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9%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1334274664008617200
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12[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_116872_4523.jpg]]]]
13[[caption-width-right:300:It doesn't hurt when you hit it,\
14[[RussianReversal it hurts when it hits you]]!]]
15
16->'''Yakko:''' It's made of solid iron...\
17'''Dot:''' It weighs a ton or two...\
18'''Wakko:''' We know you'd like to meet it...\
19'''All Together:''' It wants to meet you too!
20-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', "The Anvil Song"
21
22The anvil: A simple, yet essential tool of any metalsmith, which serves as the workbench where metal is pounded into the desired shape for whatever project the smith happens to be working on -- and which, in many fictional mediums, inexplicably ends up airborne and aimed at some poor chump's cranium.
23
24These large objects must be made of a heavy, dense material in order to survive hammer blows, and as such they weigh a ton (though not ''quite'' literally, for the smallest ones anyway) and are invariably dropped from great height and are used to crush heads, though hands, feet and rib cages sometimes create soft landing spots. It's unknown why exactly the anvil is such a favorite among fiction in terms of heavy items to be dropped. Perhaps it's their very unique shape that immediately catches the eye and screams "I'm a giant hunk of metal." They may drop without warning, or they may be heralded by the ShadowOfImpendingDoom and the BombWhistle. The victim usually just has time to [[DeathByLookingUp look up]] and see the falling object before it lands on them. Thankfully for the victim, as a {{slapstick}} trope, [[HardHead this is rarely ever fatal]].
25
26In some cases, especially if full-body crushing is desired, an ''n''-ton weight may be substituted for the anvil. This is a metal weight shaped like a pyramid with the top cut off, a ring at the top for attaching a rope, and the exact weight (usually 1, 10, or 16 tons) painted in white on the front.[[note]]16 tons was the heaviest weight commonly used for weighing things. Why 16? Because it had 8, 4, 2, and 1 junior brothers which allowed you to, between them, get any tonnage up to 31 tons with as few weights as possible, and weigh something up to 31 tons in as few rounds of moving those weights around as possible (neither being a trivial concern when dealing with objects weighing that much).[[/note]] The 16-ton weight was favored by ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. In cartoons, if the toon is driven completely out of sight, often a CranialEruption will shove the weight out of the way. Or, if the cartoon is very zany, the victim might have either [[WingdingEyes the "NO SALE" eyes]] or CirclingBirdies.
27
28And once in a while, it's a safe. In those, occasionally the safe's lock whirls open and the character, who has somehow [[IllogicalSafe wound up inside the safe]], falls out. [[PianoDrop Grand pianos]] are used as well, in which case the character will either end up inside where the strings are, or with a mouth full of piano keys for teeth. Another sometimes used option is for a tree or telephone pole to fall over on top of the character, repeatedly bouncing on their head and driving them into the ground like a piledriver. In {{anime}}, it's usually a [[DropTheWashtub washbasin]].
29
30Often results in an AccordionMan, SquashedFlat or HammeredIntoTheGround.
31
32May have its origins in the real life practice of "anvil firing", which was used in America to celebrate the fourth of July: one anvil was laid upside down on the ground, a charge of gunpowder was placed in the hollow in the base, a fuse was laid leading out of it, and a second anvil was placed right-side-up atop the first. After everybody got far away and someone lit the fuse, they would watch the second anvil be launched high into the air, from which it necessarily had to fall back to earth. Obviously the real-life consequences of this trope place this FIRMLY in the category of DontTryThisAtHome, as a falling anvil could easily kill a person in real life. Safes and pianos, on the other hand, are probably a relic of the days before legally mandated hallway widths and freight elevators, when the only way to get a bulky object into an upper story room was with a winch, a pulley, and a hole in the side of the building.
33
34Not to be confused with DroppedABridgeOnHim. {{Anvilicious}} is unrelated conceptually, but we call it that for having the same amount of subtlety as the average anvil dropped on the average head. The {{anime}} equivalent is DropTheWashtub.
35----
36!!Examples:
37
38[[foldercontrol]]
39
40[[folder:Advertising]]
41* TV ads for Ditzo car insurances would often end with a CorruptCorporateExecutive being flattened by a car dropping inexplicably from the sky. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvXsO80Jk0o See for yourself. (Dutch)]]
42* In a commercial for [[Advertising/EnergizerBunny Energizer batteries]], [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]] is hired by the fictional Supervolt battery company to destroy the Energizer Bunny, and attempts to stop him with a homemade helicopter that carries an anvil. Thanks to the short life of the Supervolt batteries his helicopter runs on, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Wile E. ends up taking a fall and getting hit by his own anvil]].
43* In a commercial for Geico, the Geico gecko is in an unusual place, what appears to be Monument National Park, where he narrowly avoids getting nailed by a dropping Acme anvil and [[PianoDrop a grand piano]]. Cue Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote appearing. When Wile E. stops to ponder having the gecko for a meal, he has an Acme safe drop on him while, once again, narrowly avoiding the gecko.
44* The Creator/KidsWB [[SaturdayMorningCartoon Saturday Morning line up]] did an ad that ended with characters from their shows getting flattened by anvils. Since [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Superman]] was, well, ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'', the anvil bounced harmlessly off his head.
45* The [[http://www.impsec.org/~jhardin/OADS/anvil_chorus.html Orbital Anvil Delivery System,]] for all your spammer-flattening and clue delivery needs!
46* One example that's most certainly '''''not''''' PlayedForLaughs comes from the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ908sh_TSw 2005 commercial]] for [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's]] Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights. "The Storyteller" has a man strapped on top of a bed of nails, with a tied-up anvil hanging above him. After dropping a couple of quips, she cuts the line for the anvil, sending it plummeting towards him as he lets out a horrific scream. The subsequent GoryDiscretionShot leaves the clear implication that the impact of the anvil forced him down into said bed of nails.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
50* The Americaphilic author of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' included a semi-serious version of this in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood.'' Jonathan, during a gritty {{Seinen}} action/adventure story, drops an anvil on a zombie's head. Of course, the results are realistically gory. And of course, [[MemeticMutation there's also]] [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders the steamroller]].
51* Another semi-serious version: In the anime version of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s fight against the Deva Path, which bears an odd resemblance to WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes in general, this happens to the Deva Path.
