History Main / HumanLadder

* ''TheOrderOfTheStick'': [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0458.html "thog always dreamed of being footstool, thog never thought dream come true. *sniff* it everything thog imagined and so much more."]] (thog not human footstool. thog HALF-human footstool.)

* In ''MontyPython'''s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd_n0lF_hAg "Archeology Today]]" sketch, an interviewer (Michael Palin) pays more attention to a tall archeologist (John Cleese) than a short one (Terry Jones). Eventually jumping on top to become taller happens.

* A standard technique of the main pups in ''101 Dalmatians: The Series''.

* Done quite regularly by DonaldDuck's nephews, Huey, Dewey & Loui.

* In an episode of ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', all four turtles stacked up to fix a light. The totem collapsed when Donatello (at the base) got up to do something not realizing he was still supporting the totem.

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* Pretty sure this happened in an episode of ''MonsterRancher'', when they needed Suezo to see out over a field; he can't get high enough, so in the end they just throw him in the air.
* {{Naruto}} occasionally uses his clones to do this (as well as making a ChainOfPeople)

* {{One Piece}} makes use of this during the climax of the Alabasta Arc, when, in a pinch due to the [[spoiler:ticking time bomb at the top of few hundred foot high clock tower]], Vivi is literally catapulted up the side of the tower by her crewmates, starting with Usopp on the ground, Chopper on his shoulders in his deer form, and Vivi on his back. Nami uses her Clima-Tact to create energy to send Chopper and Vivi into the air, where Sanji and Zoro, both at various points on the tower, jump off the side and give the two a boost, until finally Chopper tosses her to [[spoiler:the time bomb's location]]. Cue Vivi's {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}.
* In an episode of ''{{Digimon}}'', Agumon and Palmon are involved in a Digimon pyramid with other Digimon. In this case, they were forced to do it by Nanimon.
* In an episode of ''{{Hamtaro}}'', a bunch of the Ham-Hams stack up on one another to see if they can reach the stars thinking the stars are candy.

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* Used in Disney's ''{{Mulan}}''-- the soldiers pile on each other to better see where Mulan and Shang are. In this version, Chen Po, TheBigGuy is on the bottom; Ling, the tall thin one is in the middle; BoisterousBruiser Yao is on top.

* The pachyderm pyramid in Disney's ''{{Dumbo}}'' has to count.
* In the most recent film of ''TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Edmond allows the priest to stand on his shoulders so he can see out the window.

* In the original ''[[TheParentTrap Parent Trap]]'' movie, Sharon and Susan do this while they're in the lake to try to fool Vicky into thinking the water is shallow.

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* Although he was talking about intellectual rather than physical elevation, Bernard of Chartres (not Issac Newton) used this image to refer to looking at the work of past geniuses to progress: "We are like dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.
* Who can forget DrSeuss' ''Yertle the Turtle'', who commanded his subjects to stand on each other so he could see further.
* In one of the ''OlgaDaPolga'' books, Olga tells a story about how ages ago, all the guinea pigs decided to go to the moon by standing on each others' shoulders. It doesn't end well.
* Used in Pournelle's ''Falkenberg's Legion'' and DavidDrake's ''Belisarius'' series as part of standard assault tactics to get over the wall of a fort.
** ''Falkenberg's Legion'' also goes one better. To quickly cross a (small) barb wire entanglement, an armored soldier lays on it, providing a makeshift path for his fellow soldiers. This duty is generally performed by the newest soldiers, being lowest on the totem pole, and being the least experienced.
* Two kids did this in R.L. Stine's ''Goosebumps'' book, "Ghost Beach".

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* A recurring gag in ''{{Scrubs}}'' is to have JD and Turk form "World's Most Giant Doctor." It's always with JD on top, though. When they tried "Giant Black Doctor", people ran.

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* CalvinAndHobbes have done this a few times.

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[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Common in [[TeamworkPuzzleGame Teamwork Puzzle Games]].

* In ''{{Mother 3}}'', this is the Mr. Saturn race's favorite pastime.
* ''{{Disgaea}}'' had an interesting game mechanic that allowed you to stack your WHOLE TEAM on each others shoulders, allowing you to throw members across the map. Of course, the guy on bottom takes damage proportional to the weight of the team on top of him every turn, so it's a somewhat advanced tactic.
** Buffed up a bit from the first sequel onwards with two improvements. First, you no longer take damage when carrying allies, and second, the tower itself can attack enemies within a short range (one hit for each person in the tower,) making the human ladder viable for more uses than simply quick transport across the map.

* In ''Donkey Kong Coutry Returns'' Has yellow versions of Itty Bitty Biters that stack up on top of each other and and lunge at the player.
* In "Drawn To Life" has stacking baki enemies with one large baki at the base and three small baki's on top.
* In ''KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' there is a totem pole-like enemy that uses elemental magic.
** In the original ''KingdomHearts'' game, there are certain parts of the game where Sora, Donald and Goofy need to stack up on each other's shoulders to reach certain things.
* In ''LegendOfMana'', during the end of the quest in Lake Kilma, the sailors make a ladder to get back to the top of the lake cliff.

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* A human ladder is also used by Sarge and Caboose in ''[[RedVsBlue Red vs. Blue]]'' to see into a square window.
* In the HomestarRunner toon, "The Search for the Yello Dello", Homestar and Pom-Pom do this to boost Strong Sad up to the Yello Dello so that he could tell it a boring story that would put it to sleep so that they could catch it.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* [[TheSimpsons Springfield]] did the "human pyramid" version, trying to get into the [[strike:Guinness]] Duff Book of World Records
** There's also a gag where a group of cheerleaders do this in a sandstorm, which leads to them getting buried, and looking like an actual pyramid.

