History Main / SpectatorCasualty

** The worst such accident in motorsports occurred at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours, where eighty-three spectators were killed when Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed into a stand after a minor collision, along with Levegh himself. The disaster led to Daimler-Benz withdrawing from motor racing for decades.

** In the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours, eighty-three spectators were killed when Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed into a stand after a minor collision, along with Levegh himself. The disaster led to Daimler-Benz withdrawing from motor racing for decades.

** In 1999 there was a serious accident at a UsefulNotes/{{Indycar}} race in Charlotte where a collision led to debris flying into the stand, killing three spectators.

A large crowd of people have gathered to watch a deadly sport or duel, such as a TrialByCombat or GladiatorGames. Everyone is enjoying the action... until a wayward blow hits an unlucky spectator.

For cases of gladiatorial combat or similar, a particularly nasty bad guy would sometimes attempt to ''intentionally'' do this to any close spectator (or specific ones) so that the hero would be forced to protect them. Or they may use the spectator as HumanShield. Or they're just that sadistic and wants to do some side-maiming.

* In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', the space colonies determine the ruler through CombatByChampion, with each colony selecting a Gundam Fighter. Neo-France was having a duel between two fighters to determine their representative. One fighter, Jean-Pierre Mirabeau, was using the crowd as a HumanShield to prevent the best best attacks of his opponent, George de Sand. The King who was watching declared George the winner on the spot. In rage, Jean-Pierre tried to kill the king, but his missiles were deflected by George, accidentally killing hundreds of spectators. The incident is known as the "Marseilles Tragedy" in universe, and George considers it as MyGreatestFailure. [[spoiler: Which poses a huge, HUGE problem when Jean-Pierre resurfaces in the Guyanas arc, having been empowered with DG Cells, right after George was going through one HELL of a trauma-induced slump caused by having been forcibly infused with the same Cells.]]

* In the final match of ''Manga/DragonHalf'''s TournamentArc, Dug Fin throws huge energy blasts at his opponent Mink that barely singe her. Large chunks of the stadium and audience behind her are less durable..

* The original disaster in ''Film/FinalDestination4'' results in lots of spectators dying in a variety of ways as a result of a terrible NASCAR crash and the seating collapsing. One of the spectators who ends up escaping their original death due to the main characters vision ends up [[ChunkySalsaRule obliterated]] by one of the car tires being hurled right out of the arena by the explosion.

* In ''Literature/TheEmpressGame'', these are keenly expected at the arena in which Kayla fights. It's part of the entertainment, and the crowd cheers.

* In Myth/ClassicalMythology Perseus killed his grandfather during a discus contest, when he threw the discus so far that it went into the stands.

** During [[CainAndAbel Zuko and Azula's]] FinalBattle the former goads the latter to shoot lightning at him. Unfortunately Katara is watching and Azula, being cunning and [[AndYourLittleDogToo mean-spirited]], attempts to kill her instead (in what was supposed to be an honourable one-on-one duel). Zuko realises this and quickly [[TakingTheBullet jumps into the way]] to redirect the lightning, but because he was distracted he's left temporarily paralyzed. [[TheDogBitesBack Whereupon Katara kicks Azula's ass herself.]]

* Done in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' when a splash of deep-fry grease hit a stand of bleachers with audience of the Fry Cook Olympics, turning them into fish sticks. The concession guy then nonchalantly flips a sign to signify [[CarnivoreConfusion they're for sale]].

** The 1928 Italian Grand Prix - Emilio Materassi lost control of his car and crashed into the grandstand, killing him and twenty two spectators. It's still the worst accident (in terms of number of lives lost) to occur at a Grand Prix event and is still the second deadliest motorsport crash of all time after the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

** During the first stage of the 1986 Portuguese rally, three spectators were struck by a car and killed. This, coupled with Henri Toivonen's death during the Tour de Corse, would mark the crashes that's responsible for banning the Group B rally cars for good.

** On the last lap of the 2009 Aaron's 499 at Talladega, Brad Keselowski turned Carl Edwards in the tri-oval. Edwards got airborne, was struck by Ryan Newman, and then was catapulted into the catch fence. Eight fans were injured by flying debris; the most serious one being a woman whose jaw was broken, and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. In a tribute to ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'', Edwards got out of his car and jogged to the finish line.

** The inaugural Truck Series race at Daytona will forever be marred by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmT3gQQdJm4 the terrifying crash]] of Geoff Bodine on lap 57. Contact between Kurt Busch and Rob Morgan caused Morgan to make contact with Bodine's truck in such a way that Bodine was catapulted into the catch-fence at a speed of nearly 190 miles per hour. Bodine's uel tank exploded and the truck flipped over nine times extremely hard across the track before coming to rest on its roof in turn 1. The now crushed and mangled rollcage that was left of the truck was then struck by Ryan [=McGlynn=] on the driver's side. Bodine suffered a broken jaw, wrist, shoulder, and a concussion, while five fans in the stands were also injured by debris.

* In the final match of ''Manga/DragonHalf'''s TournamentArc, Dug Fin throws huge energy blasts at his opponent Mink, but she's barely singed after they pass around her. They continue on to destroy large chunks of the stadium and audience.

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* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. When the Red Viper is fighting the Mountain That Rides, a stableboy gets between them and gets his arm severed. Annoyed by his screaming, the Mountain finishes him off with a backslash [[KickTheDog purely to shut him up]].

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* Done in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' when a splash of deep-fry grease hit a stand of bleachers with audience of the Fry Cook Olympics, turning them into fish sticks. The concession guy then nonchalantly flips a sign to signify [[CarnivoreConfusion they're for sale]].

