Line #57 Main/PlungerDetonator


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ca6edbbd3c6d674762db996b3ab3d94a.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[AcmeProducts Acme]] detonators, for all your demolition needs.]]
3
4	This detonator is usually a plain square box with a T-shaped plunger on top and wires attached. Although typically not seen anymore in RealLife, it is ubiquitous in classic WesternAnimation and is period-accurate in stories set between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries. In the real world these are actually called "blasting machines" because the plunger spins a little magneto similar to an old-fashioned hand-crank phone to generate the electricity used to detonate the explosives.
5
6	As often as not, a comedic character attempting to use it results in WheresTheKaboom Alternatively, a comedic character may accidentally set it off early (or during the moment of relief after an explosive crisis has been averted) by absently sitting or leaning on the handle. Bonus points if the detonator actually explodes instead of the attached explosives. May be PlayedForDrama, as someone throws their body weight on the handle as a LastBreathBullet.
7
8	Modern blasting devices use either hand crank or a twist handle instead of plunger to rotate the magneto to create the electric charge needed to detonate the blasting cap.
9
10	Compare CartoonBomb and IncrediblyObviousBomb. Possibly related to BigElectricSwitch, insofar as the obsolete look of the device is a deliberate choice of RuleOfCool over realism. HairTriggerExplosive doesn't need this to set it off.[[note]]But doesn't mean it can't be there. Even if it's never used.[[/note]] Weapon of choice for a DastardlyWhiplash. Notably, some {{satchel charge}}s are actually triggered by detonators like these, at least when they aren't shot at or being triggered through a wick and trigger system.
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12	----
13	!!Examples:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Advertising]]
18	* In at least one Federated Superstores commercial from the 1980's, Fred Rated (Shadoe Stevens) uses one.
19	* In TheSeventies Panasonic sold "Dynamite 8" 8-track tape machines shaped like these. You pressed the plunger to change tracks. [[Series/GoodTimes Jimmy "JJ" Walker]] did the commercials, using his catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!"
20	* One Advertising/WilkinsCoffee ad has Wilkins blow up Wontkins in this manner.
21	-->'''Wilkins:''' You know, people who don't drink Wilkins coffee just blow up sometimes.\
22	'''Wontkins:''' Ah, that's a load of... ''([[CurseCutShort Wilkins blows him up before he can finish his sentence]])''\
23	'''Wilkins:''' See what I mean?
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* In the ''ComicBook/AchilleTalon'' album ''La Traversée du Disert'', a demolition worker uses one to set off charges in a stone quarry -- where, unbeknownst to him, the protagonists have ended up. He is prevented in the nick of time from pressing the plunger, only to sit on it by accident the next minute.
28	* The bass tuba in ''The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra'' has a plunger detonator attached and a "go" light standing near.
29	* An early ''ComicBook/{{Cattivik}}'' story from Bonvi had the titular character trying to blow up a shop with some dynamite and a plunger detonator, but accidentally mistakes the bomb's plunger with the one of an air pump for a nearby bike. When he finally realize the mistakes, [[ActuallyPrettyFunny he laughs over it]]... only to accidentally lean on the real detonator, blowing himself up.
30	* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': In ''[[Recap/TintinDestinationMoon Destination Moon]]'', a plunger detonator is used to remotely destroy the rocket [=X-FLR6=] when its radio control is captured by spies.
31	* In the ''Comicbook/SpirouAndFantasio'' short story "La peur au bout du fil" (''Fear at the end of the wire''), the "fear" in the title is caused by the discovery of the "wire", with such a detonator on one end... which means the other end must be a bomb. [[spoiler:It's actually a bomb filled with the Count's metal-melting gas, and at the end of the story it's accidentally triggered by the marsupilami.]]
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
35	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' has a strip in which a couple catch their dog trying to blow up their house with a plunger-type detonator. The caption implies that this is not the first time this situation has occurred.
