Line #43 Main/PopGoesTheHuman


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4	[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/MortalKombatII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liukanggoboom.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:300: Kitana thinks her opponent is a real [[{{Pun}} blast]].]]
6
7	->''"Thirty pounds of pudding and ham\
8	Eighty steaks with cumin\
9	Stuff 'em all inside of your face\
10	'''POP!''' goes the hu-man!"''
11
12	This is when InflatingBodyGag or BalloonBelly is taken to its logical conclusion. Fill a living organism or some random body part with enough food, water, air, etc. and it will eventually burst. Of course, when this is applied to DeathByGluttony, it's usually PlayedForLaughs. There is little actual TruthInTelevision to this, as, while the skin can indeed rupture, it wouldn't do so drastically in most cases. Even barring that, the internal organs you are filling (stomach, lungs, nasal area) would rupture long before the skin itself. Yet in fiction, the rupture is simply measured by the body exploding.
13
14	Can sometimes be NauseaFuel, though in lighter works, the lack of blood and gore may counter this somewhat. Sometimes the body just pops and disappears, though sometimes, the exploding body will shoot the contents it was filled with everywhere, with the actual body parts not showing up. Sometimes the character's explosion is caused by an outside force such as a sharp object. In many cases, the character often [[AmusingInjuries regenerates shortly after exploding]].
15
16	Largely a DiscreditedTrope, as it was mostly born from an UrbanLegend that eating too much would make a person explode, then evolved to other forms of humans popping from overfilling. However, it is still sometimes used in works that are not going for realism, and is a timeless favourite as a ScareEmStraight [[LiesToChildren cautionary tale]] against [[SevenDeadlySins Gluttony]]. Also favored in comedy, for the logical reason that it mixes StuffBlowingUp with VulgarHumor.
17
18	See also TheLastStraw, ExplosiveDecompression.
19
20	Not to be confused with ActionBomb (although there are rare cases of overlap), where people pop more like firecrackers than balloons, and on purpose.
21
22	!!As this is a {{Death Trope\|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Advertising]]
29	* A TV commercial for the SNES game ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland Yoshi's Island]]'' homaged [[Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife the famous Mr. Creosote sketch]] by depicting a man gorging himself at a restaurant until messily bursting, splattering patrons with the contents of his stomach. [[NauseaFuel It didn't take long for a shortened version to start airing that cut most of this out.]]
30	* The UK magazine ''Reveal'' had an ad where a schoolgirl explodes in a shower of pink foam because the magazine is "bursting with gossip", and she couldn't share any of it with her friends due to them either being in class or in assembly.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
34	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
35	** PlayedForDrama in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. This is one of [[RubberMan Super Buu]]'s first and [[NightmareFuel most brutal]] ways of killing someone; he liquefied himself and flowed into a man's mouth until he burst.
36	** This is also how Krillin dies at the hands of Frieza during the Namek saga. Again, it's PlayedForDrama, though Frieza primarily uses his power to do it, and Krillin doesn't last too long, only managing to get out Goku's name before exploding.
37	* Kenshiro of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is ''very'' capable of doing this to his enemies, particularly when he uses the [[RapidFireFisticuffs Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken.]] Say it with us now: [[YouAreAlreadyDead "Omae wa mou shindeiru."]]
38	* ''Anime/{{Kaiba}}''. This is the fate of Parm after she copies her memories onto Kaiba's original body and uses it for sex. Towards the end, her body is shown drastically swelling as the pleasure overloads her body. She realizes too late what's about to happen before she [[OutwithABang explodes upon orgasm]], splattering the walls with green blood.
39	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' doles this out in [[CruelAndUnusualDeath horrifying fashion]] thanks to the Cyclops System superweapon, which emits a massive microwave field. The victims caught in its radius literally swell before bursting into bloody chunks... and [[HumongousMecha Mobile Suits]] don't fare much better against it, malfunctioning until they explode. The [[WaveMotionGun GENESIS]] also is capable of doing this, and the results are just as frightening.
