History Main / FallingIntotheCockpit

* On the Western Front, M4 Sherman casualties mounted so much at times that tank commanders would replace lost crew members with anyone they could find from the infantry units they worked with. The results varied, but in a pinch, anyone really can operate a tank.

* A non vehicular example goes to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Miller Doris Miller]]. To clarify, Miller was given very little, if any training on ANY fire arm prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and his battle station was no where near a gun or turret. However, he still found his way to a .50cal Heavy Machine Gun, and manned that gun until it ran out of ammo. ToraToraTora and PearlHarbor both show that he shot down atleast a one or two aircraft, but considering how many other sailors were shooting at them at the time, it's unsure if he managed to hit anything. However, he still goes down in history as someone doing the right thing, even when the times would not allow him to do so (Towit, a blank man manning a gun station that was officially supposed to be manned by a white guy).

** More or less happens with Amuro Ray in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''... who later is revealed to be a "Newtype". Of course, in addition to being a tech geek to the point he could build his own RobotBuddy (Haro), [[HandWave he got a hold of the Gundam's manual just before he even saw the robot.]] And the thing was largely designed by his father.

* The first experience of piloting [[SuperRobot Gaiking]] that [[IdiotHero Daiya]] has in ''Anime/GaikingLegendOfDaikuMaryu'' s initiated by {{Robeast}} Daiku Maryu ''eating him''. The head then detached and flew off, [[CombiningMecha combining with head and leg parts]] to form Gaiking, the Daiku Maryu's head forming the torso and head, with the cockpit inside, where Daiya had been "eaten" into.

** And Judau Ashta in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', who is initially ''horrible'' at piloting, but justified because he works as a junkyard collector that needs to pilots Junior Mobile Suits.

* In the iOS game "Main/TheWarOfEustrath" powerful [[HumungousMechas GEARs]] have their own persona and are able to choose to their rider. When country girl finds herself drawn into an enemy base by the GEAR Tianerx she hides in Tianerx to avoid detection by the Kradionese soldiers she synchronizes with Tianerx and ends up becoming its pilot. In time she develops into one of the game's best characters.

* ''Anime/{{Raideen}}'' subverts the trope. Raideen was a sentient mecha led Akira into his cockpit by telepathy. When Akira woke up from his trance and saw he was into a HumongousMecha and surrounded by monsters, the first thig he did was screaming: "LET ME OUT OF HERE!". Raideen calmed him down stating he could read minds, so the only thing Akira needed doing was thinking what he wanted Raideen did.

** And Kamille Bidan in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' since he, off screen, reviewed the data on the Gundam Mk.2 by hacking his dad's computer... though Kamile, TeenGenius that he is, does ''invent his own MidSeasonUpgrade''.
** And Judau Ashta in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', who is initially ''horrible'' at piloting.

*** SEED does try to justify it a little. Kira, like Amuro, is a tech geek. Unlike Amuro, he's a bit older and actually studying robotics in college. That, and he puts his [[RapidFireTyping Improbable Hacking Skills]] to good use.

* Technically, most of your NPC crew in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. The game starts with Shepard bugging out as the Reapers invade Earth, with everyone aboard the Alliance-impounded Normandy forced to come along for the ride. They're all professionals in one field or another (Anderson was planning to use the ship as his mobile command center), so they make the best of it. Shuttle pilot Steve Cortez is officially your logistics guy, and shares armory duty with Vega - you're just lucky he's ''also'' a damn good pilot.
** Considering Vega's piloting skills include crashing into other shuttles - deliberately as a case of RammingAlwaysWorks and after Shepard furiously demanded that someone take the enemy shuttle down, admittedly - you're lucky to have Cortez.

* In IdolmasterXenoglossia, Haruka Amami falls into an iDOL's open cockpit after being tossed high into the air by the same iDOL. Later we find that Haruka had passed a blind test on her aptitude as a potential iDOL Master, however, even the ones who set up the test were surprised that the iDOL had a seemingly arbitrary attraction to Haruka, when it had not even respond to a trained and experienced Master.

* In the [[SuperRobot Super]] route of ''SuperRobotWarsAlpha'', your character gets into the Grungust Type 2 when the plane carrying it crashes into his or her school during a fight between MazingerZ and the MonsterOfTheWeek. On the [[RealRobot Real route]], your character is a young pilot in the military...who also falls into the cockpit of an experimental mech that happened to be at the base you're assigned to during an enemy attack; this time being the Huckebein Mk II and the Titans. As it turns out, the whole thing [[ThePlan was a set-up]] by Ingram.
** Ingram pulls the same trick on Ryusei with the Gespenst Type-TT in ''SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration''. Despite Ryusei's lack of training ([[IKnowMortalKombat aside from his skills playing Burning PT]]) Ingram calls the idea that Ryusei wouldn't be able to win in that situation "nonsense".

