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A Twinkle in the Sky

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"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaiiiiin...!" *ding*

Any object, if launched with sufficient force, will sail clean over the horizon and vanish into the distant sky. A moment after it disappears, a four-pointed "twinkle" will appear in the spot where it was last seen, sometimes rotating briefly, along with a high-pitched "ringing" noise. If the object is potentially explosive, it will blow up after the twinkle. It's also sometimes used to show that something is coming down from the sky. This particular use may be true, as in the Second World War, Japanese AA gunners on ships were trained to watch for the gleam of an approaching dive bomber's canopy. Because after that, the only indication that something was coming was the whistling of bombs falling.

In some media, particularly anime and video games, this will happen to characters. Comedic recurring villains seem to be especially prone to this trope, as it's an easy way to show that they're clearly defeated and out of the way for now without having to kill or otherwise permanently inconvenience them. It's also a common fate of anybody on the receiving end of a powerful enough Megaton Punch or Home-Run Hitter. Regardless of how far they're launched, they can be expected to show up again with no lasting damage, usually with no word on how they survived or where they landed.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Soreike! Anpanman:
    • Baikinman and his cohorts are usually taken care of in this manner — sent flying to the horizon screaming "Bai baikiiin!" at least once per episode.
    • Anpanman himself gets this, either if Baikinman successfully punches him back, or just an inverse from flying.
  • Happens to Masked Osodashi (and rarely his cohorts) occassionally in Jankenman after being blasted off by Jankenman's Janken Powers.
  • Armed Girl's Machiavellism: In the OVA, the blind Tsukuyo Inaba enters the men's bath by mistake and strips just as Fudō Nomura walks in. Embarrassed that she was seen naked, she punches him through the ceiling and into the sky, complete with *Twinkle*. Nomura lands in the women's bath in The Stinger.
  • Bleach:
    • After Tatsufusa Enjoji, the and 3rd seat of the Eighth Division confronts Chad and does a lot of boasting, Chad knocks him into the sky with a single punch.
    • In the next arc, Hiyori jumps into the sky while carrying Orihime.
    • Twice in Episode #205 during the kemari game: once when Ururu as the referee throws the ball up into the sky, and again when Jinta knocks Kon (in Ichigo's body) into the sky.
    • In episode #213, Tessai throws Kon (in Ichigo's body) through a hole in the ceiling of Kisuke Urahara's underground.
  • Played straight in A Certain Magical Index's second season, when an awakened Accelerator destroys Kihara Amata. It's not just a twinkle in the sky, though, but a fire trail as the man burns to ash from atmospheric friction.
  • Cowboy Bebop:
    • Episode 3 "Honky Tonk Woman". After Faye blasts out of the casino in her ship with Spike and Jet clinging to her windshield, she flies straight up and disappears in a twinkle.
    • Episode 19 "Wild Horses". When a pirate spaceship escapes Faye and Jet, it flies off into the distance and disappears in a twinkle.
  • In The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Saiki's Power Limiter breaks, causing him to gently nudge part of it into the stratosphere in this fashion when it falls in front of him.
    Saiki: "Huh, that sparkle effect was pretty old-school... Never mind that, what just happened??"
  • Happens to Suzuo once in Dokkoida?! after an over-enthusiastic greeting of Marilyn Ronmoe.
  • Doraemon: In "Machine Copy Machine", when Big G turns Doraemon into an airplane, the latter flies away and disappears with a twinkle. Later in the same episode, when Noby uses the Machine Copy Machine to turn into a rocket, he also disappears with a twinkle.
  • Happens at least once in Dragon Ball Z: Trunks blasts Vegeta into the distance so that he can have time to kill Cell before he absorbs Android 18. We get a lovely twinkle out of it. The situation and the music provide a nice contrast to the lighthearted celebration inspired when it happens in Pokémon.
  • Excel♡Saga hangs a lampshade on this trope in episode 18, where Iwata gets punched and says "Look for the twinkle!" just before he disappears into said twinkle.
  • Fairy Tail is rather fond of this.
    • Elfman punches Totomaru, who was frozen by Gray. Added with Elfman's Speech during the punch and a 'wow' sound effect when a twinkle appeared
      Elfman: "If you're a man..." (punches Totomaru to the sky)
      Elfman: "...fly to the heavens and become a star!"
      Totomaru: "What is that supposed to mean?" (followed with a twinkle and a "wow" sound effects)
    • In Episode 51 of the anime, Happy becomes a twinkle as well when he makes a comment about Gray being shirtless and stalking girls. Before he could get to finish his sentence of Gray is a giant pervert, he got punched into the sky by Gray.
    • This is also the fate of Bluenote Stinger after being defeated by an angry Gildarts Clive. For bonus Laser-Guided Karma points, the victim in question would often ask his opponents "Can you fly?" to reference if they could hope to stand up to his power.
    • Natsu get this when Erza stepped on the trap that was intended for Gray in the 2nd OVA.
    • In Episode 126, this happens to the Jiggle Butt Gang once Natsu gets over his motion sickness. They launch themselves again, accidentally, and, despite missing the twinkle this time, it is accompanied by the trio shouting "WE'RE FLYING OFF AGAAAAIIIINNN!".
    • In Episode 154, Happy gets this again after he mocks and epically trolls Erza.
  • Fate/Grand Carnival: During episode 2, a quick cut shows Sherlock Holmes investigating a chalk outline of the once-again killed Cu Chulainn. The Stinger reveals what happened to him. Jaguarman got upset about the carnival ending, so she used her Jaguar Kick skill on him, turning him into a twinkle.
  • Fist of the North Star: Kenshiro once kicked a guy in the nuts, he flew high enough to become this trope. No, seriously.
  • A sort-of Running Gag in Fushigi Yuugi. Occasionally, the Nyan-Nyans will try to help the protagonists or their boss Tsiitsukun, only to mess up or say the wrong thing - and more than once they've gotten punched through the roof as punishment.
    "Aaaaaiyaaaaaaaa!!!!
  • In some animated episodes of Getter Robo, the titular robot's Getter 3 form has a special "Dai-Setsu-Zan-Oroshi" move that involves wrapping enemies in its extending arms and hurling them sumo-style into the air in a whirlwind. The enemy is thrown to the air so far, he disappears in a twinkle. This was even used in Getter 3's appearances in some Super Robot Wars games.
