment (both of which Obi-Wan, in fact, uses to escape). In the [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith novelization]], the clone commander insists that Obi-Wan isn't dead until they find the body. They send probes to make sure, but Obi-Wan tricks a nearby predator into eating them.

* Ironically used in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', where Obi-Wan is believed dead after falling from a cliff into deep water from only about 60 feet-- which is not even enough to kill a normal person: in response, the Clone-troopers say [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat "he couldn't have survived that fall"]], despite knowing full-well that Jedi are capable of falling safely from extreme heights -- and likewise knowing that Jedi carry compact SCUBA equipment (both of which Obi-Wan, in fact, uses to escape).
** In the [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith novelization]], the clone commander insists that Obi-Wan isn't dead until they find the body. They send probes to make sure, but Obi-Wan tricks a nearby predator into eating them.
* Played to the hilt in ''Film/TrueLies''. After a shootout in a mall, the main villain rides a motorcycle to the roof of a hotel, then drives it off the edge and splashes down in the pool on the roof of a building across the street. Considering his parabolic arc, the drop must have been at least a hundred feet, but he's uninjured and impaired only by a sopping wet trenchcoat. The horse that [[strike:Arnold]] Harry Tasker rides in this chase makes this "you've GOT to be kidding me" look when Harry tries to make him follow and stops just short of the edge, pitching Harry out of his seat and causing him to dangle precariously.

In the real world, falls into water from even moderate heights can be injurious if not done correctly, as anyone who's belly-flopped or back-smackered off a diving board can attest to. Falls from a sufficient height into water ''will'' be fatal ''regardless'' of how you manage the impact.

* Played straight in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. Freeze demolishes a wall by freezing its water pipes, (what, you expected them to follow other laws of physics?) only to reveal an absolutely massive drop to water. Freeze, Ivy, and Bane jump without any hesitation, only Freeze just commenting that he hopes Bane can swim.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': After your BagOfSpilling is emptied, the very first thing the game teaches you is that water will harmlessly stop your fall from any height. {{Exaggerated|Trope}} as you leave the Great Sky Island and return to Hyrule; Link dives from at least cruising altitude into a lake miles below, and [[MadeOfIron comes up without so much as a bruise]]. Exaggerated ''even more'' at the end of the game, when [[spoiler:Link and Zelda are dropped from ''far'' above cloud level, making a water column at least 50 feet high when they hit a lake. Not only are they both fine, but Zelda -- who was unconscious during the fall -- does not appear to have inhaled any water either.]]

* In an episode of ''Series/MythBusters'', Adam and Jamie investigated a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wAjpMP5eyo viral video]] showing a man making a 115-foot long waterslide jump into a kiddy pool. Oddly the team didn't take up whether the foot-deep pool would actually make the landing survivable, testing only distance and accuracy. In addition, ''[=MythBusters=]'' have tested the saying that, at a certain speed, hitting water is like hitting concrete (a myth previously perpetuated on this very page). They found that water is always softer than concrete, even at terminal velocity. Obviously at a certain point hitting water doesn't ''help'' as it is still lethal, but the damage is less and thus the saying is busted.

This trope has resulted in a rather interesting side effect. Either believing this trope to be true (or being aware that a majority of the audience believes it to be true) writers know that they can't present a simple long drop into water as a threat, because [[TheCoconutEffect the audience will assume it's survivable.]] Usually, in order to show that a potential fall into water would be dangerous, they'll [[RuleOfPerception show the water as turbulent with jagged rocks]]. Because that's somehow more fatal. Ironically, violently choppy water is actually safer to fall into, due to lacking surface tension. The rocks'll still hurt, though, because, y'know, rocks.

This trope has resulted in a rather interesting side effect. Either believing this trope to be true (or being aware that a majority of the audience believes it to be true) writers know that they can't present a simple long drop into water as a threat, because [[TheCoconutEffect the audience will assume it's survivable.]] Usually, in order to show that a potential fall into water would be dangerous, they'll [[RuleOfPerception show the water as turbulent with jagged rocks]]. Because that's somehow more fatal. Even though, you know, violently choppy water is actually safer to fall into, due to lacking surface tension. The rocks'll still hurt, though, because, y'know, rocks.

** In the [[Literature/HeroesOfOlympus sequel series]], Percy falls off an Alaskan glacier after shattering the edge with a SwordPlant and summoning a massive wave. Frank and Hazel are astonished when they return to find him none the worse for wear, claiming the fall was "nothing" compared to the St. Louis Arch incident.

** In the [[Literature/HeroesOfOlympus sequel series]], Percy falls off an Alaskan glacier after shattering the edge with a SwordPlant and summoning a massive wave. Frank and Hazel return to find him none the worse for wear.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' plays this completely straight during [[CutscenePowerToTheMax cutscenes]] but averts this during actual [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay]]. Snake is thrown off of a bridge early in the game, falling to a height in excess of 100 feet, and later leaps from a drainage pipe which is easily even higher of a fall. If Snake leaps or drops off of the bridge on his own, he'll die. Both times Snake lands into water, with no injuries other than what was sustained in a brutal [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown asskicking.]] The second fall DOES [[MadeOfIron knock him unconscious]], though.

* In ''Manga/ASilentVoice'', [[spoiler: Shouya]] falls into a river while saving Shouko [[spoiler: from her attempted suicide]], and is injured so severely that he ends up in a coma. Not only that, but blood can also clearly be seen in the water just before he passes out.

* The tale of [[Myth/GreekMythology Icarus]] averts this and gets it right: he lands in the sea and dies.