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He thinks she's a real catch.
Robert: Is this a habit of yours, falling off of stuff?
Giselle: Well, usually someone catches me.

A woman literally falls into a man's arms. It's a dramatic and romantic scene, so it's naturally a common setup for Meet Cute.

It's also such an old trope that it has standard subversions and parodies. Played straight, it's almost always a man successfully catching a woman. It can be subverted by having the falling woman squash her would-be hero, or by having her miss him entirely, especially with animation's Amusing Injuries or if the girl was deliberately trying to invoke this trope by pretending to faint or something.

Because Falling into His Arms is so romantic, it can be easily parodied by having a man fall into a man's arms, preferably those of his closest male friend, for a bit of comedic Homoerotic Subtext. That can also be combined with one of the standard subversions.

Another old variation is for a man to be the waiting arms beneath the windows of a burning building when a mom decides that her baby would have a better chance of surviving if she tossed it. More intense drama, no romance (unless the mom survives, is single, and is sufficiently impressed).

The baby Falling into His Arms has two standard subversions too. One is for the man to miss the catch, and the other is for it to turn out to be something else wrapped up in swaddling clothes, such as an ugly pet. Or an ugly baby, for that matter. Maybe he wouldn't have gone to the trouble to save that face.

The trope can also be reversed, with a man falling into a woman's arms, or a woman falling into another woman's arms.

A standard parody of the baby toss is for the woman to toss an ever-growing number of increasingly large and heavy objects into her hero's waiting arms, until eventually — wait for it — he gets squashed. Because it's funny!

If the man deliberately decides to miss the catch, it overlaps with The Not Catch.

In all such cases, it's Not the Fall That Kills You….

Compare Catch a Falling Star and Diving Save. May overlap with Rescue Hug and continue into Bridal Carry.