  • Hanaukyō Maid Team La Verite
    • Episode 2, when Taro is kicked into the sky by Ryuuka he ends up as a twinkle of light.
    • Episode 7, when Ryuuka uses a grenade underground she becomes a twinkle.
  • Parodied in Haruhi Suzumiya when Yuki lost against Mikuru in a battle. "Curses."
  • Happens to Kotengu in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou OAV episode "Kokoro no Yukue", after he is struck by lightning as a punishment for losing a tengu competition.
  • In Hetalia: Axis Powers, when Italy was launched into the sky by an Ejection Seat, the last thing we saw of him was a twinkle.
  • In Higurashi: When They Cry Kira's second episode, this happens to Takano as well after Magical Girls Oyashiro Rika & Trap Satoko destroy her current Ritual Tool Devil, Nail Ripper, with their 07th Explosion attack (whose name is a Shout-Out to 07th Expansion, which the franchise belongs to). As Takano goes flying into the horizon, just before becoming a twinkle herself, she screams, "Sorry, Brother!" all the while.
  • In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, this was used to dispatch Alessi, courtesy of a double-team No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from Jotaro and Polnareff's Stands.
  • Happens in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, whenever Kenichi attempts to spar with Appachai.
  • Ueki from The Law of Ueki manages to pole vault twinkle out in Episode 17.
  • Happens to Keitaro in Love Hina. Not as often as you'd think, though. He gets flung skyward regularly, but usually comes crashing back down rather than disappearing into the sky. It does happen this way on rare occasion, though.
  • Played with in Martian Successor Nadesico. In an episode titled The Lukewarm Cold Equation Akito's robot was thrown into the distance during a fight, creating the twinkle. This had happened a couple of times in previous episodes, but this time the rest of the episode focused on where he went, with Yurika and Megumi actually going out to search for him.
  • At the beginning of Mazinkaiser this happened to none other than Kouji Kabuto, when the Mechanical Beast attacking the Institute grabbed Mazinger's Pilder with Kouji inside and threw it away. Way to ruin the until-then tense scene. And they land in the secret laboratory where Mazinkaiser is stored.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00:
    • Happens twice while Setsuna is piloting Gundam Exia. The first during the very first episode. The second during the final episode. Although it is justified considering that the Gundams in question actually emit sparkles.
    • Patrick is often being blown away. Kind of played with though, in that unlike Team Rocket, it's actually surprising that he survives when this happens.
  • The explosion variant happens Once an Episode to Prince Collection in Mon Colle Knights. More specifically, when blasted over the horizon, his machine explodes, with the ensuing cloud turning into a rose with one of its "petals" falling off.
  • Used to great effect in My Hero Academia when All Might does this to the Nomu, a super-durable genetically engineered monster. All Might was on a strict time limit and didn't have time to subdue his opponent, so to remove it from the equation, he pummeled the Nomu faster than it could absorb the impacts until it was weak enough to be sent into the fucking stratosphere. That's how you get to be the world's best hero.
    • During the physical exam for hero school, Uraraka gets the high score for distance throwing by using her zero-gravity power to gently toss the ball out of orbit, ending in a twinkle.
      Aizawa: Distance... infinite.
  • When Haruka hurls the "airplane" far from Windbloom in episode four of My-Otome. According to a bonus feature on the first DVD, the thing ended up in orbit.
  • During a baseball game in Ninja Nonsense, one of Shinobu's home run hits does this. It ends up reaching another galaxy!
  • This happens to Buggy the Clown early on in One Piece as well, where Luffy defeats him for the first time by sending him flying after Nami interrupts and messes up his pulling of himself back together.
  • Whenever "Team Rocket is Blasting Off Again!" in Pokémon: The Series.
    • This happens when they're blasting off from almost anything: Pokémon attacks, human intervention, high water pressure when springing a leak in a water pipe, doing honest work for an honest day's pay, etc. In Advanced Generation, they've sometimes blasted off multiple times in one episode. Team Rocket's pretty much the Trope Codifier, which may explain why the trope has been greatly reduced in the Best Wishes series in which they rarely get blasted off, preferring a more traditional villain escape instead. In the X and Y series, this trope has made a comeback.
    • Lampshaded in "Noodles! Roamin' Off!"; Team Rocket was trying to capture a shiny (or "oddly-coloured") Metagross, and got blasted off in the attempt. Ash and his friends watched the "shooting star" fly across the sky. Here is the conversation that follows:
      Ash: Hey, what if that star is actually Team Rocket, sent flying by that oddly-coloured Metagross and yelling "we're blasting off agaaaiin?
      Dawn: Nah, there's no way it's that.
    • In "Double-Time Battle Training", they blasted themselves off when Jessie tried to combine Pokémon attacks together like how Dawn just learned.
    • "Malice in Wonderland" subverts this. Team Rocket gets blasted off for half the episode bouncing back and forth between various causes. They never get this trope. Ouch.
    • There's also "The Treasure Is All Mine!", when Team Rocket wanted to get sent flying; well, James does anyway (because it's the only way he can get away from his dreaded fiancée, Jessebelle). He fails, though; Jessebelle ends up getting blasted off with him instead of Jessie.
    • In several circles, internet and otherwise, this trope has become known as "Pulling a Team Rocket".
    • This happened to Meowth by himself in "The School of Hard Knocks", after Team Rocket abuses him physically again. He comes back down, complete with a second twinkle, right on cue after Jessie and James say their respective last lines in the motto later in the episode. He lands in the pool, gets out, and (at least in the Japanese version) says his line.
      Meowth: [translation from original Japanese] Something like that, Meowth!
      Meowth: [English dub line] I love a splashy entrance!
    • Even a Pikachu Short had this: Meloetta did this when it flew up into the sky.
    • In one episode, they are launched in a block of ice. Near the end of the episode, they are seen, still in the ice block, floating in the water. They then say the phrase they say in a somber voice, with Meowth saying "With no sparkle..." a bit after.
