History Main / RedAlert

[[quoteright:300:[[Franchise/StarTrek http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RedAlertTropeImage_5413.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:All hands to battlestations!]]

->''The sirens shrilled, urging everyone to panic.''
-->-- '''TomorrowTown''' by KimNewman

->''"I remember that sound! That's a bad sound!"''
-->-- '''[[Creator/SigourneyWeaver Gwen]]''', ''Film/GalaxyQuest''

The phrase "Red Alert" comes from the naval tradition of "General Quarters" ("Action Stations" if you're British), where a ship prepares for battle. Much of the procedures are the same. The alert is sounded by a drum or over an intercom. Off-duty sailors report to their stations, cannons are loaded, and the decks are cleared of non-essential items. On modern ships, lights flash, klaxons sound and all watertight doors are closed, thus if the ship is holed the leak is contained. '''BREET BREET''' Ah, great.. See SelfDemonstrating/RedAlert right away, the Wiki's gone on SelfDemonstratingArticle mode. '''BREET BREET GENERAL QUARTERS'''

In a {{Rescue}} show, or any film with an emergency service like the fire department, there is a [[Administrivia/InternalSubtrope variant of the alert]] that can be called the '''Emergency Squad Scramble.''' where the heroes are at their base and the dispatch call sounds. Suddenly the base explodes with activity as the klaxons sound and the dispatcher comes over the PA system with the essential information. Meanwhile, the rescue heroes move quickly, often [[ToTheBatpole going down sliding poles]] to the garage, calmly to suit up and board their vehicles with utter professionalism. Then with the vehicles' rotating lights flashing and sirens sounding, the production's theme music plays the heroes go full speed to the emergency.

This variant also occurs with fighter squadrons before or during a FighterLaunchingSequence . This often includes a running variant of the PowerWalk that can be called the '''Scramble Run''' where the pilots, are seen sprinting to their fighters in full flight gear.

Now, keep in mind, this is not to be confused with ''CommandAndConquerRedAlert'', nor with ''LastAlert'' (known as ''Red Alert'' in Japan), nor with the RedScare. Nor does it have any particular relation to any of the ''{{Transformers}}'' characters named Red Alert ([[MemeticMutation WOO WOO WOO WOO]]). But it is similar, however, to DefconFive. Err...one. And to RedFilterOfDoom.