Examples of falling adults:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 
  • This is how Senjougahara Hitagi meets Araragi Koyomi in Bakemonogatari. It kick-starts the supernatural plot of the show because she only weighs 5 kilos, due to a "heavy crab" stealing her weight.
  • Berserk: Happens once when heroic prostitute Luca falls off the tower of conviction but she is caught by a Knight In Shining Armour on a horse... the Skull knight in fact. Luca assumes she died and he's the Grim Reaper, but Skull Knight assures her she is not dead and protects her from demons.
  • Buso Renkin: Subverted during the first arc when Kazuki tries to catch Tokiko, who had been launched into the air by his energy-propelled Sunlight Heart, only for him to almost be impaled by the lance as Tokiko uses her Valkyrie Skirt to safely land behind.
  • This is how Suzaku meets Euphemia in Code Geass.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • It happens a few times in early in the series, the first time was when Bulma falls out of an exploding vehicle, Goku caught her with ease amusing considering Goku was half her size at the time. Another time Bulma was falling, it was Yamcha who caught her but due to his shyness around beautiful women, he dropped her immediately.
    • Goku does this his wife Chi-Chi later in Dragon Ball Z, when he wakes up after recovering from the heart virus, Chi-Chi is so overjoyed she hugs him Goku responds in kind by spinning her around and even throwing her up in the air (a little too high) and catching her. It's a sweet moment.
  • Happens twice to Chick Magnet Van in GUN×SWORD . The first time, Van catches Wendy when she faints; the second time, Priscilla tumbles into his arms. Both girls are potential love interests. However, it's subverted in episode 6 when would-be bandit Klatt fails to catch his girlfriend Bunny. Van mocks him for it.
  • Subverted in Ouran High School Host Club where during a Zuka club performance where Haruhi jumps off a high stage and into Tamaki's waiting arms... and proceeds to squash him into the ground.
  • One Piece:
    • Sanji adores this trope, he does it most frequently with Nami. The first time was in the anime when the crew was traveling upwards To Skypeia, all the weaker crewmates need to be grabbed before they fly away. Robin catches Chopper, Zoro keeps Usopp down with his foot and Sanji catches Nami his arms-bridal style, Sanji is overjoyed but Nami is too focused on the travel upwards to even notice.
      • Sanji does it again with Porche in Davy Back arc Filler despite her status as an enemy and she even kisses his cheek in thanks, though this makes them both lose the game.
      • Sanji catches Nami in the first trailer for One Piece: Pirate Warriors. While Usopp, Chopper, and Buggy get a rougher landing.
      • Done once again but beautifully in Whole Cake island arc.
    • Luffy catches Vivi when she's dropped off a palace by Crocodile, while Riding a Falcon-man too. It's a moment that is flashbacked to a lot in the anime and even more so in the movie.
    • Cyborg Franky catches Robin in his arms in the Enies Lobby arc (Anime), it's a sweet moment.
    • In the One Piece Film: Strong World this inverted slightly as Sanji after beating Scarlet, jumps to catch a falling Robin, but living skeleton Brook comes out of nowhere and catches Robin, while Sanji gets a rough landing.
    Sanji You shitty skeleton, you stole the best part! I'll skin you alive.
    (smashes into the ground)
    Brook He does know I have no skin?
    • In the Dressrosa Arc Leo the Dwarf does this with Dwarf Princess Mansherry (they're more like pixies really). Mansherry has a strong crush on Leo, and much to the princess's delight Leo saves her and catches her in his tiny arms, but Leo then claims she's gotten heavier getting her angry. In fact, Leo is oblivious to fact she has feelings for him and gets angry when she asks for him to carry her away (thinking she's being selfish).
      • The other Dwarves force him to do it and Leo reluctantly piggybacks her to safety with Princess snuggling against his back.
    • In Wano Arc Filler Luffy plays this straight, catching Boa Hancock in his arms while escaping poisonous gas.
  • Ranma ½: This is how Kodachi thinks she met Ranma Saotome, although she'd actually met "her" a few hours earlier. Ironically, the reason he had to catch her in the first place was that he'd accidentally beaned her with a kettle, but no matter — she finds it very romantic and falls immediately in love with him, to his vast dismay.
  • Subverted with Mari in Rebuild of Evangelion. The scene in question really has to be seen to be believed, but suffice it to say that the fine Eva tradition of Shinji being the Butt-Monkey of all Creation is firmly upheld.
  • At one point in Fairy Tail, Lucy actually throws herself off of a building because she knows Natsu will be there to catch her. And sure enough, he comes running out of nowhere and saves her. Of course, they land completely awkwardly, with her chest smooshed up into his face.
  • In Tiger & Bunny, rescuing Kotetsu this way is the first thing Barnaby does prior to his introduction. He then proceeds to do it a second time (while lampshading the situation)...And again just before the end of the last episode.
    Barnaby: It's been a while since I carried you like this. Have you gained weight?
    Kotetsu: Shut up. And put me down!
  • In The King of Fighters: KYO manga, Kyo Kusanagi catches his girlfriend Yuki like this when his father Saisyu snaps him out of a brief Brainwashed and Crazy status via staging a Hostage Situation with a Yuki subjected to Unwilling Suspension.
  • Sasuke does this in his Embarrassing Rescue of Kasuga in Sengoku Basara, and once Kasuga comes to her senses she wriggles so much that he drops her. Yukimura also falls into Sasuke's arms as one point, and though surprised (since he thought Sasuke was dead) he's at least grateful.
  • Iconic example with Sheeta and Pazu from Castle in the Sky, though it gets subverted as once the Power Crystal that keeps Sheeta floating stops working Pazu gets her unsupported weight he nearly drops Sheeta.
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Joey catches Mai as she falls from a dangerous height. Somewhat realistically, her weight knocks him over, turning it into a Suggestive Collision. It's still played romantically, with Mai thanking Joey and calling him an "action hero."
  • Nanami of Kamisama Kiss tends to fall into Tomoe's arms whenever he makes a Big Damn Heroes entrance.
  • Genderflipped in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. Near the end Heero passes out after having saved the day, but Relena promptly rushes towards him and manages to catch him before he hits the ground.
  • In the manga Aventura, Soela falls out of a floating platform in a magic library and lands in hero Lewin Randit's arms. Unfortunately, Lewin's just a kid like her, doesn't have the strength to catch a falling girl and keep his balance, and just happened to be standing at the edge of a long staircase.
  • In Kuso Kagaku Sekai Gulliver Boy, Misty pretty much launches herself into Gulliver's arms in joy after he first apologizes for having missed the point of her Love Confession, then giving her an Anguished Declaration of Love.
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Nia falls into Simon's arms after he arrives to save her from the Anti-Spiral.
  • In Shinshunki Miman Okotowari, Asuka tries to use the uneven bars to raise to Youko's challenge and enter the gym team. She begins spinning in them... and then she has such a strong momentum that she simply CAN'T stop. She eventually has to let go and Manato pulls a Diving Save to catch her.
  • It's a variant with children instead of adults, but in GO-GO Tamagotchi! episode 1, Himespetchi tries to invoke the trope to make her grand re-entrance onto Tamagotchi Planet after having been Put on a Bus. She falls out of the sky in a wedding dress, fully expecting to land in Mametchi's arms so that she can express her love for him. She lands in Spacytchi's arms instead.
  • Invoked in the "Red Thread" chapter of Zekkyou Gakkyuu, where Izumi is cornered by a Girl Posse at the rooftop after she gets too close to a popular guy, Masaya. Surprisingly, the leader doesn't actually harass her, she simply tell her that Masaya is a womanizer and that she should give up on him. Izumi, who is certain that Masaya is her One True Love, tries to prove the other girl wrong by jumping off the rooftop, believing that he'll be there to catch her because he's her "fated" one. Unfortunately, the other girl was right, and as she's falling, Izumi sees Masaya kissing another girl, not even noticing her fall.

