History Main / RuleOfCool

[[caption-width-right:300:It's Death playing an electric guitar. Do you really need to question anything here?]]

* ''TombRaider'': Where else can you play as a daring female archeologist that is packing heat as she fends off enemies from [[EverythingTryingToKillYou wolves, to henchmen, and even a freaking Tyrannosaurs Rex]] while performing acrobatics to either evade enemy attacks or to get from one place to another. Things get even crazier once Lara Croft gets on a vehicle and can run enemies over or make insane jumps over a chasm. Even the traps are taken to the extreme, such as poison darts, rolling boulders, spikes, fire traps, and many more as the series progressed, yet they still remained awesome.
* The trope is lampshaded by the developers in the remake ''TombRaider Anniversary'' when they discuss the Uzi wielding teenager. In the original game, the kid was fought in what appeared to be an underground skateboard park and he fought Lara by shooting at her ''while he was skateboarding'' (the area had a ton of pits with lava in them in case you weren't in enough danger) and giving the line "You firing at me? You firing at me? There's no one else here so you must be firing at me!" The developers admitted that looking back on the level design for the boss fight now, it looked pretty damn silly, but at the same time, it was too cool.

* PirateVersusNinja

[[caption-width-right:300:It's Death playing an electric guitar. Do you really need to question whether it'll play if it isn't plugged in?]]

* FighterLaunchingSequence

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** When Mustang fights Envy he [[spoiler:continuously snaps to continue burning him to death. However, he ignites Envy with the first attack, making the snap unneeded due to how his alchemy functions, by changing the explosive gas concentration in the air. The snaps are added purely to make Mustang look cool as he roasts Envy alive.]]

* ''GIJoe: [[Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra The Rise of Cobra]]'' features a PoweredArmor CarChase through Paris, an underwater dog fight, and [[{{Badass}} Snake]][[InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja -]][[{{Ninja}} Eyes]].
** In the "making of" commentary on the DVD, one crew member attributes the mantra (loosely paraphrased) "overdo everything; then make it even bigger" to director Stephen Sommers, and says that they were reminded of this policy daily during the production of the film.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong Balloon powered cars floating around a 'modern' London with flying-lizards, Roman soldiers on the underground, Charles Dickens on early-morning TV to talk about his latest book and Winston Churchill riding into parliment on his personal mammoth.]

** This is even more true of the GaidenGame ''Painkiller: Overdose''. Why is your character a angel/demon hybrid who makes pop-culture references his backstory couldn't possibly let him know? Why are your first three weapons a disembodied demon head with dangling spine, a redesign of the aforementioned shotgun as a weapon that fires bone shards and petrifying sludge, and a redesign of the aforementioned weed whacker as a magical puzzle cube? Because it's cool.

** For ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' you get the magic to sic a murder of crows on people. Even so, how does the flying city of Columbia carry enough fuel to stay airborne, or to lift all those stone buildings, marble statues, cobbled streets and parks at all? Though ''awesomeness''.

** Chie's ultimate Persona in ''{{Persona 4}}'' looks like [[Franchise/StarWars a samurai Darth Vader with Darth Maul's lightsaber.]] ''{{Persona 4}}'' also gives you Kintoki-Douji. It carries a Tomahawk MISSILE. Alas, it is a magic-oriented Persona, so it doesn't throw it.

** EBA's predecessor, OsuTatakaeOuendan, ran on this trope too - Japanese-style male cheerleading is used to encourage a buddy cop pair to fight back against an invading army of battery-like aliens. An overworked salaryman to protects his city and his daughter in Ultraman fashion and the ''entire planet to blast an oncoming meteor with concentrated willpower''

** ''{{Contra}}: Rebirth'' game for Wiiware attempts to one-up this by having the character [[spoiler:ride down the flaming remains of a space station ''during reentry'', and jump from one to the other]] while fighting a boss.

* In the original ''{{Gungrave}}'' if a boss comes close to dying,then using a demolition shot as the killing blow causes Grave to activate the "Graveyard Special" (FinishingMove), where his coffin launches a super-charged attack (which usually combines two or more his normal demolition shots). While this is not required to kill any boss, the demolition shot is so over the top that it looks awesome. [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Your player character is the reanimated corpse of a hitman with Guns Akimbo and a large coffin on his back that shoots rockets and can semi-morph into a machine gun]].
** In the sequel, the original character gains allies. One is a blind samurai with [[GunBlade swords that are also guns]], and a ghost who uses a guitar with a dynamo in it to shoot arc lightning at his enemies. Said ghost who defeats his enemies with the ''{{Power Of Rock}}'' is named [[AwesomeMcCoolname Rockabilly Redcadillac]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has Marisa, who mentions that spellcards aren't made to be overwhelmingly powerful, but to have beautiful patterns and look cool in both Silent Sinner in Blue, and her own Grimoire of Marisa. That isn't to say there aren't spell cards that worry more about pure power rather than style, but as a whole, you could sell tickets to an audience to see a spellcard lightshow if you were so inclined.
** The fact that you can't use a card that can't be beat shows that power isn't the main focus, and the point of the system in the first place was so that youkai would ease up on the power and allow competition between themselves and humans.

* ''[[PunchOut Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!]]''. Why else would a four-foot-tall, 107 lb, 17-year-old kid from The Bronx be travelling around the world, fighting circus freaks, competing for the World '''Heavyweight''' Boxing Championship? ''Because it's cool.''
** In the {{Wii}} version, why else is MikeTyson replaced as the final challenger by '''''[[spoiler: VideoGame/DonkeyKong]]'''''?

** The trope is lampshaded by the developers in the remake ''TombRaider Anniversary'' when they discuss the Uzi wielding teenager. In the original game, the kid was fought in what appeared to be an underground skateboard park and he fought Lara by shooting at her ''while he was skateboarding'' (the area had a ton of pits with lava in them in case you weren't in enough danger) and giving the line "You firing at me? You firing at me? There's no one else here so you must be firing at me!" The developers admitted that looking back on the level design for the boss fight now, it looked pretty damn silly, but at the same time, it was too cool.

** And then comes VideoGame/SaintsRowIV. You start as the president of the United States, then aliens invade, then you get put in the Matrix where you have superpowers.

* Parodied in the [[TheOnion Onion News Network]] video [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyph_DZa_GQ&feature=channel Supreme Court: Death Penalty Is 'Totally Badass']].
** See also [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-demands-tax-dollars-only-be-wasted-on-stuff,17704/ this]] article from ''TheOnion'', in which the Rule Of Cool is applied to federal government.

* Much of the AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is built between the Rule Of Cool and the RuleOfFunny, resulting in varying controversy. Many recurring questions that [[Headscratchers/TeenTitans linger in the fandom]] are the identity of Red X, the identity of Slade and the fuel behind his motives, and which of the Robins Robin is. Glen Murakami on the other hand has openly expressed that he couldn't care less about any of these things, so long as the [[AnimationAgeGhetto kids]] liked it and found it cool. In one interview, he uses the word "[[TotallyRadical cool]]" a good fifteen times to answer just about every other question. Inevitably, the series concluded with [[KudzuPlot more unresolved plotlines than you can count on your hand]].
** Invoked In-Universe with the HIVE Five's name.

* %% film version of ''[[Literature/AlexRider Stormbreaker]]''

*** [[http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-901127001.jsp?_Fantasy/_prod/_682/_/_36/_/_/_Y&endeca=true&abbr=fan# dragon on a motorcycle]]

*** The truck came back for ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. It now chases Modern Sonic for far longer, has buzzsaws at the front and even chases Sonic UP A BUILDING. Yes, that thing can now fly.

** A [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0446580503/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_2?ie=UTF8&index=2 drawing]] of Colbert as the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk stabbing a bear through the head with the American flag.

%%* ''SinCity'' comics (and TheMovie) run on this rule.

%%* CadillacsAndDinosaurs is lampshading this from its very title.

%%* This notion was the central focus of ''Film/{{Underworld}}''. This is [[FurAgainstFang a world where vampires are at constant war with werewolves.]]

%%* Almost anything JamesBond ever does is in some way governed by this trope.

** In the season four premiere of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', the Enterprise's targeting sensors are disabled, requiring the ship to get close enough to the target to eyeball it. This serves no plot purpose but the target happened to be a facility in Nazi-occupied New York. The result was the Enterprise flying over New York City, fighting [[StupidJetpackHitler Stukas with plasma cannons]].

* [[http://www.themostawesomepageintheuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/bear-cavalry.jpg Bear Cavalry]].

* Anything QuentinTarantino is involved in. For instance:
** The end of ''FourRooms'', has the most understated rule of cool bet ever. [[spoiler:For a $1000 tip, the bellboy wields the ax in a car-or-pinky-finger bet about whether or not one of the guys can start his lucky Zippo lighter 10 times. Chop, snatch and strut out the door]].

* ''Film/TheMatrix'': The premise involves robots farming humans for power and using a computer generated reality to placate their minds. This ignores both the first and the second laws of thermodynamics, but who cares? ''Robots'', man! Hey, Neo draws his sunglasses ''before he starts to fight Smith''. THAT is the Rule Of Cool in action.

* ''Film/TheMatrix''.
** The famous lobby scene. There was no reason for them to be there except for a cool shootout.
** When Neo kicks Agent Smith and then instead of taking his foot down, he moves it in air and then put it down. Totally Frigging Cool.

* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno''. You start off by killing the grim reaper, stealing his scythe, descending into hell and eventually killing the lord of hell himself. Along the way you also fight a giant naked woman throwing babies out of her boobs. Everything this game does is to examine sections of the original poem and make them as cool as possible.

* The act of taking Luke Skywalker's prop lightsaber GeneRoddenberry's ashes up on the space shuttle.

Compare NinjaPirateZombieRobot. Compare CoolOfRule, RuleOfFunny, RuleOfFun, RuleOfScary, RuleOfDrama, RuleOfRomantic, RuleOfCute, MasculinityTropes.

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}: Sure, having a shotgun that shoots missiles or a machine gun that can electrocute people doesn't make much sense, but ''damn'' if it isn't awesome. The DLC goes even further with it; ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'' has a gun that shoots ''swords''. Which then explode into ''more swords.''

** And then comes SaintsRowIV. You start as the president of the United States, then aliens invade, then you get put in the Matrix where you have superpowers.

** And then comes SaintsRow4. You start as the president of the United States, then aliens invade, then you get put in the Matrix where you have superpowers.

* ''CyanideAndHappiness'' states that all good webcomics needs pirates because pirates are cool.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' and ''SheRaPrincessOfPower''
* ''BenTen'' and its sequels. A wrist-mounted device that shapeshifts the wearer into ten (or more) forms with varied superpowers? Having it means meeting alien heroes, beating down bad guys, and being able to do your chores in a hurry? Oh heck yeah.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Sasuke can start a fire with his eyes. Instead of just setting fire to the Juubi, he throws it, combining it with Naruto's RassenShiriken, creating "shakutonkourinshuippukokuyari zero shiki" (a.k.a. throwing star shaped like a windmill and arrow blacker than liqueur) to set fire to the Juubi.

* ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': The sequel tried to turn the coolness UpToEleven (not a good move beccause it stretched the suspension of disbelief too thin, according some fans). Thus, Great Mazinger has twin swords for DualWielding, ArmedLegs, [[ShockAndAwe shoots lightning bolts]], and its RocketPunch rotates relentlessly to increase the punching strength (combining the trope with ThisIsADrill and EverythingIsBetterWithSpinning). TheProfessor is a The HomeBase's upper part can detach off the main building and fly, and the lower part can also detach off and swim through the ocean. The BigBad is a GodEmperor, ruler of an ancient civilization BeneathTheEarth, the DragonInChief is a giant CapedMecha with a sword can cleave a mountain in half, and the {{Robeast}}s resemble beasts, ancient warriors or evil spirits. And one of their bases is a mobile IslandBase that is a blooding volcano can erupt at will.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' can be very confusing if taken on surface value, with only five episodes needed to tell the full narrative. Despite this fact, the entire twenty-six episodes remains a standard of great anime for it's smoothness, filmic style, well choreographed action sequences. Of course, there are other elements that allow the show to succeed.

* In an episode of ''GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', the Major one-handedly fires a enormous .50-caliber sniper rifle and reloads the bolt-action by using her knee and the force of the recoil. Why one-handed? Because she's ''missing her other arm.'' Even considering the fact that she is a full-on cyborg, the scene borders on absurd. But is it jaw-droppingly ''awesome''? Yes, oh yes, oh yes....
** Of course, you have to wonder if it didn't contribute to the fact she needed a new body the next day.

** The beginning of the Arrancar arc, where Shinigami powers suddenly, without in-universe justification, include flight (at least while fighting). It has a justification (soul reapers can walk on spirit particles) but it still counts because its damn cool.

* TheDresdenFiles is, by the admission of [[JimButcher its author]], constructed out of this. When the main character magically blasts werewolves through walls, fights vampires alongside mob bosses, [[spoiler:running into the middle of a [[TheFairFolk faerie]] [[ApocalypseHow apocalypse,]] reanimating a ZOMBIE]] [[TyrannosaurusRex T-REX]] and PUNCHING OUT]SANTA CLAUS (who is also [[NorseMythology Odin)]]]] you KNOW it's this trope.

* ''HappyDays'': The Fonz can channel this trope [[PercussiveMaintenance through his fist and into a jukebox and activat it just to impress chicks]].

* The People's Elbow could finish anyone off, despite being done from a standing position, as well as [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] bouncing off the ropes twice for no reason.

