Line #59 Website/DarwinAwards


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2	%%Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread, image from Darwin Awards website.
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4	%% Zero Context Example entries are not allowed on wiki pages. As such, all such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. See this thread (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13226024250A77804400&page=5#119) for more information
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6	[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/suicidalstupidity_6656.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:345:Even [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]] wouldn't do that. [[note]][[ComicallyMissingThePoint He would cut from the other end]]. [[CartoonPhysics The branch would then stay and the tree would plummet.]][[/note]][[note]]Also see Ralph Wolf.[[/note]]]]
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9	->''"A Chronicle of Enterprising Demises Honoring those who improve the species... by accidentally removing themselves from it!"''
10
11	->''While I have common sense I rarely let it interfere with my actions, preferring to use it to analyze why I shouldn't have done what ever it is that I did to cause the most recent Darwin moment.''
12	-->--'''James Nicoll'''
13
14	The [[http://www.darwinawards.com/ Darwin Awards]] are a collection of stories of those that have given the best their DNA can offer to the gene pool. That is, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they removed their DNA from the gene pool through such utterly stupid actions (of their own devising)]] that the fact they can no longer breed is worth an award. The vast majority of the time, the "winners" achieve their goals fatally; while it is possible to win without dying, this would require one to survive an event that leaves them [[CripplingCastration unable to procreate]].
15
16	The Awards are hosted on the Internet, but the website's owner Wendy Northcutt also periodically authors books detailing that year's "winners".
17
18	The site generally classes "nominees" into four categories:
19	* '''Darwin Award winners:''' Those killed or unable to reproduce. Inability to reproduce need not be a physical consequence; for instance, being jailed for life qualifies, as this completely eliminates the opportunity to reproduce. In turn, there are three subcategories of Darwin Award winner:
20	** "Confirmed by Darwin" (accounted in reliable news sources);
21	** "Unconfirmed by Darwin" (can't be found in reliable news sources, but also not proven false); and
22	** "Debunked by Darwin" (once thought to be true, but now found to be false).
23	* '''At-Risk Survivors:''' Those who fail to actually remove themselves from the gene pool, but who did their idiotic best and just defied the odds by surviving. In other words, "honorable mentions".
24	* '''{{Urban Legend}}s:''' Stories believed to be true but which have no basis in reality.
25	* '''Personal Accounts:''' Stories offered by the site's users, which go into their own category because there's no way to verify them.
26
27	DeathIsASadThing, so the Darwin Awards can be a little tricky to navigate. As such, there are several more categories of "nominees" who are automatically disqualified from the Darwin Awards listings even if they meet the above categories:
28	* People who take out innocents in the process of removing themselves from the gene pool, including by default all drunk drivers. There's an exception to the exception here, where the bystander ''himself'' deserves a nomination for staying in the vicinity when anyone in their right mind who saw what the contender was doing would [[DontAskJustRun get the hell out of there]].
29	* People with mental disorders; Wendy sees such deaths as just plain tragic. The exception to ''this'' exception is AlcoholInducedIdiocy (or with other drugs), as such diminished capacity is a result of the contender's willful act.
30	* People under the age of 16, unless a majority of the youth's peers agree that the nominee's action was [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb monumentally stupid]] even by ''their'' standards.
31	* [[invoked]] People who are [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity trying to win a Darwin Award]]. That one's not ''official'', but the point of the Awards is to point out people who are TooDumbToLive, so their removal from the gene pool is best exemplified by something they caused unintentionally.
32	These exceptions didn't always exist, and the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early days]] of the site included entries that fell under these exceptions. Some remain on the site under a GrandfatherClause, but others were removed. The Awards' veracity has also been put to doubt as a number of them either turned out to be {{Urban Legend}}s such as the JATO rocket car myth, and an incident involving agents from the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) smoking inside a munitions stockpile; while the site cites both CNN and the ''Philippine Star'', none of the two news outlets mention the use of tobacco as the cause of the explosion.
33
34	There was also a film version called ''Film/TheDarwinAwards'', based on some of the stories from this site.
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36	See also ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'', which is based on a similar premise (the major difference is that ''1000 Ways To Die'' doesn't really care about the death being due to stupidity [[CruelAndUnusualDeath if it's spectacular or bizarre enough]]) and ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'', which tested some of the stories (and who appear in the ''Darwin Awards'' movie as TheCameo).
