History Main / AerosolFlamethrower

* ''Film{{Finley}}'' has the killer ventriloquist dummy of the same name attempt to do this during Jennifer's birthday party by preparing to aim a can of hairspray right as she's about to blow out the candles on her cake; however, he ends up spraying himself in the face because the nozzle was facing the wrong direction. [[spoiler:His second attempt towards one of the burglars invading their house later on is much more successful.]]

* Faith made one using a stove lighter and a can of kitchen oil in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' in order to torture Wesley, which led to the relevant episode being the only one in the whole series to be rated "18" for home video release in Britain.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'''s Fiona Glenanne has pulled this trick a number of times, but in "Fast Friends", she combines this with a trashcan full of nail polish remover (which is largely made of acetate and extremely flammable) for a quick - and diversionary - bomb.
* In the ''Series/Charmed1998'' episode "The Day the Magic Died", the Halliwell sisters have to bring some nonmagical weapons into a meeting with demons, and the weapons have to be disguised as other things. One of them is an aerosol can of hairspray made into a flamethrower.
* In the 2009 remake of ''Series/{{The Day of the Triffids|2009}}'', the main character uses one of these to fend off a triffid.
* In ''Series/DeadliestCatch'' Edgar Hansen, deck boss on the crab boat ''Northwestern'', likes to torment other crew members with these.
* ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'': In "Gone Rogue", Sherloque intends to use one of these against Queen Bee's robotic bees, but can't get it to work. So Cisco uses a breach to send the bees away instead.

* Nate creates one in the ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' episode "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job".
* Frances' daughters make one out of Dawn's deodorant in a flashback in ''Series/TheLibrarians2007''.

* The ''Series/MythBusters'' did this with pepper spray. While testing if a pepper spray-covered shirt was flammable, they tested different brands to see if the pepper spray itself was flammable; of five types they tried, two were non-flammable, one created a stream of fire, and the other two gave large flames typical of this trope.
** The test was inspired by an episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' in which tasering a pepper-sprayed suspect set them on fire. (The Mythbusters themselves even get to make a cameo appearance in the expository scene where it's explained why the poor man went up in flames.)
* In the Dutch reality TV series ''Oh Oh Tirol'' (basically a dutch ''Series/JerseyShore'') Tatjana uses this to light a cigarette when she can't find a lighter. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvGEUwULoVQ&feature=player_detailpage video at 0:24]]

* Sam and Dean of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' have been known to fall back on this tactic when their guns and other weapons don't do the job. Not very often (they've only done it twice), but when the situation calls for fire, they do what they have to.
** It's notable that the first time they did this, it was an improvisation on Dean's part, using a can of insecticide and a lighter to fight off invading bugs. In the later episodes where fire was the weapon of choice, the brothers can be seen constructing their own temporary flamethrowers out of gas bottles and copper piping.
* In a ChristmasEpisode of ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'', Jake, Charles, and Gina end up [[DieHardOnAnX locked in a department store that's swarmed with armed robbers, and neither Jake nor Charles have guns on them]]. Since she's a civilian, protecting Gina is their top priority, but she insists she wants to help and is quite eager to try this trope out. [[spoiler:She gets her chance at the end of the episode when one of the robbers attempts to escape arrest, and Jake, for lack of any other ideas, tosses her a can of hairspray. She takes out her lighter, and the sudden burst of flame shocks the perp enough for him to fall over and be recaptured. And then Jake realizes he just gave [[HeroicComedicSociopath Gina]] [[OhCrap a working flamethrower]].]]
-->'''Gina:''' We don't need guns. I have a lighter, okay? We get some hairspray, make some flame throwers. Let's fry these bitches.\\
'''Jake:''' No one is frying any bitches!

* They show up in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: High-Tech'' but are unreliable, lack range, and get five seconds of firing time at best. They're still better than most improvised weapons, scarier too.
* Stories have gone around of ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' players doing this. Based on standard game mechanics, this should be a brutally effective tactic against all but the most powerful vampires -- if it doesn't outright kill your opponent, it will hurt them a ''lot'' worse than it would hurt a human, and will likely scare the living daylights out of them. However, the GameMaster may have other ideas.
** In the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness setting, ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' actually has rather in-depth rules for finding the supplies for and utilizing an aerosol flamethrower. Even against creatures who aren't particularly vulnerable to flames, a lucky Hunter can set them on fire which is one of the most effective ways to kill almost anything.

* In the ''ComicBook/XXXenophile Collectible Card Game'', the illustration for the "Canned Heat" card shows a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe using the eponymous gizmo as an aerosol flamethrower [[CouldntFindAlighter to light]] her partner's [[SmokingHotSex post-coital cigarette]].

* One of the weapons in ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2008''.
* One of the new weapons featured in ''[[VideoGame/ArmyMen Army Men II]]'' happens to be this.

* In ''[[VideoGame/ToySoldiers Toy Soldiers: Cold War]]'', Levels 2 and 3 of the makeshift unit are different versions of these.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Film/TrueLies'', Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger uses a gas-truck nozzle and the muzzle flash from his submachine gun to make a rather disturbingly powerful impromptu flamethrower.

* In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest IV: Open Season'', you take out the [[BigBad serial killer]] this way after you are knocked out and stripped of your inventory.

* In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuestIVOpenSeason'', you take out the [[BigBad serial killer]] this way after you were knocked out and stripped of your inventory.