Understand? Good. Let's move out.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The ''{{Macross}}'' franchise (and presumably ''{{Robotech}}''), play this more realistically, with General Quarters and condition levels rather than the klaxon and red light.
* Happens several times in the anime ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTaiHanaukyoMaidTai'' (both seasons) when an emergency occurs in the mansion, sometimes with rotating lights and sirens.
* Occurs in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode #24 when intruders are detected in the Soul Society.
* Angel signature confirmed, [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Type Blue!]]
* Franchise/{{Gundam}}'s various {{Cool Ship}}s will invariably have one of some kind. Some series even go so far as to re-use [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam White Base's]] alert klaxon.
---> ''"Condition Red has been issued! Condition Red has been issued! All pilots, standby in your machines!"''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* Happens twice in the film ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''.
** The Mayor of Halloween Town orders the alarms sounded when Jack Skellington disappears (a siren in the form of a stone cat with its tail being turned by a mummy).
** When Jack causes chaos by giving out dangerous toys on Christmas Eve, the militaries of the world mobilize to stop him, complete with air raid siren.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' - "Red alert! Red alert! Andy is coming upstairs!"
** ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''
-->'''Woody''': Yard sale? Sarge! Emergency roll call!
-->'''Sergeant''': Sir, yes, sir! Red alert! All civilians fall in position now!
* ''Sev Trek: Pus in Boots'' (an Australian CGI spoof of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''). The ship goes to Red Alert, but it's so loud no-one can hear the captain's orders. But they only did it to make Lt. Barf happy anyway.
-->'''Lt. Barf:''' Captain, we are being hailed. I recommend we go to Red Alert!\\
'''Captain Pinchhard:''' We haven't even met them! Isn't that a little premature?\\
'''Lt. Barf:''' [[MonsterOfTheWeek Every week]] we encounter aliens who try to destroy or take over the ship. [[GenreSavvy It would save a lot of time if we assumed the worst now]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''DoctorStrangelove'' was based on a serious ColdWar thriller novel by Peter George entitled... ''Red Alert''.
* In the film ''OurManFlint'', after Lloyd Cramden learns that Flint is alive he calls a "Purple Alert".
* ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. Occurs at an American missile base in North Dakota just before Blofeld's KillSat attacks with its [[FrickinLaserBeams laser beam]].
* ''TheFinalCountdown'' featured two onboard the USS ''Nimitz'' aircraft carrier, though the second one was a bit more subdued as it was more of a preparation montage for the subsequent FighterLaunchingSequence.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXQ_8e63wmE Clip here.]]
* ''Film/MasterAndCommander'' had a scene where a young officer, suspecting the enemy ship is nearby in the fog and about to attack, calls "Beat to quarters!" We see the Napoleonic War version of a ship going into Red Alert and the officer's decision proves most prudent as the ship is fired upon and the crew is ready for battle.
* In the Cruise version of ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', the walkers have a siren call. This may have been borrowed from the ''Journey to the White Mountains'' books, where the walkers would signal out a siren warning call as they approached.
* ''CrimsonTide'' depicts the captain of the ''Alabama'' ordering back-to-back drills for "battle stations-torpedo" and "battle stations-missile" [[spoiler: while a very real fire is being fought in another compartment.]] The climax of the film occurs with the crew at battle stations-missile.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''StarWars'', of course, had to get in on the action, though the original trilogy didn't.
** In TheThrawnTrilogy, Pellaeon explains to [[MagnificentBastard Grand Admiral Thrawn]] that the wing commander of the scout ships is fairly certain he eluded pursuit, but that he ordered the sentry ships to yellow alert anyway. Thrawn opines that if they were from the [[LaResistance Rebellion]] (as he [[InsistentTerminology insists]] on calling [[TheAlliance the New Republic]]), the ships didn't lose their pursuers. Pellaeon asks if they should go to red, to which Thrawn remarks "There's time."
** A novel in the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse has Han trying to fly a horribly-built Selonian ship. Nearly all the lights on the control panel are green, but that's not good - for Selonians, red is positive, green is disaster. It's noted the reason for this is because Selonian blood is green, as opposed to human red.
* In the book ''TheAndromedaStrain'', the noise of the sirens going off when areas become contaminated is so loud that it they have to ask someone to turn it down so they can communicate. This tends to highlight the fact that the base systems were not tested properly. This is a major RealLife problem, if a system is not designed correctly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The name of this trope comes from the Red Alert in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Over the many series ''Franchise/StarTrek'' had accumulated many variants:
** Yellow Alert - When the ship is approaching a potentially dangerous situation.
** Double Red Alert - Extreme and immediate danger, e.g. a bomb on board is about to explode.
** Blue Alert - The ship is about to enter planetary atmosphere (on ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'') or about to use its cloaking device (on ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''). or is experiencing a life support failure (on ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next-Gen]]''). Possibly meant as a general "this might feel weird/we may experience some turbulence" warning.
** Grey Alert - The ship is running out of fuel and is rationing power to a bare minimum (AKA Condition Grey)
** Tactical Alert - The same as Red Alert, and in fact its ancestor. (In the early years of Starfleet, the first ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'''s systems were not exactly optimized; Red Alert was as much an optimization of emergency systems such as hull plating polarization, allowing said systems to power up in seconds rather than minutes, as it was a warning for the crew.)
** When Reed wanted to create a new emergency protocol that would improve on Tactical Alert, Trip dubs it "[[IncrediblyLamePun Reed Alert]]".
** General Quarters, bringing this full circle.
** There was also a rarely used "Condition Green" which was a distress code to alert the receiver that the landing party had been captured. Given how often it happened, you'd think it would get heard more often. One reason why it wasn't was that it was specified to mean "The landing party has been captured, but don't take any immediate action!".
** Also famously parodied in ''MAD Magazine'':
--->'''Spock:''' Call for General Alert.\\
'''Kirk:''' Paging General Alert! Paging General Alert!\\
'''Spock:''' This is no time for joking around, Captain. We have a major disaster here!\\
'''Kirk:''' Is that so? Then have Major Disaster report to the bridge - '''at once!'''
** In ''Star Trek'' (or at least the later series), however, the use of low lighting is somewhat justified, as it means that all the little light-up buttons on the control panels show up better, and means that the light won't reflect off the glass surfaces.
* Played straight on ''Series/BabylonFive'', though notably, while the alarms are sounding loudly throughout the station, warning the station's occupants to seek shelter and the pilots and security guards to prepare for battle, the command center itself is devoid of the alarms and lights. This is to help the command crew avoid any distractions or hindrances to communication, particularly since they're the ones who ''start'' the alarm to begin with. Worth noting how the command crew reacts to the Red Alert changes over time, probably as they become more experienced with such situations. In one second season battle, they have to close the blast doors covering the command center's picture window just in time to avoid getting a piece of debris sent flying into them. In the third season, as soon as a battle starts, they immediately shut the blast shield (and sure enough, midway through the battle, a crippled enemy fighter crashes into the shield hard enough to cause the internal bulkhead to buckle.
