...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Sitting Duck
- 227 statements
- 42 feature instances
- 20 referencing feature instances
| Sitting Duck | type |
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| Sitting Duck | label |
Sitting Duck | |
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SittingDuck | |
| Sitting Duck | comment |
What do the Cool Ship, Cool Starship, and Cool Plane all have in common? They are all at their most vulnerable when docked in port or while parked on the ground. This is a state of vulnerability that pretty much everyone and everything has to accept at some point, as personnel needs food and sleep, ships need maintenance, and nobody has found a way to keep a plane in the sky indefinitely yet. A savvy enemy can use the element of surprise to sucker punch an enemy, even a numerically or technically superior enemy, before they can bring their forces into play. Methods for this can range from Fireships to attack planes or a long-range missile attack. Of course, it's also possible to be placed in this position because your ship was badly damaged in a previous fight, and the enemy is coming back to finish you off before you can finish your repairs. The Trope name comes from a hunting phrase referring to ducks sitting on the water, often considered to be off-limits until they take flight. Due to its applicability, the phrase was adopted in the military aviation community to refer to airplanes that had been caught on the ground, although of course very few pilots have a problem with destroying an enemy plane before it can get airborne. Historically, a combat pilot would get no credit for destroying an enemy plane while it was still on the ground, until the Americans began to grant credit for such kills during World War IInote It was decided that it was better to destroy a German fighter on the ground rather than risk letting it take down an American bomber or two in the air later.. It was theoretically possible to become an ace by only destroying planes on the ground, although German airfields tended to be very heavily defended by anti-aircraft batteries that could do wonders for shortening your flying career. Exploiting this trope is a favored tactic of the Combat Pragmatist, and a favored method of preventing the Fighter-Launching Sequence. Compare with Coup de Grâce, Sickbed Slaying, and Slain in Their Sleep. Not to Be Confused with Sitting Ducks, which was inspired by the same idiom that this Trope draws its name from. |
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| Sitting Duck | fetched |
2023-06-03T00:00:35Z | |
| Sitting Duck | parsed |
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Dropped link to CombatPragmatist: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to GenreSavvy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to SittingDuck: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to StarCraftBroodWar: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
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Dropped link to WarcraftIII: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
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Dropped link to WhamEpisode: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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WarcraftIII | |
| Sitting Duck | isPartOf |
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| Sitting Duck / int_1102a76a | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1102a76a | comment |
In Aero Fighters Assault, one of the bonus mission has you protecting your Airborne Aircraft Carrier from enemy attacks while it's refueling. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1102a76a | featureApplicability |
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| Aero Fighters (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_1102a76a | |
| Sitting Duck / int_15c6ea92 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_15c6ea92 | comment |
In Wonder Woman (1987) some of the revolutionaries are shown attacking a Sangtee Empire spaceport and blowing up kreel ships while they're docked. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_15c6ea92 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_15c6ea92 | featureConfidence |
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| Wonder Woman (1987) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_15c6ea92 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_180b6c6 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_180b6c6 | comment |
Operation Petticoat: Sea Tiger is caught in port when the Japanese attack in the beginning. She is eventually re-floated and repaired, but she suffers from that damage for the rest of the film. Later, they see a Japanese tanker that is moored and sitting low in the water, meaning it hasn't unloaded yet. They are preparing a torpedo attack, when Nurse Crandall comes into the conn and accidentally fires it, hitting a truck. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_180b6c6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_180b6c6 | featureConfidence |
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| Operation Petticoat | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_180b6c6 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1afeb97a | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1afeb97a | comment |
Black Sheep Squadron: Lampshaded by the narrator in one episode to show how a particular new pilot was both very foolish and very good. He attempted to take off while being strafed by Japanese Zeroes, and somehow managed to get up in the air AND get behind the planes that had just been flying behind him trying to shoot him up. He still gets chewed out for trying that to begin with. | |
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| Sitting Duck / int_1afeb97a | featureConfidence |
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| Black Sheep Squadron | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_1afeb97a | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1b604019 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1b604019 | comment |
