A Twinkle In The Sky - Television Tropes & Idioms

It's a UFO! It's a star! It's...Team Rocket...

Dragon kick your ass into the Milky Way! (Milky Way)

—God Hand Theme Tune

Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaiiiiin....! *ding*

—Pokémon, every episode or movie ever

Any object, if launched with sufficient force, will sail clean over the horizon and vanish into the distant sky. A moment after it disappears, a four-pointed "twinkle" will appear in the spot where it was last seen, sometimes rotating briefly, along with a high-pitched "ringing" noise. If the object is potentially explosive, it will blow up after the twinkle.

Examples:

Anime and Manga

When Haruka hurls the "airplane" far from Windbloom in episode four of Mai-Otome.
- According to a bonus feature on the first DVD, the thing ended up in orbit.
Any time someone gets booted into low earth orbit in Ranma 1/2. Inverted in an episode where Kuno delivers a message tied to an arrow, which appears out of a twinkle.
Likewise, whenever "Team Rocket is Blasting Off Again!" in Pokemon. This happens when an attack, like Thunderbolt is used, or there a wreck in their so called "mecha".
Go, Millennium Frisbee!
Excel Saga hangs a lampshade on this trope in episode 18 where Iwata gets punched and says "Look for the twinkle!" just before he disappears into said twinkle◊.
Played with in Martian Successor Nadesico. In an episode titled The Lukewarm Cold Equation Akito's robot was thrown into the distance during a fight, creating the twinkle. This had happened a couple of times in previous episodes, but this time the rest of the episode focused on where he went, with Yurika and Megumi actually going out to search for him.
Hanagata often gets sent flying into a twinkle by Otaru's marionettes in Saber Marionette J To X.
Happens all too often to Keitaro in Love Hina.
Ram-Dass launching from the Cool Ship in Soukou No Strain.
Happens at least once every episode of Soreike! Anpanman. Baikinman and his cohorts are usually taken care of in this manner - sent flying to the horizon screaming their Catch Phrase "Bai baikiiin!"
Ueki from The Law Of Ueki manages to pole vault twinkle out in episode 17.
An entire car twinkles out in an episode of USAVICH. A later episode has a police officer twinkle out after being hit by a barrel.
When Zatch Bell was riding on a cart tied to the bumper of the bus, both him and another character are launched into the distance thanks to the unstability of the cart and the rope breaking.
Frequently comes up in the Pretty Sammy series. Both Rumiyo and many of the Love-Love Monsters go out this way.
During a baseball game in the anime Ninin Ga Shinobuden, one of Shinobu's home run hits does this. It ends up reaching another galaxy!
Happens to giant robots frequently in Transformers Cybertron. Unsurprisingly, the Team Rocket-ish Ransack and Crumplezone experience it a time or two, complete with post-booting dialogue on one occasion:
Crumplezone: "Why us, Ransack?"
Ransack: "It's the wheel of fate, my friend."
Both: "It ran right over us!"
- However, it can also happen to fellow comedic villain Thundercracker, and even the serious villain Scourge. Sideways does it voluntarily, his zigzagged departures often ending in this.
In some animated episodes of Getter Robo, the titular robot's Getter 3 form has a special "Dai-Setsu-Zan-Oroshi" move that involves wrapping enemies in its extending arms and hurling them sumo-style into the air in a whirlwind. The enemy is thrown to the air so far, he disappears in a twinkle. This was even used in Getter 3's appearances in some Super Robot Wars games.
Occurs in Bleach anime episode 127 when the Vizard Hiyori Sarugaki jumps into the sky while carrying Orihime Inoue.
In Yu Yu Hakusho, during Yusuke's first (mass elimination) match of the Demon World Tournament, he blows away every other competitor in the match with one punch, causing about 43 separate twinkles at the same time.
Thorfinn and Thorkell's last fight in Vinland Saga almost comes to an abrupt end when Thorkell kicks Thorfinn into the distance. The boy slams into a tree, breaks his arm, most of his ribs, and then gets back up.
Happens in Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple, whenever Kenichi attempts to spar with Appachai.
Happens in Gundam 00 twice while Setsuna is piloting Gundam Exia. The first during the very first episode. The secong during the final episode.
Happens to Ko tengu in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou OAV episode "Kokoro no Yukue", after he is struck by lightning as a punishment for losing a tengu competition.
The explosion variant happens Once an Episode to Prince Collection in Mon Colle Knights. More specifically, when blasted over the horizon, his machine explodes, with the ensuing cloud turning into a rose with one of its "petals" falling off. So Yeah.

Video Games

Slayer's Instant Kill in Guilty Gear XX involves punching an opponent into the sky and then reciting a haiku. When he completes the poem, there's a twinkle in the sky right before "Destroyed" is announced.
If someone is hit upwards out of the arena in Super Smash Bros or its sequels Melee and Brawl, this is the result...unless they fly forwards and bounce off the screen. It's actually pretty satisfying, especially since they scream the whole time; after a long and bitter fight, hearing a morose, "Pika piiiiikaaaaa..." makes the whole thing seem worthwhile.
- Especially gratifying in that particular instance if you were a fan of Team Rocket... which accounts for, oh, 99% of the fanbase.
- ...unless you happen to get KOed by a stage hazard while your opponent is gently floating off toward the horizon. Remember: it doesn't count as a KO until you leave the screen.
Happens to the player in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door when they're launched into the sky from a cannon. It happens again to Lord Crump when his robot explodes.
Happens to Wario in the "Punch!" minigame in Wario Ware: Touched.
- Happens to the second boss in Wario Land Shake It, Hot Roderick after Wario's final attack against him.
In Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Joachim has a damage-or-OHKO attack that launches an enemy high into the sky. The player will know it succeeded if the enemy creates a twinkle.
At one point in the original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, you're confronted by the game's resident Goldfish Poop Gang, who demand a toll to continue down the road. Earlier on, the team's resident Moogle declared a wish to become a star - if you choose not to pay the toll, you'll barge onwards, knocking the Moogle into the sky. Although you're never shown the Moogle "turning into" a star, you do get this gem:
Selkie A: "And so, he became a star."
Selkie B: "Big time."
In God Hand, Gene's more powerful God Roulette attacks (Dragon Kick, 100 Fist and Homerun God to name a few) end with the enemy being launch in the milky way (where they already are), like the awesome credit song puts it.
- Also, Evil Boisterous Bruiser Elvis does this before his second fight against Gene. He punches two of his henchmen into the skies for disrespecting the body of one of their victims.
Chie's Galactic Punt from Persona 4 allows the Cute Bruiser to kick an enemy (and the occasional Mini Boss) into the orbital frame.

Live Action TV

Non-anime example: This is part of the Warp Drive effect in the various Star Trek series.

Web Original

Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation invokes this trope, both in his verbal simile to Team Rocket and the visual effect, while describing the cathartic ragdoll physics of Saints Row 2.

Web Comics

Looks like the Robster's blasting off again! Or, at the very least, being thrown by a big, naked purple guy in this Dr Mc Ninja strip.

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