History Main / DeerInTheHeadlights

* How Lambert dies in ''Film/{{Alien}}''. She just stands and stares at it quivering in fear as it slowly advances on her. This inaction winds up costing Parker his life too -- he's unable to fire as Lambert is in the way.

* ''Film/PulpFiction:'' In an ImagineSpot joke, Jules and Vincent adapt this look after Bonnie comes home to find them dragging Melvin's bloody corpse through her house.

* In ''Manga/{{Magi}}'' Alibaba has this response on a very regular basis. Usually after an ObviouslyEvil character has revealed that they're doing something evil. It typically falls to Aladdin or Margiana to snap him out of it.

* In ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'', when the titular character gets really scared about something, he'll become paralyzed [[https://picsart.com/es_es/i/sticker-chavodel8-chaves-garrotera-261455323002212 in a ridiculous pose]], known as "La Garrotera". He is not aware of his surroundings when he's in that pose, and only returns to normal when someone splashes water on his face.

-->-- ''Film/BlackPanther2018''

-->'''[[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Benny the Cab]]:''' ''(shines his lights on him)'' You said it!

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'': Hammy is often found doing this to initiate fear. This is very similar to how squirrels in real life react at the first signs of danger.

-->'''Disney/{{Bambi}}:''' Gosh, he looks like a deer in the headlights.

* In YuYuHakusho, Yusuke does this after Toguro first showed him sixty percent of his power. Thankfully, Toguro wasn't going to kill him there just yet but sent an invitation to a Dark Tournament where Yusuke will need to confront such power for real.

* Naturally played with in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/GuardsGuards''. While Vimes is being shot at, his mind goes into this state. His legs act of their own volition and throw him out of danger.

-->''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'': Hammy is often found doing this to initiate fear. This is very similar to how squirrels in real life react at the first signs of danger.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsKanan'': Despite being new to the battlefield Caleb Dume doesn't freeze up or hesitate in a fight until [[spoiler:Order 66 causes his friends he was just joking with to turn on and try to kill him and he's simultaneously hit with visions of the deaths of other Jedi at the hands of their own clone troopers]].

Actual deer exhibit this behavior because of the internal defense mechanism they've developed to deal with predators. Imagine two circles, one inside the other, around a deer in the woods; if a deer picks up on an unknown approaching into its outer zone, it will focus on it with eyes and ears as it approaches. If said entity gets within the inner defensive radius of the deer, ''then'' it will flee. Most predators try to sneak up as close as possible to potential prey, saving their energy for that last bit of distance to overpower it and chow down -- contrary to what the SuperPersistentPredator trope suggests, most do not have the stamina or desire to chase prey over long distances. Most predators who notice the deer noticing them will back off at that point and slink away, which saves both predator and prey energy.

-->''"Here I am, a rabbit-hearted girl\\
Frozen in the headlights"''

-->''"If love was a beam, you'd be blind in both eyes\\
Put your sunglasses on 'cause you're a deer in the headlights."''

* A ''literal'' example in ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason'': When confronted for illegally having Elliot the mule deer tied to his truck, Shaw claims "he ran right in front of my truck!" The scene then cuts to a brief flashback with Shaw deliberately veering off the interstate and colliding his truck into Elliot.

** Both heroes and villains froze in horror at [[BigBad Asura's]] resurrection and Eruka was completely paralyzed as he stepped closer and closer to her. Thankfully, [[spoiler:[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Asura was just as afraid of her as she was of him]].]]

** In "Bizarro", a boy stares at a GiantWallOfWateryDoom coming at him. Clark Kent runs up and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome vaporizes it with his heat vision]].

* [[http://s1.hubimg.com/u/209800_f520.jpg Lampshaded ]] in ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide''.

* In ''Film/SpiderMan1'', Green Goblin knocks over a giant globe and the crowd scatters out of the way except for a boy who stares at it blankly. Spidey goes, "Come on kid, move!" but is forced to dive in and carry the boy out of the way.