40	* ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'' manages to wake the Chief up from his induced dream state by [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything laying down on him, saying she's going to be "a little rough," sinking into his body and causing him to inflate to the size of a three story building until exploding with a blissful look on his face.]]
41	* Occurs in the ''Manga/BlackParadox'' chapter, ''The Strange Tale of the Pylorus'' by horror writer Creator/JunjiIto. In the story, [[spoiler:a man named Piitan's stomach becomes a gateway to the afterlife (The Japanese word for Pylorus translates into "Spirit Door"), causing him to vomit up stones that are the souls of the deceased. He eventually ends up with more "Soul Stones" in his stomach than he can barf up, which causes him to swell up and then explode.]] It's definitely ''not'' played for laughs.
42	* A villain in ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' has the power to inflate people who have eaten weird fruits of his until they explode. After demonstrating on one of the young women in his harem, he attempts to do it to Cobra, but he manages to give him a taste of his medicine beforehand.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Comic Books]]
46	* ''ComicBook/CaptainVictoryAndTheGalacticRangers'': The eleventh issue has a flashback to Captain Victory's youth where he witnessed his grandfather Blackmass's minions execute King Zarid, the captured leader of a planet they conquered, by forcing him to ingest a compressed air pill, which causes him to inflate like a balloon and explode.
47	* A variation that sits halfway between this trope and ExplosiveDecompression can be found in a Silver Age ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' story[[note]]Incredible Hulk #165: To Become A God[[/note]]: at the story's climax, Hulk leads his new friends, a band of mutant humans descended from a MadScientist and his mobile deep-sea colony, to the surface. Unfortunately, they realize too late that the mutations they developed to survive at the bottom of the ocean make them overpressurized for the far lighter atmosphere of the surface, and they all explode. Hulk can only watch in horror and weep over the foolishness of father and son, [[PoorCommunicationKills which lead to this whole tragedy]].
48	* ''ComicBook/SullivansSluggers'': [=McKee=] is killed by George Malice when he's grabbed by one of Malice's tentacles. Malice then squeezes [=McKee=] until his body bursts.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fan Works]]
52	* ''Fanfic/DanganronpaParadiseLost'': The first execution ends with the blackened consuming drugs resulting in immediate body swelling, followed by violently exploding, the witnesses only being prevented from becoming BloodSplatteredInnocents by a glass barrier.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
56	* An animal example happens in ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' when Ralph and Vanellope find their way into a mobile game called ''Pancake Milkshake'' in which the player feeds pancakes to a bunny and milkshakes to a kitten. When Vanellope fetches all the pancakes out of the back room and Ralph feeds them all to the bunny, this is the end result, much to the horrified surprise of the little girl playing the game on her tablet.
57	* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieCandaceAgainstTheUniverse'', Super Super Big Doctor's species of alien [[BizarreAlienBiology is shown to be prone to having this happen to the upper halves of their bodies if they get too excited]] (''especially'' if they get free stuff), upon which they explode with a sound that sounds like someone shouting "[[UnsoundEffect CANDACE!!]]". Their missing upper halves regenerate good-as-new after a period of around 24 hours.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
61	* Mr. Creosote [[NauseaFuel (blaaargh)]] from ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife''. [[TheLastStraw The wafer-thin mint]] is what finally sets him off. Many of the extras in that scene [[EnforcedMethodActing had no idea what was going on]] -- that large amount of retching and disgusted cries in the background? All genuine.
62	* [[spoiler:Brenda]] (heeuurrrk) in ''Film/{{Slither}}'', after Grant turns her into a breeding factory for alien brain slugs.
63	* The goon who [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvXSwDp9nu4 gets a firehose stuck in his mouth]] in ''Film/TheNakedGun 2''.
64	-->'''Jane:''' What happened out there?\
65	'''Frank:''' Nothing! Nothing to worry about. But if I were you, I wouldn't leave until they've had a chance to shampoo the carpets.
66	* ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''. After David Lo Pan's death, [[TheDragon Thunder]] inflates himself by inhaling and finally commits suicide by slicing himself open, causing a LudicrousGibs explosion of flesh. BodyHorror indeed.
