History Main / InertialImpalement

[[quoteright:300:[[{{Literature/Redwall}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/martinsword4resized_3592.png]]]]

* In the animation of Brian Jacques' book ''[[Literature/{{Redwall}} Martin the Warrior]]'', Martin's sword falls from Badrang's paws and into the prison pit. Martin dives for it and holds it up, and when Badrang leaps into the pit after him, he gets impaled on it. Provides the page image.

* In ''Film/TheCondemned'', when the prisoners are flown to the island and pushed/thrown out of the helicopter, one lands on a wrecked ship and is impaled. He never hits the ground.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* One scene in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' shows the villain's fortifications, including sharpened trees thicker than a man's arm. Later on the downtrodden villagers storm the villain's base, and one guy is shown to have somehow impaled himself at least three feet on one of the stakes.

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': In the ''Mazinger Z versus Devilman'' feature, [[spoiler:Mazinger-Z cut Silene's wings off during one aerial battle. She fell towards the ground below and was impaled through her stomach by the sharp branches of a dry tree.]]
* In the first ''Manga/{{Unico}}'' movie, the big bad falls on top of a huge spire, complete with squelching sound. Pause, and then he freaking gets up again, eyes glowing. Cue whimpering children.

* Happens to [[spoiler: ClassRepresentative Yukari Sakuragi]] in ''Literature/{{Another}}''. [[spoiler:She was running down a flight of stairs with an umbrella, but tripped up [[StaircaseTumble and fell over]] -- then the umbrella opened in the worst moment possible... and poor Yukari ended up ''[[http://nuvolanero.tumblr.com/post/16408231999 impaled]]'' ''[[ImpromptuTracheotomy through the neck]]'' with the sharp end.]]

* A variation on the trope occurs out of Nagato's SadisticChoice in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' . Whilst holding a Kunai out [[spoiler: and ordered to kill Yahiko in exchange for their friend Konan's life, Yahiko [[FlashStep Flash Steps]] towards Nagato and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impales himself]] to spare him the choice.]] Played with in that [[spoiler: the two were not fighting, and the stabbing was the intention of the "target" instead of the impaler.]]

* Strack in the Creator/MarvelComics ComicBookAdaptation of ''Film/{{Darkman}}''. In the film, he's just dropped to an offscreen DisneyVillainDeath. The third and final issue of the comic however actually shows him getting skewered on a big jagged piece of metal when Darkman drops him.
* An issue of ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} has him fighting The Incredible Hulk for a sample of his blood. During the fight, Hulk leaps into the air and lectures Deadpool on how much he sucks. When we cut back to Deadpool, we see that he's set up a broken sign post into a weapon during Hulk's [[TalkingIsAFreeAction mid-leap monologue]], and Hulk lands on it.

* ''Fanfic/DearDiary'': Opal and Dusk kill Terrakion by tricking him into attacking a disembodied Dusk, leading to him jumping right onto Opal's blade.
* ''Fanfic/ServantsOfRemnant'': Hektor kills a Beowolf by holding out his spear and letting it run into it.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* At the climax of the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''Sunset'', Brambleclaw is fighting his evil half-brother, Hawkfrost. He'd just saved his leader from a fox trap by digging up the stake holding it in the ground, so he picks up the stake in his mouth and swings it around. Hawkfrost lunges at him and impales himself on the spike. Brambleclaw is shocked and gasps "[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Hawkfrost! I... I didn't want this.]]"

* Creator/AndreNorton's ''Judgment on Janus''. After Niall/Ayyar falls into a kalcrok's trap, the kalcrok jumps at him to try to pin him to the wall. It is impaled on his sword, (which he happened to be holding in front of him), killing it.

* In Garry Kilworth's ''Literature/WelkinWeasels: Vampire Voles'', Montegu Sylver [[spoiler:defeats the vampiric villain Count Flistagga by leaping onto his back from a rooftop and tearing his cloak, which he used to glide rather than actually fly, so they both fall. Monty lands in the river, and Flistagga is impaled on a broken pole, killing him.]]
* In ''Literature/TheBible'', the fast-running warrior Asahel is killed this way while pursuing a fleeing Abner. When Asahel refuses to break off the chase, Abner stops and thrusts out the end of his spear (the ''blunt end'', at that) for the guy to impale himself on, and his momentum sends him into it hard enough to for the shaft to pierce all the way through his torso. [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Ouch.]]