The Wolf Pack arc of Area 88 focuses on a mercenary group who destroy most of the planes at Area 88 while they're on the ground. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1b604019 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_1b604019 | featureConfidence |
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| Area 88 (Manga) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_1b604019 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_21e4ee5c | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_21e4ee5c | comment |
In the pilot for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, by Dressing as the Enemy, Buck is able to put bombs in the tailpipes of almost all of the Draconian attack fighters while they are preparing to launch. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_21e4ee5c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_21e4ee5c | featureConfidence |
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| Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_21e4ee5c | |
| Sitting Duck / int_247422c7 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_247422c7 | comment |
Honor Harrington had several examples of this trope, typically against complacent pickets in systems that were considered unlikely to be attacked. Generally speaking, the ships on the receiving end had to be drifting with cold nodes, preventing them from getting a wedge or sidewalls up in time to defend themselves. In Mission Of Honor, The Manticore and Grayson home systems get cold-cocked by an unexpected new enemy, in the single most one-sided engagement of the series. Just after they had decided that things looked as if they would come out on top. |
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| Sitting Duck / int_247422c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_247422c7 | featureConfidence |
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| Honor Harrington | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_247422c7 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2e88218c | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2e88218c | comment |
Red Tails: The German aircraft when Easy, Lightning, Joker, and Junior follow Pretty Boy back to his base. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2e88218c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2e88218c | featureConfidence |
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| Red Tails | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_2e88218c | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2f3eb71f | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2f3eb71f | comment |
Command & Conquer: Generals annoyingly uses this along with Artificial Stupidity: your units will often be more than happy to let an enemy shoot them without reacting, unless they're told to guard the terrain, in which case they'll chase after the attacker and get themselves killed. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2f3eb71f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_2f3eb71f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Command & Conquer: Generals (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_2f3eb71f | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3cf15492 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3cf15492 | comment |
In the opening cinematic of MechWarrior 4: Vengeance, the Steiner forces' sudden attack catches the Dresari House Guard unprepared, and while they rush into combat as swiftly as they can, an errant missile strike on the primary mech hangar causes a detonation that takes out everyone except 2 mechwarriors (a third mech is engulfed by the fireball just short of escaping the hangar), who don't last much longer against the odds they're facing. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3cf15492 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3cf15492 | featureConfidence |
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| MechWarrior (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_3cf15492 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3f918bcd | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3f918bcd | comment |
Starfire scenario "The Paurl Harbor Raid". Rigellian carriers smashed Khanate battleships "at anchor" in Paurl Harbor, an obvious Shout-Out to "Pearl Harbor". | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3f918bcd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_3f918bcd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Starfire (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_3f918bcd | |
| Sitting Duck / int_467f18b8 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_467f18b8 | comment |
Pearl Harbor and Tora! Tora! Tora!, obviously. In Tora! Tora! Tora!, one of the American commanders is Genre Savvy enough to have some of his planes dispersed to various auxiliary airstrips to avoid keeping all of his eggs in one basket. Otherwise, he is bound by his orders to gather the planes together in the middle of the airfields to protect them from saboteurs, which plays directly into the Japanese attack plan. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_467f18b8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_467f18b8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pearl Harbor | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_467f18b8 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_49aa2aa4 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_49aa2aa4 | comment |
Ace Combat: The player takes out bombers or other aircraft on the ground from time to time. Attacking ships at anchor also shows up occasionally. The player becomes the subject of this trope a few times, with you being the sitting duck after being on the receiving end of a surprise attack on your base or needing to refuel mid-combat. Slowly taxiing to the runway while fuel trucks and hangars are bombed to oblivion around you is one of the most intense scenes in the game. |
