History Main / MobstacleCourse

* In ''Broadcast News'', Joan Cusack's character must cross a MobstacleCourse to get a badly needed newstape to the broadcast booth in order for the tape to be included in that night's news broadcast. She barely gets it there in time, but she gets it there.
* ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'': John Preston does this at least twice. He didn't have any place in particular to go one of the times, he was just running to blow off some steam or possibly to be alone and he floored random citizen onto his back!

* ''The Wind And The Lion'': While the U.S. Marines are trotting through the streets of Tangier, they run into a crowd of people and push them out of the way, including throwing two people into market stalls along a wall.

* In the ''{{Community}}'' episode "[[Recap/CommunityS2E09ConspiracyTheoriesAndInteriorDesign Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design]]" a ChaseScene occurs that includes examples of ExcuseMeComingThrough and MobstacleCourse in the form of a Latvian Independence Parade... all within the confines of a blanket fort.

* Crowd-dodging is ''really fun'' in packed town centres, train stations etc. For extra points (and weird looks) do it in a BadassLongcoat with [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning lots of unnecessary twirling]] and [[LeParkour unintuitive detours]].
** Mardi Gras and Carnival, where they're actually celebrated with a festival, definitely has this beat. Whether you're in a genuine rush or not, the crowd penetration challenge is still quite fun.
** There's an actual tag-like game involving this and LeParkour: when on areas with very little people, you're allowed to move any way you like, even RoofHopping, but when in a crowded area, your objective is to cause as little commotion as possible and still move as fast as you can. Usually, the one with the best "crowd intuition" wins.
** Tropers who attended crowded high schools will tell you that crowd-dodging skills are a necessity in getting from one place or the other between classes.
*** This troper has developed the ability to rotate his upper body 90 degrees while still keeping up a quick pace in order to better slip through crowds.

* Used ''BatmanTheMovie'' as they attempt to reach the United World building.

* Likewise in ''CrocodileDundee'', Mick Dundee "takes the high road" across people's shoulders when he can't make his way through a crowd to get to [[LoveInterest Sue Charlton]].

* In ''TheMatrix'', during the "Agent Training Program", Neo is continually bumping into people as he and Morpheus walk through a crowded New York City street. Conveniently, the crowd parts for Morpheus.
** Later in ''TheMatrix'', Neo is forced to do this while running through crowds of people in the streets while escaping from the three Agents near the end of the movie. The Agents tend to just throw people out of their way. Or shoot them.

* ''{{Equilibrium}}'': John Preston does this at least twice. He didn't have any place in particular to go one of the times, he was just running to blow off some steam or possibly to be alone and he floored random citizen onto his back!
* ''CasinoRoyale'': Mollaka, the bomb-making LeParkour villain, gets chased by Bond in Madagascar through a construction site and an embassy. He practically goes out of his way to push and shove bystanders aside as well as kick one off a superstructure quite ruthlessly, even though he demonstrates several times that he can avoid obstacles with ease with his free running skill.
* ''QuantumOfSolace'': Bond chases a bad guy through the audience of a horse race.

* ''{{Inception}}'': After meeting Eames, Cobb is chased through the streets of Mombasa by {{Mooks}} sent by Cobal Engineering, and must shove his way past bystanders. Luckily, when the people chasing Cobb start shooting, [[{{Imperial Storm Trooper Marksmanship Academy}} their aim is all over the place]]

* In ''RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Indy does this for a bit while chasing the basket Marion is in, as soon as he realizes she's LostInACrowd.

* You do this automatically if someone's in your way in ''{{Prototype}}''. If you're sprinting then the crowd is sent flying. In the former case they'll get annoyed and confront you if you stick around, in the later case they'll start running and screaming (or shooting if they're a soldier or policeman). This can be an annoyance though, when trying to do stealth.

* In Aladdin, our introduction to the titular character occurs as he dashes with a stolen piece of bread through crowds, fakirs, and herds of sheep with ease while his pursuers take the "toss-everyone-aside" approach.

* This is how Kronk loses the bag holding the unconscious Kuzco in ''[[{{Disney/ptitle3if599v0}} The Emperor's New Groove]]''.

If one half of a couple is about to leave on a plane/boat/train/whatever, the odds that the other person will have to run the MobstacleCourse increase exponentially.

Often a case of TruthInTelevision. Occasionally PlayedForLaughs. Compare to ExcuseMeComingThrough, where the crowd parts just when the hero or villain needs it to. If the character chooses a more direct path through the masses, it's a FoeTossingCharge. See also LeParkour.

