Line #93 Main/SkySurfing


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings!
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7	[[quoteright:250:[[ComicBook/SilverSurfer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sky_Surfing_7692.jpg]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:250:This [[GoodNameForARockBand would make a good cover]] for a [[{{Pun}} Metal]] album!]]
9
10	->''"He's air surfing! I can't believe I never thought of that!"''
11	-->-- '''Aang''', ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheAvatarAndTheFireLord The Avatar and the Fire Lord]]"
12
13	A form of transportation and example of NotQuiteFlight in which the flyer stands ''on top'' of an object with relative propulsion and control surfaces. While the rider is usually the one in control, all the work is done by whatever he's standing on.
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15	Despite the trope name, the flying vehicle in question doesn't necessarily have to be surfboard-shaped.
16
17	Owes its existence to TheSkyIsAnOcean and, of course, the RuleOfCool.
18
19	The difference between a HoverBoard and SkySurfing is that a HoverBoard (whatever its shape) is limited in how high above the ground it can go.
20
21	Though [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skysurfing sky surfing]] is real, in real life, it's just fancy tricks in the air while falling rather than transportation of any kind.
22
23	SuperTrope to MagicCarpet, FlyingBroomstick, FlyingOnACloud and RideTheRainbow. If the rider isn't the one in control of the object he's on top of such as a plane or similar, it's OutsideRide. See also RocketRide.
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25	----
26	!!Examples:
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28	%%Please check first if any new example wouldn't fit better in Hover Board (if not already there).
29
30	[[foldercontrol]]
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Matsuri once caught up to the faster Soga by using [[BlowYouAway wind ninjutsu]] to fly over any obstacles in-between them on an uprooted sign (which is [[CantYouReadTheSign amusingly labeled "Danger: Slow Down"]]). Unfortunately, the wind and higher altitude gave Soga a [[PantyShot very good view up Matsuri's skirt]].
33	* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has Gallantmon with Grani.
34	* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
35	** Tao Pai Pai's preferred method of travel was to hurl a log towards his destination, leap on top of it, and ride it into the horizon.
36	** And predating that is Goku's Kinto'un, a golden cloud which only the pure of heart can ride. Given to him by Mutenroshi, replaced by Karin after it got blown up for good, then inherited by his sons after his second death, he used it extensively until he learned to fly faster than it could. Mutenroshi also used baby Gamera this way, but all that spinning made him puke.
37	* ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' has lifting, a form of Sky Surfing using special boards to ride strange atmospheric particles called trapars, [[spoiler:which are really the thought energy of the intelligent coral covering the planet]]. Anyways, Lifting is also used as a flight mechanism for their HumongousMecha.
38	** If it's not awesome enough, their surfboards leave energy trails that can slice through armor, luminescent green/yellow and look like splashing waves.
39	* In ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', Haruko uses her guitar this way, as a shoutout to one of Gainax' earlier work, the Daicon IV opening animation.
40	* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' metaseries have sub-flight systems, planes specifically designed to allow [[HumongousMecha mobile suits]] to ride on them. The Justice Gundam from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'' even has its own dedicated flight lifter mounted on its back.
41	* ''Literature/HowNotToSummonADemonLord'': Diablo casts a levitation spell on a log and stands on it to ride in the sky. Unfortunately, the spell wears off after a few minutes, making him fall out of the sky painfully.
42	* Taken to its most Xtreeeeeeme in ''Manga/{{Junks}}'' an early Yukito Kishiro manga about SpacePirates (collected in one of the ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: Last Order'' omnibus editions). The protagonist and a rival pirate captain agree to settle a dispute with a "Plasma Boarding" match, where they enter a planet's atmosphere in nothing but space suits while riding on surfboards made from the heat-dissipating ceramics they make the bottoms of space shuttles out of.
43	* Like in the games it's based off, ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' has the Warp Star as Kirby's preferred method of travel. Unlike the games, Kirby also regularly uses it while fighting opponents.
44	* In FinalBattle of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'': ''[[NonSerialMovie Wings Of Goodbye]]'' the [[HumongousMecha Macross Quarter]] itself does this. An ''aircraft carrier sized transforming mecha''.
45	** Note that the Quarter doesn't have a built-in 'board' to use. ''It just uses a random chunk of space debris as a reentry shield/surfboard.''
46	* Lutecia of ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' often does this on a [[MechaMooks Type 2 Gadget Drone]] to get around. There's also [[PerkyFemaleMinion Wendi]] and her [[HoverBoard Riding Board]].
47	* ''Manga/MakenKi'' has the BigBad [[spoiler:Yamato Ouken]] ride on a rock he threw in one of the recent chapters.
48	* In the second episode of ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', Neo-America Gundam master Chibodee Crocket uses his Gundam's shield like this to catch up to Domon Kasshu so that they can start their fight.
