Because what goes up always comes down.
"These stairs! They have a mind of their own!"
If a character goes up the down escalator or down the up escalator then they are going against the odds. This occurs either because the escalator is broken or because the character is really dumb, in a situation unfamiliar to them, or just wants to challenge themselves. See also Treadmill Trauma, Can't Use Stairs, Staircase Tumble and Stairway to Heaven.
The first instance of this trope dates back to 1916 in the film The Floorwalker.
Do Not Try This at Home: Unless the escalator is off. This is a good way to end up having a nasty accident. Children especially should be taught that escalators and travellators are not toys or play equipment.
Examples:
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Advertising
- An ad for Citi bank showed a woman running up the down escalator as a visual metaphor for the fight for gender equality.
Anime & Manga
- In the finale of Pokémon the Series: XYZ, Serena departs the group going down an escalator at an airport, expecting to catch a plane to the Hoenn region. However, she remembers something at the last second, and runs back up the down escalator... so she can give Ash her First Kiss.
Comedy
- In one of his stand-up comedy routines Dara Ó Briain claims that he once got to the top of an up-escalator only to see an injured person on the floor in the area where he was about to get off. This prompted him to turn around and try and go back down the escalator, in the process forcing everyone behind him to do the same, until someone arrived to deliver first aid.
Fan Works
- The Pokémon Squad: In "RM: Boy Genius" (a Whole-Plot Reference to Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius), Henry attempts to cause mischief by walking up the down escalator. June promptly yells to him that nobody cares.
Henry (stopping): Okay.
Film — Animation
- Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: As part of the montage of kids disobeying rules after thinking that their parents are away on a very long vacation, Kevin walks up the down escalator whilst exclaiming "I'm walking up the down escalator!"
Film — Live Action
- Dawn of the Dead (1978): Several zombies try to go up the down escalator in a shopping mall.
- The Floorwalker: Near the end of the movie, Charlie Chaplin tries to run down the escalator that moves upwards.
- In The Wiz, during the Flying Monkeys' attack, Tinman tries to escape by going down an up escalator. Given his limited movement due to being made of metal, he's pretty much just walking in place.
Literature
- In Eleanor Estes' Ginger Pye, this was a Meet Cute for the parents of the main characters, who met when he saw his chance to run up the down escalator—something he'd always wanted to do—and crashed into her at the top.
- Ways to Live Forever: Sam and Felix list going up on down escalators as part of their list on ways to live forever.
Live-Action TV
- Candid Camera: one prank had them reversing the direction of a second escalator, leaving their victims trapped on the landing between an up escalator and a down one. Most victims tried to escape by running up the reversed escalator. One woman proceeded to hit the emergency stop switch and move on without blinking an eye.
- The IT Crowd: In "Bad Boys", after shoplifting the Grand Designs DVDs, Moss tries to escape from store security by running up the down escalator.
- Several idiots on World's Dumbest... try to force their way on escalators in the wrong direction, usually while drunk and/or fighting people riding them the right way.
Music
- The Chameleons: In their album "Script of the Bridge", one of their singles is called "Up the Down Escalator".
Video Games
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: The town of Roer has a pair of outdoor escalators connecting its upper and lower levels. If you attempt this trope, Alisa will get exasperated and ask if you're doing that just because you can. Fie, conversely, seems to think it's fun.
- Mario Kart Wii: You can invoke this in the Mario Kart Wii course Coconut Mall by going either up the down escalator or down the up escalator. It's possible to reach the top by doing this, though it will slow you down quite a bit (unless you use a mushroom power-up to speed up the escalator).
- Sonic Shuffle:, In the mini-game "Wrong Way Climb", one player is standing at the top of a down escalator, guarding a treasure of 30 rings, while the other three players are at the bottom of the escalator and trying to make their way to the top by repeatedly tapping the A button within the time limit.
- Persona 3: One of the outings the player can go on with Elizabeth has her attempt to do this. This ends up being another highlight of how out of touch she is with humanity, and her attempts to learn more about them.
Western Animation
- The Amazing World of Gumball: In "The Mothers"", Tobias changes the direction and speed of the escalator Nicole is on which causes Nicole to speed up. Nicole is running so fast, that when Tobias turns the escalator off she flies through the roof of the mall.
- In one episode of Animal Mechanicals, the Mechanicals attempt to go up a dinosaur escalator, but it's stuck in down mode and they all fall off. Once they're able to fix the on/off buttons, they can go up.
- Animaniacs: In "Survey Ladies", Wakko walks down the up escalator when he and his siblings get on it.
- Beavis And Butthead: In "Downward Dumbass", Beavis can't escape the elevator because he's going the wrong way. He spends all night stuck on the escalator, even falling asleep during the end credits.
- Big City Greens: The episode "Photo Op" starts with Cricket running upstairs on the down escalator in the Big City Mall. Once he reaches the top, the rest of the Greens are already there and Bill points out there's an up escalator on the other side.
- Family Guy: In "Fresh Heir", Carter injures himself whilst going up the down escalator in the mall.
- Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil: "Big Mouth" has Kick and Gunther chase Mouth up the down escalator, until he decides to screw it and jumps to the one that goes up.
- Phineas and Ferb: In "Elementary, My Dear Stacy", during the musical number "Elementary", Candace and Stacy go on the up escalator, but then when they see Phineas and Ferb going on the down escalator, they run down the up escalator, pushing past other people on the up escalator.
- In "Raging Bully", Phineas attempts to run up the down escalator while training for a thumb-wrestling match with Buford that afternoon; meanwhile, Ferb and boxer Evander Holyfield are timing him with a stopwatch. Phineas eventually gets to the top of the escalator.
- Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel: Doofenshmirtz goes down the up escalator at Googolplex Mall.
- Rabbids Invasion: In "Escalator Rabbid", a Rabbid tries to go up the down escalator to get the candy the two Rabbids at the top of the escalator are holding.
- The Simpsons: In "Loan-a Lisa", Bart pays Gil Gunderson to walk up the down escalator.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987): In the episode "Usagi Come Home", Usagi while confused and running away from the Turtles, tries to run upwards on a downward escalator. He becomes frustrated when he doesn't move anywhere, and slashes the escalator down the middle as he thinks the "stairs" are possessed by evil magic.
- VeggieTales: In "Sumo of the Opera", Scallion has to go up the down escalator as part of his training.
