History Main / RuleOfCool

* IHaveTheHighGround

* Creator/MontyOum lives by this rule, tending to go with what looks cool rather than what looks realistic:

* The reason for the existence of superheroes in general. Franchise/{{Superman}} became Mr. NewPowersAsThePlotDemands during the forties and fifties because it fulfilled Rule Of Cool for the target demographic. This is also the reason Franchise/{{Batman}} will always have a [[KingOfTheDinosaurs T. Rex]] and a giant penny in the Batcave even as he shifts between DarkerAndEdgier and LighterAndSofter. Damn near every superpower or fantastic element needs Rule Of Cool to shield it from an onslaught of [[FridgeLogic logic-wielding refrigerators]], although a few hits will get through, usually aimed at Superman's [[ClarkKenting disguise]] or how Franchise/SpiderMan can stick to surfaces.
* ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' with its [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Zombie Lantern Superheroes]], Franchise/{{Superman}} suddenly being the general of a 1000+ Kryptonian army, and so on. [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] influences have crept into UsefulNotes/{{the Modern Age|of Comic Books}}.

* ComicBook/RedHulk punched a Watcher during one of his "sworn only to watch, never interfere" speeches to the reader. Why? Creator/JephLoeb.
* This is the ''canonical'' explanation for the name of the Marvel Superhero Team ComicBook/TheAvengers. What are they avenging? Nothing, ComicBook/TheWasp just thought the word "Avengers" sounded cool.
* ComicBook/{{Hitman}}: How else do you describe a plot about a professional killer from Gotham City who got superpowers after being bit by an alien parasite having to deal with everything from demons with magic guns to [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombified zoo animals]]?

* ComicBook/CadillacsAndDinosaurs is lampshading this from its very title. Caddillacs and Dinousarurs are cool.
* ''ComicBook/{{Revival}}'' is a gritty, realistic look at a fantastic situation. Then the Amish ninja assassin and her equally-Amish ninja assassin tween daughter appear to kick ass and take names. Only the flimsiest explanation is offered: [[spoiler:she was born Amish, got pregnant, got stabbed by a ninja, got better, then the ninja trained her.]]

* ComicBook/LexLuthor, especially in the Silver Age. He once ''cured cancer'' just to trick Superman into believing he'd reformed. Plus he's a normal human who is the greatest enemy of one of the most powerful superheroes ever created.

*** And after this, his immediate reaction is to march over to the Senate building, ''wade through'' their army of paranoid and heavily-armed security guards, just so he can scold the Senate for being a bunch of dicks. His reaction to two goons trying to drag him out is to just get irritated and demand he be allowed to finish asking how the Cybertronian people can ''get rid'' of the Senate.

** Hot Rod / Rodimus proves himself no slouch in the first issue he appears in, back in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries Spotlight: Hot Rod]], when he manages to infiltrate the most secure and brutal prison the Decepticons have by ''surfing on a meteor''.

* ''Manga/SuperGals'' has Tatsuki Kuroi, who makes a habit of doing rather stupid things in an awesome way (and them to work out in the end). The best example is that time the train from Machida (where he lives) to Shibuya (where his girlfriend and protagonist Ran lives) was down and he needed to go to her: instead of waiting for the train to come back on line he borrowed a bike, pedaled for over a hour, and just as Ran said out loud that Tatsuki had once promised he'd fly to her if she ever needed he ''took off, flew and landed before her'', all in more time that it would have taken by waiting for the train and taking that.

[[quoteright:300:[[Literature/SoulMusic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Soul_Music_cover_9468.jpg]]]]

* An InUniverse example in ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper''. It's Satan's justification for the physical changes he makes to Scarlet, which includes giving her a pair of horns, fangs, [[MultiColoredHair black and red hair]], and even a tail. She, on the other hand, is less than thrilled.

** Basically, all forms of combat featured in ''Franchise/StarWars'' are glowy sci-fi futuristic space versions of some form of RealLife combat that was (and is) considered to be extremely cool. Lightsaber duels? Swordfighting. Starfighters? {{Old School Dogfight}}ing. Starship battles? Naval battles. The Clone Wars? Huge armies tearing each other apart. TheForce and Force-based PsychicPowers only add more awesome to the mix.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': The core basis of the gameplay is beating shit up and making it look good like rocking on a guitar bearing the soul of a lightning succubus for crowd control.
** If you don't think that Dante's motorbiking up the vertical walls of the Temen-ni-Gru was cool, your definition might be unnecessarily strict. The bike had ''flamethrower attachments.''
** Nero's sword ''revs like a motorbike''.
** Later taken UpToEleven in VideoGame/DevilMayCry5, where one of Dante's Devil Arms is a motorcycle that splits into chainsaws.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': How else do you explain a duel around a star going supernova on motorcycles or a duel flying under a [[ColonyDrop colossal floating city that's about to crash into another city]]?

* This is the basis of the Lemon Demon song, "The Music/UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny" (which inspired a [[http://www.ultimateshowdown.org/ well-known Flash video]]), in which Neil Cicierega describes a battle royale started by Franchise/{{Godzilla}} and Franchise/{{Batman}}. As the fight went on, more pop culture icons join in, including Shaquille O'Neal, Abraham Lincoln, [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]], Creator/JackieChan, Franchise/IndianaJones, the Franchise/PowerRangers, Creator/ChuckNorris, [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], Comicbook/{{Superman}}, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini, and countless others:

Of [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness scientific laws]] that this trope circumvents, the [[LawOfInverseRecoil third law of motion]] is probably the most frequently revoked, with the SquareCubeLaw probably a close second. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is third and a mention has to go to the laws of relativity, which prevent us from attaining FasterThanLightTravel and [[CasualInterstellarTravel going to a distant planet in just a few hours]].

* ''Literature/TheForeverWar'' is hard on the MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness but author Joe Haldeman has no problem in creating a make-believe [[AppliedPhlebotinum "stasis field"]] that makes it impossible for anything to move faster than 26m/s so he can have [[RecycledInSpace swordfighting IN SPACE!!]]

* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara.'' Samurai DualWielding spears, scythes, chainsaws or six swords at once. Riding horses like circus freaks. Shit blowing up. {{Engrish}}. Ninjas. Pirates. Zombies. Gundams. A Creator/NorioWakamoto -voiced villain. All historically accurate, of course.