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| Sitting Duck / int_49aa2aa4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_49aa2aa4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ace Combat (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_49aa2aa4 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_49ddc5de | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_49ddc5de | comment |
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe: One hypothetical German mission is attacking an Allied bomber base in Britain and destroying the B-17's on the ground before they can take off. Another mission involved taking off while your airbase was under attack and fighting off the enemy planes. |
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| Sitting Duck / int_49ddc5de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_49ddc5de | featureConfidence |
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| Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_49ddc5de | |
| Sitting Duck / int_56fa0ea4 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_56fa0ea4 | comment |
In several Civilization games and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, ships in port in a city/base under attack receive a negative modifier to their defense, reflecting this trope. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_56fa0ea4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_56fa0ea4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Civilization (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_56fa0ea4 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_58bcf32e | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_58bcf32e | comment |
In Crusade, the heroes had to be mindful of the fact that using the Excalibur's Wave-Motion Gun rendered the ship helpless for a short period of time, due to the power drain required to use the weapon. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_58bcf32e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_58bcf32e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Crusade | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_58bcf32e | |
| Sitting Duck / int_59cb7bba | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_59cb7bba | comment |
Used in both series of Battlestar Galactica, in a few different ways: In the original series, the story starts with a Cylon armada launching a surprise attack on the Colonial fleet, which had been preparing to welcome the Cylons for a celebration of the recently-agreed upon peace treaty. Most of the battlestars are destroyed before they can launch their fighters, and a full attack on the Colonies soon follows. Shortly after, the Cylons planned to attack the Galactica while all of her pilots were being honored at a party on the planet Carillon. Fortunately, Commander Adama was far too Genre Savvy to let that happen, and came up with a Batman Gambit of his own. In the reboot series, the Cylons were able to invoke this trope via a computer virus that remotely shut down all of the Colonial fleet's systems, leaving their ships adrift in space at the worst possible moment. The Galactica and its surviving fighters were immune because their computers were so obsolete, the virus couldn't do anything to them. In season two the Cylons plant a new virus in Galactica's systems. Sharon Agathon is able to turn it back on the Cylons and render an entire squadron of Raiders immobile. The Viper pilots gleefully take the opportunity to mete out some payback against the helpless ships. |
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| Sitting Duck / int_59cb7bba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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| Battlestar Galactica (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_59cb7bba | |
| Sitting Duck / int_5c208620 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_5c208620 | comment |
In the Superman: The Animated Series episode that introduces Braniac, the Kryptonian robot hacks into the LexCorp computers that are targeting his ship and Luthor says this trope word for word if Braniac hacks into the world's defense computers. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_5c208620 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_5c208620 | featureConfidence |
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| Superman: The Animated Series | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_5c208620 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6108ba8d | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6108ba8d | comment |
The Last Jedi: Kylo Ren launches a pair of torpedoes into the Resistance cruiser's fighter bay, destroying all of their remaining fighter craft. This also kills all of the pilots who were preparing to launch, with Poe surviving because he was just entering the bay. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6108ba8d | featureApplicability |
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| The Last Jedi | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_6108ba8d | |
| Sitting Duck / int_61339eee | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_61339eee | comment |
Das Boot. The U-boat survives every attempt to sink it, until it reaches harbour at the end of the movie, only to get sunk by an Allied air raid where it cannot dive to safety. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_61339eee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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Sitting Duck / int_61339eee | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6ae0a01e | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6ae0a01e | comment |
In the second episode of Yukikaze, the titular plane suddenly and inexplicably opens fire on an entire row of FAF planes parked at Tactical Air Base 15, causing the FAF top brass to recall Yukikaze and have it brought in for system checks. Turns out it was a good thing it did, as those planes had been sabotaged by enemy infiltrators, and Yukikaze was also attempting to kill the infiltrators that were present on the airstrip. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_6ae0a01e | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6f48e446 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_6f48e446 | comment |
