History Main / DieOrFly

* Learning a language by immersion is a usually less lethal version of this. You take residence in the country in question and have to learn how to use the local language, or else you don't get what you need.

** Nathan Petrelli discovers he can fly when he unconsciously rises into the air while his car is being shunted from behind by employees of a crime boss he is attempting to prosecute. This happened completely against his will; without him in the driver's seat, the car crashes, paralysing his wife from the waist down and leaving him with lasting guilt about his wife's condition.

* Mai's powers manifest themselves this way in ''Anime/MaiHime'', after Natsuki attacks Mikoto and she tries to defend her. Later, they come out more fully when her little brother is in danger.

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' :

* ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula''

-->'''Goku''': The power comes in response to a need, not a desire. You need to create your need.

* At the end of the Manga/SoulEater anime, Maka discovers that [[spoiler:she is also a weapon, like her father]] when fighting Kishin, though this is not what allows her to defeat him. (And it's not clear if she ''remembers'' this afterwards, as she [[spoiler:was having an insane episode]] at that point.)

* In ''Anime/{{Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 2nd As}}'', Hayate's initial awakening as the mistress of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Book of Darkness]] is depicted like this, with the book whisking her up into the sky to save her from getting hit by a truck.

* ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'': In ''Fighting Fear with Fear!'', Gary gives Gligar the option to use the Razor Fang to evolve when Gligar desires to become stronger. However, Ash doesn't let Gligar evolve until they have spent time training together. Just as Gligar accomplished its training and thus conquering its Acrophobia and fear of battling, Team Rocket's attempt to steal Gligar leads both Ash and Gligar falling down a cliff, and Gligar can't dive fast enough to stop Ash from falling. Knowing that he needs Gligar to evolve, Ash throws the Razor Fang towards Gligar, who grabs it and immediately evolves into Gliscor, gaining enough speed to stop Ash from falling to death.

** The Richard Rider Comicbook/{{Nova}} is not a mutant, but he was depowered for a long time and the superhero, Night Thrasher, guessed that he could reignite Rider's powers with a high stress incident. To create one, he kidnapped Rider, dropped him off a building and found that his hunch was right when Rider instantly repowered in the fall, including his flight power. He tried it a second time after another depowering, only to be rescued before the splat and having it made very clear that a second power-up was not what would have happened (he got his powers back again, of course, in another story arc).

** {{Wolverine}} is a prime example of this--his claws first popped out during the attack on his parents.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Wanted}}'' this happens where Wesley must shoot the wings off of flies or Fox will blow his brains out.

* Koizumi Itsuki from LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya can already use ESP to fly and fight, but only inside [[PhantomZone closed spaces]]. In ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'', to make him realize his powers were unlocked for use anywhere it took being thrown off of a cliff to fight against a robot attacking Kyon by Haruhi ([[NeuroVault who had]] [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgotten]] [[PoorCommunicationKills Koizumi didn't know]]).
* In the Negima fanfic 'Fang Vice Addiction', this is how Evangeline tries to teach Negi to fly without a broom. [[spoiler:It repeatedly fails, with her having to rescue him, so eventually she just jumps herself, expecting him to save her. It works.]]
* In the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP:FiM]] fanfic ''Aurora'', the BigBad ([[spoiler:and Twilight Sparkle!]]) ascend to a higher plane of existence in moments of desperation. [[spoiler: The Princesses' moments of desperation are worthy of terror...]]
* ''FanFic/ThePowersOfHarmony'' invokes this when Blair, on Ophiuchus' insistence, forces Twilight to get over the mental block on using her powers by [[spoiler: tossing her over Neighagra Falls]]. To say that she's [[TranquilFury not happy]] afterwards is an understatement.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' has you seeing this trope applied firsthand in Mission 4, "First Flight" during the early hours of a war between [[EagleLand Osea]] and [[GloriousMotherRussia Yuktobania]] when Yuktobanian [[CoolPlane Rockwell B-1B]] bombers and [[UsefulNotes/GulfWar Panavia Tornado GR1]] fighter-bombers escorted by [[UsefulNotes/VietnamWar McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II]] and [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar General Dynamics F-16C]] fighters attempt an [[AgainstTheSettingSun early evening]] bombing raid on Osea's isolated Sand Island airbase. A {{Fighter Launching Sequence}} ensues, with the [[AcePilot player character]] and his two wingmen - themselves recently-minted rookies, with only a taste of combat under their belts - taking off (amidst bombs falling on nearby hangars, and enemy jets {{Buzzing The Deck}}) in their [[WhatAPieceOfJunk aging Northrop F-5]] fighters to engage the "Yukes" before they can bomb the base to smithereens. The only problem? There are three Osean fighters pitted against what amounts to at least a dozen or more Yuke planes all bearing down on the sparsely-defended airfield. Enter the untested rookie Osean pilot [[NewMeat Grimm]], who by {{falling into the cockpit}} is forced to either prove himself in some [[SkyConsumingDogfight high-intensity aerial combat]] or die trying. He succeeds and gets [[FireForgedFriends permanently assigned to Wardog Squadron]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series uses this trope for the main characters of each game, usually by having them attacked by {{Mooks}}. ''[[VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} Innocent Sin]]'' does it differently; the main characters all awakened their Personas at different times, and it's not {{Mooks}} they were in danger of.
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' uses this as a ''game mechanic'', and it's symbolic.
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' subverts this with most of your party members. While the Protagonist still has his classic "Per...So........Na..." invocation scene, his powers were [[spoiler:awakened by Izanami at the start of the game]], the source of the rest of your party's powers is the very same thing that would have ''caused'' the DieOrFly reaction in the first place.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Played with and lampshaded in Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles. While taking flying lessons, Alex asks if the lessons involve him getting thrown off a cliff. The teacher asks why on earth he would do something so risky. After exhausting all of his other ideas, the teacher does throw Alex off the cliff, only to realize that also isn't going to work, so he reminds Alex of his promise to his LoveInterest. This motivates Alex enough to save himself and learn to fly.

* ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' begins with the galvanization party. The host puts captives in near death situations to activate their magical potential. It succeeds for 5 of the 8 entrants.

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Fitting for a ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' crossover, and lampshaded by Ditzy Doo while training the Humane Five with their Fullbrings. Rarity can't find it in herself to disagree, considering that most of them ''did'' in fact first unlock their Fullbrings with their lives or those of their loved ones on the line from Hollows, [[spoiler:and Ditzy preparing to fire a Cero that could ''kill'' Pinkie and Fluttershy is what leads to the former's epiphany to unlock the next level of hers]]. Sunset follows a similar progress with her own Soul Reaper powers, having bonded with her blade to gain her Zanpakuto during her first battle with a Hollow and getting her Shikai while fighting [[spoiler:the Sternritter Fleur de Lis]].
-->'''Ditzy''': Desperation. It’s as simple as that. People have a hard time growing without either a lot of innate discipline and motivation, or they get pushed to the breaking point of absolute desperation. Since I don’t have time to teach you the discipline you’d need to grow stronger, that leaves ''desperation'' as our go-to, dirty quick-fix.

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Fitting for a ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' crossover, and lampshaded by Ditzy Doo while training the Humane Five with their Fullbrings. Sunset and Clover meanwhile are getting similar training from Discord.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' applies this trope to the player character character, who learns on-the-fly to survive extremely deadly situations, such as poison attacks.

* In ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad'', Kharg's affinity for magic awakens when he is about to be executed by firing squad.
* The player has to do this in ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion''. No training, no tutorial, just the imposing controller and a complex manual. Good Luck!

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Maria Calavera describes [[spoiler: the power of the [[MagicalEye Silver Eyes]]]] as this; because [[spoiler: they only activate in the presence of Grimm]], the ''only'' way to train with them is a trial by fire. [[TheHero Ruby]] then decides to [[spoiler:take on the {{Kaiju}} sized Grimm attacking Argus single-handedly]] to put that logic into practice. [[spoiler: It works, ''barely''.]]
** Semblances often work this way too as Nora unlocked hers by being stuck by lightning; Ren unlocked his when he was being chased by Grimm; [[spoiler: and Jaune unlocked his when Weiss lay dying, so in his case it was more "let somebody die or fly".]]

** Semblances work this way too as Nora unlocked here by being stuck by lightning and Ren unlocked his when he was being chased by Grimm

* In a rare case of Die ''and'' Fly, it is a violent death that causes potential immortals to become actual immortals in ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'': unless immortality is activated in this way, they remain vulnerable to peaceful, timely death. This becomes a major plot point in ''Film/HighlanderEndgame''.

* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series uses this trope for the main characters of each game, usually by having them attacked by {{Mooks}}. ''[[VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} Innocent Sin]]'' does it differently; the main characters all awakened their Personas at different times, and it's not {{Mooks}} they were in danger of.

* In the first chapter of ''Manga/BusoRenkin'', Kazuki learns how to summon his Buso Renkin in the course of defending himself from a giant robotic cobra.

