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3%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings!
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11[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hitman_toaster.jpg]]]]
12[[caption-width-right:350: [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Shocking. Positively shocking.]] ]]
13%%
14->''"If there's one thing I know about radios and dryers, you '''never''' use them around baths or showers!"''
15-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyajSJs4Ku0 Louie the Lightning Bug]]'''
16
17Someone drops a mundane electric appliance (classically a toaster) into a bathtub or other pool of water lying around. A classic way to attempt [[DeadlyBath murder]] or [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] in the movies.
18
19Fictional depictions are much flashier than the real thing, with arcs of electricity and bright flashes many seconds long and the complete shorting-out of electrical service to the entire building. In RealLife, though, the resulting electric current is momentary and nearly invisible and likely would just trip the nearest circuit breaker or fuse -- but ''grabbing'' the electric device while in the bathtub would be just as lethal in real life as the trope is in fiction. This is also a victim to TechnologyMarchesOn. It was much more common in the past when most bathtubs had copper piping; however, as more and more homes have PVC plastic plumbing, most tubs aren't grounded and electrocution is less likely (not to mention that newer building codes generally require GFCI outlets for bathroom use, which sense when this is happening and cut off power before any serious damage occurs to either you or the appliance).
20
21This, and other forms of electrocution, is more likely to be fatal where the mains voltage is 220V -- the power output for a given impedance, e.g., that of a human body, goes as the voltage squared, meaning 4 times the power at that voltage as at North America's 110V.
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23Just one of the many ways that a character can [[DeadlyBath die in a bath]].
24
25This is a Subtrope to HighVoltageDeath.
26
27!!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
28----
29!!Examples:
30
31[[foldercontrol]]
32
33[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
34* ''Manga/CaseClosed'': In Dr. Araide's introductory case, the young Doctor's father is killed in the bathtub because an electric shaver fell in the tub during a blackout. The police almost ruled this out as an accident, but it turns out to be a case of AlwaysMurder.
35* ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'': In "Wall Crawlers", the heroes are surrounded by numerous reptile children under the control of [[MonsterOfTheWeek Salamandamon]]. [=BetelGammamon=] blasts open a nearby water tank and [=TeslaJellymon=] sends an electric current through the spilled water to knock out the reptile children, allowing them to fight Salamandamon without interference.
36* The second ''Anime/ElfPrincessRane'' episode shows Mr. Yumenokata getting shocked from using an electric shaver while taking a bath.
37* In ''Manga/FutureDiary'', Fifth almost killed Yuno this way and was only prevented from doing so by Yuki cutting the electricity to the entire house.
38* The first episode of ''Anime/LupinIIIPart1'', ('''[[Recap/LupinIIIS1E1 "Is Lupin Burning... ?!"]]''') has Lupin creating a large-scale version of this to take out the leaders of the Scorpion Clan, and rescue Fujiko.
39* In ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'', after Satoru's death, Tamura honours his LastRequest by dropping his PC into a bathtub.
40* A non-lethal version happens in one of the Mini-Specials of ''Manga/YoureUnderArrest''. A thief enters Miyuki and Natsumi's apartment to steal their underwear, but they come back and find him thanks to Miyuki's security system. When he tries to hide in the bathroom, Natsumi throws him into the bathtub, and Miyuki then uses a couple of electric tasers to punish him further.
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Board Games]]
44* ''TabletopGame/SovietSystem'' has a card allowing its drawer to climb a rank thanks to "his skills in bathroom electricity."
45[[/folder]]
46
47[[folder:Comic Books]]
48* In the graphic novel ''ComicBook/BlackCanary and ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}: Bloodspell'', the ghost of a gang leader is possessing the bodies of the gang members who betrayed her and forcing them to commit suicide. One of her victims takes a plunge into a swimming pool along with a number of electrical devices.
49* In ''ComicBook/FidoDido'', a character has an idea while taking a bath, causing an IdeaBulb to appear over her head. Just then a [[InnerMonologue smaller version of her]] appears, and says, "Hey, that's dangerous!" so the bulb disappears, and is replaced with a flashlight. "That's better."
50* ''ComicBook/HackSlash'': In ''Girls Gone Dead'', Father Wrath tries to kill a group of 'sinners' by tossing a television into their hot tub. Vlad manages to slow him down long enough for most of them to get out.
51* DC caused an almighty backlash after [[http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/123898-dc-releases-script-for-harley-quinn-contest-internet-outraged.html staging a contest to find a new artist]] by getting contestants to draw ComicBook/HarleyQuinn about to commit suicide this way. [[ItMakesSenseInContext The actual context of the panel]] made it a bit better since it was meant to be a [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall breaking]] ImagineSpot where the writers had misunderstood what ComicBook/SuicideSquad meant, but it was still seen as egregiously poor in taste and the panel was ultimately cut from the final comic.
52* In the first issue of ''ComicBook/MortTheDeadTeenager'', one of the background characters seen in the afterlife is a woman in a bathtub that has a radio dropped in it.
53* In one issue of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'', [[EvilCounterpart Surge the Tenrec]] invokes this trope while dueling the titular hero in a flooded lab. By channeling her [[ShockAndAwe electrokinesis]] through the water while holding Sonic down in it, Surge [[NearVillainVictory very nearly kills him]] before the device she is using to boost her powers [[ExplosiveOverclocking overloads and breaks]], incapacitating her.
54* In ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', a TrainingMontage of Wesley killing assorted victims includes a panel of him tossing an electric heater into a woman's bathtub.
55* In ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'', it's revealed that Secret was originally killed when her brother dropped an electrical appliance in the bathtub while she was using it.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Comic Strips]]
59* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' once had a guy who kept [[TooDumbToLive his pet electric eel]] in the bathroom, where it could easily fall into the bathtub if knocked over.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Fan Works]]
63* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Denki Kaminari discovered his electricity-based Metahuman power while in the bathtub, nearly killing him. [[TheGadfly Jirou]] laughs at him for this, which he protests for obvious reasons until he admits that it's ActuallyPrettyFunny.
64-->'''Kaminari:''' Hey, I could have died!\
65'''Jirou:''' Yeah, but you didn't, and that's why it's funny.\
66'''Kaminari:''' I... Yeah, you got me there.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
70* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' has a nightmare of falling into a bathtub full of water.