    Comic Books 
  • Superman:
    • Kal-El has been catching Lois Lane in his arms pretty much since his early adventures. Sometimes Lois herself jumped off a window only to draw his attention.
    • In Superman: Secret Origin, Superman catches Lois when she gets blown off a rooftop.
    • Justice opens up with a dream sequence where, among other things, Lois falls from a burning building and into Superman's arms.
    • Males have been falling into Supergirl's arms for decades. Depending on the situation it was played for drama, romance... or laughs. As an example, in "Good-Looking Corpse", Supergirl catches a young boy falling from a rooftop, and then she finds out he willingly jumped off the building as a ploy to introduce himself and ask her number.
    • Batman story The Attack of the Annihilator provides a more straight example when Batgirl gets blasted off a building and caught by Supergirl.
    • Many Happy Returns has Linda Danvers catch an unconscious Kara in her arms after the latter is dropped by a pterosaur.
    • In Red Daughter of Krypton, Red Lantern Bleez passes out as flying and is caught and taken to safety by Kara.
  • X-Men: In Uncanny X-Men #146, Iceman catches Polaris after she gets knocked off the sky.
  • Spider-Man: In The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #127, the Vulture snatches and drops Mary Jane Watson, but she's safely caught by Spidey.

    Fan Works 
  • In the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story "Papa's Big Crush", Smurfette was on a ladder and starts to descend when one of the rungs breaks, causing her to fall. Papa Smurf, who was holding the ladder at the bottom, caught her in his arms, which was a happy moment that lasted a bit too long for Smurfette's comfort that resulted in her telling Papa Smurf politely to put her down.
  • In the Everyday Craziness in Pontypandy story "Bronwyn’s Helper", just as Gabby falls from the roof, Sam jumps in to catch her. This is not played romantically though, due to their age gap (Sam is thirty-one, Gabby is eighteen), and the later revelation that Gabby is a lesbian.
  • Inverted in Sixes and Sevens. Howard is struck by Vertigo's disorientation powers, and his attempts to warn Peggy and Angie just lead to him collapsing into the latter's arms as they enter the lobby.
  • Waiting is worth it: Young Katsuki grabs an unconscious and severely injured Izuku when Izuku's Traumatic Superpower Awakening causes him to float back up to the bridge.

    Film— Animated 
  • In the Disney version of Peter Pan, when Wendy is forced to walk the plank by Hook, Peter catches Wendy in his arms. The Jolly Roger pirates are confused that don't hear Wendy hitting the water.
    Smee: Captain... no splash?
    Hook: Not a sound.
  • Toy Story 3 : Buzz and Jessie complete with Slow Motion romantic run.
  • Used in 9, when 9 rescues 7 from The Seamstress.

