Graceful Landing, Clumsy Landing

When two or more characters drop from a significant height and land in different ways to contrast one's grace and balance with the other's lack thereof.

The graceful character may either land on their feet or execute a Three-Point Landing. Extra points if they manage to do it while wearing heels. The graceless one may land on their stomach, face, or any way that makes them look undignified.

This trope is often played for comedy to contrast a skilled badass with a less impressive character (usually a sidekick or less competent rival). It can also be done in training sessions to show the difference between an expert and a novice.

The graceful character may also be able to pull off this trope if they have superpowers or special equipment that makes these types of landings possible.

A variation of this trope may contrast a clumsy character who can't pull off a nimble landing eventually being able to accomplish such a task as part of their development.

While usually Played for Laughs, this trope can be done dramatically if the flopped landing results in death.

---

Examples:

Animation

• BoBoiBoy: In "Adu Du Attacks!", BoBoiBoy Earth attacks Mega Probe to unleash Yaya, Ying, and Gopal from his clutches. The first two land on their feet, but Gopal screams as he crashes with a thud off-screen.

Anime & Manga

• Doraemon
  • Doraemon: Nobita's Dorabian Nights: Doraemon and the boys jump off Sinbad's Flying Carpet, a few feet off the ground, to confront Abdil. Everyone lands on their feet, except Nobita (who else?), who lands on his face.
  • The joke is recycled in the opening credits of Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicles of the Moon Exploration, which have Gian, Suneo, Shizuka, and Nobita jumping down a hole. Everyone lands on their feet except Nobita.
• GaoGaiGar: A Running Gag is for the "Ryu Brothers" (and later Sisters) to be catapulted onto the scene or use flight packs, with the "Blue Onis" of the respective pairs (HyoRyu, FuuRyu, and KouRyu) landing without incident, while the "Red Onis" (Enryu, RaiRyu, and AnRyu) land flat on their faces.
• HuGtto! Pretty Cure: In the Crisis Crossover Episode, Cure Yell and Cure Dream stick the landing after defeating an Oshimaida. On the other hand, Cure Happy falls flat on her face.
• Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi: Anytime Sasshi and Arumi end up falling from somewhere, Sasshi crashes to the ground, while his smarter and more competent friend Arumi lands on her feet.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: In one episode, the pilots have to use Air-Vent Passageway to reach NERV HQ due to a power outage. When they finally meet up with Misato, they do so by dropping through a ceiling grate. Shinji and Asuka both land clumsily, with Rei landing gracefully a second later^note A bit of trivia: she lands the exact same way Nadia does after jumping over the Grandis Gang in the first episode of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • In the original Kanto series episode featuring Hypno, Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket parachute in. Jessie and Meowth land properly and gracefully on their feet, while poor James bounces on his butt three times and crashes offscreen. Meowth sarcastically remarks "Nice three-point landing."
  • Diamond and Pearl: In one of Ash and Paul's first encounters, Paul and Chimchar effortlessly scale their way down a cliff by leaping onto rocks and hanging branches. This is contrasted with Ash and Turtwig who fall head-first into the water.
  • XY: When Ash and friends join their friend Sanpei in Ninja Village, a trip down an emergency tunnel has Ash and Sanpei land successfully with their Frogadier and Greninja respectfully. On the other hand, Clemont first faceplants on the floor, and Serena lands squarely on his back.
• Ultimate Muscle: During the Chojin Crown arc, Vance MacMadd and his daughter Jacqueline make their entrance by leaping out of a helicopter. While Jacqueline lands gracefully, her father painfully faceplants.

Comic Books

• Slingers: In issue #0, the team goes through an "initiation" in which they jump from one rooftop to another. Prodigy, Ricochet, and Hornet make the jump thanks to them having powers and equipment that allow them to land safely. Dusk is not so lucky and takes a fatal fall, though she gets better.

