History Main / SpikedWheels

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Fantasy Battle'' game, chariots of some races get upgraded with these, increasing the number of enemies they can run down when they charge.

%%* Happens in ''Film/{{Grease}}''.

* A particularly evil-looking device with many flanges and spikes figured into the climactic drag rage in ''{{Grease}}''. "The rules are: There are no rules!" The heroes' car had a major chunk taken out of the chassis, but their tires survived and the bad guy spun out and lost anyway.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode "If You Build It, They Will Race", which involved WackyRacing, Amy uses these on Stick's car. However, the spikes get stuck on Stick's tires, leading to them both crashing.

TheOtherWiki's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythed_chariot article on this here.]]

** The earliest Irish legends assert that the great hero CuChullain went into battle in a chariot liberally fitted out with hooks, blades and spikes on every applicable surface (including hubcaps) so as to better rend his foes. Romantically-minded Victorian historians read this as recorded fact, and leapt to the conclusion that ''all'' Celtic heroes - and heroines - had scythes on their hubcaps. As Boudicca was a Celt, therefore... Boudicca therefore got her spiked wheels by default from the Irish legend, and all later historians took their cue from this flight of imagination.

* The Batmobile in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' had these, perhaps to justify their inclusion on Kenner's toy version.

* Before playing a ''SupermarketSweep''-style game show, [[Series/MarriedWithChildren Al Bundy]] retrofits his shopping cart with a number of tricks ... this among them.

* One of the best examples would be the ''Film/BenHur'' ChariotRace. This is also the Trope Codifier; the original novel doesn't mention any spikes, [[MoralDissonance and it's Ben-Hur who cheats to get Messala to crash]].
* Film/JamesBond had a car that popped retractable barbed spikes from the center of his wheels that destroyed enemy tires, ''originally'' used on the Aston Martin in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''.

* Happens in ''Film/{{Grease}}''.

* Hero example: This is one of Arcee's gadgets in ''TransformersTheMovie''. She uses it on the Junkion carrying (in motorcycle mode) another Junkion who is trying to hit her with an axe.

* This was used in the chariot race episode of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' in a ShoutOut to ''[[Literature/BenHur Ben-Hur]]''.

* LeonardoDaVinci [[http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/doing-davinci-scythe-chariot.html liked to take things to the point where they really weren't the same trope anymore.]]

* In the DiscoveryChannel show ''DoingDaVinci'', the team built Leonardo's design for a scythed chariot and proved the functionality of the weapon.

Commonly called Boudica spikes (at least in the UK) after the chariots of the "Queen" that fought against the occupying Romans in England around 60AD.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Asterix}} and the Black Gold'', Roman secret agent Dubbleosix's tricked out chariot has retractable scythe blade.

* One of the best examples would be the ''Film/BenHur'' ChariotRace. This is also the Trope Codifier.

* Used on ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' to cut a fighter's legs.

* The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' forbid disc brakes for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclo-cross cyclo-cross racing]] until 2010 for the fear of this trope.

* Before playing a ''SupermarketSweep''-style game show, [[MarriedWithChildren Al Bundy]] retrofits his shopping cart with a number of tricks ... this among them.

** The earliest Irish legends assert that the great hero CuChullain went into battle in a chariot liberally fitted out with hooks, blades and spikes on every applicable surface (including hubcaps) so as to better rend his foes. Romantically-minded Victorian historians read this as recorded fact, and leapt to the conclusion that ''all'' Celtic heores - and heorines - had scythes on their hubcaps. As Boudicca was a Celt, therefore... Boudicca therefore got her spiked wheels by default from the Irish legend, and all later historians took their cue from this flight of imagination.

** The earliest Irish legends assert that the great hero CuChullain went into battle in a chariot liberally fitted out with hooks, blades and spikes on every applicable surface (including hubcaps) so as to better rend his foes. vromantically-0minbded victorian historians read this as recorded fact, and leapt to the conclusion that ''all'' Celtic heores - and heorines - had scythes on their hubcaps. As Boudicca was a Celt, therefore... Boudicca therefore got her spiked wheels by default from the Irish legend, and all later historiansd took their cue from this flight of imagination.

