History Main / SoftGlass

* In ''RanmaOneHalf'', sending someone flying through a window is a favorite pastime of the characters (especially female ones). Akane's bedroom window, and the homeroom window at school, are the most common victims. Ironically, after Akane tossed Ranma through the ''open'' window one time, he tried to leap back up, only to smack firmly into the glass when she closed it.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* There were several instances in the ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' series where Richie crashed through a glass window. Justified at least once in that in the scene, he hit the glass at full speed on his motorcycle (though it's a surprise he wasn't cut, unless the motorcycle gear was heavy enough to protect him.)

* Birds crashing through windows is a common occurrence in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend''. Fans have theorized that since sapient birds took over the world, they replaced all the windows with safety glass.
* Averted hard in TheLastOfUs, when Joel stabs a Hunter neck first onto a broken window pane.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''Film/RoboCop1987''

** Earlier in the series (''Film/HalloweenII1981'') Michael simply ''walks through'' a glass door, which of course shatters into a million tiny pieces.

* ''Series/Highlander'':
** There were several instances where Richie crashed through a glass window. Justified at least once in that in the scene, he hit the glass at full speed on his motorcycle (though it's a surprise he wasn't cut, unless the motorcycle gear was heavy enough to protect him.)

* ''Film/{{RoboCop|1987}}''

** Earlier in the series (''Film/{{Halloween II|1981}}'') Michael simply ''walks through'' a glass door, which of course shatters into a million tiny pieces.

* There were several instances in the ''Series/Highlander'' series where Richie crashed through a glass window. Justified at least once in that in the scene, he hit the glass at full speed on his motorcycle (though it's a surprise he wasn't cut, unless the motorcycle gear was heavy enough to protect him.)

* ''Film/RoboCop1987''

** Earlier in the series (''Film/HalloweenII1981'') Michael simply ''walks through'' a glass door, which of course shatters into a million tiny pieces.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* There were several instances in the ''Series/Highlander'' series where Richie crashed through a glass window. Justified at least once in that in the scene, he hit the glass at full speed on his motorcycle (though it's a surprise he wasn't cut, unless the motorcycle gear was heavy enough to protect him.) In the pilot, he averts the trope, cutting Mac's antique shop window with a glass cutter.

!!Examples:

[[folder:General]]
* Virtually all bar-fights in any [[TheWestern Western]] series result in at least one cowhand going through a saloon window, often followed by him getting up and running back into the fray.
* As in ''Film/DieHard'' below, shooting the glass beforehand is in fact pretty standard for a lot of action shows where they want to show they are paying at least a little bit of attention to realism. Plus it shows off the hero's badassitude in that, yes, they're not only going to jump through that window, they've ''planned out'' jumping through the window.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics -- Books]]
* ''SpiderMan''

* The season one midseason finale of ''WhiteCollar'' has Neal Caffrey swinging into a locked room of an art museum this way. Well, technically the window was made of panes of glass separated by wood, which is what he actually breaks, but he should've gotten a few cuts at the very least.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Locke gets shoved out a window and falls eight stories. He lives. However, much of ''Lost'' is about characters surviving/healing from stuff they should not.
* There were several instances in ''HighlanderTheSeries'' where Richie crashed through a glass window. Justified at least once in that in the scene, he hit the glass at full speed on his motorcycle (though it's a surprise he wasn't cut, unless the motorcycle gear was heavy enough to protect him.)
** In the pilot, he averts the trope, cutting Mac's antique shop window with a glass cutter.

** In the Prequel StartOfDarkness, [[BigBad Xykon]] hurls Redcloack and Right-Eye through a diner window. Both are shown to be scratched up afterwards.

** Used dead straight in : Othar Tryggvassen, GentlemanAdventurer!, gets thrown through sheets of glass on at least two occasions without a scratch. Of course, since he also survives even ''worse'' attacks without a mark on him, this may just be because he's MadeOfIron.

-->'''Dr. [=McNinja=]:''' More defenestration? Or you gonna talk?

* ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' has Gordon Frohman escaping from the office building in ''VideoGame/{{Counter-Strike}}'' by jumping out the window. It shatters effortlessly, but apparently still hurts.

* ''TheSimpsons''

* ''RocketPower'' actually ''explained'' this trope. When a film crew is in town for a movie, they explain that the fish tank is actually made out of sugar and not glass, which Sam then proceeds to give a lick.
* One episode of ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' had Wonder Woman stop a fast-moving car by ''punching it''. This is essentially the same as it hitting a wall, and sending the drivers and passenger flying through the windshield (instead of just knocking the thing straight out) and ''into another car'', yet the guys not only survive, but weren't even unconscious.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy", like most times, Batman can send a grappling hook through a glass window like it was nothing. Then it was subverted this when Batman was unable to break a large lightbulb by just throwing his utility belt at it, and had to throw a pole at it like a spear. Then, two minutes later, he throws the belt at a glass wall, ''and it goes straight through it''.

-->Joker: Either you've never heard of a door before or you like pulling glass out of your pants.