52[[/folder]]
53
54[[folder:Asian Animation]]
55* In episode 5 of ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'', Wolffy eavesdrops on Weslie mentioning the password to the Goat Village gate's lock to Sparky. It's actually the wrong password, causing him to get hit by a falling weight.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Comic Books]]
59* The first issue of ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'''s third page has a weight marked "100" that was apparently dropped by Bulk Biceps, prompting an "OUCH!" from the pony underneath and laughter from a pony in a doorway nearby.
60* In ''ComicBook/SoulsearchersAndCompany'' #3, Barak stops the bickering Dweeb and Sleepwanker by using the rules of the DreamLand to conjure up a pair of anvils that then fall on their heads.
61* ''ComicBook/TimDrakeRobin'': The Harley Quinn VariantCover has her comically grinning about to release an anvil she has held above Tim's head.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Comic Strips]]
65* A ''[[ComicStrip/TheFarSide Far Side]]'' cartoon had children being warned not to play under the Anvil Tree.
66* From 2001/10/21 to 2001/10/27 of ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' had every strip ended with a dog in a superhero cape and appropriate shirt crushing the title character.
67* Ignatz Mouse's pastime is dropping bricks on the head of ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'', who seems to take it as a sign of affection.
68* A cartoon from the ''National Enquirer'' depicts a man standing on a fortune-telling scale while a safe plummets down from overhead. His fortune is "You're going to die a wealthy man."
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Fan Works]]
72* ''Fanfic/DespairsLastResort'' features a dark example. [[spoiler:The culprit of the first case, Super High-school Level Animator Kaito Fujiwara, is executed by [[IronicDeath being crushed under a giant anvil]].]]
73* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9963013/32/He-s-Not-Dead-Yet He's Not Dead Yet]]'' Harry kills Voldemort by casting a spell which summons a 16-ton weight.
74* In ''Fanfic/HuntersOfJustice'', [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] pins [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Raven Branwen]] under a giant anvil construct to subdue her while [[spoiler:raiding Brainiac's mothership]].
75* ''Fanfic/ItGetsWorse'' has a near-miss example: through [[LaserGuidedKarma a series of convoluted events]], nine anvils from an Old West art exhibition fall out of a building and land perfectly around a wandering Coil (and played lethally straight if he tries [[SaveScumming save-dodging]] with his power), delivering a [[LiteralMetaphor literally]] {{Anvilicious}} message to him that [[ScareEmStraight scares him into turning himself in]]. A second, longer and stranger series of convoluted events results in the death of Jack Slash via PianoDrop.
76* In ''Fanfic/MakeAWish'' this is the sole purpose of the Acme spell. The improved version offers a ten-ton weight and a grand piano as alternatives.
77* ''Fanfic/{{Metro}}'': From [[http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/content_page/item/927-no-rest-for-the-wicked "Metro 1: Chewing Through The Straps (Part 3)"]], as part of a ShoutOut to ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'' and its ACME products:
78--> "Ayep. That's gonna leave a mark."\
79"Was it necessary to conjure an anvil marked with runes and sigils spelling out 'Acme Anvil Corp'?"\
80"beep beep?"
81* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11477928/1/Whose-Fault Whose Fault]]'' Lucius Malfoy is killed by a one-ton block of stone falling out of nowhere.
82* Klarion the Witch Boy, in ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'', has to fight John Constantine for control of Klarion's full power (which is currently locked away in the Realm of Chaos), but rather than fight fair, he sends minions to drop weights on John. The 10-ton weight is easy enough for Paul to catch with his power ring and set aside, but the ''million''-ton weight needs special gravity-modifying constructs.
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Films — Animation]]
86* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' combines a ''weaponized'' version of this trope with BigDamnHeroes, [[spoiler:delivered by ComicBook/SpiderHam to Scorpion, who has just breached through the defenses on Peni Parker's MiniMecha. Scorpion feels the very real impact but, being a mutant, shrugs it off and disses Spider-Ham, who promptly [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomps him]] in retaliation. Amusingly, the anvil [[BrickJoke reappears]] at the end of Miles and Kingpin's fight when it's the last thing to get sucked into the self-destructing Super-Collider before it explodes.]]
87* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'': After getting [[IdentityAmnesia rejuvenated]], [[spoiler:Ruby]] is nearly shattered when a giant pizza cutter [[spoiler:an equally-rejuvenated [[AmnesiacVillainJoinsTheHeroes Spinel]]]] set loose cuts a rope holding up Bismuth's anvil from a crane. [[spoiler:This proves the catalyst for [[OfficialCouple her and Sapphire]], who ''also'' has amnesia, to re-fuse, as the latter pushes her out of the way.]] This one is more justified than most examples, as Bismuth is a blacksmith (and her anvil had been seen, being used for conventional purposes, in episodes of the show) and was overseeing construction of a building where she was presumably intending to live.
88[[/folder]]
89
90[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
91%% * Occurs, out of nowhere, in ''Film/DragMeToHell''.
92* In ''Film/EasyStreet'', The Bully isn't stopped till The Tramp drops a metal stove on top of him from a second story window.
93 * Used, quite horribly, in ''Film/HotFuzz'' when [[spoiler:Tim Messenger]] is killed by a falling church spire, which messily crushes his head and ''impales him''. Ewww.
94* ''[[Film/JackFrost1997 Jack Frost 2]]'' has a BloodyHilarious example. When Jack tries to kill a young woman with falling iciclies, he keeps missing, much to his frustration. He eventually resorts to dropping a massive anvil composed of ice on her head, complete with [[StockSoundEffects a comical bong sound effect]].
95* ''Film/LethalWeapon2'': Played for drama with realistic results when Riggs dispatches TheDragon by dropping a shipping crate on him.
96* Dr. Meinheimer gets this several times in ''Film/TheNakedGun 2½''. Actually includes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D19nGdtF-Xk a real anvil]].
97* ''Film/NowYouSeeIt2005'': Played as an actual threat; Max tries to kill Danny by levitating a weight above his head for the crowd, then having it "suddenly" fall on him. He only avoids the attempt due to Allison's quick reaction time. In fact, this was how Max had killed his old mentor, Antonio [=DiMilo.=]
98* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'':
99** Interestingly, an anvil may be the only stereotypical cartoon flattening device that ''isn't'' dropped on someone during the film.