* {{Antz}} features a truly epic example near the end.

* In one episode of ''InvaderZim'', Zim persuades fellow prisoners to form a human pyramid so they could escape ... sorry, so ''Zim'' could escape.

* The monster protagonists from ''Aaahh!RealMonsters'' do this sometimes.

* In the ''Animaniacs'' episode, "Hello, Nice Warners", the Warner kids do this to try to escape from Mr. Director.
* In the ''{{DextersLaboratory}}'' episode, "D2", Dexter and Dee Dee do this throughout the episode taking Dexter's brains and Dee Dee's stature to their advantage.

* In an episode of ''CowAndChicken'', Cow, Chicken and Flem do this to spy on the new school bully. Similar to the PinkPanther example above, Cow put herself on top because she was the tallest.
* Lady Redundant Woman from ''WordGirl'' can do this with her [[MesACrowd army of duplicates]].

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* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_pyramid The Human Pyramid]], a popular circus act, also performed by cheerleaders, team-building coaches, and drunk teenagers.

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* In an episode of ''Digimon'', Agumon and Palmon are involved in a Digimon pyramid with other Digimon. In this case, they were forced to do it by Nanimon.
* In an episode of ''Hamtaro'', a bunch of the Ham-Hams stack up on one another to see if they can reach the stars thinking the stars are candy.

* The dogs in ''AllDogsGotoHeaven'' do this during the "You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" segment.

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', the Koopa Bros. do this when they're battling Mario in their second form.

* In ''Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep'' there is a totem pole-like enemy that uses elemental magic.
** In the original ''Kingdom Hearts'' game, there are certain parts of the game where Sora, Donald and Goofy need to stack up on each other's shoulders to reach certain things.

** Theres also a gag where a group of cheerleaders do this in a sandstorm, which leads to them getting buried, and looking like an actual pyramid.

* Done frequently on ''Scooby-Doo''.
* In an episode of ''Doug'', Doug and Skeeter do this to try to achieve a frisbee while Porkchop distracts the bull dog guarding the yard.

* In the ''DextersLaboratory'' episode, "D2", Dexter and Dee Dee do this throughout the episode taking Dexter's brains and Dee Dee's stature to their advantage.

* The ''BigTimeRush'' episode "Big Time Concert" had Jo and Kendall do this to hang up a Big Time Rush poster.

* {{Antz}} features a truly epic example near the end.* ''TheAmazingSpiez''. In "Operation Spy-Sitter" three of the title heroes form one to reach a sprinkler control on a wall.

* In an episode of ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', Leo, Raph and Mike stacked up to fix a light. The totem collapsed when Mike (at the base) got up to do something not realizing he was still supporting the totem.

* In ''PaperMario'', the Koopa Bros. do this when they're battling Mario in their second form.

* In the ''Dexter'sLaboratory'' episode, "D2", Dexter and Dee Dee do this throughout the episode taking Dexter's brains and Dee Dee's stature to their advantage.

* One boss fight in ''[[{{Contra}}Contra: Hard Corps]]'' involves this, probably to block you from jumping across them. Luckily, there's other ways to dodge their attack.

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* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_pyramid The Human Pyramid]], a popular circus act, also performed by cheerleaders, team-building coaches, and drunk teenagers.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_pyramid The Human Pyramid]], a popular circus act, also performed by cheerleaders, team-building coaches, and drunk teenagers.

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* There is a Mind Trap card that involves this. Two people are trying to reach something in a tree -- one is five feet tall, one is six feet tall. The five-foot person stands on the shoulders of the six-foot person, but the object is just out of reach. Would it help for them to switch places? [[spoiler:Yes, because the taller person will probably have longer arms.]]
* There's an ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanart, where Sokka decides the best way to see over a wall is by having [[RunningGag Toph stand on his shoulders]].

A HumanLadder is any individual who is climbed on to give another character added height. Generally, they do so by having another character stand on their shoulders. Some Human Ladders consist of more than two people, although the more you add, the more silly it gets.

Generally, the person at the base is TheBigGuy, but a common enough gag is to have the person at the bottom be the smallest one in the group. HilarityEnsues when they topple over.

* {{Antz}} features a truly epic example near the end. [[spoiler:Stuck inside the quickly flooding ant hole, the workers resort to this in desperation in order to get to the top- but they're just short and the army ants are standing right there. Fortunately, Colonel Cutter is so impressed by their display that he immediately stages a coup d'état, ordering the other army ants to pull up the ladder.]]
* ''TheAmazingSpiez''. In "Operation Spy-Sitter" three of the title heroes form one to reach a sprinkler control on a wall.

* ''{{Disgaea}}'' had an interesting game mechanic that allowed you to stack your WHOLE TEAM on each others shoulders, allowing you to throw members across the map. Of course, the guy on bottom takes damage proportional to the weight of the team on top of him every turn, so it's a somewhat advanced tactic.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ladder2_2441.jpg
[[caption-width:202:To the moon, Alice!]]

* Used in Disney's ''{{Mulan}}''-- the soldiers pile on each other to better see where Mulan and Shang are.
** This one is a bit of a subversion. Chen po, TheBigGuy is on the bottom. Ling, the tall thin one is in the middle. BoisterousBruiser Yao is on top.