Basic Trope: He's supposedly an accomplished captain/pilot/driver, but whenever he gets behind the controls of any vehicle, he crashes it.
- Straight:
- Captain Crash is allegedly an Ace Pilot, but he has 10 plane crashes (or at least near misses) on his record.
- Bob Crash drives a cab and gets into a car accident every week.
- Captain Crash runs every ship he has ever been in charge of aground, into icebergs, or into other ships.
- Exaggerated:
- Captain Crash is both a ship captain and a pilot, and has large numbers of crashes for both.
- Captain Crash doesn't even have to be operating the vehicle - his mere presence around it causes it to break down or crash.
- Bob Crash is "honored" by the local cabdriver's union/his taxi company for "number of survived taxi crashes."
- Downplayed:
- Captain Crash only got into ONE crash, but for some reason (it was Epic Fail on his part, there were many dead and injured, someone famous was killed or so badly injured they couldn't do what they once did, Convicted by Public Opinion, he was a Drunk Driver, etc, etc) he's still treated like someone dangerous and risky around vehicles.
- Bob Crash's taxi crashes were all just the result of sheer bad luck and/or others' incompetence, so while being in five car accidents a month might SEEM bad, it's just the result of driving a cab in New York City or Los Angeles.
- Captain Crash is a skilled pilot, but he's also a thrill-seeker who loves to push himself and his plane to the limits. As a result, he has a lot of close calls and a reputation as a pants-browning terror to fly with.
- Justified:
- Captain Crash frequently flies in hostile no-fly zones, and there's only so much he could do to avoid being shot down by Anti-Air projectiles.
- In military aviation and naval warfare/rescue, other rescue work, and other truly dangerous operations, where finesse/skill often takes a backseat to the need to accomplish the mission, there are many hazards, and truly safe operating procedures often can't be put in place.
- In early shipping and early aviation (and early trucking and auto driving for that matter) before the implementation of proper safety procedures and better instrumentation and better airports/roads/maritime forecasts and rules. Early adopters of all transportation technologies tended to crash or break down a lot.
- Captain Crash is providing drills for the Airport Emergency Service Station
- Inverted:
- Captain Crash, despite his name, has never been in even one near miss or unsafe situation, not even one as a result of mechanical issues or bad luck due to his knowledge, and has an absolutely perfect safety record. He gets hired as the pilot of Air Force One for this reason alone.
- Bob Crash is a taxi driver in New York City or Los Angeles, but he's never been in one vehicle accident, and is one of the most absolutely careful defensive drivers there is.
- Subverted:
- Captain Crash actually went to training after his last crash, and improved his skills and safety procedures, so when he is in what seems to be another inevitable crash situation, he saves his aircraft/his ship and there is no crash or even near miss.
- Bob Crash hears screeching tires, and slams on the brakes of his taxi just in time as a speeding Ferrari blows through the red light on Rodeo Drive. He flips off the driver and yells "Not this time!"
- Double Subverted:
- Unfortunately, Captain Crash's training and learning can't save him from the mechanical failure of his craft, the weather conditions, or the hijacker that took it over, and a crash still results, even though it's not his fault.
- The Ferrari driver is racing loops around the neighborhood, and T-bones Bob Crash's cab at the next red light.
- Parodied:
- Captain Crash's awful piloting skills actually make him the most effective dogfighter in World War II, because no one can figure out what the hell he's going to do.
- Bob Crash's taxi carries tons of ads for accident lawyers and/or he makes passengers sign a waiver not to personally sue him in the event of a wreck.
- Captain Crash gets into a crash every single day yet is Made of Iron and somehow survives to crash another day.
- A transportation company hiring a lot of Captain Crashes advertises with "We get you there - half the time, in one piece hopefully!"
- Deconstructed:
- Captain Crash's tendency to crash so often it winds up killing themselves or someone else besides them.
- Not even the richest man in the world can afford to pay for all of the damaged and destroyed vehicles (and health insurances, lawsuits, collateral damage repair and other miscellaneous items) that Captain Crash's collisions inevitably cost, not even with Crash's Saved by the Awesome discounts and top-notch Hero Insurance. Being a money pit this big surely leads to Crash becoming alienated, if not a much more dire fate.
- Reconstructed: Captain Crash goes out on a Suicide Mission, knowing full well his ability to fly safely only matters as much as he can complete the mission.
- Zig Zagged:
- Averted: Bob really is a Badass Driver who can avoid crashing. Or, he's not known for driving well, because he doesn't.
- Enforced: Crash being able to fly the plane to its intended destination would trivialize The Hero's journey, and so it crashes in order for them to venture out through more inconvenient and perilous means.
- Lampshaded: "How are you still alive?"
- Invoked: During Crash's pilot training, his teacher doesn't teach him how to land safely.
- Exploited: Captain Crash is hired as a pilot by someone who actually wants the plane he's flying to crash.
- Defied: To prevent any more accidents, Crash is fired from his job as a pilot.
- Discussed: "If it's got wings, I can crash it!"
- Conversed: "Wow, if Captain Crash weren't a fictional character, he'd probably be dead by now!"
- Implied: Captain Crash's Establishing Character Moment shows him in the cockpit. The instrument panel is lit up with warning lights while audio alerts blare and his co-pilot and the control tower desperately tell him to slow down. Crash ignores them, pulls some extreme maneuvers with the control stick, then finally makes a hard landing.
Please make sure to observe the speed limit and height minimums on the way back to the main- (CRUNCH) ...never mind.