* In ''On the Night of Highest Tide'' (part of Vladislav Krapivin's ''Literature/GreatCrystal'') the protagonist does this twice. He is a professional actor in his twenties, with some serious fencing training, but both times he is de-aged to twelve and has to fight for his life against much bigger enemies:
** In the first part, which happens in his dream, he meets two boys stranded in time. As they look for a way to get unstuck, they find a big sword and are attacked by "Iron Wyrm" (more like Scrap Metal Wyrm). The hero just steps aside, letting the monster rush past him and cut a long gash in its side. That proves sufficient.
** In the second part he travels to a parallel world stuck in MedievalStasis with a bit of {{Magitek}}, again reverting to 12. When his friend is wounded, he learns that thanks to TimeTravel everybody's destiny had been written down centuries ago. Each person is given a medallion on the day of birth with the predicted fate, and "little brother's" medallion says he'll die by midnight. Determined to ScrewDestiny, the hero heads off to fight the Great Chancellor, who is prophecized to lead the state to bright future and who does nothing to stop the current internal strife. The duel is brutal, the chancellor is strong and fast, but the hero is trained in superior techniques. However, to his frustration he realizes [[HonorBeforeReason he cannot murder in cold blood]]. When the desperate enemy tries one last attack, the hero barely manages to dodge and raises his rapier at the last moment. And his opponent's inertia causes him to be impaled on it. Thus, every prophecy is broken, and his friend survives the night.
* In ''Call it Courage'' (or ''The Boy Who Was Afraid'') by Armstrong Sperry, Mafatu's grandfather told him about how warriors on Tahiti would kill wild boars in this manner. Mafatu himself manages to do it successfully later in the book.

* One episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' is "The Once And Future King," wherein Gary Pitkin, an Elvis impersonator, gets transported to 1953, where he meets the real Elvis Presley. At first, Elvis thinks Gary is his stillborn brother Jesse, BackFromTheDead. However, when Gary begins coaching Elvis about his music, Elvis is reviled. The two men begin to fight, breaking a guitar at the neck. Then Elvis lunges at Gary; Gary rolls aside, and Elvis impales himself fatally on the jagged guitar neck.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' first pilot episode "The Cage". During the illusionary battle between Captain Pike and a Rigelian warrior, Pike is kneeling in a courtyard holding up a broken spearhead braced against the ground. The warrior jumps down on him and impales himself on the spearhead. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpnuULBPF5s#t=11m50s here]].
* ''Series/FridayThe13thTheSeries'' episode "Night Prey". A vampire hunter attacks a vampire but the vampire knocks him down. The vampire then leaps onto the man but is impaled on a crucifix the man is holding up, killing it.
* One particularly tough LockedRoomMystery in ''Series/JonathanCreek'' appeared to be caused by a suit of samurai armour stabbing someone through the chest. It was actually caused by [[AnimalWrongsGroup animal rights protesters]] sending the victim an envelope laced with a hallucinogen. When he licked the envelope, the delirium caused by the drug drove him to climb his bookshelf, slip, and fall onto the raised katana of his lovingly restored samurai armour, the whole thing being one giant NecroNonSequitur.
* In the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' episode "The Other 48 Days," Ana-Lucia discovers Goodwin is TheMole. He attacks her, flinging himself onto the pointy walking stick she's been carrying around all episode. Because of AnachronicOrder, we actually see the grisly result in the episode ''before'' that one.
* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' Claire gets impaled ''in the head'' after falling on a tree branch and [[GoodThingYouCanHeal temporarily]] dies.
* In the superhero drama ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', [[spoiler: while trying to rescue his friends from the Virtue organisation, Nathan falls off the roof of the community centre and is impaled on a metal spike. He dies instantly, but due to his power of immortality, he is resurrected several days later (by which time the poor guy has been ''[[HeroicBSOD buried alive]]'')]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'' Combat chapter. One of the techniques in the Mounted Combat section is "Setting Against A Charge". If a character knows a Charging Attack is coming and has a spear or lance available, he can make a Melee Weapons Test. If he succeeds, he hits the charging opponent and does damage before the opponent can attack. If he succeeds really well, he can knock the opponent off his steed.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]''. Orc buildings can be outfitted with spikes that damage melee attackers, implied to be this trope. Some units (Crypt Lords, turtles) have an ability that does the same (and in the Crypt Lord's case, gives it extra armor).
* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1'', pushing {{Mooks}} backwards off ledges to impale them in spiked pits is very satisfying. It's probably the easiest way to off the first guard in level 8 and the second guard in level 9. Of course, falling on SpikesOfDoom has just as gruesome consequences to the player, as does running into wall spikes in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2''.