Films — Animation

• BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows: When Norik introduces his fellow Rahaga to the Toa, the first four make a graceful landing from flight but Iruini lands on his rear and skids across the floor.
• Flushed Away: As Spike and Whitey are falling into the sewer, Spike instructs his partner to keep his legs together when they land in the water so they won't get hurt. Whitey does and splashes gracefully into the water; Spike, however, misses the water entirely and is left a mangled heap on the concrete.
• Kung Fu Panda 2: Played with when Po and the Furious Five arrive to save the village. Po actually sticks the landing, but ends up facing the wrong way and has to be told to turn around.
• Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie: Ladybug and Cat Noir's first encounter results in them getting entangled together. When they free themselves, the agile Cat Noir naturally does a Three-Point Landing. Marinette, being very new... doesn't, and lands in an undignified heap. (She can thank the Super-Toughness granted by the Miraculous, or she would likely have hurt herself very badly.)
• The LEGO Movie: Wyldstyle usually lands on her feet when falling from a considerable height while Emmet more often than not has the clumsier landings.
• Luck: One of the promos starts with Sam landing clumsily while Bob lands perfectly on his feet. It also happens in the film where Bob (due to being a lucky black cat) will have perfect landings while Sam doesn't. Later in the film, (when both go to Bad Luck to get the last bit of good luck left) it happens the other way around. Sam manages to land on her feet while Bob (who is actually an unlucky black cat) doesn't.
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: During the film's climax, Alex and his father Zuba perform a dance routine so the humans don't shoot them. The routine involves them both jumping in the air. Alex lands on his feet gracefully, whereas Zuba falls flat on his face, though he quickly gets up and acts like nothing happened.
• Monsters, Inc.: Combined with Rule of Three in a Fast-Roping accident in the outtakes; two of the agents rope through the window without incident and the third smacks into the glass.
• Shrek: After escaping the dragon's tower, Fiona slides down a hill and skips away, while Shrek and Donkey tumble down the hill.
• Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans: When both Titan teams fall from the sky, the Robin from the 2003 cartoon manages to use his cape as a glider and lands gracefully. In contrast, his counterpart from the Denser and Wackier 2013 show painfully crashes into the ground.
• TMNT: The first teaser trailer shows an impressive Roofhopping sequence in which Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo land dramatically in an alleyway and perform some quick katas for effect. On the other hand, Michelangelo drops into an open dumpster.
• Treasure Planet: As the RLS Legacy begins to depart from Montressor spaceport different crew members start to float off of the deck due to the artificial gravity not being engaged. When it is turned on a few moments later, Amelia and Mr. Arrow calmly land on their feet, Jim lands in a Three-Point Landing despite the gravity flipping him over, and Doctor Doppler falls right on his face^note This is justified as Amelia is a catlike alien and James has displayed impressive reflexes in the movie's earlier Sky Surfing sequence. Doppler on the other hand is wearing a heavy suit. This is extended a moment later as the ship hits full speed and Amelia, Arrow, and Jim have no reaction as the ship blasts forward, while Doppler is sent flying back into the stern of the ship.
• In Turning Red, Mei goes from crash landing on her stomach into a wall the first time she jumps from a high place to successfully jumping from about 100m up to land on her feet with nearly no velocity.