49	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
50	** Negi Springfield has done this a few times flying on his staff.
51	** Jack Rakan managed to pull off surfing on a thrown BFS.
52	** Most mages in the Akamatsuverse who use brooms or staves to fly stand on them when engaged in aerial combat.
53	* In ''Manga/ShamanKing'', the Ainu shaman and snowboarder Horohoro uses his magic to create an ever-present avalanche of snow and ice under his snowboard to fly. Might be closer to a HoverBoard in that there presumably is a limit to how ''high'' he can make the snow go.
54	** This is very similar to how Iceman of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' often travels, though he just stands on the ice he creates. Neither of them seems to worry about what happens with all that frozen water ''after'' they've been passing through...
55	* The end of ''Anime/SpaceDandy'' episode 6 ends with Dandy and Meow escaping from an exploding planet on Dandy's surfboard.
56	* ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'' often rode on the back of his robot Pegus. In ''Anime/TekkamanBlade II'', Vesna, Sommer, and Hiver had dedicated ships (with their own pilots) to ride on, and Aki, once but an angsty love interest, has her own Pegas II (for the same reason--she's an artificial Tekkaman and needs a Pegas to transform).
57	* In ''Anime/TweenyWitches'', Arusu is unable to ride a FlyingBroomstick the regular way. However, she finds she can do it by standing on the broom like a skateboard.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
61	* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': [=BoBoiBoy=] Cyclone has a hoverboard which he uses to stay aloft, but since it runs on wind power, the sky's the limit to how high he can fly.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Comic Books]]
65	* As the combination of both the Silver Surfer and the Black Racer, the ''ComicBook/AmalgamUniverse'''s Silver Racer also skis.
66	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The ComicBook/InvisibleWoman, can carry herself through the air using either discs or platforms she [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower creates]].
67	* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': The Trickster's "air-walker shoes".
68	* Eppy Thatcher, the fourth ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}'', used a pair of discs under his feet that allow him to fly until he developed a more advanced (and grisly) method: micro-levitation devices he surgically implanted in the soles of his feet. Not sure if those also count as this trope or not...
69	* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' has had several storylines based around sky-surfing, mostly centered around the (highly illegal) [[WackyRacing Supersurf tournaments]].
70	* During the Creator/KeithGiffen era of the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'', the JL fought the Scarlet Skier; the herald of the cosmic decorator Mr Nebula (a parody of the Silver Surfer and Galactus).
71	* ''ComicBook/NewGods'':
72	** Mister Miracle uses a pair of discs under his feet that allow him to fly.
73	** The Black Racer of the ComicBook/NewGods, flew through the cosmos on ''skis''.
74	* The ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' just might be the TropeMaker.
75	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villains ComicBook/GreenGoblin and Hobgoblin with their Goblin Glider.
76	** Plus female Goblin Fury in ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl''... and Spider-Girl herself, for a while.
77	** Not to mention Jack O' Lantern, aka Jack Macendale, on a disk-shaped glider.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
81	* A cartoon by Creator/CharlesAddams, Creator/GahanWilson, or somebody along the same line showed some witches arriving at a coven meeting riding their broomsticks this way. They're described by another witch as "the beach crowd" or "the Malibu crowd."
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
85	* Jim Hawkins of ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' has solar surfing, fitting with all the other [[SpaceSailing flying boats]] in the movie. It gets him into trouble with the law in the very beginning[[spoiler:, but it makes an excellent ChekhovsSkill.]]
86	* Gretchen of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zombillenium}}'' is a modernized witch that rides a broomstick modified with a skateboard deck so she can ride it standing up.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
90	* ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'': Happens in a scene where Batman and Robin ride the doors of a rocket ship after Mr. Freeze.
91	-->'''Robin''': Cowabunga!
92	* The film ''Film/DarkStar'' ends with Lt. Doolittle attempting an atmospheric entry riding a surfboard shaped piece of wreckage from his destroyed spaceship. The film ends before we find out how well that worked for him.
93	* Though most of them were skydiving, [[MemeticBadass Tommy Oliver]] did this in ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie''.
94	* Harry Osborn flies around on a special glider in ''Film/SpiderMan3''. Unlike the ones below, this one resembled a surf board.
95	** His father did it first in the first movie.
96	** The glider makes a reappearance in ''[[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan The Amazing Spider-Man 2]]''.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
100	* Apollo from ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' uses a flying board to get around.
101	* ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfRobinHood'': In "The Time Machine", Rowena befriends Elvis, and they fly through the forest on magical skateboards to escape the marauders.
102	* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'': "Galaxy Gliders, hang ten!"
103	** It didn't get used an awful lot but as part of the MidSeasonUpgrade package in ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' the yellow ranger got a new zord of a penguin that rides around on a floating board, which folded up around it when it became a megazord's leg.
