History Main / ThumbtackOnTheChair

* A memorable ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short involves Tom trying to keep quiet to avoid waking up a sleeping king. One of the methods that Jerry and Nibbles makes this difficult for Tom is by placing a pin under Tom just as he's about to take a seat.

* In ''Anime/GunBuster'' one of the many bullying moments endured by Noriko involves having a thumbtack placed on the seat of her HumongousMecha.

* In ''Literature/TheCircleOpens'', Daja has the displeasure of experiencing a serial arsonist’s crime through her magic, and compares his emotions to “a nasty little boy putting a nail on his sister’s chair.”
* In ''[[Literature/LittleHouseOnThePrairie Little Town on the Prairie]]'', a schoolboy in Laura's class is the victim of this prank (with a bent pin), causing the SadistTeacher to have him stand in the corner for making a scene in class. (She was going to hit his palm with her ruler, but couldn't find it in her desk.) Later, when the boy recounts the incident to the school board, he glibly remarks, "I was not punished for sitting on it, but for getting up off it." The board [[{{Corpsing}} has a hard time stifling their laughter]], and has to admit it's ActuallyPrettyFunny.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', it was implied that [[SuperSpeed Dash]] did this to his teacher at school. The teacher claims that he caught him on camera, but when the tape plays, Dash moves too fast to actually be seen, which allows Dash to get off easy. Frame-advance actually does catch Dash mid-placement of tack, for the curious. In fact, it is possible to watch the split-second moment occur in regular speed.

A prank that has been done lots of times throughout the years, this is when a character places a thumbtack in a chair, and when another character sits down, what results after that is a pained jump due to the sharpness of the tack. In cartoons, this may sometimes result in a PainPoweredLeap. Also the rare prank that [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender women (usually schoolteachers) tend to be the victims of more than men]].

* One scene in the I'm Getting Nutten For Christmas cartoon has Timmy putting a tack on the teachers chair.

->'''Strong Bad:''' Okay, let's get down to brass tacks.
->'''Homestar:''' Oh, I didn't bring any. I drove.
->'''Strong Bad:''' (''to himself'') Oh, this is gonna be painful...
->'''Homestar:''' What, the tacks? I'll bet. Try not to sit on 'em.
-->--''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner''

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', it was implied that [[SuperSpeed Dash]] did this to his teacher at school. The teacher claims that he caught him on camera, but when the tape plays, Dash moves too fast to actually be seen, which allows Dash to get off easy.
** Frame-advance actually does catch Dash mid-placement of tack, for the curious. In fact, it is possible to watch the split-second moment occur in regular speed.

* A variant occurs in ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic''. The Von Trapp children place a pinecone in a chair that Maria was going to sit in.

* In the second-to-last ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' book, Elayne is about to sit on the throne of Cairhien for the first time, but Birgitte insists on checking it, to her annoyance and embarrassment. This disappears when Birgitte finds a poisoned needle on the seat.

* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' had an accidental example in the episode "El Alacrán". When Quico shows Doña Florinda the scorpion Professor Jirafales lent him, she gets scared and scatters a box of needles all over the living room, a few of which land on the armchairs and couch. HilarityEnsues when everyone starts thinking the scorpion's around stinging them.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* One episode of ''[[WebVideo/HitlerRants Viva la Fegel]]'' has Fegelein do this to Hitler, among other antics.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Marge becomes Bart's substitute teacher, he didn't know his mother would be teaching him beforehand and quickly rushes to remove the tack he placed on her chair. He then has to rush back there again when he remembers the ''other'' booby trap he put there: a giant swinging log on a chain.
* A memorable ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short involves Tom trying to keep quiet to avoid waking up a sleeping king. One of the methods that Jerry and Nibbles makes this difficult for Tom is by placing a pin under Tom just as he's about to take a seat.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode, "Super Robotnik", Scratch hangs up a picture in Robotnik's office and one of the nails accidentally falls on Robotnik's chair. Since Robotnik's butt was the only thing that wasn't affected by the Superpower formula Coconuts inadvertently created, [[AchillesHeel it wasn't invulnerable like the rest of his body]]. Thus, he is in genuine pain when he sits on the nail.
* On the ''WesternAnimation/GeraldMcBoingBoing'' short "How Now, [=McBoing-Boing=]", Professor Joyce, an expert on human speech, is brought in to try and cure Gerald, who can only communicate through sound effects. One of the methods he tries is to make him sit on a tack, in the hope that this will cause him to let out an reflexive "Ouch!" Instead, Gerald makes a sound like a car tire blowing out, then gives Prof. Joyce a DeathGlare.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'' episode "Practical Hoax", Baron von Cavitus' first minion places a Tell-a-Liar (a dart-like alien) on Midgel's chair.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode, "Super Robotnik", Scratch hangs up a picture in Robotnik's office and one of the nails accidentally falls on Robotnik's chair. Since Robotnik's butt was the only thing that wasn't affected by the Superpower formula Coconuts inadvertently created, [[AchillesHeel it wasn't invulnerable like the rest of his body]]. Thus, he is in geunine pain when he sits on the nail.

* In [[https://thequeenofmanga.tumblr.com/post/661582838677782528/glass-joes-victorya-comic-about-how-glass-joe-got this fan-made]] ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' comic, Aran Ryan attempts this trick on the Bruiser brothers, but they catch him in the act and Ryan ends up with the nail in ''his'' rear instead.

->'''Strong Bad:''' Okay, let's get down to brass tax.

* On the ''WesternAnimation/GeraldMcBoingBoing'' short "How Now, [=McBoing-Boing=]", Professor Joyce, and expert on human speech, is brought in to try and cure Gerald, who can only communicate through sound effects. One of the methods he tries is to make him sit on a tack, in the hope that this will cause him to let out an reflexive "Ouch!" Instead, Gerald makes a sound like a car tire blowing out, then gives Prof. Joyce a DeathGlare.

-->'''Strong Bad:''' (''to himself'') Oh, this is gonna be painful...\\
'''Homestar:''' The tacks? I'll bet. Try not to sit on 'em.

Related to the WhoopeeCushion, but much more painful. May be just as embarrassing. Compare ButtBiter and RumpRoast. {{Subtrope}} of LiteralAssKicking, as it results in a literal pain in the butt.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' had Zim pull the seat tack prank on Dib. Dib believes that Zim's prank is pathetic, even for Zim, until he realizes that the tack contained mutagenic contamination that was slowly turning him into bologna.