* Played straight in ''{{The Spectacular Spider-Man}}''. When fighting Green Goblin, Spider-Man is thrown out a window, catches himself, swings back up, and breaks back through another window, all while commenting on the definition of Defenestration.

-->[[FridgeLogic "Why is it so easy for children to break into the Pentagon?"]]
* Usually played straight in ''CodeLyoko'', like in "The Pretender" where Yumi jumps through a window unharmed. The ravens in this episode also have no trouble flying through panes of glass -- but since they're possessed by XANA, they are basically super-powered birds.
* ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' ironically averts this when there was no need to. In one scene Anakin slashes a window with his lightsabre, presumably to weaken it, then uses the Force to smash the glass. So...what was the lightsabre needed for? Considering the Jedi frequently send large metal robots flying across a room, surely this would be one scenario where the glass shouldn't ''need'' weakening.
** Transparisteel, perhaps?
* Happens all the time on ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}''. Though, given [[AndIMustScream some of]] [[BuriedAlive the other]] tropes these characters are subjected too, it might be a mercy move.
[[/folder]]

* ''RoboCop''

* ''{{Shadowgate}}'' has a place where you have to break one of three mirrors to proceed, [[GuideDangIt with nothing other than past experience (yours or other players) telling you which one you should break.]] One mirror cuts you to ribbons if you break it. The other two don't, but while one merely lets you walk through unharmed, the other opens a magic portal to space, sucking you through and killing you.

Also note that the stunt glass you see people jump through all the time in movies is not real glass. Traditionally, its actually made of sugar. They cook up a nice, thin, cheap sheet of hard candy that looks like glass, but breaks much easier, and is less likely to cut the stuntman to ribbons (the iconic crashing noise is added in post-production). Also, afterwards just turning a hose on the area washes it away and nobody can get cut after the jump. Modern "breakaway glass" is usually some form of plastic such as acrylic.

See also AGlassInTheHand, and GrievousBottleyHarm where the strength of glass is also underestimated.

!!Examples

* Hilariously subverted in a ''Manga/CityHunter'' story arc, where the running gag was Ryo trying to break through windows only to discover they were made with bulletproof crystal.

** Hilariously subverted in an issue of ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'', where Spidey, trying to make a dramatic entrance into the Kingpin's office, finds that Fisk has installed much stronger glass than last time Spidey was around.

* Subverted hilariously in ''Film/ALifeLessOrdinary'': [=Ewan McGregor=]'s character, a janitor at an office building, gets replaced by an [=R2D2=]-esque cleaning robot. Outraged, he grabs the machine, storms into his boss's office, yells "''This'' is what I think of your robot!" and hurls it at the plate-glass window. The robot bounces off the glass, gets up, and proceeds to clean the office floor.

** Hilariously parodied when Homer punches through a deli window to get some food, then walks to the pharmacy to punch the window to get bandages to wrap his glass cuts in.

* Made into a subtle hint of future plot development in the French supernatural thriller ''Vidocq'', where the villain called the Alchemist cheerfully breaks the laws of physics in his every appearance, once jumping through a large window and several stories to the ground, walking away unharmed. Later on, another character does the same with no explanation. Coincidence?

** It actually happens in BatmanBegins, in which it is even more ridiculous because it is done by actual bats. Little animals like that aren't gonna be able to break through glass windows.

* Used in ''Boondock Saints 2'': All Saint's Day. The brothers swing from a window washer's platform, and through the window of a skyscraper in order to get at the guys inside. They do fire several .357 Magnum rounds through the window first to weaken the glass, but right after landing, they slide on their knees across a floor that should have been covered in razor sharp shards.

* Unintentionally averted in ''TheWayOfTheGun'', when Benicio del Toro's character breaks into a car and has to elbow the window several times before it shatters. The glass was supposed to break on the first try but didn't, so del Toro just kept hitting it until it did. Possible double subversion: he had a screwdriver in his sleeve, and it still took him 3 hits to break the window.

* Fakir of ''PrincessTutu'' seems to rather enjoy being far more [[SuperWindowJump dramatic]] and [[ThereWasADoor badass]] than he really needs to.

** Earlier in the series (''HalloweenII'') Michael simply ''walks through'' a glass door, which of course shatters into a million tiny pieces.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Counter-Strike}}'', as well as several other Source games, once a piece of glass has been chipped in any place, it is possible to run/jump right through it without slowing down at all.

* Probably one of the craziest examples ever happens in ''Film/HalloweenCurseOfMichaelMyers'', when Kara flies face first through a window and belly flops to the ground two stories below with no discernible injuries from either the glass or the fall. Honestly, with MadeOfIron abilities like that, why the hell is she afraid of Michael Myers? Also, Michael Myers seems to have no problem punching through car windows without sustaining any injuries.

** Earlier in the series (''HalloweenII1981'') Michael simply ''walks through'' a glass door, which of course shatters into a million tiny pieces.

** Earlier in the series (''HalloweenII'') Michael simply ''walks through'' a glass door, which of course shatters into a million tiny pieces.