104
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Music]]
108	* Music/JoeSatriani has Surfing With the Alien, a metal album which absolutely does feature the ComicBook/SilverSurfer on the cover. So, the picture caption is not a {{pun}}. It's a BrickJoke.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
112	* Myth/IrishMythology: Fionn Mac Cumhaill's paternal aunt Bodhmall rode a flying lily pad, which she used in battle against Diarmuid during the years he was hiding from her nephew.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Pinball]]
116	* The protagonist of ''Pinball/AirborneAvenger'' does this while [[OutsideRide standing on the back]] of his one-man jet-sled.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
120	* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:
121	** In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', Tzeentch, the Chaos God of magic, often gifts his most powerful followers and daemons with a Disc of Tzeentch. These flat, circular daemons are created from a [[ForcedTransformation transmuted Screamer]] and allow their rider to soar through the skies of a battlefield to rain magic and psychic powers down on their foes.
122	** In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', Dark Eldar Hellions ride on bladed Skyboards, compact anti-grav platforms that allow the sadistic Dark Eldar to race around the spires of Commorragh and through the skies Realspace with great speed and agility.
123
124	* The Skyblade Personal Transport in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}''.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
128	* In the former Ride/UniversalStudios attraction, ''Ride/TheFuntasticWorldOfHannaBarbera'', when Dastardly's rocket is destroyed, he and Muttley are able to stay in the air briefly by standing on top of the still-functional engines.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Toys]]
132	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'''s Toa Lhikan had two fire-swords which could unite to form a shield, and that shield, in turn, doubled as an instrument well-suited for sky surfing.
133	** When the Ignika created a body for itself, it also created a Skyboard to use.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Video Games]]
137	* ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' has more than one such power. One summons chunks of earth (or cloud, if you do it while falling), another summons a chunk of ice, and yet another summons an actual technological glider disk. The newest ones include a magic carpet and a cloud with a rainbow trail.
138	* [[GravityMaster Layle]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesTheCrystalBearers'' does this during the final battle.
139	* The "boards" in ''VideoGame/FlyFF''. They're the main method of transport alongside {{Flying Broomstick}}s. Less common rideable items include clouds and magic carpets.
140	* Exploiting physics glitches allows you to pull this off with ordinary wooden pallets and... small, plastic buckets in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', which is used big time in the [[https://speeddemosarchive.com/demo.pl?HalfLife2_13657 speedrun]].
141	* ''VideoGame/HazelnutHex'' have you playing as a witch who flies around on a giant ''spoon''. Meanwhile your main nemesis flies on a similar-sized fork.
142	* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', all three protagonists can turn their Keyblade into a vehicle, but Ven's is the only one that really fits this.
143	* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'s'' Warp Star allows him to [[WarpWhistle travel long distances quickly]]. He even sometimes rides it surfboard style.
144	* Rush Jet allows ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' to skysurf on the back of his ''dog.''
145	** The Balloon Adapter in ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' lets him do the same thing and it is based on the Rush Jet from Mega Man 3, but with a very high weapon energy cost.
146	** [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/a/a7/X4_ultarmor3.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20181210210543 Official art]] of ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' shows that X's Ultimate Armor can transform into a flying board when not in use. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4vHkEBHVdE The intro animation]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManXDive'' shows him riding it before it activates.
147	* At the climax of ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'', Michael surfs an [[IncendiaryExponent exploding space station]] to Earth while wearing a HumongousMecha PoweredArmour. For this game, it's pretty much par for the course.
148	* Alolan Raichu from ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' gain partial [[MindOverMatter Psychic typing]] and can use their new psychic powers to surf through the air on their lightning bolt shaped tails.
149	* While not technically flying, the Anchoring ability in ''VideoGame/S4League'' allows you to shoot a grappling chain to any surface and then zip there on a board. Since this can be done in midair, arenas with enough tall buildings will let you zoom from one end to the other without touching the ground.
150	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
151	** In several games, Tails will fly a biplane and Sonic will stand on the wings. %%Sonic also does this with certain objects, such as the tops in Marble Garden Zone.
152	** In the ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'' series, a mark of true Extreme Gear mastery is being able to achieve legitimate flight on a gear rather than the NotQuiteFlight that most regular riders are capable of. The [[PsychoRangers Babylon Rouges]] all have the technique licked to some extent, but Sonic ends up having trouble with it at first.
153	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
154	** Rikako Asakura has some sort of rocket jet ski that she presumably built herself. It's implied she ''can'' fly, but she'd rather use science than magic to do so. [[ScienceVersusMagic This is why she's the heretic of Gensokyo.]]
