Kill It with Fire: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Prometheus did not just give humanity the light of reason, progress, technology, and the power to rival [[God]] when he handed us fire, but the means to dispatch just about any monster imaginable. Considering how [[Greek Mythology]] is a [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]], that was a ''good thing.'' The symbolism behind this has to do with fire's associations with purification and [[Light Is Good]], and partly because it represents humanity's dominion over the natural world. More literally a burning stick was humankind's first effective defense against nocturnal predators.

 

 

This is prevalent not just in myth and fiction or games based on it, but also in works that are completely new and unrelated. For example, the Hydra and Trolls demonstrate one of the most frequent, and logical, applications for anti-monster fire: It prevents [[Healing Factor|regeneration]]. In the case of [[The Undead]], usually they're too dumb and slow to put it out (zombies), it reminds them of the sun (vampires), or they're already walking kindling (mummies). Aliens, of course, can be [[Immune to Bullets]] but will burn up nicely in fire and not go into [[Body Horror]] or [[Biological Mashup]]. Witches and [[The Heretic|heretics]] for a long time were considered to be in league with evil as well, and so it was a common myth that they were [[Burn the Witch|dealt with in the same manner]].

 

 

If something's too big or tough for a regular fire, you can always use plasma or [[Hurl It Into the Sun]]. This has also been subject to [[Memetic Mutation]], as an alternative name for [[Brain Bleach]].

A character who's a little too enthusiastic about using this can become a [[Pyromaniac]].

 

 

Not to be confused with [[Frying Pan of Doom|Kill It With Fryer]], or [[Badass Preacher|Kill It With Friar]].

 

{{examples}}

== Ancient Mythology ==

* Heracles used fire to cauterize the Hydra's stumps before it could grow new heads. Or to be precise: Heracles smashed the heads with his club, his nephew Iolaos cauterized them.

** This technically didn't KILL the Hydra, since one of its heads was immortal. He just buried it under a rock afterward.

* Many of the [[Our Vampires Are Different|admittedly extremely varied]] world folklore about vampires feature either an aversion to fire, or immolating the vampire's remains as the final step in destroying it for good.

** [[Pyromaniac|It's gonna be awesome!]]

** It is worth noting that the fire will only come after several unbearable winters kill off most life. The fire is just to finish off those unfortunate enough to still be alive and not on the ten person "survivor" list.

** Ditto with acids. Due to said aliens [[Bizarre Alien Biology]], anything that humans shouldn't get on their skin can be turned into a somewhat effective weapon.

* In [[Rumiko Takahashi]]'s ''[[Mermaid Saga]]'', there are [[Nigh Invulnerability|three ways to kill immortals]]: decapitation, a very particular poison, and burning them down to ashes.

* In ''[[Berserk]]'', when Guts is attacked by several [[Personal Space Invader|small fairy demons]] during the Rosine arc, he kills them by leaping into the fire he recently started. Guts is like that.

** Schierke, during the battle in the city against the Kushan demon soldiers, proceeds to incinerate a whole bunch of them by summoning a giant fire wheel to set them ablaze.

* As per [[Burn the Witch]], Evangeline's hunters in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' during the middle-ages have attempted to kill her this way (fire over [[An Ice Person|ice]], right???). [[Nigh Invulnerability|It didn't work]].

* Claude Torchweaver, A.K.A. The Crazy Flamethrower Mormon, from ''[[Black Lagoon]]'''s "Greenback Jane" arc.

* One of the weaknesses of the aliens in ''[[Tekkon Kinkreet]]''.

** Likewise, this is how {{spoiler|Alice deals with the Medusa virus when it takes the form of [[Split Personality|Laloo]]. However, the smoke from the fire is what likely caused the virus to spread}}.

** And in volume 8 {{spoiler|Mikado ends up setting someone on fire. On purpose.}}

* After acquiring the Legendary Orb of Fire from Mount Aso, [[Yaiba|Yaiba's]] answer to any threat becomes "Toss a Giant Fireball at them".

* From ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', in the eleventh episode 'Toys in the Attic', Spike attempts to kill the [[It Came From the Fridge]] [[Eldritch Abomination]] with a blowtorch/flamethrower. It's still alive afterward, but it was a valiant effort.

* For anyone who wants to put [[Tomie]] away for good, this method IS the solution.

* The Uchiha clan in the anime/manga [[Naruto]] are reknowned for their fire-based jutsus.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qZ2YQZIm0U Kill it with fire] ... NOW.

 

== The Bible ==

* Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu burn incense in a censer when God hadn't told them to. "So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord."

* This seemed to be Elijah's M.O. Just ask those soldiers.