67	* Marlena in ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' dies this way after getting bitten by one of the "fleas" that came off the Clover monster. Her death plays out in silouette, as she's pulled behind a screen just before she pops, but even the obscured view is pretty horrifying.
68	* One unfortunate {{Mook}} in ''Film/KickAss'' gets shoved into an industrial microwave and explodes.
69	* One of the more inventive deaths in ''Film/{{Leprechaun 3}}'' has a woman's breasts, bottom and lips swell until she explodes.
70	* ''Film/PortraitInCrystal'' has more than one unfortunate human inflating and exploding after having their ''qi'' overcharged to excessive levels, with very bloody and graphic results.
71	* ''Film/RikiOhTheStoryOfRicky'': This is the fate of victims shot by the corrupt warden's pellet gun. [[spoiler: Exhibit A: The Hook-handed Assistant warden]].
72	* The inept 2003 horror film spoof ''Film/ScreamBloodyMurder'' has a girl killed by being tied to a chair and inflated to bursting with an airhose put down her throat. Her stupid friend, when finding her, can only goggle in horror instead of, you know, trying to remove the hose.
73	* ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild'' has a combination of this and AutoCannibalism.
74	* ''Franchise/JamesBond'' examples:
75	** [[ScaryBlackMan Dr. Kananga]] in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' dies this way after Bond forces him to swallow a compressed-gas cartridge, meant for killing sharks. It is [[SpecialEffectsFailure notably unrealistic]] in that he ''literally'' swells up like a balloon, [[AllBalloonsHaveHelium rises to the occasion]] and pops, with no blood, guts, or even ''skin'' left over. Definitely a contender for the silliest death in the whole franchise.
76	--->"[[BondOneLiner He always did have an inflated opinion of himself]]."
77	** A considerably more realistic ([[BloodierAndGorier and gory]]) version happens to Milton Krest in ''Film/LicenceToKill'' when his furious boss induces ExplosiveDecompression on his body.
78	* The planned (and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjwpIa9hVkg storyboarded]]) death for [[spoiler:Nauls]] in ''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]]'', wherein a tentacle moves up his body and explodes his head.
79	* ''Film/The51stState'' has a spectacularly gory version; a brilliant chemist expected to need to kill ''someone'' at an upcoming drug deal, so he mixes a cocktail that is stable at room temperature but will explode at about 98.6 degrees. The guy who drinks it basically performs the ''Series/MrBean'' "dynamite painting" gag with his guts.
80	-->'''Ikki''': That'll clear your sinuses.
81	* At the end of ''Film/ReadyOrNot2019'', [[spoiler:the surviving members of the Le Domas family -- [[WouldHurtAChild kids included]] -- all get turned into LudicrousGibs by [[LouisCypher Mr. Le Bail]] after they had failed to sacrifice Grace. Alex, Grace's new husband, is saved for last, just long enough for Grace to tell him that she wants a divorce before he [[BloodSplatteredWeddingDress explodes all over her]].]]
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Literature]]
85	* Stephen Leacock's ''Literature/TheNewFood:'' Technology has allowed an entire family's Christmas Dinner to be concentrated down into one small pill, just waiting for water to be added to reconstitute it. Then baby eats the pill.
86	* In Creator/StephenKing's never-anthologized story "The Blue Air Compressor", Nately shoves the hose of an air compressor down the unfortunate Mrs. Leighton's throat, and overinflates her 'til she bursts.
87	* In Jon Agee's collection of [[FunWithPalindromes palindromes]] ''Literature/GoHangASalamiImALasagnaHog'', a sister asks her brother "Did Mom pop?" as they're standing by shreds of their mother's body. The brother, holding a pin, then says "Mom did."
88	* ''Literature/AesopsFables:'' In "The Frog and the Ox", the frog insists that he can be as big and awe-inspiring as the ox if he just tries hard enough. He inhales air to inflate himself larger and larger, until he explodes.
89	-->'''Moral:''' "Self-conceit leads to self-destruction."