36	* ''ComicStrip/MotherGooseAndGrimm''. In the [[http://www.grimmy.com/images/MGG_Archive/MGG_2012/MGG-2012-09-17.gif strip for September 17th 2012,]] Grimm uses an [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Acme detonator]] in an attempt to open the refrigerator door.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder: Fan Works]]
40	* In ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', when Jade orders Left to break the Dog Talisman so that its power would go back to her dog Scruffy, the Shadowkhan tries several methods before eventually attempting to blast it with [[MadBomber a load of dynamite attached to a cliche detonator]]. Jade had to stop him before brought the entire building.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* ''Film/{{Hellfighters}}''. Used a few times throughout the movie when the team detonates their nitro barrels to snuff out oil well fires.
45	* ''Film/{{Patton}}''. During the Battle of the Bulge, a German soldier uses one to detonate some explosives and start an avalanche onto an American column. Combines HollywoodHistory with HollywoodScience because no such incident ever happened and real German detonators used a clockwork mechanism using a handle that ''turned''.
46	* ''Film/MysteriousDoctorSatan'' (1940 FilmSerial). In "Chapter 03 - Undersea Tomb", the hero and his plucky girl assistant are lowered into the water in a diving chamber so they can plant explosives to prevent the villains getting their hands on the MacGuffin. The villains board their boat to stop this and during the subsequent brawl someone falls on the plunger, setting off an explosion that blows a hole in the diving chamber for the obligatory end-of-chapter CliffHanger.
47	* ''Film/ThePhantom1943'': The villains try to bury the heroes in an artificial landslide by setting off explosives on the mountainside above them, using one of these.
48	* ''Film/TheThing1982''. The remaining crew members set up dynamite charges to blow up the base, with a detonator to set them off. Unfortunately the title monster grabs it before they can use it, but TheHero improvises.
49	* ''Film/BattleOfTheBulge'' (1965). A group of German paratroopers disguised as US [=MP=]s pretend to rig a bridge behind American lines for demolition while actually holding for their own army. Part of their act includes two men ostentatiously hooking up a detonator while other men pretend to rig charges. Everyone is fooled until the leader of the squad of U.S. Army engineers actually assigned to blow the bridge arrives and immediately protests such a clear (and stupid) violation of basic safety procedures. He and his men get shot dead for their trouble.
50	* ''Film/BlazingSaddles''. Sheriff Bart tries to use one to detonate the explosives in the fake Rock Ridge and blow up the villains, but it doesn't work. The Waco Kid has to set them off with a shot from his revolver.
51	* ''Film/BornToDefense'' opens with a ''massive'' war scene during the Sino-Japanese war, where Chinese soldiers defending their border tries using one such detonator to blow up the advancing Japanese tank column. The PRC soldier attempting to use the detonator was killed before he could push it though, leading to the film's hero (played by a young Creator/JetLi) to cross a flaming trench via ImprovisedZipline and grab the plunger. It works.
52	* Two bad guys attempt to use this on a bridge that the title car is passing over in ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang''. Implausibly, the explosives don't explode, but the detonator itself does, resulting in AshFace.
53	* ''Film/OceansEleven'': When Reuben's old building is blown up.
54	* One is a big part of a major scene in ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai''. In fact, what happens at the end with it is actually another DeadHorseTrope: [[spoiler:The dying guy falling on the detonator and setting off the explosives]].
55	* ''Film/TheBridgeAtRemagen'' has the Germans use a plunger detonator to try to demolish the eponymous bridge to prevent it from being captured, only to have it fail because the wires were damaged in the fighting.
56	* Likewise in ''Film/ABridgeTooFar''. TheCoconutEffect may apply here -- as the explosives don't actually go off, it needs to be clear to the audience that the Germans are trying to set off explosives, but fail, hence the use of a more familiar detonator.
57	* The protagonists use modern ones in ''Film/Tremors2Aftershocks'' -- explosives strapped to remote-control cars which they got the Graboids to eat before blowing them sky high.
58	* In the opening of ''Film/TheParty'', Hrundi V. Bakshi rests his foot on the handle of one of these to tie his shoelace, causing the premature demolition of a film set.
59	* ''Film/JonahHex2010'': TheDragon uses one of these to blow up a train.
60	* In use on a film set in ''Film/FreeAndEasy''. Elmer, who is TheDitz, puts his foot on it and blows the charge prematurely, ruining the shoot.
61	* A couple of these show up next to a rack of hand grenades in an early scene in ''Film/TheIpcressFile''. Palmer pushes the handle of one down, presumably to see if it's connected to anything.