37
38	Fictional examples of this kind of activity go on TooDumbToLive.
39	----
40	!! The ''Darwin Awards'' contain examples of the following tropes:
41
42	%%* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Wendy's write-ups of Award-winning events sometimes lapse into this.
43	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: The excessive consumption of intoxicating beverages often plays a major role in these stories.
44	** A few of the books have had to include disclaimers explaining that this doesn't excuse you from winning a Darwin Award, since it was your decision to get drunk in the first place.
45	** The books also noted that being drunk when handling a pet snake led to the most Darwin-esque reptile accidents... [[{{Irony}} which is ironic]] since one way to make a snake let go of you/back off is to get alcohol in its face, and many owners of large constrictors keep a spray bottle of alcohol within reach of the enclosure for precisely this reason.
46	* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: People being stupid enough to take this trope to heart are common nominees.
47	** Special mention goes to the two guys who jumped into a ''tiger'' enclosure, threw flowers on the tiger, and were somehow surprised when the tiger promptly mauled them.
48	*** Extra stupid points allocated considering that the end would still be the same (if potentially less gruesome) if they had jumped in an enclosure with a perfectly domesticated guard dog that was as unfamiliar with them as the tiger was.
49	** A tourist who purportedly left a Safari car in South Africa to rearrange some lion cubs who apparently weren't posing for photos to her satisfaction. Right under the nose of [[MamaBear their mother]].
50	** The moron who decided the best way to determine whether a grizzly bear in a zoo was male or female was by entering its enclosure and [[GroinAttack kicking it between the legs]]. The bear turned out to be male (and needless to say, [[UnstoppableRage reacted in much the same way the male of any species would to that particular injury]]).
51	** A man who thought it was a good idea to tease an Indian elephant by holding out sugar cane to the hungry animal, then jerking it back when the elephant reached out its trunk to take it. Suffice to say, the elephant got tired of it a lot sooner than the man and made its displeasure known in ''very'' [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice pointed fashion]].
52	** [[http://darwinawards.com/personal/personal2003-08.html A well-known Personal Account]] relates the story of a soldier who attempted to cross a field inhabited by bison, and with warning signs on the fences, insisting that the sign must be a joke because, "[[EskimosArentReal Real, live buffalo don't exist!]]" He survived to learn that he was wrong, but still would fall under the category of Honorable Mention in light of his injuries, were it better documented.
53	* ArtisticLicense: Some fictional stories can be easy to spot by how many of the details seem to run on "Hollywood" logic as opposed to the ways things actually work.
54	* BallisticDiscount: Subverted.
55	** The idiot who decided to rob a gun store fails ''miserably''. The story was good enough that it also wound up on ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie''. Turns out it was [[http://www.snopes.com/crime/dumdum/gunshop.asp embellished]], but not by much.
56	** [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-08.html A report of a crook who stole a World War II vet's gun]] and used it in a robbery, not realizing it had the same ammo in it from almost fifty years before. Then, [[WheresTheKaboom when it didn't fire]], he ''[[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace looked down the barrel]]'' -- just as the hang-fire resolved itself. One wonders what effect witnessing [[BoomHeadshot such a messy death]] had on the cashier and customers.
57	* BasedOnAnAdviceBook: The film is an inversion, as it's based on a source about things ''nobody'' with half a brain ought to do.
58	* BestialityIsDepraved: One of the winners who was left alive but unable to reproduce ended up that way by attempting to have sex with a porcupine, proving that [[Literature/WyrdSisters the hedgehog can indeed never be buggered at all]]. Another man was kicked to death while attempting to acquire carnal knowledge of a cow.
59	* BlackComedy: This is the reason why these deaths are funny instead of morbid; the people are so stupid they CrossTheLineTwice.
60	* BlackComedyRape: There are a few stories dealing with attempted rapes that [[LaserGuidedKarma went horribly, horribly wrong]]. Like the story of the woman who ''[[GroinAttack bit her assailant's balls off]]''. Then took off with them, and ''handed them in to the police'', which meant her assailant was arrested when he checked into the hospital with a matching injury. The evidence proceedings for ''that'' case must have been interesting.
61	* BoomHeadshot: One of the 2003 winners was a robber who tried to shoot his victim, only for his gun to not fire. He then tried ''looking into the barrel and pulling the trigger again.'' This time, [[KarmicDeath it worked.]]
