Removed this from the Real Life section
- Of course, by then the last pure human will be a living trampoline.
- Interestingly, a number of theories believe that the increased solar wind will push the Earth out to a more distant (and safer) orbit before it is engulfed in the photosphere, so maybe it will Outrun the Fireball. That said, it's unlikely to be particularly healthy during the centuries (or millennia) that it'll take to happen- boiling seas is a pretty good bet, along with a very impressive storm system, similar to that of Venus.
- Actually, it will be more due to the sun losing mass from all the energy it gives off (4.3 million tons a second!). Earth's orbital velocity won't change appreciably so it will spiral outwards because of less mass pulling it in.
- Nope. Latest research suggests that tidal forces caused by the red giant Sun will cancel Earth's spiral outwards and it will be engulfed by the Sun. Anyway, even if Earth could escape the highly hostile conditions of its surface during that late epochs make its survival something academic.
- Life on earth will be drastically affected long before this. One billion years in the future, still long before the red giant phase, the sun will be 10% more luminous, increasing the average earth temperature to over 45 degrees C, causing a runaway greenhouse effect with the evaporation of the oceans.
- Out of all of this, remember that the sun is only a medium-sized star. Plenty of larger stars have gone boom since the start of time, giving other astronomical bodies plenty of chances to outrun the fire.
I think the trope should be split into Outrun the Fireball and Outrun the Countdown. Taking shelter immediately before (or simultaneously with) an explosion is not the same as outracing the explosion itself.
Outrun the Fireball should be Exactly What It Says On the Tin. If the explosion doesn't go off before the characters reach cover/minimum safe distance, then it doesn't count and it should go under Outrun the Countdown. Outrun the Fireball should only be invoked when the explosion is shown to begin while the characters are still running (or before they start). For a brilliant example that actually cuts between the explosion and the running character, see the climax of "Relic".
Cutting from running characters to the explosion, then showing that they did get to cover after all, is messing with narrative time and should be considered a subversion of either or both Outrun the Countdown/Fireball.
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A neat idea for Trope Repair Shop or ykttw draft. Feel fee to start it. I'll be happy to contribute.
This is most probably not an example — not outrunning a fireball.
- Subverted in A Better Tomorrow 2 when Chow Yun-Fat's character lights a bomb with his cigarette and throws it into the basement of the Big Bad's mansion, he then proceeds to quickly run up the stairs, close the door behind him, and then breaths a sigh of relief while smoking his cigarette. Moments later the bomb explodes in a huge inferno that blows the door and CYF across the room.
There are way too many examples with Conversation On The Main Page and Word Cruft. Deleting. Some stuff might be copied to this post should anyone feel like putting it back in a more appropriate style.
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