90	* In ''Literature/TheTinWoodmanOfOz'', the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow and Woot the Wanderer stumble upon a WackyWaysideTribe of balloon people called the Loons, who attempt to arrest the trio for trespassing on their town. They defeat the Loons by popping them with needles and leaving them as deflated bags of skin.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
94	* One ''{{Series/CSI}}'' episode had a couple of guys who were out hunting. One gets the bright idea to try something with a device used to quickly detach skin from carcasses. He dies from blowing up and rupturing things inside. It’s a rare non-murder case for the crew.
95	* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': In what was probably a ShoutOut to the Ant-[=Man/Thanos=] joke fan theory mentioned under "Other", ComicBook/TheAtom took out [[UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin Rasputin]] much the same way -- although he went in through his ''mouth''. As an "Encore", Rasputin was technically already dead and thus couldn't be killed, but he ''could'' be reduced to bloody gunk -- which, while [[AndIMustScream still conscious]], couldn't actually do anything to harm anyone.
96	* ''Series/MythBusters'' tested the "Little Mikey's stomach ruptured from a mixture of Pop Rocks and soda" myth. It failed. It turns out it's pretty much impossible for the digestive tract to overinflate thanks to the large orifices at either end [[{{Gasshole}} specifically designed for releasing gas]]. When the ends were tightly sealed off, they actually did get their stomach model to pop, but doing that to a human would kill them from suffocation long before any explosion happened.
97	* In one episode of ''Series/InLivingColor'', Oprah Winfrey eats so much during her show that she inflates, floats above the audience and explodes in a shower of food and confetti.
98	* Similarly, an episode of ''Series/MadTV'' spoofed on Oprah. In the sketch, she was depicted as hugely fat, but hid it with some magic cameras. When she discovered that she was being filmed with the wrong camera, she goes berserk and starts to swell, then explodes all over the audience.
99	* Happened in the original version and the remake of Brazilian soap ''Series/{{Saramandaia}}'', which was a FantasyKitchenSink (the author had one or more serious work censored by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985, so he deliberatedly wrote an all-fantastic soap as a veiled protest). Dona Redonda (literal translation: Ms. Round) was a well-known glutton woman. One day, she ate so much that she entered BalloonBelly mode and literally exploded.
100	* A couple of these happened on ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'':
101	** Happened to a carjacker in one segment when he tried to steal a truck. The boss of the driver shoved the jacker against the truck, and he accidentally wound up [[AssShove getting an air pump stuck in his ass]]. The pump blew him up like a balloon until he exploded.
102	** A female scuba diver who was recovering from the bends suffered this via explosive decompression when a clueless janitor opened the door to the pressurized chamber she was in order to clean it.
103	* A kaiju-sized version of this trope; from the original ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'', the monster Skydon's fate have him being pumped full of helium, causing his body to inflate rapidly as it floats into the air. Ultraman then flies after the floating Skydon and tackles it, causing the monster to blow up.
104	* In one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', a woman kills a man by stabbing him with a dive knife that can inject a blast of compressed gas through the blade. The results aren't pretty.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Music Videos]]
108	* In the music video for Music/BubbleButt the dancer who is suspended on aerial silks meets this fate. While she's dancing, her butt starts to swell and she suddenly explodes ass-first, raining down as confetti on the other dancers, who keep partying as if nothing is wrong.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
112	* OlderThanPrint: There's a Celtic fairy tale about a boy who goes into a ChainOfDeals to get the materials for a gibbet so he can hang his brother for being a glutton. After spending several days trundling around the countryside, he gets the materials and returns home to find that his brother exploded.
113	* An Eskimo folktale tells the story of a boy who could never get enough to eat, until he ate a cod, a seal, an oogrook [[note]]large bearded seal[[/note]] and a beluga whale, then drank an entire pond. Finally full, he went home, but got to close too a lantern and there was a tremendous explosion, with nothing left behind but a pond with a cod, seal, oogrook and beluga swimming around in it.