* Averted and then played straight in the first and second seasons of ''SeaQuestDSV''. The original featured a rather low-key alarm klaxon and the 1MC call "General Quarters, all hands to battle stations," along with stock shots of watertight hatches sealing throughout the boat. The second season played the trope to the hilt, adding in lots of flashing red lights and making the siren painfully loud.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'' parodied the hell out of this trope and played it for laughs most of the time,
** The first example kicked off with an exchange highlighting how pointless it was in their circumstances:
--->'''Rimmer:''' Go to Blue Alert.\\
'''Lister:''' Why? There's no one to alert, we're all here.\\
'''Rimmer:''' I would just feel better if we were all on our toes because we were all aware this is a blue alert situation.\\
'''Lister:''' We all are on our toes... ''(and so on)''
** Famously parodied:
--->'''Rimmer:''' Go to Blue Alert. ''[A blue lightbulb at the back of the ship starts flashing silently ]''\\
(Some time later)\\
'''Rimmer:''' Step up to Red Alert.\\
'''Kryten:''' ''[dead serious]'' Sir, are you ''absolutely'' sure? It DOES mean changing the bulb!
** What do you get combing Red and Blue Alert? This:
--->'''Holly:''' Purple Alert! Purple Alert!\\
'''Lister:''' What's a Purple Alert?\\
'''Holly:''' Well, it's worse than a Blue Alert, but better than a Red Alert. Kind of a Mauve Alert...
** A new shade -- brown. That can't be pretty.
--->'''Kryten''': We must take action! Be bold, positive, decisive! Suggest we move from Blue Alert to Red Alert, sir!\\
'''Cat''': Forget red! Let's go all the way up to Brown Alert!\\
'''Kryten''': There's no such ''thing'' as Brown Alert, sir!\\
'''Cat''': [[BringMyBrownPants You won't be sayin' that in a minute!]] [[IWarnedYou And don't say I didn't alert you!]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In the first season of the revived ''Doctor Who'', the Doctor tells Rose that the interstellar color for danger is mauve, and most alien species consider humanity's penchant for red positively {{camp}}.
---> '''The Doctor''': Oh, the misunderstandings - all those Red Alerts, all that dancing.
** [=UNIT=] in particular has been shown to have a penchant for red, employing "Red Alert", "Code Red Sontaran", and "''Ultimate'' Red Alert'' in season 4.
** The TARDIS has what could be considered a type of Red Alert, the cloister bell, which rings to signify a galactic disaster. I.e the end of the universe.
* The French-Canadian TV show ''Dans une galaxie près de chez vous'' poked fun at this numerous times, with such alerts has "Yellow Alert with suspenders and brown socks" "Purple alert with a ketchup stain" etc... One episode reveals that the ship's crew carries a binder explaining the meaning of each and every alert.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** They avoided Red Alert, despite many of its characters being DangerouslyGenreSavvy, primarily because it's set in the modern era or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture; the human starships use General Quarters.
** The "Unscheduled Offworld Activation" alert does use spinning red lights and sirens.
* Pretty much every season of [[Series/TwentyFour 24]] features a CTU "lockdown", complete with stereotypical klaxon sirens and flashing red lights.
* The new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' has the marvelous three-troper:
-->'''Felix Gaeta:''' Action stations, action stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship. ThisIsNotADrill.
:: The series prided itself on being more like a real ship, with accurate (or at least believable) use of jargon, than other sci-fi series. Three vital pieces of information into three short sentences; even if it wasn't accurate, it would probably still be a very efficient system. An ''aversion'' of DefconFive -- in naval parlance, 'Condition One' is sealing all compartments in full battle-readiness (as cited in the second paragraph of the trope's main body), so it's a ''correct'' use of jargon.)
* The original 1970's ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic'' had this happen regularly whenever the Cylons attacked.
* From a review of the ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episode "Bounty":
-->"...to say nothing of the guards' color codes, which include Red Standby Alert (apparently meaning stand around and do nothing), Red Mobilisation (wander around outside the house), and Blue Mobilisation (allow the President and his daughter to escape in a vintage car accompanied by two terrorists)."
* At around the same time, ''ChappellesShow'' did a similar gag. This was extended in the DeletedScene on the DVD, where after several color combos and unusually specific shades, it ended in "The color of these shoes".
* Briefly featured in the short-lived alien invasion show ''Series/{{Threshold}}'', when the heroes have reason to believe their secret base has been compromised: in addition to the flashing red lights (no klaxon), every regular ceiling light in the building is extinguished and replaced by ''strobes'' for no apparent reason.
* Parodied in ''Series/GetSmart''; they have Red Alert, but they also have things like "Magenta Alert" and "Blue Alert".
* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'': This being a miniseries in the naval setting, they use "beat to quarters" quite a lot when they are supposed to prepare for a battle at sea.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* Spelling R-E-D in ''Pinball/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' starts this, where the entire playfield is illuminated with red flashers and all shots are worth 1 million points.
* In ''Party Zone'', when the "Big Bang" jackpot is lit, every light on the playfield turns red.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' plays with this trope and [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience Colour Coded For Your Inconvenience]] - First an intruder alert causes Code Red, which later escalates to Code Green, and after the prisoners escape to Code Purple. Hope wonders aloud what the heck it all means, and then it's completely lampshaded when Colonel Nabaat starts having her epic VillainousBreakdown, shouting "''This means we have a Code Blue! Or maybe Code Yellow. If it was Code Orange that would mean...?''" But then Primarch Dysley puts an end to it and remarks that "''Desperate times demand flexibility'': [{{beat}}] ''[[SnowMeansDeath Code]] [[KillEmAll White!]]"
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'': The Black Mesa Facility would like to inform you that pressing the alert button as a joke is not OK, ''Dr. Freeman''. (Not real dialog, just a joke since you can turn it on and piss people off, and later on it is on by default and you can turn it off ForTheEvulz).
* In ''VideoGame/StarTrekArmada II'', alerts contain a different approach, Green alert is were a ship will not attack unless given a strict order to do so (This includes not firing back), Yellow alert will have ships fire at enemy ship's and stations if fired upon, Red alert (Default) has ships attack enemy ships and stations if there in range
* In ''StarTrekBridgeCommander'', you can order Saffi (your first officer) to set the ship's alert status. Green alert is shields and weapons offline, yellow alert brings up shields to 100% power for protecting the ship from minor hazards (nebulae, etc.) and red alert brings up shields and weapons.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' features condition red when the player engages an enemy, both in space and on away missions which prevents the player from performing non-combat actions such as full impulse.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' series of video games bring the trope off of ships and into the world at large. Whenever the alarm goes off, big red bulbs light up (and some ''spin'', like old-style police flashers), klaxons sound, and a bland female voice says things like, "Code Red!" Oddly, nine times out of the ten the Silencer, usually the ''cause'' of the Red Alert, can shut it off by ''tapping a switch on the wall''.
* Used reasonably in the ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'' series: a warning alarm sounds when a hostile vessel turns its attention on you - and then promptly shuts up, letting you frag the baddies and/or get the heck out of Dodge as appropriate. (If you have an [[EnemyDetectingRadar IFF Decoder]], you may also get to see the enemy vessel's dot turn red at this moment.)
* Similarly, in the ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' series, when a hostile ship comes within about 10 kilometers, you hear a single bleep, then the background music changes to the battle soundtrack.