100** The movie opens with a cartoon short that ends with a refrigerator being dropped on Roger. Later, Toon prop magnate Marvin Acme is killed by a safe falling on his head. Halfway through the film, Eddie Valiant reveals that his grudge against Toons stems from his brother Teddy's death, which was caused by a rogue Toon dropping a piano on him; while a Toon would usually survive with only some [[SquashedFlat flattening]] [[AmusingInjuries for comedic effect]], heavy objects tend to inflict much more realistic, and ''deadly'' injuries to humans such as Teddy and Marvin Acme.
101** Related is, in the final confrontation scene, Roger Rabbit's "Come down on you like a ton of bricks" being made literal.
102** The final fight with [[spoiler:Judge Doom]] involves [[spoiler:him shaping his fist like an anvil and using it to punch Eddie in the face.]]
103[[/folder]]
104
105[[folder:Literature]]
106* Invoked in ''Literature/TheAffix''. Matt is pissed at Kilraen for trying to kill him, so he decides he'll make this happen as soon as he figures out how to get the Affix to bend probability to his will instead of its own. Ultimately [[spoiler:subverted by a PianoDrop]].
107* Creator/TerryPratchett uses this frequently to deal with minor characters in his ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books.
108** One petty thug dies when he's hit with an armadillo, another one with a falling bed, and the alternate universe Carrot dies when he's hit with an aardvark. A [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] in bat form was stunned by a thrown (garlic) sausage and then eaten by a cat.
109** In ''Literature/SmallGods'', a villain is killed when a tortoise is dropped on his head. The tortoise [[spoiler:is actually the god Om]] and in addition to saving the life of the hero it is his way of sending an Anvilicious message to the citizens of Omnia.
110* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
111** ''Literature/BloodRites'': A particularly funny breather during a fight is caused when eveyone pauses for a moment after [[spoiler:Harry redirects a curse, causing a frozen turkey to fall out of a passing plane and impale a vampire]]. Quoth Harry: "For my next trick, anvils!"
112** ''Literature/BattleGround2020'': [[BrickJoke Many, many years later]], Harry ''does'' summon an anvil on someone's head.
113** Really powerful wizards like to drop old communication satellites on their enemies from orbit.
114* ''Literature/IDidNOTGiveThatSpiderSuperhumanIntelligence'': She'll do it with anything heavy, but this is Goodnight's SignatureMove. She uses the [[MindOverMatter Push Rod]] to telekinetically toss something up, then just lets it fall onto people.
115* Our introduction to ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat'' involves this conniving criminal of the future dropping a safe on the head of a police officer who's just walked through the door to arrest him. The officer is ''then'' revealed to be a robot [[CranialProcessingUnit when it keeps reading out his lengthy rap sheet]].
116* The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' book ''The Eyre Affair'' pays homage to the anvil tradition in the subplot involving the Minotaur who has been tagged with a slapstick marker.
117[[/folder]]
118
119[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
120* ''Series/AlloAllo'' puts a spin on this trope on more than one occasion:
121** An AccidentalMarriage is avoided after Monsieur Alfonse drops a hammer through the roof of the parish church, knocking out the officiating priest.
122** When Helga tries to help Herr Flick, disguised as a monk, to get down from the belfry of Nouvion church tower, the bell falls [[spoiler:upon his assistant, von Smallhausen (also disguised as a monk)]].
123* CGI/Live-Action combination show ''Series/AceLightning'' has a [[BigGuy villain]] by the ''name'' of Anvil. Who is basically a giant, mutant rhino, ''with'' an actual anvil in place of one hand. He's usually brought into play when they want to bash the characters about a bit and not much else. It's almost a LampshadeHanging, when you think about it...
124* [[Series/FargoSeasonThree Season 3]] of ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' has Maurice getting killed by Nikki after she decides to drop an air conditioning unit onto his head.
125* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': The episode "[[Recap/FarscapeS03E16RevengingAngel Revenging Angel]]" plays this entirely straight, as John Crichton is in a coma dreaming he's in a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-like cartoon. His first move is getting payback on Harvey by dropping the proverbial weight on his head.
126* Discussed over a Friday dinner conversation in an episode of ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. Lorelai continues that anvils must have been plentiful in days of old cartoons, enough so that children would instantly recognize them for their tremendous weight and toughness. Which raised the question, if there were so many anvils back then, and they were really so tough, was there some sort of secret storage facility filled with indestructible anvils? Lorelai's mother quickly asks to change the subject.
127* ''Series/TheGoodies''
128** In "Cunning Stunts", Bill is trying to commit suicide by shooting a [[RuleOfFunny balloon that's holding up an anvil]]. He fires and misses, then Tim grabs the bow off him. But the arrow then falls to the ground again and in doing so bursts the balloon, bringing down the anvil on Tim's head.
129** In "Clown Virus", the Goodies attempt to get rid of the giant can of [[BlatantLies tomato soup]] using a 1-ton anvil dropped off a cliff onto Graeme's [[AcmeProducts Acme]] Giant Soup-Can Flipper. Due to RuleOfFunny Graeme always gets either the anvil or the can of soup dropped on his head.
130* ''Series/TheGrandTour'''s very cartoony promo, "James May is Alive," in which James obliviously just misses being hit on the head by an anvil coming out of his workshop.
131* ''Series/LazyTown'' - literally. Robbie attempts to knock Sportacus out by putting a small anvil on one side of a seesaw and catapulting it at him, but misjudges it.
132* ''Series/LeCoeurASesRaisons'': One of the many, ''many'' things ButtMonkey Extraordinaire Madge has suffered through the series is having a safe falling on top of her head. '''Thrice'''.
133* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' and ''Series/YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'' favored the X-ton weight.
134* ''Series/RobotWars'': The later seasons of the original run introduced the Drop Zone, an area of the arena where defeated robots would be placed to have various heavy objects dropped on them as part of the post-battle HumiliationConga, with the objects ranging from appliances to bowling balls, and in one episode of the German series, [[GrievousHarmWithABody another robot]]. No actual anvils, though, likely because they would've been ''too'' damaging to both competitors and the floor.
135* ''Series/TheSlammer'': Gimbert rigs up a 'burglar alarm' that consists of a 10 ton weight that drops on the burglar's head. Naturally it ends up falling on the Governor's head, giving him EasyAmnesia.
136* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
137** In season 3's "[[Recap/SupernaturalS03E11MysterySpot Mystery Spot]]", there's a GroundhogDayLoop where each day Dean dies a different death. The beginning of the day always starts the same way, and when he and Sam go outside, one of the things they see is movers trying to get a desk into a building from the ground floor. At the end of one Tuesday, out of nowhere it drops on our hero and [[BlackComedy kills him]]. Turns out the movers had spent the rest of the day trying to get it in the window.