 

== Card Games ==

** Mid-game, it's also helpful to wipe out an opponent's creatures with cards like Incinerate, Fireball, and Inferno.

"Yes, I think 'toast' is an appropriate description." }}

** Chandra Nalar seems to be the new Jaya Ballard.

*** Chandra was even ''taught'' by Jaya that, "When in doubt, use the biggest fire spell you know." Given that her [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=191242 ultimate] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=195402 abilities] are some of the biggest explosions ever seen in red, she's learned quite well.

*** And like Ms. Ballard, she has a few good one-liners of her own on the subject:

"Spontaneous combustion is a myth. If you burst into flame, someone wanted you to." }}

** Sarkhan Vol fights fire with dragonfire.

 

 

== Comic Books ==

* Aside from sonic weapons, fire is the only other weapon generally effective against the symbiotes that give [[Spider-Man]] such a hard time.

 

 

== Fan Works ==

** {{spoiler|Averted ''again'' during the second battle of Ponyville; Twilight tries to kill Terra with a concentrated beam of molten iron, but it runs out before she can finish her off.}}

 

 

== Film ==

* Both applied and subverted in ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'': because the zombies in that movie can't be brought down with simple headshots, the only way to destroy the first one is to incinerate it... but that just causes ''more'' problems, because the ashes get into the clouds and the next good rain soaks the land with Trioxin, which carries the virus on. Cue the [[Zombie Apocalypse]]! [[We Could Have Avoided All This|Electricity is shown to do the job later.]]

'''Ernie Kaltenbrunner''': Dust to dust. }}

* Played with at the beginning of ''[[Shrek]]'': One member of the [[Torches and Pitchforks|angry mob]] waves a torch in Shrek's face, hoping to scare him. Shrek licks his fingers and calmly snuffs the flame out with his fingers.

* The last resort of ''[[The Rock]]'', should [[The So-Called Coward]] and the [[Gentleman Thief]] fail to recover the weaponized phlebotinum, involves the Air Force drenching the island in thermite. For those of you who don't know, thermite is fire [[Up to Eleven]] squared.

* In ''[[Godzilla]] vs Hedorah'', hippies partying on a mountain try attacking Hedorah by throwing torches. It obviously doesn't work and [[Plot Armor|the ones that aren't the main human characters]] [[Too Dumb to Live|die very quickly]].

** Also, in ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]'', when the military realized that fire is [[Super Effective]] against Destoroyah's aggregate forms, they use heat weapons from thereon.

** On the DVD extras however, one character says that molotov cocktails don't do anything but make them smell like burnt meat... and make him hungry.

* ''[[Office Space]]''. Either averted or played straight, depending on {{spoiler|how much of an unholy abomination you consider the office building to be.}}

* In ''[[Outbreak]]'', this is the government response to a local outbreak of a deadly virus. (More specifically, using the fire caused by a fuel-air bomb to starve the place of oxygen. No oxygen, no hosts; no hosts, no virus.)

* In ''[[Westworld]]'', Richard Benjamin's character attempts to do this to the Yul Brenner Gunslinger robot. Doesn't quite work, though.

* Subverted in ''[[Terminator]]'', when destroying the titular indestructible death-robot's gasoline truck seems to work for a little bit, but his creepy-ass metal endoskeleton just gets up again after a few seconds, despite the fact that all its skin just got burned off. When fire just isn't hot enough, you can always try molten iron, as in the 2nd film.

* In ''[[The Crawling Eye]]'', the titular alien creatures are destroyed when the Air Force napalms the mountainside where they had gathered. Whether such techniques were necessary aren't really known, though, since it was the first thing the humans had tried.

* ''[[The Elite Squad]]'' has the drug dealers using a [[Truth in Television]] technique known as "microwave" - the victim is put inside a pile of tires, which are then set on fire (during the shooting of that scene, the criminal "consultants" had to remind the ones being burned to scream horribly).

* What ultimately happens (probably by accident) to the Third Castle in ''[[Ran]]'', preventing Lord Hidetora's ''[[Seppuku]]'' by driving him insane. Well, that and the broken sword.

* ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]''. Shosanna filled the theatre with Nazis and burned it to the ground.

* Montag of ''[[The Wizard of Gore]]'' has magically summoned a fire and... the fiance runs in and pushes him into the fire, where he burns to death horribly. The fiance claims that he was going to force everyone to walk into the fire. Except that the talk show host [[Lampshade Hanging|states that it makes no sense for him to hypnotize a TV audience, and then to create the fire in that one location]].