* The ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' video game has three alert levels: Normal (green button, normal duties), Warning (yellow button, everybody is armed and ready), and Danger (red button, everybody is armed, ready, runs, and fires at will). Warning and Danger both cause a klaxon to sound continually in the background. [[MostAnnoyingSound This gets annoying really fast]], especially at Yellow Alert. All you want is for your minions to walk around armed, in case enemy soldiers show up. So why do you have to keep listening to that annoying klaxon? There is, fortunately, a glitch, where if you double-tap the button in rapid succession the klaxon stops.
* ''{{Bosconian}}'' features a "CONDITION" indicator. If it's "GREEN", that means no enemies are attacking, but it will eventually change to "YELLOW" ("Alert! Alert!"), and you will have to destroy one of the hexagon-like space stations to get it back to "GREEN". Condition "RED!!" (as it appears in-game) only appears if you take too long to complete a stage. During this time, the enemies attack relentlessly, making more likely for you to lose a life.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', when a Scarab is about to explode, a submarine klaxon type sound is heard. The same sound is heard when destroying the large artillery emplacements in ''HaloReach''.
** At the beginning of ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', when Capt. Keyes is convinced that there's no way to sneak past the Covenant battle group stationed at Installation 04, he orders the ''Pillar of Autumn'' brought to "Combat Alert Alpha". Klaxons sound throughout the ship, the crew and Marine complement get to their stations, and the cryogenics bay thaws out the Master Chief.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': ''INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! RED SPY IS IN THE BASE!''
--->'''Soldier''': A red spy is in the base?!
* Played straight in ''[[MetroidPrime Metroid Prime 3: Corruption,]]'' as the ''GFS Olympus'' goes into "Condition Red" during the Space Pirate attack at the beginning of the game.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'' series, the arrival of a crew of pirates in the Item World is preceded by the sound of klaxons and the screen flashing red a few times.
* Announcing boss fights with a loud siren and a screen-wide warning is a hallmark of the ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}'' franchise.
* Armor Games' WebGame ''In3structotank'' during the introductory sequence. As Dirk Danger is drinking coffee a light descends from above and starts flashing red, causing him to do a SpitTake.
* ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' introduces {{Boss Battle}}s with a red flashing screen saying "ALERT!!"
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'', and, even earlier, in ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' {{Boss Battle}}s open with an alarm siren and the word "'''WARNING'''" flashing in red stencil letters.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', the [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear-powered]] final boss of ''Subterranean Animism'', Utsuho Reiuji, is unique in that she announces her spellcards not with the generic noise and SuperMovePortraitAttack, but with sirens and '''CAUTION''' scrolling across the screen.
* ''VideoGame/RockRaiders'' players could sound "Action Stations" if a monster or slimy slug showed up, which caused any armed Rock Raiders to start attacking the critters in question. It also sounded automatically if a building was damaged.
* ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' has any number of warnings that alert you to things like your hull integrity running down, enemy {{Boarding Part|y}}ies, and the [[FinalBoss Rebel Flagship]]'s dreaded [[LimitBreak Power Surge]].
* ''{{Descent}}'': "[[SelfDestructMechanism Self Destruct Sequence Activated]]", followed by klaxons, [[EpilepticFlashingLights strobing lights]], and [[InterfaceScrew seismic tremors]], after [[LoadBearingBoss the destruction of each reactor or boss]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* When the tennis player from the [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p2 Death Volley arc]] in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' is injured, he sounds a [[IncrediblyLamePun Med Alert.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In a ''HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' episode that parodies the Homeland Security color alert system, code red is followed by code ''blackwatch plaid'', which is then followed by an alert consisting of the cover art from Rush's ''Moving Pictures'' album.
* [[{{Transformers}} Red Alert!]] [[MemeticMutation WOO WOO WOO WOO!]]
** [[DontExplainTheJoke To completely ruin the joke]], there is a Transformer named Red Alert. The meme comes from a Red Alert toy that would say his name followed by a brief siren if you pushed a button. "Red! Uh-lurt! Woo woo woo woo!"
* In ''{{Metalocalypse}}'', the Tribunal calls a "Purple Alert" when Nathan Explosion is elected governor of Florida. It's ''extremely'' irritating.
* ''TheHerculoids'' episode "Prisoners of the Bubblemen". After Dorno frees Zandor and Tarra, the enemy leader orders "Sound the alarm" and a tower starts a lighthouse-like rotating red light at its top, with a whooping siren accompaniment.
* ''JonnyQuest'' TOS
** Episode "The Sea Haunt". As the title creature climbs onto the deck of the ship the captain tells a crewman to "Sound the alarm! All hands on deck!", and an alarm bell starts ringing.
** In both "Arctic Splashdown" and "The Robot Spy" there are "scramble alerts" at Air Force bases, with jets taking off. In "The Robot Spy" the Duty Officer actually says he's going to call a "Red Scramble" and pushes a BigRedButton with the label "Red Alert".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Britain's version of the [[DefconFive the DEFCON system]] was the BIKINI alert system, which operates in this manner. The colour scale consists of (in ascending order) White, Black, [[OneOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Black Special]], Amber and Red. It was replaced by "UK Threat Level" system in 2006, which isn't a color-coded system.
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HANDEL HANDEL system]], which was the UK's Nuclear Attack warning system and companion to the BIKINI states, also had this, with "Attack Warning Red" being the cue to set off the Four Minute Warning. Other colours included "Fallout Warning Black," which meant imminent fallout danger, "Fallout Warning Grey" which was for expected fallout and "Attack Warning White" which was the all clear.
* TruthInTelevision: The United States Department of Homeland Security Terror Alert Level, which is on [[color:yellow:yellow]] by default. There are two lower levels ([[color:blue:Blue]] and [[color:green:Green]]), but they have never been called. [[color:orange:Orange Alert]] has been called a few times, but [[color:red:Red Alert]] has only been called once, after some idiot terrorists tried to sneak liquid explosives onboard airplanes coming in from England and have caused problems for millions of air travellers since.
** Shortly after the terror alert system was first created, Jay Leno did a bit on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' spoofing it. The final mock colour alert was "White with a black dot," which meant "Terrorists are impersonating Jay Leno."
** The system was also spoofed by Stephen Colbert in the opening on one episode of ''Series/TheColbertReport''. Colbert reported that the alert level had been raised to brown, because "somebody spilled coffee on the chart."
** Another spoof, this one from ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': a color-coded system is introduced and explained, but all the colors are virtually-indistinguishable shades of white (white, off-white, bone, putty, etc.)
** Also mocked by comedian RonWhite. He says if it were up to him, there would be two levels of alert: "Go find a helmet", and "Put on the damm helmet".
* Some real-life fire alarms sound like red alert klaxons.
* HMNB Devonport, in Plymouth, UK, tests the Nuclear Accident Siren every Monday morning at 1130. This is a massive, WWII-esque 'The bombers are coming!' alarm that can be heard about a mile away in parts of the city and is a little unnerving if you haven't heard it before or aren't expecting it.
* Residents of the midwestern United States are no doubt intimately familiar with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH5ZjMWN_zw&NR=1 tornado sirens]], which are designed to emit an amazingly loud wailing sound when a [[DoNotTouchTheFunnelCloud tornado]] is spotted nearby, warning everybody to seek shelter immediately.
** Although all it usually does is either prompt people to run outside and see the funnel cloud or to sit inside and turn the TV to the local news to see how close it is.
** Military installations will often use a similar system, which include the added convenience of a distinctive alarm reserved for incoming enemy attack.
[[/folder]]

