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Wheelchair Antics

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Wheelchairs are very restricting. You can't move your legs, and can't really use stairs. But some people do notice that wheelchairs have, well, wheels. Those wheels can be used for doing tricks like a skateboard. When someone puts the two together, they realize that a wheelchair can actually be entertaining! It can cause people to be impressed, to the point that they might even try it, even though they might not be disabled. Some other people might get mad for the ruckus you make. All this gets exaggerated in fiction.

Sister Trope to Swivel-Chair Antics and Shopping Cart Antics. See also Super Wheelchair.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 
    Anime and Manga 
  • When Great Teacher Onizuka broke his foot, he passed the time by engaging other wheelchair user patients in high-speed races.

    Fan Works 
  • The Infinity League: After Miranda ended up in a wheelchair, she got into one of these, though not because she wanted to, but because the DOCTOR, Aria, wanted to. Aria's little sister, Holly, was not amused, mainly because she was getting chased by her older sister while Aria was wheeling Miranda.
  • Betray Me Not: Despite having just one arm, Brandon is pretty good at using a wheelchair (said wheelchair is specifically designed for one-hand control). He can quickly alternate between spinning the wheel and steering the lever.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Joe from Once a Thief seemingly gets crippled after barely surviving a boat explosion, leading to him being in a wheelchair for the latter half of the film. But since this is an action film, he gets to kick all kinds of ass and engage in shootouts while speeding along his wheelchair.
  • Played with, somehow, in the Floor Show part of The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Dr. Scott is de-Medusa'd to find that he can move his legs, but whilst wearing fishnet stockings. He then joins the ongoing chorus line, but instead of getting out of the wheelchair, he just flails his legs around helplessly.
  • In Silent Movie, Mel and his boys are pursuing Paul Newman through a hospital Newman's in. All chairs are motorized, but only Newman actually needs his.
  • Norm can briefly be seen messing around with Jake's wheelchair in Avatar, balancing on the back two wheels in the link room.
  • In the third Flodder movie, Toet and Henkie put an engine on Grandpa’s wheelchair so he can leave the house without help. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a little too powerful.

    Literature 
  • Children of the Red King: Ezekiel Bloor engages in this at least once. In Hidden King, he attaches sparklers to the back of his wheelchair and rides around through a crowd like that.
  • Baron Edward Morgan from Naked Came the Stranger broke his back in a polo accident at age 71. Now, at age 104, he enjoys racing his wheelchair around the office at top speed. He refuses any help getting into his custom-built car, preferring to ramp his wheelchair into the back.
  • October Daye: In One Salt Sea, Toby rides Dianda's wheelchair (with Dianda still in it) down a steep hill and into San Francisco Bay to get away from assassins.
  • The Douglas Evans poem "Winslow, the Wild Wheelchair Driver" mixes this with Loophole Abuse, with a wheelchair-using boy realizing that the ever present "NO RUNNING" signs don't say he can't wheel around at breakneck speeds. By the end of the story, the signs have been amended to say "10 MPH MAXIMUM SPEED".

    Live-Action TV 
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "End Of Days". While looting an Abandoned Hospital for medical supplies in preparation for the Final Battle, Anya and Andrew have a wheelchair fight.
  • Scrubs: Doctors compete to see who can stay balanced longest on the back wheels of wheelchairs. Turk also bowled a wheelchair user patient into empty oxygen tank containers in Season 1, Episode 4, "My Old Lady".
  • Glee: The episode "Wheels" has the entire Glee club spending part of their day in wheelchairs to help them relate to Artie, a wheelchair-using member of the club, topping it off with a musical performance of Proud Mary while in the chairs.
  • Saved by the Bell: One episode has a disabled woman in a wheelchair. At the end, they hold a charity wheelchair basketball game.
  • On M*A*S*H, during the Olympics episode, Hawkeye and BJ are team captains. They make a bet that the loser has to push the winner around in a wheelchair for a month.
  • From one episode of Father Ted: "Honestly, what kind of situation would require the use of a pair of fake arms and a remote-controlled wheelchair? Only, I imagine, a completely ludicrous one!"
  • Cleo from MythQuest uses a wheelchair because of an accident when she was young. She is shown to have some basic tricks up her sleeve, like spins and a short wheelie. When she's depressed about not being able to go on a ski trip, her brother shows her a video of an adaptive skier he met.
  • Hank from Julie's Greenroom frequently pops wheelies, and has decorated the back of his wheelchair with patches.
  • On My Name Is Earl, Randy enters a comatose Earl in a motorized wheelchair into a game of "Killer Ball" (sorta like a cross between basketball and soccer), to make up for an item on Earl's list.
  • CSI: NY: Discussed in "Epilogue." While Danny is temporarily paralyzed and wheelchair-bound after being shot in the back, Adam jokingly tells him he needs some spoilers, bigger wheels and a lift kit... while providing sound effects.

    Music 
  • Michael Flanders of Flanders and Swann was paralysed from the waist down and in a wheelchair, but he would often use the chair as part of his performance, such as spinning himself around.

    Roleplay 

    Theatre 

    Toys 

    Video Games 

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 

    Western Animation 
  • An episode of King of the Hill played this one seriously (and positively). A Doctor Jerk convinces Bill that he was going to develop diabetes and prescribed him a wheelchair. At first he's depressed, but then he meets a paraplegic man who plays wheelchair basketball, and his friendship helps lift Bill's spirits. It eventually turns out that the exercise Bill got playing basketball improved his health and helped stave off the diabetes, and he goes back and kicks the doctor's ass.
  • Arthur: Lydia's creator, Connor Gordon, attended a wheelchair basketball game and tried using a wheelchair in order to get insight for Lydia's characterization.

    Real Life 
  • Wheelchair dance, a form of dance designed for people in wheelchairs. Major practitioners include Chelsie Hill and Auti Angel both of whom were able-bodied dancers who wanted to continue dancing after suffering injuries that left them paralyzed from the waist down.

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