* When you are playing ''VideoGame/EmpireTotalWar'' and you are suddenly missing an entire cavalry regiment, they have probably all impaled themselves on a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheval_de_frise cheval de frise]] while you weren't paying attention...
* This is how you get rid of the Antwerp in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryI''.
* Spiked enemies do this to you if you stomp or jump on them in the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games.
* A common way to dispatch enemies in the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series, starting with ''Soul Reaver''. The games even help you out -- if you use a telekinetic strike to send an enemy flying and there's a spike in that general direction, they'll fly right onto it even if you weren't strictly lined up.
* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the moves 'Spiky Shield' and 'Baneful Bunker' make the user protect itself from damage by protecting themselves with spikes. Should its enemy still try to come in contact with it, said enemy will take damage from the spikes or get inflicted with poison status respectively.
** The abilities 'Iron Barbs' and 'Rough Skin', and the 'Rocky Helmet' hold item, operate off a similar principle to 'Spiky Shield' above, though they don't protect the user from taking damage themselves.
* One case in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' has a victim run his body onto the sword a statue is holding. He does this to throw off the country's court system, which will use a form of spirit channeling to view the last thing he saw, hoping they will interpret it as the defendant (in costume) attacking him.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. Several enemies are defeated this way, notably in "Jack and the Spartans" (see phalanx formation in RealLife) and one where a charging elephant robot keeps going after running over Jack holding his sword in the air and its guts spill out from its belly.

* There was a story on ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' about an overzealous gym teacher lecturing his students about throwing a javelin. This doesn't end how you think it does. After throwing the javelin, the teacher ran to get it back, but was looking over his shoulder while doing so, not looking where he was going. At the very last moment he turned around, and was stabbed through the right eye up into his brain by the end of the javelin. He was killed instantly, but was held standing upright by the javelin in his head, which was gruesome for the students to look at when they eventually came over to see why he was just standing there. This falls into EyeScream territory.
* This is how boar spears work, as the tactic for boar hunting involves getting a [[FullBoarAction rampaging boar]] to charge in the direction of the hunter and impale itself on the spear. The spears also have spearsockets behind the blade to keep the boar from [[PullYourselfDownTheSpear running all the way up the spear]] and into the hunter, because no one hunting the boars wants them to pull off a TakingYouWithMe.

* One case in ''Videogame/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' has a victim run his body onto the sword a statue is holding. He does this to throw off the country's court system, which will use a form of spirit channeling to view the last thing he saw, hoping they will interpret it as the defendant (in costume) attacking him.

* TruthInTelevision: This trope, combined with the prevalence of cavalry up to the 19th century, is the reason the BladeOnAStick exists.

* This is how [[BladeOnAStick boar spears]] work, as the tactic for boar hunting involves getting a [[FullBoarAction rampaging boar]] to charge in the direction of the hunter and impale itself on the spear. The spears also have spearsockets behind the blade to keep the boar from [[PullYourselfDownTheSpear running all the way up the spear]] and into the hunter, because no one hunting the boars wants them to pull off a TakingYouWithMe.

!!'''As this is often a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

* ''LightNovel/RecordOfGrancrestWar'': When Aishela attempts a leaping attack, Petr attempts to do this by planting his spear into the ground where she will land. However, Aishela is able to move in midair to avoid it.

* In ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', [[spoiler:Kira]] is casually thrown by the BigBad after a HeelFaceTurn (following a FaceHeelTurn) and ends up getting impaled on a random spike decorating the hall.

* In Dan Curtis' version of ''Film/{{Dracula|1973}}'', a vampirized Johnathan Harker is taken out this way when Seward hits him with a shovel before he can bite Van Helsing, knocking him into a nearby pit of spikes and impaling him.

* In ''Film/ExceptionToTheRule'' the villainous Carla Rainer is killed when she is pushed over a ledge and falls onto a metal sculpture with a (conveniently sharp) upward pointed hand.
* ''Film/FrightNight1985''. A vampirized Evil Ed (in wolf form) is attacking Peter Vincent. A wooden bannister railing is broken and Peter grabs a piece of it. When Evil Ed charges he is impaled on the wooden pole, [[DyingAsYourself returns to human form and apparently dies]].

* In the film of Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets [[spoiler: this is how Harry kills the Basilisk, by impaling it through the roof of its mouth as it tries to bite him. He ends up being jabbed by one of its poison fangs as a result, and nearly dies, but this is thankfully prevented by Fawkes.]]

* ''Film/JamesBond''

* ''No Escape'': The BigBad meets his end impaled on a pole after falling. It was bloody as hell.

* In the ''Film/JamesBond'' film ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'', Tracy kicks a mook down the stairs, impaling him on wall decoration.