!!Emergency Squad Scramble Examples:

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}''. The first time a call comes in, Janine hits the siren and the title characters do a Emergency Squad Scramble to get dressed and take off in the Ectomobile.
** Justified in that they set up shop in an old, abandoned, apparently-still-functional, yet remarkably cheap firehouse. The confused look on everyone's face for about 5-10 seconds after the bells start going implies that, in-universe at least, this wasn't part of the plan and Janine just felt like doing it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''CodeRed'' had a really dramatic Emergency Squad Scramble with a large firehouse crew and fleet, including the Fire Chief in his own car, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zIuMyW5ZS0&feature=related as shown here.]]
* ''London's Burning'' usually featured a similar but lower-key scene centered on one or two fire engines.
* ''Franchise/{{Emergency}}'' had the distinctive Quick Call system where each station has its own series of tones to indicate it is being called up and a klaxon that sounds to confirm the Station 51 is being deployed. The announcer would then, along with destination info, specify "Squad" for the medics or "Engine" for the fire engine, or both. Once, a very tired John Gage mixed them up when awakened and climbed on the engine rear by mistake, with [=DeSoto=] yelling behind him "IT'S NOT FOR US!"
* In ''[[Series/{{SWAT}} S.W.A.T.]]'', the opening credits started with the team responding to an alert over their radio by gearing up and boarding their police van. As seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Iwp1d7eKbA here]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The TabletopRPG ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' supplement "Neo-Anarchists' Guide to Real Life'' mentioned how exciting it was to watch a [=DocWagon=] Crisis Response Team respond to a crisis "Code Blue" alert.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* [[FiremanSam "All present and correct, sir!" "Right, let's go!"]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The underground WWII Cabinet War Rooms in London did this trope with classic British understatement. Their air raid alarm was a modest doorbell at the exit stairs, with the sign "This bell ringing indicates immediate danger overhead". Bunker occupants were thus warned that going outside was temporarily inadvisable.
* A variation on this trope occurs in hospital emergency departments, in which an ambulance crew can radio a hospital dispatcher for "medical control" - asking a hospital-based doctor for instructions on how to manage a critically ill/injured patient while en route. The dispatcher's radio will emit a loud, harsh buzz/honk sound, audible throughout the triage area, when such a call is placed. If the call warrants assembling a resuscitation team, the dispatcher will then issue an overhead page to the rest of the department, indicating what the emergency is (adult or pediatric, medical or trauma) and how long before it arrives.
** It is also worth note that most hospitals DO have a "code red." It is used in case of fire. (other common codes are blue, in case of cardiac arrest; ADAM, in case of missing persons; triage, in case of a large amount of incoming emergency patients; and some sort of bomb threat code.)
* This is also how most fire departments work. Tones will come over the PA system followed by the dispatcher saying which units are to be dispatched and the nature and location of the call.
** The tones have another purpose besides an audible alert. Each department in an area will have distinct two-tone alerts that are used to un-squelch pagers and radios, so as to not hear the radio all day unless a call comes in. Firefighters and EMS workers can tell who is being dispatched just by recognizing the tones.
** Fire stations in countries where the fire department and ambulance service are separate organisations usually use a simple bell or klaxon to summon the crews to their vehicle or vehicles. British fire stations usually send details about the call-out to an old school dot-matrix printer loaded with carbon paper; ambulances, which are usually off-station to shorten response times and are sometimes called upon to transfer patients between hospitals, have police-style radio sets instead.
[[/folder]]