    • Team Rocket aren't the only ones to get this treatment. In "Cerulean Blues", the Invincible Pokémon Brothers use their three Tentacruel to try and Poison Sting both Misty and her Gyarados into submission. Misty and Gyarados respond by blasting off the Tentacruel with a Hyper Beam, and then giving the same treatment to the brothers with a Hydro Pump. They even lampshade this by saying, "We're not Team Rocket, but we're blasting off!"
    • As has Dario at the end of "The Flame Pokémon-a-Thon", following a confrontation with Ash over his methods in the race. Though he comes back down just in time to blame his defeat on the Rockets themselves and chase them away.
    • Burgundy also suffers this fate in "Clash of the Connoisseurs", when Crustle accidentally hits her with its Rock Wrecker. Ash overhears this (though he doesn't see who it was) and comments that it sounds familiar.
    • The Cosplay Pikachu side special (promoted to normal episode in the dub) has Masked Pikachu and his minions blasting off, although in-universe, it was a movie.
    • Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. While Team Rocket is fleeing on a bicycle-powered balloon, a Fearow controlled by Jack Walker (the titular Pokémon Ranger) pierces their balloon with its beak and sends them zooming away into the sky.
    • An early episode in Advance Generation has this fate befall Ash's Corphish after Treecko attacks him to get him out of a hole.
    • Surprisingly, the Sun & Moon series has it averted altogether, instead having a wild Bewear showing up to grab them and then run off. It even gets defied at one point, when Bewear catches them in midair just when it seems they're gonna get blasted into the sky. This only lasts for the whole season, thought, and by the next season, they've gone back to blasting off again.
    • Red's Clefairy had this by being punched from a Ursaring in "Lights, Camerupt, Action!"
    • Brock got this when his Bonsly tackled him from getting horny due to Nurse Joy in "Off the Unbeaten Path".
    • Clemont had this treatment as well in "A Rush of Ninja Wisdom!" when he tested out the Muscle Mass Magnifying Machine.
    • Even Ash gets this treatment in "Alola Kanto!" when he gets ran over by his herd of Tauros.
    • Pikachu was not safe from this during the episode with Buzzwole; Buzzwole's uppercut sends Pikachu into the sky with this.
    • In the manga Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, when Hareta’s Regigigas defeats Flint’s Rapidash with Mega Punch, the Mega Punch ends up blasting Flint’s Rapidash off.
  • This happened to PaRappa in episode 3 of PaRappa the Rapper, after a failed attempt to stop the teacher, who is now really insane after another bucket makes him REALLY crazy.
  • Pretty much every villain from Powerpuff Girls Z gets this treatment by the Powerpuff Girls, especially Mojo Jojo.
  • Frequently comes up in the Pretty Sammy series. Both Rumiya and many of the Love-Love Monsters go out this way.
  • Any time someone gets booted into low earth orbit in Ranma ½. Inverted in an episode where Kuno delivers a message tied to an arrow, which appears out of a twinkle.
  • In The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World, Misty is subject to this after getting hit with the wind from Tougo's Humongous Mecha's Giant Kizuna Sword, landing in a forest far away enough that Tougo has to use his mech to fly over.
  • Hanagata often gets sent flying into a twinkle by Otaru's marionettes in Saber Marionette J to X.
  • Sekirei: In the third episode of the anime's second season, to members of the disciplinary squad, launched by Kazehana.
    • Yume does it to them at the end of Episode 12 in Season 1 as well.
  • This happened to Dr. Eggman a couple of times in the early episodes of Sonic X, either because he was retreating or Sonic and the others had just given him the Team Rocket treatment.
  • Ram-Dass launching from the Cool Ship in Str.A.In.: Strategic Armored Infantry.
  • This happens twice in Tamagotchi! Miracle Friends episode 7. When Coffretchi applies makeup to Elephantotchi, the powder makes him want to sneeze, causing him to run around; right before he does so, he flings his owner off his back and into the sky, and he disappears with a twinkle. A few minutes later, Smartotchi and X are hit by Elephantotchi and also disappear into the sky with a twinkle.
  • Guame ends up becoming a twinkle underground when he falls through a hole in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
  • Happens to giant robots frequently in Transformers: Cybertron. Unsurprisingly, the Team Rocket-ish Ransack and Crumplezone experience it a time or two, complete with post-booting dialogue on one occasion:
    Crumplezone: Why us, Ransack?
    Ransack: It's the wheel of fate, my friend.
    Both: It ran right over us!
    • However, it can also happen to fellow comedic villain Thundercracker, and the serious villain Scourge. Sideways does it voluntarily, his zigzagged departures often ending in this.
  • Ultimate Muscle has this happen to Mantaro sometimes, usually courtesy of Roxanne.
  • A car twinkles out in an episode of Usavich. A later episode has a police officer twinkle out after being hit by a barrel.
  • Thorfinn and Thorkell's last fight in Vinland Saga almost comes to an abrupt end when Thorkell kicks Thorfinn into the distance. The boy slams into a tree, breaks his arm, most of his ribs, and then gets back up.
    • Thorkell also pulls of a reversed one, when Askeladd's men notice a Twinkle in the Sky that turns out to be a spear thrown by Thorkell from several miles away and completely impales a man through his chainmail and through his heart. Yes, that man is a pure monster.
  • With any minor Monster of the Week villain that doesn't contribute majorly to the plot in Wedding Peach, this happens (the major ones dissolve into sparkles and "are destroyed")…
  • Happens a few times in Yo-kai Watch. Prominent examples include Jibanyan a few times in the first episode when he tried to fight against a truck. Whisper suffered the same fate in episode 16 after Nate smacked him with a paper fan, and finally Nate himself at the receiving ends of a paws of fury from Jibanyan in episode 44.
  • At the start of the Demon Tournament of YuYu Hakusho, all the demons on Yusuke's group decide to gang up on their mutual boogey-man. Yusuke welcomes the attention and then proceeds to just punch all 48 opponents clean out of sight. Yusuke then comically lampshades the trope (and reveals his actions were intentional) by calling out the judges because none of his opponents fainted, died, or surrendered (which were the only loss conditions the rules had stated). They declare him the winner of that round anyway.
  • When Zatch Bell! was riding on a cart tied to the bumper of the bus, both him and another character are launched into the distance thanks to the instability of the cart and the rope breaking.