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
74* This was how Debbie Jellinsky attempts to kill Fester in ''[[Film/TheAddamsFamily Addams Family Values]]''. The TV series had Fester lighting a bulb in his mouth, a gag actually used here. Because of this, it doesn't work. Leads to FridgeLogic when she later tries to kill him with an electric chair. (Especially since in the TV series, Fester would strap himself in one to "recharge".)
75* ''Film/{{Accident}}''. The team of professional killers is hired to kill a pawnbroker and MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. Their leader [[ComplexityAddiction rejects a simple method like staging a car accident]], and instead their plan involves [[HighVoltageDeath draping a wet kite string over a tram cable and on to the pawnbroker's wheelchair]] during a rainstorm. This causes the assassination to be repeatedly set up and cancelled while they wait for it to rain when the pawnbroker is leaving his workplace.
76* In ''Film/TheAstronautsWife'' (''Film/RosemarysBaby'' [[RecycledINSPACE with aliens]]), the wife of one of the astronauts commits suicide this way after her husband dies of a stroke. When the main character confronts her alien-possessed husband, she's standing with her feet in water dripping down from the sink, preparing to commit suicide the same way... [[spoiler:and after confirming that he's been possessed, water pours down from above, as she's left the tub and sink on the other floor on, causing him to be electrocuted instead. Unfortunately this frees up the alien to possess her.]]
77* Early in ''Film/TheBodyguardFromBeijing'', the female lead is nearly killed while taking her bath, unaware that she's marked for death and her tub is booby-trapped by a hidden battery. [[ThatPoorCat But her cat jumps in before her]].
78%%* Used in the under-appreciated classic Creator/{{Troma}} film ''Film/{{Buttcrack}}''.
79* Referenced in ''Film/TheButterflyEffect''. In one AlternateTimeline where his friends all seem better off without him, Evan Treborn fills up a bathtub with water and sets about trying to drown himself in it; his friend [[spoiler:Tommy]] comes in and saves him, remarking that Evan forgot to put a toaster on the ledge.
80* ''Film/ChildsPlay''
81** Chucky does it to his girlfriend in ''Film/BrideOfChucky''.
82** In an earlier draft of the original ''Film/ChildsPlay'' this was how the babysitter was supposed to die.
83* Madame Aurora in Creator/JeanPierreJeunet's and Creator/MarcCaro's ''Film/{{Delicatessen}}'' has a penchant for RubeGoldbergDevice suicide attempts. One would drop a table lamp into her [[ElectrifiedBathtub bathtub]] when the doorbell is pressed. Narrowly averted when her neighbor's hammering jolts the lamp's plug from the socket, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9uEJSn2zPc viewable here.]]
84* ''Film/DiaryOfTheDead''. The nerdy character experiences this as a zombie tackles him and pushes him into the tub while he's using a blow drier to dry his hair. Strangely, the electricity doesn't disturb the security camera that's watching him the whole time. Also, it wasn't like the shock could hurt him anymore since he ''was'' in the middle of being mawed by a zombie anyway.
85* In ''Film/EatingRaoul'' this technique is used on a hot tub filled with swingers.
86* The execrable Christmas horror film ''Elves'' had the protagonist's {{Main/Jerkass}} mother (who [[{{Main/KickTheDog}} needlessly yells at her and kills her cat)]] [[https://i.somethingawful.com/u/trillaphon/elves/elfzap.gif get zapped]] in the tub by one of the titular creatures. The elf's [[SpecialEffectFailure rubbery, dead-eyed grin]] only [[{{Main/Narm}} makes it funnier.]]
87---> '''[[https://www.somethingawful.com/movie-reviews/elves-haggerty/1/ The Neil Brothers:]]''' Headbanging to bathtub electrocution is pretty goddamn metal.
88* Featured in the teaser to ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', including Creator/SeanConnery giving the expected BondOneLiner. "Shocking..." (long beat) "Positively shocking."
89* Bill Murray attempts suicide by tub and toaster in ''Film/GroundhogDay''. Like with [[GroundhogDayLoop all his other suicide attempts]], he gets better.
90* Tree in ''Film/HappyDeathDay2U'' is stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop which always ends with her being killed by a masked man. While agreeing to help the local university eggheads work on how to fix the situation by being a living record of all previous failures, rather than wait around to be killed she decides to force a new loop by killing herself on her own terms. The first time around she does this is in a full bathtub and dropping a live hairdryer into it -- as [[ContinuingIsPainful she does carry over damage she sustained when dying]], she wakes up the next loop with very frazzled hair.
91* Subverted in ''Film/HouseOf9'', Francis attempts to kill Lea by ripping a light fixation while Lea washes her hands and drop it into the sink. Lea is shocked and knocked out but awakens later.
92* The ditzy female serial killer in ''Film/{{Neighbor}}'' ties a girl up, puts her in a bathtub, and throws a hairdryer in, but it fails to kill the victim. When next shown, the bath is now full of random appliances and electronics (including an entire television) and the victim still isn't dead. The killer decides to just drown her.
93* At the end of ''Film/ItFollows'', the protagonists try to do this with an entire ''swimming pool'' in order to kill "It", the {{implacable|Man}} EldritchAbomination that's been stalking and trying to kill Jay for the entire film. They surround the pool with electrical appliances from lamps to blow dryers to typewriters, use Jay to lure "It" into the pool, and then throw all the appliances in. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for them, "It" doesn't fall for [[BossArenaIdiocy such an obvious trap]], and instead [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turns the tables]] by throwing the appliances at Jay while ''she's'' still in the pool. The only reason she's not electrocuted is that [[DidntThinkThisThrough the plan was deeply flawed to begin with]]: the amount of charge needed to electrify an Olympic-sized swimming pool is far greater than what the electrical grid could take before it simply shorted out.]]
94* In ''Film/JudasKiss'', Rickles knocks a radio into a kitchen sink full of water. He then jams Dyson's hands into the sink. This doesn't kill Dyson but does badly stun and burn him.
95* ''Film/PaganiniHorror'' opens with a girl killing her mother by dropping a blow dryer into her bath. The devil in the music made her do it.
