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Welcome to the darkside of the wiki.
DarthWiki: Wall Banger

redirected from Main.WallBanger

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force.
Dorothy Parker on either Benito Mussolini's The Cardinal's Mistress or Atlas Shrugged.

"Hey mom, can I leave home for a few days and go do something really dangerous?"
"Go right ahead."
"Wow, really? That was unrealistic and easy."

Something went wrong.

The writer asked for too much Willing Suspension Of Disbelief. A character is carrying an Idiot Ball, or has suddenly become Too Dumb To Live. The series pulled out Green Rocks or Voodoo Sharks once too often, used a little too much Scotch Tape, blatantly Did Not Do The Research, or unleashed a Ret Con that made everyone's eyes roll out of their head. Sometimes it is a force too powerful to be contained, even by willing suspension of disbelief or the Mantra. However it happened, the audience has been dealt a Wall Banger.

Wall Bangers certainly wreck episodes and turn away a few fans, but repeated instances can indicate a show is about to, or has already, Jumped the Shark or entered its Dork Age.

The origin of the term is attributed to Samuel Goldwyn, who described a script as having made a "Hell of a bang, when I threw it against the wall." However, another term for it is something so mind-numbingly riddled with Fridge Logic or Insane Troll Logic that it's absolutely painful.

The website Wrestle Crap was created to chronicle Professional Wrestling's wall bangers; it's since become so popular that the word "wrestlecrap" has become a slang word for such things in many fan circles.

Declaring them Dis Continuity is a common reaction to Wall Bangers. See also Ass Pull, Red Herring Twist, and Shocking Swerve. See They Just Didnt Care for derivative works. If an entire film or series is like this, it is probably a case of So Bad Its Horrible. If the author(s) agree, you might be in for Canon Discontinuity (with an option on Discontinuity Nods), an Authors Saving Throw, or a full-on Continuity Reboot. In most cases will lead to a Face Palm.

Sometimes, very rarely, you come across something that you consider to be a Wall Banger. But upon later evaluation, realize a greater respect for it. This is Fridge Brilliance.

See Dethroning Moment Of Suck which includes some of what your fellow tropers view as the worst of these.

The Crowning Moment Of Awesome is the polar opposite of this.

Compare and contrast with Narm.

Not to be confused with a Banger Wall (an element of architecture that tries to kill you), Ceiling Banger.
Due to the size of the original page getting too far out of hand, the entries have been separated into their own categories by medium. Examples within the following pages will be highly subjective. Read at your own risk, and if somebody rants about a show you like, please refrain from making Justifying Edits. If they're wrong, just delete it.


Values DissonanceMulti Page TropesWhat An Idiot
Villain DecayUnexpected Reactions To This IndexWhat Measure Is A Non Badass
Voodoo SharkFan-SpeakWangst
Warp That AesopDarthWiki/This ExistsAnime