62	* ''[[Film/BatmanTheMovie Batman]]'' (1966). The Riddler uses a small one to detonate explosives and blow open a door into the United World building.
63	* One is seen in ''Film/{{Lawless}}'', when the police blow up the Bondurants' bootleg still.
64	* ''Film/DudleyDoRight''. When Snidely Whiplash's chief minion Homer goes to blow up Dudley's house, he brings one along but accidentally prematurely detonates the dynamite when he tucks the detonator under his arm.
65	* Joe in ''Film/WithoutWarning1980'' rigs an explosive trap inside the shack that the alien hunter uses to store its victims, which ends on a plunger detonator. For dramatic purposes, it fails on the first push because the wirings were off.
66	* ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' has a scene where a young Jacques Clouseau is a member of the French underground during World War II. He sets explosives to blow up a bridge while the German army is crossing it, but due to RuleOfFunny the plunger jams, only to descend by itself after the Germans have left and Clouseau has gone onto the bridge to remove the explosives.
67	* In the Creator/WoodyAllen comedy ''Film/{{Sleeper}}'', there's a RunningGag involving a laser cannon that's fired using a plunger detonator. Each time part of the weapon is destroyed, instead of what's in front of it.
68	* The Rock Riders use one to blow the canyon in ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''. Justified as the ScavengerWorld is full of pre-digital technology [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece as it holds up better in the harsh conditions]]. It's also a distant shot, so as per TheCoconutEffect the plunging motion is used to make it clear to the audience what is happening.
69	* ''Film/TheDesertRats'': The raid on the German ammo dump nearly goes horribly wrong when the Aussie soldier charged with pushing the plunger detonator is shot dead before he gets the chance. Major [=MacRoberts=] has to leap out of the truck and do it himself.
70	* ''Film/StreetFight'': In this documentary, Newark Mayor Sharpe James and others push down a ceremonial Plunger Detonator, followed by the explosive demolition of a decrepit old public housing building.
71	* In ''Film/AFistfulOfDynamite'', the demolitions expert Mallory uses it a few times.
72	* In ''Film/HighPlainsInvaders'', the heroes use a plunger detonator to set of all the dynamite simultaneously when they attempt to kill all the Bugs at the same time.
73	* ''Film/DeathRace2000''. When the Resistance tries to blow up Frankenstein's car using mines, they explode the mines with a plunger detonator.
74	* A non-explosive version occurs in the teaser of ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''. A British Secret Service agent stationed in the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations building is killed when someone unplugs his translator and replaces it with a plunger device that sends a [[MusicalAssassin deadly sound to his head]]. Incidentally the climax does involve StuffBlowingUp, but activated by {{Time Bomb}}s.
75	* RecycledInSpace with ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''. The SelfDestructMechanism is activated by turning a disc, causing a long rod to rise from the floor which is then pushed down to activate the 24 hour timer.
76	* Averted in ''Film/TheLighthorsemen'' (1987) when a switchboard of {{Big Electric Switch}}es is used by the Turkish/German force trying to blow up the wells at Beersheba before the Australians can capture them intact. This is to create suspense as the German officer throws one switch after another trying to get the crucial one.
77	* Another Australian World War One movie ''Film/BeneathHill60'' has both plunger detonator and [[BigElectricSwitch knife switch]] being used to set off the massive mines that have been planted beneath the German trenches.
78	* ''Film/SpiceWorld'': The "explosives expert" Mel B uses one to blow up some buildings.
79	* Near the beginning of ''Film/{{Wasabi}}'', the last of the bank robbers is frantically trying and failing to operate one as Hubert approaches her.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Literature]]
83	* In ''[[Literature/McAuslan The Sheikh and the Dustbin]]'', Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser tells of a piece of outside-the-box thinking used by an eccentric brother officer to put down a riot in Libya circa 1947: He wired up a plunger to an (empty) crate and parked the crate on a bridge in full view of an angry mob that was about to cross it. As soon as the plunger was raised ready for "blasting", the crowd dispersed with extreme alacrity.