96* The Australian horror movie ''Film/{{Patrick}}'' (1978) opens with the title character [[SelfMadeOrphan murdering his mother]] and her lover as they're in the bathtub together, by tossing in a hot radiator lamp that they fumble from one to the other, while screaming in agony, until they're able to toss it onto the floor. Patrick just picks it up and throws it back into the water.
97* In the German film ''Film/ThePrincessAndTheWarrior'' (2000), the trope is played straight in a flashback when a mental ward patient throws a hairdryer into a bathtub used by Sissi's mother. Later, a fugitive hiding from the law in the same mental institution is relaxing after a botched heist in the same bathtub, and the same patient ([[CrazyJealousGuy believing Sissi has fallen for him]]) throws a toaster at him. He instinctively catches it, and both stare in shock at each other for a moment before the fugitive leaps up with murder in his eyes.
98* ''[[Film/CabinByTheLake Return to Cabin by the Lake]]'': In the climax, Allison tries to kill Stanley by knocking him into a bathtub and then throwing in a blowdryer. She ultimately relents because [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim she doesn't want to become a killer like him]] and alerts the police who just arrived on the scene, [[spoiler:but this just gives Stanley a chance to escape and disappear forever]].
99* Done in ''Literature/TheRing''.
100** Particularly noteworthy, since rather than just drop an active, mundane electronic device into a bathtub, he sets up a rather complicated metal harness connected to ''numerous'' devices, steps into the bathtub, and then switches it on. The result is also more realistic, as it causes the lighting to intermittently short out, and much convulsion and a ''lot'' of blood.
101* In ''Film/TheRoyalTenenbaums'', Etheline is concerned about her daughter, Margot, watching TV in the bath. Margot ''does'' at least have the TV tied up so it doesn't fall in.
102%%* One of the traps in ''Film/SawV''.
103* This almost happens to Eurydice in ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'' when she accidentally knocks some equipment into a tub she's using to soak her feet; the near-miss causes her and Orpheus to take the plunge and get married right away.
104* The SoBadItsGood horror movie ''Film/ShriekOfTheMutilated'' has an incredibly contrived version. After a man has a psychotic break and murders a woman via SlashedThroat, he goes to wash off the blood and calm down in the bathtub... only for it to be revealed that the woman is NotQuiteDead, as she slooooowly crawls across the living room pushing a toaster in front of her, reaches the bathroom, plugs it in, and with her last strength lifts it into the bathtub, killing him.
105* One girl in ''Film/SlumberPartyMassacreIII'' takes a bath after having sex, and is electrocuted when a buzzing dildo is thrown into the water.
106* A bizarre variation occurs in ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105434/ Snake Eater 3]]'': Soldier (Lorenzo Lamas) electrifies a biker perp's ''toilet bowl'', killing the biker as he relieves his bladder. [[GroinAttack Ouch!]]
107* In ''Film/StayTuned'', while the main characters are stuck as cartoon mice and being chased after a robotic cat, they lead it into a bathtub and throw a hair drier into it.
108* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad''. While infiltrating a rebel camp Peacemaker and Bloodsport start competing with each other to make impressive kills, and the latter kills a man by shooting at an electric fan that falls into his bathtub.
109* In ''Film/{{Superdome}}'', the killer electrifies a whirlpool tub to kill [=McCauley=] before the Super Bowl, thus ensuring his team will lose. Mike foils the attempt by running into the locker room and knocking [=McCauley=] aside before he can get in.
110* In ''Film/ThisIsYourDeath'', the first person to kill themselves on the show does so by dropping a stereo into her bathtub after confessing to the murder of her husband.
111* According to WordOfGod, this later happens to the man who spends the whole of ''Film/TheTrumanShow'' watching TV in the bath.
112* In the horror film ''Film/{{Valentine}}'', Paige is killed when the killer throws her into her own hot tub, throws the lid closed to trap her, terrorizes her by punching through the lid with a power drill, and then, as an encore, throws the power drill inside to electrocute her.
113* In ''Film/{{Vlog}}'', the killer murders Brandon by rigging a light fitting to fall into his bath when he reaches for his rubber duck.
114* During the prison riot scene in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach kills one of the inmates by breaking a toilet on him and then letting the water reach an exposed wire near the wet guy.
115* Mel Gibson's character in ''Film/WhatWomenWant'' is almost killed by this, but instead ends up with the power to read the minds of women.
116* The same principle is used in ''Film/WristcuttersALoveStory'', except instead of throwing an appliance into liquid, Eugene throws liquid (a beer) onto an appliance (his guitar) for a rock 'n' roll suicide. Works just as well, apparently.
117[[/folder]]
118
119[[folder:Gamebooks]]
120* In ''Literature/InvadersFromTheBigScreen'', one of the bad endings of the "Agent Z" storyline. You and your friend Laura are trapped in a laundromat filling with water, and making a bad choice will result in a television falling into the water with you. '''ZZZZAP'''
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Literature]]
124* In ''Babylon Berlin'', Literature/GereonRath goes to question a suspect only to find he's died of this trope. As electric hairdryers are new in the 1920's, Rath is surprised to find you can get killed this way, but he's more interested in why a man would use a woman's hairdryer and the suspicious timing of this [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident 'accident']].
125* Creator/WilliamFBuckleyJr, at one time when he needed a murder method for his ''Literature/BlackfordOakes'' series, discussed methods with an electrical expert. I believe the letters did speculate the actual use of a bathtub. However in the end, in ''Literature/StainedGlass'' it was an electric booby-trap inside a cathedral that was undergoing a massive restoration (and thus had plenty of stray wiring to blame) that did the deed. It's been a long time since I read the letter I am referring to so I am not sure I am accurate.
126* This method is used in a futile attempt to stop the noocyte spread in ''Literature/BloodMusic''. It only succeeds in killing Vergil... for a while.
127* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/BloodRites'', an actress is nearly killed when a huge industrial light falls into the puddle created after a burst of scalding water causes her to fall through and break a glass shower door. Yes, someone was trying to kill her.
128* The hazard-to-musicians variant described in the "Real Life" section appears in fictional form in ''Literature/EspedairStreet'' by Creator/IainBanks. The band Frozen Gold are performing behind an elaborate special effect rig that involves multiple streams of water circulated by a pump. This thing malfunctions and dumps a deluge of water over lead guitarist Davey, causing him to be electrocuted.