    Film— Live Action 
  • Life Is Beautiful, though it was a short fall into hay and she probably would have been fine without him.
    Guido: (as she falls into his arms) Buongiorno, principessa!
  • Played straight AND subverted to good effect in the movie Enchanted — in the fairy tale world Prince Edward easily catches Princess Giselle in his arms in a straightforward fashion. Later, in "real world" New York, Princess Giselle falls on Robert and knocks him over. (Which is probably what would really happen if a woman fell on a man.)
    • If you've seen the ending of the film, this trope gets inverted! After Robert wakes Giselle with True Love's Kiss, Narissa transforms into a dragon, kidnaps Robert and goes to the top of the Woolworth Building. Later, she falls down to her death, and Giselle, who chased after Narissa, catches Robert and both managed to stay on the roof, away from sure death. To add effect to the scenes, they pulled an ironic echo of the "Is this a big habit of yours, falling off stuff?" question.
  • The Note Book: this happens a few times.
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark does it almost flawlessly, Indy is trapped in an Ancient Tomb while the Nazis are making off with the Arc of the Convenient and they decided to drop Indy's Old Flame Marion on top him. Toht pushes Marion into the tomb, Marion manages to catch a nearby Anubis statue to save her fall, but the statue cracks and she falls again but this time from a shorter height allowing Indy to catch her in his arms safely. But Marion is still angry at Indy for leaving her behind earlier in the movie, struggles out of his hold only to notice the snakes that are everywhere, and promptly scramble up onto his shoulders much to Indy's annoyance.
    • This scene is parodied in LEGO Indiana Jones Marion is dropped into the tomb and Indy holds outs his small Lego arms to catch her, but Marion crashes to the floor unharmed, but angry at Indy.
  • Dirty Dancing, the most iconic moment in the movie. And it gets away with because "the running catch" is an actual dance move professional dancers do.
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Tina jumps into Newt's arms when she is being lowered into a black cauldron of death, the wizard equivalent to the eclectic chair, Newt promises he will catch her. Her jump to safety is helped by the swooping evil who Newt can bring forth whenever he likes, this moment is focused on more in the screenplay as the moment Tina decides to trust in Newt.
  • Superman: The Movie: when Lois falls out of a helicopter Superman flies in with his Theme Music Power-Up and catches Lois.
    Superman: Don't worry, I've got you
    Lois: Got me? Who's got you!
  • Done for laughs in the in Little Women (1994). Meg, Jo, Laurie and John Brooke return from an evening at the theater, and as they exit the carriage, Jo raves about the lead actress being "a wonderful swooner."
    Jo: If only I were the swooning type! [dramatically falling from the carriage]
    Laurie: [sardonically, watching her fall] If only I were the catching type.
  • Brilliantly played with in The Truman Show; Truman spots the love of his life Lauren (who's just an extra in the show that is his life), but as he stares at her, the actor who plays his future wife drops backgrounds into his arms, preventing him from seeing where Lauren's gone.
  • Played With in George of the Jungle, when George catches Ursula in his arms as she falls from a vine. He immediately drops her to return to his fight.
  • In Now You See Me, J. Daniel Atlas catches Henley in the nick of time after the giant bubble she was floating in was burst by a chandelier.
  • In The Unknown, Nanon trips and falls down a flight of stairs only to be caught by Malabar, in a case of Literally Falling in Love.
  • Not romantic (for obvious reasons), but when Johnnie falls out of the barn in the Story Within a Story that opens Shortcut to Happiness, he lands in his father's arms.

    Literature 
  • Jane Eyre faints after learning that Mr. Rochester already has a wife, even though he was going to marry her. Mr. Rochester catches her.
  • Louisa Musgroves invokes it in Persuasion by jumping from steps so that Captain Wentworth will catch her. When she does this from the Cobb at Lyme (a sea-wall with narrow stairs that were built way before safety standards, as adaptations filmed on location reveal) she jumps from a slightly unsafe height. Then she runs back up to a very unsafe height to do it again, ignoring Wentworth's protests. He fails to catch her and she sustains a serious head injury.

