History Main / FastRoping

* The CDA is almost contractually obligated to do this (the window-opened-not-broken variant) in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' whenever a 23-19 is reported. One of the HilariousOuttakes features a CDA agent splatting on a window instead of rappelling through it.

* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' has a subtle bit of horror and MindScrew to this - nearly every mission begins with Capt. Walker and his squad rappelling down to the next battlefield. No matter how far you descended in the last mission, you always start the next at another high vantage point before [[AlienGeometries you keep going down, and down...]]

-->'''Connor''' Do ya know what we need, man? Some rope.
-->'''Murphy''' Absolutely. What are ya, insane?
-->'''Connor''' No I ain't. Charlie Bronson's always got rope.
-->'''Murphy''' What?
-->'''Connor''' Yeah. He's got a lot of rope strapped around him in the movies, and they always end up using it.

* In the Cities of Death expansion for ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', one of the stratagems you can use is rappelling lines, which allows troops to disembark from skimmers directly ontop of buildings.

* 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]].
** Landing however exposed the Chinook to enemy groundfire for a short time, meaning that, with no AA around, fast roping 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 ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade Renegade]]'' it seems to be the standard method for disembarking from Chinooks, be it for the enemies or for Havoc himself in the intro cutscene.

** Also shows up in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', when the Navy SEAL team lands on the Big Shell. [[spoiler: Raiden becomes suspicious of Pliskin's claim of fast-roping in when he notices a sea louse crawl from underneath him.]]
* Played more or less straight in the VideoGame/RainbowSix series, most notably in the two ''Vegas'' games and [[VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege Siege]]. 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.

* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and its expansions, enemy soldiers can be seen doing this once in a while.
** Civil Protection officers indulge in this in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', usually just in time to get run over.
*** Overwatch Soldiers can be seen doing this as well.
* Clone soldiers do it in ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR]].''
** So does the player character Point Man, along with a [[RedShirt Delta Force squad]], at the very beginning, right before [[FromBadToWorse the shit hits the fan]].
* ''Rescue: The Embassy Mission'' on the {{UsefulNotes/NES}} had [[MinigameGame four phases]], of which the third was rappelling from the roof into the windows of the embassy.
* Both campaigns in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' begin with your character doing this, at the beginning of the missions "Crew Expendable" and "Charlie Don't Surf". Enemies also do it from helicopters throughout the game and in ''Modern Warfare 2'' - the two games have an achievement for, respectively, shooting down a helicopter as enemies are roping out of it and killing a certain number of enemies doing so before they can hit the ground.
** There's also same moment as in MGS example above - Lt. Price and Cpt. [=MacMillan=] use fast-roping to evade a helicopter's [[MacrossMissileMassacre rocket attack]]. Although technically speaking, they are rappelling, the level of action justifies its being a fast-rope scene.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' has, in addition to Spetsnaz soldiers still roping out of helicopters, one instance where the player and his squadmates attempt to do this, but are sent crashing through a window when their copter is shot down.
* This is one way stormtroopers can enter a stage in ''VideoGame/LegoStarWars''.
* In ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'', there are a couple of moments in the "Breaking and Entering" level in which security guards ambush you by swinging in through skyscraper windows.
* In ''VideoGame/EmpireAtWar'', this is how [[WalkingTank AT-AT's]] deploy Stormtroopers. While it is only possible to have two squads of stormtroopers deployed from an AT-AT at any given time, they can deploy an unlimited number of them to replace fallen squads.
* 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 is at risk of mind-conditioning and needs to be extracted as quickly as possible.
* For only a four/five-story descent, ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' manages to be pretty scary with its first-person Australian rappel.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' and the sequel ''Super C'' start with our OneHitWonder roping out of a helicopter. Due to graphical limitations it looks more like he's jumping 30 feet to the ground when [[ThereWasADoor there was a perfectly good rope to shimmy down.]]
* The ACE mod for ''[[VideoGame/{{ARMA}} ARMA 2]]'' adds realistic fast roping to the game.
* In VideoGame/{{Xenonauts}}, employed in the form of a [[spoiler:personal teleporter of sorts]] for human troops, once [[spoiler:Valkyrie]] goes into action.
* Cops do this in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games, especially on higher Wanted levels. And if you're not focused on the ground cops shooting at you, they're ridiculously easy targets.