84	* ''Literature/CharlieWilsonsWar''. The CIA's dirty tricks technician notes the Afghan's use of this trope reminds him of old cowboy movies, so rather than have them lug a heavy wooden box and plunger into the mountains, he develops an electronic blasting device that weighs only six ounces and is about the size of a Walkman.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88	* ''Series/TheGoodies''. The TwistEnding of "Cecily" has the supposedly innocent niece who lives in the HauntedHouse using a plunger detonator to blow up the Goodies and her aunt and uncle in the summer house. She then uses a second detonator to blow up the house as well.
89	* The ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' use these occasionally, with an arming device for safety, but usually just go with a BigRedButton. Also used for the appropriately named Detonation Collection: the box is shaped like a plunger detonator, and the spine art of the DVD cases form red sticks of dynamite with a clock.
90	* Often used by our saboteur heroes on ''Series/HogansHeroes'' when time bombs were not sufficient. In one case they even got their Nazi 'captor' to press the plunger himself, under the impression that he had loaded the tunnel with fake dynamite while pretending to be one of the Allies.
91	* On ''Richard Hammonds Series/BlastLab'', the losing team has to press down a plunger to blow up their prizes.
92	* Several episodes of the US version of ''Series/{{Distraction}}'' featured the winning contestant having to push down a plunger that would randomly blow up one of his or her prizes for each question missed in the final round.
93	* ''Series/WildAndCrazyKids'' used these on occasion, most memorably to blow up sandcastles.
94	* ''Series/TheMonkees''. The title characters occasionally tried to use one, by clipping two alligator cables to whatever they were trying to blow up, then pushing the plunger on a hand-sized box, at which point something ''else'' would blow up.
95	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqM_4uYGuyQ And some people claim wrestling isn't real.]]
96	* Used in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Graduation Day" to set off the explosives that destroyed Sunnydale High.
97	* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' sees plenty of these in a few of the episodes which take place in John's mind. In this case, the landscape is transformed into a WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes style desert, with John as the Roadrunner and Harvey as Wiley E. Coyote. [[HIlarityEnsues Hilarity]] and [[StuffBlowingUp explosions]] ensue.
98	* ''Series/Batman1966'' episode "While Gotham City Burns". When the Dynamic Duo are trapped inside a giant steel book and about to be steamed to death, the Gotham City police use one to detonate some explosives and blow the book open.
99	* ''Series/LostInSpace'' episode "Mutiny in Space". Dr. Smith uses one to set off the explosive chemicals in his rain-making machine.
100	* In ''Series/TheWire'', Mayor Royce makes a big publicity event out of demolishing a crime-ridden apartment complex. He pushes an old-fashioned plunger...which is then revealed to be a dummy mock-up while the explosives are actually set off from a nearby control panel.
101	* One of the assassination techniques used by the South American revolutionary in a sketch on ''The Creator/DaveAllen Show''. This one comes unstuck when his intended victim places his foot down on the plunger while the assassin is still planting the dynamite.
102	* In ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'', many of the buildings in Walnut Grove were thus destroyed.
103	* ''Series/DoctorWho''.
104	** A Regency-era villain uses a prochronistic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimshurst_machine Wimshurst machine]] with a plunger stuck on the top to set off explosives manually after the Doctor sabotages his TimeBomb.
105	** Used in "The Pirate Planet", though it's not mentioned why the Doctor would have one in the first place.
106	* ''Series/TheCrystalMaze'' had one game in the Aztec zone where the player had to fish plunger handles out of a river, then use them to detonate the entrance to a mine shaft.
107	* A Whammy on ''Series/PressYourLuck'' uses this to wipe out contestants' scores. The detonator blows up in the Whammy's face.
108	* While only described and never seen on screen, the ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' episode "The Frog's Legacy" explains that gentleman thief Freddie "the frog" Robdal died when he sat on his own detonator. Given this was 1960s England, one can assume it was this type of detonator.
109	[[/folder]]
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111	[[folder:Music Videos]]
112	* In Music/TwistedSister's "I Wanna Rock", the villain (played by Mark Metcalf, aka Niedermeyer) is planning to blow up the band during a concert. As he's planting the dynamite by Dee Snider's feet, a butterfly lands on the plunger handle, pushing it down and setting it off.
113	* The squirrel in the Junior Senior video "Move Your Feet" uses one to blow up several items... and himself.
