[[RealDrive http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minamo_skates_small.jpg]]
Despite how [[BadassBiker badass motorcycles are]], sometimes they're just not quite right for the situation. For one, they're large, you need to stay fully on them, it's hard to fight hand-to-hand and they can't maneuver well in tight spaces. So for some, rollerskates are better.

A person using this is very often a kid or has a childish personality, and are also often a FragileSpeedster. Also very often shows that the person is a {{Badass}}. If they're in an especially big hurry they can even add rockets for a little extra boost.

This trope frequently occurs in {{Humongous Mecha}}. Logically, they are there to make it easier & faster for the mecha to move around, but also to appease [[LazyArtist lazy animators]]. The wheels will either be on the feet, or the feet will transform to reveal wheels. Caterpillar tracks are common substitutes for wheels. [[SpiderTank Spider tanks]] under 4 meters (roughly 12.5 feet) tall will normally feature wheels on the bottom of their feet.

Not to be confused with {{Wheel O Feet}}.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Subaru, Ginga and Quint in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' all use skates with ''magical rocket boosters'' on them to get around. [[FullContactMagic They also serve as]] {{Empathic Weapon}}s. However, they are more LightningBruiser than FragileSpeedster.
* The mecha in ''CodeGeass'' seem to use this as their primary means of locomotion, excluding flying.
** As do the ones in ''EurekaSeven''. However, since they spend the vast majority of their time in the air, it's rarely seen.
** The mecha in ''ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS'' also seem to use this extensively.
* Sakura in ''CardCaptorSakura'' skates to school every day and uses them in battle on occasion, with one particularly impressive example when fighting The Fly.
* [[strike: Elzam V. Branstein]] [[PaperThinDisguise Ratsel Feinschmecker]]'s Aussenseiter of ''SuperRobotWars'' is a SuperRobot with large wheels attached to it's feet that allow it to skate along the ground to make fast attacks.
* But of course, the first skating HumongousMecha is the MS-09 Dom from ''MobileSuitGundam'', which uses jets built into its legs to skate along the ground instead of running.
* This is taken to an extreme in ''SuperRobotWars Original Generation: Divine Wars'', in which just about every mecha not capable of atmospheric flight can instead hover-skate over not only the ground, but the ''water'' as well.
* Jango, the HumongousMecha from ''BakuretsuTenshi'', has rollerskates and a jet engine. Actually has a function, as they're meant for speeding through Tokyo's highways.
* In the first episode of ''KaleidoStar'', Sora Naegino catches a pair of loaner rollerblades to chase after a luggage thief, going [[RoofHopping awning-hopping]] to finally track him down.
* ''AirGear'' uses this liberally with the [=ATs=], which actually ''fly''.
* Lil Slugger of ''ParanoiaAgent'' wear rollerblades, though he isn't as good as he is utterly terrifying.
* The Alien Party in ''AlienNine'' chases extra-terrestrials around their elementary school on in-line skates. Armed with butterfly nets. And symbiotic aliens as helmets.
* Suzuna from ''{{Eyeshield21}}'' loves to wearing these, even when cheerleading. Her ice-skating skills are also top-notch, too.
*Genki in the anime version of ''{{Monster Rancher}}'' uses them very often in battle.
* The titular machines from ''Rideback'' are normally bikes that can transform into small-sized mecha with the bike wheels instead of feet, allowing their pilots to cover both BadassBiker ''and'' RollerbladeGood depending on situation.
* Minamo from ''RealDrive'' has shoes that sprout rollerblades at opportune moments.
* After her [[SoLastSeason season 2 power up]], [[ShugoChara Amulet Heart]] has a pair of rollerblades. Which can fly.
* {{Trigun}} brings us Rei-Kei The Blade, a samurai who uses {{DangerousForbiddenTechnique}}s with his katana against gunslingers. To compensate for his reduced effective range, he wears rocket-powered roller blades. Somehow, Vash manages to keep a straight face while fighting him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In her early appearances, [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Jubilee]] was a mall rat who got around on rollerblades.
** Professor X was taught to rollerblade by Jubilee (his legs happened to be working that evening). Then she led him into the lake.
* Whenever IronMan needs to get around fast and flying is not an option, some of his armor suit boots have roller skate wheels that pop out for some speedy ground transportation.
* In the ''SinCity'' graphic novel ''Family Values'', Miho rollerblades her way through the Basin City mafia, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.
* Several Marvel characters, such as Speedfreek and Blue Streak, use jet-propelled skates. Rocket Racer and Night Thrasher use skateboards.
* There was a shortlived comic called ''Skateman'', about a skating hero, but it predates rollerblades.
* The DarkActionGirl Rollergrrl in TheIncredibles comic series

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The Triplets from ''{{Dogma}}'', being roller-hockey themed mooks.
* Subverted in ''{{Jackass}}: TheMovie'', which has them trying rocket-skates which sent the guy flat on his ass after a couple feet, showing that the rocket powered skates aren't quite TruthInTelevision yet.
* There is a scene in the live-action ''[[{{Film/Transformers}} Transformers]]'' film where Bonecrusher transforms into his robot form and proceeds to rollerblade down the highway after the heroes, only to be blocked by Optimus Prime when he turns around to do the same.
** Sideswipe, a character in the sequel ''Revenge of the Fallen'', literally has wheels for feet. [[CatchPhrase Damn]], [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he's good]]...
* ''Rollerball,'' with James Caan.
* The titular kids in ''{{Hackers}}'' got around on blades, and The Plague used a skateboard.
* ''Solarbabies''.
* ''Prayer of the Rollerboys''! In the wake of the rollerblade fad, this Corey Haim vehicle features a dystopic, near-future LA where the toughest gang on the streets is a bunch of teenage white supremascists who ride rollerblades into their rumbles.
* In ''MonstersVsAliens'', Ginormica uses cars as rollerskates to escape from the alien robot. Later she uses the same trick with hoverboards.
* ''Rollerblade'' is about a group of roller-skating nuns who battle monsters and mad scientists with their magical healing switchblades. And hang around naked alot

