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1%%%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
2
3[[quoteright:311:[[VideoGame/TheAvengersBunkerBusters https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Captain_America_Bunker_Buster_5649.png]]]]
4[[caption-width-right:311:Who knew The Avengers would make such great [[http://lol.disney.com/games/disneyxd-the-avengers-bunker-busters projectiles]]?]]
5
6When SiegeEngines are loaded with people rather than rocks/bombs/plague victims. Typically in the context of a siege, so as to get attackers on a walltop quickly, or to give particularly tough characters a DynamicEntry. ArtisticLicensePhysics is usually required to avoid the problems of how to launch someone in a controllable manner and enable them to survive the landing; the person might just have to be SuperTough or MadeOfIron.
7
8Title comes from a Website/{{Darwin Award|s}} ([[http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-21.html that isn't]] [[ThisIndexIsNotAnExample about this]], but a TreeBuchet-induced death).
9
10See also FastballSpecial, HumanCannonball, AbnormalAmmo.
11
12----
13!!Examples:
14
15[[foldercontrol]]
16
17[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18* The Knight Sabers of ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis 2040'' launch into battle via a magnetic mass driver in their base.
19* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpiralCity'' has an unintentional example at the ending, when Gian assists in the final battle by using a giant slingshot to launch giant tennis balls on Onigoro's clones. Unfortunately, Gian got himself caught in the slingshot and launches himself into knocking out a few clones.
20* This is the main way of transportation of the Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats, and they do this OncePerEpisode.
21* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': "With my Catapult Turtle, I launch my Dragon Champion at your castle..."
22* ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'': Van was shot from the Gravity Cannon in his Blade Liger in order to take out the Death Saurer.
23[[/folder]]
24
25[[folder:Asian Animation]]
26* In the ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' episode "Hilltop", Lamput escapes from the docs by stretching his arms around some nearby trees and catapulting himself back to the hilltop where he was relaxing before the docs appeared.
27* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': In ''Flying Island: The Sky Adventure'' episode 13, one of Wolffy's attempts to get back to his family is to shoot himself into the air with a giant catapult. The base of the catapult detaches from the ground and comes flying at him, leaving him right in front of a tree trunk.
28[[/folder]]
29
30[[folder:Card Games]]
31* Very common in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', especially [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45467 with]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4821 goblins]] (and giants, who are always happy to [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=140183 help them fly]]).
32* Catapult Turtle and Cannon Soldier from ''TabletopGame/{{Yugioh}}'' are two more Prime examples, firing off their fellow monsters for use in direct attacks.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Comic Books]]
36* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'':
37** ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra'' has this twice: once as an accident, a Roman soldier lands on the boulder loaded in the catapult just as it fires, the second is deliberate, Asterix loads himself into one to escape from the Romans.
38** Asterix does it again in ''Recap/AsterixAndCaesarsGift'', launching himself from a catapult to escape a Roman camp while he's out of magic potion.
39* ''ComicBook/{{Lanfeust}}'': Lanfeust uses this method to get a troll onto a wall quickly.
40* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: While it is not seen used for such Paradise Island has an odd cannon-like contraption designed to fire Amazons at attackers. In story it's used as part of a kanga jumping game by shooting a bunch of balloons up in the air.
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Comic Strips]]
44* In ''{{ComicStrip/Dilbert}}'', the Elbonians use giant slingshots instead of planes.
45* In the [[http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Hagar_The_Horrible&feature_date=2013-03-26# March 26th strip]] of ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'', Hagar is about to use a catapult to send some of his warriors over the wall of an enemy castle.
46* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip featured a knight being flung from the catapult on a castle's parapet. The chief engineer is calmly berating the others by saying "I told you to slow down or something like this would happen".
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Fan Works]]
50* ''Fanfic/IfWishesWerePonies'': Harry and the [=CMC=] build a trebuchet and begin launching themselves. It quickly becomes popular. Once they finish building a larger one, some enterprising pegasi decide it would be great fun to use the flung ponies to play dodge-ball. Then an equally enterprising unicorn decided to make the dodging pagasi's jobs harder by firing off spells while they're still mid-flight. The pegasi in question just take it as a challenge.
51* ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'': Hiccup invents a "dragon catapult" early on, but the dragons mostly use it as a toy. Much later, during [[spoiler:the Pecheneg attack on Constantinople]], they make a comeback, not as a toy for the dragons, but as a war machine to launch dragons and their riders directly into battle.
52* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': In one story, Haara fires herself out of a trebuchet to put some distance between herself and the swarm of ice mephits trying to chase her down. (It helps that as a monk she can drastically reduce her fall damage.)
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
56* Suggested as yet another escape plan by Ginger and Mac in ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'', though the potential negatives of the landing are explored when they use a miniature model of the catapult and a turnip as a chicken for the demonstration. The turnip is flung with such force it smashes into the other wall and explodes, to the squeamish of the observing chickens.
57-->'''Fowler:''' ''*observing the remains*'' The turnip bought it!
58* At the climax of ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', Joy manages to launch herself and Sadness back to Headquarters with the unlikely combination of [[spoiler:a human tower formed from a BagOfHolding full of clones of Riley's [[GirlfriendInCanada imaginary boyfriend]] and a giant trampoline.]]
59* A variation occurs in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' when Stitch uses an ''exploding tanker truck'' to launch himself at Gantu's spaceship.
60* Used as part of the ludicrous RubeGoldbergDevice transportation method in ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}''.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64* Evil Ash tries this so as to make his [[VillainExitStageLeft dramatic getaway]] at the end of ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness''. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for him.]]
65* A giant slingshot is one of the increasingly desperate measures the Lost Boys use in ''Film/{{Hook}}'' to try to rekindle Peter's ability to fly.
66* ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain''. With the help of a goat, Inspector Clouseau is inadvertently launched into a castle's window via catapult and lands on Professor Fassbender's DisintegratorRay device, disabling it and saving the day.
67* ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' parodies the ''Prince of Thieves'' example with the Sheriff of Rottingham, who gets catapulted into a very ''eager'' [[AbhorrentAdmirer Latrine's]] bedroom.
68* ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'': In order to get inside the castle and rescue Marian, Robin and Azeem use a catapult to launch themselves over the wall.
69* Mathyas in ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' stumbles into the EvilOverlord's captive scientist's laboratory during his first attack on the palace. When he asks if there is any other way out of the room, the scientist offers his newly invented catapult as an option. Apparently, he designed it for this purpose explicitly (but admits "there was a little problem with the landings") and he expresses regret that his boss plans to use the "transportation" device for war.
70* In ''Film/SuckerPunch'', during the {{Mordor}} sequence, two orcs are launched by catapult toward the girls' plane. One misses, the other is quickly shot and goes through the TurbineBlender.
71* Done by Creator/DouglasFairbanks in the classic silent movie ''[[Film/TheThiefOfBagdad1924 The Thief of Baghdad]]''.
72* ''Film/{{Willow}}'' plays this straight when Madmartegan uses a catapult to launch to a rampart to get into the thick of a fight.
73* ''Film/YoungEinstein'' has the [[YoungFutureFamousPeople titular]] [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein character]] launch himself from a homemade catapult to test Newton's second law.
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Literature]]
77* A Creator/BernardWerber short story is set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, when pollution of any kind is banned (the ozone layer is barely there anymore), and catapults are in development as a rapid transit method.
78* ''Literature/TheMarvellousLandOfSnergs'': In order to cross over the river, the Snergs and Vanderdecken's crew build a giant ballista and shoot the anchor tied to a long rope across the gorge. It worked, but if they had failed to secure the anchor, Vanderdecken's Plan B was to wrap a Snerg in a straw bale and catapult him across the river.
79* Done with trebuchets a few times in ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil''.
80** In the First Battle of Liesse, after an important shot misses with the first stone, Catherine could distantly hear her Senior Sapper screaming that if the second shot is off that badly, the third shot will be launching the offending engineer.
81** During the Second Battle of Liesse, Adjutant rides a trebuchet stone into battle to join Catherine for the taking of the outer bastion. He ends up injured, but not badly enough to slow him down.
82** In the siege of the Red Flower Vales, when [[OurDragonsAreDifferent General Nekheb]] strafed the Proceran army the Valiant Champion tried to have herself launched at them from a catapult, but the engineer insisted that she couldn't survive that and refused to cooperate.
83** While fighting the Dominion, General Rumena reinforces a faltering battle line by catapulting Mighty Jindrich into the enemy lines.
