Line #55 Main/DelayedExplosion


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5	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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14	[[quoteright:288:[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SuperMario_explosion_2152.png]]]]
15	[[caption-width-right:288:"WheresTheKaboom [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes There was supposed to be a castle-shattering ka—]]" BOOM]]
16
17	StuffBlowingUp in RealLife tends to be sudden and brief. But "sudden and brief" makes for poor television and film, particularly when setting the scene up is something of a money sink. Thus, explosions are inexplicably delayed, slowed down or otherwise manipulated to get the desired effect. The defining characteristic is a delay between the ''cause'' of the explosion and the explosion itself. Hovering a finger over the detonator button doesn't qualify. This delay may be a fraction of a second or several minutes. OutrunTheFireball is one incarnation of this trope.
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19	There are several flavours of delayed explosion that the connoisseur can enjoy:
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21	* Deja vu Delay, where [[RepeatCut the same explosion is seen several times]]. This may be from different angles, each segment slightly overlapping, to make it less obvious.
22	* Expository Delay, where the explosion is delayed just long enough for the audience to be shown the trigger that causes the explosion.
23	* Gag Delay, where the victim or victims have time to think [[WheresTheKaboom the explosion has been averted]] before it actually goes off. See also the RuleOfFunny.
24	** Unintended Delay, in which the perpetrator thinks the explosion has been thwarted and panics a bit before it happens, is usually a sub-type of the above.
25	* Polite Delay, where the explosion has the good manners to not erupt out of the top of the lift shaft/burst through the door/steam out of the tunnel until after the characters in the vicinity have leapt to safety.
26	* Realistic Delay, where the difference in speed between sound and light is observed and used for dramatic impact. Rare, unless it's a nuke.
27	* Shoe-Drop Delay, where the delay is purely so a character can react to the imminent explosion and be noticed doing so, generally while lit by the fires of that same explosion.
28	* Staggered Delay, where what should clearly be a number of explosions occurring simultaneously is broken down into stages, in order to give the hero a fighting chance of making to the end of the corridor before the last one goes off. Note that this is specific to situations where the explosives are set off by a single detonator, and not when one explosion triggers another. Contrast the Polite Delay, which is a single, slow-moving explosion, although both can be a form of [[OutrunTheFireball Outrunning the Fireball]].
29	** An inverted variant is the Linear Bomb: when the ground is traced by some WaveMotionGun, the explosion happens on the entire line simultaneously after a short delay, instead of following the ray. This does not help anyone to OutrunTheFireball (except in some video games), and is only for the RuleOfCool. See SweepingLaserExplosion for specific examples.
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31	And of course:
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33	* JustForFun/{{Egregious}} Delay, where there is no discernible reason other than the makers wanting it that way. See also RuleOfCool.
34	----
35	!!Examples:
36	[[foldercontrol]]
37	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
38	* The Linear Bomb version is ubiquitous in anime, one of the most famous examples is God Warior firing in ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''.
39	* ''{{Manga/AKIRA}}'' had a BrickJoke example near the beginning, where an extremist tries to set off a grenade in a police station only to have it fizzle out. As the main characters are walking away from the building minutes later, an explosion comes from said station.
40	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}.'':
41	** ''The entire franchise'' (and many RealRobot shows thereafter). [[HumongousMecha Mobile suits]] are MadeOfExplodium, so you just ''know'' they're going to blow up when they're critically damaged, but very often there's a Shoe-Drop Delay so the victim can display an OhCrap face before his mobile suit explodes. Of course, if the fatally damaged mecha contains a major character, there may well be a full on Egregious Delay to let the character give his dying speech. Quickly killing off a MauveShirt with barely an OhCrap is a good way to show that WarIsHell.
42	** When [[spoiler:Kycilia]] dies in the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' via [[NoKillLikeOverkill rocket launcher direct hit]], there's a bizarre form of Shoe-Drop Delay where the projectile managed to [[OffWithHisHead obliterate the target's head]] and keep sailing ''past'' them before exploding (whether from a timer or hitting a wall).
43	* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'' has a number of Expository Delays, particularly in the spaceship combat scenes.
44	* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', as mentioned, is replete with Egregious Delays but also has plenty of Expository Delays and Shoe-Drop Delays. There's also a couple of deja vu delays in episode 8. Bring your own Kleenex.