* The Delta Squad in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' rappels down to somewhere at least twice per chapter: once at the start of their deployment and at some point during it.
* On ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'''s Skies of Vengeance stage, MSAT soldiers make their entrance onto the zeppelin this way.
* Sporadically, the player's co-pilot in ''VideoGame/DesertStrike'' will use this method in order to perform a certain task on the ground (e.g. entering a building and freeing an important prisoner).
* SWAT enemies of all kinds will do this in ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' and ''VideoGame/PAYDAY3''. It buckles a little from the norm, as they won't attempt to rappel in on every heist and will generally only do so out of reach of the main point of action (for example, in the ''PAYDAY 2'' Bank Heists, they attempt to rappel down the wall of the building ''behind'' the bank), though sometimes they will drop straight in from helicopters that enter the scene. They are about as vulnerable as one would expect, and one of the sniper rifle achievements in ''PD2'' involves shooting down rappelling enemies using a specific weapon.

* Subverted in ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow'' when Cage is in a VTOL transport that's been hit by enemy fire and starts breaking up. He works out how to hit the release mechanism, only to end up swinging wildly at the end of a rope beneath the crashing helicopter, colliding with the other soldiers who are doing the same, until his rope breaks and dumps him on the beach.

* Subverted in ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow'' when Cage is in a VTOL transport that's been hit by enemy fire and starts breaking up. He works out how to hit the release mechanism, only to end up swinging wildly at the end of a rope beneath the crashing helicopter, crashing into the other soldiers who are doing the same, until his rope breaks and dumps him on the beach.

-->-- ''Series/BurnNotice'', "Friendly Fire"

* The eponymous girls perform a raid on a terrorist mountain hideout like this in the twelfth episode of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''.

* SWAT enemies of all kinds will do this in ''[[VideoGame/PayDay2 PAYDAY 2]]''. It buckles a little from the norm, as they won't attempt to rappel in on every heist and will generally only do so out of reach of the main point of action (for example, in the Bank Heists, they attempt to rappel down the wall of the building ''behind'' the bank), though sometimes they will drop straight in from helicopters that enter the scene. They are about as vulnerable as one would expect, and one of the sniper rifle achievements involves shooting down rappelling enemies using a specific weapon.

* In ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' Misaki installs a rope from her window, which she uses to drop into Sorata's room quickly.

* ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. Bailey rappels down from above to fight Mrs. Peel.

* ''Film/{{Water 1985}}''. The mercenaries do this when mining the cliffs, sending the mineral water gushing into the ocean. Serves as a BookEnd to wannabe communist rebel Delgado's less-then-professional ImprovisedZipline at the start of the movie.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek''

* ''Film/{{SWAT}}'' has a helicopter use this trope in the opening sequence to deposit a group of LAPD SWAT officers on the roof of a bank where hostages are being held.
* ''Film/{{Lara Croft Tomb Raider}}'' drops in fast-roping minions trough the Croft Mansion's skylight while Lara were doing indoors bungee jumping. They would probably have done a lot better if they had stayed on the ground.
* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity''. Jason Bourne arrives at his apartment in Paris. Everything appears OK at first, but then he starts worrying that he might not be alone there, grabs a kitchen knife and starts checking all the rooms which turn out to be empty. Then he goes over to check the French doors leading to the balcony, right when an assassin attached to a climbing harness smashes through them.

* The entire plot of the ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'' anime starts with this, with Rikka and Yuuta's MeetCute started by Rikka's trying to leave her apartment this way. Throughout the anime she enters and leaves Yuuta's room this way as well.

