History Main / LandMineGoesClick

* These can end up being unfortunate surprises in ''CommandAndConquer'', starting in Red Alert.
** It's a subversion in Command & Conquer, seeing as how your only warning is a ''SPROING!'' when the mine goes off (at which point, it is too late). Quite annoying, since the game has mine LAYERS, but not mine DETECTORS.

* ''{{Dishonored}}'''s Springrazors behave similar to Bouncing Betty mines, cutting their victim off at the knees.

* The ''SuperSmashBros'' series has the Motion-Sensor Bomb (Proximity Mine in the PAL version). This trope is actually averted, in that the bomb does not click, but explodes instantaneously, dealing somewhere around 25% damage. However, the things are fairly easy to disarm. God help you though if there's a bomb that someone managed to stick to the side of the stage.

** In ''Black Jack'' 21, it is revealed [[spoiler: this was done intentionally by an evil organization his father was working with]].

* Newly added in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', mines make a distinctive click and give the player enough time to dodge roll out of the way before they go off. Unless the evil, evil level designers put a [[SchmuckBait shiny new weapon]] right next to the mine, in which case the same button for "jump out of the way" instead performs the "pick up the weapon" command, resulting in the mine blowing Shepard up once you dismiss the resulting pick up menu.

** Both ''3'' and ''New Vegas'' play with this trope by having many of the standard frag mines placed in ways that hides the glowing light, such as stuffing them under traffic cones or placing them lit-side-down.

* Organizations such as [=APOPO=] have trained rats to detect land mines in Africa for just this reason. The rats' noses are sensitive enough to detect explosives like dogs do, but rats are also small enough that they can walk directly over a mine without triggering it.

A recent variation is a 'claymore' or directional mine. Rather than just blow up and hope someone's over it, these consist of a mounting plate, the explosive charge, and the soon-to-be shrapnel. The charge is set up so that the explosion fans shrapnel out in an arc in front of the mine, similar to a shotgun blast, rather than a general disorganized kaboom. [[TooDumbToLive It is important that the right side is facing the enemy]], thus American versions have a large 'FRONT - TOWARD ENEMY' label printed on them. These are usually set off by wired remote-trigger (which really does go 'click') in the hands of someone a safe distance away from the mine - so chances are, surviving the blast still leaves you in a gunfight with whoever just decided to try and blow you up...

Another variant is to have a {{redshirt}}, a [[{{Mooks}} mook]], or an otherwise expendable character step on one and have it detonate immediately, killing them. This is often followed by the survivors getting down on their hands and knees and carefully making their way out, probing the ground ahead with sticks and knives (especially in war stories). This is derived from {{real-life}} military training on how to extract yourself from a minefield - except the part about using knives (or anything made of steel/iron): some of the larger (antitank) mines have magnetic-proximity triggers.

* ''{{Hellsing}}'' plays this completely straight, with the Wild Geese surrounding Hellsing Manor with mines to [[spoiler: fend off the charging Nazi vampires.]]
* ''GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' pulls this off in one episode. Due to a combination of corruption and ineffectual robbers, Chief Aramaki gets trapped in a hostage situation where the SWAT team would just as soon shoot everyone on sight. Capturing one of the would-be rescuers, he rigs a fake explosive device and props the unconscious guy on top of a "pressure sensor" to buy some time for escape; the mine is only noticed when they try to move the guy and the SWAT team pauses a while trying to disarm it. The strategy doesn't buy a lot of time but it does work.

* In ''[[{{EdenItsAnEndlessWorld}} Eden: It's an Endless World!]]'' a military officer is clearing a newly mined road by forcing local villagers to walk through one by one. After a young girl steps on a mine and freezes, officer comments that she's smart, as mines only blow up when you step off. Then he shoots her in the leg to make her fall.

** Also subverted by the Satchel Charge mines, which are hard to see, have short fuses that may prevent you from disarming them before they detonate, and are more lethal than the standard mines.

Another variant is to have a {{redshirt}}, a [[{{Mooks}} mook]], or an otherwise expendable character step on one and have it detonate immediately, killing them. This is often followed by the survivors getting down on their hands and knees and carefully making their way out, probing the ground ahead with sticks and knives (especially in war stories).