45	* ''Anime/UchuuSenkanYamato'' (Star Blazers), esp. the second season: the Argo/Yamato's main armament beams enter (or sometimes go completely through) the enemy ship at one or more points, then there is a brief interval before the entire ship is ripped apart by explosions.
46	** Since the space battles are essentially a metaphor for naval combat, this phenomenon reflects the destruction of the British battlecruisers at Jutland: a flurry of hits, followed by an annihilating explosion an instant later as the flash of the detonation reached the main-armament propellant magazines.
47	* ''Anime/YourName'' has one of the Realistic variety: [[spoiler: when the comet fragment strikes Itomori, there is a brief delay before the sound of the impact is heard]].
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
51	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens''. [[spoiler: The alien spacecraft's self-destruct countdown reaches zero, but waits until 5 seconds later to actually explode.]]
52	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'': When [[spoiler:Midnight Sparkle]] begins her attack on the Canterlot High grounds by shooting a magic beam at the Wondercolt statue, said statue is covered in several flashes of light before finally exploding as a dimensional portal forms inside of it.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
56	* Typically speaking for Hollywood movies and TV production in general, anytime you see a time bomb count down to zero, the explosion will follow ''exactly'' three seconds after. This is usually a result of editing techniques in order to establish another shot to properly show the explosion.
57	* ''Film/ABridgeTooFar''. American paratroopers are running towards a seemingly undefended bridge when the Germans blow it up in their faces. Everyone dives for cover, but afterwards their officer advances cautiously to see if there's anything left. Two more charges go off, [[HumiliationConga soaking him in river water]]. His response is an understandably bitter "Shit!"
58	* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' has a particularly macabre example of a gag delay: When the Joker pushes the button, a few minor explosions happen, but not nearly enough to take down the whole hospital he was exiting. The Joker has time to [[WheresTheKaboom abuse his detonator in confusion]] before the real blasts occur, causing him ([[EnforcedMethodActing or more accurately]], Creator/HeathLedger) to ''run for his life'' (a [[PopCultureUrbanLegends popular urban legend]] claims that the explosions were delayed because of a mistake by the FX team and Ledger [[ThrowItIn was just improvising]] -- in truth, this beat was entirely planned as they were blowing up a building ''[[PracticalEffects for real]]'' and [[OneTakeWonder and only had one chance to film it]], thus they gave Ledger enough time to reach a safe distance for the scenario to play out).
59	* ''Film/{{Elf}}'': Buddy is sent to test toys, including a particularly annoying set of "Jack-in-the-Box"s. The last one takes a little extra to pop up, just long enough for Buddy to drop his guard.
60	* ''Film/FinalDestination1'' includes a single Realistic Delay amongst the generally unbelievable escapades.
61	* In the movie ''Film/TheFury'', Gillian -- who has telekinesis -- realizes Childers is the BigBad, and when he tries to comfort her after her friend dies (because he had her friend killed), she tells him to "Go to Hell!" and we watch as she uses her telekinetic powers to blow his head off. We see him holding his head in pain as the pressure builds, until he gives a graphic demonstration of the ChunkySalsaRule from eight different places in the room.
62	* When Gamora's pod gets blown up in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', we see the scene [[RepeatCut twice in short succession]]: first from Nebula's POV and then again in close-up.
63	* ''Film/HotDogsForGauguin'': A gag delay. Adrian's bomb to blow up the head of the Statue of Liberty (its PlayedForLaughs and ItMakesSenseInContext) is supposed to go off exactly at 12, so he can snap a picture. The TimeBomb strikes 12 and nothing happens. A puzzled Adrian is tweaking the wires on the time bomb when his friend Fletcher breaks through the door, Adrian accidentally knocks over the tripod, and the bomb goes off. Adrian doesn't get his picture.
64	%%* ''Film/IndependenceDay'' has several of these.
65	* ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' has the postal worker claim that there's a bomb in the package he's carrying in a desperate attempt to ward off police. After he flees the building (leaving said package behind), [[AccidentalTruth it actually goes off]].
66	* ''Film/LegendOfTheFistTheReturnOfChenZhen'' has this happening after the night raid on the Japanese barracks. One of the resistance leaders asks another, where he hid his explosives, which his comrade replies, "Up there." The leader is about to ask what did he mean by "up there" when he's interrupted by five Japanese guard towers exploding, all at the same time, which takes out around half the enemy camp in a few seconds.