    Asian Animation 
  • 4 Angies: In episode 23, one of the X4 boys uses spring shoes to cheat at a jumping event in the sports competition. When he jumps into the air, he goes far enough to disappear with a twinkle before coming back down seconds later.
  • In Guardian Fairy Michel, this happens frequently to the Black Hammer Gang as they're defeated. Bonus points for it happen to their castle, too.
  • In Happy Heroes, it's not uncommon for characters sent flying in the sky to disappear with a brief twinkle.
  • In the Noonbory and the Super 7 episode "Hide and Go Squeak", one of these appears after Rosygury is blown away by Pongdybory's Sneeze of Doom.
  • In Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, this happens a lot to Wolffy, who often gets blasted into the air somehow (his wife Wolnie hitting him with her Frying Pan of Doom is one possible cause).
  • Simple Samosa: In "Khelo Samosa", when Dr. Goti Sodawala is launched into the distance by Vada bouncing into him (to save him from being forcefully puppeteered as a video game enemy) and shouts "Thank you, Samosa!", he disappears with a twinkle.

    Fan Works 
  • Brother on Board: Sabo wins his fight against Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 by hitting them with his Knock Back attack which sends them both flying off into the sky. The author even includes the Twinkle sound effect.
  • Cutie Mark Crusaders 10k: When Twilight uses a stick to launch Crystalestia out of her turf, the alicorn leaves a trail of light and a twinkle in her wake.
  • In Dial, it happens to Ulik when Thor and Iron Man hit him with a combination attack, much to Hill's chagrin as it caused them to lose track of him.
  • Kid Icarus Uprising 2: Hades Revenge does this to Teem Chaos almost every time they appear. Fitting considering they are clearly a parody of the Team Rocket Trio.
  • Kingdom Hearts fanfic The Antipode: The battle with the Cyclops Titan in the fourth instalment's Hercules adaptation ends with said titan getting launched into space by the Genie.