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
87* Used as a ''death trap'' in an episode of the live-action ''Series/Batman1966'' series ("Penguin Is a Girl's Best Friend"). Penguin has Batman and Robin strapped upon a catapult, with movie cameras strapped to their calves to record their flight and hard landing. The catapult will be released when a taut rope is burned through. The Dynamic Duo do manage to escape this trap through their own technology.
88* The Series/MythBusters tested a myth regarding using this technique via a portable slingshot to illegally cross the U.S. border. Unfortunately, as Jamie put it, "humans are big, heavy things", and any slingshot powerful enough to accomplish the distances state in the myth (300 yards) wouldn't be even ''remotely'' portable; the [=MythBusters=]' use of ''radio towers'' wasn't enough to do ''that''. Not to mention the likely injuries suffered when landing after travelling that distance.
89* In an episode of ''Series/NorthernExposure'', Chris builds a trebuchet as an art project, and is looking for something to "fling" from it. First he wants to fling a cow, but Ed tells him Creator/MontyPython [[ItsBeenDone already did it]]. Chris finally settles on a piano ruined by fire, saying, "It's not the thing you fling, it's the fling itself." Then in a later episode, his mentor (who died) [[http://home.comcast.net/~mcnotes/44.html sends Chris his corpse...]]
90* One series of sketches on ''Series/SorryIveGotNoHead'' involved a mother and son pair who tried increasingly bizarre means of transportation in an attempt to beat the traffic while getting the son to school. One of there attempts involved using a giant slingshot.
91[[/folder]]
92
93[[folder:Pinballs]]
94* In ''Pinball/{{Hook}}'', activating the kickback shows Peter Pan being launched into the air with a giant slingshot.
95* ''Pinball/{{NBA}}'' has the Free Throw saucer, which kicks the pinball through the air and towards the playfield basketball hoop; a magnet in the backboard grabs the ball and drops it through the hoop.
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
99* Even appears in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
100** ''The Book of Marvelous Inventions'' has the Manapult. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, however, and the Manapult almost always kills its pilot.
101** In ''TabletopGame/DragonlanceShadowOfTheDragonQueen'', the gnomeflinger is a gnomish catapult designed specifically for launching people great distances as a form of rapid transportation. It's safe to use, so long as you're wearing a parachute and you don't crash into anything before you land.
102* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:
103** The Doom Diver Catapult from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' is a slingshot or ballista that fires [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins/grots]] with pointed helmets and crude wings. These strange war machines are surprisingly effective as the ammo is able to use its wings to guide itself onto the target.
104** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
105*** Orks utilize a high-tech variant in the form of [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent gretchin-]][[CrossesTheLineTwice guided missiles]] and one possible malfunction for the Shokk Attack Gun ("move the Big Mek into base contact with the target squad and resolve as if he had charged them"). The ''intended'' function of the shokk attack gun is to fire a tiny goblin into the target via [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace The Warp]], but that's more of a TeleFrag.
106*** The fan-created Angry Marines have a vehicle class called the Angrinator, which fires Angry Marines directly into combat. Guns that launch Angry Marines (or giant cannons that launch vehicles filled with Angry Marines) are pretty much the only kind of ranged weapon the Angry Marines will use, as they prefer melee combat.
107* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' adventure ''Alpha Complexities'', [[MadScientist R&D]] offers a gigantic human slingshot as the only way the [[PlayerCharacter Troubleshooters]] can possibly get to their mission location on time. Given that even ''toothbrushes'' from R&D are usually fatal, the Troubleshooters are expected to insist on walking, especially after talking to the suspiciously nervous tech. [[spoiler:Anyone who uses the slingshot passes out from the G-forces, but then wakes up lying on a [[RefugeInAudacity giant mattress]], perfectly unharmed.]]
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder:Theme Parks]]
111* At Ride/UniversalStudios:
112** In the beginning of the former ''Ride/TheFuntasticWorldOfHannaBarbera'', the vehicles are propelled forward when they get shot from a rubber-band slingshot.
113** The ending of ''Ride/PopeyeAndBlutosBilgeRatBarges'' has Popeye getting rid of Bluto via slingshotting him away (by using his suspenders as the rubber band).