As GDI in Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars, you are told to infiltrate and then attack a Nod Weapons depot before they can deploy their tanks against you. Which is a good thing, as the sheer mass of tanks takes up a quarter of the map. However, They aren't crewed, so you get some satisfying target practice after the pain it is to infiltrate the base in the first place. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_6f48e446 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_755b343f | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_755b343f | comment |
In the Halo series, all Covenant spacecraft have Deflector Shields that reduce humanity's Archer missiles into a Worf Barrage. Once they go down for whatever reason, those same missiles prove to be quite effective. In particular, the first mission in Halo 4 has the player shred an entire cruiser with a measly two missile pods. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_755b343f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_755b343f | featureConfidence |
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| Halo (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_755b343f | |
| Sitting Duck / int_76686539 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_76686539 | comment |
In the Virmire mission of Mass Effect, one way you can help your allies against Saren's base is destroying his fighters when they come in to rearm. It features heavily in the Reapers' plan to Take Over The Galaxy Again. By attacking the Citadel first through its built-in mass relay, they can make sitting ducks out of both the Fleet and the Council with one fell swoop. In Mass Effect 2, the Normandy is disabled by a computer virus and then boarded by the Collectors. |
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Sitting Duck / int_76686539 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_7668653a | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_7668653a | comment |
In Mass Effect 2, the Normandy is disabled by a computer virus and then boarded by the Collectors. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_7668653a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_7668653a | featureConfidence |
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| Mass Effect 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_7668653a | |
| Sitting Duck / int_7f8a38b6 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_7f8a38b6 | comment |
In Mobile Suit Gundam Wing the original Deathsycthe was not destroyed in battle. It was captured by OZ and then used as a target for a training mission, where it was destroyed on live TV. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_7f8a38b6 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_90f18253 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_90f18253 | comment |
Battletech: The setting's Drop Ships typically avoid "hot drops" (dropping troops near or on top of enemy forces) and stay on the ground for as short period of time as possible for this exact reason: While on the ground, Drop Ships are very easy to spot and attack with aircraft, artillery and 'mechs. In-game a grounded Drop Ship can be deployed as a set piece for a battle, where they represent as much Battle Value as a trio of assault 'mechs. While armed to the teeth, Drop Ships are relatively easy to destroy with focused fire because they're so easy to hit. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_90f18253 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_92ac8bc0 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_92ac8bc0 | comment |
In Xenonauts, approaching a landed UFO is a very tricky and dangerous business, but if it works out, its as good as yours. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_92ac8bc0 | featureApplicability |
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Sitting Duck / int_92ac8bc0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_a40b1126 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_a40b1126 | comment |
In Independence Day, while Black Knight Squadron is systematically shot down by swathes of Invader defender craft over the city destroyer hovering atop the ruins of Los Angeles, another large swarm of defender craft are dispatched to El Toro, where they strafe the base and destroy any aircraft on the tarmac and any attempt at a second wave of the counterattack. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_a40b1126 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b1c94339 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b1c94339 | comment |
Horatio Hornblower: In Flying Colours, Admiral Leighton launches a raid on a the Spanish harbor of Rosas, in order to attack and sink a squadron of damaged French warships while they attempted to make repairs. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_b1c94339 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b3708bb4 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b3708bb4 | comment |
U571: Tyler attempts to invoke this by creating a debris field that will make the German destroyer hunting them stop its engines for a sonar search, which will enable them to make an attack on a stationary target with their stern torpedo tubes. By the time they make it to the surface, the tube is non-functional and they have to make a run for it before it's fixed. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_b3708bb4 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b3ebd61e | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b3ebd61e | comment |
An available tactic in a few missions of Rogue Squadron. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b3ebd61e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b3ebd61e | featureConfidence |
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Sitting Duck / int_b3ebd61e | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b40c60f6 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_b40c60f6 | comment |