* The final battle in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', where Sora and [[spoiler:Riku]] fight [[spoiler:Xemnas]]. They're floating in space and you can ''slice buildings flying at you in half and send them flying back without moving''. This is so impossible the only explanation is that the laws of physics were breaking. Considering what was happening at the end of the game, it's not too far-fetched.

* ''{{Contra}} 3: The Alien Wars'' for SNES had one level almost entirely composed of the player ''riding on in-flight missiles''. ** ''{{Contra}}: Rebirth'' game for Wiiware attempts to one-up this by having the character [[spoiler:ride down the flaming remains of a space station ''during reentry'', and jump from one to the other]] while fighting a boss.

--->These things could never get off the ground in real life. But who cares? They. Look. '''Cool'''.

* ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed''
** It does things with the Force that were so cool it blew your mind away. Fighting a forty-story tall alien tentacle monster? Throwing Darth Freakin' Vader into the wall? Crashing a low-flying STAR DESTROYER into a major city!

** Superpowers. In a GTA Clone.

** An anti-heroine]] who is able to backflip seven feet into the air, shoot three people dead mid-jump and has the vision range of a chameleon.

* This is the ''canonical'' explanation for the name of the Marvel SuperheroTeam Comicbook/TheAvengers. What are they avenging? Nothing, TheWasp just thought the word "Avengers" sounded cool.

** ''{{Metroid}}''

* ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' takes this trope to [[UpToEleven extreme levels]] with the very first bosses being the size of planets and even human sized bosses takes fights beyond what every other series can hold. The titular character himself has a rage that can rival 7 trilions worth of humans. [[SerialEscalation And it just keeps getting more awesome and ridiculous as the episodes go by]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Epona gets an upgrade from the "X" in [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his horse]] into a bona fide [[CoolCar war]] [[HorsebackHeroism horse]] in this game, complete with a few RearingHorse moments. EverythingsBetterWithSpinning applies to the Spinner and the trusty spin attack. You can do some cool SpiderMan moves with the Double Clawshot, walk on walls because of the [[SchizoTech electromagnets]] in the Goron Mines, some [[RentAZilla truly awesome boss fights]] including the one in the [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons flying city]], and when fighting bosses there is almost always a moment of ThemeMusicPowerUp when you've exposed an enemy's vulnerabilities. Really, it almost seems like they went out of their way to make this game just plain cooler than the others in the series.
* ViewtifulJoe is built almost entirely around this trope. Upon entering Movie World, Joe becomes a martial arts expert, is capable of taking tank shells to the face, and [[MundaneMadeAwesome can kill enemies just by striking a pose.]] Not only that, but the game just keeps trying to top itself. After you defeat Fire Leo by burning at temperatures over 1000000 degrees, you end up in a planet-dwarfing mech-battle. ''And that's only the first game.''
* ''TombRaider'' is built on this trope. Where else can you play as a daring female archeologist that is packing heat as she fends off enemies from [[EverythingTryingToKillYou wolves, to henchmen, and even a freaking Tyrannosaurs Rex]] while performing crazy acrobatics to either evade enemy attacks or to get from one place to another. Things get even crazier once Lara Croft gets on a vehicle and can run enemies over or make insane jumps over a chasm. Even the traps are taken to the extreme, such as poison darts, rolling boulders, spikes, fire traps, and many more as the series progressed, yet they still remained awesome.
** In the Crystal Dynamics versions of the games, Lara's craziness is kicked up a notch as she is seen doing the following: storming a Yakuza's stronghold in nothing but a torn evening dress, skydiving to a Russian military base under attack by American forces, and assembling ancient weapons of power to kick even more ass (namely the Excalibur and Thor's Hammer).
** The trope gets lampshaded by the developers in the remake ''TombRaider Anniversary'' when they discuss the Uzi wielding teenager. In the original game, the kid was fought what appeared to be a freaking underground skateboard park and he fought Lara by shooting at her ''while he was skateboarding'' (and the area had a ton of pits with lava in them in case you weren't in enough danger) and giving the line "You firing at me? You firing at me? There's no one else here so you must be firing at me!" The developers admitted that looking back on the level design for the boss fight now, it looked pretty damn silly, but at the same time, it was just too cool.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}}'' series features characters who can slow down bullets and power up their attack by using Kakusei ("Awakening"). Not only does activating this [[SuperGenderBender instantly change their gender]], but they also inexplicably change into a different set of clothes. [[WordOfGod The character designer]] said that it was just to look cool.
* ''SengokuBasara.'' Samurai DualWielding spears, scythes, chainsaws or just six swords at once. Riding horses like circus freaks. Shit blowing up. {{Engrish}}. Ninjas. Pirates. Zombies. Gundams. A NorioWakamoto -voiced villain. All historically accurate, of course.
* The GameCube WrestlingGame WWE WrestleMania XIX has a story mode of sorts called "Revenge Mode" where you wrestle to complete various objectives in different locations, such as a Harbour and Shopping Mall. What does this feature? Chokeslamming security guards down a storey or two? Check. Throwing people down several feet into the sea? Check. Wanton destruction for the sake of sabotaging WrestleMania after you've been fired by VinceMcMahon? Check. A Create A Superstar which lets you add gear that would never be seen in a real life wrestling match? Check. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick A finishing move that involves people getting knocked out from a getting a good look at your wrestler's ass?]] Check. Yep. This game is pretty much fuelled by this trope.
* The PoweredArmor in ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'' is absurd. Its main function is the ability to get on your knees and ''jet around the battlefield at about 50 miles per hour''. Plus you can slow down everything around you and mark targets in BulletTime. Makes no sense and would probably be extremely unwieldy and impractical in real life but in the game it's as {{Badass}} as they come.

* ''SaintsRowTheThird''. Bail out of a plane amidst {{Lampshaded}} implausible quantities of stuff which also fell out. Kill enemies ''in free-fall''. Catch TheChick and deploy a parachute. See the plane ''coming back to ram you'', ''drop TheChick, shoot out the plane's windscreen, fly through it shooting everything in sight, fall out the back, more midair combat, catch Shaundi again...''
** Also, laser-armed [=VTOLs=], jetbikes and jeeps. Or, well, everything STAG uses. Especially the [[spoiler: [[AirborneAircraftCarrier Daedalus]].]]
** As well as half the arsenal in the game. RC Posessor. [[GagPenis The Penetrator]]. Reaper Drone. Airstrike marker. Cyber Buster. The list goes on. Oh, and the final upgrades for ''most guns''.

* ''MetalGearRisingRevengeance''. Raiden, previously TheScrappy from ''MetalGearSolid2'', has an electrical sword capable of draining the electrolytes right out of a guy. Running into battle, swatting bullets aside, each footstep making a little plume of electricity. And the bosses are completely ridiculous, and get increasingly wilder. If Raiden wasn't ''always'' a badass, he is now.
** The first boss of the PROLOGUE is against [[spoiler:RAY]]. The first leg of the battle ends when Raiden parries [[spoiler:RAY's]] blade, lifts and tosses the whole thing into the air, runs along the blade while it is flying away, and chops it into calamari before cutting it's arm off at the shoulder. The second leg of the battle only gets cooler, with Raiden cutting missiles out of the air, chasing [[spoiler:RAY]] by leaping along the missiles like stones. cutting it's other arm off, being tossed into a clock-tower, then [[spoiler:''running down the tower'', dodging missiles and plasma beams, using the top of said tower as cover, before grinding down RAY's spine, dragging your sword down with you to neatly cut it in half.]] And this is the ''first boss of a prologue''.
** Monsoon, a man who can can come apart like a LEGO model, picks up a mass of rubble and spins it to 4200 rpm with Lorentz, just to obliterate Raiden.
** Sundowner. The lead-in is arguably cooler, with Raiden jumping out of a sixty-story building to run up the side of it, dodging rubble and explosions like he just bust in from ''Advent Children''. And after fighting Sundowner for a bit, [[spoiler:Raiden falls, catches himself on a flying enemy, pilots it up through the spine of the building, and]] dices the roof apart at 120 mph (meaning in real time, he is slicing through concrete ''blindingly fast'').
** EXCELSUS.

* This [[http://wickedpowered.com/d/20070702.html page]] from a webcomic called WICKEDPOWERED
* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' positively ''thrives'' on this.
** The inclusion of raptor-riding banditos alone pretty much proves the point here, but if that doesn't convince you, there's also Dracula, who happens to have a ''moon base''. With a ''moon laser.'' Where he hangs out with Paul [=McCartney=], the real Micheal Jackson, and Tupac.

** King Radical comes from Radical Land, which is even more like this; apparently, ''everything'' there is based on the Rule Of Cool. Not just almost every plot point like in the normal setting of the comic, but everything else too. Even the Sun wears sunglasses. Given the general nature of the comic, it makes perfect sense when he reveals (in "A Cumberland Ninja in King Radical's Court") that [[spoiler: the world of the comic is halfway between Radical Land and a boring universe like ours, influenced by the energies of both, which is why it looks like the world we know with the addition of the occasional ninja doctor or vengeful astronaut ghost or an ogre running a supermarket.]]
* Obligatory ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/254/ example]].
** [[http://xkcd.com/311/ Also this one.]]
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' uses this mixed with RuleOfFunny to make its [[FantasyKitchenSink bizarre and frequently absurd mythology]] work. Probably reaches its peak during the "Holiday Wars" arc. Bun-bun, a [[KillerRabbit murderous]] [[TalkingAnimal talking rabbit]] with the stolen powers of Halloween and the Easter Bunny, leads an army of ghouls in battle against a mutated, alien Santa and his own army of black ops elves. Santa and Bun-bun have their final showdown where they fight each other at SuperSpeed using the same ability that lets them deliver presents/hide eggs all over the world in a single day. Eventually [[spoiler:Bun-bun performs a CoupDeGrace on Santa using a Nerf gun]]. [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/031221 Seriously]].
* In ''Webcomic/MixedMyth'', this is treated as one of the laws of the universe (under the name of Cynmatics). It causes anything that looks awesome to be inherently more powerful, such as how a gold wand with crystals in it is more powerful than a wooden wand. The GenreSavvy characters often take advantages of this, particularly the elves, who take it a bit too far.
* ''[[http://chesspiece.smackjeeves.com Chess Piece]]'' by NeoYi has some sequences that fit this. Seeing [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Crimson Chin]], Doug Quailman and [[MyLifeAsATeenageRobot XJ-9]] duke it out is certainly awesome. Also, Phantom using blood bending. Awesome NightmareFuel!

* (Ahem) [[http://www.badkarmaproductions.com/jc/?p=35 In the Name of the Gun]]. Jesus gets fed up with God's inaction, and comes back to Earth circa 1940. He proceeds to kill Nazis. With the help of other celebrities. Like Ernest Hemingway.
* [[http://www.rockpapercynic.com/index.php?date=2009-08-21 At some point we must all chose between what is right and what is awesome]].
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Rule of Cool seems to be the only explanation for [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0352.html how this]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0353.html is possible]].
* ''CyanideAndHappiness'' also [[http://www.explosm.net/comics/157/ seem to know what a webcomic needs]] to be cool.

* In ''MobTies'', there is an entire clan of time traveling yakuza monkeys. 'Nuff said.

** Plotya Foreshadow: But why did you fire a salvo of photon torpedoes to detonate it? A remote self-destruct command would have done the job...
** Quentyn Quinn: Well yeah, but this way looked cooler.
* Almost explicitly invoked in [[http://amultiverse.com/2010/10/25/god-science-daily/ This Scenes From a Multiverse.]]
* ''Webcomic/AxeCop'': Did we mention the t-rex with CoolShades that has chainguns for arms and can breathe fire and can turn into a dragon with rocket wings? No? Then we should mention [[http://axecop.com/index.php/acepisodes/read/episode_52/ the t-rex with Cool Shades that has chainguns for arms and can breathe fire and can turn into a dragon with rocket wings]].
* ''DresdenCodak'' brings us [[http://dresdencodak.com/2006/12/03/dungeons-and-discourse/ Dungeons and Discourse]].
* ''TheThrillingAdventuresOfLovelaceAndBabbage'': basically, the entire idea of the comic is "wouldn't it be a lot cooler if Charles Babbage had completed his Difference Engine, then gone on {{Steampunk}} adventures with Ada Lovelace?" (He's an engineer, she's a mathematician, TheyFightCrime! And street music!)

* ChuckNorrisFacts is all about this.
** Though fact is, [[http://www.jackbauerfacts.com/ when Chuck Norris goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer]].

** True of anything Creator/MontyOum comes out with, really.

* [[http://www.bubblebox.com/play/action/1337.htm This game.]]

** Unless you're arguing about ''Anime/CodeGeass R2''. Then you're just asking for pain. [[InternetBackdraft Especially if you say it's the best thing ever.]]
* Deviantart member Sharpwriter wanted to paint the most epic picture you could ever think of. [[http://isismasshiro.deviantart.com/favourites/#/d28l9do Here it is]].
* In a [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick NChick]] class on how to spot evil, Nella says that black leather coats are bad, unless you're a post-apocalyptic AntiHero. Then it's just cool.
* Most of what happens in MallFight is justified by this.
* KingsOfPowerFourBillionPercent, oh boy. There's not much logic behind the animation, but when it looks that cool, does it need any?
* Flash games New York Shark, Sydney Shark and Miami Shark. Basically, its about sharks eating fishes, humans, boat, baseballs, planes, Spider-Man, etc. and then destroying the Earth with a meteor.