138** In the eighth season episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS08E08HunteriHeroici Hunteri Heroici]]", the villain, who is using a senile RealityWarper to inflict cartoon physics on selected portions of the world in order to facilitate burglary, drops a literal anvil on an unfortunate security guard. The results are a little more grotesque than usual. Dean later tries to drop one on the villain.
139* ''Series/{{Timecop}}'': In the "Stalker" episode, the villain kidnaps a Hollywood actress under the guise of a late stage shoot so he can drop a safe on her head.
140* The cast of ''{{Series/Victorious}}'' once went on a gameshow called "Brain Squeezers" that frustrated them with how [[{{Calvinball}} cartoonishly arbitrary and random the rules are]]. At one point, the host shouts, "Car battery!", and one gets dropped on Jade's head.
141[[/folder]]
142
143[[folder:Pinball]]
144* An EasterEgg in Creator/SegaPinball's ''Pinball/GoldenEye'' has Bond get crushed by a falling pinball machine.
145[[/folder]]
146
147[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
148* The aptly named homebrew [[https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?122824-(3-5)-Discipline-Falling-Anvil-v-2-(P-E-A-C-H-) Falling Anvil]] discipline for ''TabletopGame/{{Dungeons and Dragons}}' (versions 3.X) includes this in varying degrees, starting with flowerpots, and ranging upwards through anvils, safes, and finally Viking longboats. Of course, it also includes a wide variety of other toon-like attacks and defenses.
149* ''TabletopGame/{{Toon}}'' mentions that an anvil is about the limit of what you can viably carry in your Back Pockets. Given that ''Toon'' is one long love letter to slapstick animation, it can be taken as read that you are ''not'' expected to use it to make horseshoes.
150[[/folder]]
151
152[[folder:Theatre]]
153* In Edmond Rostand's play ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'', Cyrano is assassinated by someone throwing a log off a tall building on him.
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Video Games]]
157* ''16t'' is a Platform/MegaDrive game entirely about dropping 16-ton weights on enemies.
158* Throwing an anvil is possible in the roguelike ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]''. In case of hitting a small enough monster, it could count as hitting from above...
159* In the North American and European releases of ''VideoGame/AlexKidd in the Enchanted Castle'', whoever loses a [[RockPaperScissors Janken]] match will have a giant weight dropped on them. Their eyes and feet pop out of the weight, and they scramble around using their feet. This got a ShoutOut in ''VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Tennis'', in which Alex Kidd's All-Star move involves him playing Janken, then dropping weights on the opponent(s).
160* ''VideoGame/ArmChamps'': For some inexplicable reason The Rock from ''II'' gets hit on the head by a green 1000T barrel upon being defeated.
161* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'''s obligatory end of the game game show segment has massive anvils hovering over the contestants which Gruntilda will drop on the loser of the round. She seems to have little concern for the fact that two of the contestants are her sisters, or the fact that she could just drop the anvil over Banjo and Kazooie without any reason besides the fact that she's evil. In fact, it's not until after she flees the room that she actually considers this. Fortunately Banjo is already gone when the weight drops.
162* In the Wii version of ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob'', the Anvil transformation is not only handy as a stepping stone, but, if you push it on to most enemies' heads... They go "splat" ''very'' quickly. The ones which don't can be used for CraniumRide.
163* Detective Orson Bolibar from ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'' can learn an ability which drops on an anvil on an enemy, dealing physical damage to them and any other foe [[AreaOfEffect within a small radius]].
164* In the 'Polar Push' and 'Crate Crush' subsections of the minigames in ''VideoGame/CrashBash'', one of the hazards that the player can pick up is an icon resembling a weight (as described on top of this page). If picked up, the icon appears over the player's head, who now has a limited time to [[HotPotato pass it onto another player]] by touching them. When this time (roughly 8 seconds) elapses, a weight marked as being 16 tonnes heavy will drop on the head of the poor sap who's left with it, {{O|neHitKill}}HKOing them.
165* The 16-ton weight version occurs in ''VideoGame/DarkCastle'', [[BoobyTrap should you take the wrong key in the dungeon]].
166* In ''VideoGame/DiscworldII'', one of the puzzles requires you to smash in a wall. At a different point in the game, you steal a prop 1 ton weight. If you try to swing this at the wall, it bounces off and clobbers you. Once you add a 0 to make it a 10 ton weight, puzzle solved.
167* ''VideoGame/DoodleBobAndTheMagicPencil'': Once [=DoodleBob=] destroys the Penciltron of Power, he then defeats Plankton by drawing a 10-ton weight above him, which then squashes him. Plankton later reappears at the final cutscene of the game swearing his revenge, only to get squashed by a 5-ton weight.
168* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' it's possible to construct a trap to drop any heavy object onto whoever is underneath it at the right (or frequently wrong) moment. Anvils are preferred by some players. Due to the peculiarities of the game's physics, they have about the same effect as in a cartoon, stunning the victim, but not generally doing serious damage.
169* In ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim 2'', Jim moves on to the next level by standing on the edge of a seesaw and tossing a heavy weight into the air and onto the other end to launch himself into the air. At points, Jim will miss and hit his own head instead.
170* Used as one of the sketch items you can use in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', you can crush [=NPCs=] or enemies with it its also used as something to trigger switches that mostly involve you pressing one switch while the anvil holds the other one down to trigger whatever the switches do. It can also be used as something to help you climb to reach stuff but its not really used for that purpose all that much with the exception of one pin you can get in the very definite final dugeon.
171* In ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' and its remake ''Avernum'', a mage named X is obsessed with researching a spell which would teleport an anvil above somebody's head. [[spoiler:By Avernum 6, he perfects it.]]
172* In ''VideoGame/FantasyZone'', Opa-Opa's "Heavy Bomb" is a falling 16-ton weight. One of the humorous illustrations in the Japanese manual for the Platform/PCEngine version showed Opa-Opa being squashed under one, though this doesn't actually happen in the game. The tonnage was increased to 100 in ''Fantasy Zone II''.
173* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
174** In the opera house scene in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Ultros tries to kill Celes by dropping a [[FourIsDeath four-ton]] weight on her while she is on stage.
175** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
176*** The enemy skill [[MyNameIsQuestionMarks "????"]] takes the form of a falling weight.
