History Main / SpontaneousCrowdFormation

* As mentioned above, Creator/RayBradbury wrote a short story entitled "The Crowd" that examined this phenomenon.

* The Ray Bradbury short story (upon which the TV episode was based) was "The Crowd". The episode can be viewed here: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGda_1-uX2g part 1]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dpT9jD_Nb8 part 2]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alscLa4qDCg part 3]].

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* In ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'', during the scene in the convenience store, a crowd pops into view from behind various shelves to mock Larry's choice of condom. "WHAT A WEIRDO!"

* Most Open World Games do this, starting with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII''. ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'' had people gathering to cheer fights between giant monsters.

-->'''--Creator/PGWodehouse''', "No Wedding Bells for Him"

* Happened in the Film/SpiderManTrilogy. In ''Film/SpiderMan'', they help Spidey by throwing insults and rocks at the Green Goblin. ''Film/SpiderMan2'' plays on this after Spidey is knocked out saving the train and passengers; the crowd puts his mask back on him and stands up to DoctorOctopus, only for him to shove them aside, snatch the defeated Spidey, and carry him off.

-->"And at the words, as if they been some magic spell, the street suddenly seemed to wake from slumber. It seethed with human life. Maids popped out of windows, areas disgorged landladies, the very stones seemed to belch forth excited spectators."
-->'''--Creator/PGWodehouse''', "No Wedding Bells For Him"

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/ANewHope'', when Darth Vader and Obi-Wan face off, the Stormtroopers who were guarding the heroes' ship rush over to assist, leaving the ship unguarded. This would have allowed the heroes to escape quietly if Luke hadn't [[BigNo screamed]] and alerted the troops to their presence. [[hottip:*:Of course, they escape anyway, but you know...]]

* This tends to happen a lot in the MarvelUniverse, particularly to SpiderMan. Usually the crowd being there will result in the villain threatening them so he/she can get away. At other times, they witness the wrong thing at the wrong time and blame the heroes for whatever happened.
* Happens a lot in the DCUniverse, too.

* The Film/SpiderMan movies had this happen. In the first film, they help Spidey by throwing insults and rocks at the Green Goblin. The second film plays on this after Spidey is knocked out saving the train and passengers; the crowd puts his mask back on him and stands up to Doctor Octopus, only for him to shove them aside, snatch the defeated Spidey, and carry him off.
* StreetsOfFire had the villain summon about 200 bikers out of nowhere. A bit later, a bunch of citizens with guns showed up to stare them down. They then proceeded to do nothing until the hero beat the villain in a street fight, at which point the guys with guns chased off the bikers.

* This is a staple of karate movies, even parodies of them. TheKentuckyFriedMovie's parody 'A Fistful of Yen' had this occur when the hero and villain were facing off, with the crowd made up of other karate students.
* In ''StarWars'': ''ANewHope'', when Darth Vader and Obi-Wan face off, the Stormtroopers who were guarding the heroes' ship rush over to assist, leaving the ship unguarded. This would have allowed the heroes to escape quietly if Luke hadn't [[BigNo screamed]] and alerted the troops to their presence. [[hottip:*:Of course, they escape anyway, but you know...]]
* In TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Film/VForVendetta'', after that cop shoots the little girl, a crowd gathers around, looking for blood.
* In the TimBurton Film/{{Batman}} movie, the Joker announces he will be giving away free money at a parade. Despite knowing he's a murderer, [[TooDumbToLive the crowd shows up on schedule and he almost kills them]].

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* The Ray Bradbury short story (upon which the TV episode was based) was "The Crowd". The episode can be viewed here: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGda_1-uX2g part 1]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dpT9jD_Nb8 part 2]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alscLa4qDCg part 3]].

* In the LarryNiven short story "Flash Crowd", this sort of thing is one of the unexpected side-effects of the development of easy teleportation technology.
* As mentioned above, RayBradbury wrote a short story entitled "The Crowd" that examined this phenomenon.

* Music/TheProtomen have crowds forming a lot in their songs. Dr. Light {{lampshades}} it a couple times in Act II.

* TheMegas have a crowd watching Megaman and Quickman's ShowdownAtHighNoon in the song "The Quick and the Blue".

* DungeonsAndDragons adventure WG 5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. When the [=PCs=] fight the iron golem, the viewing stands will be filled with an illusion of a crowd. Some of them will cheer the [=PCs=] and some will encourage the golem.

