History Main / BreachingTheWall

* Needless to say this trope is TruthInTelevision, though probably much less so than historical fiction and video games would have you believe. In truth, up until the invention of advanced gunpowder weapons, most siege weapons simply lacked the oomph to break through a defensive wall; breaking down a wall could take sustained bombardment and the defenders would often be able to plug the gap faster than the attackers could tear them down again. More often, this bombardment would simply make the wall too damaged to effectively defend [[StormingTheCastle in case of an escalade]]. The explosive shell proved to be the death of this trope in a literal sense, simply because it made 'walls' an ineffective mode of fortification; even if it couldn't outright break the wall, it would kill anyone standing on or behind it. Modern-day defences depend more on layers of impediments in depth to protect territory, which are more difficult to 'breach' below the operational level.

* Paul's attack at the end of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' has him nuking a hole through the Shield Wall: a whole mountain range protecting (and enabling the existence of) the most hospitable area of Arrakis. Using nuclear weapons in war is taboo, but Paul declares he broke no laws because he didn’t blow up any ''people'' — just some mountains.

* Paul's attack at the end of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' has him nuking a hole through the Shield Wall: a whole mountain range protecting (and enabling the existence of) the most hospitable area of Arrakis.

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'', the first part of the battle at Helm's Deep has Rohan's army easily keeping Saruman's Uruk-hais at bay. Unfortunately, no one's aware Saruman has found out the fortress wall can be destroyed by placing a bomb on a sewage drain nearby. [[StuffBlowingUp Guess what happens a few minutes later]]...
* In ''Film/PacificRim'', the HumongousMecha were set to be decommissioned after a huge wall was built around the pacific ocean to keep the giant alien monsters out. It took a kaiju about an hour of sustained bashing to get through, demonstrating how useless it is as a long-term solution.

* In Creator/DavidGemmell's ''Legend'', the fortress of Dros Delnoch protects a vital mountain pass that is the only practical way for an army to invade the lands of the Drenai from the Nadir Steppes. The fortress is composed of seven walls that span the pass with each wall representing a stage of TheSiege. The first two walls are the least defensible and are assumed to fall if assaulted by an army of sufficient size and competence. Walls three and four are the ones where the most brutal fighting takes place as both the attackers and defenders have been bloodied and hardened by the fighting on the earlier walls. If the first four walls are breached then it is likely that the fortress will fall without outside intervention. Walls five and six represent the bravest and most determined defenders performing {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s so their comrades can retreat. Wall seven is where the LastStand will take place.
* The Wildlings from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' repeatedly attack the eponymous Wall in order to travel south. Much to their grief, the Night's Watch makes their efforts a living hell, to say nothing of the fact that it's a 700-foot-tall expanse of enchanted ice. A few of them (including [[ActionGirl Osha]]) are clever enough to bypass it and reach Winterfell, though. It is implied in the books [[spoiler: the White Walkers have the power to destroy it and march on Westeros]].
* Paul's attack at the end of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' has him nuking a hole through the Shield Wall: a whole mountain range protecting (and enabling the existence of) the most hospitable area of Arrakis.
* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, there were two cases of magical barriers put up in order to stop a war. The first is broken by the BigBad of the first book in order to have an easier time conquering and looking for the {{McGuffin}}s, the second is deactivated by the protagonist so that he can stop [[{{Satan}} The Keeper]] from breaching the barrier between life and death, destroying everyone.

* As an officer in [[UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington Wellington's]] army during UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars (and slightly beforehand, in India), [[Literature/{{Sharpe}} Richard Sharpe]] participates in several major sieges and personally charges through a gap in the walls created by artillery or sappers on at least two occasions.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' opens with the HiddenVillain breaching a massive hole in the Veil that separates the SpiritWorld from the material plane. With demons now pouring from the Breach in droves, finding a way to close it is the first major objective of the game.
* The Soviet campaign of ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict: Soviet Assault'' starts with you demolishing a part of the Berlin Wall with precision artillery strikes, so Soviet tanks can squeeze through and mount an attack. This is mostly a symbolic action, however, since the Soviets also mount simultaneous attacks elsewhere along the Iron Curtain.

** In the backstory, the warlord Chin the Conqueror managed to overrun all of the Earth Kingdom save for the city and the peninsula where Avatar Kyoshi, then took a look at the Outer Wall and decided it was easier to try his luck against [[PhysicalGod the Avatar]]. [[CurbStompBattle He had a quick and embarrassing death]].

** In the series proper, the Fire Nation builds a giant armored drill to bore through the Walls. Fortunately for the Earth Kingdom, the Gaang arrives at the city right at that time and are able to disable it, but not before it goes all the way through the Outer Wall. The breach is quickly patched up and then repaired

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': After years of sieges against the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Sae fail to breach its ''massive'' outer wall, the Fire Nation builds a giant armored drill to bore through it. Fortunately for the Earth Kingdom, the Gaang arrives at the city right at that time and are able to disable it, but not before it goes all the way through.
** It happens again in the series finale, where Iroh, his firebending amped up by the comet, is able to breach the wall in a single attack.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheTwoTowers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moviescenephil11925.jpg]]]]

-->--'''King Henry''', ''Theatre/HenryV''

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings - The Two Towers'', the first part of the battle at Helm's Deep has Rohan's army easily keeping Saruman's Uruk-hais at bay. Unfortunately, no one's aware Saruman has found out the fortress wall can be destroyed by placing a bomb on a sewage drain nearby. [[StuffBlowingUp Guess what happens a few minutes later]]...

