History Main / DieChairDie

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has Link face the consequences of this at one point. In the Lumpy Pumpkin bar, there's a breakable chandelier with a Piece of Heart on it. Break it and the bar owner makes you do a mini-quest to pay it off. The game also chastises you for looking through other people's cupboards, and a woman named Goselle in Skyloft will fine you for breaking her antiques.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', most items can be hit, thrown, or set on fire. This is actually useful since any enemy that bumps into flaming scenery catches on fire, and any other enemies that bump into ''them'' will then also burst into flames. Throwing objects is also the only way to defeat some enemies. An in-character example would be Sasha Nein, who hates Tiffany Lamps and uses them as target practice within his mind.

There being only so many buttons on the game controller, the user interface is rarely set up to allow any kind of sophisticated interaction with these props, so the usual way of dealing with such things [[EverythingBreaks is to blast them to pieces]]. Quite often, the game will [[RewardingVandalism actively reward]] you for this with various forms of in-game currency or powerups.

* ''VideoGame/GodHand'', in reference to FinalFight itself, has bonus stages where your objective is to destroy a car belonging to the enemy with nothing but the power of your fists. The regular stages themselves also, of course, contain various crates and barrels that hold all sorts of powerups and goodies.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce2017'', entire buildings will collapse if something so much as a firecracker explodes on them. With some of the later guns allowing you to carpet bomb entire blocks, turning cities into smoldering piles of rubble can become a game in itself.

In opposition to the traditional practice of setting games in spartan worlds with EverythingTryingToKillYou, recent games try to add realism by inserting a lot of prop objects, such as chairs, tables, televisions and the like, as well as the almost inevitable {{crate|Expectations}}s. These will frequently end up in your way.

* All the Links appear to have a compulsion to break pots, signs, skulls and to cut grass to get some kind of reward.

* In the ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'' series, you can get bolts from destroying lots of the scenery (computer screens, cameras and all kinds of stuff). Some skill-points are rewarded for destroying ALL possible scenery.

* Scenery in ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' is full of stuff you can break as collateral damage or just because; stuff such as tall grass, signs, posts, mushrooms or statues.

* ''VideoGame/ThePunisherCapcom'' allows nearly everything to be smashed to pieces. However, most of these objects can also be [[ImprobableWeaponUser picked up and thrown at enemies]] for a good deal of damage, destroying the objects in the process. This includes chairs, barrels, pot plants, armor suits or even an arcade cabinet - basically anything that isn't nailed to the ground.

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' features breakable street objects, such as mailboxes, parking meters, traffic cones and such. Many of these have power-ups hidden inside of them. The characters also seem unable to work out how door handles work, and deal with any doors they have to get through by smashing them into pieces.

* In ''Burning Fight'', all {{Bonus Stage}}s are based on this type of vandalism, and the streets also have the occasional vending machines, oil barrels and [[CrateExpectations wooden crates]] that can be trashed.

* VideoGame/{{Black}} has a lot of structures and walls that are destructible. The levels are also filled to brim with ExplodingBarrels to make sure many thing's get blown up.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}} II'' features a ''plethora'' of destructible objects in most environments[[note]]in medieval houses and shops, you can break almost anything that isn't the walls, floor, and ceiling; midway through the Egyptian-themed hub, you can break separately each toe, foot and calf of a pharaoh's statue[[/note]], [[RewardingVandalism and you may just want to do it since there could be a secret behind that pile of rubble blocking a passage, or a trapdoor under the rug]]. There's even a collection of sound files for both damage and destruction of things depending on the material they're made of. Not bad for a 1996 game.

[[folder:Role Playing Game]]

* In the game ''VideoGame/{{Darkstone}}'', smashing crates and vases will usually reward you with gold, magic scrolls, and the occasional minor quest item. However, sometimes the objects are booby-trapped and explode when you smash them. There is a learnable skill which makes it easier to detect the booby-trapped crates/vases, and another skill which can enable you to disarm the traps, but your character's ability is based partly on class; only the Thief ever gets very good at it.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' the game is littered with breakable pots and barrels that practically beg you to smash them. Most of the time they're empty, but sometimes they contain some items, potions and even some rare items. However, the placement of these pots gets a little ridiculous sometimes. In many cases, there are many rooms containing nothing except a few pots in the corner. Sometimes there is a room blocked off by a locked door that contains nothing but pots. And in one case, there is a hard-to-reach island whose only noteworthy feature is a small house with some pots inside it. Makes you wonder what you could possibly find.