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Video Games]]
117* ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' is all about this. On one side, birdbrained birds and a sling. On the opposed side, evil pigs hiding in elaborate-but-not-unbreakable structures. You must smash the pigs.
118* While nigh-impossible to achieve, it is possible in ''VideoGame/BoardGameOnline'' to get a random event that makes you able to launch yourself out of a catapult, and land on another player, killing them and ensuring you get away scot-free.
119* ''VideoGame/BurritoBison'' similarly uses this as its core mechanic. Bison launches himself off the wrestling ring rather than a real catapult, though.
120* ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' catapults the player(s) into battle against the Coneheads during the mission at Flower Fields.
121* The dramatic ending to the tutorial zone for VideoGame/ChampionsOnline features your character carving a path through the Qular invasion into the Hall of Champions. Once there, you finally pound through to the controls for the massive cannon outside. BUT WAIT, you're undoubtedly thinking to yourself, "We've established that nothing we've tried can penetrate the mothership's shields!" Well that's when [[NighInvulnerable Ironclad]] climbs into the cannon... And he [[RuleOfCool one-shots the entire mothership]].
122* The Soviet amphibious transport vehicle from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' is capable of launching (with parachutes) any infantry (which includes {{bears|AreBadNews}}) through a cannon. It is, in fact, the ''only'' way for your troops to exit the craft.
123* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'':
124** During a level on a space station in Mars' orbit, the Doom Slayer hijacks a nearby ion cannon, kicks the cannonball-shaped projectile out of the way, and launches himself to where he needs to go much to the exasperation of [[spoiler:Dr. Hayden]].
125-->'''[[spoiler:Dr. Hayden]]''': That is a ''weapon'', not a ''teleporter''.
126** The Slayer pulls the same stunt in part two of ''The Ancient Gods'', where [[spoiler:the Night Sentinels load him into a catapult and launch him into the walls of [[{{Mordor}} Immora]] without protest]].
127* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' sees this done a couple of times throughout the series. In ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarII GoW 2]]'', Kratos launches himself from a catapult so he can get up close and personal with the animated Colossus of Rhodes. In ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarIII GoW 3]]'', he hitches a ride on the boulder launched instead.
128* Some multiplayer maps in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' have [[http://www.halopedia.org/Man_cannon Man Cannons]] as an alternative to teleporters; they also show up in some of the later games' campaigns.
129* Near the end of ''VideoGame/HeroOfSparta 2'', after defeating Hades' mooks you then launch yourself towards Khronos' island via catapult while avoiding flaming arrows coming towards you. It's also one of the longest catapult to glories in history, the subsequent stage having you thrown through the skies and remaining airborne for ''two minutes''.
130* Very early on in ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}} II'', your path is barred by a wall with a locked gate. There's a catapult nearby, and when you get close, a sheep helpfully demonstrates the launch angle and what you need to do to get to the other side.
131* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', this is one of the more amusing applications of the Reality Shift function, it being used to load Pete and Beagle Boys into a cannon and fire them out of it; first blasting the latter into the former to get him to come down from his perch, then launching the former into a wall as a finisher.
132* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has used this a few times.
133** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': This is how Link infiltrates the Forsaken Fortress in the game's prologue. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck He's not happy about it, though.]]
134** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Fyer's Cannon is capable of shooting someone to the desert, but that destination is forbidden without a permit (Link receives one from Auru, who is one of Fyer's closest friends). Much later in the game, [[JourneyToTheSky the sole transportation method between the ground and the high skies]] to reach the Oocca's homeland is via the even more powerful Sky Cannon, though it needs to be repaired beforehand.
135** Used in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' so that Link can reach an in-flight boss. The catapult is built by [[spoiler:Groose, Link's rival and eventual friend]].
136** Tetra, the PirateGirl responsible for Link's example in ''Wind Waker'', enters the fray this way in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors Legends''.
137* This is how Sir Dan escapes [[spoiler:the castle he is dropping into lava]] in ''VideoGame/MediEvil''.
138* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', during the final assault on Outer Haven to stop Liquid Ocelot's plans, Snake, Meryl, and Akiba use rocket-powered catapults to launch themselves onboard. Only Snake manages to hit his mark -- Meryl ends up on a different part of the vessel and breaks her ankle, [[ButtMonkey while Akiba smacks into the hull of the ship and plunges into the water]].