  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic My Little Mommies: This is how many stars were made - if you anger Princess Luna, you will become a twinkle and stay there.
  • New Game Plus (One Piece): How the "fight" with Luffy ends for Alvida. Lampshaded:
    Luffy admired the twinkling star she made. He always wondered why that happened. Eh, mystery twinkle.
  • Opening Dangerous Gates: This happens to Natsu when a drunk Rangiku punches him. Master Makarov wisely takes a careful step back.
  • Paper Mario X: This is Kirby's exit at the end.
  • Pokémon: Clefairy Tales: As is par for the course, whenever a Rocket (usually Jessie, James, and Meowth, who first appear in chapter 9) get blasted off.
  • Pokémon Reset Bloodlines:
    • As usual, this happens to Team Rocket, though not as often as in canon since they're not actively trying to steal Pikachu from Ash.
    • Played for Drama during Chapter 18. Paul ends up blasting Ash's Primeape into the sky. Unlike most examples, it's hinted that such an action might actually have fatal consequences.
  • In Tantabus Mark II, this is how Sombra leaves Rainbow's dream.
  • It happens in the final chapter of The Vampire of Steel to Kryptonian vampire Zol-Am when a Supergirl's uppercut sends him flying off real high into the sky.
  • Twelve Red Lines:
    • In Chapter 32, this happens to Jones when she absorbs too much force from Wyper's missiles. They get sent flying from the backlash, and Usopp, who grabs them right before they're sent flying, gets dragged along for the ride.
    • In Chapter 36, this happens to Enel when Jones and Usopp shoot him out of a cannon aimed at the moon.
  • Under Tale fanfic Muffet The Mom: Happens to Muffet in the sixth chapter, courtesy of Frisk and a see-saw.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series:
    • After Tristan defeats Florence, he gets rid of the evil ring (Millennium Ring) "by throwing it randomly in a careless direction." As it flies through the air, Florence's voice can be heard shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....", and then says "Twinkle" when the ring vanishes into the forest.
    • Later on, Marik kicks Crump out of Tea's mind. We then see Crump's spirit fly into the distance. As he becomes a Twinkle In The Sky, he actually screams, "AAAAAAaaaaaaah! Twinkle!"

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • It happens in Kung Fu Hustle during the final battle. The film uses a lot of Animation Tropes despite being live action.
  • Happened in Shaolin Soccer when Sing demonstrates his kicking ability by kicking a beer can towards the sky later to be seen again on impact.
  • In the first Ultraman Zearth movie, Ultraman Zearth managed to defeat the main villain, Alien Benzene, with a Megaton Punch that sends Benzene into the stratosphere - cue twinkling star.

    Live-Action TV 
  • This is reversed by Glory in one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When Willow and Tara teleport Glory out of the hospital, she appears in the sky above Sunnydale in a starburst, then can be seen plummeting to earth as a falling star.
  • This happens to the Monster of the Week in episode 14 of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. (It was a humorous episode and a tribute to the very silly Gekisou Sentai Carranger.)
  • This is part of the Warp Drive effect in the various Star Trek series.
  • Some installments of the Ultra Series, particularly if they were made after the 2010s, does this...
    • Return of Ultraman has Ultraman Jack's battle against Varricane, with Jack sending the monster into space. Cue twinkle in the galaxy.
    • Ultraman Ginga has Ginga and Victory fighting Bemlar and Bemstar, simultaneously. After Ginga destroys Bemlar, Bemstar gets stunned for a moment... until Victory unleashed his Ex-Red King Knuckle and socks Bemstar in the face until the monster ends up in the stratosphere, complete with a twinkle.
    • Ultraman X: In the episode "We Are Nebula!", the opposing alien team consisting of the aliens Babalou, Dada, Kemurian and Zettonian, decides to cheat by turning themselves kaiju-sized, necessitating Ultraman X to interfere... by using his Gomora armour to send all four aliens vanishing into the skies, complete with four twinkles.

    Mythology and Religion 
  • Classical Mythology: This trope is Older Than Feudalism — some sources claim Karkinos, the crab which would become the Cancer constellation after performing its task of distracting Hercules while he was trying to kill the Lernaean Hydra, got there because Hera gave it a place in the stars...after Hercules kicked it off into space!

    Theatre 
  • In Pokémon: The Mew-sical, the Twinkle in the Sky has become part of Team Rocket's planning process:
    "We'll steal the Dragonite, hop on its back, and ride it to the ding!"
  • Matilda uses this effect when Trunchbull swings and throws Amanda by her pigtails.