* Let's not forget ''VideoGame/MaxPayne''. The soda machines that spit out cans that can then be shot. In the original game, there is a scene where you are on an elevator with [[TheElevatorFromIpanema muzak playing]]. If you shoot the speaker, [[BreakingTheFourthWall Max says "Thank You"]].

[[folder:Turn Based Strategy]]

* ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' on the 360 takes place inside a zombie-infested mall, where almost anything imaginable can be used as a weapon. Benches, baseball bats, lawnmowers, potted plants, shopping carts, guitars, TV sets, mannequins, and of course chainsaws. And like all things, nothing lasts forever, and everything that could be conceived as a weapon will either be broken due to overuse (AKA too many zombies bashed in the head), or run out of 'ammo', (either when using actual guns or throwing stacks of dinner plates or CD's).
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' litters its game world with mostly-identical wooden boxes that can, besides being pushed around, only be shot, blown or broken apart. Not particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} in and of itself, but this even holds true for the boxes in Greenvale's Police Department's records room. Apparently, the local deputies don't mind the sound of sub-machine gun fire and shattering wood around the office.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. Shooting things well was gun practice, allowing the player to eventually dual wield, fire while walking and other such shooting improvements. Find a hubcap and just go nuts. [[EveryCarIsAPinto Just don't shoot the gas tank cover.]]

* At one point in VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}, the main character Tohno Shiki trips over a chair, and as part of his Sanity Slippage in that route causes him to delve into a Madness Mantra smashing the chair to pieces in blind rage. Said scene has become [[MemeticMutation an in-joke]] in the Tsukihime fan community for how bizarre it was.

-->"Burn you pitiful, innanimate objects!"

* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is the destruction of a cabbage merchant's wares ("My cabbages!"). His descendant suffers a similar fate in ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra'', on a larger scale ("My Cabbage Corp!").

--> '''[[AC: Phineas:]]''' Let's just [[FollowTheChaos follow the carnage]].

In opposition to the traditional practice of setting games in spartan worlds with EverythingTryingToKillYou, recent games try to add realism by inserting a lot of prop objects, such as chairs, tables, televisions and the like, as well as the almost inevitable [[CrateExpectations crates]]. These will frequently end up in your way.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', Hena from the fishing hole [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this trope if you examine the jars on her shelf:

* Used in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', which [[StatisticallySpeaking led]] [[AvertedTrope to]] SequenceBreaking after Candace realized her hairdryer deconstructed [[GameBreaker enemies]] and [[DieChairDie objects]] in a jump-and-dodge game.

* ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' has the infamous scene where Kylo Ren destroys his own computer in a fit of anger. Later, he has another fit and destroys a torture/interrogation chair, making it a literal example of Die, Chair! Die!

* ''VideoGame/Urba-nReign'' has plenty of tables, chairs, shelves, and other minor objects to knock people through for bonus damage.

* The ''VideoGame/LegoStarWars'' games require the player to destroy scenery to release collectible items, and sometimes to continue the plot. Even when this means Queen Amidala and her cohorts smashing up Theed Palace, breaking windows, destroying flowerbeds and the like.
** Similarly ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIJediPowerBattles'' gave you points for destroying things which were used to level up at the end of the stage. Since the third power for each stage required a lot of points, it was often necessary to destroy everything in sight to get it. Seeing Jedi systematically trash every computer console on a Trade Federation vessel is weird enough, but when you go to Theed, you burn down all of Amidala's plants and break all her windows.
** ''VideoGame/LegoBatman'' works much the same as the ''Star Wars'' version. As noted elsewhere on this wiki, Vandalism = Heroism.
** ''VideoGame/LegoHarryPotter'' as well. There are even bonus levels that you can only complete by destroying ''absolutely everything''.

* In the ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' Holiday Special 2018, here's a moment of [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Ash's Charizard]] vs his training dummies:

*** Though you can knock most of them around. Not that you'd want to, since if you touch anything, even a tin can, [=NPCs=] [[DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound gripe at you]].

*** Though you can knock most of them around. Not that you'd want to, since if you touch anything, even a tin can, [=NPCs=] [[MostAnnoyingSound gripe at you]].

->''"About all I could figure out to do was punch things, so I punched some flowers. Yeah, eat that flowers! And you too, patch of dirt!"''

** This is subverted in a handful of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games, where not only are the chickens indestructible, but attacking them repeatedly will cause them to [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment summon an army of doom chickens]] that will [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=52 hunt you down and kill you]].

