History Main / DeathfromAbove

* ThreeHundred: "Our arrows will block out the sun!"
** [[SubvertedTrope "Then we will fight in the shade."]]

* In TheBigOne, Nazi Germany gets the Quintessential DeathFromAbove when it is wiped off the map by a rain of 232 atomic bombs dropped by B-36 bombers. The operation described actually used a real American warplan (AWDP-1) as its basis making this TruthInTelevision. The idea was to detsroy German warmaking potential. that meant destroying everything that went with it

* ''EveOnline'' FanVid [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathFromAbove?action=editv=yXWf-l71MY4#t=1m25s Day of Darkness II]] features Gallente [[AttackDrone Sentry Drones]] performing an orbital bombardment. Also, Admiral Tovil-Toba performs a ColonyDrop with his multi-kilometer spaceship.

* [[http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-06/rods-god Project Thor]] (also called either "Rods from God" or "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic The Sword of Damocles]]") would have placed bundles of power pole-sized tungsten rods into Earth orbit, with a retrorocket and guidance system attached to each one. The idea was to call down the poles at need, with the rear-mounted guidance system assuring pinpoint accuracy. Sort of a modern-day [[RainOfArrows Rain of]] [[ArrowsOnFire Flaming Arrows]], save each hit at terminal velocity would have been in the kiloton range. Note that tungsten is the densest metal except for a few that are horrifically expensive (it's nearly twice as dense as ''lead''), and has an incredibly high melting point.

* At one point in ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', you have to clear out a hostile camp with mortars. Your first shot is an aerial recon camera that you use to direct your fire. The game takes a turn for the dark when you discover that your only ammunition is white phosphorous (which the Geneva Conventions banned as a weapon). The game then takes an even darker turn when you have to cross the now burned-out camp on foot and get an up-close look at your horrific handiwork. The game manages to go ''even darker'' when [[spoiler: you find a mass of dead refugees, all burned beyond recognition]].

* This is one of Sicthe Meister's new moves in ''{{Rosenkreuzstilette}} Freudenstachel''; she [[TimeStandsStill stops time]], leaps up, resumes time and comes crashing down on the player's head with a giant block from nowhere that shatters upon impact with the floor. We guess she must've learned a lot from [[JoJosBizarreAdventure Dio]] lately.

* This trope applies to many machines of the U.S. Air Force. A number of USAF aircraft are joked about (fairly or otherwise) to be this trope incarnate just because they might ''fall on you''. The Vietnam-era F-105 Thunderchief supposedly derives its nickname of "Thud" from this bit of humor. some more straight examples:

* ''VideoGame/{{BlazBlue}}'' gives us [[ThatOneBoss Unlimited Ragna's]] [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Boss Battle Theme "Black Onslaught"]]. The lyrics are like this:
-->Falling from above! Death from above!
-->We should never be!
-->What a big, big mistake!
-->Falling from above! Death from above!
-->It's too late to be!
-->What a big, big mistake!
** Indeed, it's a [[OhCrap big, big mistake]] to challenge [[SNKBoss Unlimited Ragna]], ESPECIALLY on [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Hell"]]-[[NintendoHard Mode]]. In case you try it out anyway, have fun experiencing why his theme song is called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Black Onslaught"]]. CurbStompBattle doesn't even begin to describe what you're going to suffer.

* Invoked in a grand display of helicopters and napalm bombing during ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. For perspective, Lt. ColonelKilgore of the [[TheCavalry Air Cavalry division]] is somewhat reluctant to assist Captain Williard in his mission but when he hears that there is a good beach nearby occupied by the enemy that would just so happen to go Williard's way he decides to lead his men into battle in a formation of helicopters. As the helicopters close in on the Vietcong he plays "Music/RideOfTheValkyries" to intimidate them and then they rain fiery death down upon them and as the helicopters land to let the men down onto the ground one of the helicopters humorously has "Death From Above" stamped on its nose. The battle goes well enough but Kilgore gets frustrated, that the enemy are being so persistent as he would just like to go ahead and surf the beach already, and decides to call in a massive napalm strike to end the battle. When all is said and done Kilgore temporarily forgets about the surfing and in the ecstasy of the moment notes how much he loves to watch explosions like that famously saying, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning (...) It smells like victory."

** The AC-130 "Spectre" Gunship - A conversion of a C-130 cargo plane that replaces the cargo with a [[GatlingGood 25mm Gatling Gun]], a [[MoreDakka 40mm automatic cannon]], and a [[{{BFG}} 105mm howitzer field artillery piece]]. All can be (and often are) equipped with explosive rounds and the Air Force is considering increasing the caliber of all weapons now that they have ways to compensate for the recoil.