    Live-Action TV 
  • The Superman example is discussed on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon insisting that Lois' fall from that height into Superman's arms of steel would have divided her into three slices. "Frankly, the most humane thing he could have done for her was to let her hit the ground."
  • Doctor Who: In "The Empty Child", this doubles as a Meet Cute moment when Rose falls into Jack's arms after he saved her with his Tractor Beam.
  • Subverted in "The Frogs and the Lobsters" of Horatio Hornblower. Horatio escapes through a window and climbs down a wall, running away from a frenzied mob of French villagers who might want to behead him as he's a British Navy officer fighting for French Royalists. He persuades his Love Interest Mariette to go with him, and tells her to jump. He fails catching her, though. She hurts her leg, which makes their escape much harder. And surprisingly, Horatio averts another logical romantic gesture — Bridal Carry. He doesn't carry her and Mariette must keep hopping, leaning on his shoulder.
  • In Once Upon a Time, Rumpelstiltskin catches Belle when she falls ripping down curtains. 'Cause they're falling in love.
  • Variation on Pushing Daisies: Due to Ned being Blessed with Suck, when his love interest trips right in front of him he has to step out of the way to avoid touching her, leaving room for someone else to swoop in and be the hero. He gets the girl anyway, but not before he nurses his inferiority complex for a while.
  • Non romantic example in Teen Wolf. When the still human and epileptic Erica falls of a climbing raft on the gym while mid seizure Scott catches her easily thanks to his werewolfy superpowers. Later she tries to seduce him, but admits that she is not particularly attracted to him and had a crush on Stiles for the longest time. And Scott of course only has eyes for Allison.
  • In the second episode of Lois & Clark, the villains all but invoke this trope in an attempt to destroy Superman. Guessing that either Lois or Clark, who are known to have had contact with Superman, has some means of remotely contacting him, they pitch Lois out of an airplane and wait for Superman to show up. Clark dives after her (not waiting to be pushed), turns into Superman, and catches Lois. Her appreciation of both Superman and the save are obvious. (The missile they then aim at Superman as he drops off Lois is of course a No-Sell, but they didn't know to expect that as Superman is still new to Metropolis and hasn't shown all his powers yet.) The catch makes it into the opening credits as an iconic Lois/Superman moment.

    Video Games 
  • Shovel Knight: Nearly every time Shovel Knight falls asleep at a campsite, he has a nightmare about his girlfriend Shield Knight plummeting towards the ground, where the dire prompt Catch Her will flash up while hordes of enemies will try and stop the knight and if the player lets her drop he will fail immediately making it one of the most poignant mini-games ever.
    • Shovel Knight will have to catch Shield Knight for real during the final level of the game, in a complete tear jerking and emotionally satisfying moment.
  • In Final Fantasy XII, the main character catches Amalia in just this fashion.
    • The dramatic version is also used in FFVIII when the team stages a commando raid on the facility about to freeze the love interest. Squall smashes the tank and Rinoa falls forward into his arms.
  • Subverted in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, when Luigi's parachute gives, and the shiny bishounen Prince Peasley holds his arms out to catch him... only to have Luigi knock him aside and the two to hit the ground anyway.
  • In Psychonauts, one of Milla's Memory Reels shows this happening with her and Sasha (that's a guy with an arguably Gender-Blender Name, for the record).
  • In Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Florina the Pegasus Knight with a crippling phobia of men falls out of the sky and lands on Lord Hector of Ostia after she escapes from the siege of Castle Caelin and reaches for Eliwood and Hector's group to get help. It's also played for laughs when it is revealed that her Pegasus landed on him also. And for heartwarming if the player makes them reach an A support and see Florina trying to thank Hector for catching her, succeeding only at the end... and later they get Happily Married.
  • Nonromantic version in The King of Fighters XIII: Adel Berstein catches his younger sister Rose in his arms when she almost collapses after being released from Botan's brainwashing at the end of the game.
  • Anthuria from Granblue Fantasy falls into the captain's arms as she faints from having the corrupted Klesha removed from her in "Auld Lanxiety".

    Visual Novels 
  • This is how the protagonist meets Victor Frankenstein in Code:Realize (no, not THAT Victor Frankenstein... well, actually, kinda... it's complicated.) He rescues her from a group of men attempting to sexually assault her by throwing a makeshift bomb which stuns those in its vicinity. Which, incidentally, also includes her. Before she can fall and hit the ground though, he catches her and reassures her he's not going to hurt her. If you choose to pursue him, this happens several more times during his route. Overlaps with Rescue Hug.
  • In Piofiore: Fated Memories, Lili falls into Dante's arms when she tries to escape from the Falzone Manor from the second-floor window, only for the rope to rip and for him to catch her from below. It also marks the start of their relationship.

    Webcomics 
  • In this strip of Mystic Revolution, a catgirl falls off a cliff into a mighty summoner's arms, complete with a "Hello, beautiful."
  • The webcomic College Roomies from Hell!!!... repeatedly. People fall out of that building a lot. Sometimes wearing a bungee jumping cord.
    • Well, the page title IS "A webcomic about defenestration," so...probably justified?
  • Occurs in Questionable Content here with appropriate Lampshade Hanging.
  • Occurs after a biking accident in Wapsi Square here. However, in this case, it is purely comedy, and it is not played for romance in any way.
  • It happens to Sarah in Think Before You Think on this page. Not quite the Rescue Romance it could have been, due to the guy's negative intentions.
  • Scarlet Lady:
    • In Origins, Part 2, Chat Noir catches Marinette mid-air when Stoneheart throws her off the Eiffel Tower.
    • One of the story's Running Gags is Chloé attempting to invoke this trope with Adrien as the catcher, only for him to go hug or hold someone else while she's left mid-air or suffers Amusing Injuries.