* The eponymous girls perform a raid on a terrorist mountain hideout like this in the twelfth episode of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''.
* The [[UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce Self-Defense Force]] breaks into Rin's office this way in episode 4 of ''Anime/{{Mnemosyne}}''.
* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': Onizuka and some of his students play paintball, and two of them decide to drop in via the window.
* Gojo Shiouji in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' swings through the window in his first appearance, holding a small girl under his arm.
* All continuities of ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' use this repeatedly, befitting a series with a strong spec-ops theme. In [[Anime/GhostInTheShell1995 the 1995 film]], Major Kusanagi is in fact ''introduced'' in the act of fast-roping to an assassination target's window; several homages to the scene can be spotted in later media.

* Used by the Amestrian military in episode 49 of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist: Brotherhood'' to get the jump on [[spoiler:Roy and his group]].

* The SAS' attack during the Iranian Embassy Siege of 1980 was not an example of fast-roping, but was important in the development of the technique. One trooper got tangled in his abseil gear on descent and suffered 60% burns when a fire caused by the detonation of a stun grenade reached him. [[{{Determinator}} He continued with the operation anyway.]] It was in part this specific incident that led to the development of fast-roping, where no abseil gear is used and this kind of tangle can't happen.

** They do it AGAIN, and do it right, in ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsAllSaintsDay'', this time busting through a skyscraper window and blasting off with [[HandCannon Desert Eagles]] [[GunsAkimbo akimbo]]. And they proceed to have another rope argument just before this.

* Spoofed in ''Film/{{Machete}}'' when the title character uses a [[BloodyHilarious mooks' intestines]] to rappel out the window and crash through the window below.

* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingon soldiers]] do this out of a Warbird ''while it's still flying''. [[CurbStompBattle Unfortunately for them]], they're up against a OneManArmy.
** In the ActionPrologue to the [[Film/StarTrek2009 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.

** Umbrella soldiers in the ActionPrologue of ''Film/ResidentEvilRetribution'' rappel out of Osprey tilt-rotors onto the deck of the Aurora, looking especially cool as they're wearing {{Badass Longcoat}}s and are led by Jill Valentine firing GunsAkimbo machine-pistols. [[FridgeLogic Which means she doesn't have a hand free to control her descent or release her harness...]]

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' had Wooster using this method to enter and exit the Jaegergenerals' conference with Boris, though as the window's open there's no breaking glass. He does get a little mechanical help slowing his descent on the exit, but 1. this is {{Steampunk}}, after all, and 2. this is entering and exiting an ''[[UpToEleven airship.]]'' It's a long, long way down.

* This is one way stormtroopers can enter a stage in ''[[VideoGame/LEGOAdaptationGame LEGO Star Wars]]''.

* Used by the Amestrian military in episode 49 of ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'' to get the jump on [[spoiler:Roy and his group]].

** Also shows up in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', when the Navy SEAL team lands on the Big Shell. [[spoiler: Raiden becomes suspicious of Pliskin's claim of fast-roping in when he notices a sea louse crawl from underneath him.]]

* All continuities of ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' use this repeatedly, befitting a series with a strong spec-ops theme. In the 1995 film, Major Kusanagi is in fact ''introduced'' in the act of fast-roping to an assassination target's window; several homages to the scene can be spotted in later media.

* ''Film/ResidentEvil''. The soldiers do this while entering the mansion (smashing through the windows as they do so). It's in the trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiS6gtClrqk here, at about 0:40]]. Why they decided to go up on the roof first [[FridgeLogic is never explained]], but it was clearly RuleOfCool.

* Umbrella soldiers in the ActionPrologue of ''Film/ResidentEvilRetribution'' rappel out of Osprey tilt-rotors onto the deck of the Aurora, looking especially cool as they're wearing {{Badass Longcoat}}s and are led by Jill Valentine firing GunsAkimbo machine-pistols. [[FridgeLogic Which means she doesn't have a hand free to control her descent or release her harness...]]

* Done by Touma and Gaomon in Episode 8 of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' when raiding a suspect's hideout. True to form, they shattered the windows using Gaomon's punch attack.

* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity''. Jason Bourne arrives at his apartment in Paris. Everything appears OK at first, but then he starts worrying that he might not be alone there, grabs a kitchen knife and starts checking all the rooms which turn out to be empty. Then he goes over to check the French doors leading to the balcony, right when a rappeler armed with an automatic weapon smashes through them.