    Video Games 
  • Played around with in Asura's Wrath: in the DLC Lost Episode 2, Akuma punches Ryu so far away it seems like this would have happened. He flies back into the portal he came from in the distance instead.
  • Beard Blade has one of the early bosses, Barnacle Barley, fought in the quarters of his ship where the windows are in the background. Defeating him sends him out an open window... and into the horizon. Complete with a twinkle in the horizon.
  • Blaster Master uses a twinkle (on the ground) in its intro as Sophia zooms off into battle.
  • BlazBlue: Makoto's Astral Finish ends in an uppercut that turns the opponent into a twinkle in the sky, and then leaves a huge impression on the moon... and smashes it apart.
  • In BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm, the boss of Chapter 4 becomes one of these after he’s defeated and gets launched out of his skyscraper headquarters.
  • In Breath of Fire IV, Ryu eventually learns to summon up to eight other dragons, whose attacks are short FMV's. The Sand Dragon's attack sends enemies flying off into the sky like this. Much like the God Hand example above, they will be back afterwards to take damage normally.
  • In Carrie's Order Up!, one of these can be seen atop the impossibly tall stack of plates Carrie is holding on the Endless Mode menu graphic.
  • Chrono Trigger: In the Prehistoric era, a twinkling star can be seen in the background of some elevated areas. It's actually Lavos on his way down, no prize for guessing which species is eradicated by its fall.
  • How Animal Contra is defeated in Neo Contra.
  • DLC for Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten gives us Mao bringing in his Getter Mao and showing it off to the Hades Party... before becoming sidetracked and showing an "interest" in Desco and, subsequently, losing the keys to Fuka.
  • After boss battles in Donkey Kong Country, starting in Donkey Kong Country Returns after a boss fight. Donkey Kong will be free to punch the bosses up to 25 times before sending them off into the sky. Follows in the sequel, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • In Final Fantasy IX, summoning Fenrir has it use Terrestrial Rage with Titan's aid. Titan attacks by punching all foes skyward into the sky, turning into stars (though they come back down and crash).
    • At one point in the original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, you're confronted by the game's resident Goldfish Poop Gang, who demand a toll to continue down the road. Earlier on, the team's resident Moogle declared a wish to become a star - if you choose not to pay the toll, you'll barge onwards, knocking the Moogle into the sky. Although you're never shown the Moogle "turning into" a star, you do get this gem:
    Selkie A: And so, he became a star.
    Selkie B: Big time.
    • Final Fantasy XIV has the Hildibrand Adventures which take place after the end of each expansion's main story. By the time the overarching Hildibrand story is done in Patch X.5, Hildibrand is launched like this in some form or another to the next expansion's region for further adventures.
  • God Hand:
    • Gene's more powerful God Roulette attacks (Dragon Kick, 100 Fist and Homerun God to name a few) end with the enemy being launched in the milky way (where they already are), like the awesome credit song puts it. However, unlike other examples said enemies will actually end up back in front of you as if the attack was played backwards, even if it's just to let out a death cry.
    • Also, Evil Boisterous Bruiser Elvis does this before his second fight against Gene. He punches two of his henchmen into the skies for disrespecting the body of one of their victims.
  • Guilty Gear:
    • Slayer's Instant Kill involves punching an opponent into the sky and then reciting a haiku. When he completes the poem, there's a twinkle in the sky right before "Destroyed" is announced.
    • May's Instant Kill does this too in the later Xrd games, as the girl cheerfully blasts her opponent out of a cannon into the wild blue yonder.
  • The first boss of Gunstar Heroes is defeated in this way.
  • Harmful Park has a stage where you fight an inflatable dinosaur-like monster, being pumped by two mooks you cannot target. If you defeat the boss, it's subsequent explosion will blow the mooks behind it into the background until they're reduced to two dainty twinkles.
  • Inazuma Eleven: The Dash Storm technique involves running at high speed to create a hurricane that sends the opponents flying in the air. The twinkle is present in the game, but not in the anime.
  • This happens to the Rock Titan after being blasted off by Hercules in the opening cutscene for Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts II.
  • Happens quite a few times in the Kirby series:
  • Happens to a hapless minion of Mashtooth's in The Legendary Starfy after being punched away by his lord.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: After Link defeats Master Kohga in their last duel, he tries to eliminate Link with his own missile weapon. It ends with his contraption hitting himself and sending him rocketing out of the Depths with an Audible Gleam.
  • In Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, after the party fights the Doom Eye, Dekar shows up to send it flying into orbit with his Exploding Sword attack. The twinkle's even accompanied by the "puzzle complete!" tune.
  • Get hit by Chuck Norris' One-Hit Kill uppercut in M.U.G.E.N, and this happens to your character.
  • Happens to DJ Subatomic Supernova in No Straight Roads after his defeat at the hands of Bunk Bed Junction. Appropriate, given his whole cosmic/space theme.
  • Persona:
    • Persona 4: Chie's Galactic Punt Follow-up Attacknote  allows the Cute Bruiser to kick an enemy (and the occasional Mini-Boss) into the orbital frame. This makes hers the most powerful in the game, as every other character's simply deals a huge amount of damage and renders a target dizzy, whereas Chie's is an instant kill attack. The move returns as Chie's instant death special attack in Persona 4: Arena.
    • Persona 5: In Futaba's Palace, Ann throws Morgana so high into the air it results in Morgana temporarily disappearing in a tiny flash of light, before the cat hurdles back towards Earth.
  • In Portal 2, a twinkle, complete with the standard sound effect, is created when a portal opens up very very far away - specifically, on the Moon.
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon introduces the aptly-named Fairy-Type Z-Move, "Twinkle Tackle". The animation for which depicts the user launching the target into orbit like so... with just a light tap.
  • Rayman Legends: This happens to The Magician after each boss fight, where they then land on a tiny planet to be used as instruments by the inhabitants.
  • River City Girls: In the now-retconned normal ending, when Kunio and Riki point out that Misako and Kyoko are basically stalking them, the girls respond by uppercutting them into the stratosphere.
  • In Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Joachim has a damage-or-OHKO attack that launches an enemy high into the sky. The player will know it succeeded if the enemy creates a twinkle.
  • Shantae: In a sprite comic made by Matt Bozon during Shantae GBC's release called "Bolo gets taken out", Shantae wanted to invite Bolo to a festival dance. However, Bolo already invited Risky Boots, and Shantae boots him into the sky.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog:
    • Sonic Rush: Each time Blaze defeats Eggman in a boss fight, she kicks him off flying into the sky.
    • Sonic Unleashed: After Eggman attempts to force Dark Gaia to follow his orders, it responds by blasting him away.
  • Super Mario Bros.:
    • The Goomba King suffers this fate when the bridge of Goomba Fortress unfolds in Paper Mario 64, sending him away.
    • Happens to the player in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when they're launched into the sky from a cannon. It happens again to Lord Crump when his robot explodes.
    • Bizarrely, the giant Cheep Chomp from Long Fall Falls, in Paper Mario: Sticker Star flies away after reaching the high falls, cue this trope.
    • When you use a secret cannon in New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
    • Happens in reverse when Mario returns from a galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy.
    • In Mario Party 3, there's a scene where Bowser sneaks up and startles Princess Daisy. She slaps him so hard that she sends him flying. That's probably the reason why Bowser only kidnaps Peach.
    • Mario Party: Star Rush: All of the boss fights with Bowser end with his giant robot exploding, sending the Koopa King flying into space, leaving a twinkle in his wake.
    • In Super Princess Peach, Princess Peach sends Bowser flying by whacking him with her Parasol of Pain after defeating him in the final battle.
    • Can happen to Mario in Paper Mario: The Origami King if he fails the Sudden Death round of the Shy Guys Finish Last quiz show: the poor lad get blown out of a cannon straight through the roof into the skies before this trope occurs.
    • Happens to Wario during the "Punch!" minigame in WarioWare: Touched!.
    • Several times in the Wario Land series. Happens to Captain Syrup in some of the endings for Wario Land II and to the second boss in Wario Land: Shake It!, Hot Roderick, after Wario's final attack against him.
    • Raphael the Raven's death animation in Yoshi's Island.
  • If someone is hit upwards out of the arena in Super Smash Bros., this is the result... unless they fly forwards and bounce off the screen. It's actually pretty satisfying, especially since they scream the whole time; after a long and bitter fight, hearing a morose, "Pika piiiiikaaaaa..." makes the whole thing seem worthwhile. This can sometimes look a bit weird in stages that take place entirely indoors/underground. Starting in the fourth game, it will stop occurring during the last seconds of a match, to avoid the scenario where an assured victory turns into a tie because the match ended before the long animation finished playing out. In Ultimate, if Snake uses his Final Smash, which is essentially Macross Missile Massacre, and someone gets star KO'd while the missiles are firing, a stray missile will follow them off into the distance.
  • In Tales of Xillia 2, the Linked Mystic Arte "Earthcracker/The Ludgernaut" ends with Leia and Ludger knocking an enemy into the sky with their staff/hammer respectively, causing the target to disappear into the distance with a twinkle of light.
  • Roger Sr.'s typical fate in later Tekken games.
  • Happens to Lammy in the US version of Um Jammer Lammy.
  • Following the second boss fight against them in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, this happens to Zeke and Pandoria after being chased by a boulder that falls and rolls into them.
  • What happens to Pamela once she's finally defeated in Milanor's chapter of the Yggdra Unison voice drama.
  • In Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, this is a possible way to die in "Operation Takeback!"