67	* Jackie Chan's ''Film/NewPoliceStory'' has an extreme example of a Staggered Delay.
68	* In ''Film/PearlHarbor'', we see at one point a bomb crash on a building. It doesn't immediately go off, and the guy who was in the building thinks it's a dud. In fact it does detonate a couple of seconds later. Gag Delay or Shoe-Drop Delay? You decide. Could even be a half-hearted attempt at Realistic Delay; detonators of that period could be somewhat persnickety. A similar bomb also hit the ''U.S.S. Arizona'', though the sailors have even less time to react before the detonator triggers and breaks the battleship in half.
69	* Averted in the MadeForTV film ''Film/SpecialBulletin'' when [[spoiler: a news crew accidentally catches a nuclear explosion. The audience sees the mushroom cloud and immediate blast wave following it]].
70	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
71	** ''Film/ANewHope'': The explosion that destroys the Death Star happens a bit after Luke fires the critical shot at its weak point, giving the surviving heroes ample time to get out of range.
72	** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'': A realistic delay (light before sound) occurs with the explosion of the meteorites impacted by the missiles shot by Jango's ship while chasing Obi-Wan.
73	* ''Film/Tremors2Aftershocks'' mixed the Polite Delay and the Gag Delay. A time bomb gets thrown into [[CrazySurvivalist Burt's]] truck full of explosives but no one knows what the time delay is. Cue everyone taking cover as Burt runs past yelling that they have to get farther away.
74	* ''Film/UndercoverVsUndercover'' ends with the hero, Hsiao-wu, staring down the main villain and his legion of mooks. Hsiao-wu then reveals he had the detonator to a series of bombs attached to the ship where the climax is set, and triggers it. Nothing happens. [[spoiler:Until five seconds later]].
75	--> '''BigBad''': Huh, I knew you were kidding. Do you need some explosives?\
76	([[spoiler:Cue a MASSIVE explosion in the middle of the freighter, destroying much of the vessel's middle portion, killing plenty of mooks and leading to a PostDefeatExplosionChain where five more explosions of equally huge size start wrecking the freighter]])
77	* Gag Delay version in ''Film/WelcomeToDongmakgol''. The MexicanStandoff between North and South Korean soldiers ends when one of the NK soldiers accidentally drops his grenade. SK Lt. Pyo goes JumpingOnAGrenade but it doesn't explode. Pyo gives his NK counterpart Lee a look of withering contempt and chucks the grenade aimlessly over his shoulder, into the storehouse--where it explodes, wrecking the storehouse.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
81	* ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'': The first few times Piper tried to blow up demons, there was usually a small delay before it actually happened. As she got better at using it, it became almost instantaneous.
82	* A first season episode of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' has Chuck and Casey scrambling out of Casey's SUV when Chuck recognizes the ringing cellphone in the back seat as an [=NSA=] bomb. They have enough time to get clear and for Casey to glare at Chuck for making a mistake before the fireball engulfs the car.
83	* From one of Creator/JeffDunham's Creator/ComedyCentral specials, "Spark of Insanity": According to Achmed the Dead Terrorist, suicide bombers sometimes play practical jokes on each other.
84	--> '''Achmed:''' RAAAAAAAAA... ''({{beat}})'' What the-- ''([[KilledMidSentence imitates explosion]])''
85	* Several times on ''Series/HogansHeroes'', Carter counts down an explosion, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" and nothing happens. Once, he will then say, "I said 'one'." BOOM!
86	* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
87	* The episode "Bone Yard" is partly set on a target range with a bunch of wrecked vehicles. Two Army CID men who are searching the vehicles hear a sputtering noise and trace it to a Javelin missile that failed to detonate on impact. The sputtering means the detonator finally lit off, and the two men have to run for their lives to get out of range before it blows.
88	** In another episode, there's a bomb in a cabin. Everybody dashes out the door, jumps over the car and hunkers down behind it... and they wait there for what would seem to have been about half an hour or more before it finally blows. Hilarious.
89	* Pick an ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', ''Franchise/KamenRider'' or ''any'' {{Toku}} show on the whole. This trope is in full force. StuffBlowingUp is everywhere, and it all obeys only the RuleOfCool.