129* In ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'', Dr. Gonzo asks Raoul Duke to do this during the high point of Music/JeffersonAirplane's "White Rabbit", believing that it will get him the ultimate high. Raoul flings a grapefruit instead (though he doesn't bounce it off his head like in the movie), unplugs the radio (leaving it to run on its harmless batteries), and then gets the hell out before Dr. Gonzo can realize what happened. When he gets up the nerve to check, Gonzo's started to come down from his trip.
130* Used as a murder attempt in Creator/ChristopherPike's ''Literature/TheGraduation''.
131* The title character in Creator/HarlanEllison's ''Literature/JefftyIsFive''. The protagonist doesn't realize until it's too late that [[spoiler:Jeffty's mother deliberately propped the radio by the tub precariously enough that it would tip into the tub as soon as Jeffty changed the channel]].
132* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'': This is how [=SueEllen=] Kingsley is killed in ''Killer Blonde''.
133* Creator/StephenKing:
134** The protagonist in the short story "A Very Tight Place" (published in ''Literature/JustAfterSunset'') uses this trope when he confronts his would-be murderer, tossing an electric hair-dryer into the man's lap while he's sitting in his jacuzzi. It turns out to be just a psychological attack, as the dryer's not plugged in.
135** A genuine bathtub electrocution takes place in King's "[[Literature/SkeletonCrew The Monkey]]".
136* This is the cause of death/murder method in Creator/CarterDickson's ''Literature/SirHenryMerrivale'' mystery [[spoiler:''The Reader is Warned'']]. Sir Henry, while delivering TheSummation, points out that the London County Council had banned electrical fittings in bathrooms for that reason.
137[[/folder]]
138
139[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
140* In ''Series/Adam12'', a woman kills her husband this way. He was mentally disabled and on the level of about a two-year-old, and she got tired of taking care of him. She almost got away with it, but the officers noticed there was no water on the floor outside the tub as there would have been if the man had gotten out himself to grab the hairdryer.
141* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' (the 1950's TV show with George Reeves), a gullible rich person is told by a phony psychic (hired by the rich guy's heirs) that he would chase away the evil spirits around him if he stepped into a bathtub while holding a live electrical cable. Superman saved him (of course).
142* The cliff-hanger of one story on ''Series/Batman1966'' had the Penguin and his mooks electrify a swimming pool and were going to throw Chief O'Hara (who's locked in a trunk) in.
143* Subverted in ''Series/BlackBooks''. Manny is making toast in the bath ([[TooDumbToLive while using a hairdryer at the same time]]). When he's applying the jam (which is in a soap dispenser) to the toast and attaching it to a Rube Goldberg-esque device designed to deliver it to Bernard, he accidentally knocks the hairdryer into the tub. He proceeds to take it out, comment, "That was lucky" and continue using it. There may be a radio by the bath too.
144* ''Series/TheBlacklist'': Two suspects kill themselves by pulling a laptop into a bath.
145* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': A concussed Colin once took Brittas' sarcastic statement of asking him to attach one end of a piece of rope to a lightning conductor and the other to a trouser zip and jumping off seriously and needed to be stopped as a result. In the resulting kerfluffle, the electrified bathtub he was carrying to accomplish the task winds up being thrown into the pool and electrocuting a group of Pentecostalists who were being baptized. Luckily, no-one died, although they were briefly stunned.
146* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
147** In "I Robot, You Jane", Buffy is set up to shut off the water in a locker room shower just as the puddle reaches a live wire. She sees the trap and jumps out just in time, with only static-frazzled hair to show for it (which [[SkewedPriorities concerns her quite a bit]]).
148** In "The I in Team", Buffy is given a malfunctioning Initiative taser in TheUriahGambit set up by Professor Walsh, who then unleashes some demons on her. Buffy throws the taser into a pool of water in which a demon is standing.
149* Used in an episode of the 1994 revival of ''Series/BurkesLaw'', entitled "Who Killed the Starlet?" A woman is in the bath while listening to some music, when a killer sneaks in and drops her boombox into the bathtub, killing her. It turns out that the killer and lady are merely actors on a movie set, and they're filming a murder scene. Then it turns out [[NotSoFakePropWeapon the boombox had been plugged into a live outlet]] by an unknown party, and the actress in the bathtub really ''is'' dead. The special effects man is the first suspect, and protests that the voltage was kept too low to hurt anyone, as a [[TruthInTelevision matter of safety, which is standard procedure for filming this sort of thing in real life]]. [[spoiler: It turns out that the water was poisoned with nicotine. The special effects man did so believing that the non-lethal voltage would clear him of suspicion.]]
150* In the ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[Recap/ColumboS02E08 Double Shock]]", the killer uses an electric mixer. He slices the insulation off the power cord first.
151* In ''Series/CoronationStreet'', a variation of this death befalls Lesley Kershaw. In a haze she tries making cheese on toast (by dropping the cheese ''into'' the toaster), then decides that it was a messy thing to do, grabs the toaster (without turning it off) and [[LethallyStupid promptly dumps it into a sink full of water, electrocuting herself to death.]]
152* In the first intro to ''Series/CrankYankers'', Special Ed does this to himself when he dunks his house phone in his tub while taking a bath.
153* Happened once in ''Series/{{CSI}}'', with the suicide variant. Or so it appears at first glance...
154** And in ''Series/CSIMiami'', as a murder. Justified in that the circuit breaker didn't work as the victim put herb salt(?) in the bathwater.
155** And in ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', where...''*GlassesPull*'' it's complicated. There was a murder that took place, but the bathtub electrocution wasn't the main incident.
156*** '''[[MemeticMutation YEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!]]'''
157* ''Series/Danger5''. When Tucker undergoes a TrainingMontage to turn him into a ninja, one of the exercises involves him sitting in an inflatable pool while the trainer throws toasters and other electrical appliances that Tucker has to fend off.
158* ''Series/DeathInParadise'':
159** An electrified swimming pool occurs in "Swimming in Murder". The killer arranges for a live set of studio lights to fall into the pool as the VictimOfTheWeek is taking his daily swim.
160** In "Switcharoo", the VictimOfTheWeek is drugged and then the killer places her in a full bathtub and drops in a hairdryer to [[NeverSuicide make it look like a suicide]].
161* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
162** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]], the title character kills a large number of security guards by first getting the fire sprinklers to activate, then, once a sufficient amount of water had built up on the floor, shooting the water.
163** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown "Boom Town"]], Margaret the Slitheen apparently killed the Cardiff Heritage Committee this way to keep them from interfering with her plans. She [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch insists]] that "the electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural wear and tear".
164* ''Series/TheGlades'': The VictimOfTheWeek in "Second Chance" is murdered when the killer pushes a vacuum cleaner into the pool where he is swimming.
165* ''Series/{{Harrow}}'': In "Ab Initio" ("From the Beginning"), the VictimOfTheWeek is found electrocuted in his bath. It looks like the radio fell off a shelf into the tub, but Harrow notices the dust marks on the shelf indicate it had sat for for months, possibly years, and wonders why it should suddenly have fallen now.
166* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': In a flashback in "Identity Crisis", a young boy seemingly kills his abusive, schizophrenic mother by pushing an electric heater into her bath. [[spoiler:It was actually an accident, but he took responsibility for it]].
167* [[DoubleSubversion Double subverted]] on ''Series/{{Life|2007}}'': When facing a hitmanwoman (sic) who [[MacGyvering kills using household materials]], Charlie thinks that a bathtub was rigged to be electrified as a backup plan to murder the victim in case the murderer's Plan A failed. Bobby says that it's a myth because the circuit breaker would prevent the electrocution from taking place. Charlie then tests this claim by throwing a TV into the bathtub. The TV explodes after hitting the water, and the power for the entire building goes out. They then realize that the killer had circumvented the circuit breaker as well.
168* ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}''. In "Take It Personal", Luke Cage flatlines and there's no defibrillator to revive him, so Claire Temple throws a portable electric burner into the bathtub he's in to cause a short circuit. Even the MadScientist with her is [[{{Pun}} shocked]], though the NighInvulnerable Cage survives.
169* In the ''Series/MacGyver1985'' episode "A Lesson in Evil", the Hannibal Lecter-esque Dr. Zito sets a trap for Mac by restraining a hapless victim ([[ThereAreNoTherapists his own therapist, who he had succeeded in convincing he was "cured"]]) in a bathtub, attaching an electric heater on top and leaving the water running.
170* In the ''Series/MannAndMachine'' episode "The Dating Game," all three murder victims were electrocuted in the bathtub. During the climax, the villain tries to push Eve into an electrified swimming pool.
171* ''Series/TheMentalist'': In "Scarlet Ribbons", a security guard is found dead in his bathtub with a hairdryer dropped into it.
172* ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
173** In "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever", Kathy Willowby kills her husband Martin by dropping a radio into the tub while he's bathing, then freezes the body and puts it out in the boat the next night so that it looks like Martin got struck by lightning while fishing on the lake.
174** And in "Mr. Monk and the Big Game", Julie's basketball coach Lynn Hayden is killed in an electrified shower.
175* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': Used as a murder method in three episodes; "Sticks and Stones", "Unauthorized Obituary" and "The Phantom Killer".
176* Tested by ''Series/MythBusters'', [[JustForFun/TropesExaminedByTheMythbusters who confirmed it]]. However, they also showed that a working Ground Fault Interrupter will cut the power to an appliance in time. Appliances without [=GFI=]s, on the other hand, will kill, which is an issue because the overwhelming majority of small appliances don't have [=GFI=]s. They didn't test [=GFI=]s built into power outlets (required for new bathroom construction by several building codes), but presumably they'd work the same way - but a murderer could simply plug the appliance into an outlet in another room using a cheap extension cord.
177* ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Prison guard Claire Howell murders inmate Nikolai Stanislofsky this way, after first giving him some hand relief. And a rubber duckie, in an obvious ShoutOut to ''Hitman''.
178%%* Used in an episode of ''Franchise/PerryMason''.
179* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Hijack", Bodie and Doyle investigate a flat and find an Arab woman dead in the bathtub with an electric heater that fell off the wall. They don't know if shoddy British workmanship [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident or a Libyan hit squad]] was responsible, and nothing more is said about the incident [[RiddleForTheAges so the audience doesn't find out either]].
180* The ''Series/{{Psych}}'' episode "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast" uses this, as indicated by the title.
181%%* ''Series/RandallAndHopkirkDeceased'' uses this.
182* In "[[Recap/ResidentAlienS2E2TheWire The Wire]]" from ''Series/ResidentAlien'', Asta threatens to do this when Harry tells her that she has to live him with him in a bunker because his fellow aliens are coming to kill everyone and he claims not to have the means to contact them to tell them not to. Although he thinks she's just bluffing, she takes a toaster into the bathroom, and he is forced to give in.
183* ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'': In "Partners in Crime", the killer pushes a boombox into the hot tub of the first BodyOfTheWeek. This does not kill her but stuns her so the killer can hold her head underwater till she drowns.
184* ''Series/SixFeetUnder'': The corpse of the week in Season 1, Episode 5 "An Open Book" was an aging pornstar who died when her cat knocked her electric hot rollers into the tub.
185* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': In "The Man Who Was Death", Niles Talbot, a prison executioner, is laid off from his job when the local government abolishes the death penalty. He becomes a VigilanteMan, administering his own style of justice to acquitted murder suspects. He murders one pair of acquitted murders by wiring their hot tub and then electrifying it while they are in it.
186* In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', the heroes shock Cameron into reset mode (after her brief FaceHeelTurn in the second-season opener) with a clock radio hidden in a baptismal font.
187* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': The VillainOfTheWeek in "Red" kills a college student by dropping a radio into his hot-tub while the student is still in it.
188%%* Parodied in a Scenes From a Hat segment on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''. "A nice bath and some toast."
189* ''Series/{{Taggart}}''. In "Funeral Rites", a husband rigs the wall heater in the bathroom so it will detach from the wall and fall into the tub when his arthritic wife pulls on the cord to switch it on. However, her pull is too weak and it doesn't detach until the husband tries it after coming home and finding his wife still alive. So he has to resort to other methods.
190[[/folder]]
191
192[[folder:Music]]
193* In the video for Music/AHa's song ''Velvet'', Morten Harket gets "killed" like this when his in-story girlfriend tosses her still-connected blowdryer in his bathtub. [[NarmCharm And he keeps singing the song, even when he's dead.]]