* In ''On the Night of Highest Tide'' (part of Vladislav Krapivin's ''Literature/GreatCrystal'') the protagonist travels to a parallel world, stuck in MedievalStasis with a bit of {{Magitek}}, reverting to a teenager in the process. When a friend of his (Cornflower or "little brother") is wounded, he learns that thanks to TimeTravel everybody's destiny had been written down centuries ago. Each person is given a medallion on the day of birth with the predicted fate, and "little brother's" medallion says he'll die by midnight. Determined to ScrewDestiny, the hero heads off to fight the Great Chancellor, who is prophecized to lead the state to bright future and who does nothing to stop the current internal strife. The duel is brutal, the chancellor is strong and fast, but the hero is trained in superior techniques. However, to his frustration he realizes [[HonorBeforeReason he cannot murder in cold blood]]. When the desperate enemy tries one last attack, the hero barely manages to dodge and raises his rapier at the last moment. And his opponent's inertia causes him to be impaled on it. Thus, every prophecy is broken, and his friend survives the night.

* In ''On the Night of Highest Tide'' (part of Vladislav Krapivin's ''Literature/GreatCrystal'') the protagonist travels to a parallel world, stuck in MedievalStasis with a bit of {{Magitek}}, reverting to a teenager in the process. When a friend of his (Cornflower or "little brother") is wounded, he learns that thanks to TimeTravel everybody's destiny had been written down centuries ago. Each person is given a medallion on the day of birth with the predicted fate, and "little brother's" medallion says he'll die by midnight. Determined to ScrewDestiny, the hero heads off to fight the Great Chancellor, who is prophecized to lead the state to bright future and who does nothing to stop the current internal strife. The duel is brutal, the chancellor is strong and fast, but the hero is trained in superior techniques. However, to his frustration he realizes [[LawfulStupid he cannot murder in cold blood]]. When the enemy tries to make a break for the door, the hero raises his rapier at the last moment, and his opponent's inertia causes him to be impaled on it. Thus, every prophecy is broken, and his friend survives the night.

* In one book (forgot the name), the protagonist travels to a parallel world, stuck in MedievalStasis with a bit of magic thrown in. He also appears to revert to being a teenager there. When a friend of his is wounded, he finds out that each person of this world is given a medallion on the day of his birth. Apparently, the medallion is inscribed with the wearer's fate. He finds out that his friend is fated to die from this wound. Determined to ScrewDestiny, he heads off to fight this world's leader, who is prophesied a long rule. The duel is brutal, and he starts to lose. Exhausted, he can barely fight, as the leader is preparing for the coup de grâce. At the last moment, he raises his sword, and his opponent's inertia causes him to be impaled on it. Thus, this (and, apparently, every other) prophesy is broken, and his friend survives the night.

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' loves this one. The preferred method of executing one of their own kind, the vampires tie the victim and drop them into a pit of stakes. Sometimes, it takes more than one drop before they die. [[spoiler:It's how Kurda Smahlt died. And Crepsley. Poor Crepsley.]] [[spoiler:Steve]] likes to use these for theatrics. [[spoiler:the one Crepsley fell in was even on FIRE.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' has a 'stop thrust' option if waiting against charging foes using thrusting melee weapons which turns their movement into bonus damage and if they you have a longer weapon hit before the foe does, depending upon the outcome also denying them their initial attack. Lances can TakeItUpToEleven as a successful hit does the better of a stop thrust or the damage from the momentum and strength of the attacker. Adding insult to injury any knockback to a rider has a good chance of dismounting them.

* This is how Sam is able to seriously wound Shelob in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The book explicitly states that he hadn't the strength to pierce her hide, but Shelob attempting to crush him underneath her did.

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'', this is how [[spoiler:Ghiaccio]] is defeated. Mista, confronted with his power to throw bullets back at the shooter, lines him up with a broken metal pole and fires on him. The bullets hit Mista, but at the same time, Newton's Second Law pushes [[spoiler:Ghiaccio]] backwards, which runs him straight into a jagged part of the pole. Neck-first. [[spoiler:Ghiaccio temporarily manages to save himself by freezing his own blood to support himself, only for Giorno to [[BigDamnHeroes show up at the last second to save Mista]], using a flurry of kicks from his [[FightingSpirit Stand]], Gold Experience, to pierce Ghiaccio's neck all the way through]].

* In some versions of the Myth/ArthurianLegend, Mordred is killed when he impales himself mid-charge on Arthur's spear or lance, oftentimes ''[[TakingYouWithMe forcing himself up the length of the weapon]]'' post-impalement in order to strike one final, fatal blow.