** The AC-130 "Spectre" Gunship - A conversion of a C-130 cargo plane that replaces the cargo with a 25mm Gatling Gun, a 40mm automatic cannon, and a 105mm howitzer field artillery piece. All can be (and often are) equipped with explosive rounds and the Air Force is considering increasing the caliber of all weapons now that they have ways to compensate for the recoil.
** The B-52 "Stratofortress" strategic bomber - It holds 70,000 lbs. of [[NoKillLikeOverkill BOMBS]]. With software upgrades, each of these bombs can be as accurate as any precision bomb dropped by a strike fighter. This allows the B-52 to act as close-air-support, dropping 70,000lbs of bombs exactly where they're needed.
** The A-10 "Thunderbolt" attack aircraft (A.K.A. the "Warthog") - Basically a flying tank capable of holding over a dozen bombs or missiles and flying in very low, but its main feature is a 30mm gatling gun that fires 65 depleted uranium slugs EVERY SECOND. The plane had to be specially designed with a low stall speed and two very powerful engines just to keep it from dropping out of the sky every time the pilot pulled the trigger.
** GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast "MOAB" bomb - The largest conventional explosive device known to man (unless you ask the Russians, who have yet to prove otherwise), this bomb has to be dropped from a cargo plane because it's too big to be dropped by a B-52.

* In ''Literature/{{Footfall}}'' (by LarryNiven and Jerry Pournelle) the alien invaders have two versions of this. First, they use space-based lasers and the 'Rods From God' described below to destroy Earth's military forces and insurgents; later, after [[spoiler: Kansas is nuked to defeat their first invasion they land the eponymous 'Foot' (an asteroid) in the Indian Ocean to try to force Earth's surrender (it doesn't work)]].

* The ''{{Digimon}}'' Starmon/SuperStarmon have the "Meteor Shower/Squall" attack.

* [[http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-06/rods-god Project Thor]] (also called either "Rods from God" or "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic The Sword of Damocles]]") would have placed bundles of power pole-sized tungsten rods into Earth orbit, with a retrorocket and guidance system attached to each one. The idea was to call down the poles at need, with the rear-mounted guidance system assuring pinpoint accuracy. Sort of a modern-day [[RainOfArrows Rain of]] [[ArrowsOnFire Flaming Arrows]], save each hit at terminal velocity would have been in the kiloton range. Note that tungsten is the densest metal except for a few that are horrifically expensive; it's nearly twice as dense as ''lead''.
** The reason for using tungsten isn't the density, though, but the melting point. The only substance that remains solid at a higher temperature is pure carbon.
** While still applicable, the rod impact is FAR below the kiloton range - the commonly quoted figure is around a dozen ''tons'' of TNT equivalent. These are bunker busters, not weapons of mass destruction.
*** The US Navy is claimed to have done a study to deterine the effect on a strike of one of these on a Nimitz-class nuclear powered carrier. The prediction is that it's even odds of a reactor breach.
* Nothing fits this trope quite like the U.S. Air Force. The four best examples:

** The B-52 "Stratofortress" strategic bomber - It holds 70,000 lbs. of [[NoKillLikeOverkill BOMBS]].
*** Even better, with software upgrades, each of these bombs can be as accurate as any precision bomb dropped by a strike fighter. This allows the B-52 to act as close-air-support, dropping 70,000lbs of bombs exactly where they're needed.

*** For reference, the A-10 was designed and built ''around'' its massive gatling gun. Said gatling gun is more than capable of ''slicing tanks in half.'' A burst from this weapon can (and often does) shred entire positions, armor, personnel, and fortifications alike.
*** And, since the rounds themselves are supersonic, the first warning that someone may have that a Warthog is about to ruin their day is that everything nearby them is suddenly exploding. Followed by the [[HellIsThatNoise ripping sound]] of the cannon.