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* In the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Taste of Freedom", during Freedom Day (the day for doing whatever you want with no regard for consequences) Bender attaches a cowcatcher to himself for pushing through crowds.

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* The entire sport of roller derby could be summed up as a) making the most impassable MobstacleCourse possible for the opposition and b) helping your team pass through the opposition's MobstacleCourse as quickly as possible.

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* In ''ThePrincessBride'' movie. Inigo attempts this, but quickly becomes frustrated. Good thing he has Fezzik next to him to shout "Everybody ''move''!"

* In the ''{{Community}}'' episode "[[Recap/CommunityS2E09ConspiracyTheoriesAndInteriorDesignConspiracy Theories and Interior Design]]" a ChaseScene occurs that includes examples of ExcuseMeComingThrough and MobstacleCourse in the form of a Latvian Independence Parade... all within the confines of a blanket fort.

* You do this automatically if someone's in your way in ''{{Prototype}}''. If you're sprinting then the crowd is sent flying. In the former case they'll get annoyed and confront you if you stick around, in the later case they'll start running and screaming (or shooting if they're a soldier or policeman). This can be annoyance though, when trying to do stealth.

* In one of Doc Smith's books (an early ''{{Lensman}}'' one, if memory serves) our hero is undercover with some criminals on a very highly populated planet - the criminals are experts at running the crowds, and the hero has to barge people aside and generally rush to keep up, and hope that the villain doesn't turn back to check on him. The expectation was that a guy in the position he was claiming to hold would know how to run the crowds, and it was a sort of SecretTestOfCharacter.

Our hero has to get to his destination ''yesterday'', and he's on foot. Unfortunately, there's a huge crowd between him and his goal, and for whatever reason, shouting at them to get out of his way just isn't cutting it. His only option is to weave his way through the crowd Frogger-style; changing speeds, cutting left and right to avoid clumps of people, and sometimes even ducking under carried objects and jumping over the incidental obstacles like benches and garbage cans. Generally, if the person is being chased or is fleeing a scene, they'll not even bother dodging, preferring to just bull their way through a crowd as best they can. (Naturally, the hero has to be nicer about it than the villain.) Of course, if the person being chased does this right, they tend to be LostInACrowd.

* {{Wanted}}. One of the various climactic scenes is this trope [[IncendiaryExponent on fire.]] The main character runs through a huge loom hallway covered with explosive rats, shooting the hell out of everyone that gets in his way, never once reloading his weapons- instead, he catches the guns his enemies drop out of the air. And he doesn't stop moving.
* The climax of TwelveMonkeys takes place in such a scene at the airport.

* In ''Broadcast News'', Holly Hunter must cross a MobstacleCourse to get a badly needed newstape to the broadcast booth in order for the tape to be included in that night's news broadcast. She barely gets it there in time, but she gets it there.

* You do this automatically if someone's in your way in ''{{Prototype}}''. If you're sprinting then the crowd is sent flying. In the former case they'll get annoyed and confront you if you stick around, in the later case they'll start running and screaming (or shooting if they're a soldier or policeman).

* [[OnePiece Nami]] went through one of these to get to the [[CoolBoat Going Merry]] at the end of the Arlong Arc, though this example is a bit different from the norm in that the crowd is an issue because they're trying to ''thank'' her. Being Nami, she not only gets through the crowd with ease, she steals all their money in the process.

* ''QuantumOfSolace'': Bond chases a bad guy through the audience of a bullfight. Both Bond and the villain have to [[IncrediblyLamePun bull their way through]] the crowd.
** Bullfight? Actually it was a horse race... ''In Italy...'' Not Spain or Portugal...

* It appears in ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' at least once.

* This is how Kronk loses the bag holding the unconscious Kuzco in ''TheEmperorsNewGroove''.

* The main character of CoryDoctorow's ''DownAndOutInTheMagicKingdom'' does this all the time, which leads directly to his employment at Disneyland.

*In DonRosa's Donald Duck story "On Stolen Time", Donald and his nephews chase the Beagle Boys atop the heads of a crowd of people who have been frozen in time.

This can often be in a [[NightmareSequence scary dream sequence]]: the character is doing their best to move forward in the crowd, only to find that said crowd is getting denser and denser, resulting in the character being swept away as if in a tidal wave. Happens quite a bit in CrimeAndPunishmentSeries with the "Cop(s) chasing Suspect(s)" version.

Often a case of TruthInTelevision. Occasionally PlayedForLaughs. Compare to ExcuseMeComingThrough, where the crowd parts just when the hero or villain needs it to. If the character chooses a more direct path through the masses, it's a FoeTossingCharge.

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