!!Scramble Run Examples:

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' novel ''[[HandOfThrawn Specter of the Past]]'', we are treated to two separate chapters starting with the battle alarm going off at an unfair moment for [[BadassNormal Wedge Antilles]]: the first time in the middle of dessert, the second in the middle of the night. (His commander was feeling hunchy, though, and so Rogue Squadron were already sleeping in their ships...)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{UFO}}''. The voice of MasterComputer and early warning system SID: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "Red--Alert--Red--Alert--U-F-O--U-F-O."]] One of the most direct Battle of Britain homages on this page, not surprising given that Gerry Anderson spent his National Service in the RAF.
** Moonbase called them too. SHADO Control once called a "Maximum Security Alert - Condition Red".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Videogames]]
* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' often featured this.
** In particular, the FighterLaunchingSequence in the first ''Wing Commander'' game is accompanied by a Red Alert complete with klaxon, even for routine patrol missions.
* SpiritualSuccessor ''{{Starlancer}}'' carries on the tradition, with a short cutscene of fighter crews running along the corridor while a red light flashes. One can only assume the Squadron Leader's briefings have a tendency to overrun.
* ''StarFox'': "BUREEP! BUREEP! BUREEP! Emergency! Emergency! [[FighterLaunchingSequence Incoming enemy fighters, prepare for launch!]]"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Benjamin Glee thinks [[http://intragalacticcomic.com/2008/10/13/004-travel-advice/ strafing]] is the best way to show you're focused, even if there isn't a Red Alert.
* ''Webcomic/AirForceBlues'' had Barbie eating a sandwich when the the red light came on, followed by his squadron commander yelling at him to SCRAMBLE!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' has their scramble alarm linked to Callie Briggs' communicator. It sounds the alert buzzer and flashes the red light throughout the main building in the salvage yard, especially in the garage where they often are fixing cars. Whenever it goes off, it's time to move move move!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Most uses of this trope can be traced to the real-life Battle of Britain, the first time that radar technology allowed defending fighters enough warning to wait on the ground rather than running constant standing patrols. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain_(film) 1969 film]] features many examples, with pilots lounging in the sun in full flight gear until the dispatcher rings the scramble bell.
* This practice still goes on today in {{NATO}}, where it's called Quick Reaction Alert or QRA for short. The British used it for their V-bombers (which were bombed up), where you possibly had as little as five minutes before nukes started landing, the instruction being take off and head for the "start line" .
** The far more common version of this, on a nearly daily basis during the ColdWar and about monthly now involves fighter jets (usually two) being scrambled to intercept and escort away Soviet/Russian "Bear" bombers who have entered NATO-monitored airspace to test reaction times- i.e. for the fun of it.
* In modern times, many military installations will have a public address system that is used to warn of imminent attack or natural disaster, in a RealLife version of CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker. For the alarms related to enemy attacks, the American military uses a color-coded alarm system, with Red typically being reserved for imminent or ongoing large-scale attacks.
** The tradition dates back to WorldWarII, during which the radio broadcast "Condition Red" was used to warn anyone with a radio that the sender had detected an imminent enemy attack, usually but not always by enemy aircraft. "Very Red" was also used a couple of times in the Pacific to describe very large attacks.
[[/folder]]

----
'''''THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A...'''''