G.I. Joe Special Missions #3: The Joes bomb the planes of a Qurac style nation while they are still on the ground. This mission also serves as cover for another Joe team to steal a new Russian fighter from the base. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_b40c60f6 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_bf263737 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_bf263737 | comment |
In the reboot series, the Cylons were able to invoke this trope via a computer virus that remotely shut down all of the Colonial fleet's systems, leaving their ships adrift in space at the worst possible moment. The Galactica and its surviving fighters were immune because their computers were so obsolete, the virus couldn't do anything to them. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_bf263737 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_c3e4d044 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_c3e4d044 | comment |
Several Star Fleet Battles scenarios involved ships being caught by surprise attacks while in orbit or docked to a space station. The scenario usually had rules for "powering up" ship systems so the ships could fight. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_c3e4d044 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_d461a59f | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_d461a59f | comment |
In the original series, the story starts with a Cylon armada launching a surprise attack on the Colonial fleet, which had been preparing to welcome the Cylons for a celebration of the recently-agreed upon peace treaty. Most of the battlestars are destroyed before they can launch their fighters, and a full attack on the Colonies soon follows. | |
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1.0 | |
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Sitting Duck / int_d461a59f | |
| Sitting Duck / int_d531b6f7 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_d531b6f7 | comment |
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Dr. Totenkopf's robot aircraft catch Sky Captain's planes on the ground (and in their hangers), almost completely wiping them out. Only Sky Captain's plane manages to get off the ground. | |
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Sitting Duck / int_d531b6f7 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_e470834 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_e470834 | comment |
The first German campaign mission in Red Baron was being on the receiving end of one of these. You had to get your plane into the air while your airbase was being strafed by attacking Allied planes. | |
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| Red Baron (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_e470834 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_ea4f62db | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_ea4f62db | comment |
In Family Guy, when Stewy wanted to prevent Lois and Peter from conceiving another child, he shrinks a ship and enters Peter's body, navigates towards the testicles, and shoots down all the sperm cells flying around, just as another wave is preparing to take off, he strafes the airfield. In the end the only one left alive to take him on is Bertram, who would be born to a lesbian couple in a later couple. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_ea4f62db | featureApplicability |
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1.0 | |
| Family Guy | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_ea4f62db | |
| Sitting Duck / int_eeaaec28 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_eeaaec28 | comment |
In Martian Successor Nadesico, the Jovian Lizards hit the Nadesico while it's landed to pick up survivors of the invasion of Mars, giving Yurika the Sadistic Choice of turning on the ships' Deflector Shields - crushing the refugees beneath it - or letting the attack destroy the Nadesico (likely killing most of the refugees when it crashed in flames). She chooses the former, but not without some angsting. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_eeaaec28 | featureApplicability |
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| Martian Successor Nadesico | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_eeaaec28 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_eec04867 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_eec04867 | comment |
Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt Adventures novel The Mediterranean Caper. A World War I biplane strafes a U.S. Air Force base and destroys a number of F-105 Starfire jet fighters and C-133 Cargomasters while they're helpless on the ground. | |
| Sitting Duck / int_eec04867 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
| Dirk Pitt Adventures | hasFeature |
Sitting Duck / int_eec04867 | |
| Sitting Duck / int_f74b5f80 | type |
Sitting Duck | |
| Sitting Duck / int_f74b5f80 | comment |
Babylon 5: Londo's big achievement was when he invoked this trope on the Shadow base on Centauri Prime. Prior to his arriving on Babylon 5, Captain Sheridan's own crowning moment was his defeat of the Minbari warship Black Star, despite his ship being a Sitting Duck (having been crippled by the Black Star in a previous attack), via some previously placed nuclear bombs in an Asteroid Thicket. Later on, Captain Sheridan attempted to invoke this trope on a Shadow Battlecrab on the Jovian moon of Ganymede, but arrived just in time to see the ship launch and destroy the facilities there. In the backstory, this is how EarthForce successfully destroyed a Centauri base in 2175: many times EarthForce squadrons had chased Centauri privateers (employed by House Jaddo's rivals to "protest" Jaddo's monopoly of Earth-Centauri trade) to Centauri Royal Navy base but had not attacked, but one day the human ships suddenly fired a volley of nukes, with the Centauri caught by surprise because, in their complete technological and military superiority, they didn't expect them to be so suicidally stupid. |
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| Sitting Duck / int_f74b5f80 | featureApplicability |
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Sitting Duck / int_f74b5f80 |
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