History Main / TooImportantToWalk

* In the ''Doubled Edge'' novels by Creator/MercedesLackey, the dark Sidhe Aurelia occasionally travels by sedan chair, in part because steering the slaves via magical torture produces more magical power than she's expending.

* Fire ants will do something similar when facedwith floods. The entire colony will band together to form a living raft for the queen and her eggs and larva to ride on until the floodwaters carry them to dry land. Unlike termites, ant queens actually can walk but if the fire ant queen were forced to swim herself she'd be at serious risk of drowning or being eaten by an aquatic predator, so it's much better for the colony to simply sacrifice a few dozen workers.

* In the Musée de l'Armée at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris you can see a sedan chair captured at the battle of Rocroi (1643). It belonged to the gout-ridden Spanish general, the Count of Fuentes, who died upon it, riddled with wounds. The winner of the battle, the Duke of Enghien (later the "Great Condé") is said to have said: "Had I not been able to win, I would wish to have died as he did."

A character tends to travel everywhere in a sedan chair, litter or palanquin, or is otherwise propelled by the leg power of other people. This is evidence for their wealth and power, and depending on the setting can also indicate laziness, pettiness or both. If it crosses over (as it often does) with AdiposeRex, it may be implied that the king is actually ''unable'' to walk, at least not very far.

* ''VideoGame/BugFables'' has [[InsectQueen Queen Layra II]] of the Termite Kingdom. Whenever she enters the throne area of the Colosseum, she has several attendants carry her there. This is in large part because she's [[BigBeautifulWoman quite large]] and likely has trouble walking.

Walking is for ''schmucks''. Luckily, [[AristocratsAreEvil some]] people are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich enough]] to employ (or ''[[MadeASlave compel]]'') schmucks to do the walking for them!

TruthInTelevision for a long time before cars came along, as horse-drawn carriages weren't always practical but powerful people didn't want to be seen walking around like ''normal'' people. Of course, riding in a palanquin had advantages during time periods where the [[TheDungAges central sewage system ran down the middle of the road]]. Rickshaws are a slightly more BoringButPractical variation still around today.

* Visayan nobles and other rich people had a caste of women (and sometimes men) called the ''binukot,'' selecting the prettiest girls to stay inside so they could cultivate a fair complexion and learn arts and culture; it was thought offensive for them to be seen by common people without permission, so when a ''binukot'' DID go outside, it was a big affair and she was carried on a litter. Unfortunately, keeping someone shut inside a few rooms from childhood to adulthood had the unwelcome side effect of making them UNABLE to walk. Initially this was a status symbol akin to Chinese [[AgonyOfTheFeet footbinding]], since [[CaptainObvious only the wealthiest people could afford such a frail spouse,]] but when World War 2 happened and the ''binukot'' couldn't flee from invading Japanese, most were either killed (which naturally lost huge amounts of cultural knowledge) or {{rape|PillageAndBurn}}d. Even modern Visayans can't help viewing the practice as prettied-up child abuse.

* ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' :
** Bithia, as the late pharaoh’s sister,rides on a litter even after she gets banished from the palace for the issues with Moses. She does end up with some of the Hebrew kids riding on it while passing through the parted Red Sea.

* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett''. It's noted that important people on Tatooine usually use litters, and that Boba Fett, the new crime lord of Mos Espa, stands out for choosing to walk. In contrast we see the Twins, Jabba the Hutt's cousins, being carried by more than a dozen human servants who are visibly straining under their combined weight. Not that Hutts can "walk" anyway.

* In ''WebAnimation/LesKassos'', a parody of Frodo and Sam from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' has Froton riding on not-Sam's shoulders while badmouthing him.

* One ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip involved a man at an orphanage, "hypothetically" asking how many orphans would be required to carry a man around on a pedestal.

* ''WesternAnimation/BettyBoop'': ''I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You'' has Betty being carried a sedan chair Bimbo and Koko. When the two stop to take a breather, the chair walks by itself.

* [[BigBad Freeza]] of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' makes his first few appearances in a futuristic hoverchair. [[TheGlovesComeOff He starts getting serious]] when he abandons the hoverchair and flies under his own power.
* A guest character in an episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' makes Ash and his friends carry him and his wife through a Pokémon preserve in a litter. Ash is not amused.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'': [[SmallNameBigEgo Paul Atishon]] goes around in a palanquin that shows off his name.

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* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheLowerDecks'': In "Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E03TemporalEdict Temporal Edict]]", the Gelrakian leader is carried on a seat held up by two servants.

Walking is for ''schmucks''. Luckily, [[AristocratsAreEvil some]] people [[FeudalOverlord are]] [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich enough]] to employ (or ''[[MadeASlave compel]]'') schmucks to do the walking for them!

** The very old and overweight Erik Ironbreaker strikingly inverts the litter-as-status-symbol trope, as the AsskickingEqualsAuthority Ironborn people would never buy it; when he suggests himself as a candidate to be the new king of the Ironborn, Asha Greyjoy publicly humiliates him by promising to support his claim if he can simply stand up.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Myne has the combined penalties of poor health, very young age and being small for said young age. Because of that, many people would much rather carry her than match the slow pace at which she needs to walk to conserve energy. When she learns to use magic to make what is essentially a moving animal statue to be used for aerial transport, she gets a lot of MundaneUtility out of it.

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* The WesternAnimation/BettyBoop cartoon ''I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You'' has Betty being carried a sedan chair Bimbo and Koko. When the two stop to take a breather, the chair walks by itself.

** In "The Answer," [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Blue Diamond]] is enthroned on a palanquin that can both fly and walk with spider-like legs.
* Sise Fromm of ''WesternAnimation/{{Droids}}'' uses a hover-chair to get around.
* The bears in ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'' travel around in a stack, with Grizz, the eldest and self-appointed leader, on top, Panda in the middle and Ice Bear, the biggest and strongest, on the bottom doing all the walking. In the episode "Brother Up", when Panda becomes the new leader, he and Grizz switch places on the stack, and Ice Bear has a turn on top at the end of the episode.

* Series/ArrestedDevelopment: Uncle Jack, a family friend of the Bluths, has lost the use of his legs after attempting to lift more weights than he could handle. He hires a burly man to carry him around because he's too prideful to use a wheelchair.

* ArrestedDevelopment: Uncle Jack, a family friend of the Bluths, has lost the use of his legs after attempting to lift more weights than he could handle. He hires a burly man to carry him around because he's too prideful to use a wheelchair.

** Daenerys rides in palanquins a number of times, such as when she visits the market at Vaes Dothrak, preferring to luxuriate in the soft cushions while her husband isn't around to judge her.

* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett:'' It's noted that important people on Tatooine usually use litters, and that Boba Fett, the new crime lord of Mos Espa, stands out for choosing to walk. In contrast we see the Twins, Jabba the Hutt's cousins, being carried by more than a dozen human servants who are visibly straining under their combined weight. Not that Hutts can "walk" anyway.

* In one variation of the traditional Chinese wedding, the bride arrives at the groom's house in a four- or eight-man covered sedan chair, and then is carried to the red carpet by her father. (If she were to trip or stumble, that would be a bad omen.)

* In one variation of the traditional Chinese wedding, the bride arrives at the groom's house in a four- or eight-man covered sedan chair, and then is carried to the red carpet by her father. (If she were to trip or stumble, that would be a bad omen. Of course, if she's a hefty girl and her father isn't that robust, and were to drop her, that would be worse, wouldn't it?)