** And in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' you '''can''' kill the chickens, by picking them up and throwing them to the water. You have to jump into the water too, however; otherwise they bounce from an invisible wall surrounding the land.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', most items can be hit, thrown, or set on fire. This is actually useful, since any enemy that bumps into flaming scenery catches on fire, and any other enemies that bump into ''them'' will then also burst into flames. Throwing objects is also the only way to defeat some enemies. An in-character example would be Sasha Nein, who hates Tiffany Lamps and uses them as target practice within his mind.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' Raiden can cut most anything. Early demos showcased him using his abilities to slice through watermelons. The game actually keeps track of how many pieces Raiden cuts props into, if the player is so inclined.

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' features breakable street objects, such as mail boxes, parking meters, traffic cones and such. Many of these have power ups hidden inside of them. The characters also seem unable to work out how door handles work, and deal with any doors they have to get through by smashing them into pieces.
* ''VideoGame/UrbanReign'' has plenty of tables, chairs, shelves and other minor objects to knock people through for bonus damage.

* ''VideoGame/GodHand'', in reference to FinalFight itself, has bonus stages where your objective is to destroy a car belonging to the enemy with nothing but the power of your fists. The regular stages themselves also of course contain various crates and barrels that hold all sorts of powerups and goodies.

* All the games in the ''VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi'' series feature destructible environments, allowing you not only to destroy mountains and buildings with energy attacks, but also by throwing or punching your opponent through them. If you do this in story mode, you might even find a Dragon Ball in the rubble.

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and several of the later ''Franchise/JamesBond''-themed games, every piece of scenery could not only be destroyed, but would ''[[MadeOfExplodium explode]]'' under heavy gunfire, often in a massive fireball that would injure the player and send foes flying. Even seemingly non-explosive items like office tables and bushes exhibited this strange behavior. And due to the way explosions work in the game, unloading a mag into a file cabinet or a crate could result in explosions which were peculiarly more fiery than concussive, and had the astounding ability to last for a full ten seconds.

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' was one of the first, if not the first, to have destructible objects, down to the coins you could either pick up in order to gain a life, or simply blow up to have a chance to get a bonus at the end of the level.

* In the FPS SkyNet, buildings would contain office-type and living-type furniture such couches, refrigerators, desks, file cabinets, wall-mounted paintings, etc.. They all could be destroyed. And would [[MadeOfExplodium explode]].

** The second installment upped the ante by allowing for ''entire buildings'' to be made to go bye bye.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}} II'' features a ''plethora'' of destructible objects in most environments[[note]]in medieval houses and shops, you can break almost anything that isn't the walls, floor and ceiling; midway through the Egyptian-themed hub, you can break separately each toe, foot and calf of a pharaoh's statue[[/note]], [[RewardingVandalism and you may just want to do it since there could be a secret behind that pile of rubble blocking a passage, or a trapdoor under the rug]]. There's even a collection of sound files for both damage and destruction of things depending on the material they're made of. Not bad for a 1996 game.

* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' though mostly in ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' and ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' where you can basically kick the crap out of cars and zoomers until they explode. However this is inadvisable as being near enough to a zoomer to kick or punch it will probably result in you getting hurt by the eventual explosion and because destroying one of the wastelander cars by any means will result in you failing whatever mission you might or might not have been on.

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemII'' has crates that can be destroyed for powerups and bonus items. In addition, security cameras are breakable, and if you destroy all of them in a level, you're awarded with a bonus. The game also features glass containers which, when shot, reveal hostile slime creatures.

[[folder:Real Time Strategy]]

** ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' also features some of this. Not only can you choose to shoot/kill neutral targets, in the campaign mission "Media Blitz", you can have the [[HumongousMecha Odin]] destroy some doodads just by making it ''walk over them''.

* In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance 2'', various crates not only drop health, but in the UsefulNotes/{{XBox 360}} version you can also get an achievement for destroying a large amount of them.

* [=NCSoft's=] ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroesVillains'' game features Mayhem Missions, instances where characters actually get bonus time for mission completion by destroying objects ranging from parking meters to SWAT vans. Newspaper vending machines, payphone kiosks and parking meters all dispense coinage when destroyed, but most other objects explode -- even common wooden packing crates and aluminum-framed plexiglass bus stop shelters. Hydrants shoot water into the air, but not nearly as much as one might expect.
** In the fullness of time, this led to the other half of the game, ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', getting similar mission (Safeguard) with a similar mechanic. The catch? Being a hero, you actually ''lose'' time if you let the computer-controlled baddies break too much scenery. Instead, you gain time by busting waves of vandals that mindlessly destroy scenery, and side missions.

* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'', some elements of the enviornment, such as small trees, piles of snow, and cacti, can be destroyed. Crates also abound, providing items upon their destruction.

* ''VideoGame/ArxFatalis'' Has a very literal "die chair die" for the PC version. At the very beginning of the game just outside the room you start in is a chair, which if beaten 10 times with a bone in rapid succession, will result in the player receiving some end-game items among other things.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' the game is littered with breakable pots and barrels that practically beg you to smash them. Most of the time they're empty, but sometimes they contain some items, potions and even some rare items. However the placement of these pots gets a little ridiculous sometimes. In many cases, there are many rooms containing nothing except a few pots in the corner. Sometimes there is a room blocked off by a locked door that contains nothing but pots. And in one case, there is a hard-to-reach island whose only noteworthy feature is a small house with some pots inside it. Makes you wonder what you could possibly find.
* Adventurers in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' get increasing experience bonuses for destroying every barrel, crate and pot they find. Over the years, the game's added Drow furniture to kill and robot companions you can train as barrel-slaying juggernauts.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLongDark'' you can scavenge furniture for resources (mostly firewood). Smaller ones (crates, chairs) can be taken apart by hand, while larger ones (tables, shelves etc.) require a hatchet.

* ''VideoGame/RedFactionGuerrilla'' takes this and makes it (more or less) the point of the whole game. Additionally, every object seems to be made from concrete, but is destructible as though it's made from Styrofoam.

* ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' on the 360 takes place inside a zombie infested mall, where almost anything imaginable can be used as a weapon. Benches, baseball bats, lawnmowers, potted plants, shopping carts, guitars, TV sets, mannequins, and of course chainsaws. And like all things, nothing lasts forever, and everything that could be conceived as a weapon will either be broken due to overuse (AKA too many zombies bashed in the head), or run out of 'ammo', (either when using actual guns or throwing stacks of dinner plates or CD's).
* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' litters its game world with mostly-identical wooden boxes that can, besides being pushed around, only be shot, blown or broken apart. Not particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} in and of itself, but this even holds true for the boxes in Greenvale's Police Department's records room. Apparently the local deputies don't mind the sound of sub-machine gun fire and shattering wood around the office.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' you see the occasional street cleaner with a broom or some musicians with guitars. If you make them drop their stuff you can use the props as weapons. The broom essentially is a warhammer. It is hilariously stupid going on a killing spree with an unbreakable broom and clobbing into the heads and backs of your opponents.

[[folder:Non Video Game Examples]]
* The ''indestructible'' nature of most non-plot-related objects in older video games was parodied on a long-lost gaming website with the "[[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Indestructable Crate]] vs The L-Shaped VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Block" challenge.
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', which [[StatisticallySpeaking led]] [[AvertedTrope to]] SequenceBreaking after Candace realized her hair dryer deconstructed [[GameBreaker enemies]] and [[DieChairDie objects]] in a jump-and-dodge game.

* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' explains how the [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Street Fighter tournament works]]. Ryu meticulously organized the whole tournament, giving each fighter a very detailed schedule of who to fight, when, and where. Problems pop up immediately when fighters start calling in about the scheduling, like Guile being uncomfortable fighting E.Honda in a men's bathhouse, where all their [[UnusualEuphemism sushi rolls are on display.]] Ken calls up, saying his guide says he's supposed to fight E. Honda, but Ryu corrects him, saying he's fighting ''A'' Honda. Ken dismisses the idea of fighting a car, and half-heartedly takes a couple punches at the side mirror. He then starts getting into it and has fun.

And no, the title of this article is ''not'' the Welsh, nor [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons German]] for "The chair, the".[[note]]Those would be ''Y gadair, y'' and ''Der Stuhl, der!'', respectively.[[/note]] The trope also has nothing to do with Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs.

* The ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' series gives you coins for smashing things. More interestingly, there are multiple missions where you are required to 'ransack' (smash) objects in order to find some key item.

* Thanks to Digital Molecular Matter, which can accurately model substances, ''StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' has some of the most satisfying DieChairDie moments of any game, ever.

** ''ComicBook/ScarletWitch'' even has a power that turns ''mooks'' into crates that you can break.

** In ''Deer Hunter 2005'', there are occasionally birds flying overhead. Since you can kill everything else in the game (rabbits, raccoons, and of course deer) it's tempting to take potshots at them - until you hit one, and are told that your score for that round has been cancelled because you just shot an endangered species.