History Main / SternChase

* A literal stern chase is averted in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' for a couple reasons: the Black Pearl has supernatural speed and/or sweeps (oars) to give them a burst of acceleration, and because the wind just happened to be on their side to "luff" the Interceptor (if they hadn't ended the chase, the Pearl would've blocked the wind to the Interceptor's sails and stopped them anyway).

* ''TheTerminator'' film series.

* Carver chasing Gideon in ''SeraphimFalls''.
* ''Film/{{Midnight Run}}'' fits this, with a bounty hunter escorting a former mafia accountant from New York to Los Angeles while he is simultaneously being chased by another bounty hunter, the FBI and the mafia.

* ''ElCazadorDeLaBruja''.

* In the XY arc of ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', Team Flare is after X's Mega Ring and is clearly willing to use lethal force against him and his friends. Adding to that is that they have plenty of members disguised as ordinary citizens, so the kids are especially wary of every stranger they meet and staying too long in any area. As such, despite the fact that Y is clearly loaded, the kids have been camping out at night in remote areas and subsisting on convenience food.

* ''OnePiece'': Smoker and Tashigi. In the first half of the story, they didn't get much screen time (mainly because Luffy couldn't hit Smoker and didn't stand a chance of beating him), but now that Luffy is stronger and can actually fight Smoker on even ground, their bound to have their roles expanded.

* Also from Creator/AlastairReynolds, in ''Literature/HouseOfSuns'' there's a Stern Chase across 60,000 light-years; halfway across the Milky Way galaxy. [[spoiler:And then a little further.]] This in a universe with [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness no]] [[Main/FasterThanLightTravel FTL]].

* Also from Creator/AlastairReynolds, in ''Literature/HouseOfSuns'' there's a Stern Chase across 60,000 light-years; halfway across the Milky Way galaxy. [[spoiler:And then a little further.]]

* ''GundamSeed'' has a new type of ship Archangel running from chasing ZAFT who want to destroy it because it's somehow supposed to change the course of war if it went into production. It goes on for most part of series. What this troper finds staggering is that Archangel is supposedly a superior ship, however it's never even able to take out a single opposing ship on it's own. One would wonder why ZAFT is so determined to destroy it if that ship is so incompetent in battle.

** Also used in King's ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}''.
** ''Literature/TheRunningMan'' combines this with DeadlyGame.

* After the prologue in ''VideoGame/InFAMOUS2'', where Cole MacGrath decides to run from the Beast instead of fight it, he has already escaped down the Eastern Seaboard to New Marais, but the Beast is slowly catching up to him, with the game giving updates as to how far the Beast is from the city.

* After the prologue in ''VideoGame/InFAMOUS2'', where Cole Phelps decides to run from the Beast instead of fight it, he has already escaped down the Eastern Seaboard to New Marais, but the Beast is slowly catching up to him, with the game giving updates as to how far the Beast is from the city.

* Unsurprisingly given that it's basically WoodenShipsAndIronMen {{IN SPACE}}, the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series features quite a few. The best example is probably in the first book where Honor's light cruiser is chasing an escaping Havenite Q-Ship, she destroys it but her ship is pounded to scrap in the process.

* The second half of JerryPournelle & LarryNiven's ''[[TheMoteInGodsEye The Gripping Hand]]'' consists of a series of trips in various directions by the protagonists, to escape being killed or to buy time until the cavalry can arrive.

* Used in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series twice. In ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'', the hero and his partner must flee [[spoiler: the other rescue teams out for their blood due to [[YouFailLogicForever a critical logic failure]]]]; in ''Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'', the pair [[spoiler: are trapped in the BadFuture and searching for a way back]]. Both sequences include an understandable difficulty bump, given the circumstances.

* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' pulls this as you start the final section in the game: lightning strikes the mansion and causes a black out, which naturally makes the ghosts pop up all over the place. In order to stop the infestation, Luigi must hunt down a ghost using a [[GuideDangIt somewhat obscure hint]] from E. Gadd to get a key to open the [[FridgeLogic previously-accessible]] [[LockedDoor basement]] and switch the power back on.

* Similar to the Niven example above, Creator/AlastairReynolds has another literal SternChase in his novel Redemption Ark. It lasts several chapters of the book, with increasingly inventive attempts to kill the pursuing ship being deployed. In the next book in the series, it is revealed that the positions have reversed, although this time we come in at the point where the pursuer catches up, so the stern chase is only inferred rather than being shown.

* ''Series/Werewolf'' Eric is pursued by a bounty hunter who packs silver bullets

* Similar to the Niven example above, AlastairReynolds has another literal SternChase in his novel Redemption Ark. It lasts several chapters of the book, with increasingly inventive attempts to kill the pursuing ship being deployed. In the next book in the series, it is revealed that the positions have reversed, although this time we come in at the point where the pursuer catches up, so the stern chase is only inferred rather than being shown.
* Also from AlastairReynolds, in ''Literature/HouseOfSuns'' there's a Stern Chase across 60,000 light-years; halfway across the Milky Way galaxy. [[spoiler:And then a little further.]]

* ''The Enemy Below'', a submarine-vs-destroyer duel.

* The Creator/LarryNiven short story "The Ethics of Madness" has Bussard-ramjet-powered starships in a literal SternChase into intergalactic space. They keep at it for [[TimeAbyss quite a while.]]

-->--'''Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand''', "Midnight Rider"

* ''KurauPhantomMemory''.

* About half of ''[[TronTwoPointOh Tron 2.0]]'' involves the protagonist running from system to system to escape pursuing security Programs who have mistaken him for a virus.

* ''TheZetaProject'' ran off of this. The government is chasing after Zeta because they believe he's turned against them and Zeta is chasing after his creator to find evidence to prove he's genuinely sentient and peaceful.

* Stephen King's ''TheDarkTower'': "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."