114	* In Music/DefLeppard's video for '[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-ZQMJ3F34 'Pour Some Sugar On Me]]'', where the band perform the song in a house which is being assailed by determined women, who seem to want to make a point about the perceived gender politics of the song. They assail the building with sledgehammers and the room in which the band are performing is seen to disintegrate around them. A big beefy looking woman spits on her hands and takes a JCB with swinging demolition ball to the house. Finally she sets demolition charges and retreats to trigger the Plunger Detonator. There is an explosion... and then the band are seen alive and well outside despite the near miss...
115	[[/folder]]
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117	[[folder:Pinballs]]
118	* An animated plunger sits on the playfield of the Premium editions of the ''Pinball/{{ACDC}}'' pinball.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
122	* On ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' and in all other Muppet media, Crazy Harry sets off explosions by pushing down on a silver plunger. In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfFRiK36dZk Chanson D'Amour]]", Harry brought his onto the stage and set off explosions with every line he sung (culminating in him setting of an array of explosions while cackling madly), and in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnV8y_VnkS0 Wild About Harry]]", he revealed an instrument he calls the explodophone, which is a series of plungers he pushes in time with the song to trigger explosions.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
126	* The ''TabletopGame/MasqueOfTheRedDeath'' setting is an AlternateHistory version of 1890's Earth, so explosives are available. This device is one of the ways of detonating explosives mentioned in the rules.
127	* ''[[TabletopGame/BattlelordsOfTheTwentyThirdCentury Battlelords of the 23rd Century]]'' supplement ''Lock-N-Load: The Battlelord's War Manual''. One of the items PlayerCharacters can buy is a plunger detonator. It malfunctions a lot but is cheap when compared to other detonation methods.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
131	* The queue line for ''Ride/BigThunderMountainRailroad'' at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Magic Kingdom]] contain some, which the guests can push down on to trigger small explosions in the mountain.
132	* In ''Ride/DudleyDoRightsRipsawFalls'' at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Islands of Adventure]], Dudley accidentally puts his foot down on one, triggering an explosion that sends the riders plummeting down the final drop.
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Toys]]
136	* Franchise/{{LEGO}} had a model that appeared in multiple sets, including [[Toys/LEGOAlphaTeam 6775 Alpha Team Bomb Squad]], [[Toys/LEGOStudios 1352 Explosion Studio]], and [[Toys/LEGOAdventurers 7414 Elephant Caravan]]. Due to the way it was built, the plunger was non-functional and could not be pushed down.
137	[[/folder]]
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139	[[folder:Video Games]]
140	* ''VideoGame/AfraidOfMonsters'': Getting through the sewers requires David to explore several rooms and hallways connected to them, eventually finding a plunger detonator on top of some shelving which sets off TNT in the main waterway, which punches a hole through the wall for David to swim through and continue on.
141	* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'': The TNT, dynamite, and exppacks all use a plunger detonator.
142	%%(ZCE)* Used in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' once or twice.
143	* ''VideoGame/EnemyFront'' have you using one such detonator in the cutscene where you blow up a bridge sending an armored train into a ravine.
144	* Used in the ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' demo, "Uplink", in the ''VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift'' expansion, and used in the ''VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce'' expansion to blow up an alien Gargantua.
145	* In the Platform/XboxLiveArcade version of ''TabletopGame/SettlersOfCatan'', one of the [[EmoteAnimation emote animations]] shows a player using one of these to blow up the dice. The AI sometimes uses it when it has a run of particularly bad rolls.
146	* In ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' series, it can be found in a few places. It's a trigger marker by default though.
147	* ''VideoGame/{{Blood\|1997}}'' includes this on the "Thin Ice" secret level.
148	* ''VideoGame/ShadowGuardian'' has one of these in the first level, Luxor, and you trigger it by ''stepping'' on the plunger.
149	* Three of the castle destruction {{Cut Scene}}s in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' featured Mario/Luigi jumping on a plunger detonator. One worked as expected. One caused the castle to launch like a rocket. The third [[WheresTheKaboom seemed to fizzle until Mario/Luigi got close]].
150	* In the Glitter Gulch Mine level of ''Videogame/BanjoTooie'', Banjo and Kazooie could transform into a detonator. Its explosions were self-damaging but [[NonFatalExplosions not necessarily fatal]].