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Subverted in ''WorldWarZ'' where a mercenary tells how he saw a kid on roller blades wielding a hockey stick with a cleaver at the end of it. He was grabbed at the ankle (making him fall), and then dragged into a gutter. And then called a "dumbass". By ''Paris Hilton''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The Quantum Ranger's power-up armor in ''PowerRangersTimeForce'' had rollerblades.
* In ''TomicaHeroRescueForce'', the late-series HumongousMecha Rescue Max is made from the parts of two large rescue vehicles, and thus even with "legs", it's inevitable that it's going to have to skate around on wheels. The rockets only come out when it's time for the FinishingMove.
* Father Dougal Mcguire from ''FatherTed'' had to give up rollerblading as a vice for Lent in one episode.
* One episode of ''{{Mythbusters}}'' had Jamie, in the course of building a hovercraft, zooming across the shop in skates wearing a homemade jetpack made from several leaf-blowers grafted together.
* [[CountdownWithKeithOlbermann In one Countdown]] [[TakeThat Worst Person In The World]] segment, the "worser" person commented on China's Olympic Torch woes and suggested getting faster runners, and [[DeadpanSnarker Keith]] [[InvokedTrope suggested giving them Rocket-Powered Roller Skates]] [[RuleOfCool because that would be even better]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The mecha of ''Heavy Gear'' run with retractable roller skates for high speed movement over flatter ground. No rockets, and usually doesn't say much about the pilot's personality -- they're just around to make transportation easier. Carried over to the video games.
* One of the cyberbits you could've put on in ''{{Shadowrun}}'' (at least its third edition) was, basically, in-line Gadget skates.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Fatman from ''MetalGearSolid 2'' is an overweight demolitions expert. Including his blast suit, he weights half a ton... so, obviously, he needs to wear roller blades for increased maneuverability. Predictably, he falls down a lot, and has trouble getting up.
* [[MegamanBattleNetwork Lan Hikari]] can switch between walking or skating, but he is ''not'' BadAss.
** He has his moments. Not many, but the end of the second game showed off a [[TheDeterminator certain side]] that we don't see much.
* ''[[JetSetRadio Jet Set/Grind Radio]]'' has all the playable characters in skates. Including the unlockable characters of the last boss, the last boss' human form, and the ''heroes' dog''.
* Lilica Felchenerow from ''ArcanaHeart''.
* Sammy "Skate" Hunter, Adam's kid brother from ''StreetsOfRage 2''.
* [[SonicTheHedgehog Shadow the Hedgehog]] doesn't need a WheelOFeet to prove that he's fast . . . he's got rocket skates.
** Rocket ''hover'' skates, actually. Though I feel this actually makes him less badass than sonic.
* An old and rightly forgotten NES game, ''Rollergames'', revolved around the inline skating culture. Supposedly. Mostly it was just a group of skaters going around beating people up, while skating.
** Was this based on the attempted Roller Derby revival of the same name?
* Area, a MadScientist girl from Germany, uses these in the ''StreetFighter EX games''. As well as a BIG GAUNTLET.
* ''FrontMission 4'' has this in its intro video in a most certainly badass way.
* Top Man from MegaMan 3 has roller blades on his feet. He uses them to move fast across the room while [[EverythingIsBetterWithSpinning spinning]] and shooting [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin spinning tops]] at Mega Man. Unfortunately, this means that when you [[MegaManning get his weapon]], you don't get the tops - you get his ability to do a 360. And since Mega Man doesn't have roller blades, [[JokeWeapon he can only use said ability in the air]]. At least it's useful for getting rid of those [[GoddamnBats annoying enemies]] that bump you into pits while you are jumping merrily around. It also kills the final boss [[LethalJokeWeapon in one hit]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Thog from ''OrderOfTheStick'' had his beloved rocket skates...

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* InspectorGadget is equipped with a pair of Gadget Skates. A pair of Gadget Blades were designed for the LiveActionAdaptation, but were not used.
* KimPossible travels on rocket skates often enough.
* [[LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]] used rocket skates in his very first appearance. Needless to say, it did not end well.
* In ''BeastWars'', Megatron's [[MidSeasonUpgrade Transmetal form]]'s beast mode is a ''roller-skating VTOL T-rex''.
* ''TransformersArmada'' Hot Shot can lower the wheels around his ankles and rollerskate on them.
* In ''TransformersAnimated'', Bumblebee and Optimus Prime both have one of their wheels on each of their robot-mode that they have been occasionally been shown to move around on. On the other hand, Prowl has his vehicles mode wheels in his knees and can use them to ''[[WallCrawl ride up walls]]''.
** ''BeastMachines'' gives the "wheels as feet" to Rattrap. It's pretty much a hindrance to him, though.
* ''StaticShock'': Gear invents rocket skates that can fly.
* ''We're Back!: A Dinosaur Story'' has a scene in which Rex uses a pickup truck as a skateboard to escape the police. He also grinds down the wire of the Brooklyn Bridge.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Roller derby. Though the FragileSpeedster bit is usually hugely, hugely averted.
----
<<|CombatTropes|>>
<<|VehicleTropes|>>
<<|ThePowerOfIndex|>>