Basic Trope: A dangerous toy.
- Straight: 8-year old Bob has a Hiro the Ninja action figure that throws toy shurikens with enough force to injure people.
- Exaggerated:
- The Hiro the Ninja toyline includes a "Toy" katana that is just as sharp and deadly as a real one, and the same company makes Billy the Cowboy BB guns that fire with enough power to kill someone.
- The Hiro the Ninja toy turns out to be a real robot ninja with real shurikens, a real katana, real nunchucks, and an assassination mods that can allow the user to make the ninja kill someone.
- The Hiro the Ninja toy is a sentient toy with the abilities of a real ninja.
- Downplayed:
- Hiro the Ninja is a choking hazard, but that's pretty much the only hazard.
- The only hazard of the Hiro the Ninja toy is its lead-based paint.
- Justified:
- The toy company was negligent.
- Bob's Hiro the Ninja is a second hand toy and not only have its safety features degraded, the safety standards were laxer back then.
- The toy company is run by a Corrupt Corporate Executive who deliberately allows dangerous toys to be constructed because he values the money the toys will make him over the safety and well-being of those who buy the toys.
- The toy is built to defend children from strangers.
- The company misunderstood Tonka's dedication to quality.
- Inverted:
- Bob, while playing in the basement, finds a collection of real guns and knives that are so poorly designed they can't injure him.
- Evil Toys, Inc. manufactures military-grade weapons and ninja equipment and sells them to the appropriate markets. They are designed for very easy use so oftentimes children use them.
- Subverted:
- Dave sues the company that made the toys, claiming that they are responsible for blinding him in one eye. However, he was just lying to scam the company.
- Hiro's shurikens are ordinarily harmless. Dave's particular one was sabotaged.
- Double Subverted:
- Even though Dave's injury was unrelated to the toys (or he has no injury and was lying), testing shows that they do pose a real threat if misused.
- The toy company that makes Hiro hears about the sabotaged shurikens and decides they're a good idea.
- Parodied:
- The tie-in toyline to a Merchandise-Driven Humongous Mecha series features fully-functional 10-story mechs with functioning guns and laser cannons. The ensuing massive destruction is shrugged off by adults as "kids' games".
- A toy is treated as a dangerous deathtrap that must be banned when all it does is harmlessly throw non-toxic and hypoallergenic pies at people.
- Zig Zagged: The katana that comes with the Hiro the Ninja toy is a harmless plastic replica. The shurikens that come with it, however are real but unsharpened. On the other hand, the rifle that comes with the Teddy the Rough Rider costume is a fully functional rifle but the Bowie knife that comes with the costume is a harmless plastic prop.
- Averted:
- Nobody is hurt by the toys.
- No toys are shown.
- Enforced: "You know what really scares parents? The risk of their children getting severely hurt. And what are children often left unsupervised with? Toys."
- Lampshaded: "Whoa, a kid's toy made that injury?"
- Invoked: The villain owns a toy company and wants Bob dead for whatever reason, so he tries to kill him through dangerous toys.
- Exploited: During a movie's climax, the Big Bad takes over the city, ruling with an iron fist, and has his minions take every weapon in order to prevent people from fighting back. However, the minions overlook the Billy the Cowboy BB guns and Hiro the Ninja action figures and katanas as mere toys, meaning that the heroes can use them to defeat the villain.
- Defied: Strict quality control laws are passed in order to prevent any dangerous toy from being manufactured.
- Discussed: "How could the toy company allow the release of such a dangerous product? Is their CEO the reincarnation of Hitler or something?"
- Conversed: "A toy like that would never be legal in real life."
- Implied:
- Bob is playing with his Hiro the Ninja action figure. The next scene shows an ambulance pulling up to his house.
- "Hiro The Ninja Generation II, Now 99% less lethal."
- Deconstructed: After someone is seriously injured or killed by a Hiro the Ninja toy, the government steps in and bans it. Lawsuits are then filed against the company that manufactured the toy, driving them out of business.
- Reconstructed: Hiro the Ninja is tremendously popular with the adult collectors and another company starts manufacturing them but they are marketed for adults only and with the attendant safety warnings.
- Played For Laughs: Bob accidentally injures his father with a poorly aimed shot from his Hiro the Ninja action figure. His father sighs and bandages up his one of many toy-induced injuries.
- Played For Drama: Bob accidentally kills his father with an unfortunately aimed shot from his Hiro the Ninja action figure, resulting in life-long psychological trauma and a crippling fear of toys.
- Played For Horror:
- Bob is an Enfante Terrible who exploits the fact his toys are lethal but nobody knows this until it's too late to remain Beneath Suspicion.
- Bob's trauma at hurting people with his toys accidentally goes from bad to apocalyptically worse.
- The fact that the Hiro the Ninja figure comes with lethal weapons as attachments is ironically the least of everybody's problems.
Go back to My Little Panzer before you put someone's eye out!
