History Main / DontAskJustRun

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

--> '''Kirishima''': [[ThisIsGonnaSuck No way. Guys?]]\\
'''Ashido''': [[OhCrap Holy crap!]]\\
'''Kirishima''': SAVE YOURSELVES!!!

* Creator/SethMeyers' bit at the 2012 White House Correspondents' Dinner played with a variant of this. He noted that the less Creator/AndersonCooper is wearing, the ''more'' dangerous things are (and the more heroic he's being), ranging from wearing a bulletproof vest in Iraq's green zone to wearing the too-tight black t-shirt while dodging bullets and pulling babies out of rubble.

--> [[BadassBoast Listen. Where you're going? Tell your friends. Tell everyone you meet. When you see me coming? RUN]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheInstituteSaga'', Franchise/{{Superman}}'s wife writes a "So You're Dating A Superhero" booklet. Rule 7 is "If he tells you to run, RUN!"

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' Grace has this reaction when Jake first encounters a Thanator, the apex land predator on Pandora.

* In ''Film/TheMummy1999'', Rick doesn't even question it when he sees the Americans running from the swarm of flesh-eating scarab beetles.

* In ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' after the heroes set the Enterprise's SelfDestructMechanism the Klingons beam over and seize the ship. When they find the bridge empty the lead Klingon calls Commander Kruge and tells him the ship is apparently deserted and that there is only the voice of the computer speaking. When Kruge hears that the computer is counting down he immediately realizes what must be happening and begins screaming at his men to get out of there.

* Also in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/JohnnyAndTheBomb'', where, during the Battle of Britain, an explosives expert is working on an unexploded bomb. Some falling bricks tumble down and hit the bomb, which starts ticking. A policeman asks, "Once they start ticking, how long until ..." then realizes he's talking to an empty space where the bomb tech was a moment ago.

** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Ivan Vorpatril consciously kept his pace to one that said 'I am late and in a hurry' (because he was) instead of making the full-on sprint that would indicate 'The building behind me is about to explode.'

** Also inverted — on several occasions, the Doctor has made the villains of the episode retreat just by introducing themself. Best exemplified in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]]: "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically... ''run''."
** It's to the point when a dying character who once had an adventure with the Doctor that Eleven doesn't remember (it's not said whether it hasn't happened to him yet, or whether you just don't remember everyone and everything when you've been adventuring as long as he has.) is upset that he doesn't know her, all he can say to [[LetThemDieHappy ease her passing]] is, "Hey, of course I remember. I remember everyone. Hey, we ''ran,'' you and me."
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E4ArachnidsInTheUK "Arachnids in the UK"]]: When CorruptCorporateExecutive Jack Robertson tries to ask who everyone is while the others are running away from a GiantSpider bashing through a door, Graham tells him to "Run now, ask questions later."

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In the 2004 Tsunami, people were very, very worried about all the indigenous people living on the islands, etc. Well, it turned out they were very much alive and with them some missing tourists, who took the Don't Ask Just Run seriously -- if the locals start running like hell for the high ground, you damn well follow them. This advice is often given to people in coastal areas of earthquake-prone areas like Japan and the West Coast of the United States.

* In the 2004 Tsunami, people were very, very worried about all the indigenous people living on the islands, etc. Well, it turned out they were very much alive and with them some missing tourists, who took the Don't Ask Just Run seriously -- if the locals start running like hell for the high ground, you damn well follow them.

* A variation of this was taught as advice to soldiers deploying to Iraq: If a street you know is normally crowded, is [[ItsQuietTooQuiet suddenly deserted]]... [[DramaticGunCock safeties off]], you're about to come under fire.

* Seth Myers' bit at the 2012 White House Correspondents' Dinner played with a variant of this. He noted that the less Creator/AndersonCooper is wearing, the ''more'' dangerous things are (and the more heroic he's being), ranging from wearing a bulletproof vest in Iraq's green zone to wearing the too-tight black t-shirt while dodging bullets and pulling babies out of rubble.

*** This became a matter of law after the 1942 Coconut Grove fire in Boston, still the second-deadliest fire in America. The blaze, theorized to have originated with flammable décor having been set on fire accidentally somehow, killed over 490 people, most of them near the only entry-exit point of the club, a single revolving door. After the blaze, laws across the country demanded that there be multiple emergency exits, and that any revolving door entry-exit points be flanked by doors with panic bars, or that the by retrofitted to collapse to allow crowds to exit. Further, the laws mandated that doors had to open outward to allow panicked crowds to escape easily.

** Lt. Pibald may be certifiably [[MadBomber crazy]], yet [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2012-05-13 he knows]] what it means if Sgt. Schlock suddenly bounces by, a [[{{BFG}} plasma cannon]] in grasp and not stopping for explanation:

** In ''Discworld/TheLastHero'', Rincewind, when asked why he was fleeing for his life through the Hublands, admits that he doesn't find out why people chase him, as asking would get in the way of running.

* From ''Film/Tremors2Aftershocks'': They trap the monsters in a garage, Earl [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill rigs every explosive]] [[CrazyPrepared Burt]] has to explode, [[BigBulkyBomb all 2.5 tons of them]]. Everyone runs for it, then hides behind a wooden shed a distance off from the garage, except for Burt. [[spoiler:When the bomb does explode, the shockwave ''shreds'' the shed they'd been hiding behind.]]