    Western Animation 
  • Scratch invokes this trope in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, when after he dresses to seduce Sonic, he deliberately trips and lands in Sonic's arms.
  • In a Gender Flip episode of Adventure Time, Fionna and Prince Gumball are both falling, then Fionna somehow manages to land first and catch Gumball.
  • Inverted twice in Avatar: The Last Airbender, where Katara catches Aang.
  • In Castlevania Sypha falls gently into Trevor's arms when her Taken for Granite wears off, making a Meet Cute moment. Until Sypha pukes her guts out.
  • Defenders of the Earth subverts this trope on a few occasions:
    • In "The Prince Makes His Move", Prince Kro-Tan (disguised as a handsome Earthling) uses the telekinetic powers Zorelda gave him to sabotage Jedda's climbing equipment; he then catches her as she falls. Needless to say, it's all a trick on Kro-Tan's part so that he can gain Jedda's trust.
    • The series also features two male-on-male examples. In "The Would-be Defender", Character of the Week Earl Sump lands in Flash's arms after his attempt to imitate one of his comic book heroes meets with rather predictable results. And, in "The Prince Triumphant", Lothar catches Mandrake after the latter is knocked out of the claws of a Manbat which has carried him into the air.
  • Subverted in Justice League Unlimited when Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Superman are all turned into eight year olds and while they're fighting giant toy soldiers, Batman gets dropped and Wonder Woman catches him. He then crawls out of her embrace with his patented Bat-Scowl, insisting, "Leggo, I'm fine!" while she gives him an indulgent smile. It bears mentioning that grown up Wonder Woman has a bit of a thing for grown up Batman.
  • Well, they're kids, but Phineas and Ferb inverts this in one episode where Phineas is falling to his near-death, gets saved by an impromptu trampoline his love interest Isabella comes up with and bounces off of it into her arms.
  • ReBoot: In the very first episode, after her Space Fighter gets destroyed, Dot ends up falling into Megabyte's arms. He immediately drops her on the floor.
  • Happens a lot in Teen Titans with Robin and Starfire, usually with Starfire getting knocked out of the air by something and Robin rushing to catch her.
  • In X-Men: The Animated Series it happens like clockwork as flying heroines such Rogue, Storm and Jean are frequently (to point of it being almost a Running Gag) knocked out of the air requiring Cyclops, Wolverine or Gambit to catch them. Though much like the comics it’s a Double Standard e.g Rogue as a Flying Brick caught her non-flying love interest Gambit in her arms before dropping him safely in pond in Tsundere fashion.
  • Young Justice: In the credits of the Show Within a Show Hello Megan, Megan falls off a wall and into the arms of her love interest.

Examples of tossed babies:

    Film— Live Action 
  • In the opening stanza of Naked Gun 33⅓, during a frantic shootout in a train station, a woman's babies are sent flying out of a stroller. As Frank Drebin is fighting off the gunmen, Officer Nordberg frantically catches them out of the air, after which he proceeds to do a celebration dance and is about to spike one of them when the mother frantically tries to grab her child out of his arms.

    Jokes 
  • A woman is at the window of her burning apartment building, her baby in her arms. A man in the street yells "Lady, throw me your baby, I'm the quarterback for [insert football team you don't like]!" The woman throws the baby to the man, who flawlessly catches it... then sets it on the ground and kicks it 30 yards down the street.

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • Parodied (in a skit based on an old joke) on The Benny Hill Show. Benny plays a soccer goalie who assures the woman in the burning building that he can easily catch her baby. Which he does. And then, ever the goalie, he follows up by kicking the baby into the crowd.

    Webcomics 

    Western Animation 
  • Spoofed in The Ren & Stimpy Show cartoon "Firedogs!", where a fat, middle-aged housewife in a burning building tosses various heavy objects onto Ren, including a comically oversized baby ("Save my baby! Save my horse! Save my walrus! Save my elephant!"), then shrieks "Save me!" as Stimpy sends Ren up the fire truck ladder at high speed.


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