194* The Alkaline Trio song ''Radio'' recounts an ex-girlfriend with the chorus "I wish you would take my radio to bathe with you, plugged in and ready to fall"
195* Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley, in the video for "Where's the Dress" (a [[Music/CultureClub Boy George]] parody), one scene has Bandy bathing with a radio precariously sitting on the tub's lip ... and you can guess what happens next.
196* Music/Blink182's "Adam's Song" starts with this.
197-->"I traced the cord back to the wall. No wonder, it was never plugged in at all."
198* The culmination of the tryst depicted in 'Digital Bath' by Music/{{Deftones}}.
199* Music/{{Mastodon}}'s "Show Yourself" features an incompetent GrimReaper trying to kill the band in the music video. He attempts to do in who he thinks is Bill Kelliher by shoving a toaster into the tub of someone who's taking a bubble bath, but as with his previous attempts he's got the wrong guy and ends up reaping the wrong person.
200* Music/{{Metric}}'s "Too Little Too Late" references this trope in one verse, along with other LyricalDissonance.
201* Music/NoDoubt's video for "It's My Life": Gwen Stefani, in the guise of a [[Theatre/{{Chicago}} Jazz Age murderess]], dispatches drummer Ade Young this way.
202* Music/StreetlightManifesto references this in "A Better Place, A Better Time", which is about TalkingDownTheSuicidal.
203-->"I'll draw your bath and I'll load your gun,
204-->But I hope so bad that you'll bathe and hunt"
205[[/folder]]
206
207[[folder:Radio]]
208* Some of the later Radio Gradittis on ''[[Radio/TrueCapitalist True Capitalist Radio]]'' had Ghost wishing this on the [[SitcomArchNemesis Tub Guy]]. He specifically said that Tub Guy should use a toaster, no less.
209[[/folder]]
210
211[[folder:Theme Parks]]
212* "The Director" often uses this method of killing people at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's]] Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights; a notable instance of him doing this would be in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY4ohOAFsQU commercial]] for the event in 2003.
213[[/folder]]
214
215[[folder:Video Games]]
216* In the 2008 ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' game, there are some points where you have to pull electric cables out of the water so you can traverse through the area without getting zapped.
217* In ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', any Splicer in the same water will instantly die if you hit them with an electric shock such as Electro Bolt. Killing a Splicer in this manner unlocks an achievement called "Toaster in the Tub".
218* In ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'', the Paralyze truth bullet electrifies enemies. If the enemy is standing in water, it will hit everyone else in the water (including Komaru herself if you're not careful).
219* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has a few skeletons found in the bathtub, as they were likely killed upon the bombs falling, this means many of them died in the tub. However, a rare few apparently died afterwards. A few can be found with a toaster in the bathtub with them -- although if you're going to choose between semi-instant frying by toaster assisted suicide or waiting for your flesh to fall off from radiation, frying your problems away is really the preferable option. Electrified toilets also are a common BoobyTrap.
220* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the Old World Blues expansion for ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', where the ending explains that the toaster himself was killed by being dropped in a bath by the other inhabitants of The Sink.
221* Not a bathtub, but one of the bosses in ''VideoGame/Gamer2'' is fought in a flooded factory. Hailey has to shoot him until he crashes into the water, whereupon she must activate a lever to electrify him.
222* A few puzzles in ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' involve a large pool of water in contact with live wires. Gordon must shut off the power source or else suffer severe damage should he find himself swimming.
223* One of the installments of ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series even has this move on advertisement posters. Indeed, in one mission, this is the possible (and indeed advisable for a "true", never-seen never-recognized killer) way to assassinate one of your targets. Taking into account how difficult it would be to kill ''yourself'' this way, however, doing this won't be counted as an "accident".
224* The InteractiveFiction game ''In The End 2'' has this as one of its methods for attempting suicide. As is the theme of the game, it doesn't work; if you're not in the bath, electrifying it produces a spectacular lightshow, but if you're in the bath all you get is a muffled ''pop'' and a puff of smoke from the wall socket.
225* Using the Beam or Plasma ability while over a body of water in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' will send a surge of electricity across the water's surface. [[spoiler:[[OptionalBoss Void Soul]] also has an attack where it raises the water level in the stage and then fires a laser into it, electrifying it.]]
226* One of the characters in ''VideoGame/{{Lucius}}'' dies when Lucius drops a hairdryer into her bathtub.
227* The water segment of Shock Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManRockForce'' has a CorridorCubbyholeRun section that features this. The electrical rods in the background will descend and will damage Mega Man if he's inside as soon as they touch the water.
228* Rum Rogers Sr. in ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' dies in a bathtub thanks to his habit of bathing while eating toast. [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', [=LeChuck=] reveals that he killed him there, and made it look like an accident.]]
229* The Disney game ''VideoGame/NightmareNed'' has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq0pmg0gjg8 whole song]] about this. The level it appears on requires you to leap from bathtub to bathtub and avoid getting shocked in the process.
230* Using a LightningGun in the water in ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' discharges all of your ammo into the surrounding area. Damage scales exponentially; one cell (out of a maximum possible of 100) will be a small hit. Ten cells will viciously maim you. Twenty or more cells will gib the player and anything nearby.
231* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRemake'', this is how you permanently kill Neptune - after draining the water in its area, you can finish it off by throwing a fusebox into the puddle it is impotently flopping in and throwing a switch. This fries the fusebox and drains its charge in the process, rendering the puddle safe to enter.
232* In ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'', you can use this to kill hostile creatures in bodies of water, or Maxwell if you don't make sure he's safe.
233* One puzzle in ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' has you drop a hairdryer in a sewer main to kill [[BrokenBridge a monster guarding a bridge]].
234* Utilized by the player in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'' during the first ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror''-themed level based on "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E1TreehouseOfHorrorXI Night of the Dolphin]]". To defeat King Snorky at the sea park, Lisa must use her Buddhist powers to put an electric eel in the dunk tank under him, allowing Bart to use his slingshot to knock Snorky in and kill him.
235* In ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune II'', you kill Domingo Sanchez by blowing a fuse box while he's standing in a puddle of water.
236* Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''. Raven is perfectly aware that he'll get electrocuted if he goes in a hot spring [[spoiler:because of his blastia heart]]. When Yuri brings it up to him, he simply says that it's WorthIt.
237* In ''VideoGame/UrbanChaosRiotResponse'', during one of the [[PutDownYourGunAndStepAway hostage situations]], a [[FacelessGoons burner]] will use a reporter as a human shield. When you successfully shoot him, he will fall backward into a conveniently filled bathtub, and said reporter will then drop a television on top of the guy ("Fry, you bastard!") as payback.
238[[/folder]]
239
240[[folder:Web Animation]]
241* The ''WebAnimation/AstroLOLogy'' short "The Doll" has [[CreepyDoll a killer doll]] attempting to do this to an unsuspecting Pisces while she's taking a bath, but Capricorn stops him and wrestles the toaster away. Capricorn then falls over into a puddle and gets electrocuted himself, resulting in XRaySparks.
242* The ''[[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'' episode "[[Recap/SMG4StupidMarioWorld Stupid Mario World]]" features a scene where Mario gets around fighting Wendy and her fish army by just dropping a bug zapper in the water. Cue Wendy, her shark steed, and the entire fish army floating lifelessly to the top of the water.
243[[/folder]]
244
245[[folder:Web Comics]]
246* [[http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2008/06/toast/ Invoked]] in ''Webcomic/AmazingSuperPowers'', though it's unclear whether they did it or poor Wade later died of something else. See also AltText and the hidden comic.
247* An unusually bloody example shows up at the beginning of ''Webcomic/{{Hellp}}'''s second chapter. Serves as a FramingDevice to show how people enter Hell in this universe.
248* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' had a strip parodying the comic tie-ins for ''VideoGame/FreedomForce''. Gabe gets an electric shock from an arcade machine when lightning strikes and later talks about how "he got these powers for a reason". Tycho then points out that he didn't get any superpowers; he just stood in a puddle of Pepsi and got a shock from one of the arcade games.
249-->'''Gabe''': Yes, but for a ''reason'' though!
250[[/folder]]
251
252[[folder:Web Videos]]
253* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'''s review of ''The Last Ninja'' ends with Ernie from ''Series/SesameStreet'' trying to kill the Nerd for beating his high score at the game, claiming he's already killed Bert for the same reason.[[note]]Ernie and Bert's names appear as placeholders on the game's scoreboard by default, and Bert has the higher score of the two.[[/note]] The Nerd wins the ensuing fight, then takes Ernie to the bathtub and drops the Nintoaster[[note]]The Nerd's custom NES, made by putting the innards of an NES inside the outer shell of a toaster.[[/note]] in with him. A rather [[DeathByIrony ironic death]] since Ernie is known to love baths.
254-->'''Ernie:''' You're one sick fuck, Nerd!
255* ''WebVideo/TheJokerBlogs'': Joker murders [[spoiler:the best man at Harleen's wedding (who is also the groom's brother)]] this way, using the (still-filming!) camera as the murder weapon. He also writes a fake suicide note to leave at the scene. [[CrossesTheLineTwice In Comic Sans]].
256* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:''
257** Critic drops a toaster into the bathtub when he's DrivenToSuicide during his review of ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin''.
258** He makes another reference to the act in his "You're a Rotten Dirty Bastard" special.
259--->'''Nostalgia Critic:''' Is this a pep talk? Because pep talks are supposed to make you feel peppy, not make you want to take a shower with a FUCKING TOASTER!
260* In the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode, "Bowser Junior's Sleepover", at the end of the first episode of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Doofy the Dragon]]'', Doofy kills himself by putting his hairdryer in his bathtub. Then a disclaimer shows up, [[DontTryThisAtHome warning the viewers not to attempt what Doofy did]].
261[[/folder]]
262
263[[folder:Western Animation]]
264* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Da Flippity Flop", Klaus attempts to kill himself by dropping a hand vacuum in his fishbowl, but nothing happens, causing him to lament that the vacuum is never charged.
265* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben102016'', Frightwig attempts to kill a pool full of people by dropping a laptop into it before Ben as Fourarms grabs it.
266* Happens to WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck in the WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} ''How to Have an Accident in the Home''. In this case, though, the water and toaster are two separate accidents. For the bathtub, he's both using an electric razor and tuning into a radio near the tub at the same time, promptly getting zapped. As for the toaster, he's foolishly ramming a knife inside hoping that it'll fix it.
267* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
268** On the season one episode "A Hero Sits Next Door," (the episode that introduces the Swansons) when Peter mentioned how much he hated new neighbors because they always borrow his stuff and never return it, such as his toaster. The scene cuts to a man about to commit suicide in a bath with said toaster because his wife divorced him and wanted full custody of their children. During the next scene, the lights in the Griffin household flicker.
269** In "Mom's the Word", one of Stewie's suicide attempts involves the toaster-in-the-bathtub routine, but it backfires when he becomes a toast-themed superhero as a result.
270** One cutaway gag revolves around Peter's bad job babysitting a neighbor's kid, where he left the kid unattended in a full tub and left a ton of dangerous things lying around the bath, among them a plugged-in hairdryer. He then ''shut off the lights'' and went home.
271* Hilariously attempted by Dale in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' to Hank when he heard he had an EroticDream about his wife after Hank fixes Nancy and Dale's hot tub. When Nancy has Hank and Peggy over for a hot tub party, Dale ran in with a toaster in hand, but forget it was still plugged, so he just tripped and fell before he could make it. Then asks Hank if he can borrow an extension cord.
272-->'''Dale:''' Nancy, get out of the pool. ELECTRIC TOASTER!
273* Armless waterbender Ming-hua from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' meets her demise when Mako zaps the pool they’re fighting in with lightning.
274* Although it only causes [[AmusingInjuries him to temporarily turn into a pile of ashes]], Volectro from ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'', being an [[ShockAndAwe Electroid]], suffers through this when he takes a shower in the episode "A Quest for the Lost Mixamajig".
275* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePJs'', after being placed under house arrest for a parole violation, [[NeverMyFault Thurgood]] tries to expose Walter as corrupt. They end up wrestling in a puddle near the curb and are both electrocuted by Thurgood's tracking brace. Their spirits ascend, Walter is allowed into Heaven and vouches for Thurgood to join him instead of being sent to Hell, but they're revived at the last minute.