* This is a frequent occurrence with Dethklok concerts in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'', both intentionally and not, enough so that one episode establishes fans have to sign waivers that Dethklok is not responsible for any of them getting horribly injured or killed - just from trying to listen to music. The very first scene of the first episode has the stand airdropped into place while the fans are standing around where it's supposed to land - and several of them get crushed when it lands quite a ways away from the intended landing area. Then, since the song they open the concert with concerns coffee, they dump a giant pot of it hot enough to immediately scald human flesh off the bones onto more of the concert-goers.

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': This occurs quite frequently during the Dark Tournament arc. More specifically notable examples include Shishiwakumaru's "Chorus of a Thousand Skulls" attack, and many of the matches between Team Urameshi and Team Toguro.

* The original disaster in ''Film/FinalDestination4'' results in lots of spectators dying in a variety of ways as a result of a terrible Nascar crash and the seating collapsing. One of the spectators who ends up escaping their original death due to the main characters vision ends up [[ChunkySalsaRule obliterated]] by one of the car tires being hurled right out of the arena by the explosion.

* Perhaps one of the most bizarre examples, at a game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots in 1979, two fans were struck by [[http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/27/a-drone-once-killed-a-fan-at-an-nfl-game/ a flying lawnmower]], one of whom died.

** During Zuko and Azula's FinalBattle the former goads the latter to shoot lightning at him. Unfortunately Katara is watching and Azula, being cunning and [[AndYourLittleDogToo mean-spirited]], attempts to kill her instead (in what was supposed to be an honourable one-on-one duel). Zuko realises this and quickly [[TakingTheBullet jumps into the way]] to redirect the lightning, but because he was distracted he's left temporarily paralyzed. [[TheDogBitesBack Whereupon Katara kicks Azula's ass herself.]]

** The 1961 Italian Grand Prix - a car crashed into a spectator stand, killing the driver and fifteen spectators.
** During the first stage of the 1986 Portuguese rally, three spectators were struck by a car and killed.

The polar opposite of StrayShotsStrikeNothing. Arguably an InUniverse form of TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou. SisterTrope to DeadlineNews, where the ''commentator'' falls victim to the deadly event.

* Used as a throwaway gag on an episode of ''Series/HouseMD'', where House tries to cheer up a despondent Wilson by saying he got extra-special VIP tickets for a Monster Truck rally-the 'extra-special' comes from the seats being so close to the track that ticket holders ''must sign a waiver in case the trucks go out of control and kill them by accident''. Wilson, [[{{Wangst}} unfortunately, is too despondent]], and so House never gets to go ([[HoYay not without Wilson]]).

-->'In the event of a [[GoingCritical core breach]] in your section of the stands, we apologize'.
-->'Save a spectator day! Pick a mech without splash damage weapons!'
-->'It's hot enough to fry an egg out there! But with all that radiation, it's probably not wise to eat it'

* Downplayed version with the comedian ''Creator/{{Gallagher}}'': during his heyday in the 1990s, Gallagher played concerts in indoor arenas. The first several rows were equipped with plastic sheeting they could pull over their heads when he began smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer on stage.

* Entrants in ''Film/DeathRace2000'' earn points by killing spectators ''en route''. That's right: they're ''aiming'' for these people as a racecourse requirement.

* ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome''. After leaving a stunned Max, Blaster fetches a BladeOnAStick and charges at him. Max gets out of the way in time using the WireFu ropes, and a spectator hanging onto the outside of TheThunderdome gets impaled instead.

* PlayedForLaughs in a fight between Dark Helmet and Lone Starr in ''Film/SpaceBalls''. While dueling with their "light sabers", Dark Helmet makes a wild overhead swing and slices a sound guy off of his recording equipment.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', it's very possible and very common for innocent bystanders to get caught in the crossfire between the Dragonborn and the opponent. ''[[KillEmAll Especially]]'' if said opponent is a dragon -- one [[RandomEncounter randomly invading a town]] has been the death of many a player's [[LostForever shops and questlines]].

* Most baseball stadiums have prominent signs warning spectators to be careful about baseballs being hit into the stands hard enough to cause serious injury. Hockey stadiums have similar warnings about flying pucks.

* In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', the space colonies determine the ruler through CombatByChampion, with each colony selecting a Gundam Fighter. Neo-France was having a duel between two fighters to determine their representative. One fighter, Jean-Pierre Mirabeau, was using the crowd as a HumanShield to prevent the best best attacks of his opponent, George de Sand. The King who was watching declared George the winner on the spot. In rage, Jean-Pierre tried to kill the king, but his missiles were deflected by George, accidentally killing hundreds of spectators. The incident is known as the "Tragedy of Versailles" in universe, and George considered it as MyGreatestFailure. [[spoiler: Which posed a huge, HUGE problem when Jean-Pierre resurfaced in the Guyanas arc, having been empowered with DG Cells, right after George was going through one HELL of a trauma-induced slump caused by having been forcibly infused with the same Cells.]]

* In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', the space colonies determine the ruler through CombatByChampion, with each colony selecting a Gundam Fighter. Neo-France was having a duel between two fighters to determine their representative. One fighter, Jean-Pierre Mirabeau, was using the crowd as a HumanShield to prevent the best best attacks of his opponent, George de Sand. The King who was watching declared George the winner on the spot. In rage, Jean-Pierre tried to kill the king, but his missiles were deflected by George, accidentally killing hundreds of spectators. The incident is known as the "Tragedy of Versailles" in universe, and George considered it as MyBiggestFailure.