62	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: The Honourable Mention story "(Un)armed and Dangerous" opens like this: "A drunk driver? No Darwin. An one-armed man driving an unadapted car? No Darwin. A man driving while talking on a cell phone? No Darwin. But a drunken one-armed man driving an unadapted car while talking on a cell phone? Darwin Award - almost!"
63	* BullyingTheDragon: Often leads contenders to their nasty ends. Such examples include the guy who [[GroinAttack kicked a bear in the balls]], the man who deliberately challenged his son to stab him to death, and the famous incident where a robber decided to rob a gun store filled with gun users and a cop.
64	** Extra credit has to go to the man who earned his Black Belt in karate and apparently believed the achievement meant he could kill a lion with his bare hands. So he got into a zoo after hours and entered the lion enclosure. As a writer who covered the incident observed, it didn't matter if he could have successfully defeated one lion. There were several lions in the enclosure and [[MookChivalry they saw no reason to fight fair...]]
65	* CactusCushion: An account of dubious veracity tells of a group of drunken revelers who went out to the desert and starting letting off illegal fireworks. One man threw an especially powerful one at the base of giant saguaro cactus. The explosion blow out the base of the cactus, which toppled on top of the man, killing him.
66	* TheCameo: The Darwin Awards movie boasts cameos by [[Series/{{Mythbusters}} Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman]] as well as Music/{{Metallica}}.
67	* ChainsawGood: [[OffWithHisHead One fool took his own head off with one of these]].
68	* ChildrenAreInnocent: The reason why people under the age of 16 are not considered eligible for the awards, as a key criteria is that the winner had to have had the option of ''avoiding'' such catastrophic stupidity and [[TooDumbToLive knowingly chose the more dangerous option]], whereas children are by default considered too dumb to know any better.
69	* CloseToHome: According to one entry, one woman was a fan of the site until her uncle won an award. She thought it was very insensitive of the site before realizing the hypocrisy involved and chose to stop reading the site instead of getting the uncle's story removed.
70	* ConsolationWorldRecord: A great many winners were ''trying'' to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. Instead they killed or neutered themselves and ended up here.
71	* CripplingCastration: The one outcome other than death that can qualify an individual for this award. Self-inflicted attacks of this type are the general cause of a person exiting the gene pool without exiting this mortal coil. [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2007-07.html Here]] [[http://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid1998-10.html and here]] are just two of a fairly large number of examples.
72	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: At least half of the fatalities; possibly more. [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-45.html In this list,]] for example, two animal-rights activists were trampled to death by the pigs they had just released.
73	* DeathAsComedy: The point of the awards is finding comedy in the death of others, because the death is hilariously self-inflicted.
74	* DeathByIrony: Protesting motorcycle helmet laws, an Onondaga, NY man was participating in a bare-noggin protest ride when he was killed via flipping over the handlebars. [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2011-03.html Read about it here.]]
75	* DraftDodging: Tales of those killed or crippled while attempting to inflict a minor injury to avoid military service include a farmhand kicked in the head by a draft horse, and a man who had his arm bitten off by a lion.
76	* DumbwaiterRide: One story involves two guys who decide to take a ride in a dumbwaiter. Unfortunately, they both squeeze in at the same time, and their combined weight sends them falling to their deaths. Then their buddy sticks his head in the shaft and gets killed by the counterweight.
77	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Some of the earlier stories were obviously fabricated but still treated as if they were true.
78	* EnemyMine: Subverted by Ernst Thälmann, leader of the German Communist Party (KPD) during the WeimarRepublic. He refused to form a common front with Social Democrats (SPD), calling them "social fascists" (the Communist theory that social democracy was a moderate form of fascism). On the other hand, he was willing to ally with the Nazis, considering them to be "working people's comrades". His plan was to let AdolfHitler come to power, that then Germans would see that the Nazis have no real solutions to Germany's problems and would defect to the Communists. Except, when Hitler came to power, KPD was the first party to be banned, and Thälmann was sent to prison, then in August 1944 transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp and executed, under Hitler's personal orders. However, he didn't remove himself from the gene pool, as he still had a daughter born in 1919.
79	* EpicFail: Whatever it was they were trying to do, it ended up in their deaths.
80	* EskimosArentReal: [[http://darwinawards.com/personal/personal2003-08.html "Real, live buffalo don't exist!"]]
81	* ExactWords: All that one needs to "win" a Darwin Award is to remove themselves from the gene pool somehow. Death is not a requirement and there are several "winners" still alive but who have lost their ability to produce children.