Films — Live-Action

• Casino Royale: The start of the film has a somewhat downplayed example. Bond is chasing a bomb maker who pulls off numerous astounding jumps with stunning nimbleness as he tries to evade the MI6. Bond goes for more straightforward methods, such as sometimes crashing straight through walls, and on at least one occasion fumbles the landing from a jump that the bomb maker made, resulting in him tumbling off his landing site whereas the bomb maker lands it perfectly.
• Dracula: Dead and Loving It: Played for laughs, as is typical of a Mel Brooks film. Midway through the film, a wall of garlic blocks Dracula from his chosen victim, so he summons his mortal servant Renfield to remove this obstacle. Renfield is currently imprisoned in the second floor of an insane asylum, but Dracula easily bends the bars of his cell window. After gracefully flying back down to the ground, Dracula turns to see Renfield hurl himself through the window head-first and crash to the ground in a heap at Dracula's feet.
  Dracula: Renfield, I meant for you to use the drain pipe. I fly, you don't!
  Renfield: Oh yes, of course! He flies, I don't... He flies, I don't...
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: In the movie, Cedric is shown to be as competent as the adult wizards by calmly floating down from the portkey. By contrast, Harry and his friends plummet to the ground.
• Hop: The three Pink Berets are Fluffy, Patch, and Bit. Fluffy and Patch stick the landing after using the secret bunny tunnels to arrive in Los Angeles, while Bit pratfalls. Later, Fluffy and Patch enter the mansion where E.B. is staying via an Air-Vent Passageway, immediately ready for melee combat. Bit once again tumbles to the floor, and must right herself.
• Jumanji:
  • Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: Smoulder Bravestone, Spencer always lands on his feet after respawning. The others have far less dignified reincarnations, such as Martha and Bethany landing on Fridge whenever they respawn.
  • Jumanji: The Next Level: As Ruby Roundhouse, Martha lands on her feet as she enters Jumanji again. She finds that Grandpa Eddie and Milo didn't have such dignified landings, and neither does Fridge, who arrives as Shelly Oberon.
• The Matrix:
  • The Matrix:
    • Trinity is pursued by an Agent accompanied by a squad of street cops. The first sign there's something unusual about the two of them is their sure-footed agility as they run and jump across rooftops with inhuman ease, while the cops tend to stumble and land with a thud.
    • During one of their virtual training simulations, Morpheus demonstrates some of the amazing abilities Neo can access in the Matrix by leaping from one rooftop to another. Neo tries to duplicate the same feat, only to fall and crash. This is also how Neo learns that if he is killed in the Matrix, he could die in the physical world as well.
  • The Matrix Revolutions: During the final battle, Neo and Smith punch each other simultaneously, sending them both flying backwards. Neo, being the more graceful of the two manages to land on his feet while Smith lands on his back much to his visible chagrin.

Live-Action TV

• Doctor Who: In "Deep Breath", Vastra and Jenny land gracefully via fast-roping. Strax thuds down onto his face a moment later.
• Motherland: Fort Salem: The unit is taking part in a training exercise. After taking salva (a powder that enables flying) and jumping off a chopper in the previous episode, Abigail and Raelle stick the landing. Tally does not and needs Raelle to Fix her (magic healing) so they can continue with the exercise.
• Power Rangers/Super Sentai:
  • One episode of Power Rangers in Space has Astronema pretend to be Ashley thanks to a monster that can change appearances. So when she and Andros go out to investigate something, Andros lands normally, but Astronema-as-Ashley falls ungracefully through the air and lands on her stomach.
  • Power Rangers Time Force: In "Uniquely Trip", Jen performs a move that involves her running up a wall, backflipping off it, and landing with a kick on her opponent. Trip tries to duplicate the same move in a later fight but fails to stick the landing.
  • Power Rangers Ninja Storm: In "Sensei Switcheroo", Sensei Watanabe switches bodies with Shane and later Dustin. He shows himself to be a far more skilled and agile fighter than either Ranger in both their bodies. In the second battle with Footzilla, the monster uses an anti-gravity weapon to make all the Rangers float in the air. Shane is able to neutralize him, allowing the other Rangers to drop to the ground; while Watanabe lands expertly on his feet, the others drop to the ground on their backs or stomachs.
  • Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger: A variation occurs in episode 3. Yanma and Gira are dropped into the kingdom of Ishabana after having been whisked away by God Kamakiri in the previous episode. Yanma lands first with a three-point landing, only for Gira to crash into him while falling and knocking him over.

