A Stock Phrase where a character (often the Plucky Comic Relief) alerts the other character(s) of an "incoming" danger, often a large, falling object of some kind.
Expect an Oh, Crap! or two on the side.
This is Truth in Television as "Incoming!" is the traditional warning call for artillery shelling about to hit a unit's area. Since this is often the deadliest form of attack, the soldiers definitely have to find cover.
Not to be confused with the 1998 game of the same name by Rage Software.
Examples:
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Films — Animation
- Finding Dory: Said by a starfish in the Touch Pool, then Bailey later on.
- Gnomeo & Juliet has an "incoming!" followed by a flying gnome who lands lands hat-side down and the hat's point sticks in the ground.
Films — Live-Action
- Battleground: "That's incoming mail!" (American shellfire is outgoing mail.)
- Beaufort: Heard repeatedly throughout the movie, as the IDF soldiers in Beaufort fortress are hit by Hezbollah artillery every day. Liraz tells Ziv that once he enters into the courtyard he is to keep running until he gets to the other side, even if he hears "Incoming!" along the way.
- Edge of Tomorrow. William Cage shouts "Incoming!" as he knocks Rita Vrataski out of the way of the shot he saw her take in a previous "Groundhog Day" Loop; unfortunately he ends up Taking the Bullet for her in the process. Seeing her saviour has a massive hole in his chest, Rita responds by stealing the power pack from his Powered Armor and abandoning him to be finished off by a Mimic.
- Next
Cris Johnson: [knows he's about to be punched by Liz's stalker] Incoming. [gets punched in the face]
- She's the Man
Toby: [cough] Incoming.
Viola: Check out the booty on that blondie. - The Santa Clause
Scott Calvin: Santa rolling down the block in a PANZER! Well, kids, I... I certainly hope you have been good this year, because it looks like Santa just took out the Pearson home. Incoming!
- Transformers Film Series:
- Transformers (2007), as an F-22 Raptor jet approaches. It turns out to be Starscream.
- Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, when Lennox and Sam are under attack by Mixmaster.
- The Matrix Reloaded. When a Squiddy throws a bomb at Soren's ship, a crewman yells "Incoming!" It doesn't help.
- The Matrix Revolutions
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, when the Enterprise is getting walloped by Chang's Bird of Prey, Chekhov delivers this line in a Danger Deadpan.
- Stripes combines this with an Oh, Crap!, when a poorly aimed mortar shell comes in on where Sgt. Hulka is training the recruits.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron:
- Iron Man tries to warn Captain America that there are some drones attacking his position... after he's already been blasted into the side of a car.
Iron Man: Cap, you've got incoming!
Captain America: Incoming already came in!- Played straight by Maria Hill in the same battle, when one of the Ultron drones flies straight at the bridge of Nick Fury's Helicarrier.
- Not actually said in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but the audience may shout "Incoming!" when the alarm that proceeds Eddie's appearance goes off.
- The Sure Thing: Lance yells this to Gib as he tosses him a beer.
Live-Action TV
- Babylon 5 had more than a few during the various space battles, but the prequel movie In The Beginning had the best textbook example, when a building our heroes were in was about to be attacked from orbit.
Sheridan: HIT THE DECK!
- Doctor Who: In "World War Three", the Doctor has Mickey launch a missile at Downing Street to stop the Slitheen.
Soldier: What do you mean, 'incoming'?
- Midsomer Murders episode "The Green Man":
Daniel Webster: Trouble.
Cully Barnaby: What?
Daniel Webster: Incoming. My dynamic dad. - Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Catalina Caper
TV's Frank: Frank! Incoming!
- Star Trek: Voyager. In "Bride of Chaotica!" after being roped into playing the holodeck program The Adventures of Captain Proton, the Emergency Medical Hologram gives a hesitant, "Ahh, incoming!" just before Proton's rocketship is hit by Dr. Chaotica's Death Ray.
- One episode of Xena: Warrior Princess had Gabrielle launching firebombs onto an encampment of soldiers as a distraction. As the first bomb lands, a soldier in the background can be heard to yell "Incoming!"
Music
- The Sisters of Mercy's song "Ribbons" begins and ends with Andrew Eldritch screaming "Incoming!"
Theatre
- Hamilton: George Washington's first verse in "Right Hand Man" ends with him shouting "Incoming!" The immediate context is of him leading the Continental Army during the New York and New Jersey Campaign in 1776 with the "Incoming!" being a warning for enemy artillery fire. The second meaning becomes clear when Large Ham Alexander Hamilton starts up his verse trying to rally his regiment to do something against the British onslaught.
Video Games
- C: The Contra Adventure. Sometimes Ray says this when you make him launch a bomb in the third-person view mission.
- This is a voice command in Team Fortress 2 (humorous by the way the Heavy says it).
- A Space Marine shouts this in the opening video of the original Dawn of War, just as a horde of Orks hits their position. As you may expect, it is as epic as it gets.
- Ubiquitous in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, usually whenever an RPG is fired or a grenade, thrown.
- Will occasionally be spoken by infantry who have been targeted by an impending artillery barrage in Company of Heroes, even before the player can see the shells. Usually followed by a frantic series of click-move-retreat commands.
- Some of the earlier Worms games start with a worm yelling "Incoming!"
- A handy feature of Armored Warfare, giving you about three seconds' warning of the nasty artillery or missile surprise you're about to receive.
- Whenever a grenade is tossed at the party in X-Men Legends, a random character in said party shouts their variation on "Incoming!" (Wolverine: "WE'VE GOT INCOMING!", Nightcrawler: "Mein Gott! Incoming!", etc.)
Web Animation
- Grif says it in a non-canon Red vs. Blue short... the problem being that he keeps saying it after the bombs hit, much to Simmons' frustration.
Webcomics
Websites
- TV Tropes: The trope Incoming Ham is about hammy characters announcing their arrival. They don't necessarily yell "Incoming!", so it's not a sub-trope. Its name, however, is an example of this trope.
Western Animation
- An episode of Action League NOW! from KaBlam! had Melt Man yell out "Incoming!" to warn the League of a flying cinder block... after it had already hit them.
- Transformers: Animated:
- "Transform and Roll Out!: Part One"
Optimus Prime: Would it kill you guys to say something like, "Watch out," or, I don't know, "Heads up," or...
Ratchet: Incoming!- "Mission Accomplished" - after episodes of trying and failing to convince the Elite Guard that there are still Decepticons on Earth, Optimus is asked if he has anything to say for himself. Cue Megatron blasting Starscream out of the air and right into their laps.
Optimus: INCOMING! - VeggieTales:
- Bob the Tomato screams this in "The Gourds Must Be Crazy" segment from Are You My Neighbor? when it seems that the popcorn meteor is about to hit the U.S.S. Applepies.
- In King George and the Ducky, Thomas (played by Junior Asparagus) shouts this when he suffers PTSD after fighting in the pie war.
Thomas: Incoming! Boysenberry at 3 o'clock!
Real Life
- Many more permanently established bases will have automated systems for issuing warnings over loudspeakers and other means.
- In the US Army, you do not say "grenade" unless you mean (specifically) someone has thrown a grenade in your general direction and everyone near you had better join you in rapidly getting the hell away from it. When throwing a grenade, you yell "frag out." These are both very important since the kill radius of a modern hand grenade in the open is usually about five yards, and they can wound well past that.
