History Main / FastRoping

** Also shows up in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', when the Navy SEAL team lands on the Big Shell. [[spoiler: It becomes a minor clue that Pliskin may not be who he says is, when Raiden noticed a sea louse crawl out from underneath him.]]

** Also shows up in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', when the Navy SEAL team lands on the Big Shell.

* Used in ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' at the beginning of the first mission in order to get Joanna onto the roof of [=dataDyne=] headquarters while giving her at least some amount of stealth to play with as she needs to make her way all the way to the basement -- time is of the essence as Dr. Carroll was at risk of mind-conditioning and needed to be extracted as quickly as possible.

* Used in ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' at the beginning of the first mission.

* A similar and equally spectacular technique was developed by the Gurkha Rifles, the last remnant of the British Indian Army of colonial days, who dispensed with the rope altogether. In a situation where the Gurkhas had to de-bus from a moving softskin lorry ''very, very, quickly'', let us say if the lorry was under fire and it would be dangerous to stop altogether so as to present a sitting target, the Gurkhas trained themselves in bailing out of a moving truck going up to 30mph and hitting the ground running. Observers have incredulously said it looks bloody dangerous and they are frankly surprised the tough little sods get up and dust themselves down as if nothing out of the ordinary has just happened.

* ''Film/ActOfValor'' features FastRoping used several times to transfer [=SEALs=] from helicopter to boat. In the first instance, Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen fast rope out of Chinooks into their boats. ''In mid-flight.''

** Landing however exposed the Chinook to enemy groundfire for a short time, meaning that, with no AA around, fastroping could be the better choice. With AA around, you probably don't even want to use the Chinook at all, so it has it's uses.

* In ''Film/UniversalSoldier'', the assault on a team of hostage taking terrorists involves several [[SuperSoldier UniSols]] rappelling down a dam facing ''down''. This is ''not'' RuleOfCool, surprisingly: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rappel It's a real rappelling technique]] invented by the Australian Army in the 1960s.

* In ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'', fast roping is used by the Marines twice. The first is to get off of an exposed freeway, and the second is when Nantz discovers the location of the alien command center, but his helicopter can't afford to land. There's also a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming when after Nantz reaches the ground, more ropes suddenly drop from the sky as his squadmates loyally follow him on what could realistically be considered a suicide mission.

-->'''Brandt:''' [[CaptainObvious The line's not long enough!]]
-->'''Ethan:''' No shit!

** In the ActionPrologue to the [[Film/StarTrek first movie]], Starfleet personnel in Engineering can be seen doing this during the evacuation of the USS Kelvin. Presumably it's a quick way of getting about the StarshipLuxurious if the turbolifts are busy.

** Various American special forces units.

* ''Film/ImGonnaGitYouSucka''. John Slade rappels down the side of a building from the roof with the intent of throwing a stick of dynamite through a window. Unfortunately, he misjudges the length of the fuse.

* Lampshaded in ''Film/TheBoondockSaints''. While stocking up on weapons/gear Connor and Murphy argue:

* A couple of the SWAT teams do this in the climax of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' as they storm the Joker's building. As Batman is trying to stop them, he ends up using their still-attached cables to his advantage.

* Played more or less straight in the VideoGame/RainbowSix series, most notably in the two ''Vegas'' games. If there is a window below a ledge, chances are you can rappel down and breach it. In fact, the architects were often nice enough to attach inexplicable "rappel-hooks" above such windows. [[AwesomeButImpractical On the other hand, it's pretty much as useless for entering a firefight as it is in RealLife, which makes its use of the trope less straight.]] And any enemy attempting to fast rope or rappel into a fight is an easy target for you. Vegas 2 even has an achievement for killing enemies on ropes.

* The Chinook transport helicopter from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' has this as a special ability, known as "Combat Drop", which allows you to commandeer buildings garrisoned by enemy infantry. Alternatively, you can just use it to drop {{ranger}}s onto the battlefield in a badass way, though it's a lot slower than just landing the helicopter and unloading them the regular way, [[AwesomeButImpractical leaving both parties vulnerable to enemy fire]].

* While not an actual game mechanic in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', a cutscene shows your squad rappelling down into the depths of the alien's underground base in a story mission. While the RuleOfCool was most likely involved at some point, it is justified by the fact that their usual means of deployment, the Skyranger dropship, cannot get that close to the base.
** A few abduction missions also feature fast roping, usually when there isn't any space for the Skyranger to land. Except for [[{{Cyborg}} MECs.]] They don't need the rope.
** ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' can also show soldiers making their entry this way, especially in [[strike:terror]] ADVENT retaliation missions.

* The SWAT units will frequently rappel down from their helicopters in ''VideoGame/{{Payday 2}}''--and are ridiculously easy to dispatch before they even touch the ground, if you have a clear line of sight and enough ammo.
** Cops do this in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games too. And if you're not focused on the ground cops shooting at you ...

* ''AmericanDad'' did this in the ''James Bond'' parody "Tearjerker". After Stan has foiled the plot of the criminal mastermind Tearjerker (played by Roger), he sends his henchmen after Stan by having them fast rope down from his zeppelin...and they proceed to smash right through the floor as they land, as part of the RunningGag that the contractor Tearjerker hired to build his evil lair was incompetent and cut corners everywhere.

* In the ''StarWars'' [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], ARC Troopers are shown doing this in one panel of the comic depicting the Battle of Kamino.

* ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' The Ministry Of Information troops crash into Mr. Buttle's living room through the windows on ropes, through the door and through a hole sliced through the roof.

* The ACE mod for ''VideoGame/{{ARMA 2}}'' adds realistic fast roping to the game.

* ''AmericanDad'' did this in the ''JamesBond'' parody "Tearjerker". After Stan has foiled the plot of the criminal mastermind Tearjerker (played by Roger), he sends his henchmen after Stan by having them fast rope down from his zeppelin...and they proceed to smash right through the floor as they land, as part of the RunningGag that the contractor Tearjerker hired to build his evil lair was incompetent and cut corners everywhere.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' , Elan gets a prestige class that excels at this, to the point that he becomes immune to damage from [[DramaticShattering broken glass]].

** The page image was created based on the events of the 2010 boarding of the Mavi Marmara by Israeli commandos, where they fast-roped into a mob...with predictable results.

* The [[KaijuDefenseForce Self-Defense Force]] breaks into Rin's office this way in episode 4 of ''Anime/{{Mnemosyne}}''.

* Played more or less straight in the VideoGame/RainbowSix series, most notably in the two ''Vegas'' games. If there is a window below a ledge, chances are you can rappel down and breach it. In fact, the architects were often nice enough to attach inexplicable "rappel-hooks" above such windows. [[AwesomeButImpractical On the other hand, it's pretty much as useless for entering a firefight as it is in RealLife, which makes its use of the trope less straight.]]

* Gojo Shiouji in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' swings through the window in his first appearance, [[{{Lolicon}} holding a small girl under his arm]].

* ''Rescue: The Embassy Mission'' on the [[NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] had [[MinigameGame four phases]], of which the third was rappelling from the roof into the windows of the embassy.