Video Games

• Bayonetta
  • Bayonetta 2: After a grueling Free-Fall Fight, Bayonetta lands gracefully on dry floor, while Loki lands on his butt in a puddle.
  Loki: Shit! Why am I the only one stuck in the drink?
  • Bayonetta 3: Bayonetta, Viola, and Cheshire arrive on the island of Thule by dropping from the sky. Bayonetta lands gracefully as expected while Viola drops down on her stomach onto Cheshire's paw.
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time: Every rift teleport has Crash pratfalling through while Coco lands perfectly. In the final one, Crash also lands on his feet at last, though still kills the mood by pulling off a goofy celebration.
• Slight variation in Final Fantasy VII: when Jessie sets off one last bomb to cover Avalanche's escape from the reactor, Cloud, Barret, Biggs, and Jessie all jump away dramatically and pose. Wedge comes by last, running around in a panic, apparently burned by the blast.
• Henry Stickmin Series: Played with in "Fleeing the Complex". During the "Ghost Inmate" pathway, there are three locations where Henry will jump down from a higher point, and the way he lands depends on the player; by default, he will land flat on his face unless the player clicks the landing point in time, which will have Henry land gracefully on his legs instead. Doing this for all three points earns you the "nailed it" achievement.
• The LEGO Movie Videogame: Emmet and Wyldstyle's contrasting levels of grace when falling is carried over from the movie in the game's sliding/freefalling segments. Wyldstyle has a standard freefalling pose and slides with her feet while Emmet rotates as he falls and clumsily rolls around during the sliding segments.
• Persona:
  • Persona 4: A new scene exclusive to Golden has the Investigation Team perform in a concert at the Junes Supermarket. When the crowd demands an encore, Teddie goes Crowd Surfing, with the other guys agreeing to join in, only for the crowd to move away as they do so. Yu is able to land in a cool pose while Kanji and Yosuke fall flat on their faces.
  • Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: In a scene exclusive to the Persona 4 team's side of the story, the guys in the Investigation Team shrink themselves in order to go through a small door to get a key on the other side. They form a Human Ladder to reach it, but just as they manage to get it loose, they topple over. Yu again manages to land gracefully, but Teddie ends up squashed flat under the key while Yosuke falls on top of Kanji, leading to an Accidental Kiss between them as they fall unconscious. Yu decides not to mention this to anyone.
  • Persona 5: All of the Phantom Thieves drop from the sky and gracefully stick the landing after finishing an All-Out Attack. The only exception is Butt-Monkey and self-admitted Dumb Muscle Ryuji, who lands flat on his face before jumping to his feet to pose for the victory card.
• Psycho Soldier: The transition in-between levels have Athena Asamiya and Sie Kensou jump down to their next destination. Athena lands on her feet while Kensou lands on his face.
• Shovel Knight:
  • Normally, when Shovel Knight gets launched from a catapult, he will comically crash into the ground upon reaching his destination. If you have the Ornate Plate equipped, he will instead land smoothly on his feet and strike a pose, just like he does when entering a level.
  • In King of Cards, the animation for King Knight entering a level is chosen at random. In some cases he is lowered into the level with a Rat Rope, in some cases, he lands on his feet and dramatically flourishes his cape, and in some cases, he falls on his face before standing up and adjusting his crown.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006): Dr. Eggman lures Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles into a trap and flings them into the future, where the trio arrive in an abandoned building several feet above the ground. While Sonic lands gracefully, Tails lands on his butt and Knuckles lands on his head.
• Star Fox:
  • Star Fox: Assault: In the takeoff sequence, the first three pilots, Fox, Falco, and Krystal, all leap gracefully into their cockpits. Slippy, well known as The Load and least competent fighter despite being a Gadgeteer Genius, faceplants into his.
  • Star Fox Zero: In the animated trailer, the Star Fox pilots all jump into their aircrafts. Fox lands gracefully in his seat, Falco does a stylish flip, Peppy lands face first in his cockpit, and Slippy misses his ship altogether and lands on the floor.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Super Mario Sunshine: After falling several meters down from the bowl where Bowser and his son were battling them, Mario and Peach land onto a small island next to Isle Delfino. Mario plummets straight into the sand, while Peach elegantly and slowly descends with her parasol.
  • In the intro to Mario Power Tennis, Wario and Waluigi are blown into the air by an explosion. Waluigi lands perfectly fine, only for Wario to come tumbling down on top of him. In the Hilarious Outtakes version, Wario misses Waluigi and embeds himself headfirst into the floor.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game: The first stage takes place in the Channel 6 News building while it's on fire. The turtles leap to it from a taller building, landing gracefully and ready for action, with the exception of Michelangelo, who slips and falls flat on his butt upon landing.
• Tekken 2: Marshall Law's ending is a training session with Paul Phoenix where both attempt a somersault kick. Law executes his flawlessly and lands on his feet, while Paul fails and lands on his stomach.