177*** Rarely when using the Chocobo Summon Materia, instead of the charging Chocobo, the enemy is hit with a "Fat Chocobo" which drops from the sky. The attack name is listed as ''???''.
178* ''VideoGame/FlamingZombooka'': One of the ways of killing a zombie is making a 100KG anvil fall on its head.
179* Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/FurFighters''. The introduction to Cape Canardo shows the Fur Fighters travelling on a bus that suddenly gets wiped out by an anvil falling from nowhere. Cut to [[BigBad General Viggo]] on a decrepit space station, complaining that he spent a fortune on repairing the station and giving his DumbMuscle bear {{Mooks}} astronaut training, for them to bring only ''one'' anvil to drop from orbit onto the Fur Fighters. Disappointed, he promptly orders all of his minions to begin abandoning the station. BondVillainStupidity 101.
180* ''[[VideoGame/{{Gex}} Gex: Enter the Gecko]]'' features levels that take place in a [[{{Toontown}} cartoon world]], and there are hazard areas where anvils falls, as well as sinks, weights and fat women. These areas are marked by their green checkerboard floors and signs showing Gex with an anvil falling on his head.
181* ''VideoGame/HauntingStarringPolterguy'': In the GainaxEnding, shortly after Polterguy [[spoiler:transformed into his human form again]], a huge anvil, presumably produced by Vito Sardini's company, [[spoiler:lands on Polterguy's head and makes him a ghost again.]]
182* If you stay too long in the ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' room in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', a giant capsule from ''VideoGame/DrMario'' crushes you. There's also the falling error message box in a dead-end room.
183* In the online flash game, ''VideoGame/JellyBattle'', the "Random Drop" attack will make an anvil, heavy weights, or a piano fall on an opponent.
184* This is often the primary attack method of the Stone copy ability in most ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games. ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' and its remake in particular allows the user of the ability to transform into various heavy objects, including a heavy weight. The ability to change into a weight is also seen in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games as one of Kirby's special moves.
185* A boss fight against [[ComicBook/XMen Mystique disguised as Magneto]] in ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperHeroes'' has her try to drop an anvil on the player's characters.
186* ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' (the first one) had the 10-ton weight version as one of the many traps that could eviscerate the green-haired critters.
187* Clown Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' has boxes that trigger booby traps if you're standing on them when the bell goes off. One possible effect of them is for an object to fall on Mega Man's head.
188* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has craftable anvils that are mostly used to repair enchanted weapons and tools. As an homage to this trope, anvils are also some of the few blocks that will fall if there's nothing underneath them, and can be used in AwesomeButImpractical traps to crush enemies, dealing damage roughly proportional to the distance the anvil falls. They also sound like a ton of iron hitting the ground even if you're just dropping it down for the repair function. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' similarly lets Steve, Alex, Zombie, and Enderman drop and ride a falling anvil for their Down Air attack.
189* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPC'' have a level that drops anvils all over the damn place. It's one of the harder levels in the game, due to the speed of the falling anvils and that the player gets killed in a single hit.
190* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
191** Liu Kang in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' drops an arcade machine on his opponent as one of his [[FinishingMove Fatalities]].
192** One of Shinnok's moves in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' is a falling bone hand. It even invokes the trope even further as it's also his {{Necromancer}} brutality.
193* In the ''VideoGame/OfficeJerk'' SpinOff ''Office Zombie'', every so often an anvil will lower from the top of the screen which you can drop on the Zombie's head.
194* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', Roger Retinz asks Apollo to come to his filming studio so they can animate cartoon anvils dropping on his head.
195* ''VodeoGame/{{Pillage the Village}}'' has a number of spells you can buy, depending on whether you want to be an antagonist, a pacifist or neutral. One of the ones on the antagonist menu is the "Acme Anvil" spell, described thusly:
196-->Brought to you by the good people at Acme, this anvil is guaranteed to satisfy your cartoon-fueled fantasies of squishing your victims into pasty, pinkish jelly. Great with toast! (Piano not included.)
197* In ''VideoGame/PlaystationAllStarsBattleRoyale'', [[VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet Sackboy's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPv4mQ3Wf9E&t=1m51s down grab]] has him pull an anvil sticker out of his Popit above whoever he's grabbed. Despite the fact that it is a sticker, it apparently is as heavy as a real anvil.
198* ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryI: So You Want to Be a Hero?'', breaking into the wrong room drops a guard Antwerp on your head. (They're basically very large creatures said to be nearly impossible to defeat, much less capture.)
199* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}: VideoGame/RavingRabbids'' has a mini-game where you have to lead a blindfolded Rabbid into painful objects in order to score points. The mini-game ends with a '''huge-ass''' weight landing on him.
200* ''VideoGame/SidAndAlsIncredibleToons'', and its successor, ''VideoGame/TheIncredibleToonMachine'', use the traditional cartoon anvils, and also rolling boulders and pianos. Unsurprisingly, when a piano lands on Al E. Cat, he pokes his head out of the rubble with a mouthful of keys.
201* Peacock in ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' has this as one of her special attacks, in which she summons an object to fall on her opponent. These objects range from a flower pot or a teacup to Andy Anvil or Tommy Ten Tons ({{Assist Character}}s who are an anthropomorphic anvil and 10t weight, respectively) to a {{piano|Drop}}, an elephant or [[ShoutOut Dio's]] [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Steam Roller]], among others.
202* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
203** In ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'', Eggman would drop a 16t weight on the character who was unfortunate enough to be the furthest away from the Precioustone after it has been collected, causing the victim to lose half his/her rings.
204** In ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'', attacking someone whilst riding the [[VideoGame/FantasyZone OpaOpa]] Machine resulted in the victim [[ShoutOut getting a weight dropped on them.]]
205* In the [[VideoGameRemake VGA remake]] of ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestITheSarienEncounter'', the droid in the weapons room would sometimes kill Roger by dropping an anvil on him instead of just vaporizing him with a blaster.
206%% * This was basically required to beat Juggernaut in ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndTheXMenInArcadesRevenge''.
207* The safe variant is used to demonstrate how health works in ''VideoGame/SpongebobSquarepantsBattleForBikiniBottom''.
208-->'''Tutorial Message:''' Spongebob will lose a pair of underwear every time he gets hit by a robot or touches dangerous objects or surfaces.\
209''[cue safe]'' Like this.
210* The skill "Press" in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'' drops a weight on an enemy, with the upgraded "Gravity Press" dropping a whole bunch of them.
