History Main / DramaticHighPerching

*** One of the few occasions it worked was Austerlitz, where Napoleon actually NEEDED the high ground and had to charge uphill to gain it. He needed the high ground because the Pratzen plateau prevented his artillery from targeting (and thus hitting and annihilating) the bulk of the Austro-Russian army, and had to charge uphill because the Russian general Kutuzov, [[GenreSavvy who had seen through Napoleon's plan]], had placed his troops on it in such a way they couldn't be spotted and thus annihilated by artillery (even when forced to leave with the bulk of his troops, those who he left there were still covered). Once Napoleon's men conquered the Pratzen, they brought the artillery and [[CurbStompBattle proceeded to crush the more numerous enemy army]], [[JustAsPlanned placed in a perfect killing ground by Napoleon's men retreating on a very specific route]]

* The ''ShamanicPrincess'' and her primary opponent actually generate their own tall, thin objects to stand on while fighting.

* ''YuyuHakushoAbridged'' takes Hiei's tendency to perch on tree tops, and Kurabawa's strength building exercise of punching down trees to it's logical conclusion. The two then bicker over who's behavior was more ridiculous (and thus was at fault)

* [[{{Wrestling/TheUndertaker}} The Undertaker]] has done this on numerous occasions. Easily the coolest was during the first Undertaker/Kane feud in which [[{{Wrestling/Kane}} Kane]], [=Undertaker=]'s [[{{UnrelatedBrothers}} storyline brother]], is starting to menace [[{{Characters/WWEDivas}} female wrestler]] [[{{Wrestling/Sable}} Sable]] TheUndertaker appears on top of the Titantron, and proceeds to cut a promo on Kane for their upcoming [[{{Wrestling/WrestleMania}} WrestleMania]] XIV match, and ends it by summoning a bolt of lightning, which summons a standing casket with an effigy of Kane within it that then bursts into flames.

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] but subverted in ''Film/IronMan2'', where Rhodey suggests one of them with the big guns gets to the high ground while another one distracts the drones. Unfortunately, their arguing over the fact, whose guns are bigger, distracts them long enough for the HAMMER Drones to arrive. They win anyway.

* Although ''StarWars: RevengeOfTheSith'' uses this line verbatim during the duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, it's only a mild example as Obi-Wan claims a realistic hilltop as his vantage point rather a towering spire, for ostensibly [[GeoEffects strategic reasons]]. However, it does also symbolize his moral high ground and happens to give him an especially heroic appearance during the climax of the battle.

** And in both FateStayNight and FateZero, [[ItsAllAboutMe Gilgamesh]] makes his formal appearance in the war like this (the former on a lamppost, the latter on a wall), because even standing on the same ground as lesser heroes is an insult to him.

When [[TranslationTrainWreck the geography that you stands compares you superior]], you are playing with GeoEffects.

* The Romans attempted to invoke this at the Battle of Carrhae, but it was surprisingly subverted. Says Plutarch, "They were therefore compelled to retire upon the men-at‑arms, taking with them Publius, who was severely wounded. And seeing a sandy hillock nearby, they all retired to it, and thinking they could more easily defend themselves against the Barbarians. But it turned out just the other way. For on level ground, the front ranks do, to some extent, afford relief to those who are behind them. But here, where the inequality of the ground raised one man above another, and lifted every man who was behind another into greater prominence, there was no such thing as escape, but they were all alike hit with arrows, bewailing their inglorious and ineffectual death."

* The Romans attempted to invoke this at the Battle of Carrhae, but it was surprisingly subverted. Says Plutarch, "They were therefore compelled to retire upon the men-at‑arms, taking with them Publius, who was severely wounded. And seeing a sandy hillock near by, they all retired to it, and they thought they could more easily defend themselves against the Barbarians. But it turned out just the other way. For on level ground, the front ranks do, to some extent, afford relief to those who are behind them. But here, where the inequality of the ground raised one man above another, and lifted every man who was behind another into greater prominence, there was no such thing as escape, but they were all alike hit with arrows, bewailing their inglorious and ineffectual death."

* This ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon''-based fanart. Specifically, Meowth and Chikorita fighting [[DiscOneFinalBoss Primal Dialga.]]