* In the second VideoGame/PaperMario game, when you enter a battle the scene with switch to a theatre with a cheering crowd. The size of the crowd increases as the game continues, and sometimes they can provide you with items or a power-up.

* This happened a couple times in {{Trollz}}, as a crowd gathered to watch a MexicanStandoff. However, some of the spells hit the crowd.
* In ''SpongeBobSquarePants'', [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick start arguing in the halls of Mrs. Puff's driving school and instantly a crowd gathers chanting "Fight! Fight!" It takes Patrick a while to catch on to the fact that they are the ones who are supposed to be fighting.

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-->'''--PGWodehouse''', "No Wedding Bells For Him"

* In TheFilmOfTheBook of VForVendetta, after that cop shoots the little girl, a crowd gathers around, looking for blood.

* Invoked in ''GirlGenius'': when Gil ''needs'' a crowd, there isn't one, so he purposely picks a fight with Zeetha to attract one.

* This is an established rule in {{Discworld}}'s Ankh-Morpork -- no matter what the citizenry are doing, if something interesting is going on, they WILL stop to watch it. Can work for or against people.

[[AC:Webcomics]]

* In the TimBurton {{Film/Batman}} movie, the Joker announces he will be giving away free money at a parade. Despite knowing he's a murderer, [[TooDumbToLive the crowd shows up on schedule and he almost kills them]].

** They tended to be an AngryMob when not being ApatheticCitizens. In Act II, they attempted to lynch Dr. Light, believing him to have killed Emily. They gathered around Joe and Light after the former's death, then ran away from Wily's army of robots.

* Most Open World Games do this, starting with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII''. ''BlackAndWhite'' had people gathering to cheer fights between giant monsters.

* In ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'', [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick start arguing in the halls of Mrs. Puff's driving school and instantly a crowd gathers chanting "Fight! Fight!" It takes Patrick a while to catch on to the fact that they are the ones who are supposed to be fighting.

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* Most Open World Games do this, starting with ''GrandTheftAutoIII''. ''BlackAndWhite'' had people gathering to cheer fights between giant monsters.

* There was a RayBradbury TV episode about crowds showing up whenever there was an accident. I don't remember all the details, but it was creepy.
** The Ray Bradbury short story (upon which the TV episode was based) was "The Crowd". The episode can be viewed here: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGda_1-uX2g part 1]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dpT9jD_Nb8 part 2]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alscLa4qDCg part 3]].

The inverse of this is when a building or hallway full of people clear the area with remarkable speed, panic and thoroughness, so that the hero and the villain can duke it out in an empty hallway, possibly with [[strike:tumbleweed]] loose papers flying around. That reaction can often be a form of CrowdPanic.

The inverse of this is when a building or hallway full of people clear the area with remarkable speed, panic and thoroughness, so that the hero and the villain can duke it out in an empty hallway, possibly with [[strike:tumbleweed]] loose papers flying around.

The inverse of this is when a building or hallway full of people clear the area with remarkable speed, panic and thoroughness, so that the hero and the villain can duke it out in an empty hallway, possibly with [[strike:tumbleweed]] loose papers flying around: see ClearTheRoom or whatever that trope is currently called.

* In StarWars, when Darth Vader and Obi-Wan face off, the Stormtroopers stop shooting at our heroes to watch. Luke's shouting at Obi Wan's death brings them back to the fight.
** The Stormtroopers who gathered were not shooting at our heroes as they had lost track of each other. The group formed when they noticed their superior was in a fight and went over to assist, leaving the Millenium Falcon unguarded. This would have allowed the heroes to escape if Luke hadn't screamed and alerted the troops to their presence.

* TheProtomen have crowds forming a lot in their songs. Dr. Light {{lampshades}} it a couple times in Act II.

* The Film/SpiderMan movies had this happen. In the first film, they help Spidey by throwing insults and rocks at the Green Goblin. The second film plays on this, by having the crowd stand up to Doctor Octopus, only for him to snatch the defeated Spidey and carry him off.

* In the second PaperMario game, when you enter a battle the scene with switch to a theatre with a cheering crowd. The size of the crowd increases as the game continues, and sometimes they can provide you with items or a power-up.

* In StarWars, when Darth Vader and Obi-Wan face off, the Stormtroopers stop shooting at our heroes to watch. Luke's shouting at Obi Wan's death brings them back to the fight.

*DungeonsAndDragons adventure WG 5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. When the PCs fight the iron golem, the viewing stands will be filled with an illusion of a crowd. Some of them will cheer the PCs and some will encourage the golem.