The Comedy Drop

Drop him like a bad habit, Diana.

Cindy: What happened to Sully?
Matrix: I let him go.

— Commando (1985)

Comedy can take on many forms, from humorous anecdotes, pratfalls, and anything in between.

Sometimes physical comedy is used to establish that a character is a Butt-Monkey, The Chew Toy, or The Friend Nobody Likes.

And one of the easiest ways to do that is to drop them.

Now, since dropping someone in real life can often result in injury, this can also show the person doing the dropping to be engaged in Comedic Sociopathy.

Typically, this takes one of three basic forms.

The first is someone carrying another person in a Princess Carry or some other method, and then unceremoniously dumping them on the ground, or, if they're lucky, a bed or sofa. Usually the person doing the dropping either has a look of disgust or weariness on their face, either from physical exertion or from having to deal with a person they consider a figurative burden as well as a literal one.

The second form is that someone has fallen and is already injured, and someone goes to pick them up, only to drop them again while distracted by someone or something more important or attractive.

The third is a person stating that they'll catch someone, and then failing to do so, either from distraction, indifference, or a complete lack of skill at catching. This type often overlaps with Trust-Building Blunder.

As this trope is generally played for comedy, it is rare for serious injury to result from the dropping (though sometimes the dropped character is never seen again, which can lead to What Happened to the Mouse? with a side of Fridge Horror that they may be dead, now).

Related to Unhand Them, Villain!. Compare and contrast Dramatic Drop, where objects are dropped at a moment of shock.

As real-life dropping can result in permanent injury, No Real Life Examples, Please!.

---

Examples

Anime & Manga

• Azumanga Daioh: During a sports fest episode, Tomo witnesses the boy's gymnastics team, and suggests that Chiyo do a handstand while Tomo supports her. But Tomo has the attention of a flea and is distracted, causing Chiyo to fall flat on her back.
• Promare: Galo and Aina share a seemingly romantic moment at the frozen lake when he catches her. He leans in close... and then unceremoniously drops her on the ice to view what he was seeing in the ice's reflection.
• Ranma ½: In an early episode, Ranma, in girl form, is clinging to a tree branch by her bare legs, trying to retrieve a kettle of hot water to return to male form. Kuno lands headfirst atop the kettle, which Ranma still manages to hold aloft. Kuno, who is unaware of Ranma's Gender Bender curse, asks the "pigtailed girl" if she's seen Ranma, which she denies. Kuno declares that Ranma is a coward who is not a man. Cue girl-type Ranma dropping Kuno in a fit of pique.

Comic Books

• Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): In Sonic Mega Drive: The Next Level, Sonic catches Amy in his arms, where he then asks if she's okay. She sheepishly admits that if she says yes, he'll just put her down, looking to take advantage of the moment. Sonic quickly drops her with an unamused expression◊.

Fan Works

• In Kedabory's Elmore Chronicles, "The Hipster", Darwin gives Gumball a leg up to look into the counselor's office, where new student Sophie (the titular hipster) is meeting with Counselor Small. Gumball insists she's there because she doesn't like the school, to which Darwin drops him back down and denies it, saying that Gumball is overreacting (since Sophie happens to be Mx. Small's niece, so of course she would want to hang out with them). Gumball gets up and asks Darwin not to drop him again, to which Darwin quickly apologizes before Gumball goes right back to his scheme.

Films — Animated

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: After they pull a loop-de-loop, Max is clinging to the Grinch's head. The Grinch shimmies Max off of him, then nonchalantly pitches him off the front end of the sleigh to continue pulling it.
• The LEGO Batman Movie: When Batman falls after being rejected to go back to the Phantom Zone, Barbara Gordon catches him. Batman asks "Do you have a knife? Because someone needs to cut the tension between the two of us immediately.", and Barbara, rejecting his advances, drops him onto the ground.
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut: During the "Blame Canada" number, a couple drops their infant while rushing off to join Mothers Against Canada, a not-so-subtle metaphor for the fact that the group isn't really about protecting kids so much as it is an invitation to avoid parental responsibility.