    Web Animation 
  • AstroLOLogy: Happens to Aquarius in "High Jinks" when the extendable pole that he created for a pole vault extends a little too well, sending him into the sky.
  • Homestar Runner:
    • In the Strong Bad Email "winter pool", Pom-Pom becomes this after bouncing off of Strong Bad's gelatin-filled pool. He's later shown floating through space.
    • At the end of "The Next April Fools Thing", Stinkoman punches Bubs so hard he goes flying into space, leaving behind a twinkle that becomes the words "Happy April Fools' Day".
  • Sonic Mania Adventures: In episode 3, Ray gets curious about the Master Emerald and tries to touch it. Knuckles responds by chucking him skyward.
  • Supermarioglitchy4's Super Mario 64 Bloopers
    • In The Wacky Wario Bros.: The Welcome Invitation, Mario kicks Wario and Waluigi off into the sky at the end, both of the Wario Bros. twinkling instantly after.
    • At the end of 101 Ways for Mario to Die, SMG4 kicks Mario into the sky. Mario then screams before turning into a star and losing his last life.
  • Super Mario Bros. Z: Sonic and Shadow both send Kamek hurling into the distance after struck him simultaneously.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • In The Impossible Man, when Yuki use her most powerful attack, the villains are sent into the sky until "stars flashed in the distance."