This seems to have originated from training techniques that involved standing on bamboo; see, for example, the ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' and ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' examples. This is common in WireFu movies.

* The fight along the tops of the bamboo grove in ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''.
* The ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' scene is spoofed in a second ''{{Asterix}}'' movie.

* All gímik anime feature this at least once. In ''KiddyGrade'' there was Armbrust and his habit of smoking atop skyscrapers; ''UtaKata'' has Saya standing on clock towers, in trees, and on magic flying scythes; the closing sequence of ''Gigantic Formula'' features Mana standing on a spire; in ''{{Kiddy Girl-and}}'' it is Shade spending a week hanging around on a tower spying on dreams.

* Seen in FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi on a number of occasions. Once, Ami battled a horned reaper on top of a temple to the light. In another instance she appeared in a monestary to rescue one of her minions. This was accompanied by dramatic wind despite being indoors (due to her flooding the room with fog). She was even observeing the altercation the whole time, via scrying (she isn't a villain, but [[RunningGag don't tell the other heroes that]]). So this trope fits to a T.

* A recurring trope in ''{{X1999}}'' in which almost every character gets to pose dramatically in an absurdly high place at one time or another. (Sorata even comments on this when he first meets Yuuto standing on the top of a rather tall tree.) They always seem to prefer leaping from telephone pole to telephone pole at perilously high speeds rather than take the public transportation, and they're also often seen [[RoofJumping leaping from building roof to building roof]], among other tall things; it's implied that this is a power that all of the Dragons share.

* A recurring trope in ''{{X1999}}'' in which almost every character gets to pose dramatically in an absurdly high place at one time or another. (Sorata even comments on this when he first meets Yuuto standing on the top of a rather tall tree.) They always seem to prefer leaping from telephone pole to telephone pole at perilously high speeds rather than take the public transportation, and they're also often seen leaping from building roof to building roof, among other tall things; it's implied that this is a power that all of the Dragons share.

-->--''[[{{Film/RevengeOfTheSith}} Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]''

* In the ''SlyCooper'' games, one of Sly's many moves is the "Ninja Spire Jump", which allows him to stand atop tall, narrow objects. In ''Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves'', Sly does battle with General Tsao, a crime boss who fancies himself a Chinese warlord, in a BossBattle atop a bamboo grove, obviously inspired by ''Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon''.

* The BigBad of ''MetalWolfChaos'', Richard Hawk, does this on a ''helicopter'' in a ''HumongousMecha'' at one point.
* The {{Ninja}} from ''SengokuBasara'' do this a lot, in particular Sasuke who can often be found standing one-legged on the top of a tree, pole, or on the roof.
* Waka in ''{{Okami}}'' does this all the time. ''[[http://www.emploom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Okami-waka.jpg Those shoes...]]''

** Fan theory has it that Obi-Wan's position was not strategic at all, and he was deliberately goading Anakin into making a mistake. Indeed Anakin, driven by sheer rage, attempts to jump over Obi-Wan thus gaining higher ground to be presumably more strategic and/or look cooler. It does not go well.

* In one episode of ''DannyPhantom'', Vlad greets Danny and friends by standing on top of a street light, cape bellowing from the wind in dramatic fashion and everything.

* In LarryNiven's ''[[Literature/KnownSpace Patchwork Girl]]'', a short story taking place in his Known Space universe, a Moon native leaps onto a spire of rock. Gil Hamilton, an Earth man, calls it "Graceful as all hell."

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] but subverted in ''Film/IronMan2'', where Rhodey suggests he and Tony take the high ground for their upcoming fight, but their arguing distracts them long enough for the HAMMER Drones to arrive and take that high ground. They win anyway.

->'''Obi-Wan Kenobi:''' ''"It's over, Anakin! I have the high ground!"''

* The [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/BatmanTDKR0_000_Introduction.jpg 10th Anniversary Edition cover]] for ''{{Batman}}: TheDarkKnightReturns''.

* In ''Iron Monkey'', the entire epic final battle occurs on top of poles, because [[spoiler:the ground below is covered in burning oil.]]

* In LarryNiven's ''Patchwork Girl'', a short story taking place in his Known Space universe, a Moon native leaps onto a spire of rock. Gil Hamilton, an Earth man, calls it "Graceful as all hell."