Films — Live-Action

• Clue: When Mrs. Peacock begins to faint, Wadsworth tells her to fall into his arms and he'll catch her. The heavyset Peacock slips right through his grasp to land on the floor. (Which may or may not have been deliberate on his part after we learn that he's Mr. Boddy.)
• Commando (1985): Played for Black Comedy as Matrix is holding Sully, one of the men who kidnapped his daughter, over the edge of a bridge by one ankle.
  Matrix: Remember how I promised to kill you last?
  Sully: That's right, Matrix, you promised.
  Matrix: I Lied. [lets go of Sully]
• Mean Girls: After the big brawl, the principal organizes a "Circle of Trust" where girls fall backwards and other girls catch them before they hit the ground. When it is Beta Bitch Gretchen's turn only Brainless Beauty Karen is there to catch her and Gretchen ends up flattening her.
• Spaceballs: In the desert, Barf is carrying Dot on his shoulders, and Lone Starr is carrying Princess Vespa. They both peter out from the heat and lack of water, and drop their loads, causing the robot-like Dot to end up on the ground with a leg in the air.

Literature

• In Matilda, the giant-like headmistress Miss Trunchbull has a habit of holding children aloft when they do not know the answer to a question. She holds Rupert by his hair, telling him that she'll let him go when he says the right answer; and true to her word, she opens her hand and lets him fall. In a later scene, she holds Wilfred up by his ankle, but then drops him in shock when she sees something that terrifies her.
• In the The Heroes of Olympus series, Son Of Neptune has Percy Jackson (who cannot remember who he is) carrying Juno. The first time around is in real life and she's disguised as an old woman as he carries her across a river, setting her down gently at the other side. The second time around, he's dreaming and Juno has him in the same position as the first time around. By this point, Percy remembers who he is, and has realized that Juno took away his memories...and promptly drops her in the river. Juno doesn't take it personally, recognizing that Percy is understandably in a foul mood with her.

Live-Action TV

• House of Anubis:
  • Late into season 1, Fabian and Mick are trying to prepare for the prom, so Mick teaches Fabian how to dance. When the rest of the House sneaks up on them to watch their dance cheer when they finish, they startle the two of them to the point where Mick drops Fabian and tries to brush off what happened. Fabian pops up from the floor a second later, embarrassed and shaken.
  • In season 2, Patricia and Eddie are helping to prepare for the Masquerade Ball by hanging up a banner, with Patricia being the one on the ladder. After she jokes about not feeling safe with Eddie, he rattles the ladder and she falls directly into his arms. When she angrily demands to let her go, he does — by pulling his arms away and letting her drop. This hurts her hand, but otherwise there are no serious consequences.
  • In season 3, when Eddie's rival Ben briefly stays in Isis House, things get tense as he begins to obsess over what he sees as Ben and Patricia flirting with each other. During a class trust exercise, Miss Denby notices this and puts Ben and Patricia together as a pairing... before letting everyone else choose their own teams. Eddie can't focus on working with Alfie because he's too distracted by the others, which leads to him completely ignoring Alfie when he attempts to do a trust fall, causing Alfie to land flat on his back.
• Leverage: An early episode finds expert thief/cat-burglar Parker and techno-wizard Hardison needing to escape from a rooftop. She straps him into a harness and pushes him over the side. Being completely inexperienced, he gets tangled, screams in terror, and ends up dangling upside down. She thinks he's just messing with her and brushes off his reaction. Several episodes later, the rest of the team bring up the incident and explain to her that not everyone finds that sort of thing easy or fun. She's astonished and says, "You mean he really was scared??"
• M*A*S*H: In one episode, Potter is having to take a driving test, and narrowly avoids hitting Klinger. Rizzo and Potter go to check on Klinger and begin lifting him up, Potter lamenting that he's failed the driving test. Rizzo tells him "Far from it!". He and Potter both drop Klinger to the ground with a thud as Rizzo explains that Potter's quick reflexes in avoiding a pedestrian demonstrate exemplary driving skills, and crates never have the right of way. Potter isn't fooled for a second but accepts the excuse to pass.
• Night Court: When Christine faints under the mistaken belief that Bull fell from the roof, Bull carries her down to Harry's office. He tells everyone she's not as light as she looks before dumping her on Harry's sofa.
• WandaVision: During the opening of the first episode (echoing the opening of The Dick Van Dyke Show), Vision carries Wanda to the front door of their new house. Instead of opening the door, Vision phases through it, dropping Wanda outside.