* ''{{Descent}}'': "[[SelfDestructMechanism Self Destruct Sequence Activated]]", followed by klaxons, after [[LoadBearingBoss the destruction of each reactor or boss]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', when a Scarab is about to explode, a submarine klaxon type sound is heard.

* ''StarFox'': "BWEEP! BWEEEP! BWEEEP! Emergency! Emergency! [[FighterLaunchingSequence Arwing fighters, prepare for launch!]]"

[[folder:Videogames]]

* [[HalfLife The Black Mesa Facility]] would like to inform you that pressing the alert button as a joke is not OK, ''Dr. Freeman''. (Not real dialog, just a joke since you can turn it on and piss people off, and later on it is on by default and you can turn it off ForTheEvulz).

* ''Sev Trek: Pus in Boots'' (the Australian CGI spoof of Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration). The ship goes to Red Alert, but it's so loud no-one can hear the captain's orders. But they only did it to make Lt. Barf happy anyway.
-->'''Lt. Barf:''' Captain, we are being hailed. I recommend we go to Red Alert!\\
'''Captain Pinchhard:''' We haven't even met them! Isn't that a little premature?\\
'''Lt. Barf:''' [[MonsterOfTheWeek Every week]] we encounter aliens who try to destroy or take over the ship. [[GenreSavvy It would save a lot of time if we assumed the worst now]].

* ''Series/{{UFO}}''. The voice of MasterComputer and early warning system SID: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ''Red--Alert--Red--Alert--U-F-O--U-F-O.]]" One of the most direct Battle of Britain homages on this page, not surprising given that Gerry Anderson spent his National Service in the RAF.

* ''Series/{{UFO}}''. The voice of MasterComputer and early warning system SID: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ''Red--Alert--Red--Alert--U-F-O--U-F-O.]] One of the most direct Battle of Britain homages on this page, not surprising given that Gerry Anderson spent his National Service in the RAF.

* The voice of SID: [[{{UFO}} ''Red--Alert--Red--Alert--U-F-O--U-F-O.]] One of the most direct Battle of Britain homages on this page, not surprising given that Gerry Anderson spent his National Service in the RAF.

* ''Sev Trek: Pus in Boots'' (the Australian CGI spoof of Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration). The ship goes to Red Alert, but it's so loud no-one can hear the captain's orders.

* ''Sev Trek: Puss in Boots'' (the Australian CGI spoof of Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration). The ship goes to Red Alert, but it's so loud no-one can hear the captain's orders.
-->'''Lt. Barf:''' Captain, we are being hailed. I recommend we go to Red Alert!\\
'''Captain Pinchhard:''' We haven't even met them! Isn't that a little premature?\\
'''Lt. Barf:''' Every week we encounter aliens who try to destroy or take over the ship. [[GenreSavvy It would save a lot of time if we assumed the worst now]].

In a {{Rescue}} show, or any film with an emergency service like the fire department, there is a [[InternalSubtrope variant of the alert]] that can be called the '''Emergency Squad Scramble.''' where the heroes are at their base and the dispatch call sounds. Suddenly the base explodes with activity as the klaxons sound and the dispatcher comes over the PA system with the essential information. Meanwhile, the rescue heroes move quickly, often [[ToTheBatpole going down sliding poles]] to the garage, calmly to suit up and board their vehicles with utter professionalism. Then with the vehicles' rotating lights flashing and sirens sounding, the production's theme music plays the heroes go full speed to the emergency.

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}''. The first time a call comes in, Janine hits the siren and the title characters do a Emergency Squad Scramble to get dressed and take off in the Ectomobile.
** Justified in that they set up shop in an old, abandoned, apparently-still-functional, yet remarkably cheap firehouse. The confused look on everyone's face for about 5-10 seconds after the bells start going implies that, in-universe at least, this wasn't part of the plan and Janine just felt like doing it.

* ''{{Emergency}}'' had the distinctive Quick Call system where each station has its own series of tones to indicate it is being called up and a klaxon that sounds to confirm the Station 51 is being deployed. The announcer would then,along with destination info,specify "Squad" for the medics or "Engine" for the fire engine,or both. Once,a very tired Roy Desoto mixed them up when awakened and climbed on the engine rear by mistake,with Gage yelling behind him "IT'S NOT FOR US!"

The phrase "RedAlert" comes from the naval tradition of "General Quarters" ("Action Stations" if you're British), where a ship prepares for battle. Much of the procedures are the same. The alert is sounded by a drum or over an intercom. Off-duty sailors report to their stations, cannons are loaded, and the decks are cleared of non-essential items. On modern ships, lights flash, klaxons sound and all watertight doors are closed, thus if the ship is holed the leak is contained. '''BREET BREET''' Ah, great.. See SelfDemonstrating/RedAlert right away, the Wiki's gone on SelfDemonstratingArticle mode. '''BREET BREET GENERAL QUARTERS'''

* The name of this trope comes from the RedAlert in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Over the many series ''Franchise/StarTrek'' had accumulated many variants:

* Parodied in ''Series/GetSmart''; they have RedAlert, but they also have things like "Magenta Alert" and "Blue Alert".