139* ''Videogame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy:'' In all three games, Samus takes advantage of her ability to become cannonball-shaped to use various types of "Kinetic Orb" cannons as transportation.
140* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': One of the masks your Shakalaka companion (Cha-Cha) can use is the Artillery Mask, which will produce a cannon that fires him at a nearby monster. It does a massive amount of damage, but completely depletes the health of whoever serves as the ammo. This can also be done with Kayamba in the UpdatedRerelease ''3 Ultimate''.
141* The Flying-type Gym in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' games requires the player to shoot themself out of cannons through the gym to reach the Leader. And the last one ''smashes them against the wall''.
142* In ''VideoGame/PropCycle'' the player character and his flying bicycle is shot to the final level in a sky with a giant slingshot.
143* ''Videogame/SengokuBasara'' has ballistas in certain stages that can be used to launch the player across the stages, either for shortcuts or to hidden areas.
144* ''VideoGame/SheepRaider'' (or ''Sheep Dog and Wolf''), being based on WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes and [[strike:Wile E Coyote]] Ralph Wolf, naturally has these.
145* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'': In [[VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves the third game]], when preparing to fight the Black Baron by sabotaging his armed blimps. But, he has to get to the blimps.
146* In ''VideoGame/SkunnySaveOurPizzas'', Skunny can use small catapults to launch himself across chasms.
147* In ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander2'', the UEF side can build a giant artillery cannon that is also a giant factory. It builds a small army (more quickly and more cheaply than regular factories do) and fires them across the map where they parachute to the ground. It's useful for parking a force right inside an enemy base.
148* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
149** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'': A variation occurs in which Mario is loaded into a cannon that fire him across the sea to Pinna Park.
150** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Mario and his party are launched by Bob-ombs to [[spoiler:the Moon]] in a cannon.
151* Though a fan-made piece by Zack Weinersmith of ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'', the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' map [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/smbcastle/ cp_smbcastle]] features a catapult for attacking teams to fling themselves over enemy walls. It's appropriately nonsensical and every bit as funny as it sounds to send a [[HuskyRusskie fat Russian man]] flying over a castle wall with [[GatlingGood his minigun spinning]].
152* ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline'' :
153** There's an ad for showing an Orc doing this to clear a castle wall. Orcs being the PluckyComicRelief race of Warhammer, he goes too low and splatters against the wall before landing on a pile of dead orcs who had no doubt tried the same thing.
154** In-game, you ''can'' fire yourself out of a Rock Lobber to get to the top of a dam in ''Warhammer Online'''s Greenskins campaign. Fortunately, the crew has had time to correct their aim.
155** In the second cinematic trailer for the game, in a real blink and you'll miss it moment, you see another Orc smash into a rooftop, presumably being fired too high this time.
156* There are at least three places in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' where you can do this:
157** One is in the first bossfight of the Ulduar raid, where the players get to control siege vehicles and fight against a giant steam-tank. A passager of the catapult-like siege vehicle can load himself in the catapult and be fired onto the boss, where he can destroy some turrets and temporarily immobilize the boss.
158** One is in the Isle of Conquest battleground, which also features vehicles, one of which is a catapult specifically designed to do this. It has low health and no weapons, but it can be used to launch people over the walls of the enemy keep or onto their keep towers.
159** A a quest in the Worgen starting zone involves hijacking a Forsaken Catapult and using it to launch yourself onto their invading ships.
160
161[[/folder]]
162
163[[folder:Web Comics]]
164* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', while playing a CollectibleCardGame parody of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', Mr. Tensaided plays a combo which is depicted as [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-09-13 a dragon being shot out of a cannon.]]
165-->Pay one energy, activate: Attack with a monster from your hand. That monster then dies because, well, ''cannon''.
166* Takes a lot of things coming together to make it work in ''Webcomic/{{Middleways}}'' but this eventually becomes the model of rapid deployment by the heroes.
167* In ''Webcomic/MiscellaneousError'', Jack attempts to catapult himself over a pool filled with [[ThreateningShark sharks]]. ForScience.
168* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
169** During the siege of Azure City, Redcloak loads the goblinoid army's catapults with Titanium {{elemental|embodiment}}s (just as strong as Earth Elementals and 40% lighter) he'd {{Summon|ingRitual}}ed: not only do they [[BreachingTheWall breach the walls]], they stick around to fight.
