Line #6 Main/WireFu


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheMatrix https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matrix_on_a_wire.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 "Swing me over there, trusty string!"]]]]
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8	->'''Dale:''' The guy got into a little, you know, stance. And I'd just seen that movie, ''[[Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon Crouching Tiger]]'' or whatever, and I thought...\
9	'''Judge Frasier:''' You thought he could fly?
10	-->-- ''Series/ThisIsWonderland''
11
12	A Live-Action SpecialAttack assisted by the fact that the actor is tethered to the ceiling.
13
14	A (comparatively) easy way to make a fight scene more impressive is to use fine wires to support the actor during acrobatics that would not be possible for a normal human: [[ArtisticLicenseMartialArts long lateral jumps, jumping "off the air", being thrown back by an explosion, or even hanging suspended]]. Wires can also be used to slow down an actor's movement without the undesirable side effects of [[OverCrank Overcranking]].
15
16	Wire Fu is an important device of the entire {{Toku}} genre and of cinematic genres such as {{Wuxia}}.
17
18	Also called "Wirework" (though that term is more general; "Wire Fu" usually refers only to the use of wirework for fight scenes).
19
20	Expensive and time-consuming, it is often now replaced by computer-generated effects.
21
22	Not to be confused with MasterOfThreads.
23
24	----
25	!!Examples
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Advertising]]
29	* Geico's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCu2A20S1Vw "Ancient Secrets"]] commercial.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
33	* Shows up in-universe in ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', when the girls help Ils Nineta, the ninetailed fox [[HeyLetsPutOnAShow put on a show]], [[SpiderPeople Rachnera]] uses her webs to help with the stunts and [[TransformationSequence transformations]] on stage.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Card Games]]
37	* ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'':
38	** The "Munchkin Fu" set has a fighting style literally called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Wire Fu]]. It grants +6 to your combat score but prevents you from wearing armor.
39	** The "with visible wires" card reduces the target monster's combat score by 5.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
43	* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the members of 4*Town use wires to give the impression that they can fly during their concert.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
47	* {{Wuxia}} films use Wire Fu to perform exaggerated feats of ''qinggong''. For example, the films ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'', ''Film/Hero2002'', and ''Film/HouseOfFlyingDaggers'' demonstrate perhaps the ultimate achievement in Wire Fu that Western audiences have seen.
48	* Wire Fu is noticeably absent in most Creator/JackieChan films; Chan insists on doing all his own stunts and eschews this technique. This has come to an end, however as Jackie Chan has gotten older.
49	* ''Film/TheMatrix'' is this trope's TropeCodifier in the west.
50	* Just about every single Creator/JetLi film. His training just makes it look really good.
51	* Spoofed in ''Film/WaynesWorld2'', during a fight between Wayne and Cassandra's father featuring leaps and flips with curiously flat trajectories.
52	* Never one to leave a dead horse unbeaten, Mike Myers used this in ''Film/AustinPowersInGoldmember'' with Fat Bastard, who -- to make sure he was ready to fight Austin -- shouted "I hope my wire-fightin' team's ready!" He is defeated when one wire snaps under his weight, leaving him dangling sideways in the air.
53	* The teaser trailer for ''Film/TheOtherGuys'' spoofs this by having the two main heroes striking a flying kick pose and firing guns before hitting each other in midair and swinging from their wires.
54	* Averted in the "corridor fight" scene in ''Film/{{Inception}}''. When the one mook falls down a side corridor when gravity shifts to the side, the stuntman's fall was slowed by regular wirework, as were the parts when gravity completely stops. However, for the fight between Arthur and a mook when gravity is spinning out of control, the director went for an even more expensive and time-consuming solution, building an entire set inside a huge metal cylinder that could actually be rotated. But it was completely worth the effort, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg3eBaZrxo the result looks infinitely better]] than any Wire Fu. Because it '''IS''' real.
55	* ''Film/HeroicTrio'' seems to have been filmed with multiple wire-rigs working at once since practically every character knows wire-fu... and it is [[NarmCharm glorious]].
56	* There is a really out-of-place instance of this in ''Film/LaraCroftTombRaiderTheCradleOfLife'' when Lara confronts the black market smuggler Chen Lo in a cavern. They engage in a martial arts battle, and at one point Lara jumps on the heads of Terracotta warrior statues as Chen Lo smashes them beneath her feet.
57	* ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' played this straight by having the combatants in Thunderdome attached to elastic ropes. At one point Max gains a temporary advantage by cutting his opponent's ropes with his spear.
58	* ''Film/HongKilDong'' is a North Korean martial arts movie done on a North Korean shoestring budget, but it features some surprisingly effective Wire Fu, most notably in the final scene where Kil Dong the martial arts hero is fighting the evil Japanese ninja.