155	** CuteWitch Marisa Kirisame is seen "surfing" on her FlyingBroomstick during "Sungrazer", her [[LimitBreak Last Word]] for ''Hopeless Masquerade''. This may be AscendedFanon, since she'd long been portrayed as doing this in fanart beforehand.
156	* Temjin in the ''VideoGame/VirtualOn'' series gained this as a special attack in the second game. It becomes his most powerful attack in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha 3'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsK''.
157	** Speaking of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', the ''Huckebein Boxer's'' Sword Diver attack enables the frame to transform into a rocket powered [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Waverider]] {{BFS}} which rams itself into the opponent as the finishing move.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Webcomics]]
161	* Although called "hover boards", the boards used by SUEPR in ''Webcomic/CityOfReality'' are actually utilizing this trope since they appear able to fly at any altitude.
162	* Bro in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' (as well as his Alpha Universe counterpart) has a rocket board. He's proficient enough with its usage to use it more like a skateboard than a surfboard, though.
163	* In ''Webcomic/KidRadd'', the titular Radd had the powerup in his original game, and as he absorbed some code from the sequel, he got the infinite rocket board cheat.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Web Original]]
167	* Riptide's cloud-board in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. Built especially to use her powers by Bugs, it's a flight board that uses Riptide's aquakinetic powers to fly, and it generates a tiny cloud around itself while Riptide 'surfs' on it.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Western Animation]]
171	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': The Firelights are a masked gang that ride around on rocket-powered boards. They're a problem for both Silco and the Enforcers.
172	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': When witnessing his mentor doing just this with a glider in a PensieveFlashback, Aang exclaims: "He's air-surfing! I can't believe I never thought of that." We never see him copying the technique afterward, probably because [[AwesomeButImpractical Gyatso fell off after about a minute]].
173	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', the "Royal Flush" villain group flies on giant playing cards. Spellbinder, another villain, has his own mechanical device to fly on as well, although it's more spherical than board-shaped.
174	* In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', Optimus Primal's Transmetal form is an ape on a hoverboard, so he did this more than a few times in the show.
175	* Odd and Yumi use vehicles that glide on air in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''.
176	* Valerie of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''.
177	* In later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'', Rex rides the "Sky Slyder", basically a giant glowing surfboard.
178	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Finished as a villain tutor, Shego calls up a flying rocket-powered skyboard in her signature colors and dives onto it from a helicopter. That's how to leave your job in style...
179	* Gus in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' flies on his magic staff this way, as opposed to most witches who ride them seated. It's shown at one point that he actually has a lot of trouble steering when he tries to fly the 'standard' way, but while sky surfing he’s the quickest and most maneuverable on his [[FictionalSport Flyer Derby]] team.
180	* In ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'', the villain Luna Girl has her "Moon Board," a crescent-shaped board that seems to run on some form of anti-gravity energy.
181	* The zipboards from ''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'' are a textbook example of this trope.
182	** Taken to the logical end with Ray Tracer, who uses an actual surfboard ala ComicBook/SilverSurfer.
183	%% * Manic uses one in ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground''.
184	* Then there's the long-forgotten ''WesternAnimation/SkysurferStrikeForce'', about a team of superheroes who all ride flying boards.
185	* Static from ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' surfs using a disc.
186	** Early in the [[ComicBook/{{Static}} original comic]] (and the cartoon), Static would fly by magnetically levitating a convenient piece of metal. He preferred manhole covers and hubcaps, but he would set aside his embarrassment and ride a ''garbage can'' in a pinch.
187	* [[LukeNounverber Kit Cloudkicker]] in ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' uses a collapsible crescent-shaped board to surf over clouds, usually while being pulled by the Sea Duck (so it's essentially sky ''wakeboarding''). He's also skilled enough to surf unassisted, such as after bailing out of aircraft, but he rarely does it unless he's near a town, a dock, or another populated place he can land in.
188	* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', Jetfire transforms and rides Jetstorm when making their initial attack on Prowl and Bulkhead.
189	* In ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', the villainess Ms. Question rides a giant question mark.
190	* ''WesternAnimation/ZakStorm'': The Chaos has a deployable rocket board called the Plank in the prow, which the titular hero Zak can use to surf through the sky, something he quickly gets the hang of due to his experience with traditional surfing.
191	[[/folder]]
192
193	[[folder:Other]]
194	* TruthInTelevision; this indeed ''is'' a practice in skydiving.
195	* [[CleverCrows Crows]] have also been observed effectively doing this with pieces of bark in updrafts.
196	* This can be used as a technique for flying in lucid dreams (where you know you're dreaming) if just flying by yourself doesn't work; [[MindOverMatter making an object float]] and even move very fast while standing or sitting on it might work better. It could be that it works because traveling in a vehicle is a more familiar sensation. Of course, it might not work. These tricks are individual and never wholly reliable.
197	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SkySurfing