211* ''VideoGame/StayTooned'' has a few that nudge towards ''Looney Toons'' as much as possible, given the obvious references. There's even a fun shooting gallery-style minigame which has a crossbow with either plunger darts, bombs, or anvils that you can fire at the passing characters.
212* In the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Villager's]] forward Smash has him/her dropping a bowling ball in front, which makes it a good move for edgeguarding.
213* ''VideoGame/{{Taxman}}'' is a clone of ''VideoGame/PacMan''. It has different cutscenes than the original, and the second one features the 16-ton weight falling on a ghost's head.
214* A whole line of attacks from ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' focuses on this trope. Starting from a flower pot, to a sandbag, to an anvil, to a big weight, to a safe, then a grand piano, and finally, an [[ColonyDrop ocean liner]].
215* ''Literally'' done with anvils in ''[[VideoGame/TwoWorlds Two Worlds II]]'': the game uses numerous schools of magic, which allow for the creation of hundreds of spells. Among those is a spell that drops tons of iron anvils on the enemies. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vjt4QpJSBIs#t=13s Demonstrated in this Youtube clip.]]
216* In ''[[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiXk621ru3ZAhWKv1MKHcE7BKAQFggpMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kongregate.com%2Fgames%2FEpicLLama%2Fvampire-scent&usg=AOvVaw1rVYxnJxIFECuesv2CQMAk Vampire Scent]]'', one of the spells that [[CombatMedic Genoveve]] can cast summons an anvil and drops it on an enemy. For certain boss fights, you can get more precise and have Genoveve aim the anvil at the boss's head.
217* The SNES game ''VideoGame/YoshisSafari'' got a boss where you need to shoot a flying (wings included) anvil so that it falls on the boss.
218[[/folder]]
219
220[[folder:Web Animation]]
221* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' favors the "Heavy Lourde", a weight of indeterminate mass. Oddly (for a cartoon), we're initially led to believe that Homsar was ''killed'' in this manner, but it is later revealed that he was merely hospitalized.
222* The end of Music/{{Savlonic}}'s [[http://www.weebls-stuff.com/songs/Electro+Gypsy/ "Electro Gypsy"]] music video has a giant synthesizer fall on the drummer (and a smaller one bounce off the singer's head.)
223[[/folder]]
224
225[[folder:Webcomics]]
226* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' once had Black Mage get the entire continent of Australia dropped on him.
227%% * ''Webcomic/TheBMovieComic'':
228%% ** [[http://www.bmoviecomic.com/?cid=368 This strip]] and the associated [[TheRant rant]].
229%% ** And [[http://www.bmoviecomic.com/?cid=451 this strip]], which combines Anvil On Head with {{Anvilicious}}.
230* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': One of Beausoleil's [[DeathMontage many deaths]] is depiced as a large 1 kiloton weight [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170616 crushing one of his remote bodies.]]
231* In [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1500 this]] ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'' strip, Sydney drops her teammate (named [[PunnyName Anvil]]) on a villain. She then does a [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Road Runner]] [[InvokedTrope impression]], bemusing Harem, who [[DontExplainTheJoke doesn't get it]].
232* ''Webcomic/StickmanAndCube'' has been known to drop quite a few weights on characters. Some of them weigh "infinity tonnes" and others weigh "''N'' tonnes". At one point, a dropped weight was so heavy it smashed through the bottom of Panel 3 into Panel 6. It must have pretty cheap panels.
233%% * Used brilliantly by Deux Ex Machina Man in this [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071209 strip.]]
234[[/folder]]
235
236[[folder:Web Original]]
237* On Day 6 of the Minecraftian ''[[WebVideo/LifeSMP 3rd Life SMP]]'', Smallishbeans attempted to {{invoke|dTrope}} this on Scott Smajor by setting up a trap at his base while he was away, so that two anvils would fall on his head when he tried to enter. {{Subverted|Trope}} in that the trap was not set up correctly and only succeeded in giving Scott two free anvils.
238* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': In Season 2, the Butcher Army hunts down Technoblade after his betrayal of L'Manburg at the end of Season 1, having helped blow up the country in the Manburg-Pogtopia War and [[BombThrowingAnarchists threatened to blow it up again if they start another government]]. They then try to hold a PublicExecution for Techno by dropping an anvil on his head. [[spoiler:Thanks to a Totem of Undying, Techno survives and is able to escape, prompting him to plot a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the L'Manburgians that results in the city-state's utter and complete destruction.]]
239* [=YouTube=] star Guava Juice gets an animated anvil dropped on his head as part of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cbbmG4oqM a video taking viewers' dares.]] He ends up with a case of CirclingBirdies.
240* ''WebVideo/{{Hermitcraft}}'':
241** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in the crossover with ''WebVideo/EmpiresSMP'' when [=ImpulseSV=] is tasked with killing someone via anvil during the Multi(verse) Tag event. He accomplishes this by dropping a cluster of ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill 200 anvils]]'' on Scott Smajor with a redstone contraption.
242** In Season 9, [=Docm77=] takes advantage of a moment that LetsPlay/{{Etho|sLab}} is AFK to drop an anvil on him, something he's wanted to do for over ten years. This sparks a war between the two, waiting for the other to go AFK for even a few minutes to drop an anvil on them. This also prompted Doc to go [[AxCrazy Anvil-Crazy]] and attack any AFK player, and even several non-AFK targets. Eventually, several Hermits started to join in the anvil war as well.
243*** Grian does this against [=GoodTimesWithScar=] by tricking him into getting him to read the sign so Grian can use a redstone contraption to kill him with.
244*** Grian and Scar manages to kill an AFK Impulse by pushing him into a hole and kill him with the anvil. However, it goes terribly wrong as dropping an anvil more than 3 blocks high causes the dropped items to despawn, as all three found it the hard way.
245*** Xisumavoid pulls this one off against an AFK Rendog by dropping an anvil on him during a TCG game.
246*** During the TCG arena cup, [=FalseSymmetry=] has to take an AFK Doc out by dropping an anvil twice against him. She also attempted to do this against Etho, but Etho ultimately moved after he realized what's going on.
247** While on a quest spree, one of the quests [=Cubfan135=] is tasked is to kill someone with an anvil. He manages to kill Scar with the 8th anvil Cub deployed.
248* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': Martyn LetsPlay/{{InTheLittleWood}} {{invoke|dTrope}}s this on a couple of climatic occasions.
