History Main / DeerInTheHeadlights

* ''Literature/SisterhoodSeries'' by Creator/FernMichaels: This trope pops up a few times. ''Sweet Revenge'' has Isabelle Flanders freeze up when reporter Ted Robinson asks her questions about Rosemary Hershey and apparently is getting too close to finding out Isabelle's intentions towards Rosemary. ''Razor Sharp'' has lawyer Cosmo Cricket meet a client who has this sort of reaction upon seeing him, but that could be because she is afraid for her life.
* ''Literature/TheStand'' by Creator/StephenKing: A character was in a quarantine with one particular guard who, he somehow sensed, would be the one to kill him if things went bad. The character had read ''Watership Down'' and was so scared of this guard he compared it to the "tharn" concept.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Literature/RepublicCommando'': In the first book, several of Dr. Uthan's assistants are shot by the clones after they freeze in panic rather than follow their bodyguard's orders to duck and cover.
* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', the rabbits have a term in their {{Fictionary}} for this: ''tharn''.
** A literal version occurs when the rabbits are pinned by carlights while raiding Nuthanger Farm. They get out of it by closing their eyes and running blind, which gets them out of the immediate area.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonMonsterX Vivienne Graham]] goes catatonic when she first sees [[spoiler:[=MaNi=]/Elder Brother]] due to the sight of his Ghidorah-like head triggering a PTSD attack, in Chapter 15.

** ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseMadisonRussell Madison]] briefly freezes up when Skullcrawler Number Ten is being released from its paddock, and she doesn't run in the same direction as Bernie and Josh. The {{novelization}} confirms this is the result of a PTSD attack because of her experiences in [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 the previous film]].

May overlap with OhCrap DidntSeeThatComing may lead to this in a villain. May also shade into NakedFreakOut when the suddenly-naked Alice is more preoccupied with [[HandOrObjectUnderwear protecting her modesty]] than reacting to whatever stripped her (or getting the hell out of there). If Bob is in immediate danger, then Alice may [[TakingTheBullet Take the Bullet]] for him out of desperate fear for his safety.

* In ''Film/SpiderMan1'', Green Goblin knocks over a giant globe and the crowd scatters out of the way, except for a boy who stares at it blankly. Spidey goes, "Come on, move, kid!" but is forced to dive in and carry the boy out of the way.

[[quoteright:350:[[WebComic/KevinAndKell https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deer_in_the_headlights.png]]]]

* Parodied in an issue of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Radioactive Man]]'' with the innocent bystander saying, "That wall is falling towards me! No time to get out of the way, only to [[TalkingIsAFreeAction talk about it]]!"

* In ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', deer being frozen by headlights happens on occasion. In one comic, Kell [[http://kevinandkell.com/2004/kk0506.html shines a projector in a deer's eyes]] to illicit this reaction.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnon Vivienne Graham]] has this reaction when she first sees [[spoiler:[=MaNi=]/Elder Brother]] and the sight of his Ghidorah-like head triggers her PTSD, in Chapter 15.

** ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseFamilies Madison]] at first freezes up when Skullcrawler Number Ten is being released from its paddock, and she doesn't run in the same direction as Bernie and Josh. The {{novelization}} suggests this is the result of PTSD from her experiences in [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 the previous film]] triggering.

-->-- ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}''

* In ''Film/{{The Thing|1982}}'', Windows freezes in horror when the [[spoiler:Palmer]]-Thing drops off the ceiling in front of him. The Thing uses his moment of indecision to maul him to death.
* In ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'', when the Tripods appear at the ferry, Ray and family freeze and stare. The other people around them have a similarly delayed reaction, taking at least a few seconds to start running. And earlier, when Rachel runs off to find a place to use the bathroom, she comes across a river with countless bodies floating downstream. At the sight of this, she seems to completely forget what she was doing and just ''stares''.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Stolen Earth", Jack Harkness just stands there shaking and holding his (remaining) team members tight when he first hears the Daleks' EX-TER-MIN-ATE. It takes a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan from an authority figure to snap him out of it. Sarah Jane Smith isn't much better off.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode, "Obsession," both Capt. Kirk in his younger days and a young officer spend some time kicking themselves for doing this instead of instantly shooting a vampire cloud attacking their comrades. As it turns out, phaser fire has no effect on the creature so even if they did, it wouldn't have made a difference.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Thor shows off his newly acquired TeleportSpam ability and beats the shit out of Touma, with the hero helpless to fight him. Eventually, Touma gets an idea and stands in a certain spot. Thor appears behind him to deal the final blow... then finds that he's materialized in the path of a train. He becomes so shocked that he just stands there and gets run over (though this doesn't kill him).

* ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'': J(one of the titular Murder Drones) has gotten the protagonist Uzi on the ground and knocked her weapon away, but decides to take the time to say a pre-rehearsed monologue, which gives Uzi the opportunity to trip her up, retrieve her railgun and point it straight at her. Despite J still having her hands free and being given several seconds to react, she’s so utterly bewildered that a Worker Drone got the better of her that she’s only able to stare up at the gun in panic before uttering one more corporate buzzword before being completely decimated.

* ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'': J(one of the titular Murder Drones) has gotten the protagonist Uzi on the ground and knocked her weapon away, but decides to take the time to say a pre-rehearsed monologue, which gives Uzi the opportunity to trip her up, retrieve her railgun and point it straight at her. Despite J still having her hands free and being given several seconds to react, she’s so utterly bewildered that a Worker Drone got the better of her that she’s only able to stare up at the gun in panic before uttering one more corporate buzzword and being completely decimated.

* ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'': J(one of the titular Murder Drones) has gotten the protagonist on the ground and knocked their weapon away, but decides to take the time to say a pre-rehearsed monologue, which gives the protagonist the opportunity to trip her up, retrieve their railgun and point it straight at her. Despite her hands still being free and being given several seconds to react, she’s so utterly bewildered that a Worker Drone got the better of her that she’s only able to stare up at the gun in panic before uttering one more corporate buzzword and being completely decimated.

[[foldee:Web Animation]]

* In the intro for ''VideoGame/MarioSuperSluggers'', Diddy Kong [[OhCrap freezes and screams in terror as he almost gets run over by a large barrel. Fortunately, Donkey Kong rescues him, much to Diddy's relief.

* In the intro for ''VideoGame/MarioSuperSluggers'', Diddy Kong [[OhCrap freezes and screams in terror as he almost gets run over by a large barrel. Fortunately, [[PapaWolf Donkey Kong]] rescues him, much to Diddy's relief.