276* Discussed in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode, "Too Pooped to Puff". After being annoyed to do every single menial work for others, the girls try to explain to the very dumb citizens of Townsville that spraying water on a monster caught in telephone lines will electrocute it, so they use the trope as an example.
277* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'':
278** As part of the RunningGag of the Bloopers host [[SuicideAsComedy committing suicide]] at the end of his sketches, the fourth one had him killing himself this way.
279** Another sketch has a man committing a MurderSuicide by dropping WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster into his bathtub.
280* Done in ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Fatal Contraption" when the new jealous appliance destroys the toaster by throwing it a piece of bread to chase in which said piece of bread falls into the sink so that the toaster follows it.
281* ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'':
282** In the episode "Waking Quinn". Stormy drops a high powered hair dryer into a pool which electrocutes Quinn, causing him to experience lots of odd hallucinations. He did it [[HanlonsRazor not out of malice, but out of stupidity]]. Later, when Quinn wakes up, Stormy tries to revive him with a [[MagicalDefibrillator defibrillator]] (by putting it directly in the water, away from Quinn himself), then shows him his "bitchin'" homemade Tesla coil. [[spoiler: The last one was implied to have been malicious, as Quinn asked if Stormy was ''that'' stupid before Stormy dropped it in.]]
283** In a later episode, Sparks kills Murphy by dropping the same Tesla coil into the jacuzzi Murphy is sitting in. However, because of the slow speed of the aforementioned visible arcs of electricity, [[spoiler:Murphy lives long enough to [[TakingYouWithMe take Sparks down with him]]]].
284* In the animated short ''The Thing What Lurked in the Tub'', Lugmeyer accidentally kills the titular monster by knocking his radio into the bathtub the creature is hiding in.
285[[/folder]]
286
287[[folder:Real Life]]
288* Averting this trope is the reason that most building codes require that all electrical outlets in bathrooms be GFCI outlets. Unfortunately, this usually only applies to new construction, meaning that electrocution via bathtub is still a danger for older homes. It's also possible for this trope to happen if the device has a long enough cord, is plugged into an outlet outside the bathroom, and is carried in - the outlets in the hall may not be GCFI.
289** Also averting this trope is the fact that most counter/table-top household appliances have shorter cords, so one wouldn't be able to end their lives with a toaster, radio, etc.
290* Interestingly, pure water acts as a pretty good insulator, rather than a conductor as one would expect. Unfortunately, water is also a great solvent, all but guaranteeing there's some salts or minerals dissolved in it, which ''are'' conductive. Take a bath in pure [=H2O=], and the salts and other contaminants on your skin will enable this trope.
291** This also explains why most electrical appliances are toast ({{pun}} very much intended) when they land in water unless you get them out of there fast and immediately expose their innards to a drying agent - as many careless people have found out from using their mobile phone, tablet or even a laptop computer next to or in the bath, all it takes is a slip from the hand and a few ounces of salty, soapy water to a critical component to spell serious damage or even outright bricking.
292* This is why any outdoor swimming pool or beach will [[https://texasswimacademy.com/swimming-pool-safety-procedures-during-lightning-storms/ close immediately]] in the event of a thunderstorm, as a lightning strike either in the water itself or to the ground nearby (where the pipes, wiring, and gas lines can carry the charge to the water) can do this on a grand scale to a large group of people. The rule of thumb for lifeguards is the 30-30 rule: if lightning is followed less than thirty seconds later by thunder (indicating that the lightning bolt was less than six miles away), then the pool is closed until thirty minutes after the last thunder or lightning.
293* Thomas Merton died this way. Conspiracy theories abound.
294* The same can be said of French singer Music/ClaudeFrancois, the most famous French victim of this. There's a good chance he will be referenced whenever the trope is used in French fiction. He also won a [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-28.html Darwin award]] for it.
295* Flavia Boricea, a teenage girl from Romania died from using Twitter on a laptop while in the bathtub.
296** Another teen died from dropping a hairdryer in the tub.
297* One method of execution by the Nazis involved lowering a group of prisoners on a metal plate into a vat of water, then running current through it. Then the apparatus was raised out of the water and electrified again to burn the corpses.
298* [[http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=127862 This]] murder attempt. Fortunately for the woman, she tossed out the radio in time and survived.
299* This is actually a common hazard for live performing musicians, especially when the set/venue/etcetera involves a pool or fountain or other large body of water and/or it's raining. Since vocalists (and, to a lesser degree, guitarists) might not exactly remember they are holding a highly charged electrical object when they decide to jump into the pool/run out from under the canopy/etcetera, people have almost died doing this - the only thing saving them being someone grabbing their mic or guitar or kicking it loose from power before they hit the water.
300** Preventing this is why more advanced setups for video or festival or venue performance will set up redundancy to knock out power - the cables and cords themselves visible so a roadie or another band member can respond if they see this about to happen or happening, and the soundboard/lighting tech being able to cut the breakers from their position - ruining the show, but saving the life of a forgetful singer or guitarist if they see it happening from their vantage point.
301* Also a hazard for photographers: batteries on modern camera gear can easily charge it up enough to deliver a fatal shock if the photographer falls into water. In at least one incident caught on video, a photographer at a wedding aiming for a better shot forgot to look behind him and fell into a fountain - the only thing making it not fatal was that someone grabbed his camera gear from him using a strap of his backpack.
302* There was a case in Austria in the late 1980s where a wife tried to kill her husband by throwing a running hairdryer into the bathtub he was sitting in. The residual current circuit breaker did its job and saved the man's life. The manufacturer of the circuit breaker quoted the incident in their advertising to prove the high quality of their product, which just goes to show that the ability to make quality electric parts is not always paired with good taste.
303* According to both Creator/HunterSThompson and other friends of Oscar Zeta Acosta, the bathtub scene in ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' was loosely based on an actual event, though it didn't take place during either of their trips to Las Vegas.
304* In 2005, Kyle Lake, pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, died from electrocution while performing a baptism, due to grabbing an ungrounded microphone while standing in the water. This was the basis for the ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' segment "Cruci-Fried".
305[[/folder]]
306

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