249** On Day 106, Martyn is the first to suggest ColdBloodedTorture on Cruppy to interrogate it for information by dropping an anvil on it. However, this prompts Apo to pull out a lava bucket for the job, which is what they end up using until Graecie and Kuervo show up to save Cruppy.
250** On Day 125, Martyn drops one from the ceiling of [[spoiler:the wedding hall in Ros' castle, accidentally killing Water's husband-to-be Jeffery while aiming for her]]. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in this case, as [[spoiler:given Miss Snapdragon's comment about losing her appetite from being "splattered by […] a bit of vertebrae", it can be assumed that the in-universe results are [[LudicrousGibs quite messy]]]].
251* In ''[[WebVideo/TheCartoonMan Return of the Cartoon Man]]'', Roy and Simon bash each other on the head with anvils during the climactic chase scene.
252* ''Series/TheWeather'': One skit has Robby standing under where a talking piano is going to fall...and it's invoked, as this is what Robby's character ''wants'' to have happen, and he and the piano get real excited over finally doing it correctly. Ultimately subverted, as the scene changes before the actual collision occurs.
253[[/folder]]
254
255[[folder:Western Animation]]
256* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' Referenced in the episode Out, Darn Spotlight, when Hugh gives Jimmy tips on acting. "Now, when you wanna act mad, do this *growls*. When you wanna act happy, which is different than mad, go like this *laughs*. Now if an anvil drops on your head, you go uh, "OW! THERE'S AN ANVIL ON MY HEAD! OW it hurts!."
257* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "No One Can Hear You", Jake has tied balloons to himself so he'll float, and then tied cinder blocks to his legs so he won't float ''away''. During the climax of the episode, he unties the cinder blocks so they'll fall on the Freak Deer (the episode's antagonist). While the deer has the typical reaction (flattened head, tongue comically sticking out), it's not played for laughs; the impacts kill the deer, and the candy people roll the corpse into the sewer.
258* Creator/WaltDisney seems to have originated the trope, with anvils crowning a hapless ape in ''[[Westernanimation/AliceComedies Alice the Whaler]]'' (1927) and Pegleg Pete in ''WesternAnimation/BuildingABuilding'' (1933).
259* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In "The Safety", Darwin sees a Wile E. Coyote parody on the TV, and calls the character to complain about it. One of the complaints is about the anvils being used to hurt others; when the character points out children can't imitate that, because they can't lift anvils, Darwin says they still can get hurt trying to lift it.
260* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' suggests a certain anvil-oriented mode of thought in a few episodes.
261** The episode "King Yakko" made it a JustifiedTrope, introducing the fictitious nation of "Anvilania" as a worldwide exporter of anvils. They ended the episode by crushing an enemy country under one.
262** The episode "Baloney and Kids," a parody of Series/BarneyAndFriends in which they ended up singing a song about anvils while dropping them on the eponymous Baloney. Also noteworthy as one of the only episodes where they actually asked the question, "Where do the anvils come from?"
263** In the Slappy Squirrel episode "I Got Yer Can!", Slappy's argument with Candace Chipmunk is interrupted when Skippy drops an anvil on Candace. When Slappy asks what this has to do with the plot, Skippy says "Who cares? [[RuleOfFunny Anvils are funny]]."
264** In the episode "Lookit the Fuzzy Heads," Elmyra spots Baby Mindy wandering into an anvil factory. [[OffscreenKarma Off screen]], Elmyra saves Mindy from a falling anvil, but gets hit by the anvil herself. After Mindy walks out unharmed, Elmyra walks out with an anvil replacing her head. After recovering, she chases after Mindy only to endure more [[HumiliationConga dangerous accidents]].
265* ''WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons'' often had these as well. In ''WesternAnimation/BadLuckBlackie'', for instance, an anvil is but one of a series of hilariously improbable objects that Blackie makes fall on the BullyBulldog antagonist from above: flowerpots, a cash register, a piano, a safe, various large and heavy modes of transportation, and [[KitchenSinkIncluded of course, a kitchen sink]].
266* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' had an episode during the Miranda season in which Bonkers told her nephew an old-west style story in which claim-jumpers are stealing valuable "Anvil Fields" and it was up to a Western version of the Bobcat to prevent the theft. This is rather curious, since ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' is a [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney license]], which tends to as a rule to not embrace the [[AmusingInjuries funny violence favored by other Animation studios]].
267* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'':
268** One episode has the following exchange during a ChaseScene with Megavolt:
269--->'''Launchpad''': He's heading into Andy's Anvil Factory!\
270'''Darkwing''': I've got a bad feeling about this...
271** Another ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' variation, where DW got the drop on Negaduck:
272--->'''Darkwing:''' ''(ringing a doorbell)'' Flowers for Negaduck.\
273'''Negaduck:''' I hate flowers!\
274'''Darkwing:''' Did I say "flowers"? I meant "skulls".\
275''(Negaduck answers the door, only to find himself facing a huge slingshot.)''\
276'''Darkwing:''' Oh, did I say "skulls"? I meant, "ANVILS"!\
277''KLANG!''\
278'''Darkwing:''' Oh dear, I dented my anvil.
279** And, of course, the HumiliationConga at the end of that particular episode, which includes Negaduck getting propelled upward into several such objects, each heavier and more painful than the last. They are, in order: a [[PieInTheFace pie]], [[FlowerPotDrop a flowerpot with plant]], a small anvil, a safe, and a 100-pound weight.
280* Independent animator Patrick Smith did a film called ''Delivery'', which featured two brothers beating each other up over a package. In this case, the beatings were animated realistically, with visible blood, injuries, and subsequent [[spoiler:NeckSnap]]. [[WordOfGod According to Smith]] it was meant to subvert this trope (and slapstick cartoons in general), saying that if an anvil falls on his character, he will die and the person who dropped it will feel remorse.
281* ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' had the falling cow OnceAnEpisode.
282* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':
283** In "Urban Ed", as Ed and Eddy sit on top of a skyscraper pretending to be pigeons and dropping yogurt on Nazz and Edd below, Ed produces an anvil out of nowhere and drops it on them.
284--->'''Ed:''' Quack quack!\
285'''Eddy:''' Ed, you're gonna hurt someone! [[ThisIsReality This ain't a cartoon!]]
286** In "Don't Rain on My Ed", Kevin [[PianoDrop drops a piano]] on Eddy's head as DisproportionateRetribution for [[ItMakesSenseInContext accidentally swallowing him in an earlier scene]].
