History Main / WaterTowerDown

* ''VideoGame/MaximumCarnage'': In the first fight against Doppelganger, it's possible to instantly defeat him by throwing a nearby water tower at him.

* ''Literature/DesignatedTargets'': A water tower is destroyed in an assault on a Japanese-held Australian town, killing a spotter team on it.

** In the forth thread, Marcus tipped a water tower over, the water of which Terra then electrified.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The tie-in comic ''Viva Las Buffy'' Buffy is combating vampires on a rooftop. Realizing she's outnumbered, she tosses a conveniently nearby priest into the rooftop water tower and tells him to bless the water. He does so, and Buffy knocks down the tower so the vampires disintegrate from exposure to the now holy water.

* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted'' and ''VideoGame/{{Carbon}}'' use these as pursuit breakers. Drive through the supports and the tower falls on the pursuing police cars.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': The heroes drop a water tower in Torigoth in order to deal with the powerful Fire-element Blade Brighid. Unfortunately, the also fire-based Pyra is seemingly unaffected, hinting that she is not really fire-powered. {{Deconstructed}} when it's pointed out that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero destroying the city's primary water tower has serious repercussions]]; the crop fields are flooded, and even once that is dealt with, the farmers have a lot of trouble watering their fields. People complain about it for the entire rest of the game.

* ''Film/IronMan3'': Savin collapses the Rose Hill water tower by melting the structural supports, in an attempt to drown Tony Tony Stark has an OhCrap moment as a result.

* ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'': Occurs in the first issue of, where an inexperienced Spidey fights The Scorcher (an armored arsonist) in a warehouse.

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Happens early on in the series- Yoh rushes into a burning building to save the children trapped inside, and manages to crack open the water tower on the roof with nothing more than a length of stairway banister thanks to [[PowersViaPossession Amidamaru's swordsman skills]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': In "Sting of the Scorpion", Scorpion knocks down a water tower and it falls on Spider-Man before breaking and releasing all its water. The impact itself knocks Spider-Man out cold.

* Yuda does this during his final battle in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' in order to make it harder for Rei to use his legs and his aerial attacks. Rei defeats him by using Hishou Hakurei.
* Happens early on in Manga/ShamanKing when Yoh dashes into a burning building to save the children trapped inside. He reaches the roof and manages to crack open the water tower and put out the fire (thanks to the powers he gain from [[PowersViaPossession being possessed by the ghost of a samurai]]).

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' tie-in comic ''Viva Las Buffy'' Buffy is combating vampires on a rooftop. Realizing she's outnumbered, she tosses a conveniently nearby priest into the rooftop water tower and tells him to bless the water. He does so, and Buffy knocks down the tower so the vampires disintegrate from exposure to the now holy water.
* Occurs in the first issue of ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'', where an inexperienced Spidey fights The Scorcher (an armored arsonist) in a warehouse.
* In ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' #825, "Return of Doctor Phosphorus", ComicBook/{{Batman}} tries to stop Doctor Phosphorus - a PlayingWithFire villain - using this trope, but it barely slows Phosphorus down.
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': When Monsoon nearly drowns Tim the water tower isn't shown but implied when she somehow gets a massive amount of water from above to flood the alley he's in with.

* In ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', Daffy Duck causes DJ to run the Batmobile into the Warner Bros tower and knock it over, flooding a few scenes, ending the chase scene, and getting DJ fired.
* Used by ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' (accidentally) to take out the hawk. Because it's empty, he drops the tower itself on his enemy. [[spoiler:He ''does'' use water to solve his problems at the climax, but the watertower's not involved.]]
* Happens to Ludmilla at the end of ''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent''.

* ''Film/IronMan3'': Tony Stark has an OhCrap moment when a villain tries to take him out with this method.

* ''Film/TheToweringInferno'': The ending has the heroes blowing up a set of huge water tanks at the top of the building in an attempt to extinguish the fire.

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Video Games]]

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': The heroes drop a water tower in Torigoth in order to deal with the powerful Fire-element Blade Brighid. Deconstructed when it's pointed out that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero destroying the city's primary water tower has serious repercussions]]; the crop fields are flooded, and even once that is dealt with, the farmers have a lot of trouble watering their fields. People complain about it for the entire rest of the game.

[[AC: Western Animation]]

** "See No Evil": When Batman is fighting an invisible opponent under a water tower, he throws a Batarang into the tower's underside, causing water to leak onto his foe and make him visible. (The man is still taken out by Batman's martial arts.)
** "Night of the Ninja": The Ninja chops down a water tower with his sword. The water sweeps Robin off the roof.

* In the ActionPrologue of ''Film/TheExpendables2'', the Expendable team noticed a wave of enemy reinforcements coming at them while being pinned down by enemy soldiers. Hale Caesar takes care of that by blasting down a water tower, unleashing a tidal wave that wipes out a dozen or so of the mooks.
* This is how the Sandman is taken out at the end of ''Film/SpiderMan3''. [[spoiler: Of course, he doesn't actually die. Just stops fighting.]]
* At the beginning of the ''Film/WildWildWest'' movie, one of these is knocked out in the middle of an arrest attempt. Things go badly from there.
* In the original ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' film: the Kurgan slashes out the supports of a water tower on the top of a building in order to give him extra cover from which to ambush Connor Macleod (they are fighting on the roof at the time).
* The ending of ''Film/TheToweringInferno'' has the heroes blowing up a set of huge water tanks at the top of the building in an attempt to extinguish the fire.
* Mr [[spoiler: Book]] is [[MindOverMatter thrown]] through [[KillItWithWater a water tower]] in ''Film/DarkCity''.
* ''Film/IronMan3''. Tony Stark has an OhCrap moment when a villain tries to take him out with this method.
* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}''. Nite Owl uses his airship's gatling cannon to cut down the supports of a water tower on the roof of a burning building, flooding it with water. Though given that the roof was weakened enough to allow Silk Spectre to [[DynamicEntry crash through it]], he was lucky not to collapse the roof and kill everyone.

