History Main / ElectricSlide

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{inFamous}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/custom_1243221973152_Infamous-1.jpg]]]]

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* Cole from ''VideoGame/{{inFamous}}'' is the king of this trope. There's even a trophy you get by grinding along a power cable and taking down an enemy while sniping in precision mode, and another for grinding on 4 separate lines in sequence. Partially justified by an experiment GoneHorriblyRight, giving Cole the ability to control electricity (he can even learn to suck the electricity out of the line while grinding to recharge his powers). Still doesn't explain why power cables can support his weight, though.

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* The LooneyTunes "Bee-Deviled Bruin" has Pop doing a tightrope walk along a shutoff power line to get to a beehive. He shouldn't have left his halfwit son sitting at the switch, getting bored and fiddling with it...

Surprisingly common in anime, shonen especially, is the tendency to run on power lines when racing to get somewhere. While at first doing this seems perfectly reasonable - after all, why run along the ground where you would have to follow the roads when you can just use the power lines and go straight there - there is a slight problem. Power lines may well support crows[[hottip:*:as long as they're only touching one line at a time - if it touches two or more at once, its body acts as a bridge between them, resulting in a fried birdie]], but almost certainly not the weight of human beings. [[DontTryThisAtHome Things are even worse with high tension power lines]]; according to the History Channel, even the crews who maintain the things, with all their training and protective gear, occasionally die working on these. So, merely touching a high tension power line and anything connected to the ground (or another line next to it) is as close as one can get to a death sentence. Needless to say, RuleOfCool reigns supreme.

* ''[[FinalFantasyX Final Fantasy X]]'' lets the entire cast get in on this when they decide to [[spoiler:crash Yuna and Seymour's wedding]].
** Although, to be fair those weren't power lines as such, 'just' thick steel cables attatched to huge mechanical grapling hooks.

* Soul Power from ''StaticShock'' sort of ''surfs'' across power lines with his electric powers, sort of his version of Static's flying disc.

* ''TomAndJerry'' uses this a few times, each time with Tom balancing on the telephone wires to get to Jerry, who always either tries to shake Tom off or cut the wires.

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* ArtemisFowl does this in The Time Paradox to catch a lemur that has run onto the power lines. Played realistically (for ArtemisFowl, anyway) in that the lines in question are a set of truly massive power conduits across a large valley, he uses the cable trolley system and protective suit that line maintenance crews use, he's an accomplished physicist who has watched a documentary on this very set of electrical towers, '''and''' he's still terrified.

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* ''[[JetGrindRadio Jet Set Radio Future]]'' requires this to get around several areas like Kibogaoka Hill and Highway Zero.

* Raz [[GrindBoots grinds]] on telephone lines in ''{{Psychonauts}}''' MilkmanConspiracy. It's the most sensible event on the level. [[AWizardDidIt A psychic did it?]]

* Used in ''AirGear''. It actually lends power to [=ATs=].

A close cousin of RoofHopping and typically takes LeParkour BeyondTheImpossible. Not to be confused with the country line-dance of the same name...or the decidedly ''non''-country "Electric Boogie" that inspired it.

* In ''{{Goldenboy}}'', Kintaro wins a race, on bicycle, against a motorcycle, in part by using a power-line shortcut. It's a combination of BeyondTheImpossible and YouFailPhysicsForever.

[[quoteright:350:[[InFamous http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/custom_1243221973152_Infamous-1.jpg]]]]

* Cole from ''{{Infamous}}'' is the king of this trope. There's even a trophy you get by grinding along a power cable and taking down an enemy while sniping in precision mode, and another for grinding on 4 separate lines in sequence. Partially justified by an experiment GoneHorriblyRight, giving Cole the ability to control electricity (he can even learn to suck the electricity out of the line while grinding to recharge his powers). Still doesn't explain why power cables can support his weight, though.

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* Not to be outdone, ''{{Superman}}'' does this in his first appearance in ''Action Comics'' until he learns how to fly. However, he did this stunt while carrying a man he was trying to scare into talking with the threat that they both will be electrocuted he steps on a support pole, which would ground them and allow the electricity to flow through them. Sure enough, he has a near miss with a pole which scares his prisoner witless. After some additional leaping, all Superman has to do upon landing is "[[{{ptitlejfyj7p47}} Wasn't that fun? Let's do it again!]].

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* In [[{{Fanfic/Ptitle0028gzjm}} Kyon: Big Damn Hero]], Kyon attempted it with great success. Justified, because he had access to alien technology. His personal assistant remarked that it was interesting, but inferior compared to teleportation.

Many a character [[ShockAndAwe with electric powers]] does this, both because their power keeps their not being killed something ''[[IncrediblyLamePun grounded]]'' in (semi-)reality, and because it's ''[[IncrediblyLamePun conducive]]'' to their nature.