114	* Polish legend has the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wawel_Dragon Wawel dragon]], a fearsome beast that terrorized the city of Krakow. The dragon is vanquished not by direct confrontation, but by someone tricking it into eating a cow skin or lambskin filled with burning sulfur and other flammables. In the oldest versions of the story, the dragon simply dies from internal burns. But in later tellings, the dragon tries to quench the flames by drinking from the Vistula River until it bursts.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Poetry]]
118	* A poem by Colin [=McNaughton=] foresees this and kindly warns its fellow diners.
119	-->"If you eat one more slice of pie\
120	then you will burst, I fear."\
121	"Well, that's a risk I'd gladly take,\
122	but just in case -- stand clear!''
123	* [[http://www.learnenglish.de/Level1/Poems/casabianca.html This anonymous parody]] of "The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck" [[note]]collected in Iona and Peter Opie's ''I Saw Esau''[[/note]] (scroll down to read).
124	-->''There came a hideous thunder-clap --\
125	The boy, oh! Where was he?\
126	Ask of the maid who mopped him up,\
127	The breadcrumbs and the tea.''
128	* F. Gwynne Evans' poem "Little Thomas" (in the anthology ''Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls''). A choice verse:
129	-->''His old nurse cried, much disgusted\
130	"There, just when I've swept and dusted,\
131	Drat the boy! He's gone and busted\
132	Making such a mess."\
133	While the painful task of peeling\
134	Thomas off the walls and ceiling\
135	Gave his family a feeling\
136	Of sincere distress.''
137	* S. D. Rodrian's [[http://sdrodrian.com/poems/492.htm "The Man Who Could Slurp A Pig Up Through A Straw"]] does ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin -- until in the process of proving it to witness after witness, he goes and swallows one pig too many.
138	* This is the implied ending to the children's poem [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Was_an_Old_Lady_Who_Swallowed_a_Fly "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly."]] She dies after swallowing a horse to catch the cow to catch the donkey to catch goat to catch the dog, and so on.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Theatre]]
142	* In the 2013 ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' stage musical, unlike other adaptations, Violet doesn't make it to the juicing room in time and winds up exploding off-stage, showering purple glitter onto the balconies.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Video Games]]
146	* ''VideoGame/SeventySevenPEggwife'' have the first boss, the overweight Pissco CEO whose sole attack is vomiting projectiles all over the place. When finished off, his entire body bursts like a balloon filled with... disgusting stuff.
147	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
148	** Kitana's Kiss Of Death fatality has this effect on whoever it's used on.
149	** Kabal's Balloon Head fatality in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3''.
150	** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'', Bo Rai Cho commits HaraKiri in this manner.
151	** Rain's first fatality from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' does this by forcing the opponent to drink water until they explode.
152	* One of the weird ailments in ''VideoGame/ThemeHospital'' is "Bloaty Head", where the patient has a massive swollen head. The cure is to pop their head with a pin and re-inflate it.
153	* It's one of the methods of getting rid of enemies in ''VideoGame/DigDug'', by inflating them with a pump until they pop.
154	* ''VideoGame/JitsuSquad'' have the villain, Lord Origami, inflating and exploding a henchman by pumping his body up like a balloon before exploding the guy, in a move ripped from ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. The cutscene where he does this even announces "'''CARTOONALITY!'''" to enforce the reference!
155	* Technically not a human (he's a halfling) but in ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'', when you defeat Melvin Underbelly, he does just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp_9MiLxWjE&feature=related this]] at 2:25.
156	* This is the death animation of all characters in ''Arvoesine''. They suddenly inflate for no particular reason and explode.
157	* ''VideoGame/WarioLand'':
158	** ''VideoGame/WarioLandII'' has a boss (The Bubble King) like this.
159	** You have to defeat a certain boss in ''VideoGame/WarioLand3'' by pumping him full of air until he explodes.
160	* Entering a certain code incorrectly in the earlier ''Franchise/TombRaider'' games would cause Lara to explode.
161	* In ''VideoGame/MetamorphicForce'', enemies swell up and explode into goo when killed.