A recent variation is a 'claymore' or directional mine. Rather than just blow up and hope someone's over it, these consist of a mounting plate, the explosive charge, and the soon-to-be shrapnel. The charge is set up so that the explosion fans shrapnel out in an arc in front of the mine, similar to a shotgun blast, rather than a general disorganized kaboom. [[TooDumbToLive It is important that the right side is facing the enemy]], thus American versions have a large 'FRONT - TOWARD ENEMY' label printed on them.

* While Film/TheMonumentsMen are searching a burnt Nazi art depository, [[NeverGiveTheCaptainAStraightAnswer one of them calls out for his commander]], who discovers he's stepped on a mine. His fellow soldiers stack bricks on it in the hope of making up his weight. When he steps off [[CatScare the detonator goes off but not the explosive]]; the mine having been damaged by the earlier fire.

* ''Film/TropicThunder'' uses this trope in an unexpected and hilarious way. [[spoiler: The director, wanting to get his actors in the "real deep shit" to optimize their performance, takes them into the dense jungles of southeast Asia planning to leave them there while filming with hidden cameras. After giving a rousing speech about making the greatest war movie ever, he starts to walk off to prepare to film, steps on a landmine with an audible 'click', looks down, and explodes into many pieces. Needless to say his pampered actors [[AllPartOfTheShow thought it was an act.]]]]

Thus, it's no surprise that mines turn up a lot in fiction. But there is a major difference.

In RealLife, you probably won't know you are in the middle of a minefield until somebody steps on one.

In fiction, however, the hero will hear a tiny "click" as they step on the first mine, and we will have a tense moment while the heroes friends try to figure out how to get the poor guy off of it without killing him. This usually involves [[WeightAndSwitch finding a nice big rock to hold the button down]] while everybody runs for cover.

** Subverted by the "Hidden Mines" in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' which are only visible by discolourations on the floor, or if you put your mouse cursor over them, they do not beep and will explode instantly if stepped on, they are often found in dark areas so to make them even more difficult to spot.

Land mines. Hundreds of thousands of them buried and forgotten around the world. One of the most dangerous and easy to deploy weapons of war, they can effectively deny an area from use for any purpose until they're cleared. They were considered so dangerous in WorldWarII that the armies used special tanks equipped with massive rollers and [[EpicFlail chain whips]] to detonate them away from the tank's hull and clear a path through the field.

Almost nobody in television ever notices a minefield until, in the middle of a dramatic silence, somebody steps on one.

At this point, one of two things happens. If the poor fellow is a {{redshirt}}, a [[{{Mooks}} mook]], or otherwise expendable, the mine will detonate immediately and kill the guy. This is often followed by the survivors getting down on their hands and knees and carefully making their way out, probing the ground ahead with sticks and knives (especially in war stories).

If it's a main character, however, or someone who is otherwise important to the plot, all that will happen is a little "click", and we will have a tense moment while the heroes try to figure out how to get the poor guy off of it without killing him. This usually involves [[WeightAndSwitch finding a nice big rock to hold the button down]] while everybody runs for cover.

Many video games feature land mines with ''serious'' design problems, so it's quick and easy for a single main character to avoid or disarm them, unlike in real life. Such land mines might even feature flashing lights and beep a few seconds before they go off, which rather defeats the purpose of a land mine.

Also applies to all manner of similar explosive boobytraps involving pressure plates, trip wires and other triggering mechanisms. A recent variation is a 'claymore' or directional mine. American versions have 'FRONT - TOWARD ENEMY' printed on them. Rather than just blow up and hope someone's over it, these consist of a mounting plate, the explosive charge, and the soon-to-be shrapnel. The charge is set up so that the kaboom fans out in an arc in front of the mine, rather than a general kaboom. [[TooDumbToLive It is important that the right side is facing the enemy]], thus the large label.

Note that certain kind of land mines are now [[TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar prohibited by an international treaty]] signed by many countries, not including the USA, Russia, China, India, or most of the countries that would actually ever have reason to use land mines.

->'''Lt. George:''' If we do happen to trod on a mine, Sir, what do we do? \\