Web Animation

• RWBY: In Volume 1, the nascent Team JNPR fights a giant Death Stalker in the Emerald Forest. The final blow in the fight comes from Nora, whose explosive power sends them all flying. Jaune lands on his back, Nora lands on her butt, and Ren collapses face first after staggering into view. However, Pyrrha, who is a record-breaking Mistral tournament champion, makes a perfect Three-Point Landing.
• Super Mario Bros. Z: In the remastered version's intro, there's a scene where the heroes jump off a plane to land in front of Bowser's castle. Mario, Sonic, Yoshi and Shadow land perfectly, while Luigi crashes face first on the ground.

Web Videos

• Critical Role: In campaign 1, episode 25, three characters jump out of a window in quick succession. Vax, the lithe and dexterous rogue, lands with a tumble and quickly gets up and running. Lord Briarwood, the strong and muscular fighter, executes a perfect Three-Point Landing. Lady Briarwood, the graceful and refined Lady of Black Magic, botches her roll and lands flat on her ass.

Western Animation

• The Angry Beavers: In the opening theme, Norb successfully jumps into the show's logo, while Dag slams into the background, knocking it over.
• Kim Possible: The titular heroine is a martial artist and cheerleader with borderline superhuman agility. Her sidekick Ron Stoppable, on the other hand, is an unathletic klutz. Whenever the two drop into the villain's lair, Kim is able to land without incident while Ron is victim to crashes and pratfalls, and sometimes ripping his pants in the process.
• Megas XLR:
  • "The Fat And The Furious": Coop and Kiva are being chased in a car by the Glorft. They manage to get airborne and leap out of the car, with Kiva landing on her feet while Coop lands on his stomach.
  • "Rearview Mirror, Mirror (Part 2)": When Coop knocks over the Core Destroyer, Kiva and Jamie leap out of the way. Jamie lands on his butt while Kiva pulls off a Three-Point Landing.
• The Owl House: Luz chases Eda across the Boiling Sea to an island, landing awkwardly by barreling into her guardian and knocking them both over. The Golden Guard then shows up and lands neatly on the shore in a kneeling position, establishing him as an intimidating new threat.
• Futurama: In the pilot episode, the first time Fry uses New New York's high-speed tube transport network, the people in front of him land nearly on their feet and walk away as if nothing happened, whereas Fry keeps going and slams into a nearby wall. It's implied that this is normal when taking the tubes for the first time.
  Passerby: Pssh... tourists.
• Rugrats: In "Susie vs. Angelica", one of the challenges the two face off is seeing who can land the farthest from a swing. While Susie gracefully lands on her feet, Angelica lands face-first on the ground. However, Angelica wins since she landed farther than Susie.
• The Simpsons: A Couch Gag has Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie safely parachute onto the couch while Homer crashes on his face due to his parachute failing to open.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: During a moment of chaos in "Shuffleboarding", Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy accidentally get dumped into the Mermalair, and SpongeBob and Patrick fall down the chute too. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy land on their feet while SpongeBob and Patrick land on their butts on top of the elderly duo, necessitating they be hospitalized.
• Steven Universe: In "Serious Steven", the Crystal Gems all land gracefully in the maze while Steven flops in on his belly. This is revisited in "Change Your Mind" where the Gems all land in the exact same graceful poses, and Steven does a confident Three-Point Landing alongside them to show his growth.
• Storm Hawks: Happens three times in "Forbidden City".
  • When the team falls through a trap door, only Aerrow and Piper, the most agile of the physical fighters, manage to land on their feet. All the others, who are more prone to slapstick or comic relief, crash bodily to the ground.
  • When the team dismounts from the ceiling, everyone lands easily enough except for Radarr, who crashes and stands up stunned with his eyes spinning.
  • When the team is leaping through a hole to escape a rolling boulder, everyone makes it through the hole fine except for Finn, who smacks his head on top of the hole as he passes through.

---