90	* ''Series/ViennaBlood'': Gag Delay. At the end of "The Devil's Kiss", Max has thrown the terrorist's bomb into a stream. Nothing happens. The Austrian minister says "This is so embarrassing," then turns to his Russian counterpart and says "I do apologize--", and then the bomb explodes.
91	* ''Series/ZoneFighter'' often has the monsters suffer this after the title hero shoots them with his Meteor Missile Might.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Radio]]
95	* ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' and silent TNT:
96	-->'''Neddie:''' Can't anyone hear it go off?\
97	'''Bluebottle:''' Only idiots.\
98	''[pause]''\
99	'''Neddie:''' Perhaps it's gone off already. I'll go back and check.\
100	''[Kaboom! followed by running feet]''\
101	'''Eccles:''' 'Ere, what was that big explosion?
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Roleplay]]
105	* In ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'', loosely inspired by the above example from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the explosives that the Brickster set up throughout the Dino Island Laboratory did not explode until a few seconds after he pushed the button on his detonator, causing him to panic and start mashing the detonator until they ''did'' explode.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
109	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
110	** The ''delayed blast fireball'' spell. Although technically a time bomb, ''delayed blast fireball'' can equally well be used to generate a Shoe-Drop Delay. Its implementation in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' was such that it is most often used just as a regular fireball, but the "delayed" part turns it into an Expository Delay. Aside from having the ability to delay it, the spell is more powerful than a regular ''fireball'', as it has a higher level {{cap}} and can potentially do twice as much damage.
111	** Orange [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]], an obscure breed from older editions, are sometimes known as "sodium dragons" due to their BreathWeapon -- they spray a line of chemical goop covered in saliva, then two rounds later, that saliva evaporates and exposes the chemicals (i.e. sodium) to the air or water, resulting in an explosion. Since orange dragons are evil and sadistic creatures, this is mainly Shoe-Drop Delay, as they delight in ambushing passers-by, spraying them with their breath, and then retreating to watch their victims explode.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
115	* Two former attractions at Ride/UniversalStudios Florida had an instance of this:
116	** In the original ending of the ''Ride/{{Jaws}}'' ride, the boat's skipper would shoot a grenade into the shark's mouth. The shark would then go back underwater, and then there would be a several-second delay before the shark would explode.
117	** At the end of ''Ride/JimmyNeutronsNicktoonBlast'', Carl would zap King Goobot with Cosmo's wand. There would then be a brief pause, and then his eggshell would explode.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Video Games]]
121	* While it isn't explosion-based, ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' has the Brimstone and [[DelayedReaction Anti Gravity]] combination.
122	* ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'' features a realistically delayed explosion during a setpiece where two Harrier jets perform a bombing run on a distant bunker. The explosion isn't audible until several seconds after it actually occurs.
123	* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Global Offensive'': the bomb explodes a few seconds after the timer runs out, during which it blinks white and makes a different kind of beep. Any defusal attempt in progress, even if the progress bar is within milliseconds of completion, fails.
124	* In ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'', there's Adell's final technique, Vulcan Blaze. After beating the crap out of his target [[RapidFireFisticuffs at ridiculous speed]], he takes the time to strike a dramatic pose before the person in question inexplicably explodes.
125	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV Shadowbringers'': Gaia, from the Eden series Raids, has a unique "Spell in Waiting" effect to her magical attacks. She targets a victim, lets the magic loose... and then nothing happens. Then, as her opponent begins attacking again (whether it's the players in her Voidwalker battle or a random monster in Ahm Areng), the spell goes off, unleashing hell on the poor victim and anyone close enough to be in the AreaOfEffect
126	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', putting the last jewel in its statue causes it to glow. Link prepares for the inevitable explosion...and after several seconds of nothing he lets down his guard. ''THEN'' it explodes, blasting Link right into the rising Tower Of The Gods.
127	* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has an expository delay with the Det. packs in the sewer, except you don't see Neo press the button unless the camera is in the right place.
128	* [[Characters/Persona5FutabaSakura Futaba Sakura]]'s All-Out Attack in ''[[VideoGame/Persona5 Persona 5 Royal]]'' involves her dropping a bomb from inside her hovercraft Persona, but it doesn't immediately go off, prompting Futaba to drop to the ground, crawl over to the bomb, and lightly tap it, [[HairTriggerExplosive causing it to explode]].