151	* ''Videogame/GuiltyGear''. Faust uses one for his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Instant Kill]] from X onward. The exact results vary from game to game (sometimes the explosion is delayed and gives both players a FunnyAfro, sometimes it goes off like a nuke).
152	* The cave level (and some others at times) in ''VideoGame/TheSmurfs1994''.
153	* The title characters from ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' remove themselves from the battlefield with one of these.
154	* ''VideoGame/SilentDragon'': Occasionally in a few areas, you can find dynamite sticks strewn about, and a single plunger detonator in a corner. Pressing the attack button on the detonator will trigger the dynamites taking out multiple enemies all at once.
155	* The minigame Bowser's Big Blast in ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' fits here. The minigame involves pressing down on a plunger detonator in hopes of picking one which doesn't blow up the Bowser head.
156	* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'':
157	** In one level of ''Videogame/MedalOfHonorAlliedAssault'', Nazis attempt to use one to blow up a bridge, and you must snipe them before they can reach it. In a later level, Powell uses one to blow open a reinforced door in order to move deeper into Fort Schmerzen.
158	** In ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAirborne'', you use one to destroy a [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon FlaK Tower]] in the final level. Prior to that, you are tasked with destroying one such detonator that the Germans plan on using to blow up Nijmegen bridge as one of your objectives.
159	* One CutScene in the original ''Videogame/WingCommander'', if you do well in the campaign, shows a group of Terran soldiers demolishing a Kilrathi base using one.
160	* In the 4th ''VideoGame/{{Submachine}}'' game, ''The Lab'', A used one shows up in one of the places you visit, surrounded by blood, soot, and bits of clothing. A note nearby explains that it was used in a vain attempt to blast open a locked hatch.
161	* The cannons in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' sometimes have these hooked up to their fuses, allowing them to be triggered without a flame. Some of the said cannons are actually traps and will simply explode instead of firing if Kirby jumps into them, though, whereas the ones without detonators are never of this nature.
162	* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' has this as an item that allows you to manually detonate your [[CartoonBomb Cartoon Bombs]].
163	* Used a couple of times in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}''. Fitting, given the SpaceWestern setting.
164	* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'' features one near the end of Bartoli's Hideout, though Lara needs to find the key before she can use it.
165	* The third ''VideoGame/{{Exmortis}}'' game requires the player to rig up explosives with this as the detonator, in order to blow open a subway station before a [[NuclearOption nuke levels the city]] you're in. Granted, the player can try using their [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] powers first, but it won't help.
166	* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' version 1.3 onwards, all explosive block traps are connected to an ''{{incredibly obvious\|Bomb}}'' one that is triggered by landing on top of one or [[TooDumbToLive activating one yourself]], much to the relief of players. (Before this, they were [[ParanoiaFuel triggered by hard-to-see pressure plates]])
167	* In the EdutainmentGame ''Widget Workshop'', one of the switch parts is an ACME Plunger Detonator. Like the light switch, it's triggered by having the player click on it; unlike other switches, it can only be turned on.
168	* In ''VideoGame/KhimeraDestroyAllMonsterGirls'' four of them are hidden, their purpose is to blow up the obstacles that block the entrance of the optional stages on the world map.
169	* ''VideoGame/LandOfWarTheBeginning'' sees you using one [[spoiler:in the game's DownerEnding, to blow up yourself and the rest of the invading Germans]].
170	* The Nobelisk Detonator in ''VideoGame/{{Satisfactory}}'' is one of these, despite the fact that the Nobelisks themselves are futuristic wireless explosives. The detonator has to be equipped to place the Nobelisks, and multiple can be placed to set off simultaneously by "reloading" the detonator. If the player hits detonate immediately after a reload, the Pioneer will [[TooStupidToLive mash down the detonator with the Nobelisk in her hand]]... [[SubvertedTrope good thing Nobelisks don't arm until thrown]].
171	* These are used in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' to clear out piles of rubble in Copperbell Mines.
172	* In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', the icon for [[spoiler:the endgame mission "The Nuclear Option"]] has Vault Boy pressing a plunger to set off an explosion at [[spoiler:the ruins of CIT, and by extension the Institute. (The actual trigger and explosion are... significantly more complex.)]]