82	* ExplosiveStupidity:
83	** The story [[note]]only an UrbanLegend, sadly enough[[/note]] of the would-be mail bomber who died when the package was returned for insufficient postage.
84	** One of three Cambodian friends decided it was a good idea to bring [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-07.html an unexploded anti-tank mine]] ''to a cafe'' and play RussianRoulette with them, stamping on the mine while tossing drinks. The people present at the cafe were quick to flee, which proved to be the right move as the mine eventually detonated, [[NotEnoughToBury obliterating all three]].
85	** Then there were the Palestinian terrorists who built a bomb with a timer while in their home, planning to make it go off in Israel. However, Daylight Savings Time was not observed at the exact same time in both places, meaning the bomb went off while it -- and they -- were still in the car.
86	** More recently, a terrorist who used consumer-grade drones to carry bombs was reportedly killed when one of these drones, recently upgraded with an auto-return function, helpfully reversed course and flew back to its launch point because its battery was running low.
87	** The Urban Legend about a 17th century village making a crude wooden cannon to attack their neighbors with, which promptly exploded and killed most of the would-be artillerymen. The Mythbusters tested this one and found it fairly plausible -- the only part they didn't buy was being able to build the cannon in a single day using 17th century tools.
88	** [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2002-08.html One Croatian]] tried to get the explosive out of a [[ThrowDownTheBomblet hand grenade]] with a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] for New Years' firecrackers.
89	* TheFarmerAndTheViper: [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2008-25.html A robber and murderer persuaded a friend to loan him fifteen thousand euros to get him out of the country]]. When it came time to pay the loan back, though, the felon decided it would be financially easier to kaboom the friend by tailpiping his car. The muffler was still hot and the explosive went off prematurely, mortally wounding the felon.
90	* ForgotICouldntSwim:
91	** [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2002-19.html This guy]] who chose to dive into a lake, without a life jacket, and without having safety ropes available aboard his boat.
92	** [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2018-03.html This guy]] pushed his girlfriend into an icy river and then jumped in to shove her even more. What makes this funny is that she can swim while he ''can't''.
93	* ForkliftFu: A forklift driving instructor killed himself with a forklift while filming a safety video on the dangers on not wearing a seatbelt. He was not wearing a seatbelt while filming.
94	* GasSiphoning: There's a story about a thief trying to siphon gas from an RV this way. Too bad he didn't put the hose in the gas tank, he put it in the sewage holding tank. Yuck.
95	* GoneHorriblyRight: A lot of stories involve pranks or stunts that turned out fatally realistic. For example, [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-05.html one aspiring rap artist]] recorded a video of himself putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. He probably ''thought'' it was unloaded...
96	* GrillingPyrotechnics: An 'At-Risk Survivor' award went to a pair of guys who started their barbecue grill, then realized they were short of charcoal. So they loaded their still smoldering grill on to the back of their pick-up to drive it round to a friend's place who had some charcoal. No prizes for guessing what happens when you force air at high speed through smoldering coals. Their truck ended up going up in flames.
97	* GroinAttack: A self-inflicted one is one way to get into the books, if it prevents one from reproducing--one of the few ways to get awarded without dying.
98	* HarmlessElectrocution: One winner managed to fatally ''invert'' this, [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-50.html accidentally killing himself with a 9-volt battery]].
99	* HilarityInZoos: There are a few stories of people ignoring signs and barrier fences with fatal results.
100	* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
101	** As well as many of the Award "winners", founder Wendy Northcutt considers herself a klutz and a "potential Darwin Award candidate", which would be this trope (and cruelly ironic) if it happens. [[http://www.darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2009-11.html She's come close.]]
102	** Taunting a prosecutor with the evidence needed to convict you of a capital felony and getting you executed isn't a [[http://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2003-01.html bright idea.]]
103	* ImprovisedZipline: One award winner decided to use a karabiner clip to slide down the cable of a disused chairlift. Too late he discovered that he had no way to arrest his acceleration and no way to disengage himself from the karabiner. He collided fatally with a pylon. Prefaced by the last words "Hey, watch this!"
104	* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Naturally, irresponsible use of firearms is an extremely common way for people to get themselves killed or injured, normally by geniuses deciding that James Yeager is right and that instead of checking their weapons normally by working the action, that the best way to determine if a gun is safe or not is to point it at themselves and pull the trigger! See [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-45.html here,]] [[http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-10.html here]] and [[http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-07.html here]] for just a few examples.