* The first ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' film has [[PlayingWithFire Liz]] gaining full control of her powers near the end. As she [[WreathedInFlames immolates herself]], she tells her companion "You should be running."
* The movie version of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' has Gandalf essentially say this when the Fellowship encounters the Balrog in Moria, sparked by ominous roaring and a creeping orange glow that makes the horde of goblins surrounding them run like hell. Gandalf's only explanation is "This foe is beyond any of you. RUN!" And, of course, just before he falls into the chasm: "Fly, you fools!"

*** This became a matter of law after the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, still the second-deadliest fire in America. The blaze, theorized to have originated with flammable décor having been set on fire accidentally somehow, killed over 490 people, most of them near the only entry-exit point of the club, a single revolving door. After the blaze, laws across the country demanded that there be multiple emergency exits, and that any revolving door entry-exit points be flanked by doors with panic bars, or that the by retrofitted to collapse to allow crowds to exit. Further, the laws mandated that doors had to open outward to allow panicked crowds to escape easily.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' usually has at least one "scared" line (used when a civilian panics) that goes along the lines of, "Don't look -- just run!"

* In ''VideoGame/JurassicParkArcade'', the second level requires the players to shoot their way through Site B's Visitor Center to locate Ian and Sarah. They find them, and one of the player characters asks what's going on (Ian and Sarah are running towards them). All they get is a "RUN!"

* In ''VideoGame/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' LightGunGame, the second level requires the players to shoot their way through Site B's Visitor Center to locate Ian and Sarah. They find them, and one of the player characters asks what's going on (Ian and Sarah are running towards them). All they get is a "RUN!"

Subtrope "OhCrap" sums these moments up quite nicely. Anyone ignoring this advice will likely prove TooDumbToLive. A very appropriate reaction to a HeroKiller. Related to RunOrDie and CrisisCatchAndCarry, which may be implemented on the people who ''don't'' start running.

** Also inverted — on several occasions, the Doctor has made the villains of the episode retreat just by introducing himself. Best exemplified in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]]: "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically... ''run''."
** It's to the point when a dying character who once had an adventure with the Doctor that he doesn't remember (it's not said whether it hasn't happened to him yet, or whether you just don't remember everyone and everything when you've been adventuring as long as he has.) is upset that he doesn't know her, all he can say to [[LetThemDieHappy ease her passing]] is, "Hey, of course I remember. I remember everyone. Hey, we ''ran,'' you and me."

** The final book in the series is titled "Sergeant in Motion." It starts with Sergeant Schlock picking up his weapons and ordering his commanding officers to follow him, because it's time to save the galaxy again.
* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' :

* Creator/TheWeatherChannel lampshaded the public's perception of their preferred field reporter Jim Cantore as being a form of this trope merely by ''showing up someplace'', in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48r4IQTB3NE an ad]] where he goes to the beach on vacation and everyone who recognizes him evacuates, fearing an incoming storm.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' LightGun game, the second level requires the players to shoot their way through Site B's Visitor Center to locate Ian and Sarah. They find them, and one of the player characters asks what's going on (Ian and Sarah are running towards them). All they get is a "RUN!"

Subtrope "OhCrap" sums these moments up quite nicely. Anyone ignoring this advice is will likely prove TooDumbToLive. A very appropriate reaction to a HeroKiller. Related to RunOrDie and CrisisCatchAndCarry, which may be implemented on the people who ''don't'' start running.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', when the Fellowship hears the Balrog in Moria, Legolas starts ''freaking out''. It's not that he is old enough to remember them, but his people are, and they told him about them. At the time there are still several people alive (such as Glorfindel, who actually ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome killed one]]'' and Galadriel, who didn't) who remember the war with Morgoth, and therefore remember the [[EldritchAbomination Balrogs]].

* At one point in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', there's a [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious]] Renegade option to tell a guy working in a storage place to "Run! It's gonna blow!" to get him out of your way. He's at first confused but then begins seriously freaking out and sprints off, with Shepard snickering afterwards, "I can't believe that worked." The fact that Shepard's armors slightly resemble an explosive ordinance officer outfit probably helped.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' novels, it was often said that the two scariest things in all of Krynn were a kender saying "oops" (they're [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo insatiably curious]]) and a kender saying "I'm bored" (they're also {{Thrill Seeker}}s).

* ''ComicBook/MoonKnight'' has this bit of friendly advice:
--> [[BadassBoast Listen. Where are you going? Tell your friends. Tell everyone you meet. When you see me coming? RUN]].

** There doesn't even have to be danger. Black Friday deaths have happened this way looking for the best deals. In [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who_concert_disaster the Cincinnati Who Concert Disaster]], 11 people were trampled to death in a mad rush ''just to get the best seats for a concert''.

* Generally, when you see people running away in terror, it's not a good idea to stay and watch what the fuss is all about. It's also a well known maxim among travelers and soldiers: the locals know more about the area than you do. They live there, after all. Which doesn't help when the people running away are doing so behind you, while you stand on the beach wondering what the hell just happened to the water. Fortunately, even if you can't hold a conversation the local language, it's not hard to recognize their phrase for "OhCrap".