*** Just to hammer this point home, you'll find very few people who call this bomb by its official name. Most call it the "Mother of All Bombs." Considering a freaking B-52 Stratofortress can't carry this thing, the title is well-deserved.
*** Note: The aforementioned AC-130, being based on the C-130 Hercules cargo plane, ''can'' carry the MOAB, as well as BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter", the Grandmother of All Bombs (being more or less ancestral to the MOAB). Cue [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Howitzer-Bearing Gatling-Armed Megabomb-Carrying Cargo Plane]]. Did we mention that it's propeller-powered?
*** Tropers and Tropettes, I give you the * drumroll* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Thermobaric_Bomb_of_Increased_Power Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power]]. On top of the baddass name it allegedly has a blast yield of about 44 tons as opposed to the 11 tons of the [=MOAB=]. Allegedly- many consider the claims likely exaggerations, and existing video of the device being tested looks a bit fishy (that's why it says the Russians haven't ''proven'' their claims above).
*** ''If'' it is real, it would be a thermobaric weapon, aka a "fuel air bomb", [[AwesomeYetImpractical which makes it rather unreliable at best.]]
** A number of USAF aircraft are joked about (fairly or otherwise) to be this trope incarnate just because they might ''fall on you''. The Vietnam-era F-105 Thunderchief supposedly derives its nickname of "Thud" from this bit of humor.

* A form of this is featured in the climax of the final novel of TadWilliams' {{Otherland}} series. [[spoiler:The Other tricks the heroes into giving it control of the satellite that it's imprisoned on, and sends the satellite plummeting to Earth, aimed directly at the headquarters of J Corp. Boom.]]

* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/DragonJousters'' series, Jousters [[DragonRider ride dragons]] and AirJoust each other, when there are Jousters on each side of the war. When Jousters either don't find their enemy counterparts or manage to drive off or kill them, they turn on the ground armies, swooping down to have their dragons snatch up a commander, carry him high into the air... and drop him on his own forces. This is said to be highly demoralizing. One of the good Jousters, Ari, has a HeroicBSOD when the group of Jousters he was with, having some spare time, does this to the civilians in an enemy village, even joking about painting a target next time for more sport.

* GiantFlyer, because siccing dragons and/or giant birds on those who would oppose you is [[RuleOfCool just too awesome]] not to do.

* MassEffect: Near the climax of [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 the first game]], AcePilot Joker drops the [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Mako APC]] almost on top of Saren, from the [[CoolStarship Normandy]].

* The ''Digimon'' Starmon/SuperStarmon have the "Meteor Shower/Squall" attack.

* In ''Dark Side of the Sun'' by Creator/TerryPratchett it's orbital bombardment with ''[[SpaceWhale eggs]]'':

* Massed artillery in ''WargameEuropeanEscalation'' is an extremely effective tactic. Building [[CripplingOverspecialization an entire]] [[GlassCannon army]] out of artillery, on the other hand, almost never works, but is, on occasion, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious]].

* ''Unreal Tournament'' has an ion painter, a targeting laser for two flavors of Death From Above; either an Ion Cannon from a KillSat, or a bomber that cruises across the sky and splodes the whole place up.

* {{Marduk}}'s album ''Panzer Division Marduk'' has tanks, bombs and death as its theme. The song "Baptism By Fire" has the lines:

** And by extension, CSS's song "Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above"

* The sweet ReginaSpektor has the sweetest song "The Sword and the Pen", which has the lines:

-->What if God kills the man
-->And if He does it with love
-->Well then it's death from above
-->And death from above is still death
* {{Sabaton}}'s song ''Firestorm'', being about the Allies' strategic bombing campaign of World War 2, is all about this trope.
-->Burn Burn
-->Rage of the heavens
-->Burn Burn
-->Death from above
-->Die Die
-->Merciless killing
-->Burn Burn
-->Death from above
* ''Death from Above'' by Turbonegro.

Whether it's (un)holy smiting, meteor showers, nuclear weapons, bricks from bi-planes, ordinary ordnance, or good old napalm, there's lots of ways to rain Death From Above on those below. There's something about Death raining down from the sky that is almost biblical, it's fear and awe inspiring because there is ''nothing'' the target can do to avoid this airborne doom but "duck and cover". It is at once a powerful and impersonal way to threaten or actually kill someone, hence a great way to establish a [[SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat villain's power and threat as being on a planetary scale]]; on the flip side it also makes the airborne cavalry come to save the hero look angelic and omnipotent in comparison to the efforts of the heroes. Listed below are a few ways to rain this holy judgment:

To make this a self-demonstrating article, please find a window and [[RuleOfFunny someone on which to drop your computer]]. (Warning: [[DontTryThisAtHome please don't.]])

** Also in the third game, this trope is how Shepard kills a Reaper (destroyer-class) on Rannoch: by using a targeting laser to smite it with the combined firepower of [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill the entire Quarian fleet]].