Puppet Shows

• Fraggle Rock: In the episode "We Love You, Wembley", a love potion spills into the Great Hall's pond, causing every Fraggle and Doozer in the rock to fall head-over-heels in love with Wembley for twenty minutes. Mokey drapes a wreath of flowers around his neck, Boober starts smothering him with kisses, and Red lifts him straight off the floor to cradle him in her arms. When the potion wears off...
  Red: Correct me if I'm wrong, but... am I holding Wembley?
  Gobo: You are.
  Wembley: [to Red, innocently] Hi.
  Red: [drops Wembley] I can't believe it! YUCK!

Web Animation

• Helluva Boss: In 'Spring Broken', Blitzo inadvertantly bridal carries a drunk Moxxie as Millie slays a sea-beast. Realising he has been holding him for too long (exposing his genuine affection for his employees) Blitzo drops him and walks off.
  Millie: Is Mox okay?!
  Blitzo: [side-eyes Moxxie, then dumps him on the ground] Oh yeah. He's fine.
• RWBY: While fighting a Sea Feilong in Volume 4, Sun's fall from a great height is broken by Blake catching him in a bridal carry. He cheerfully tells her "My hero!", but she's angry at the discovery he's been following her Vale. When he blithely declares that she needs all the help she can get, Blake rolls her eyes and drops him to the ground, instructing him to shut up and fight. It sets up their dynamic for Volumes 4 and 5, where he's the goofy, cheerful sidekick who helps her overcome her toxic fear of her Psycho Ex-Boyfriend in order to stand up to him and his Fantastic Terrorists.

Western Animation

• Animaniacs: Yakko has instructed his sister Dot to "dust for prints". She returns a moment later saying "I found Prince". Yakko admonishes her. "No, no, no. Finger prints!" Dot looks at Prince, who gives her a huge grin. Dot declares, "I don't think so," and chucks the musician out of the nearest porthole.
• Batman: The Animated Series: In the Christmas Episode "Holiday Knights", Bruce Wayne, under the influence of Poison Ivy's specially formulated lipstick, is forced to take Ivy and Harley on a holiday shopping spree. Attempting to resist, Bruce "accidentally" falls down an empty elevator shaft. Black Comedy ensues as Harley initially freaks out.
  Harley Quinn: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! We — We killed him!... Oh, well.
  Poison Ivy: We were going to do it anyway.
• Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: In "Kiwi's Big Adventure", Chip, in an effort to prove that Dale is engaging in a Malingering Romance Ploy after Gadget confirms he shouldn't be able to swim, unceremoniously dumps his fellow chipmunk into a river. This proves unfortunate, as it draws the attention of a hungry crocodile.
• Justice League:
  • In "Secret Society", Flash is trying to interrogate a thug by dangling him off a rooftop. The unimpressed thug says he's been interrogated by Batman, and Flash is no... and before he can finish the thought, Flash lets him go. He catches him again, to be sure, but it does loosen the guy's tongue a bit.
  • "Kid Stuff" has the Leaguers de-aged to face Mordred. When they're restored to their proper ages, Etrigan is in Wonder Woman's arms. He grins at her and facetiously says, "Mommy!"; Wondy drops him like a sack of potatoes on the ground.

---