* ''{{Transformers}}'' would probably not ''exist'' without this, in just about any incarnation. Several commercials for the [[Film/{{Transformers}} 2007 movie]] were constructed basically of the robots appearing onscreen and onlookers standing around saying "cool."
** ''[[TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' takes it to new extremes. For starters, Optimus Prime has ''a rocket-powered axe.''

* Much of the AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is built between the Rule Of Cool and the RuleOfFunny, resulting in quite a bit of varying controversy. Many recurring questions that [[Headscratchers/TeenTitans linger in the fandom]] are the identity of Red X, the identity of Slade and the fuel behind his motives, and which of the Robins Robin is. Glen Murakami on the other hand has openly expressed that he couldn't care less about any of these things, so long as the [[AnimationAgeGhetto kids]] liked it and found it cool. In one interview, he uses the word "[[TotallyRadical cool]]" a good fifteen times to answer just about every other question. Inevitably, the series concluded with [[KudzuPlot more unresolved plotlines than you can count on your hand]].

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', where the VirtualGhost of a Martian justifies their embarking on a ridiculous, pointless project that drove their race into extinction with "Because it's cool."
** To be fair, they [[spoiler: turned their entire planet into one giant moveable spaceship]]. That's pretty dang cool!
* [[{{Badass}} Tai Lung]] of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' embodies this trope. What else can explain picking a lock ''with a feather'', kicking spears out of mid-air, defying gravity repeatedly, or being able to fight with his fists on fire? A close second would be Tigress and the rest of the Five's fight at the bridge, Shifu's BulletTime flip of a buster sword, Po's training (and later use of the Wuxi Finger Hold) and kung fu in general.
** In the sequel, Po attains inner peace, which somehow translates to him being able to ''catch cannonballs out of the air and redirect them.''
* ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'', go with it, seems to be loaded with this kind of thing [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JWZoe1UeUgc as seen here]]. Most of the time it's just cringe-worthy how ridiculous it all is, the flawed animation and complete insanity of the idea of basing a cartoon for children on an ultra-violent action hero making it impossible to take seriously. Highlights include Rambo wrestling a panther ''under water'', driving a motorcycle ''on top of a train'', and jumping out of a burning aircraft with a rocket launcher and somehow managing to turn around and ''blow up several missiles headed straight for his ally's helicopter with it''.
* The creators of ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', the ContinuityReboot to ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', were looking for a way to set their series apart from the rest. So, they made a spin-off movie entitled, ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman... [[TheBatmanVsDracula versus]] {{Dracula}}''. '''Batman. Versus. Dracula.''' The epic bat-imagery crossover lets it actually make a twisted kind of sense, despite being a complete derailment of the Batman franchise. And the movie lives up to the concept. [[spoiler:Yes, Batman finds a cure for vampirism at the end, and all the citizens of Gotham who were vamps go back to normal]]. The Penguin becomes TheRenfield. Oh, and as if it wasn't cool enough already, SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker gets turned into a vampire [[spoiler:for a while]]. Vampire Joker. VAMPIRE. JOKER. This isn't Rule Of ''Cool'', this is Rule Of PURE AWESOME.
** Nah, he's a [[NightmareFuel/WesternAnimationTV nightmarish]] BadAss MonsterClown. [[NightmareFetishist Which is even better]].
** Actually, they were basically copying the idea of an ''{{Elseworlds}}'' comic called ''Batman & Dracula: Red Rain''. It's still an awesome movie, though, and reached a larger audience than ''Red Rain'' for sure.

* In one episode ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' jumped off a plane, without a parachute. Even while she was falling towards her doom, she didn't panic once, and just by sheer luck was she saved by a blimp. While asked why Kim would do such a deadly stunt, the director answered that it was cool.
* Near the end of the third season of ''ReBoot'', with the system crashing, "User" characters from every game seen prior to the episode suddenly begin appearing in Mainframe. This is [[HandWave explained]] by the instability of the system releasing "undeleted RAM" -- but it seems more like a thinly-veiled excuse for a battle royale between the cast and every User at once. Nobody complained.
** A better example would be the episode with Enzo's birthday party. During the festivities, BigBad Megabyte crashes the party, and brings out... a guitar? With a [[ThisIsSpinalTap dial turned to 11?]] Megabyte begins jamming, almost painful because of how loud it is. Then Bob steps up to face him, seeming angry at him for crashing the party. Then he commands his [[GreenLanternRing keytool]] to turn into a guitar and thus begins a rocking '''guitar duel''', between [[GoKartingWithBowser the Hero and the Big Bad!]] The whole thing ends with Megabyte giving Enzo his guitar, "I've always wanted to do that" and then leaving. Sure, it could've been a trap, or just about anything, but those thoughts never crossed ANYONE'S mind, simply because it was just that freaking AWESOME.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' ''lives'' on Rule of Cool. As well it should, being inspired by the glorious lunacy of SilverAge DCComics.
* [[MegasXLR MEGAS. FREAKING. X. L. R.]] A [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNu6_dxWbNo badass opening theme song]], a giant robot ''with a badass car for a head'' and is piloted with a video game system, the fact that Coop can pull off amazing and special moves because he played video games all his life, an episode where Coop fantasizes about [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGjab76TJ3c destroying the DMV]], awesomely designed villains (some with their own OminousLatinChanting music), and some of the most high-octane giant robot fights to rival any Giant Robot Show Japan has made. It can all be summed up by these two lines, from the episode where Coop enters Megas into a car show:

* Tried, but failed, in the ''WesternAnimation/MisterT'' animated series. (If it managed to fail at the Rule Of Cool despite having Creator/MrT as the main character, you know it failed big-time). While a few moments (most notably ''[[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Mister_T/Mystery_of_the_Golden_Medallion.aspx spinning an alligator over his head]]'') managed it, the [[{{Anvilicious}} punctuating thuds of anvils landing]] got in the way.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Sokka has a ''space sword.'' A '''sword''' made from '''meterorite.'''
** The energy-bending final battle, based on what is pretty much a total DeusExMachina, is nonetheless totally awesome.

* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats''... pretty much constantly. How did they manage to build an entire serviceable jet fighter from parts in a salvage yard? One better than the official military's jets? After building a secret hangar? And many of their Special Missiles completely violate logic ''and'' physics. Not to mention the times their jet ends up crashing into the water with stalled engines ''and they manage to get the engines restarted '''underwater''' and fly away''. But who cares? It's [[IncrediblyLamePun RADICAL]]. And plays to an awesome electric guitar soundtrack.
* ''SamuraiJack'' refines this trope to a fine art form.
* An in-story example appears in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': Almost no-one calls out Buzz Lightyear on his delusion about being a real space hero as opposed to a toy, because he's just that cool. Applies regardless of how many of them may actually believe him, because if they do, it's still because he's so cool.
* The ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' episode "The Mandalore Plot" featured a villain with a lightsaber. Not just any lightsaber, one with a ''[[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon black blade]]'' and shaped like a {{katana|sAreJustBetter}}.
** WordOfGod said that this was actually a case of ExecutiveMeddling on Lucas's part, who didn't allow the originally planned [[MadeOfIndestructium kortosis]] [[{{Vibroweapon}} vibrosword]] to be used against a lightsaber. [[CaptainObvious Which of course was planned to be used for this trope's sake in the first place.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' is made of this trope. The stuff that happens on a typical episode would be laughable anywhere else, but the fans overlook that little detail because it has 10-year-old badasses with homemade weapons and vehicles. Yes.
* In ''TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'', the climax consists of [=SpongeBob=], seemingly doomed because of Plankton's EvilPlan, singing about the Goofy Goober using a visor and microphone from nowhere to distract Plankton, and when Plankton finally instructs his minions to attack [=SpongeBob=], the microphone and visor are gone just as easily as they appeared and [=SpongeBob=] now has a ''wizard costume with a peanut pattern'' as well as a Goofy Goober guitar which he uses to play a solo which involves lasers fired from the guitar destroying Plankton's mind-controlling helmets. Despite the blatant, out-of-nowhere DeusExMachina, this sequence is still too cool to question.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'' takes what made its sister series ''MegasXLR'' so awesome and dialed those by featuring a city over a city, nukes, tornado stunts, tanks, and car chases that basically says "SCREW YOU" to physics. Think a more child-friendly {{FLCL}}, except with cars instead of guitars.
* This trope is basically the entire reason for the existence of Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles. Just the title alone should be a tipoff.
* Ninjago is built around this. A group of ninja warriors with elemental powers that use Spinjitzu (a tornado made up of the character's unique element) and fights an army of snakes and a stone army.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' and ''SheRaPrincessOfPower''

* Ben 10: Enter Precure has Void 4 creating a tank out of Cure Sunny's magic and an indestructible material only found on an asteroid. Ben and Max are astonished, [[NighInvunerability as they can't even damage the tank.]]

* FriedrichNietzsche: His whole philosophy revolves around this trope. Anything that's cool and awesome is something that works. The rest is irrelevant.
* The simple act of taking Luke Skywalker's prop lightsaber up on the space shuttle.
** Or, indeed, GeneRoddenberry's ashes.
* The only reason for the existence of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Veyron Bugatti Veyron]].
* Parkour and Freerunning, when performed by professionals.
** This applies to Freerunning especially, since Parkour is usually more concerned with efficiency.
* Concorde. An experiment in engineering that was the epitome of cool. Such it was that running in the red didn't matter. It just had to fly.

* [[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36645958?GT1=43001 Volcanic lightning.]]

* Related to the meteorite sword mentioned above: legend has it that the first copy of Jim Bowie's eponymous knife was made from iron derived from a meteorite.
** Creator/TerryPratchett's sword actually is.
* Less optimistically, quite a lot of science (especially medical science) worked this way for most of history, regardless of what reality had to say on the subject. Mercury was reckoned to be a cure-all for centuries just because ''oh my God look at that that is so fucking awesome''.
* Quartz watches are not just a lot cheaper than mechanical; they're also a lot more accurate. Why do people buy mechanical at all? A combination of conspicuous consumption and Rule Of Cool.
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Drive Seiko Spring Drive]] is a hybrid mechanical, electric and magnetic watch movement that provides a really cool solution to... no actual problem that can't be solved cheaper by a conventional quartz watch.

* Queen Elizabeth II was shown jumping from a helicopter after being escorted by James Bond as part of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.
* Pretty much the whole point of concept cars. Believe it or not, they were even more insane way back when than they are now.

* Mythological gods and heroes in general are full of this. That's half the ''point'' of most of them. Hercules, Gilgamesh, the entire cast of ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''... all fuelled by Rule of Cool. And where else are you going to hear that an Eight Headed Snake was defeated by ''Sake'' of all things[[note]]Besides ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}''[[/note]]. In fact, most mythological heroes weren't necessarily heroic in the modern sense. A lot of the time, all it took to be a "hero" was just to be an unbelievable BadAss that ran on the Rule of Cool.
* OlderThanPrint: ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' is the Rule of Cool personified. He can hold his breath for several days, rip off the arms of giants, and generally make a nuisance of himself to anyone that isn't awesome enough to hang out with him.
** For a prime example, his introductory speech describes the time he killed the sea monsters. ''All of them.''
** "Me thus often the evil monsters/ thronging threatened. With thrust of/ My sword, the darling, I dealt them due return!"
* Tom Sawyer in ''TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' decides that [[spoiler:freeing Jim from the plantation simply getting the key and letting him out of his cell]] isn't romantic enough and wants to make an elaborate plan with Rope Ladders, a journal made of leaves, and food poisoned with sleep medicine, just like in the books. But then, in a subversion, the "cool" swashbuckling achieves nothing except getting him shot.

** This seems to be the entire nature of witchcraft. A witch is simply someone GenreSavvy enough to take advantage of this rule.

* Author ChristopherMoore lampshades his use of this in the afterword to ''[[Literature/LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal]]''. At one point in the story Jesus goes to China and studies both Buddhism and martial arts at a Shaolinesque temple. Moore admits the temples wouldn't have been around at the time, but then adds this: "But to remain historically accurate, I would have to leave out an important question that I felt needed to addressed, which is, '[[KungFuJesus What if Jesus had known kung fu]]?'"
** Even better, they don't even ''learn'' kung fu, because Josh [[TechnicalPacifist doesn't believe in using weapons]]. So he and Biff make up their own unarmed martial art, the "Way of the Jew." Or, "[[IncrediblyLamePun Jew Do]]."
* Creator/GarthNix' ''The KeysToTheKingdom'' is basically Nix trying to see how much cool magic stuff and mythology he can put into one series. Answer: ''a lot''.
** And it WORKS. By God, it WORKS.

* In ''{{MEG}}'', the main character Jonas Taylor gets swallowed by a 40 ton shark and manages to cut through the stomach lining to get into the heart chamber. Then he rips the heart and manages to go back through the stomach and reach the surface with only a broken escape pod, an air tank, a mask and a 200 million year old tooth. Logical? HELL NO! Awesome? Yeah!

* ''HisDarkMaterials '': Iorek Byrnison and the Panserbjorne. No, {{bears are|BadNews}}n't [[AvertedTrope always bad news]], especially if they're sentient and armored.
* The last book of the ''XWingSeries'', ''Starfighters of Adumar'', gives us the ultimate in [[AwesomeButImpractical awesomely implausible]] personal weapons, the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Blastsword blastsword]]. It exists pretty much solely because it's cooler than dueling with normal swords.

* MatthewReilly's books. ''All'' of them. He's got one of the longest entries on that page, and [[UpToEleven bypasses 11]] several times in each book.
** There's even a reason for this: he writes action packed, "awesomely cool" books as a way of getting teenage boys (usually unwilling readers) to read.

* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudiceAndZombies'' (and its various sequels and imitators) has no real reason to exist except for this rule.
* Scourge of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' is a cat who wears a collar with dog teeth sticking out of it. It was uncomfortable, but he wore it because he knew it was awesome.
* TheDresdenFiles is, by the admission of [[JimButcher its author]], constructed out of this. When the main character magically blasts werewolves through walls, fights vampires alongside mob bosses, [[spoiler:running into the middle of a [[TheFairFolk faerie]] [[ApocalypseHow apocalypse,]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome reanimating]] a [[RaisingTheSteaks ZOMBIE]] [[TyrannosaurusRex T-REX]] and [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu PUNCHING OUT]] [[BadassSanta SANTA CLAUS]] (who is also [[NorseMythology Odin)]]]] you KNOW it's this trope.
* TheForeverWar is pretty hard on the MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness but still author Joe Haldeman has no problem in creating a make-believe [[AppliedPhlebotinum "stasis field"]] that makes impossible to anything to move faster than 26m/s so he can have [[RecycledInSpace swordfighting IN SPACE!!]]

** The "[[BulletTime Clark time]]" effect, for instance. They love it so much they give SuperSpeed to dozens of villains that usually don't have them, because it just looks so blasted cool.
** [[TheScrappy Lana Lang]] with the [[spoiler:Prometheus armour. It is "armour" that gives not the slightest trace of being worn, and gives kryptonian level speed and strength. Oh, and you need to start some fires... over a water tank... containing the test subject... and there is no energy input... Yes, it makes no sense. But it is all forgiven when Lana bursts out of the lab like a phoenix from the flames and does a BulletCatch.]]
* Early seasons of ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower really had her pushing the limits]] of being a BadassNormal. She could [[SheFu fight one-on-one]] with a PhysicalGod or even against entire armies and win, as well as pull off superhuman feats. A specific example: In one scene, she jumps from a cliff and horizontally spins hundreds of feet onto a passing ship. She could do this because she was Just That Cool. Her [[ThemeMusicPowerUp blood-quickening theme music]] sung by the Bulgarian Women's Choir always accompanied such feats. Later seasons had plot-devices and {{Flashback}}s explaining various powers.
* ''{{Firefly}}'' features quite a lot of this due to the creator's desire to include cool-looking SpaceWestern themes whether they [[FridgeLogic really made sense or not]]. From the DVD commentary:

* The ''MythBusters'' almost always follow up a "busted" myth (and many plausible and confirmed myths to boot) with an [[AwesomeButImpractical over-the-top experiment under improbable circumstances]], just to see how cool it looks like when it explodes. After all, [[CatchPhrase "we've replicated the circumstances of the myth, now let's replicate the results"]], and [[CatchPhrase "if it's worth doing,]] [[NoKillLikeOverkill it's worth overdoing"]].
** While testing to see if small amounts of dynamite can clean the inside of cement trucks of solidified cement, they ended up filling one up with FBI-provided high explosives and blowing it up to smithereens. Why would this be considered important information in the busting of this myth? The correct answer is: Who even cares?

*** In all fairness, the truck did come with way too much cement in it to allow them to use it for testing, so they were pretty justified in being pissed at it.
** They recently topped themselves by creating an even bigger explosion. For comparison, the cement truck vaporization took 800 pounds of explosives. This explosion used ''5000 pounds of explosives''. It's actually kinda justified, as they were trying to determine if the pressure caused by a massive explosion could create a diamond. It didn't create a diamond (at least, one that could be seen without a microscope), but it was so enormous that it left ''a crater''.
** And while the explosions weren't nearly as impressive, it still boggles the mind that they made a cannon entirely out of duct tape. Again, a '''cannon''' made of '''duct tape'''. And the damned thing ''worked''.
* Pretty much the sole reason that the monsters in {{Toku}}satsu shows [[DefeatEqualsExplosion explode into fireballs]] upon defeat. (well, that and it's a flashy way to get rid of a monster without more expensive post-editing effects.)
** Toku in ''general.'' Why do the bad guys send monsters one by one? How are HumongousMecha, let alone CombiningMecha and TransformingMecha possible? What's with those wacky villain getups and PeopleInRubberSuits? How the heck does spandex deflect fireballs? How do you summon suits from thin air anyway? ''Why'' would you pose dramatically before doing so, and often after? Why doesn't the monster just attack you while you're still posing? How do they do those poses their first time out as if they'd practiced them, ''in unison'' in the case of teams transforming together? Why does posing sometimes cause ''giant explosions'' in the background? Why don't those explosions ''kill'' them? How do fists cause sparks? Not only do monsters explode, but why the ''hell'' would you turn ''away'' from the monster when you think it's going to explode, since they don't ''all'' die with the first use of a FinishingMove? Come to think of it, why don't you just use the FinishingMove ''first'' and save everyone a lot of trouble? The answer to these questions, however, is another question: would it be as much fun if they didn't?
* One of the key selling points of ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' is the authenticity of the wardrobe and the skill of the costume department at making it so. And then Arthur has a trenchcoat. Why? Because it looks badass.
* ''TopGear'' follows this. Why race a Bugatti Veyron against an RAF Eurofighter Typhoon? Why attempt to turn a Reliant Robin into a space shuttle? Why do any of the things they do? Because they're cool, dammit!
** What about the Cool Wall? Nothing else matters, not how fast it is, how safe, or how functional. All that matter is how ''cool'' it is.
* Nothing in ''Series/DoctorWho'' makes any sense at all. Not a single goddamn thing. Not the really [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Nine Hundred And Three Years Old]] [[TheNthDoctor regenerating]] HumanAlien who travels around time and space in a police box, not the {{Technobabble}} he [[MotorMouth delivers at a hundred kilometres an hour]] to justify the latest ReversePolarity, not the [[ContinuitySnarl perpetually vague or contradicting continuity]], not the OmnicidalManiac motorised pepper pots armed with a whisk and a toilet plunger, and definitely not the screwdriver that gets NewPowersAsThePlotDemands. There is also, however, not a single person that cares.

** [[DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]] features MURDEROUS ALIEN TIN SANTA CLAUSES who shoot FIRE OUT OF THEIR TUBAS. And a swordfight to the death between the Doctor and a Sycorax for planet Earth. Just 'cause.
** The 2008 Christmas special features a [[spoiler:GIGANTIC [[SteamPunk STEAMPUNK]] [[HumongousMecha CYBERMECHA]].]] Sure, it was completely ridiculous, but... [[spoiler: gigantic steampunk cybermecha]]!
** Or how about this one: in the climax of "Tooth and Claw", the Tenth Doctor uses [[spoiler: a telescope and diamond to fire a beam capable of lifting a werewolf, easily weighing 3-400 lbs, into the air, using only moonlight.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol A flying shark pulling a sled?]]
** A [[LizardFolk Silurian lady]] [[TheyFightCrime fighting crime]] in Victorian England with her human maid/lesbian lover? [[KatanasAreJustBetter WITH A KATANA??]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong Balloon powered cars floating around a 'modern' London with flying-lizards, Roman soldiers on the underground, Charles Dickens on early-morning TV to talk about his latest book and Winston Churchill riding into parliment on his personal mammoth?]]
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' lives by this rule. The whole premise of a computer being downloaded into a guy's mind makes no sense whatsoever, and when that computer gets upgraded to make him magically learn kung fu, all plausibility goes flying right out the window. But Chuck can kick people in face, so who really cares?

* ''HappyDays'': The Fonz can channel this trope [[PercussiveMaintenance through his fist, into a jukebox, activating it just to impress chicks, with no effort]].
** The Fonz was pretty much an avatar of this rule.

* The ''TheFutureIsWild'' BBC miniseries, a followup to the popular ''Walking with ___'' series, focuses on what life might be like millions of years in the future. It's got elements of evolutionary biology, but most of it is rule of cool all over.
* You could fill a hundred encyclopedias with all the technical and narrative inaccuracies in ''Franchise/StarTrek''; two dimensional space, clear contradictions in the standard operating procedures of Starfleet, glaringly inefficient ship designs, questionable character development, unrealistic scale of space, unrealistic equipment, convoluted timeline of events, the list is infinite. But....when ''Trek'' fires on all [[strike: cylinders]] warp nacelles, NOBODY gives a damn.
** This is not completely true, as the Star Trek writers sometimes write in extra, unnecessary {{Technobabble}} explanations for unrealistic technology, most likely due to fan complaints. One example is that the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' transporter technology, which violates [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle]], has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporter_(Star_Trek) "Heisenberg Compensators"]], mentioned in ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: TNG]]'' episodes "Realm of Fear" and "Ship in a Bottle", and in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Star Trek: DS9]]'' episode "Past Tense, Part I".
** In the season four premiere of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', the Enterprise's targeting sensors are disabled, requiring the ship to get close enough to the target to eyeball it. This serves no plot purpose, but the target happened to be a facility in Nazi-occupied New York. The result was the Enterprise flying over New York City, fighting [[StupidJetpackHitler Stukas with plasma cannons]].
* ''{{Primeval}}'': It's implausible and silly half the time, but it's about crazy scientists fighting '''[[TimeTravel time-traveling]] [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs DINOSAURS]]'''.
** The development team [[ShownTheirWork does their research]], but they don't apply it at all, instead taking ArtisticLicenseBiology in heedless abandon to make everything seem CrazyAwesome.
** One episode even featured a [[RaptorAttack raptor]] chase through a shopping mall. On motorbikes.

* The vast majority of [[StockSuperpowers super-powers]] fall under this.
* The Rule of Cool most likely explains why people usually portray phoenixes as birds of prey. Granted, herons and ibises (which phoenixes were historically based on) are effective predators in their environments, but they're just not as cool as hawks or eagles.
** Heck, showing phoenixes as birds [[IncendiaryExponent made of fire]] when the original myths just said they were regular birds reborn in fire is an example of this trope.
* This rule is arguably the ''raison d'etre'' for the most of the {{Steampunk}} genre.

* The video for Music/{{Muse}}'s ''Music/KnightsOfCydonia'' features cowboys, androids, birds of prey, seduction, kung fu, rayguns, dirtbikes, execution, Soviet imagery, holographic band members, a unicorn and a [[EarthAllAlong half-submerged Statue Of Liberty]], and is apparently set in a goldrush town named after the Martian region of Cydonia. It doesn't make a great deal of sense, But it is still awesome!
** Rule of Cool is really the reason for Muse's existence. It ain't high art, but who cares if you have songs about "superstars sucked into the supermassive", with huge riffs and piano's that would make an appropriate soundtrack to [[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante's Inferno]]. Oh, and the live shows are truly awesomely epic. ThePowerOfRock, indeed.
* The video for "Music/ShineOnMe" by Chris Dane Owens. It's every fantasy movie imaginable fed through a wood chipper, spliced with shots of a Legolas lookalike strumming a guitar. And it's ''epic''.
* The reason anyone likes Music/DragonForce.
* Two words: CaptainDan. More specifically, ''Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew,'' a group of rapping pirates with song titles like "Hook it up," and "Keel Haul 'Em."
* Seasick Steve is a folk singer who used to be a hobo. Need we say more?
** Yes. He plays a three-string guitar.

* "Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Eats [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]]". Which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* Michael Angelo Batio. Particularly the Double and Quad guitar. Look it up in Youtube.
* FrankZappa's "Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar" series and "Black Page Pt. 2"
* GWAR. Just GWAR.
* All Cynic songs, but "Textures" from Focus features a bass solo that would make Jaco Pastorius shit himself.
* The album cover of ''Painkiller'' by Music/JudasPriest definitely qualifies. It has a silver angel riding a motorcycle with buzzsaw blades for wheels, and a chassis that is a dragon. This shiny angel rides his impossible motorcycle through the air over a bunch of skyscrapers slowly sinking into lava. That, is just amazingly cool.

* It runs on this trope. We really need not say more, but... what the hell.
* Some wrestling moves (especially the more elaborate finishers) fall into this category; the most obvious one is {{TNA}} [[ProfessionalWrestling wrestler]] Petey Williams' "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov1rNg0wsIg Canadian Destroyer]]", a flip piledriver that [[ArtisticLicensePhysics would break the laws of physics]] if the opponent weren't helping -- but it looks incredibly awesome, so it doesn't matter too much.
* Wrestling/JeffHardy....I...have nothing else to say...
* Wrestling/RobVanDam. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WXkc1ZHhGI 'Nuff said.]]
* The effectiveness of every move used in pro wrestling is directly proportionate to how cool it looks. An example is the People's Elbow, which could finish anyone off, despite being done from a standing position, as well as [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] bouncing off the ropes twice for no reason.
** Were it just a straight elbow drop with the full body weight behind it, and not a showy, elaborate, pulled strike designed to miss, it would hurt like hell.
* Surely, a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot wrestling grave-digger zombie biker]] would be a laughable gimmick that ends up in infamy, but surely enough, Wrestling/TheUndertaker has been alive (undead?) and kicking for about 20 years now, and has become one of the most iconic figures in all of wrestling.

* Several WhiteWolf games have an literal Rule of Cool called Stunting, It started with Exalted, and then spread from there...
** This is, in fact, ''the'' central rule of the ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}''. Not only do many, many things in the setting exist solely because they're cool, but it's an ''actual rule'' -- although it doesn't use that name, it's a mechanical manifestation of it in spirit -- where giving a cool description to accompany an action grants a Stunt bonus to perform it. The more awesome it sounds, the bigger the bonus.