** Happens again in the sequel, ''Reflex,'' in which the main character's girlfriend-in-the-first-book-wife-in-the-sequel "jumps" to safety after a probably-fatal fall. Apparently, being teleported by a teleport enough times can pass on the ability, though the characters have NO idea how that works.

* Gully Foyle of Alfred Bester's classic SF novel ''Literature/TheStarsMyDestination'' suddenly can "jaunt" ([[TeleportersAndTransporters teleport]]) much further than anyone has managed before when he is marooned in space -- and then gets really ticked off. "Jaunting" started as "burn or teleport" for the discoverer, Charles Fort Jaunte, about a century before. He was later put in an inescapable, slowly flooding chamber by his fellow scientists [[ForScience to force him to replicate the process]].
* Richard's magic, a lot of the time, in Literature/TheSwordOfTruth series. Being a War Wizard, Richard's magic tends to do whatever the plot requires of it, without Richard understanding what he's doing, or how he's doing it.

* As a glitch, Vanellope from ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' occasionally suffers from random short-range teleportation and it's demonstrated during the race that it takes a lot of concentration to do so consciously. [[spoiler:Then she sees [[IntergenerationalFriendship Ralph]] falling to his death in a HeroicSacrifice, and effortlessly performs a TeleportSpam to CatchAFallingStar. After that point, she seems to have complete control over it.]]

** Jiraiya resorts to literally ''throwing Naruto off of a cliff'' to force him to learn how to tap into the power of the [[SealedEvilInACan Kyuubi demon]] [[SealedInAPersonShapedCan sealed within him]]. Luckily for Naruto, this "strategy" actually '''works''' and enables him to get the chakra needed to summon a giant toad.
** The Uchiha clan's hereditary super-eye power, Sharingan, first manifests in a life-or-death situation. For some reason, they can use it at will afterwards, although it takes time to get to full potential.

* In the [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential Hiryuu Shouten Ha story arc]] (Rising Dragon Wave in the [=US=]) of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' [[OldMaster Cologne]] never gets around to disclosing the legendary technique's final step to Ranma. However, he figures it out all on his own just as Ryouga's fist is about to turn him into paste on the side of the mountain.
* The Nekoken of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Cover a child in fish. Throw them into a pit full of starving cats. The child learns or dies.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Being a superhero setting, this happened a lot in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. Three notable examples are:
** Gypsy gained her powers when she and her little brother were victims in a drive-by shooting. Her powers allowed her to survive. Her little brother was less fortunate.
** Aurora was caught in an uncontrolled fusion reaction. Rather than be vaporized, or die of radiation poisoning, she became a living, human-shaped fusion reactor.
** White Rabbit gained her powers in a car-wreck that almost killed her and her infant son.
[[/folder]]

* In the first chapter of ''Manga/BusouRenkin'', Kazuki learns how to summon his Busou Renkin in the course of defending himself from a giant robotic cobra.

A preferred training method of the SinkOrSwimMentor. Contrast with NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, which is about powers manifesting as an easy way out of danger. This trope is about danger being used as a not-so-easy way for powers to manifest. This trope is a common way of introducing PowersInTheFirstEpisode. If the power can only ''ever'' be used in life-threatening situations, it's a DefenceMechanismSuperpower. Compare with TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening, when the powers appear as a result of trauma that is not immediately life-threatening. Don't confuse it with CrashCourseLanding, when a passenger has to learn how to ''fly'' or else they ''die''.

A preferred training method of the SinkOrSwimMentor. Contrast with NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, which is about powers manifesting as an easy way out of danger. This trope is about danger being used as a not-so-easy way for powers to manifest. This trope is a common way of introducing PowersInTheFirstEpisode. If the power can only ''ever'' be used in life-threatening situations, it's a DefenceMechanismSuperpower. Compare with TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening, when the powers appear as a result of trauma that is not immediately life-threatening. Don't confuse it with CrashCoursePiloting, when a passenger has to learn how to ''fly'' or else they ''die''.

A preferred training method of the SinkOrSwimMentor. Contrast with NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, which is about powers manifesting as an easy way out of danger. This trope is about danger being used as a not-so-easy way for powers to manifest. This trope is a common way of introducing PowersInTheFirstEpisode. If the power can only ''ever'' be used in life-threatening situations, it's a DefenceMechanismSuperpower. Compare with TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening, when the powers appear as a result of trauma that is not immediately life-threatening.

->'''Miles:''' ''I can't do this yet!''\\

->'''Miles:''' I CAN'T DO THIS YET!\\

* ''Fanfic/FateHaremAntics'': Shirou Emiya awakens his true powers just in time when Angelica Ainsworth was about to kill him.