105	* KarmicDeath: [[http://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2003-01.html This fellow]] who managed to briefly dodge the death penalty for murder in a case of double jeopardy managed to, in a textbook case of StupidEvil, send a highly abusive letter that consisted of him effectively confessing to the crime down to the smallest details because [[SmugSnake he thought that he couldn’t be prosecuted further for it]]. However, thanks to his bragging, the court manages to nail him for the crime in the end and he is summarily executed seven years later.
106	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-01.html In Kenya,]] a thief stole from a church offering basket in plain sight of everyone else there, ran into the street, and was struck and killed by a bus.
107	* MachoMasochism:
108	** As noted under ChainsawGood, [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1996-07.html two lunkheads trying to impress the female sex]] managed to maim themselves, one fatally.
109	** One entry (still pending as of late 2021, but well documented) is about a Russian guy who decided to show off his masculinity by surviving in the Siberian wilderness. His whole knowledge on the subject was a few forum reads, and he was close enough to a major road that a friend accompanying him got out in time and even arranged a (failed) rescue party. Not only did the friend fail to convince him to get out, but so did the members of a forum onto which he managed to post one last time from the forest.
110	* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: For example, [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2010-06.html in a car parked the middle of a highway, at night]]. Or in a [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-08.html running hearse parked inside a garage]]. Or [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2007-05.html on a steep rooftop.]] Or [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-21.html in a moving car while driving at high speeds]], or a moving plane while piloting (see below).
111	* MedalOfDishonor: The Darwin Award is for the highest class of idiots.
112	* MileHighClub: [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1994-19.html Two pilots]] decided to have sex in the cockpit of the plane they were flying. It worked out about as well as you'd expect. Bonus points for the fact [[OnlyInFlorida that it happened in Florida]].
113	* MotorcycleJousting: [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2004-14.html Here]] is an example involving motor scooters that resulted in the deaths of both involved; the girl they were trying to impress was naturally not impressed.
114	* MultipleGunshotDeath: The idiot who decided to rob a gun store fails miserably, was shot to death by the clerk, an off duty cop, and several armed customers. Turns out it the last part was [[http://www.snopes.com/crime/dumdum/gunshop.asp embellished]], as the customers never fired their guns, but the robber ended shot dead the same.
115	* MustHaveNicotine: Several Darwin awards have been won by people smoking in inappropriate situations, including one woman who stepped off a moving bus because she was desperate for a cigarette.
116	* NailEm: [[http://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2004-18.html This guy]] managed to shoot himself in the brain with a nail gun while messing around. Fortunately for him, he somehow managed to get away without serious damage.
117	* OldSchoolChivalry: A medieval knight who once asked a favor of a lady was once given one of the lady's dresses as a token. He then proceeded to wear the dress instead of armor while jousting. Needless to say that didn't go well. Gotta hand it to the lady, though; brilliant way of getting rid of an unwanted suitor.
118	* OnlyInFlorida: Considering all the shenanigans that go on in America's biggest WeirdnessMagnet, the state has its fair share of award winners.
119	* OutWithABang: Considered textbook examples since the victims are stopped from procreating while making the attempt. [[http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2003-04.html Like so.]]
120	* OvenLogic: The guy whose father turned up the heat on his alcohol-enriched fruitcake.
121	* OvercomeWithDesire: The direct cause of several instances of OutWithABang (above), often involving MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces (also above).
122	* PantsPositiveSafety: A frightening number of incidents involve loaded firearms in too-close proximity to one's genitals (one not-so-shining example [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2018-14.html here]]).
123	* PayingInCoins: This unconfirmed account:
124	-->(1996, Rhode Island) Portsmouth police charged Gregory Rosa, 25, with a string of vending machine robberies in January. He was captured when he inexplicably fled from police when they spotted him loitering around a vending machine. Suspicions were confirmed when he later tried to post $400 bail in coins.
125	* PoorCommunicationKills: When clinging to a tree after accidentally falling off a glacier, it is wise to relay that fact to your companions, just in case they are stupid enough to decide they can safely slide down after you. [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2010-04.html "Are you OK?" "Yes!"]]
126	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Accidentally; [[http://www.darwinawards.com/legends/legends2000-05.html one urban legend is about]] a man who tried to use a power plant's coal runner as a treadmill but evidently slipped and was converted into power for hundreds of homes.