170** Later in the same siege, HeroicComedicSociopath Belkar suggests that the Order do the same thing to reach the throne room, after flinging the [[RedHerringShirt two nameless soldiers]] first to adjust their aim. Predictably, no one agrees.
171* In ''Webcomic/QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger'' the Patoodines do this as punishment, the severity of the crime determines distance thrown and therefore the likeliness of survival.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Web Original]]
175* It is not acceptable to do this to Dwarves in Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG.
176* In a famous ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' [[http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/50850/catapult+in+2+mordor/ series of animated GIFs,]] Boromir's plan for the ring becomes this after a failed first attempt.
177-->'''Boromir''': ...and tell them Boromir sent ya!
178* In ''Webcomic/UnnaturalSelection''[='s=] Belenosian interlude, [[MindHive Unity]] is trapped in a besieged building while their enemy is jumping the last legal hoops to storm it. To escape, they build a [[{{Unobtainium}} jetalium]] ''railgun'' that spans the whole building's height, catapulting their robotic body into orbit.
179[[/folder]]
180
181[[folder:Western Animation]]
182* The animated ''WesternAnimation/{{Ivanhoe}}'' had one episode about a Creator/LeonardoDaVinci -like character, who built one to test his gliding apparatus. However, his sponsor Prince John was only interested in the catapult itself, so the inventor eventually sabotaged it, buried his plans in a secret crypt, and fled the country by gliding from a cliff instead.
183* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman again, this time in the famous episode "Almost Got 'Im", where Two-Face straps Batman to a giant penny, with the intention of catapulting it high into the air. Batman escapes, captures Two-Face, and even gets to keep the penny.
184* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', Jimmy once punished Samy this way.
185* WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes:
186** In the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon "WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs", the Black Knight (Yosemite Sam) uses a catapult to try to launch himself into the window of a castle, but hits the castle instead.
187** Wile E. Coyote tries this in one of the Road Runner shorts, with predictable results.
188* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife''. Heffer thought it a good idea for Rocko to use a catapult over public trasportation so he wouldn't be late for work.
189* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
190** Used in one episode as punishment for illegal alcohol distilling.
191** In an episode where Lisa was UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, she persuaded the French army to use rocks instead of people in their catapults.
192-->'''Man in a catapult''': I don't know how to feel right now.
193* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the MoralGuardians protest the ToiletHumour ShowWithinAShow "Terrance and Phillip" by catapulting themselves against the headquarters of the network.
194* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'':
195** There was a superhero named the Human Bullet. His gimmick was to be fired out of a giant cannon - something which usually failed to help with whatever problem was at hand.
196** The cannon even became a ChekhovsGun (heh) in "The Tick vs The Bread Master" when it was used to generate a sonic boom large enough to detonate the villain's doomsday weapon (a giant soufflé). Naturally, The Tick himself had to be fired to generate the blast as it would have killed anyone else.
197[[/folder]]
198
199[[folder:Real Life]]
200* While live victims were a historical rarity, its far from unheard of to catapult dead things into cities in order to spread disease, particularly if aforementioned corpse died of something infectious. The most famous example is the use of this trope by the Mongols to attempt to weaken a European city they were besieging by lobbing their own dead of bubonic plague. It worked too well--thus began the Black Death in medieval Europe, which ended up wiping out somewhere between a third and a half of the continent's population. The thing is, the besieging Mongols were themselves so ravaged by the disease, [[WhatASenseLessWasteOfHumanLife they didn't even manage to capture the city]].
201* There were instances of inmates using improvised catapults (see-saws, actually) to jump out of a prison yard. A few were even able to run away after the landing.
202* An odd example of sorts comes from USS Enterprise (CV-6). During an air attack, one of the fighters that was preparing to launch was caught on the ships catapult and strafed before it could be launched. While this wasn't much of an issue normally[[note]]since the pilot was already out, and the Hellcat was a tough plane[[/note]], the aircraft, loaded with ordnance to support Marines, [[OhCrap suddenly burst into flames]]. The Catapult Operator, recognizing the danger, immediately launched the plane in order to save the ship. The aircraft went into the water and exploded, but the Enterprise would survive to fight another day.
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