* Happens ''twice'' early on in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', where the Colossal Titan breaches [[TheGreatWall Wall Maria]], and then, just a few years later, the Armored Titan breaches the gates of the Trost District, letting the lesser [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] into humanity's last refuge. Plugging the hole in the Trost walls is the main goal of the following arc, while finding a way to close the Wall Maria breach and to retake the land from the Titans is pretty much the MythArc of the manga.

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', the HumongousMecha were set to be decommissioned after a huge wall was built around the pacific ocean to keep the giant alien monsters out. The completed wall didn't last more than a few seconds against one of the monsters.
* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': During the Battle of Wakanda, the Outriders try to ZergRush the Wakanda barrier. Due to their sheer numbers and speed, at least a few of them manage to tear holes in the barrier ''and'' pass quick enough before it regenerates and turns some unlucky troops into LudicrousGibs. After some time, T'challa orders to create a slight opening in the barrier so that the enemy forces go through there, creating a bottleneck situation. From there, he, his army and his fellow superheroes start to charge at the incoming Outriders.

Well, it is still possible to exploit a natural breach to weaken and bring it down with SiegeEngines. Perhaps because the enemy utilized a FantasticNuke, or perhaps through a regular old BatteringRam.

-->-- ''Theatre/HenryV''

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': After years of sieges against the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Sae failed to breach its ''massive'' outer wall, the Fire Nation build a giant armored drill to bore through it. Fortunately, the Gaang arrived at the city right at that time and were able to disable it, but not before it went all the way through.

* ''VideoGames/HorizonZeroDawn'': Aloy helps her War Chief track the people who attacked her tribe back to their base. She sneaks in and blows up thier stockpile of explosives taking down a wall and allowing the Nora to bypass the fortified main entrance.

Compare BarrierBurstingBlow, which is at a much smaller scale (usually); ThereWasADoor, when a single person bursts through a less fortified, often interior barrier; and OpenSaysMe, when a burly character uses force to break through a locked door.

Compare ThereWasADoor, when a single person bursts through a less fortified, often interior barrier, and OpenSaysMe, when a burly character uses force to break through a locked door.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Redcloak {{summon|ingRitual}}s Titanium {{elemental|Embodiment}}s and fires them from [[SiegeEngines catapults]] to breach Azure City's walls for his goblin army. Not only do they get better range than boulders, they [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0424.html do a number]] on the Azure City troops before they're {{banish|ingRitual}}ed.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Creators]]
* In Creator/DavidGemmell's ''Legend'' the fortress of Dros Delnoch protects a vital mountain pass that is the only practical way for an army to invade the lands of the Drenai from the Nadir Steppes. The fortress is composed of seven walls that span the pass with each wall representing a stage of TheSiege. The first two walls are the least defensible and are assumed to fall if assaulted by an army of sufficient size and competence. Walls three and four are the ones where the most brutal fighting takes place as both the attackers and defenders have been bloodied and hardened by the fighting on the earlier walls. If the first four walls are breached then it is likely that the fortress will fall without outside intervention. Walls five and six represent the bravest and most determined defenders performing {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s so their comrades can retreat. Wall seven is where the LastStand will take place.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings''. In Ralph Bakshi's animated version of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Saruman sends huge bolts of magic energy that destroy the wall of Helm's Deep.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* Paul's attack at the end of ''{{Literature/Dune}}'' has him nuking a hole through the Shield Wall: a whole mountain range protecting (and enabling the existence of) the most hospitable area of Arrakis.

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': After years of sieges against the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Sae failed to breach its ''massive'' outer wall, the Fire Nation build a giant armored drill to bore through it. Fortunately, the Gaang arrived at the city right at that time and were able to disable it, but not before it went all the way through.

[[folder:Other]]
* ''LetsPlay/AScotsmanInEgypt'': Happens repeatedly over the course of the many, many sieges the Scots lay to their enemies: their catapults/cannon concentrate fire on the gate or a wall section, and the Scottish hordes pour into the enemy. That is, when their spies haven't infiltrated the city to open the gates for them.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Redcloak {{summon|ingRitual}}s Titanium {{elemental|Embodiment}}s and fires them from [[SiegeEngine catapults]] to breach Azure City's walls for his goblin army. Not only do they get better range than boulders, they [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0424.html do a number]] on the Azure City troops before they're {{banish|ingRitual}}ed.

* The Wildlings from ''Literature/{{A Song of Ice and Fire}}'' constantly attack the eponymous Wall to travel south. Much to their grief, the Night's Watch makes their efforts a living hell. A few of them (including [[ActionGirl Osha]]) were clever enough to bypass it and reach Winterfell, though. It is implied in the books [[spoiler: the White Walkers have the power to destroy it and march on Westeros]].
* Paul's attack at the end of ''{{Literature/Dune}}'' had him nuking a hole through the Shield Wall; a whole mountain range protecting (and enabling the existence of) the most hospitable area of Arrakis.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Redcloak summons an Osmium elemental to bust through the walls protecting Azure City in order to get his goblim army in.

* The Wildlings from ''Literature/{{A Song of Ice and Fire}}'' constantly attack the eponymous wall to travel south. Much to their grief, the Night's Watch makes their efforts a living hell. A few of them (including [[ActionGirl Osha]]) were GenreSavvy enough to bypass it and reach Winterfell, though. It is implied in the books [[spoiler: the White Walkers have the power to destroy it and march on Westeros]].

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