129	* Attacking red frogs in ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' will trigger this in them. As such, due to both this and their unpredictable jumping patterns, they're among the more dangerous beasts to encounter in the game.
130	* ''VideoGame/StarcraftI: Brood War'' uses both the Deja Vu Delay and the Realistic Delay in the Protoss campaign's ending cutscene. The massive release of energy caused by the [[YinYangBomb Uraj and Khalis crystals]] in the Xel'naga pyramid--the power of several nuclear explosions--is shown twice, first in a quick ground-level cut, then again in a more distant cut in midair. The shockwave of sound in the second cut is heard seconds after the bright light of the explosion is seen.
131	* Similar to ''Invader Zim'' below, ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' has an extremely egregious delay in the form of a hugely slowed down explosion in the narrative, specifically when you decide to bomb the Hour refinery in Lustrum. Since Hours are raw time and you hid the bomb in a barrel full of them, the explosion takes a damned long time to happen, and even the people that were right next to the blast simply walk away, avoiding all casualties. But since no one can ''stop'' the explosion the refinery is completely ruined, and everyone in Lustrum who hates the Windward Company (which is almost everyone not working there) spends the afternoon watching the fireball sloooowly wreck everything.
132	* ''VideoGame/SuperBomberman'' had "dud" bombs, where rarely bombs would fizzle out partway through their fuses and not explode when they were supposed to. If they weren't set off by something else, the bombs would eventually reset themselves with a longer fuse before finally exploding.
133	* A RunningGag in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' is Mario destroying the castle he clears by various means. For the first castle, it's as simple as stepping on a dynamite plunger and then ducking while the castle blows up. For a later castle,[[note]]specifically, after Roy's castle[[/note]] as depicted in the page image above, Mario steps on the plunger and the fuse seems to break right before it hits the castle. Mario goes to inspect it... and ''then'' the castle blows up, resulting in an AshFace for Mario.
134	* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis3'' has enemy guards raiding the boat of the two protagonists, only to see a bomb tick down to zero followed with "Bye!" displayed on the timer.
135	* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' is one of the many [[EasternRPG JRPGs]] to feature cool delayed explosions. Lampshaded in [[http://youtu.be/ZVtK9X9liXE?t=9m45s this moment]] of WebVideo/MondayMorningMooks
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Western Animation]]
139	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had a grueling LampshadeHanging that seemed to last minutes where they showed a house exploding from several angles, repeating each shot several times (including one with Stewie and Brian diving out of the way over and over).
140	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' has ''extremely'' egregious decay in an instance where the explosion is very atypical of most explosions by being really, ''really'' slow. It is also glowing green. When it goes off after [[spoiler:Dib, who is under a similar time-slowing effect, is hurled into it,]] it's fairly normal though.
141	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' AnimatedAdaptation of "The Fake Smurf", Hogatha attempts to destroy the Smurfs by sabotaging the bridge with Jokey's "surprises", but instead of the "surprises" going off when she pulled the trigger at the moment the Smurfs were crossing the bridge, they ended up going off when Hogatha herself started crossing the bridge.
142	* ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'': Wile E. Coyote often falls victim to this. If an explosion doesn't happen instantly, it'll delay just long enough to catch ''him'' instead of the Road Runner.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Real Life]]
146	* The explosives-laden destroyer in the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII St. Nazaire raid]] didn't explode until several hours after it was supposed to, serving as a Gag Delay (apparently it went off right as the German commander was mocking the British attempt to ram the docks with a destroyer, doing almost no damage) and a very Impolite Delay (it held off long enough to catch a lot of German souvenir-hunters on deck).
147	* More generally, this trope is exactly ''why'' "dud" explosives of any kind need to be treated with all due caution. Even century-old artillery shells from the First World War can still explode without warning.
148	* The heavily armored Japanese carrier ''Taiho'' was hit by a single torpedo from the submarine USS ''Albacore''. It did relatively little immediate damage, aside from splitting open a tank of aviation fuel. All that heavy armor, designed to keep explosive shells out, also kept fuel vapor in. Six and a half hours later...
149	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DelayedExplosion