** In ''SuperRobotWarsJudgement'', playing as Touya will have the unit you picked crash into a school building near him, complete with UnwantedHarem while MazingerZ and its female sidekick defend the school from enemies.

** The [[SuperRobotWarsZ Z series]] on the other hand has so far [[AvertedTrope Averted this]] with its [[OriginalCharacter Originals]]. Setsuko Ohara, while TheRookie, is still a trained pilot, Rand Travis was piloting Gunleon for years, and Crowe is a retired veteran ([[spoiler: and was a member of an [[AcePilot Elite Black Ops unit]] at that]]).

* Subverted in ''FangOfTheSunDougram'' - the good guys take the protagonist to their secret base where they keep the eponymous HumongousMecha and offer to let him pilot it. Suddenly, enemies attack, and just as our hero gets ready to invoke this trope, the Dougram is snatched away by a cargo helicopter.

* Played straight in the rare, yet extremely enjoyable 'Mech sections of {{FEAR}} 2. A possible [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade]] in that the manual specifies that only a highly trained 'Mech pilot should even think about touching the controls. Michael Beckett is the furthest thing from a pilot. Michael Beckett in a 'Mech is all but unstoppable.

* This is how Taz ends up piloting a space shuttle to save earth from a meteor swarm in the ''TazMania'' episode "Astro-Taz". of course, he thinks it's just a video game.

** Judau Ashta in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', who is initially ''horrible'' at piloting.

*** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in episode 5, when Bright Noa points out that this happened to all the Gundam pilots before Banagher.
** And Uso Evin in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam''...

** And Loran Cehak in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' who unlike other examples ''did'' have a driver's licence ... for a few months.

* This happens to the Federation players in StarTrekOnline. While you're away helping another ship, Borg beam over to your vessel, kill all the officers, and when you get back, you, a lowly Ensign, are the senior officer on board.

* Generally soundly averted in ''{{BattleTech}}'' in that it takes literally years to train somebody to be a good [=MechWarrior=] -- even just to cadet level. The [[BattleTechExpandedUniverse novel]] ''Hearts of Chaos'' sees super-scout and [=BattleMech=] hunter Cassie Suthorn invoke this trope twice (once via GundamJack, once borrowing a friend's ''Atlas''), and despite everything she knows about 'Mechs from the outside and having taken some lessons in between the two incidents she barely manages to get the machines to do anything useful at all.

** In ''Getter Robo Go'', Go and Sho try to hijack a {{Robeast}} in the first arc. However, Sho does not manage keep it under control, not matter what she does. Finally go lost his patience and blew the controls up, thinking it would stop it. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Unfortunately the only thing he managed was the monster went completely andunstoppably berserker]].

* More or less happens with Amuro Ray in ''MobileSuitGundam''... who later is revealed to be a "Newtype". Of course, in addition to being a tech geek to the point he could build his own RobotBuddy (Haro), [[HandWave he got a hold of the Gundam's manual just before he even saw the robot.]] And the thing was largely designed by his father.
** And Kamille Bidan in ''ZetaGundam'' since he, off screen, reviewed the data on the Gundam Mk.2 by hacking his dad's computer... though Kamile, TeenGenius that he is, does ''invent his own MidSeasonUpgrade''.
** Judau Ashta in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'', who is initially ''horrible'' at piloting.

** And Uso Evin in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]''...
** And Garrod Ran in ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]''...

* This trope may as well have been ''built'' around Shinji Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', apart from his falling into the cockpit of EVA-01 was pretty much planned by Gendo and Ritsuko. Initially, he refuses to pilot it owing to his sense of self-survival, but agrees once he sees that Rei is in no condition to even [[YouCanBarelyStand stand on her own]]. Over the course of the series, he continues to pilot it for any number of reasons, all of which he'll express over the series before settling for "Because I have nothing else".
** Of course with no training, combat experience or even a clue where the power button is, Shinji basically gets his ass kicked in his first Angel fight until his Eva takes over and beats it up.

** And Banagher Links in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]''..

* Generally soundly averted in ''{{BattleTech}}'' in that it takes literally years to train somebody to be a good [=MechWarrior=] -- even just to cadet level. The [[BattleTechExpandedUniverse novel]] ''Hearts of Chaos'' sees super-scout and [=BattleMech=] hunter Cassie Suthorn invoke this trope twice (once via GundamJack, once borrowing a friend's ''Atlas''), and despite everything she knows about 'Mechs and having taken some lessons in between the two incidents she barely manages to get the machines to do anything useful at all.