* The open-source game [[http://wiki.saberpunk.net/Wushu/HomePage Wushu]] thrives on a stunting rule, giving you dice for every detail that you hammer down for a given action. And everything you describe happens unless the other players veto it.
* The indie ''TabletopGame/LegendSystem'' [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is actually published by]] ''Rule of Cool Games''.
* Ever wanted to play a [[YouFightLikeACow wise-cracking]] [[TimeTravel time-hopping]] secret warrior [[CowboyCop maverick cop]] with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] from [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture the future]] with [[EverybodyWasKungFuFighting kung fu]] powers [[GunsAkimbo dual wielding]] his {{BFG}} in one hand and a {{magitek}} [[FrickinLaserBeams energy rifle]] in the other trying to stop [[CardCarryingVillain evil eunuch sorcerers]] and [[ArtificialLimbs cyborg]] [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys gorillas]] from replacing the [[GenreShift entire history of mankind with their own warped version]] just by capturing a few places that are heavily tied to the chi of the world? Try ''TabletopGame/FengShui''. The entire game is pretty much built on every Rule Of Cool trope ever. It makes ''{{Exalted}}'' look like very SeriousBusiness indeed. Based on a card game called ''Shadowfist''.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Physics ''is'' the Rule Of Cool, and it's [[NightmareFuel fueled by abyssal nightmares]].
** Further explanation: [[OurTrollsAreDifferent The Orks]] can subvert the laws of physics through sheer force of [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve blithering ignorance]], while the Ruinous Forces of [[EldritchAbomination Chaos]] get a whole [[HyperSpaceIsAScaryPlace dimension]] that lets them grow extra bits of ''[[BodyHorror everything]]'' by way of literal OffscreenVillainDarkMatter.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' lives off of this trope too. The game has been described thusly: "Say your mission was to get a can of coke from a vending machine. Step four can be 'pull out rocket launcher' and nobody will blink."

* ''SpiritOfTheCentury'', besides having [=PCs=] able to pull off basically anything they've ever seen in a movie (that doesn't involve post 1920s technology, at any rate, and even then it's possible for the ScienceHero), fight gorillas on top of a zeppelin, ride dinosaurs, etc., actually asks the GM to stop and think, before declaring any rule, "What happens if the [=PCs=] succeed, and what happens if they fail?" and is expected to come up with a sufficiently interesting answer for both, just to guarantee every roll will have cool enough results either way to be worthwhile. The game also encourages things like taking gangsters and making the zombie gangsters, or making their leader a talking gorilla, etc.
* ''StarWars Saga Edition'' has the Second Wind mechanic, Force Points, and Destiny Points, which are practically ''Rules FOR Cool''. The Second Wind ability allows a heavily beaten character to pull himself back on his feet and return to the fight for a short duration. The rare Force Points significantly increase the chances for success in critical situations, while the even rarer Destiny Points can almost guarantee success when it is vital for everything he fought for. (Like having only one single shot left before the Death Star blows all your friends up.)
* This is an explicit rule of design in ''MagicTheGathering''. Pretty much anything can see print if it's cool enough.
* The independent game ''{{Cosmopol}}'' seems to only exist because of this rule. ''Theodore Roosevelt'' having four terms as president, ''Buckminster Fuller'' designing an entire city?
* Champions and the TabletopGame/HeroSystem invoke this rule repeatedly. The rules emphasize "dramatic realism" but we all know what they mean by that. Combine that with the fact they have strength tables high enough to permit a PC to lift a castle.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Torg}}'' setting is made of this rule. Humanoid dinosaurs? Check. Oppressive cyberpunk theocracy? Check. Two-fisted archeologists? Check. Ninjas fighting megacorporations? Check. Ancient astronauts? Check. Lovecraftian horrors in the jungle? Check.
* "Infinity" is made of rule of cool. The game itself is balanced that you can literally (with some minor list restrictions) pick any models from a faction you like "because they look cool" and be able to win with them and the models/factions themselves are insanely awesome. One faction is made up of the most bad ass French to ever exist, Russians, British and US Special Forces, Scotsmen in Kilts waving broadswords and assault rifles AND werewolves. That is one single faction.

* ''[[DinoRiders Dino-Riders]]'': {{time travel}}ing humans and alien monsters, some with [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks sharks]] for heads fighting each other while riding on dinosaurs outfitted with space age armour missile launchers and laser cannons. ''Dinosaurs equipped with [[{{BFG}} thumping great guns]] and laser cannons battling each other!'' How did that not catch on? These days, they're mostly remembered through pictures shared as "most-awesome-thing-ever" {{meme|ticMutation}}s.
** Thankfully continued by Imaginext Dinosaurs.
* Although the concept of 'cool' was merely used to market the toys and rarely had a bearing on the story, other than giving it an alien atmosphere, ''{{Bionicle}}'' definitely qualifies, with such things as giant-sized, biomechanical tigers that can extend their neck and have caterpillar tracks instead of back legs; robotic heroes surfing on lava or riding on rock slides with buzz saws attached to their feet; humongous insects with powerful blasters implanted onto their bodies; desert bandits riding on dinosaurs; and all kinds of warriors/villains/monsters you can [[BuiltWithLego build out of Lego sets]] with the most bizarre powers you can imagine. Even such mundane things as transportation were cool when the setting called for it. Nowadays, the story tends to focus less on these aspects and more on the actual plot -- that is why the introduction of cybernetic dinosaurs with laser targeting-systems was so welcomed.

* Luminoth Script in ''MetroidPrime 2''. It's a three-dimensional array of lit and unlit nodes, linked by lines, with the shape and which nodes are lit or unlit apparently conveying the message. This array is impossible to read or write in two dimensions, needlessly complicated, and likely can't actually convey the amount of information it's shown to... but it ''looks'' awesome.
** For that matter, almost any technology in any of the ''{{Metroid}}'' games exists either to be unnecessarily cool or to be unnecessarily complicated, and often both.
** There is not a single creature in the series that is not ArtMajorBiology in one way or another.
* A good deal of the things Dante from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' does. 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. And that's just one of the most famous. In fact, the core basis of the gameplay is beating shit up and making it look goood. Like rocking on a guitar bearing the soul of a lightning succubus for crowd control.
** Oh yeah, and the bike had ''flamethrower attachments.''
** Did we mention that Nero's sword ''revs like a motorbike''? That it '''revs''' like a ''goddamned'' '''''motorbike'''''?!
** In fact, it's even been [[WildMassGuessing theorized]] that Dante's half-demon background physically forces him to do absolutely everything as awesomely as he possibly can.
** Rule Of Cool explains how Dante still manages to get business, even though the standard response to a call for help seems to be to [[spoiler: ''kick the front door out, shoot randomly at the street, and blow up your own damn shop'', if the bonus clip in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'' is to be believed.]]
* All of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}''. Every second, every element. Right down to the hair suit.
* Nearly every game created by {{Suda51}} runs off the Rule of Cool, including [[{{Killer7}} the one about the paraplegic assassin whose manifested alternate personalities do his bidding while fighting evil spirits]], [[NoMoreHeroes the one about an otaku who won a lightsaber on an internet auction and went on to become an assassin so he can get laid]], [[LollipopChainsaw the one about a cheerleader using a chainsaw to survive a zombie apocalypse]], and [[VideoGame/KillerIsDead the one about an assassin who fights cyborg mooks with a katana and a cybernetic arm while not hitting on ladies]]...just to list a few.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' can allow you to launch mini-nukes from a handheld launcher capable of hurling a multitude of different kinds projectiles. It gets even better with the experimental MIRV nuke launcher. You don't NEED to fire eight mini-nukes at once, but it looks incredible.
** Just about ALL of ''Fallout 3'' runs on Rule Of Cool, really. That and the intentional {{Zeerust}} are the only things that can explain the giant scorpions, the radiation hanging around after 200 years and keeping things a wasteland, and the fact that that many buildings are still there after being nuked then left to rot for over 200 years, cars that explode in mushroom clouds and most of all... [[spoiler: Liberty Prime. A giant, bipedal robot with Gort's laser eyes and a backpack of miniature nuclear missiles, which it throws like footballs. Which is voiced by Peter 'Optimus Prime' Cullen.]]

* The final battle in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', where Sora and [[spoiler:Riku]] fight [[spoiler:Xemnas]], especially the parts when you're floating in space, and you can ''slice buildings flying at you in half and send them flying back without moving'', is so impossible the only explanation is that the laws of physics were breaking. (Though considering what was happening at the end of the game, that's actually not too far-fetched.)
** The opening sequence of the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' counts. Yes, it's a tutorial level, but does it really matter when Sora is navigating a black void, walking on stained-glass floors of Disney characters, and it all culminates in a battle against a ''giant Heartless with a hole in its chest in the shape of a heart symbol''?
** A lot of the combination attacks with world-specific partners fall into this area, as do the Drive Forms. Where did Donald and Goofy go? Why does Sora roaring with Beast kill everything? Why does Auron's sword do more damage when he's got Sora [[BackToBackBadasses attatched to his back]]? Where did Sora and Mulan get all those fireworks? Better question. Who cares!? It's ''freaking awesome!''
* ''{{Painkiller}}'' predominantly operates on Rule of Cool. Why is one of the bosses an impossibly enormous zombie[=/=]FrankensteinsMonster? Why do your weapons include a [[SwissArmyWeapon divine weed whacker with a laser grapple, a shotgun that can fire freezing blasts, a combined rotary cannon and rocket launcher, and a strange weapon that fires shurikens and arcs of electricity]]? Why can your character [[SuperMode turn into a demon]], becoming invincible, killing nearly everything in one hit with blasts of inexplicable force, and slowing down time? Because it's cool.
** This is even more true of the GaidenGame ''Painkiller: Overdose''. Why is your character a wisecracking angel/demon hybrid who makes pop-culture references his backstory couldn't possibly let him know? Why are your first three weapons a disembodied demon head with dangling spine, a redesign of the aforementioned shotgun as a weapon that fires bone shards and petrifying sludge, and a redesign of the aforementioned weed whacker as a magical puzzle cube? Why is one of your stated opponents at the start of the game the {{Jerkass}} angel that ordered Daniel around in the original game? Because it's cool.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'' in its entirety is fueled by nothing but Rule Of Cool and RuleOfFun. There is no other way to justify scenes such as a crossdressing ninja punching a hole through a fighter jet to fight its anthropomorphic fox pilot or a giant penguin bitchslapping a turtle-dragon.
** And then, following the ''crossdressing ninja punching a hole through a fighter jet to fight its anthropomorphic fox pilot'', both fighters are stopped by being offered tea by a princess. All of the storymode in ''Brawl'' is built on 'that would look so cool'.
** ''And'' the princess and the fighters to whom she is offering tea are ''on top of a moving airship that is currently engaged in combat''.
** Another of the settings has the fighters doing battle on top of a spacecraft while it flies out of the atmosphere, climbs into space, goes into hyperdrive, weaves through asteroid debris, hyperdrives back to the planet, re-enters the atmosphere. Just as a backdrop.
** All these are in a game with surprisingly little CutscenePowerToTheMax. A normal situation in multiplayer involves a [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong giant gorilla with a tie]] headbutting [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]] into the surface of a moving craft then launching him offscreen with a haymaker. Then, Snake grabs the Smash Ball and his player goes through an UnexpectedGameplayChange and starts firing grenades from the foreground, causing a TotalPartyKill. IN SPACE!
* Pretty much everything in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Red Alert 2]]''. And ''RedAlert 3,'' too. Armored paratrooper bears, anyone?
* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock|1}}''. No, they didn't have automated turrets or flying unmanned machinegun robots in the 60s, and the technology to build an entire city on the bottom of the ocean wasn't even feasible in the late 1940s. But that's terribly irrelevant when one considers that you also have a [[BeeBeeGun Magical Hand That Shoots Bees]] and can set people on fire by snapping your fingers.

* Absolutely everything in ''GodHand''. Just to give you an idea, a {{Meme|ticMutation}} about the game goes from "These levels look bland" to "HOLY SHIT THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME I'M THE MOTHERFUCKING {{FIST OF THE NORTH STAR}} JESUS CHRIST" in three panels. And it doesn't even mention the Luchadore Gorilla.

