Basic Trope: A character falls off of a high place, but survives by being caught before hitting the ground, or grabbing a ledge on the way down, or landing in water or something.
- Straight: Frederik jumps out from a helicopter but survives the fall because George, on a ledge, caught him midway through the fall.
- Exaggerated: Frederik falls through the atmosphere only to be saved from all damage by landing on a trampoline.
- Downplayed: Frederik catches himself after a fall that is significant, but he hadn't yet reached terminal velocity.
- Justified:
- Frederik is on a low-gravity planet and most of the regular surface is lethal on touch — only the ledges and water are free from that toxic substance.
- The setting does not have Real Life physics.
- Frederik is Nigh-Invulnerable.
- Frederik can block elements, like wind and earth.
- Frederik did something to slow down his fall.
- Inverted: Frederik dies mid-air after falling for quite some time.
- Subverted: Frederik manages to grab a ledge, but dislocates his shoulder in the attempt, and continues to fall.
- Double Subverted: He only has a few feet left to fall.
- Parodied: Frederik jumps out from a hot-air balloon but survives because he manages to grab onto a mountain ledge after a 30-second fall.
- Zig Zagged: Fredrick jumps off a cliff, but survives by being caught by Bob. However, when he jumps off his helicopter and tries to grab a ledge, he breaks the ledge, falls, and is seriously hurt.
- Averted: Frederik's fall is not broken at all until the end.
- Enforced: "Wait, we need to have our hero do that thing where he falls from the top of a skyscraper, but survives due to grabbing onto something at the last second, in order to ratchet up the tension!"
- Lampshaded: "Wow, Frederik is really lucky. He fell three stories and managed to do that flag-pole-catching thing they do in movies and cartoons."
- Invoked: Frederik attempts to stop his fall midway through, knowing that physics won't call his bluff.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Despite everyone telling him he'll be okay as long as he finds something to break his fall, Frederik refuses to take the dangerous jump, because he passed his physics class in high school and knows that it's foolish.
- Discussed: "Don't worry about falling, as long as I catch you, you'll be fine!" "But sir, what if we're falling at terminal velocity?" "I said you'll be fine!"
- Conversed: "So Frederik, what would you do if you fell out of a plane like those people in the tail section on Lost?" "I dunno George, probably wave my arms to try to slow down and aim for the softest thing I can find to break my fall."
- Deconstructed: Serious injuries result from any attempt at actually catching a person. More than just a simple subversion, the characters' rather foolish attempts end up with several of them seriously injured and unable to fulfill their goals.
- Reconstructed: Frederik is too valuable to lose, and Bob is an incredibly strong-willed person - even through a dislocated shoulder, he manages to hoist Frederik up.
Back to Not the Fall That Kills You…