162	* The Microwave Expander in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' turns the target into a bomb with the killing shot, damage and all.
163	* Arcane beams in ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'', much like Duke Nukem above.
164	* The secondary function of the Microwave Pulse Gun in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' does this to enemies, and may have been inspired by ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'''s Expander.
165	* ''VideoGame/DustyRevenge'' has toad and frog-people as enemies, whose main attacks are by regurgitating bombs from their StomachOfHolding and spitting them at you. Time your hits right though and you'll trigger the bombs, causing those enemies to comically inflate before bursting.
166	* ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'' has this happen to several victims of the [[KillSat microwave beam]] attack during the intro.
167	* Any character or enemy in ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' inflate like balloons and pop when they die. It's as weird as it sounds.
168	* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' has a weapon called the Inflato Ray that can inflict this on any of the human or alien enemies. It doesn't affect machines though.
169	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
170	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', [[spoiler: after defeating Zant, Midna angrily uses the power of the Fused Shadows to impale him with several twilit tendrils that cause him to rapidly swell up and explode. Much to her own horror, ''especially'' since she was only using a fraction of their power.]]
171	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': The second boss Fraaz has this happen to it upon its defeat having lost control of its [[InflatingBodyGag self-inflation]] superpower.
172	* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': One of the bosses is Mimmy, a strange little girl who Henry fights in a dream. After he defeats her, he stabs her in the back, which somehow causes her to inflate to enormous proportions until she explodes. It's bloodless, but as weird as it sounds.
173	* In ''VideoGame/AngryBirds2'', the Pig Inflater spell will massively inflate several pigs in one stage. It doesn't pop them right away, but it can cause them to squeeze out of towers and platforms to fall and/or cause collapses.
174	* ''VideoGame/KillingFloor2'': The Firebug's Microwave Gun, rather than lighting enemies on fire, instead causes them to inflate and then explode.
175	* How you're supposed to beat the final boss in the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' expansion pack ''Shrak''.
176	* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': A quest has Conker getting rid of a mouse by feeding it cheese [[RuleOfThree three times.]] After the third time, the mouse becomes so gassy he inflates and explodes.
177	* In the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series from ''2'' onwards, player characters suffer this when killed while in [[BalloonBelly Fat mode]].
178	* The Main Character from ''VideoGame/TribalHunter'', Munch, suffers this when he either over inflates/feeds himself, or gets hit with a piercing attack when nearing max fullness. Diminished as Munch is [[LivingToys a spirit inhabiting a doll]], so all that's left is a busted doll as the spirit flies off to find a new one.
179	* In ''LS Jumble'', the first of the Wishing Well tests based on the SevenDeadlySins is Gluttony. E. Michelson Beaux can stomach a beer, a donut and a Fatburger, but if he so much as [[WaferThinMint nibbles on the nachos]], he explodes and dies.
180	* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': In the ARAM game mode, there are [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter small, fluffy creatures]] called Poros meant to spice up the icy, bleak map--and instead of a vision trinket (like in the main game mode), the trinket item slot is reserved for Poro Snax that make a nearby Poro grow bigger and bigger when used. If you feed one of the Poros enough times, it explodes into a large number of smaller Poros.
181	* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'', at least in most of its earlier installments, usually has the titular player character explode like a balloon popping as a recurring death animation.
182	* ''VideoGame/{{Noita}}'': Eating or drinking fills your stomach. At 100% fullness, you slow down. At 175% fullness, you take damage with further consumption. You explode and die at 200%.
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Web Animation]]
186	* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': In the episode "[[Recap/HTFPartyAnimal Party Animal]]", Flaky becomes inflated like a balloon due to an allergic reaction to peanuts, unable to move. She eventually gets [[Main/EyeScream popped in the eye]] with a pin by the Mole, [[Main/BlindMistake mistaking her for a donkey tail,]] causing her organs and quills to go flying, impaling the Mole.
187	** In “[[Recap/HTFFromHeroToEternity From Hero to Eternity]]”, Splendid performs mouth-to-mouth on Cuddles, but blows so much air into Cuddles that he explodes.