287--->'''Kevin:''' That's for gobbin' all over my bike, ''dork!''
288* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had a cutaway gag where Peter attempted to set up such a trap. He ended up hitting himself with it.
289* ''Westernanimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' had this happen thrice to a network censor who tried to say that no one got injured in the previous scene.
290* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', too, has an IllogicalSafe and some other heavy object dropped on him during his Mondaymare. Later in the episode, a piano falls on him while he believes himself safe out in the open.
291* Shows up in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'', of all places. In the episode "The Deep End", a giant monster fish is on a rampage and is about to attack some civilians. Orko uses his magic to save them...by dropping an anvil on the monster's head. And while it does no lasting damage, it's enough to distract the monster.
292* The indicatively named ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' short "I Am Cliched" has it happen right away, followed by Weasel complaining "getting hit by an anvil is the oldest cliché in cartoons!". And then every single scene afterwards has at least one anvil falling. (not to mention a PianoDrop, an elephant, a whale and [[KitchenSinkIncluded a kitchen sink]])
293* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', [[EnfantTerrible Heloise]] has taken over a show by dropping a safe on the original host, then popping out of it.
294* Happened twice on ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam!''. They probably didn't want to do it too often, or it'd look like Nick was trying to [[FollowTheLeader make their own]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''/''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''.
295* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] ''hideously'' on ''WesternAnimation/MonkeyDust''. An ordinary human being (as in, not a wacky cartoon character) has an anvil dropped on his head by an actual cartoon rabbit. The results are bloody, and the reactions of everyone nearby are harrowing.
296* Even ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' isn't safe. While investigating [[CloudCuckooLander Pinkie Pie's]] supposedly premonitory tics in the clear outdoors, Twilight observes the sign linked with something falling, and makes a valiant attempt at [[TemptingFate skeptical defiance]] before being buried under [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfgKb7qjd2Q a flower pot, an anvil, a hay cart, and a piano]] from (literally) out of the blue. The camera pans up to reveal they [[JustifiedTrope fell out of a pegasus delivery truck]]. [[AscendedMeme Derpy]] [[TheKlutz Hooves]] being among the delivery crew may have had something to do with it.
297* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon "Shoein' Hosses", while fighting over a position at Olive Oyl's blacksmith shop, Bluto throws an anvil at Popeye's head. This is perhaps the only time in this trope, ever, that having an anvil around was logical.
298* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
299** In the episode "The Day The Violence Died", Itchy & Scratchy creator Chester J. Lampwick tells Bart and Lisa the story of how Roger Myers Sr dropped an anvil on him after he requested royalties for his creation. (Luckily, he says, he was carrying an umbrella at the time.)
300** Another episode has Homer paying a visit to Mr. Burns' office, resulting in a 1,000 gram weight dropping on his head. [[UnitConfusion Burns thought it sounded heavier when he ordered it.]]
301** Another episode had Chief Wiggum believing a giant rat was infesting Springfield Mall. He then set a trap to make an anvil fall on said rat. Another plan was releasing a puma which fell into the trap. Wiggum then released another one.
302* There was a ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'' episode where they research the optimal heaviness of an x-ton weight by dropping several weights on Bush Rats and gauging the reaction of the audience. The audience is silent for the 5, 10, and even 15.99999999 ton weights (though they "briefly crack smiles, and then fall into a deep depression"), but laugh hysterically when the 16 ton weight drops.
303* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'':
304** They parodied ''Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head'' replacing "Raindrops" with (what else?) anvils, and in another, they had a [[ThreeShorts mini-episode]] of anvils falling on Plucky Duck's head, scored to the ''[[Theatre/IlTrovatore Anvil Chorus]]''. In the sequence, Plucky demands to know [[WhoWritesThisCrap who wrote it]], and when the scene cuts to [[AuthorAppeal a giggling]] [[AnimateInanimateObject anvil]] doing it, Plucky yells, "Rewrite!". After it was over, the audience loved it and demanded more. Plucky, enjoying the spotlight, agrees to do more. Unfortunately for him, the next sequence consisted of Plucky being blasted repeatedly by cannons, scored to the ''[[Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky 1812 Overture]]''.
305** Another episode had Buster made a deal with an impish anvil to write a script for Plucky, "Ducklahoma", where all the songs were anvilised showtunes. "Duuuuuucklahoma, where the anvils come screaming from the sky!"
306** Also, the episode where characters were dressed in lab coats and running experiments, dropping ever heavier weights on Plucky's head in front of a focus group to gauge which weight was the optimum for comedic effect.
307** And in "Thirteensomething", Plucky (facing unemployment as part of the episode's story) holds up a sign citing "Will take falling anvils for laughs." 'Ah ... that actually felt ''good''.'
308* Franchise/TomAndJerry pretty much used all of these for random humour. And pretty often used grand pianos and trees/poles in place of falling anvils whenever something different was needed.
309* ''ComicStrip/USAcres'':
310** Roy Rooster has safes (complete with [[IllogicalSafe safe illogic]]) and weights dropped on him in the almost-literally {{Anvilicious}} Buddy Bears ShowWithinAShow.
311** In another episode, he thwarts Orson's brothers by triggering his new rain-dancing robot's "27 pianos" dance.
312* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': In the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' parody ''Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler'', one of Watson's maids drops an anvil out the window onto Sheerluck's head.
313** Also, their adaptation of the Literature/BookOfEsther had the French Peas try to assassinate King Xerxes by dropping a piano on his head.
314* [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Brothers animation]], in its [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 40-year odyssey]] of cartoon violence, not only perfected the anvil drop, but most of the associated reactions and results, including but not limited to:
315** Producing and opening a very tiny umbrella
316** [[TalkingWithSigns Producing a sign]] reading "Yipe!" or "Eek!" (favored by mute coyotes and hunting dogs)
317** Saying a quick, murmuring prayer
318** Taking a step to the side out of the path of the falling object (only to have it fall on the victim anyway)
319** In ''WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck'', Daffy Duck is falling with a parachute when the cruel animator erases it and replaces it with an anvil. Daffy is then seen pounding with a hammer on the anvil, which the animator proceeds to replace with a bomb.
320[[/folder]]
321----
322->''[[https://youtu.be/2wiI_O5f1_w Anvilaniaaaaaaaaaaa...\
323Anvilaniaaaaaaaaaa...\
324Anvilaaaaaaniiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaa...]]''

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