* This is one of the many weapons you can find in ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}''. You can either use the traditional method or light it and toss it like a Molotov. Die Bug Die in ''Blood 2'' works on the same principle, substituting the can of aerosol for a CartoonBugSprayer filled with extremely acidic and flammable bug spray.

* In [[https://terriblenerd.tumblr.com/post/142051403334/theyre-helping this]] ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fan comic, Alya uses one of these to attack the akuma butterfly that's going after Marinette. It goes...[[HilarityEnsues poorly]].

-->-- '''[[Creator/EddieIzzard Tony P]]''', ''Film/MysteryMen''

* In ''Film/MysteryMen'', this is the weapon of choice for [[Creator/EddieIzzard Tony P]], Leader of the [[GangOfHats Disco Boys]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Walker makes use of one at the climax of Volume 6. The narrative helpfully points out that [[DontTryThisAtHome this is stupidly dangerous and as likely to set Walker on fire as anyone else]], but that Walker's doing it anyway on account of [[HeroicComedicSociopath being]] [[CloudCuckoolander Walker]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL5Kz83C3so This video, in contrast, shows the complete opposite]], with a rather impressively sustained jet of flames erupting from a deodorant can, in spite of the screams of half-anger, half-terror from the woman behind the camera.

* In ''Film/MysteryMen'', this is the WeaponOfChoice for [[Creator/EddieIzzard Tony P]], Leader of the [[GangOfHats Disco Boys]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Invoked when John tries to put out a fire in the salamander village with a shaving cream-based grenade. Despite his belief that this would quench the flames, the shaving cream just catches fire and spreads everywhere.
-->"OH GOD HOW CAN SHAVING CREAM BE SO FLAMMABLE"

* ''The Tango Briefing'' by Adam Hall. British spy Literature/{{Quiller}} is being held at gunpoint by Egyptian intelligence mooks, waiting for their BigBad to arrive. He's next to his car, so he removes the fuelcap (hidden behind his back) and drops a lit match into the petrol tank, turning it into an impromptu flamethrower.

* ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'': Franchise/JamesBond uses aerosol cologne and a lighter to kill a venomous snake in his hotel room.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Pretty much the weapon of choice for the {{Action Survivor}}s of ''Manga/{{Biomeat|Nectar}}''.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0zPOpADL4 this teaser]] for an animated film of ''ComicBook/Agent327'', our hero combines aerosol + hairdryer to escape a FateWorseThanDeath!
* In ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'' Vanessa's angry boyfriend Ken uses this to try and get rid of Barry the bee protagonist... It doesn't work.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'' Nana uses this technique to light a campfire in the African bush.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanSoulOfTheDragon''. Batman and Bronze Tiger are fighting [[TheDragon Schlangenfaust]] but can't [[HydraProblem cut him]] or [[NighInvulnerable crush him]]. Batman only has a can of mace left in his utility belt, but then Bronze Tiger realises there's HollywoodTorches to grab and turn it into this trope.

* Done in ''Film/{{Arachnophobia}}'' when the hero fights the king spider.

* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Joy threatens to torch a childhood enemy with this and Earl mentions that she tried to cook a Thanksgiving turkey that way.
** The can of hairspray she was using, combined with Earl trying to light a cigarette, had [[AshFace explosive results, too]].

* The game ''Film/{{Arachnophobia}}'' had this as one of your most useful weapons against the spider menace. Getting both the matches and the aerosol can on the same level would make you extremely dangerous.

* Of the many weapons in the ''[[VideoGame/DynamiteCop Die Hard Arcade]]'' (''Dynamite Deka''), the lighter and especially the spray can seem all but useless at first. Then you put them together...

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', you have to do this against the final boss. You have to jury-rig[=/=]{{MacGyver|ing}} the weapon out of bits and pieces lying around, all the while being hunted by the machine-gun wielding [[spoiler:Big Boss]], whom you then have to burn to death with your homemade makeshift motherfucking flamethrower. Having to do that is part of what causes Snake's HeroicBSOD that he ends up retiring over between this and [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid the next game]].
* In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest IV: Open Season'', you take out the [[BigBad serial killer]] this way after you were knocked out and stripped of your inventory.

* In the Mercenaries Reunion mode of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', Rebecca Chambers uses an aerosol can flamethrower as her special attack when an enemy is shot in the head. Especially hilarious because she is depicted as a small, weak, and fragile girl.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilOutbreak'' allows you to fashion a hairspray flamethrower together as a weapon.

* ''[[VideoGame/ToySoldiers Toy Soldiers: Cold War]]'', Levels 2 and 3 of the makeshift unit are different versions of these.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL5Kz83C3so This video, in contrast, shows the complete opposite]], with a rather impressive flame being generated from a deodorant can, in spite of the screams of half-anger, half-terror from the woman behind the camera.

* ''Webcomic/TheClassMenagerie'' had a segment involving fighting man-eating ants with hairspray.
* ''Webcomic/{{Hyperboy}}'': With the title character's evil twin.

* Pip from ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'', strip #8 and #9, chooses to use aerosol deodorant and a cigarette lighter to kill a spider in his shared flat's bathroom. It generates way more flames than anticipated, damaging much of the bathroom and leaving Pip with AshFace. The gag sequence is viewable starting [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=8 here.]]
* Used by Bun-Bun from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' against [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=990324 Mecha Easter Bunny.]]
* ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' did this one - it's how Kharisma got her burn scars (being TheDitz and possibly TooDumbToLive, she ended up doing it to herself).
** While describing how to do it.

* Film/JamesBond uses this to kill a snake in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''.