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Webcomics]]
191	* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': The Silver soldier talking to Lemuel after Danila's death steps on a magical mine, which expands him before blowing him up. A couple of his teeth flying as shrapnel scar Lemuel's face.
192	[[/folder]]
193
194	[[folder:Web Original]]
195	* In ''WebOriginal/AnotherKingdom'', during the sewer escape scene, the [[MuckMonster sewer beast]] kills a prison guard this way.
196	* One of Blog/BadTwoSentenceHorror's most famous stories has Joel watching the Super Bowl, unaware he's about to explode into chunks of delicious meat in 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
197	* [[WebVideo/GameTheory MatPat]] actually [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsIQF1mEmj8 pondered this one]] on his Food Theory channel - at least as far as stomach goes, because as previously mentioned, you can't make a whole body explode just by filling it with food. He also listed several reasons why it's so uncommon for a stomach to burst even in the biggest gluttons.
198	* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALYLUMYZrK4&list=PLMlsxJWSPj4h3zoGa2xavmO3FcF29nCf6 Sheigala: Vampire Business Women]], the titular vampire women explode when giving birth, or are prone to exploding when killed.
199	[[/folder]]
200
201	[[folder:Western Animation]]
202	* One of Kenny's [[TheyKilledKennyAgain many]] deaths in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is when he explodes after eating a whole tray of effervescent tablets (which he mistakes for mints) and drinking a glass of water. After the initial OhCrap moment, everyone else in the room [[ActuallyPrettyFunny finds it hilarious]].
203	--> '''Stan:''' [laughing] That was a good one!
204	* A non-lethal version of this trope is used as the core concept of Kablamus, a villain from ''WesternAnimation/TheMask''.
205	* Happens to Captain K'nuckles in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'', after he eats so much so he can fit into a pair of fancy pants.
206	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'':
207	** At the end of one episode's transmission, Stimpy blows himself up as if he were a balloon, and pops over Ren, partially covering Ren with his ruptured body.
208	** A downplayed example happens in the episode [[Recap/RenAndStimpy2x07SonOfStimpy Son of Stimpy.]] In an attempt to prove that Stinky is real, Stimpy tries to fart for Ren. However, after the strain of trying to fart becomes too much, Stimpy's ass cheeks burst and deflate like a pair of balloons.
209	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Just One Bite", [=SpongeBob=] warns Squidward not to eat so many Krabby Patties at one time.
210	-->'''Squidward:''' What's gonna happen? [[SarcasmMode Am I gonna blow up?]]\
211	'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' [[ExactWords No, worse!]] It'll go right to your thighs!\
212	'''Squidward:''' My thighs?\
213	''[camera pans down to Squidward's bloated lower half]''\
214	'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' ...[[CueCardPause And then you'll blow up!]]\
215	''[Squidward explodes and we cut to Squidward's head attached to an IV in the back of an ambulance with a paramedic]''\
216	'''Paramedic:''' Yup, I remember when I had MY first Krabby Patty.
217	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pigs Is Pigs\|1937}}'' features the cute, tiny, but unrepentantly gluttonous young piglet named Piggy, and he dreams he's been captured by a mad scientist who force feeds him for an entire day. When it's all over, he can barely walk or even speak, and just as he's about to escape, he can't resist more food. Once he takes a big bite, he explodes into several bloodless chunks before waking up.
218	* In ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', this was the plan for two villains, both of which involved addictive sweets. One was a cookie factory owner who made her cookies so addictive, they threatened to make anyone who eats too much explode. The other used protein bars that made the consumer's muscles grow until they explode.
219	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
220	** Happens to Mr. Cat in one episode when he swells up after having an allergic reaction.
221	** Happens to Stumpy in the BeachEpisode. He incorrectly uses muscle-growth steroids, winds up getting inflated instead of getting muscular, and pops when trying to hit a volleyball.
222	* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': In the final episode of book 2, [[spoiler: Agent Sieve meets his end by being zapped by Alan Dracula's EyeBeams, causing him to swell up and explode into a spray of chrome-colored goo.]]