* Fighting games in general lean heavily on this one, but the most prominent example in recent memory has to be Yoda and Darth Vader in ''[[SoulSeries Soul Calibur 4]]''. There is no other possible explanation, and if the developers try to provide one, they are lying bastards.
* ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}''. There is an entirely logical explanation as to why your UsefulNotes/{{Pettanko}} brawler can punch her enemies into the sun: it's because it is ridiculously awesome looking. Not just that, you can also ''launch the entire battle map into the sun''.
* ''NinjaGaiden'' indulged in this from time to time, but ''NinjaGaiden II'' for 360 positively revels in it. There are zombies with {{chainsaw|Good}}s and [[ArmCannon cannons for arms]], six-limbed werewolves with [[SinisterScythe giant scythes]], flying battleships, ninja special ops forces with rocket launchers, and a boss fight on the Statue of Liberty.
* Then ''NinjaGaiden Sigma 2'' makes you ''fight the goddamn Statue of Liberty itself''. And two-headed robot spider women, can't forget those. [[DemonicSpiders Though you might wish you could]]
* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'' features quite a few units that operate by this trope, including virtually all of the experimentals. The Fatboy, Czar, and Megalith are {{Military Mashup Machine}}s par excellence, the Galactic Colossus is a textbook example of AwesomeButImpractical, the Monkeylord is just kind of the Monkeylord... the list goes on.
* ''MajorasMask'' featured a moon falling to the planet over the course of three days. If it isn't stopped it'll destroy just about everything, even at a speed of five mph, once you beat the game it becomes a rainbow, apparently. Neither of these conclusions are great for the tides and oceans. Looks pretty good though.
* ''RocketKnightAdventures'' lives and breathes this trope. It stars a heavily armored anthropomorphic opossum who flies around with a rocket pack and wields a sword that can generate RazorWind, it's utterly saturated with SteamPunk HumongousMecha, {{Airborne Aircraft Carrier}}s, and {{Military Mashup Machine}}s, and your enemies do things like deliberately blowing a hole in the side of their own spaceship to try and kill you or following you down through re-entry into the planet's atmosphere.
** Then there's your first fight with [[EvilCounterpart Axel Gear]]. The first half of the fight is [[AdvancingBossOfDoom you fleeing from Axel piloting a giant robot]], and the second half is [[InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha you coming across a heretofore-unexplained giant robot]] and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome engaging Axel's robot in a giant robot fistfight]]. No written language on Earth has the punctuation mark necessary to end the previous sentence in a way that does it justice.
* ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' went from possible, though infeasible (largely due to human stamina limits) acrobatics in Jordan Mechner's original games, to Creator/{{Ubisoft}}'s complete and utter disregard for the laws of physics relative to human motion. Could a man jumping twelve feet out into space at a sheer stone wall grab an eight-inch, ninety-degree angle stone ledge with anything resembling enough grip to keep himself from falling? Oh, man... roll the dice. One man in a hundred, maybe, could pull that off ''once'', and he probably wouldn't feel his fingers for a week afterward. Try doing it ten times within a minute's span, with your life on the line each time, in addition to running along or up walls for anything more than three steps at most. Why does it all work? ''Because it's cool as hell.''
* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno''. You start off by killing the grim reaper, stealing his scythe, descending into hell and eventually killing the lord of hell himself. Also along the way you also fight a giant naked woman throwing babies out of her boobs. Everything this game does is to be cool and to slightly follow the original poem.
* Solid Snake of ''Franchise/MetalGear'' fame is at times a [[WarriorPoet quiet and profound]] kind of cool, and at other times an artistically lethal example of the beauty of perfect motion. The cutscenes from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' almost invariably function on splicing this trope directly with another trope (or several others) for multiplicative results. One BossBattle and the cutscene following it actually manage to include ''more than ten'' tropes that are easily identifiable offhand, wherein [[SuperSoldier Snake]] takes on [[TheGunslinger Revolver Ocelot]] in a running firefight to save a [[TortureTechnician tortured hostage tied to a pillar]] in the middle of the square room, forcing the player to carefully avoid [[ShootTheHostage shooting him]] throughout the fight. Moreover, the entire center square of the room is criss-crossed with [[IncrediblyObviousBomb tension wires tied to blinking Semtex bombs]], meaning the player has to be extra careful not to so much as ''touch'' one while still trying to dodge Ocelot's [[ImprobableAimingSkills impossible ricocheting shots]] which can hit you ''even if you're safely behind cover'', or [[GameOver the game will immediately end in failure]]. And if all that wasn't enough, winning the fight cues the sudden appearance of a stealth [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot ninja cyborg]] character who announces his entrance by cutting off Ocelot's right hand in mid-aim, then surgically severing the trigger wires in such a way that no one is killed when the bombs all explode. The ninja then attacks Snake, immediately [[DodgeTheBullet deflecting several bullets with his sword]]. Snake employs a combination of [[SuperSoldier gunfire, martial arts, and desperate gymnastics]] to bring about a split-second [[MexicanStandoff stalemate]] with the ninja's sword at his throat and his SOCOM pistol at the ninja's head, point-blank. Now, the ten separate tropes linked here are all present and actively played during this scene, but would you believe there are actually even more in there? This entire game gets a ''double'' award for usage of the Rule Of Cool, since not only the events within the narrative clearly qualify, but the writers and directors score likewise for the [[RefugeInAudacity pure and utter improbability]] of all of these elements ever playing together so well, and the greatest part (as well as the part which makes it a fit addition to this section) of all? ''It seriously works''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2hZGKUkPX8 See for yourself here]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv6F_2kq8B4 And here]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3raLq4f_LQ And here]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f98qb3spbk4 And, probably most impressively, here]].
* From ''{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'', it's also worth mentioning the final confrontation, the ClimaxBoss battle of the game. It's a fistfight. Between two guys biologically clearly over fifty. Both still perfectly capable of kicking your ass. On the top of a submarine. Why? ''Because it's cool.''
* A [[http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Persona3/index.html Let's Play]] series for ''{{Persona 3}}'' calls attention to this when it happens to mention who the main character's ultimate Persona is: "Messiah is...well, he's that guy. Yeah. THAT guy. We're going to battle against the incarnation of Death by summoning '''that guy'''. I don't think this game could possibly be any more metal."
** Chie's ultimate Persona in ''{{Persona 4}}'' looks like [[Franchise/StarWars a samurai Darth Vader with Darth Maul's lightsaber.]] ''{{Persona 4}}'' also gives you Kintoki-Douji. It carries a Tomahawk MISSILE. Alas, it is a magic-oriented Persona, so it doesn't throw it. For shame.
* ''EliteBeatAgents''. The game's plot revolves around an organization of TheMenInBlack and CoolShades who appear to help people out with their problems ''while dancing to pop songs''. Helping a white blood cell fight off a virus just in time for the Olympics to Ashlee Simpson's ''La La''? No problem. Assisting a coffee-addicted taxi driver in driving a pregnant woman to the hospital to the song ''Sk8er Boi''? That's nothing for the EBA. Helping a diver find treasure while ''YMCA'' is blaring in the background? Come on; that's not even trying! And then there's the [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome final]] [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome level]].
** How do you save a down-on-his-luck baseball player? By helping him win his next game? No! Clearly, the solution is to help him save a small boy from a giant lava-spewing rock monster in an amusement park! ''With baseball!''
** Needless to say, EBA's predecessor, OsuTatakaeOuendan, ran on this trope too - if using Japanese-style male cheerleading to encourage a buddy cop pair to fight back against an invading army of battery-like aliens, or an overworked salaryman to protect his city and his daughter in Ultraman fashion, or the ''entire planet to blast an oncoming meteor with concentrated willpower'' isn't Rule Of Cool, we don't know what is.
* ''{{Contra}} 3: The Alien Wars'' for SNES had one level almost entirely composed of the player ''riding on in-flight missiles''. ''By holding onto them from underneath using only one arm''. ''And then jumping from missile to missile''. One of the coolest things any fictional action hero has ever done, and one of the most unlikely.
** ''{{Contra}}: Rebirth'' game for Wiiware attempts to one-up this by having the character [[spoiler:ride down the flaming remains of a space station ''during reentry'', and jump from one to the other]]. While fighting a boss. And entering said space station stage by jumping off a helicopter.
* The only possible way to explain ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'', in which the heroes and villains of the first ten ''FinalFantasy'' games all beat the crap out of each other. Not to mention the battle mechanics, where, among other things, if you can hit someone with your giant sword in just the right way... they will apparently ''explode''.
** ''FinalFantasy'' in general runs on this trope. The Summons being particularly good examples. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' there's one particularly extreme case where a giant interstellar entity hurtles your enemies into a galaxy going supernova. Of course, Bahamut's got a long history of destroying things from orbit.
** Bahumut can do that, huh? For example, in ''CrisisCore'', his signature move, Exaflare, involves the giant dragon surrounding the MOON with crystals, blowing half of it up, and turning it into a GIANT LASER which is pointed towards the planet, thus taking out a good amount of HP.
* The ''{{Gungrave}}'' series is built on this. For example, in the original ''{{Gungrave}}'' video game, if a boss comes close to dying, using a demolition shot as the killing blow causes Grave to activate the "Graveyard Special" (insane FinishingMove), where his coffin launches a super-charged attack (which usually combines two or more his normal demolition shots). While this is not required to kill any boss, the demolition shot is so over the top that it just looks plain awesome. [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Your player character is the reanimated corpse of a hitman with Guns Akimbo and a large coffin on his back that shoots rockets and can semi-morph into a machine gun]].
** And then there's the sequel, where the original character gains allies. One is a blind samurai with [[GunBlade swords that are also guns]], and a ghost who uses a guitar with a dynamo in it to shoot arc lightning at his enemies. By the way, said ghost who defeats his enemies with the ''{{Power Of Rock}}'' is named [[AwesomeMcCoolname Rockabilly Redcadillac]].
* The makers of ''DeadlyCreatures'' even said the game was built upon this. "In real life, tarantulas don't go web swinging from area to area. But wouldn't it be cool?" Also, most of the scorpion's finishing moves.

** The RYNO: a MacrossMissileMassacre gun [[{{BFG}} so large Ratchet can barely even lift it]]. The later versions get even ''more'' excessive.

** RYNOCIRATOR. Disintegration grenade, for all intents and purposes... And the most expensive weapon to get your hands on and keep ammo for... [[AwesomeButImpractical But hey, who cares when you can disintegrate 99% of everything in one shot?]]
* The Karmic Transformers in ''{{Okami}}''. Sure, they don't serve any other purpose than making Amaterasu look different, but there's something ''awesome'' about seeing a [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Japspitzpup.jpg Japanese]] [[http://www.dogslife.com.au/__data/page/5948/Japanese_Spitz.jpg Spitz]] beat up enemies and bosses. Oh, and while we're on the rule of cool, how about Waka's flute, ''which can turn into a glowing sword?'' Not to mention the fact that it's called 'Pillow Talk'.
* The official roleplay rules for ''{{Furcadia}}'' involve something called the Rule of COOL, but that has nothing to do with this trope, although our Rule Of Cool probably gets invoked by the players often enough.
* Pretty much any time you become Super Sonic in a [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Game]]. A flying golden hedgehog going well over the speed of sound? Hell yes.
* Prett much how ''CrazyTaxi'' works. In real life taxicabs wouldn't be allowed to break every traffic law in existence in an effort to get their customer to their destination as fast as possible. Thanks goodness this isn't real life.
* Diviner Maros in ''CityOfVillains''. He's a seer who can see an entire section of time at once and spends his time forgetting what week it is and creating time paradoxes. At one point he starts to send you on a mission, only to realize you did that two missions ago and then pauses to remember when he is. And he frequently sends you to places he only knows about because you told him where they were when you got back, or gives you advice based on stuff you told him in the future, because he gave you that advice. How can he do this? Because he's cool.
* ''RobotDinosaursThatShootBeamsWhenTheyRoar''.
* ''MischiefMakers'' is a game that takes the Rule Of Cool SerialEscalation. Sequences in the game include outrunning a tidal wave on a tricycle, riding giant bees, and a stage literally called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Missile Surf.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'''s combat is the definition of the Rule Of Cool. Sure, you can punch your enemies to death, but why do that when you can achieve the same result by shoryukening them, punching them thrice in midair, then slamming them into the ground like a rail spike?
** And then [[GrievousHarmWithABody using his corpse]] to down a military helicopter, grabbing the now-plummeting helicopter in mid-air and chucking it down at a tank and finish off with a ground-pound, taking out any infantry stragglers.
* [[TwoWords Six words]]: ''LittleRedRidingHoodsZombieBBQ''. Sure, Little Red Riding Hood may not be the definition of cool. We've seen zombies in media a million and a half times. [=BBQs=] are what middle age men do to show off their cooking skills while keeping their testicles intact. But there is nothing uncool about a grown Little Red Riding Hood in skimpy clothing using a flamethrower on the undead.
* All of you lose to the sheer badassery that is ''NinjaBlade''.
* ''NinjaBlade'' loses to ''{{Scribblenauts}}''. Why make a game where you can make God fight Cthulu? Why make a game where you can ''travel back in time, ride a dinosaur through the time machine, kill robot zombies with said dinosaur?'' Because you can.
* Not strictly ''in'' a video game, but the Nintendo 64 controller was made with three prongs instead of two because it would look cooler, nevermind the fact that it prevents all of the buttons from being in reach at the same time. Also perhaps trying to 1up the PlayStation, released about a year and a half previous, whose controller only had two prongs.
* ''{{Shinobi}} III, Return of the Ninja Master'' runs on this trope. Ninjas on surfboads? Check. Ninjas on kites? Check. Climbing your way to the top of a cliff on falling rocks while fighting flying ninjas? Hell yes, check.
* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has Marisa, who mentions that spellcards aren't made to be overwhelmingly powerful, but to have beautiful patterns and just look cool in both Silent Sinner in Blue, and her own Grimoire of Marisa. That isn't to say there aren't spell cards that worry more about pure power rather than style, but as a whole, you could sell tickets to an audience to see a spellcard lightshow if you were so inclined.
** The entire series (or at least the Windows era) runs on this. The fact that you can't use a card that can't be beat shows that power isn't the main focus, and the point of the system in the first place was so that youkai would ease up on the power and allow competition between themselves and humans.
* While ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' isn't exactly a prime example of Rule of Cool, the Narutimate (or ''Naruto: Ultimate Ninja'') series certainly is. Using an Ougi (or Ultimate) triggers a cutscene of your character using his powers with all the almighty coolness you couldn't ever think you would see in a Naruto character. Ougis are absolutely ran by the Rule Of Cool.
* ''CrimsonSkies''. All of both the PC and Xbox versions. ''Everything'' is powered by the Rule Of Cool.
** The PC version: received this line in a review.