* Cole from ''{{Infamous}}'' is the king of this trope. There's even an achievement you get by grinding along a power cable and taking down an enemy in precision mode, and another for grinding on 4 separate lines in sequence. Partially justified by an experiment GoneHorriblyRight, giving Cole the ability to control electricity (he can even learn to suck the electricity out of the line while grinding to recharge his powers). Still doesn't explain why power cables can support his weight, though.

[[AC:{{ComicBooks}}]]

[[AC:{{VideoGames}}]]

[[AC:{{WesternAnimation}}]]

* Cole from ''{{Infamous}}'' is the king of this trope. There's even an achievement you get by grinding along a power cable and taking down an enemy in precision mode, and another for grinding on 4 separate lines in sequence. Partially justified by an experiment [[GoneHorriblyWrong gone horribly right]], giving Cole the ability to control electricity (he can even learn to suck the electricity out of the line while grinding to recharge his powers). Still doesn't explain why power cables can support his weight, though.

[[AC:{{ComicBooks}}]]
* Not to be outdone, ''{{Superman}}'' does this in his first appearance in ''Action Comics'' until he learns how to fly. However, he did this stunt while carrying a man he was trying to scare into talking with the threat that they both will be electrocuted he steps on a support pole, which would ground them and allow the electricity to flow through them. Sure enough, he has a near miss with a pole which scares his prisoner witless. After some additional leaping, all Superman has to do upon landing is "[[{{ptitlejfyj7p47}} Wasn't that fun? Let's do it again!]].
* [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero Air Wave used specially insulated ''rollerskates'' to skate along power lines. It's not entirely clear what advantages this has over simply using the skates normally.
* ''{{Spider-Man}}'' villain Electro does this as a fast way of getting around. As he is a walking power plant, he doesn't have to worry about being electrocuted. Occasionally, he'll ''be'' the electricity in the wires...
* Barbara Shelley does this in her first appearance as {{Promethea}} to save Sophie from falling to her death.

* ''SpiderMan'' villain Electro can do this. Makes sense what with his name being what it is.

* Not to be outdone, ''{{Superman}}'' does this in his first appearance in ''Action Comics'' until he learns how to fly. However, he did this stunt while carrying a man he was trying to scare into talking with the threat that they both will be electrocuted he steps on a support pole, which would ground them and allow the electricity to flow through them. Sure enough, he has a near miss with a pole which scares his prisoner witless. After some additional leaping, all Superman has to do upon landing is "[[WasntThatFun Wasn't that fun? Let's do it again!]].

* ''FateStayNight'': Saber does this during her first fight with Berserker and is only explainable through RuleOfCool. Not only is she wearing a long skirt but she's wearing a suit of ''metal armor'' and carrying a sword.
** As a Servant, she's considered a spirit, and so cannot be hurt by something as mundane as electricity.

* In ''{{Goldenboy}}'', Kintaro wins a race, on bicycle, against a motorcycle, in part by using a power-line shortcut. It's a combination of BeyondTheImpossible and YouFailPhysicsForever. Although at least it IS a high-tension line, visually... still.
** 'High tension' means "'''buttloads''' of power flowing through it", not 'very taut'.

* GoldenAge hero Air Wave used specially insulated ''rollerskates'' to skate along power lines. It's not entirely clear what advantages this has over simply using the skates normally.

Surprisingly common in anime, shonen especially, is the tendency to run on power lines when racing to get somewhere. While at first doing this seems perfectly reasonable - after all why run along the ground where you would have to follow the roads when you can just use the power lines and go straight there - there is a slight problem. Power lines may well support crows, but almost certainly not the weight of human beings. [[DontTryThisAtHome Things are even worse with high tension power lines]]; according to the History Channel even the crews with all their training and protective gear occasionally die working on these. So, merely touching a high tension power line and anything connected to the ground (or another line next to it) is as close as one can get to a death sentence. Needless to say, RuleOfCool reigns supreme.

Many a character with electric powers does this, both because their power keeps their not being killed something ''grounded'' in reality, and because it's ''conducive'' to their nature.

* Cole from ''{{Infamous}}'' is the king of this trope. There's even an achievement you get by grinding along a power cable and taking down an enemy in precision mode, and another for grinding on 4 separate lines in sequence. Partially justified by an experiment[[GoneHorriblyWrong gone horribly right]], giving Cole the ability to control electricity (he can even learn to suck the electricity out of the line while grinding to recharge his powers). Still doesn't explain why power cables can support his weight, though.

[[InFamous http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/custom_1243221973152_Infamous-1.jpg]]
[[caption-width:804:Watch the master at work.]]

** Might be a sub-trope of the martial artists walking on the tops of blades of grass without bending them to show that they are so supremely balanced that they don't leave their weight on practically anything.
*** Ranma has the grace of a drunken {{Deadpool}} dancing with the devil of disease while drowning.
**** Which Ranma are you talking about? His normal way of walking to school is on top of a fence, fer crying out loud.

* ''{{Spider-Man}}'' villain Electro does this as a fast way of getting around. As he is a walking power plant, he doesn't have to worry about being electrocuted.