223	* Dexter from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' anticipates this will happen to him as the result of gassy buildup from eating a burrito, and spends the episode settling his affairs. Ultimately subverted when he attempts to do the last thing on his list, telling his parents about his laboratory, and as he's about to tell them, [[{{Gasshole}} he lets out such a huge fart, that he blows the tv through the wall.]]
224	* ''WesternAnimation/VivaPinata'' has Dr. Quackberry blow up in "Party Parasite". The nature of everyone in the setting means he's [[LosingYourHead just fine as only a head, though]].
225	* In Episode 3 of ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'', this is how the Hulk dies. During [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008 his fight with the military at Culver University]], he suddenly starts inflating to massive size before exploding in a giant green cloud. This leaves Betty Ross distraught, since [[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll she thought the Hulk couldn't die]]. [[spoiler: Turns out this was caused by [[AdaptationalVillainy Hank Pym, the Yellowjacket]], entering his bloodstream via his arm (which intially seemed to be a sniper shot from the military) and using a Pym Disk to [[AttackOnTheHeart make his heart grow exponentially]], triggering the aforementioned explosion.[[note]]The resemblance to a less-vulgar version of the memetic Ant-Man/Thanos theory (found under Other below) may or may not be entirely coincidental[[/note]] ]]
226	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', fairies can suffer what’s called “magical buildup” if they go too long without granting a wish for their godchild, which causes them to inflate until they explode into sentient piles of confetti and eyeballs.
227	[[/folder]]
228
229	[[folder:Real Life]]
230	* Be careful with air compressors! There have been cases where as a joke someone crams one into a person's [[AssShove rear end.]] It usually ends with multiple exploded organs followed by death. As an example, a construction worker nearly suffered from this when an industrial air compressor nozzle wound up get stabbed into his abdomen and released air into him. It wound up inflating him to three times his normal size and separated muscle from bone. They quickly rushed him to the hospital where the doctors couldn't do anything. Any attempt at cutting him open to let the air out could cause this trope to happen as all the air would rush out. So they had to monitor his situation and wait for his body to get rid of it naturally.... By farting....
231	* While not as dramatic as this trope in fiction, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compartment_syndrome Compartment syndrome,]] in which pressure within one or more of the body's anatomical compartments rises to critical levels, risking blood circulation, is this trope in spades. As pressure rises, muscles may literally ''rupture'', especially in the legs and arms where strong tendons and fascia limit the extent to which the muscles may swell. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciotomy Fasciotomy]] is a means of releasing this pressure, and simply involves cutting the affected compartment open to relieve the pressure, saving the limb in the process.
232	* This ended up happening to England's first king, William the Conqueror, who near the end of his reign, [[AdiposeRex had gained a substantial amount of weight.]] So much, in fact that when he died, his body was too big to fit into his stone sarcophagus. This, combined with postmortem bloat caused the bowels to explode during his funeral service. The similarly obese Henry VIII's corpse exploded in the coffin while the funeral procession was stopped for the night at Syon House.
233	* Dead whales are known to burst open due to the build up of gas inside their decomposing bodies that have nowhere to escape. While all animal carcasses produce methane gas upon decomposing, whales are huge with thick layers of blubber, which can trap the gas. The gas builds up until the body eventually ruptures, spraying the whale's guts and blood all over the place. There was a case of this happening in the middle of a town where a dead whale's body was being transported for study when its body suddenly exploded, spraying its innards all over buildings and people.
234
235	[[/folder]]
236
237	[[folder:Other]]
238	* In the months leading up to the release of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', one of the [[MemeticMutation popular joke theories]] circulated online was that Ant-Man would kill Thanos by shrinking to microscopic size, going through his anus, then expanding back to regular size.[[note]]The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian]] explanation for why this didn't happen, according to [[WordOfGod the Russo brothers]] is that Thanos' physiology is super-durable, and Ant-Man would have been crushed if he'd tried it. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] explanation should hopefully be obvious.[[/note]]
239	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PopGoesTheHuman