** The Xbox version: not only are the vehicles ridiculously impractical, but you spend your time fighting rogue Nazis equipped with [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld zeppelins designed to eat other zeppelins]], HumongousMecha {{Spider Tank}}s, [[ShockAndAwe planes with lightning guns]], and a base located inside an ancient Inca ruin packed with magma and {{Death Trap}}s (it may have been built by VideoGame/{{Dwar|fFortress}}ves instead). In the final mission, they turn up with two zep-eaters attached to either side of a giant ''weather control weapon''. Oh, and your basic starter plane comes equipped with magnetic homing missiles. This is supposedly set sometime during the 1930s.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': So it comes time to update the most overpowered and controversial class in the game with a new weapon, what do you give him? Valve gave him a claymore sword that decapitates on killing blows, and a shield that resists fire and explosions, AND makes him run faster than any other class in the game. All of this for seemingly no reason other than the fact that the demoman is Scottish, and it makes a pretty cool ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' reference.
* ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'' was a game ENTIRELY BASED on doing things with the Force that were so epic it blew your mind away. Fighting a forty-story tall alien tentacle monster? Throwing Darth Freakin' Vader into the wall? Crashing a low-flying STAR DESTROYER into a major city!
** And let's not forget the tutorial level. You're freakin' Darth Vader. You just arrived at Kashyyyk and you already know that the sortie is not going well, showing your displeasure to an Imperial Officer. You got word that the Wookies are helping a fugitive Jedi Master hide out in their world and you'll have none of it. So what do you do? You proceed to kick some furry ass and take names as you learn the nuances of using your powers of the Force. Basically, the level is all about mopping the floor with the Wookies either by slicing and dicing, tossing them like ragdolls, or Force choking them to death as [[BadAss Darth freaking Vader!]] You can''t get a better beginning than this in a game.
* A lot of ''{{Beatmania}}'s'' background videos could count as this. Especially [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTJIQw5xCu4 GOLDEN CROSS]], which makes the Shoji board game crazy awesome.

** On Shadow's intro on ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Shadow is shown running through snow while avoiding many robots shooting him. He then runs through the robots. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome The robots blow up, and then he bounces on a single robot to get past a big door]]. That's a full use of this rule. However, the Chaos Control he proceeds to use is unjustified because it doesn't look as cool as it should... especially after what he just did.
** The first level of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Sonic escapes [[MistakenForTerrorist wrongful capture]] from a G.U.N. (Military organisation similar to NATO) Helicopter, and surfs down the hilly city streets on a chunk of the wing. Then at the end of the level, G.U.N. chases him with a [[TheSimpsons truck-truck-truck]], a 4 story tall semi so wide it barley scraped along the sides of the buildings and [[TheJuggernaut sends everything in the street flying on impact]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJIZ0PHyyCI]]
*** The truck became [[TookALevelInBadass a lot more awesome]] for ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. It now chases Modern Sonic for far longer, has buzzsaws at the front and even chases Sonic UP A BUILDING. Yes, that thing can now fly.
** [[http://www.fanpop.com/spots/shadow-the-hedgehog/images/17531418/title/shadow-riding-cool-bike-photo This bike.]]

** Also, in the {{Wii}} version, why else is MikeTyson replaced the final challenger by '''''[[spoiler: VideoGame/DonkeyKong]]'''''?
* Pick any ShootEmUp. Because firing FrickinLaserBeams larger than your fighter could handle isn't cool enough...
* Pretty much why the Grenade Launcher exists in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. As Valve said, they and many people wanted to see more stuff blow up, so they threw in the weapon. Combine the weapon with fire bullets and you got a gun of awesome.
* There's a certain online game that fits this trope to a T, and you know it does ''before you even play it.'' Why? On the loading screen, the following is displayed: "[[EveryCarIsAPinto The following game is really mad]], because unlike other games it does not try to [[ArtMajorPhysics obey or emulate any rules of physics correctly]]. In fact it was programmed on the basis of ''if it looks cool and feels cool, then it's cool''." The name of said game? ''NeedForMadness''.

* ''Just Cause 2'' 's programmers stated that they tried to set the game so that the laws of physics would seem to be sort of drunk, to encourage the players to do more crazy awesome things. It worked, too.

* [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star-wars-rock-out.jpg This image]].

* [[http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/nightmaj/stephen_colbert_paladin_by_todd_loc.jpg This piece]] of Creator/StephenColbert fanart. The best part? Until his producers nixed it, this was going to be a ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' card. It's the little details that make it: notice the microphone and eagle talon in the hilt of the flaming sword. All that's missing is him riding a flaming unicorn/pegasus while wielding a flaming laser chainsaw and fighting Hitler and OsamaBinLaden on a Hydra, who is also on fire. Someone please draw that.
** How about a [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0446580503/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_2?ie=UTF8&index=2 drawing]] of Colbert as the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk stabbing a bear through the head with the American flag to tide you over?

** [[http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee132/Animus_photo/Demotivator/1204261031939.jpg Fuck Your]][[http://funpics.classicfun.ws/var/albums/Funpics/penguin_army_bear_cavalry.jpg?m=1257594965 Bears]]

* 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 [[TyrannosaurusRex 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 occasionally a few hits will get through, usually aimed at Superman's [[ClarkKenting disguise]] or how {{Spider-Man}} can stick to surfaces.
** However, sometimes this Rule will team-up with the {{Fridge|Logic}}s to produce honestly [[FridgeBrilliance brilliant]] answers to superhuman mechanics.
** Alot of the recent moves in the DCU have been because of this. ''BlackestNight'' with it's [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Zombie Lantern Superheroes]], ComicBook/{{Superman}} suddenly being the general of a 1000+ Kryptonian army, and so on. The name of the game lately is more more more, perhaps as a callback to the SilverAge influences that have crept back in to the ModernAge.
* The whole premise of ''{{Godyssey}}''. The Greek pantheon appears before Jesus on the cross and demands that he stop mocking divinity by renouncing the low and filthy mortals he serves. Jesus responds by removing himself from the cross and '''[[http://www.comicsbulletin.com/rage/111195363490019.htm beating the shit out of them all]]'''.
* This trope explains ''RexTheWonderDog'' far better than anything else ever could. We're talking a dog who kills dinosaurs with atom bombs here.

* The legendary ''Comicbook/{{Doom}} comic'' features the ultimate gut-tearing, demon-shooting, [[PreAssKickingOneLiner semi-witty-quipping soldier]]. His cause is just, his faith is strong, and his gun is [[{{BFG}} very, very large]].
* ''{{Nextwave}}''. If you need to ask why, read the entry.

* ''SinCity'' comics (and TheMovie) run on this rule.
* This is the ''actual, canonical'' explanation for the name of the Marvel superhero team Comicbook/TheAvengers. What are they avenging? Nothing, TheWasp just thought the word "Avengers" sounded badass.
* Comicbook/{{Hitman}} thrives on this trope. How else do you describe a plot about a TallDarkAndSnarky 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]]?

* CadillacsAndDinosaurs is pretty much handwaving from its very title. Awesomely, that is.

* [[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]] runs on this.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' fan fic ''Fanfic/{{PRIMARCHS}}'', Everything the titular Primarchs do is this trope. Using skyscrapers as swords? Drop kicking the moon on someone? Using the [[StarWars Death Star]] as a baseball bat? Having PowerArmor which doubles as a ChainMailBikini? Dissing the authors of the work? Oh Yeah, PRIMARCHS loves this trope.

* In a somewhat subtler way, ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' changes the simple mood of [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes the original strip]] to a decidedly more [[ActionizedSequel action-packed]] one with a lot of [[BetterThanABareBulb lampshades]] concerning its use of this trope.
* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'': This is how Jade picks all her [[OperationBlank plan names]], regardless of the actual content of the plan, leading to some rather nonsensical names.

* Um, ''Film/{{Crank}}'' anyone?
** The awesomeness can be quantified by the fact that [[spoiler:the protagonist dies at the end of the first movie]]. As the trailer for [[CrankHighVoltage the sequel]] points out, "Anyone else would be ''so'' dead by now."
** Probably the best example comes near the end of the first film. [[spoiler:After Chase is disarmed, he makes a gun out of his finger and thumb, points it at a guy, and goes "Bang." ''And it kills him.'' It turns out to be his backup, but for a few seconds everyone watching the movie went "''Mind bullets''...?! Okay, mind bullets, let's go with that."]]
** ''CrankHighVoltage'' is made of this. It makes less than no sense, but after seeing it, you grow a set of balls bigger than your head, pick a fight with five burly sea toughs and win, and make a full grown lion piss itself. Its that kind of movie.
* The canonical definition for this is the utterly preposterous premise of ''Film/TheMatrix,'' in which robots farm humans for power, using a computer generated reality to placate their minds. This ignores both the first and the second laws of thermodynamics, but who cares? ''Robots'', man! Hey, Neo draws his sunglasses ''before he starts to fight Smith''. THAT is the Rule Of Cool in action.
** The "humans as batteries" thing was forced on the brothers by [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executives]] who thought that a population that ran SETI@Home wouldn't understand distributed computing. Prior to that, the captive humans were used to augment processing power, which is a somewhat more common sci-fi theme.

** The Agents (and later Neo's) ability to [[DodgeTheBullet dodge bullets]] is never replicated to dodging much slower punches and kicks. This is due to Rule Of Cool, because if they did the fights would last all of five seconds and be unbelievably one-sided.

* Either that or the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movie, ''Revenge of the Fallen'' even more so. Let's be honest, there is no other reason for these films to exist or for anyone to watch them except that [[TransformingMecha Giant Transforming Robots]] are inherently cool. It could be argued that Creator/MichaelBay's entire career rests on this trope.
* In the second ''AustinPowers'' movie, Basil Exposition turns to the camera and tells the (young, irritable members of the) audience [[BellisariosMaxim not to get upset]] about any [[TimeyWimeyBall contradictions]] in the TimeTravel plot of the story.

** Darth Maul contributes almost nothing to the plot, but he doesn't need to. He has a red-and-black tattooed face, a circle of horns, and the only double-bladed lightsaber to be featured in the films.
*** Well other than killing Qui-Gon Jinn and alerting the Jedi council that the Sith have returned, Maul contributes nothing other than being cool!
*** Darth Maul is so cool that [[spoiler:being dead can't stop the game designers from using him in ''Star Wars: TheForceUnleashed'' when the off-his-rocker PROXY, who often has tried to kill Starkiller while using holographic disguises of Jedi, reveals that he has a Maul "skin"... cue Starkiller vs. Darth Maul]]. It helps that this was ''never'' alluded to or hinted at earlier in the game or in the official preview materials, magnifying the surprise for first-time players.
** Remember when Darth Maul was dead? No you don't because he survived, managed to escape to another planet undetected during a planetary crisis, and became part spider cyborg before getting normal cyborg legs.

** ''[[StarWarsCloneWars Clone Wars]]'' uses this even more. For example, you once see the same weapon on the Millennium Falcon being carried around by ''[[{{BFG}} a single ARC trooper]]'', and instead of using four arms, Grievous juggles four light-sabers around between his hands and prehensile feet (albeit as an "unwelcome surprise"), making for some of the best fights in ''StarWars'' history.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A07WNupEXk Mace Windu]], mostly due to the [[SugarWiki/RuleOfSeanConnery Rule Of Samuel L Jackson]].
** And of course, lightsabers, themselves. They're swords. But also lasers. And they cut through most everything.
** The reason why Darth Vader is still in his suit by the time the original trilogy rolls around is obviously because of how cool he looks in his suit, even though there is a clear alternative to living in his suit thanks to the cloning technology in Star Wars.
*** Actually, it's revealed you can't clone Jedi, in Force Unleashed 2. Apparently, the inherited memories can drive the clones insane. And since the Emperor would most likely want Vader back quickly, the accelerated cloning would just make it worse. Also, there's a theory that Sidious purposelly wanted to limit Vader's power. As cool as the suit looks, well, [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader%27s_armor read here...]]
*** No, Palpatine was able to transfer his soul repeatedly through various cloned bodies due to a force technique. Vader could have likely learned the ability eventually, it simply boiled down to Palpatine wishing to micromanage Vader and put him into a state of constant misery.

** The AT-AT Walkers are perhaps the best example in STAR WARS of this trope. Their practical problems include: high center of gravity, multiple fully-exposed points of failure, extremely poor visibility, severe weakness in that they can be easily tripped up and disabled, offensive weapons which only point forward, no way to defend against an attack from below... the list goes on and on. In a nutshell, these machines would be far less effective in battle than a modern tank. But they are undeniably cool.
* Pretty much anything QuentinTarantino is involved in, growing more so in proportion to his budget.

** ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'', definitely. It's [[HollywoodTactics not tactically smart]] to try guerrilla warfare when you don't have the home advantage, but is it BadAss? Hell yes, especially when you put Creator/EliRoth in a wifebeater and give him a baseball bat. Throw in Til Schweiger with an engraved knife and One Bitchface to Rule Them All, and the badass factor just doubles.
* It takes liberal FridgeLogic to see it, but a large proportion of the film version of ''[[Literature/AlexRider Stormbreaker]]'' is based on this.
* ''Film/ThreeHundred''. If you're bothered by the fact that Xerxes' army did not, in fact, include cave trolls, ninjas and rhinos, and that Spartans wore armor and had backup, you should recite the MST3KMantra. Either way, the badassery of the movie can be overwhelming to ''untermenschen''.
** Although this is the most justified example on this page, as we're not seeing what happened, we're being told what happened by a lone survivor, [[spoiler: to an army of Greeks about to fight the Persians]], so ''of course'' it runs on Rule Of Cool
* ''SnakesOnAPlane''. Creator/SamuelLJackson (amongst others) is trapped in an aircraft, and he's ''particularly'' incensed about the eponymous reptiles with acted-upon Oedipal complexes. MemeticMutation was drawn to this movie like flies to stink, and the rest is history.
* The Martial Arts genre wouldn't exist without this trope.
** In particular, the {{Wuxia}} genre absolutely thrives on it. How else can you explain somebody jumping 30 feet in the air, and then ''jumping off of their sword in midair to gain more altitude?''
** And let's not forget the infamous Flying Guillotine, which was made infamous because of these movies. It's basically a nasty little contraption that consists of a basket with blades and a chain. You throw the basket onto somebody's head, pull the chain, the blades go to work, and it's OffWithHisHead!
* Everything that happens in the film ''Film/ShootEmUp''.
** For example, Clive Owen having sex with Monica Bellucci while shooting people. The awesomeness cannot be described on paper.
** There is a shootout ''while skydiving''. This isn't a movie, it's a religious experience.