    Web Videos 

    Western Animation 
  • Adventure Time "The Party's Over, Isla De Señorita": The Party God leaves a twinkle after the Ice King flings him into outer space.
  • The Amazing Spiez! episode "Operation: Twins of Trouble". When a WOOHP jet flies off into the distance, it disappears in one of these.
  • Sokka's boomerang twinkled before returning in the second episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  • Iron Man becomes this in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes after Graviton launches him into outer space.
  • Beep Prepared: Taken to the extreme. Wile E. Coyote is shot into space by his rocket sled. After he zooms past Sputnik and the Moon, the rocket explodes...and the Coyote has become the constellation Sagittarius. We even hear "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".
  • Bibleman: Its solution to the question of how Bibleman can defeat the villains without resorting to imitable violence: launching the villains into the sky and out of sight.
  • Happens in the Bloom County animated special "A Wish for Wings That Work" when Santa Claus's sleigh takes off.
  • Centaurworld: in "My Tummy, Your Hurts", Comfortable Doug disappears in the sky in a flash of light after being kicked by a horse named Becky Apples.
    Doug: In all my years, I have never encountered such sublime strength, Rebecca Apples!
  • An inverse of this shows up in The Christmas Tree, courtesy of Santa Claus.
  • Happens to Sissi's baton in Code Lyoko's "Zero Gravity Zone", where it keeps going through the sky into outer space.
  • Happens to the characters on Kaeloo, usually Stumpy or Mr. Cat, when they are thrown, kicked or launched into the sky.
  • Mighty Magiswords: In "Collection Infection", Vambre Warrior falls victim to this when she accidentally drops her Radiator Magisword into the river of fangs, causing the ground beneath her to turn into a geyser with fangs.
    Vambre: That's not how geysers woooorrrrk! *ding*
  • Some characters from The Mr. Men Show would often be shown blasted off into outer space, but without a twinkle. The only one who completely did this trope with the twinkle is Mr. Bump in the episode "Games".
  • The plot of the season 2 finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is resolved by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor using The Power of Love to blast Queen Chrysalis and her army of Evil Minions over the horizon line - complete with a twinkle from the former.
  • Ned's Newt
    • In "Planes, Trains, and Newtmobiles", a rocket launches off to Russia with Ned and Newton in it, and when it flies off we pan up to the sky where it vanishes into a star before we cut to a view from space.
    • A similar rocket launches and twinkles in "Live and Let Dad" with Ned and Newton inside like last time, only it follows Dad's rocket and halfway though it initiates ejection sequence.
  • OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes:
    • In "We're Captured", this happens when the heroes concede defeat and fly off into the sky at the end of the episode.
    • In "Plaza Prom", Raymond is defeated by Radicles in the Dance Battle and sent to the sky.
    • This also happens to Fink in the episode "K.O. vs. Fink" after being defeated by the heroes' Love Beam attack, and though it is hard to see, a ding can still be heard.
  • The Owl House: In "Hunting Palismen", Hunter ends up shooting off into the distance this way after Luz slams a fire glyph onto his back.
  • Steven Universe: In "Reunited", Garnet tosses her wedding bouquet so high that it becomes a twinkle. A few minutes later, it lands on Bismuth's head, who catches it with a confused expression.
  • In the episode "Stars in their Eyes" of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, the Mario Brothers' spaceship does this as it heads towards planet Quirk at the beginning of the episode.
  • Happens to some of Lord Dregg's spaceships sometimes, in later seasons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).
  • In The Transformers finale of the three-part episode, "Rebirth, Part 3", Galvatron opens the Plasma Energy Chamber on Earth intending to destroy Earth, Cybertron and possibly the whole galaxy with the plasma energies. He and the other Decepticons try to escape aboard Scorponok's ship mode, but they take off too late, and are hit by a wild flux of energy from the chamber, which whips Scorponok and the whole Decepticon crew inside far, far away, making them a twinkle at the distance in the darkness of space.
  • Happens to Hayaku in the Turbo F.A.S.T. episode "Turbo Drift" when she goes too fast and flies off the track in an attempt to outrace Turbo.

Alternative Title(s): Twinkle In The Sky

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Essence of Tropical Tornado

A Geodancer can summon a wind storm with her dancing to send enemies flying.

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5 (8 votes)

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