* One of these is destroyed in an assault on a Japanese-held Australian town, killing a spotter team on it, in AlternateHistory novel ''Designated Targets''.
* In Creator/GKChesterton's ''The Napoleon of Notting Hill'', threatening this is how Wayne finally gets his enemies to surrender. Indeed, [[WordOfGod Chesterton]] described the use of the Waterworks as a weapon as part of the original inspiration.

* Unintentionally used in ''Literature/GoingPostal''. During a fire at the Post Office, the rainwater tank on its roof (which acts as a counterweight for its freight elevator) breaks free and falls into the fire, causing a massive steam explosion that kills [[spoiler: the golem Anghammarad]]. It's noted that [[MadeOfIndestructium neither water nor fire would have been enough on its own]].

* ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' has Lucretia flooding an entire castle in order to kill the enemy mooks inside.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' the cloakwood Mine was abandoned when the miners dug into a riverbed. Years later the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Iron Throne]] somehow got the hole sealed and the water pumped out, to resume the mining with illegal slaves. After killing the local leader in charge of the mine, you take his key to the seal and then you can figure out the rest...
* In the first fight against Doppelganger in ''VideoGame/MaximumCarnage'', it's possible to instantly defeat him by throwing a nearby water tower at him.
* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted'' and ''Carbon'' used these as pursuit breakers. Drive through the supports and the tower falls on the pursuing police cars.
* In ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' during the 'Rooftop Rescue' Mission you can blow up or shoot out the top part of a water tower so that the spilling water slows down an Agent.

* This is the method by which Splinter first defeats the Shredder in the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 second cartoon]]; not only does the water throw him from the rooftop, the tower itself then lands on him. Ouch.

** Variant in "See No Evil", when Batman is fighting an invisible opponent under a water tower, he throws a Batarang into the tower's underside, causing water to leak onto his foe and make him visible. (The man is still taken out by Batman's martial arts.)
** In "Night of the Ninja", the Ninja chops down a water tower with his sword. The water sweeps Robin off the roof.

A common method used in order to KillItWithWater. See that water tower on top of the building? Well, it turns out these are - ahahaha -- filled with water. Knock down the water tower, and a huge torrent of the stuff will come crashing down below. It will displace and pummel any living thing beneath it, and extinguish fire extremely quickly. In a fantastic setting, water-weak creatures will often be wiped out by it. [[MST3KMantra Try not to think too hard]] about why a water-weak opponent would choose to fight anywhere near a water tower.

!!Examples

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[[folder: Literature ]]

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A common method used in order to KillItWithWater. See that water tower on top of the building? Well, it turns out these are - ahahaha - filled with water. Knock down the water tower, and a huge torrent of the stuff will come crashing down below. It will displace and pummel any living thing beneath it, and extinguish fire extremely quickly. In a fantastic setting, water-weak creatures will often be wiped out by it. [[MST3KMantra Try not to think too hard]] about why a water-weak opponent would choose to fight anywhere near a water tower.

* Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre take advantage of one of these to temporarily subdue a fire in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''. It keeps going, but the water clears enough of a path for them to rescue the apartment tenants.

* Occurs in the first issue of ''Comicbook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'', where an inexperienced Spidey fights The Scorcher (an armored arsonist) in a warehouse.
* In Detective Comics #825, "Return of Doctor Phosphorus", Franchise/{{Batman}} tries to stop Doctor Phosphorus - a PlayingWithFire villain - using this trope, but it barely slows Phosphorus down.
* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': When Monsoon nearly drowns Tim the water tower isn't shown but implied when she somehow gets a massive amount of water from above to flood the alley he's in with.

* Unintentionally used in ''Discworld/GoingPostal''. During a fire at the Post Office, the rainwater tank on its roof (which acts as a counterweight for its freight elevator) breaks free and falls into the fire, causing a massive steam explosion that kills [[spoiler: the golem Anghammarad]]. It's noted that [[MadeOfIndestructium neither water nor fire would have been enough on its own]].

* Used by WesternAnimation/{{Rango}} (accidentally) to take out the hawk. Because it's empty, he drops the tower itself on his enemy. [[spoiler:He ''does'' use water to solve his problems at the climax, but the watertower's not involved.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' during the 'Rooftop Rescue' Mission you can blow up or shoot out the top part of a water tower so that the spilling water slow's down an Agent.

* Variant in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' "See No Evil": when Batman is fighting an invisible opponent under a water tower, he throws a Batarang into the tower's underside, causing water to leak onto his foe and make him visible. (The man is still taken out by Batman's martial arts.)

* ''SuikodenV'' has Lucretia flooding an entire castle in order to kill the enemy mooks inside.

[[folder: Anime]]

* In ''BaldursGate'' the cloakwood Mine was abandoned when the miners dug into a riverbed. Years later the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Iron Throne]] somehow got the hole sealed and the water pumped out, to resume the mining with illegal slaves. After killing the local leader in charge of the mine, you take his key to the seal and then you can figure out the rest...

* Happens to Ludmilla at the end of ''WesternAnimation/BartoktheMagnificent''.

* NeedForSpeed Most Wanted and Carbon used these as pursuit breakers. Drive through the supports and the tower falls on the pursuing police cars.