59	* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' franchise uses this in its movies, especially the ''Franchise/UltramanZero'' movies. The movies use it quite often because of their higher budget and because they're usually set in space, as opposed to the TV shows which almost never use the technique (and which are set on earth, with gravity).
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Literature]]
63	* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive:'' This series's particular NotQuiteFlight works by binding and redirecting the Surge of Gravitation, meaning that Surgebinders don't so much "fly" as "fall upwards" (or sideways, or whichever direction they want to go). It's repeatedly mentioned that this makes them look as though they're getting yanked around by invisible wires.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
67	* Fight scenes in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' made use of this in contrast to ''Series/{{Buffy\|the Vampire Slayer}}'', where people only went flying into the air when kicked up there. One commenter on the show speculated that it was specifically moving to Los Angeles that granted vampires the ability to jump really high.
68	** Buffy did make at least one use of wire fu that was gratuitously conspicuous.
69	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
70	** In the Classic episode "The Web Planet", the Menoptera fight the Zarbi in this way. Justified because they are insects and can fly. The effect is actually good, and not just by the standards of the time.
71	** The fish people in "The Underwater Menace" do this to simulate being underwater.
72	** The weightless scenes on the outside of spaceships in "Frontier in Space" are done with quite visible wires.
73	* ''Series/{{GARO}}'' has a lot of wirework, surprisingly well done considering the heavy suits worn by the stuntmen and actors, and the fact that it's a TV show. Combined with chroma key and CG, some spectacular fights are produced. The Skyscraper fight in ''Makai Senki'' has to be seen to be believed.
74	* Many {{Toku}} fans consider this trope to be one of Koichi Sakamoto's {{Director Trademark}}s[[note]]The other being [[StuffBlowingUp ludicrous background explosions]] which ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' fans have [[MisBlamed dubbed "Kalisplosions"]][[/note]]. It's especially apparent in ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' (Sakamoto is the show's overall director), which is handwaved thanks to Fourze having a jetpack and [[SixthRanger Meteor]] being a BruceLeeClone. Likewise, ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' gained a fair bit of wirework in ''[[TheMovie The Gaia Memories of Fate]]'', which of course was directed by Sakamoto.
75	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', in every episode. Surprisingly, ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' (and big brother franchise ''Franchise/KamenRider'') use very little Wire Fu in comparison.
76	** Used quite ludicrously on one episode: the Yellow Ranger is surrounded by [[{{Mooks}} Putties]], leaps into the air, hovers for a few seconds (surely there was some ChromaKey involved here), falls back down to Earth, and then beats them up. The jump accomplished nothing, but the Red Ranger then compliments her on her "good move".
77	** On another occasion (possibly from the very same episode), an out-of-costume Blue Ranger leaps into the air and lands with his legs around a Putty's head, killing it. That's right, he killed a guy with his crotch.
78	* The female lead in the Korean drama ''Series/SecretGarden'' is a stuntwoman whose specialties include Wire Fu. The workings of how it's done are demonstrated, and there are some spectacular finished scenes as well from the projects she's performing in.
79	* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': Whenever Elnor does a flip in the air, Evan Evagora's stunt double is assisted by wirework. The character is super-agile, so the wires are necessary to portray his FantasticFightingStyle. [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80fysa This is a slow-motion video]] of a stunt rehearsal from "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E04AbsoluteCandor Absolute Candor]]."
80	* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' makes copious use of Wire Fu in almost every episode.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Music Videos]]
84	* The video for Music/{{Erasure}}'s ''Always'' features wire-fu... flower aranging. Also some flying around and hanging in the air. Ditto "Chains of Love".
85	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWAMsIxwt60 Regurgitator's "Kong Foo Sing"]]
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
89	* The ''Pili'' series from Taiwan. Wire-fu puppets. Very awesome wire-fu puppets.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Theatre]]
93	* ''Theatre/BatmanLive'' is full of Wire Fu, all of which is used beautifully.
94	* Creator/CirqueDuSoleil examples:
95	** ''Amaluna'' has "strap fu" fighting in its two aerial straps acts, especially the second one with the Valkyries.
96	** ''Theatre/{{KA}}'' originally had a wire fu battle serving as its climax, but [[FatalMethodActing a performer fell to her death]] during a performance on June 29, 2013. Further performances were put on hold as a result, and when the show reopened it [[{{Retool}} replaced the battle scene with a "Dressing Ritual"]]. The scene was eventually reinstated in late 2014.
97	* Responsible for the flying sequences in various stagings of ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan\|1954}}'', which includes aerial sword fighting.
98	* The revised stage production of Theatre/TheLittleMermaid'' has Ariel and the other merfolk "swimming" on wires.
99	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / WireFu