* ''StarTrekOnline'' features condition red when the player engages an enemy, both in space and on away missions which prevents the player from performing non-combat actions such as full impulse.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' series of video games bring the trope off of ships and into the world at large. Whenever the alarm goes off, big red bulbs light up (and some ''spin'', like old-style police flashers), klaxons sound, and a bland female voice says things like, "Code Red!" Oddly, nine times out of the ten the Silencer, usually the ''cause'' of the RedAlert, can shut it off by ''tapping a switch on the wall''.

-->'''Lt. Barf:''' Captain, we are being hailed. I recommend we go to RedAlert!\\

** In particular, the FighterLaunchingSequence in the first ''Wing Commander'' game is accompanied by a RedAlert complete with klaxon, even for routine patrol missions.

* Benjamin Glee thinks [[http://intragalacticcomic.com/2008/10/13/004-travel-advice/ strafing]] is the best way to show you're focused, even if there isn't a RedAlert.

-->'''Felix Gaeta:''' Action stations, action stations]]. Set Condition One throughout the ship. ThisIsNotADrill.

** Tactical Alert - The same as RedAlert, and in fact its ancestor. (In the early years of Starfleet, the first ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'''s systems were not exactly optimized; Red Alert was as much an optimization of emergency systems such as hull plating polarization, allowing said systems to power up in seconds rather than minutes, as it was a warning for the crew.)
*** When Reed wanted to create a new emergency protocol that would improve on Tactical Alert, Trip dubs it "[[IncrediblyLamePun Reed Alert]]".

** There was also a rarely used "Condition Green" which was a distress code to alert the receiver that the landing party had been captured. Given how often it happened, you'd think it would get heard more often.
*** One reason why it wasn't was that it was specified to mean "The landing party has been captured, but don't take any immediate action!".

** In Star Trek (or at least the later series), however, the use of low lighting is somewhat justified, as it means that all the little light-up buttons on the control panels show up better, and means that the light won't reflect off the glass surfaces.
* Played straight on ''Series/BabylonFive'', though notably, while the alarms are sounding loudly throughout the station, warning the station's occupants to seek shelter and the pilots and security guards to prepare for battle, the command center itself is devoid of the alarms and lights. This is to help the command crew avoid any distractions or hindrances to communication, particularly since they're the ones who ''start'' the alarm to begin with.
** Worth noting, how the command crew reacts to the RedAlert changes over time, probably as they become more experienced with such situations. In one second season battle, they have to close the blast doors covering the command center's picture window just in time to avoid getting a piece of debris sent flying into them. In the third season, as soon as a battle starts, they immediately shut the blast shield (and sure enough, midway through the battle, a crippled enemy fighter crashes into the shield hard enough to cause the internal bulkhead to buckle.

* Famously parodied on ''Series/RedDwarf'':
-->'''Rimmer:''' Go to Blue Alert. ''[A blue lightbulb at the back of the ship starts flashing silently ]''\\

'''Kryten:''' ''[dead serious]'' Sir, are you ''absolutely'' sure? [[CrowningMomentOfFunny It DOES mean changing the bulb!]]
** Also:

** Not to mention the first example kicked off with an exchange highlighting how pointless it was in their circumstances:
--->'''Rimmer:''' Go to Blue Alert.\\
'''Lister:''' Why? There's no one to alert, we're all here.\\
'''Rimmer:''' I would just feel better if we were all on our toes because we were all aware this is a blue alert situation.\\
'''Lister:''' We all are on our toes... ''(and so on)''
*** And who could forget:

* Speaking of which, in the first season of the revived ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Doctor tells Rose that the interstellar color for danger is mauve, and most alien species consider humanity's penchant for red positively {{camp}}.
--> '''The Doctor''': Oh, the misunderstandings - all those Red Alerts, all that dancing.

* The French-Canadian TV show ''"Dans une galaxie près de chez vous'' poked fun at this numerous times, with such alerts has "Yellow Alert with suspenders and brown socks" "Purple alert with a ketchup stain" etc... One episode reveals that the ship's crew carries a binder explaining the meaning of each and every alert.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' avoided Red Alert, despite many of its characters being DangerouslyGenreSavvy, primarily because it's set in the modern era or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture; the human starships use General Quarters.
** The "Unscheduled Offworld Activation" alert does use spinning red lights and sirens, though.

-->'''Felix Gaeta:''' "[[RedAlert Action stations, action stations]]. [[DefconFive Set Condition One throughout the ship]]. ThisIsNotADrill."
** The series prided itself on being more like a real ship, with accurate (or at least believable) use of jargon, than other sci-fi series. Note: three vital pieces of information into three short sentences; even if it wasn't accurate it would probably still be a very efficient system. (In addition, it's actually an ''aversion'' of DefconFive--in naval parlance, 'Condition One' is sealing all compartments in full battle-readiness (as cited in the second paragraph of the trope's main body), so it's a ''correct'' use of jargon.)
** The original 1970's series had this happen regularly too, whenever the Cylons attacked.