173	* In ''Trakka'', one of the built-in games packaged with ''VideoGame/{{Repton}} Infinity'', your assistant "Kevin" can be pushed next to sticks of dynamite, which are then triggered by the player using a detonator.
174	* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', the Van der Linde gang uses these detonators at several different points in the story, and Arthur is tasked with hooking them up to the explosives each time. Notably, when the gang first tries to use one to blow up the tracks beneath a train they intend to rob, the explosives fail to go off altogether.
175	[[/folder]]
176
177	[[folder:Web Comics]]
178	* In [[http://dresdencodak.com/2010/06/10/dark-science-02/ this strip]] of ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'', Kimiko's house is blown up using a plunger detonator. It's all the more remarkable as advanced {{Cyberpunk}} technology is otherwise available.
179	* In ''Webcomic/KarateBears'': the hero rigs explosives and an [[http://www.karatebears.com/2012/04/rig-electionsexplosions.html election]] at the same time!
180	* In ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'', Ash's trap for the Titan is apparently triggered by having it step on a Plunger Detonator. We never get to see this, because Willa falls onto it first and nearly gets blown up.
181	* A portable plunger detonator is how you explode your demolition charges in ''VideoGame/{{Unturned}}''. The format makes it easy to recognize in the game's minimalistic art style.
182	* [[https://thecrewofthecoppercoloredcupids.wordpress.com/2019/11/17/cupid-comic-13-professional-endorsement/ Memorably used]] by Conquest-932 on ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' to destroy the Cupid Parliament building.
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Web Original]]
186	* Simon uses an Acme detonator to set off a stick of cartoon dynamite in ''WebVideo/TheCartoonMan''.
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Western Animation]]
190	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''. A staple accessory of its characters.
191	** WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short "The Windblown Hare". When TheBigBadWolf huffs and puffs and blows at Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs' house of bricks, the house ''explodes''. The camera pans right and show Bugs standing next to a plunger detonator. Bugs used it to blow up the house while he was offscreen.
192	** ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner'' episode "WesternAnimation/ZippingAlong". The Coyote puts a pile of explosives behind a wall with a door in it. He sets up a plunger detonator so it will detonate the explosives when the door is opened. A truck comes around a bend and forces him to open the door to escape, blowing himself up. The Coyote would try several other tricks involving hand-detonated explosives over his series, resulting in mishaps such as the detonator exploding while the dynamite remains intact (shouldn't be possible), or the plunger dropping due to gravity and setting off the explosives while they're still being planted (unlikely, but this is why the safe way to use explosives includes not attaching the wires to the detonator until the bomb is in place and you are a safe distance away).
193	* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' TOS episode "The Quetong Missile Mystery". The guards use plunger detonators to detonate [[SeaMine underwater mines]] to blow up intruding boats. At the end, the BigBad, General Fong, suffers a KarmicDeath when [[YouHaveFailedMe he shoots one of the guards]], [[DeadMansTriggerFinger who falls on the detonator]] and explodes a mine under Fong's boat.
194	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Sideshow Bob's brother Cecil uses one of these to try to blow up Springfield Dam.
195	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI", Sandy blows up the duo with one of these [[RunningGag every time someone says]] [[LiteralMinded the word "boom."]]
196	-->'''Sandy:''' Did somebody say boom? ''[detonates]''
197	* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Tintin in America'' switches Bobby Smiles's box with buttons for such a detonator.
198	* ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh's'' Gopher, as a miner, will often be seen with one of these and a whole lot of dynamite. On one occasion, Rabbit disguised it as a pogo stick in an attempt to stop Gopher from using it, and then somehow got tricked into using it himself.
199	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Hex Games", Vicky uses one to blow up a section of the skating ramp that Timmy is riding down.
200	* Dick Dastardly uses one in the ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' debut episode "See-Saw To Arkansas." It fails to detonate the dynamite he employs to block a pass and stall the other racers, so he runs over to the dynamite to see what went wrong. Muttley sees what it is: the wire leading from the detonator to the dynamite was severed, so he reconnects it. The dynamite subsequently blows up in Dastardly's face. Cue Muttley snicker and Dastardly's DopeSlap.
201	* ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'': Dynomutt sits on one in the intro.
202	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PlungerDetonator