** Chariots were arguably on their way out from the moment horses that could carry a rider were available. A charioteer has to control a whole team and killing or wounding even one horse will drag the rest down with it. All chariots need a driver as well as a warrior whereas it is possible for a cavalryman to control a single horse with leg pressure and reins while wielding weapons; thus cavalry effectively doubles the amount of firepower(or bowpower, or swordpower) available. Not to mention it is easier to reach a target without all that complexity of horses, harnesses, and the chariot itself in the way. Chariots could be blocked by terrain much more easily than cavalry- woods, rocky terrain, or slopes could stop chariots cold. Perhaps most importantly chariots need a industrial base whereas horses can depend solely on what a pastoral society can provide. This allowed HordesFromTheEast to get in on the fun of mass homicide in a big way where they were limited in the time of chariots. By the time AlexanderTheGreat met the Persians chariots were perhaps among the sentimental anachronisms that appear on battlefields from time to time.

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* LeonardoDaVinci [[http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/doing-davinci-scythe-chariot.html liked to take things to the point where they really weren't the same trope anymore.]]
* Boudicca never actually used these as British charioteers actually played the part of 'battle taxi' for a (noble) warrior, transporting him into the fray and providing a means of escape if it went badly. Eastern forces ''did'' use scythed chariots as a shock weapon but they became rapidly obsolete as the professional armies of Macedon and then Rome produced countermeasures.
** Chariots were arguably on their way out from the moment horses that could carry a rider were available. A charioteer has to control a whole team and killing or wounding even one horse will drag the rest down with it. All chariots need a driver as well as a warrior whereas it is possible for a cavalryman to control a single horse with leg pressure and reins while wielding weapons; thus cavalry effectively doubles the amount of firepower(or bowpower, or swordpower) available. Not to mention it is easier to reach a target without all that complexity of horses, harnesses, and the chariot itself in the way. Chariots could be blocked by terrain much more easily than cavalry- woods, rocky terrain, or slopes could stop chariots cold. Perhaps most importantly chariots need a industrial base whereas horses can depend solely on what a pastoral society can provide. This allowed HordesFromTheEast to get in on the fun of mass homicide in a big way where they were limited in the time of chariots. By the time AlexanderTheGreat met the Persians chariots were perhaps among the sentimental anachronisms that appear on battlefields from time to time.
* Knock-off wheels have been illegal as factory equipment on new cars in the US since 1968 because while this isn't their purpose (they're made to be unbolted by unscrewing the central wingnut rather than undoing the usual 4 or 5 lug nuts), they can have that effect.

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* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' and ''3'' you can buy them for your cars. The spikes pop out when you pick up a bit of speed. Unfortunately, they don't collide with pedestrians, only vehicles.

* Vigor, the champion of the [[GladiatorGames Nobilian arena]] in ''SecretOfEvermore'', fights from his spiked chariot. The wheels can cause considerable damage. The catch is, [[CombatPragmatist you're on]] ''[[CombatPragmatist foot]]'' . . .

** Chariots were arguably on their way out from the moment horses that could carry a rider were available. A charioteer has to control a whole team and killing or wounding even one horse will drag the rest down with it. All chariots need a driver as well as a warrior whereas it is possible for a cavalryman to control a single horse with leg pressure and reins while wielding weapons; thus cavalry effectively doubles the amount of firepower(or bowpower, or swordpower) available. Not to mention it is easier to reach a target without all that complexity of horses, harnesses, and the chariot itself in the way. Perhaps most importantly chariots need a industrial base whereas horses can depend solely on what a pastoral society can provide. This allowed HordesFromTheEast to get in on the fun of mass homicide in a big way where they were limited in the time of chariots. By the time AlexanderTheGreat met the Persians chariots were perhaps among the sentimental anachronisms that appear on battlefields from time to time.

--->'''Jeremy''': [[DeadpanSnarker Something's gone wrong with the handling!]]

* It happens in the 1993 ''TheLittleRascals'' movie during the go cart race scene. The resident SpoiledBrat uses his money-fueled machine to take out Alfalfa's new [[MacGyvering MacGyvered]] car.

* These are a car customization option in the ''SaintsRow'' games, where the spikes protrude automatically from the wheels as the accelerator is held down. [[SchmuckBait Just don't drive up the side of police vehicles too closely with them]].

* Spiked wheels are an available player-made cosmetic in ''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'', though they have no actual function besides looking cool.