* In the commentary for ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', JossWhedon discusses the scene where [[spoiler: the good guys come through the opaque and sensor-killing "ion cloud" followed by an army of Reavers to back them up against the Alliance. Because the cloud kept the Alliance from seeing them coming, it was a perfect cavalry-coming-over-the-hill moment]]: 'I don't know what an "ion cloud" is, we just made that up. But I would have sold all my knowledge of science to get that scene.' (paraphrased)
* Pretty much all of ''HotFuzz''.
** Officer Angel makes ''filling police forms'' look intense, action-packed and cool.
* Arguably ''TheForbiddenKingdom'', considering that it had the working title of ''The J & J Project'' ([[spoiler:the whole point of which was to make the Jet Li vs. JackieChan dream fight ''finally'' happen on camera]]).
* The entirety of ''{{Doomsday}}'' (along with RefugeInAudacity), a film [[SoBadItsGood so bad it's **** ING AWESOME]]. A detachable bionic eye/camera? Rule of Cool. Foam grenades? [[AwesomeButImpractical Rule of Cool]]. ''Glasgow!?'' Rule of Cool. The entire thing is an exercise in attaching balls to walls.
** And that's to say nothing of the medieval combat and Bentley Continental GT.
** Supposedly the director had a dream about an awesome showdown between a medieval knight and a modern soldier, and decided to write a movie around it.
** Also! [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Scottish cannibal ninja stripper punks]]! "This is the best worst movie ever!"
* ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' : ''{{Equilibrium}}'''s Gun Kata was cool enough, but the film seriously lacked a gravity-switch, clothes and hair that change colors at will, kids in suitcases, literal HyperspaceArsenal and vampire ninjas. Thankfully, its spiritual sequel corrects that.
** And also a female lead in skin-tight clothes. Movies like that is made of pure win!
** "Warning: Intruder. Weapons: ...Many."
* It looks like ''{{Wanted}}'' is built entirely on this concept.
** Oh Hell yes. And let's not forget the director's previous films, ''Literature/NightWatch'' and ''DayWatch'', where things exist for no other reason than because they're cool. Example: Let's drive a car across a building. Why? Why not?
** You get the feeling that when they were thinking of the concept for this movie, someone said "What would happen if you took all the cool stunts from ''Film/TheMatrix'', and turned them UpToEleven?"
* The ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' films rely heavily on this as well as the RuleOfFunny. One particular example, pointed out by Bob Gale on a DVDCommentary, occurs in the third film. Doc and Marty try to get the [=DeLorean=] up to eighty-eight miles per hour by pulling it with horses. Gale pointed out that the Doc would know horses don't run that fast and the Doc even ''points that out in the scene''. However, the filmmakers ''had'' to do that shot with the [=DeLorean=] being ridden across Monument Valley like a covered wagon because it would look ''cool''.
** Even the fact that the time machine itself is a [=DeLorean=] is already Rule Of Cool in itself. What self-respecting geek hasn't fantasized about having a time-traveling [=DeLorean=]? Which is specifically invoked as one of the reasons Doc chose the [=DeLorean=]. He starts to give a practical reason, but gets interrupted and doesn't revisit it.

* This notion was the central focus of ''Film/{{Underworld}}'', [[FurAgainstFang a world where vampires are at literal constant war with werewolves.]] Naturally, all know overly powerful martial arts and humans are practically invisible throughout the two films
* ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries The Bourne Trilogy]]''. What else is to be said?
* The jungle swordfight between Mutt and the bad girl in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. Realistic? Not in the least. Supremely friggin' awesome? Hell yes.
** Speaking of Crystal Skull, what about the fridgenuking? What if that was actually the writers just saying "Dr. Jones is badass enough that you can't even kill him with nukes, or whatever is immediately surrounding him"?
*** The scene in the original ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', where Indy shoots the giant, black-draped swordsman in the Cairo marketplace, was originally to have been a complex whip-and-sword duel (which got cut due to a general ailment among the cast and crew that day). In fact, the Rule of Cool applies to pretty much any action sequence in the entire Indiana Jones franchise.

* Creator/AlfredHitchcock [[InvokedTrope invoked this trope]] when he made ''NorthByNorthwest'', answering the question "Why would someone use a crop duster as a murder weapon?" with the understanding that the audience would be too engrossed in watching the next pass to care.
* Almost anything JamesBond ever does is in some way governed by this trope.
* The climactic fight scene in [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie version]] of ''Film/VForVendetta''. It's a ridiculously overblown ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' ripoff, especially given that in the comic [[spoiler:V just lets Finch shoot him]], but still completely awesome.
** Considering that it was directed by the Wachowski brothers, it's not surprising that they ripped off ''Film/TheMatrix''. They made that one, after all.

** ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' especially. Even the explosions explode.

* The French film ''{{Dobermann}}'', where everything goes UpToEleven.
* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' Period. You got your pirates, your undead, your curses, your sea monsters, your totally impossible swordfights and Captain Jack Sparrow.
** The swordfighting wasn't so impossible, when one compares it to WALKING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN WITH AN INVERTED BOAT trapping air to breathe.
** The entirety of the wedding scene in ''At World's End'' was Rule Of Cool. Simultaneously a crowning moment of funny, heartwarming and awesome... and technically it wasn't even legal.
* ''The13thWarrior'' is loaded with this.
* ''TheItalianJob'' (original of course). Minis that would normally collapse with that much gold? Jumping across gaps in said cars? Driving on the roof of a building and then off again? Oh, and let's not forget [[MemeticMutation only blowing the bloody doors off!]]
* ''OnceUponATimeInMexico''. The guitar case that's really a flame thrower! JohnnyDepp with his eyes gouged out, blood flowing down his face, shooting bad guys! Back in ''{{Desperado}}'' there was a guitar case hiding a [[MetalSlug HEAVY MASHINE GUN]] and another with a [[MetalSlug RAWKET LAWNCHAIR]].
* ''GIJoe: [[Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra The Rise of Cobra]]'', which features a PoweredArmor CarChase through Paris, an underwater dog fight, and [[{{Badass}} Snake]][[InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja -]][[{{Ninja}} Eyes]].

* ''{{Postal}}'' the movie. From a notoriously bad director, based on a non-politically correct game, starring unknowns and having a ridiculous plot, all of which is redeemed by a constant onslaught of "how in the hell did they get away with this, this is unbelievably cool".
* ''Film/SpeedRacer'': every glorious second of it.
** And then some.

* In ''Franchise/JurassicPark'', why does the [[TyrannosaurusRex T. Rex]] [[DeusExMachina show up]] [[BigDamnHeroes in the nick of time]] to save Grant, Ellie and the kids from becoming Raptor chow? Because the T. Rex is ''awesome'' and the animators wanted to show it off some more.
* The famous lobby scene in ''Film/TheMatrix''. There was no reason for them to be there, except for an awesome shootout. Also when Neo kicks Agent Smith, and then instead of taking his foot down, he moves it in air and then put it down. Totally Frigging Cool.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. Despite eschewing SpaceOpera tropes, it's hard to deny that the entire film is built around the idea of three-meter-tall blue quasi-Algonquian catpeople fighting mecha from space, and it plays more than a bit fast and loose with the laws of physics and probability to make that happen.
** Along with basic botany and zoology; anyone with even the tiniest bit of knowledge in either field would know that Pandora's flora and fauna primarily evolved to look visually impressive to moviegoers. How would a giant species with impenetrable armor plating and no apparent predators not quickly overpopulate? Why the extra legs and bio-luminescence, when they serve no function and could even be a liability? Cuz' they ''look'' cool, now less thinky, more watchy!
** It's also the only justification for some of the tactics depicted. Even if the hero knows nothing of his own world's history, common sense should tell him that having lightly armed cavalry charge armour and machine guns is suicide. But it's such cool, heroic suicide that he does it anyway. And the human air combat vehicles seemed to have been designed by a total idiot: You know why modern armed forces don't have open gunner's nests on their aircraft and use bomb bays rather than having soldiers push explosives out the back? Because the crew would be too easy of targets and they'd get slaughtered, ''that's'' why. In a nutshell, Cameron didn't have an open encyclopedia in his lap when he wrote the movie, so you're under no obligation to use any logic when watching it. [[MST3KMantra Just repeat to yourself...]]
* Oh hey ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'', hey. Why would you go to an amusement park and turn all the lights on, turning your location into a gigantic target? Why would you jump ''out'' of the car and let it sink into the river, instead of just hitting the brakes suddenly? Why would you try to con the first signs of life instead of going with them, then why would you leave? Why would you take a motorcycle or a shovel to fight zombies? Why? Why? ''Because it's awesome.''

* [[http://pics.livejournal.com/mkthudsons/pic/00029x75 This promo poster]] from ''Film/{{Watchmen}}''. True, he could be lighting the cigar purely from the {{convection|Schmonvection}} of heat, or off the barrel of the flamethrower, but you do NOT want to taste a cigar that's been lit off a kerosene flame. Just trust me on this one.
* Why do all of Ramona's evil exes meet some requirement of video game boss style, explode into coins when defeated, and everyone naturally is just that good at martial arts? So that when ScottPilgrim wins the girl, it's really cool.

* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' series features this trope in abundance, but it really reaches its apex in the climax to ''FastFive''. The heroes steal a 10-ton vault by attaching it via steel cables to two souped up Dodge Chargers, then using the cars to tear the vault from the building. They then proceed to drag the vault all over the city in a huge car chase, with the vault careening all over the place and causing massive destruction. While still going fast enough to outrun police cars. Anyone with the most basic knowledge of physics knows that this is impossible, but it's so cool that few people have complained about it.

** Why GuillermoDelToro helped to make this movie. [[{{Badass}} Oh, yes.]]
** The only reason why the [[ImprovisedWeapon tanker]] didn't buckle under its own weight when used as a melee weapon against a Kaiju. Or why the Jaeger and the Kaiju don't [[SquareCubeLaw buckle]] either.

*** That site is far too fascinating. How about a [[http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-901127001.jsp?_Fantasy/_prod/_682/_/_36/_/_/_Y&endeca=true&abbr=fan# dragon on a motorcycle]]?

** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Thus, we've got a MadeOfIndestructium eighteen-meter-tall humanoid war machine [[spoiler:and EldritchAbomination]] created by a MadScientist, piloted from within, powered with AppliedPhlebotinum, equipped with {{Rocket Punch}}es that can be thrown at the enemy, [[EyeBeams optical weaponry]], [[BreathWeapon corrosive gusts of wind]] and [[ChestBlaster heat blasts]] capable of melting within seconds a monster made of metal, that can [[IfItSwimsItFlies fly, swim]] and withstand a nuclear blast. [[ButWaitTheresMore It is also capable of]] being dunked in magma for a short while, and [[MonsterOfTheWeek constantly fights]] robotic gladiators able to [[ShockAndAwe shoot lightning bolts]] and make 3-D mirages in thin air without a screen, flying medieval knights, whales loaded with nukes, three-headed dragons, giant crabs that set off earthquakes, TransformingMecha that turn into giant landmines, {{Ninja}}s, archers, snipers and humanoids that can fly at Mach 6 speed. And that is without getting into some of the first {{Action Girl}}s in anime, the HomeBase equipped with a BeehiveBarrier, the zombie cyborg {{Mook}}s, the [[AbusivePrecursors ancient civilizations]] that [[LostTechnology built superweapons]], one of the CoDragons that is a half-tiger cyborg, or the SuperVillainLair that in reality is a humongous HumongousMecha disguised like an IslandBase.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': The sequel tried to turn the coolness UpToEleven (not a good move beccause it stretched the suspension of disbelief too thin, according some fans). Thus, Great Mazinger has twin swords for DualWielding, ArmedLegs, [[ShockAndAwe shoots lightning bolts]], and its RocketPunch rotates relentlessly to increase the punching strength (combining the trope with ThisIsADrill and EverythingIsBetterWithSpinning). TheProfessor is a The HomeBase's upper part can detach off the main building and fly, and the lower part can also detach off and swim through the ocean. The BigBad is a GodEmperor, ruler of an ancient civilization BeneathTheEarth, the DragonInChief is a giant CapedMecha with a sword can cleave a mountain in half, and the {{Robeast}}s resemble beasts, ancient warriors or evil spirits. And one of their bases is a mobile IslandBase that is a blooding volcano can erupt at will.
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': The main character is an alien prince that pilots the mechanical embodiment of his planet's god of war, that is armed with a double-edged scythe that emerges out of its shoulders, and it can be combined with devices allow it bury underground, swim or fly in space. When the main character wants to ride Grendizer, he leaps since a tall hatch and shouts loudly his name, transform his clothes into his LatexSpaceSuit as airborne.