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u/Dark_Man_4

Image 1 — [Funny trope] The character or object blows up in a huge fireball for no reason, or a reason that doesn't make any sense other than funny
Image 2 — [Funny trope] The character or object blows up in a huge fireball for no reason, or a reason that doesn't make any sense other than funny
Image 3 — [Funny trope] The character or object blows up in a huge fireball for no reason, or a reason that doesn't make any sense other than funny
Image 4 — [Funny trope] The character or object blows up in a huge fireball for no reason, or a reason that doesn't make any sense other than funny
▲ 708 r/TopCharacterTropes

[Funny trope] The character or object blows up in a huge fireball for no reason, or a reason that doesn't make any sense other than funny

This is often meant as an exaggerated depiction of damage being taken, and/or to depict someone REALLY down on their luck. I'm not including stuff like "defeating the enemy in the video game makes it blow up" because usually those are not meant to be funny (they could still be, though), but as a development shortcut. Bonus points if nobody notices or cares about the huge explosion, as if it were expected.

  1. Spongebob is full of these. My favourite example is when Squidward falls off the cliff in the "My Pretty Seahorse" episode, as shown in the image (especially since there's a slight delay before he blows up). Other examples include after the random guy gets kicked by the Seahorse in the same episode, or when Squidward falls off the cliff in the "Jellyfishing" episode. A similar thing happens to Squidward in the "Slide Whistle Stooges" episode, but that doesn't count because he was driving a fuel tanker at the time, so the explosion actually makes sense.

  2. I couldn't find a better picture, but in the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy in the "Reap Walking" episode, a parody of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends comes on the TV called "Fister's House for Crazy Weirdo Made-up People". The show consists of the Crazy Weirdo Made-up People blabbering nonsense in the foyer of Fister's House, after which it blows up for no reason.

  3. In Charlie the Unicorn, the Candy Mountain Letters sing a song to try to convince Charlie to enter the Candy Mountain Cave. After their song ends, they all make their exit by blowing up. Nobody remarks on their apparent violent deaths.

  4. Semi-example: in Dragon Ball Z, during the first fight between Vegeta and Zarbon, Zarbon piledrives Vegeta into the ground, causing a huge fiery eruption instead of the usual dust cloud. This isn't remarked upon in the original material, making it not an example of this trope since it was probably done out of style rather than humor. However, Dragon Ball Z Abridged makes the moment closer to this trope by having Vegeta acknowledge that yes, that was a fiery explosion that he just caused when he hit the ground, and he doesn't know why.

u/Dark_Man_4 — 14 days ago