History Main / HairTriggerExplosive

** Ditto for its Creator/WilliamFriedkin remake, ''Film/{{Sorcerer}}''.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* There are "contact explosives" (see Wiki/TheOtherWiki) that are almost ridiculously sensitive. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_triiodide Nitrogen triiodide,]] when dry, is so sensitive that being exposed to ''alpha radiation'' is enough to detonate it.

** ''Literature/ANewDawn'' features baradium bisulphate, used in thorilide mining. It's sarcastically nicknamed "Baby" by the miners who work with it, and is volatile enough that the pilots who fly the transports carrying it from Gorse to its moon Cynda, where the mining takes place, are nicknamed "suicide fliers". Oh, and ''[[UpToEleven then]]'' there's baradium-257, its radioactive and even ''more'' explosive cousin, nicknamed "Nasty Baby".

* Picric acid becomes a highly shock-sensitive explosive similar to nitroglycerin when dried out, and thus old jars of the stuff, occasionally seen in back rooms of school chem labs, must be handled and disposed of by the bomb squad. Iver time, salt crystals form in the acid and the crystals break with explosive force super easily.

* Picric acid becomes a highly shock-sensitive explosive similar to nitroglycerin when dried out, and thus old jars of the stuff, occasionally seen in back rooms of school chem labs, must be handled and disposed of by the bomb squad.

* ''Videogame/CavesOfQud'' has Neutron Flux, which is relatively easy to collect once found, but once you have it cannot be handled without the right recipe or even just switched between containers without killing you and everyone nearby.

* Some of the [[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things-i-wont-work-with "Things I Won't Work With"]] category on Derek Lowe's ''[[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/ In the Pipeline]]'' are included for this reason. One of the near-definite winners must be [[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/01/09/things_i_wont_work_with_azidoazide_azides_more_or_less a yet unnamed compound]] (although Lowe's nickname of Azidoazide Azide seems to have caught on) synthesized from N-amino azidotetrazole (which on its own already qualifies), which exploded on every single attempt to move it elsewhere for testing, and whenever they tried to get an infrared spectrum on it. Shining an ''infrared light'' on it set it off. The guy in charge of these tests, Thomas M. Klapötke (who is practically the ''king'' of dealing with these kinds of ultra-sensitive compounds) had to give up on it, because he quite simply couldn't get any meaningful measurement out of it, other than the fact it exploded with ridiculous ease.

* Celluloid, the most common early form of plastic, was derived from the same chemicals as guncotton, and therefore, in addition to easily catching fire, had a reputation for spontaneously igniting and detonating under shock, e.g. a billiard ball exploding when struck with the cue.

Some RealLife explosives really have a hair trigger, some...don't. Note that most explosives in fiction are not depicted this way. Usually in fiction, a plunger or a similar device (e.g. with a blasting cap, fuse, PlungerDetonator, etc.) is used to safely blow up explosives. But also in fiction, [[ArtisticLicenseChemistry they get the volatility of explosives wrong, especially TNT and dynamite.]]

-->'''Tour Guide''': Of course for safety reasons, we don't keep the cannon ''loaded''. [[RealityEnsues That's just common sense.]]

* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' has Nitro boxes that go off like this. They also bounce randomly as an indication of how volatile they are. TNT is less sensitive than Nitro, as you can touch the side without dying. Hitting the top triggers a 3-second timer, but you can still get killed if you're nearby when it explodes... or if you try to spin it.

Subtrope of StuffBlowingUp and TheLastStraw. Supertrope of NitroExpress. Also see ExplosiveStupidity when someone doesn't know this. This applied to a car intentionally is MolotovTruck, and unintentionally is EveryCarIsAPinto. Compare/contrast MadeOfExplodium, in which something that should not be explosive explodes anyway. If a nuclear weapon is treated like this, it's ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics. In comedic works, the volatility of stuff is directly proportional to [[RuleOfFunny how funny]] the consequences of the resulting explosion will be.

** In fact, one method of stopping an atomic bomb is to destroy it with another explosion. The fissile material in an atomic bomb is set off using a very precisely controlled explosion in order to put it under a huge amount of pressure so it will go supercritical. Another explosion will cause it to fail. It will still produce a big explosion and scatter radioactive material everywhere, but it will be nowhere near as bad as if it had gone off correctly.

* Discussed and averted in 'Fanfic/FinishingTheFight'': When Keyes and Johnson take out the weapons of mass destruction, Johnson comments:
--->'''Johnson:''' You will not trigger these things by banging, dropping, or otherwise manhandling them. ''[closes the second case]'' Nevertheless, and I want everyone to hear me very carefully here, you treat this shit as if it were armed, and the slightest jostle could set it off. You treat it as if the very second you stop respecting it for what it is, that it will kill you.

* In ''Film/TheLegendOfZorro'' the villains' plan involves a train full of nitroglycerine. To demonstrate, one tosses a small drop onto the floor causing a huge explosion.

* ''Film/ACuriousConjunctionOfCoincidences'': Zigzagged with an airplane bomb. Averted at first, when it fails to go off when accidently dropped over Amsterdam during World War II, and spends several decades in the ground undetected. But ultimatley played straight when it is finally triggered by an empty cola can that falls on top of it.

* The two ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games on the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} have the item "Magical Nitro" which is used in conjunction with "Mandragora" to make an explosive that destroys cracked walls. However, the game cautions that the Nitro is extremely volatile; the player must avoid jumping or being hit by enemy attacks or else the Nitro explodes and instantly kills the character.

* ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix'' has a JokeCharacter simply known as Bomb. Should he get hurt by anything, he'll explode on the player.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', one sidequest involves stopping Sakon the Thief from stealing the Bomb Shopkeeper's wares. Shooting him with an arrow will set off the explosives, killing him and denying you the reward.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Zigzagged in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E21ThePTADisbands "The PTA Disbands"]], a tour guide in Fort Springfield is giving a lecture on a "fully restored and in ready-to-fire condition" Civil War cannon aimed directly at the base of a manned lookout tower. She mentions that these cannons are "''very'' sensitive and that the "''slightest'' jolt" can set them off as the Springfield Elementary bus starts swerving towards the cannon. The bus hits it and... [[Series/FTroop one of the cannon's wheels falls off]].
-->'''Tour Guide''': Of course for safety reasons, we don't keep the cannon ''loaded''. [[RealityEnsues That's just common sense.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Fry is carrying sticks of dynamite, and each time one fell off it exploded. Fry makes it to the storage shed, there's a big explosion inside, and Fry emerges singed. Of course, the whole point of dynamite is that it doesn't explode unless detonated, so this was strictly RuleOfFunny.
* A recurring ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' gag has a character drinking a bottle of nitroglycerin and then either exploding or acquiring explosive saliva.
* In a first-season episode of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' "Captives of Cobra", the Joes are trying to secretly transport highly volatile crystals which will explode if jostled too hard. [[RuleOfDrama Naturally,]] since Cobra discovers their route, Duke, Tripwire and Gung-Ho have to divert over an unpaved mountain pass while the rest of the team covers their escape.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'', Timmy's Dad rubs 2 sticks of dynamite together trying to make a fire. The sticks explode instead.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin DANGER! DROP IT AND DIE!]]

* All grenades and placed explosives in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', and ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' explode when shot, even C4. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Unrealistic]], but useful if you don't have a detonator--or wants to get fancy and blow up an enemy's grenade in their hand.