127	* RecklessGunUsage: Some people can find truly ingenious ways to shoot themselves.
128	* RussianRoulette: The site notes that simply participating in this game and losing is not enough on its own to be considered a contender for an award, as it is simply far ''too'' common a form of stupidity. In order to be eligible, the contender must have done something extra to push the already incredibly poor decision to blatantly gamble your life in a game involving loaded firearms and a one-in-six chance into the realm of ''truly'' outrageous idiocy.
129	** A highlight in this category is definitely a Houston man who not only decided to play the game, but ''also'' somehow failed to understand why a revolver is used, as he instead used a ''semiautomatic pistol'' for the game instead.
130	** An even dumber variation involves three guys taking turns stomping on a ''land mine''; fortunately, everyone else is smart enough to get the hell away before the inevitable kaboom.
131	* SmiteMeOMightySmiter: Do not taunt lightning.
132	* SoftGlass: Some winners fatally avert this trope. While fake prop 'sugar glass' breaks harmlessly, real glass does not.
133	* StupidCrooks: A chapter in one of the books is dedicated to them, such as [[https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1993-06.html the guy who tried to rob a gun shop with a gun--in the presence of a uniformed cop]].
134	* StupidEvil: A good many of the more assholish contenders apply for this. For example, the honorable mention who decided to swerve off the road and crash his own car in an attempt to hit a random dog ForTheEvulz or the guy who mutilated himself for a get-rich-quick insurance scam.
135	* TestosteronePoisoning: [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1996-07.html The Most Macho Man in Europe]] and a whole lot more. One of the chapters in one of the books is ''titled'' "Testosterone Poisoning", though in this case it refers to stupidity brought on by excessive displays of virility.
136	* TheMovie: A fictional film was made in 2006 about two investigators chasing Darwin Award-type stupidity for an insurance company, starring Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder. (Reviews were generally bad, according to [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]].)
137	* ThrowThePin: Grenades seem to be a magnet for Darwin Award winners.
138	* TooDumbToLive: Basically the entire ''point'' of the Darwin Awards, and, [[WordOfGod according to the creator]], one of the biggest reasons why the incidents described are funny instead of morbid.
139	** This is also why minors aren't included on the list, as there's a big difference between "too dumb to live" and [[ChildrenAreInnocent merely ignorant]].
140	** A few "lucky" ones don't kill themselves, but still end up being unable to have children.
141	** "At-Risk Survivors" are people who managed to survive despite doing something that put them squarely in TooDumbToLive territory. Sheer luck is often a factor in these.
142	* TreeBuchet: According to an UrbanLegend, a heavy storm caused a tree to get bent over and wedged under the eaves of a house. The homeowner climbed up the tree to saw the top of the tree off to free it from the eaves. Once he cut through, the tree sprang back, catapulting the owner to his death.
143	* UndersideRide: One Darwin Award winner tried this while attempting to diagnose a truck's engine, apparently to watch the engine while it worked. It seemed a fine idea until the moving parts caught his sleeve... [[http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-02.html Link here.]]
144	* UndignifiedDeath: Award winners killed themselves by doing something stupid. If it were dignified then we wouldn't find it comical.
145	* UrbanLegends: Sometimes end up being submitted by people who mistake them as true, though they're almost always proven false if they are. This includes one of the most popular Darwin Awards, [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html the famous JATO story]], which was so popular that the Series/{{Mythbusters}} did ''three'' shows involving it, two of which were made after it was pretty widely known to be an Urban Legend (though admittedly the reason there are three is that the second one ended with the car [[EpicFail blowing up as the test began]]. The third was successfully excecuted).
146	* WalkOnWater: [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2006-02.html Attempted]] by a priest who, obviously, failed miserably and fatally. Also [[http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-49.html a group of people]] tried to learn to walk on water, their attempts were eventually stopped after their leader [[EpicFail slipped on a bar of soap in the bathtub and drowned]].
147	* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: Apparently, quite a lot of people are stupid enough to ignore blatantly obvious safeties and take outrageous risks. With that said, DontTryThisAtHome. If you fancy trying this yourself, you're doing the human race a favor by [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings ridding us of your stupidity.]] Thanks!
148	* WilliamTelling: Perhaps unsurprisingly [[http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-18.html this example]] involves the participants using beer cans instead of apples.

Context Website / DarwinAwards