Kilgore: ''Napalm son. Nothing else in the world smells like that.'' '''I love the smell of napalm in the morning.''' ''You know one time we had a hill bombed for 12 hours and when it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinking dink body. The smell... you know that gasoline smell. The whole hill. It smelled like... (sniffs the air, pondering for a moment) victory. (Mortar strike goes off behind him, Colonel Kilgore doesn't even flinch) Someday this war is gonna end.'' }}

* In ''[[Dagon]]'' fire seems to work well on {{spoiler|the fish men and their cult}}.

* ''[[Final Destination]] 3''. Tanning bed death. You know the one.

* In ''[[Tarantula]]'' the only way to destroy the eponymous giant spider is for the Air Force to ''napalm'' it.

* In ''[[The Street Fighter]]'s Last Revenge'', Terry deals with a [[Yakuza]] [[Mook]] in a mariachi costume in this manner [http://youtube.com/watch?v=AewA7ZfMM6k after a fight that leaves one table knocked over, a brick wall mildly crumbled, a casket's lid shattered, and the casket itself in poor condition by the time the mariachi finds himself inside the oven].

 

== Literature ==

* In John Hodgman's second book, ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'', he says of rats: "You must kill them all. Do it with fire."

** He says the same thing about infestations of Scottie Dogs and... [[Shooting Superman|tides]].

** Fire works well for most household pests. But for [[Artificial Human|replicants]], you've just got to bite the bullet and hire a [[Blade Runner]].

** It's not so much a case of panicking as ''even noticing'': flamethrowers are more effective than guns because Triffids don't appear to have any vital organs. (Following the same principle, shotguns work better than handguns or rifles.)

** Notable for the brilliant exchange between Harry and Dumbledore that went something like...

'''Harry:''' Oh... right... }}

** Somewhat justified as they are at the point described as being stronger in the dark, and that they need the cloaks to have form and to affect the world. Cloaks can burn and fire is bright light.

** Also, in the modern movie adaptation, fire is the orcs' most useful weapon against the [[When Trees Attack|Ent attack]]. Which is a pretty good idea, as Ents are trees. When Isengard is flooded, you can see a burning Ent rush forward and dunk itself to douse the flames.

* In Scott Westerfeld's ''[[Midnighters]]'' trilogy, the animals are afraid of human technology, including, but not limited to, fire.

* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'', werewolves can only be killed by either silver or fire. Likewise, zombies, vampires and mummies are noted to be very flammable.

* In ''[[The Hobbit]]'', fire proves effective in driving off wargs, but much less so when some goblins arrive, who simply use it against the dwarves.

* ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]'' notes that fire is the only way to safely dispose of a Solanium-infected corpse. It's not that effective as a weapon, because the zombies don't feel pain and won't notice they're on fire, but all traces of the infection will be wiped out once the fire brings them down.

* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', the undead wights are nearly indestructible except to fire. The only body part of a wight in the series ''not'' destroyed by fire remained animate until it rotted away.

** It's stated that Mad King Aerys was a big fan of this trope.

** It's worth noting that Carlisle failed to try immolation during his many attempts at killing himself after he became a vampire, despite his father being a pastor who believed in wiping out evil supernatural creatures in such a manner.

* At the end of the ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' book, there isn't any of that "Let the dinos live in peace on the island" stuff from the movie. The Costa Rican Air Force levels the island with napalm.

* In Brian Caswell's ''The View From Ararat'', the only known ways to destroy the inorganic super-plague threatening life on planet Deucalion are extreme heat, and {{spoiler|an enzyme conveniently found in all native Deucalion plants and animals, half a galaxy away from where the disease first surfaced.}}

* A major villain in the ''[[Fingerprints]]'' series starts out as a [[Knife Nut]]. When it becomes clear that a single knife is insufficient to carry out her [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], she figures fire will work better. {{spoiler|It does.}}

* In [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''[[Three Hearts and Three Lions]]'', they discover the troll can be killed only with fire. (This is the source for D&D.)

* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' series, fire spewed by male and green dragons (and flamethrowers wielded by queenriders and ground crews) are the primary means of fighting Threadfall.

* {{spoiler|Beatty}} in ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]''. "If you have a problem, don't face it, burn it". [[Karmic Death|Indeed]]. The [[Crapsack World|world]] in ''Fahrenheit 451'' subscribes to this ideology against books and literature.

* [[Subverted Trope]] in ''The Road Virus Goes North'', a short story by [[Stephen King]]. A horror writer buys the last surviving painting of a troubled artist who burned all his other works and then committed suicide. When he realises the painting is cursed he tries to get rid of it, but the painting keeps returning intact. Eventually he burns the picture, because [[Genre Savvy|that's what works in the books, right?]] Unfortunately it turns out that the artist didn't burn all his paintings ''except'' this one, he burned all his paintings ''including'' this one.

** Played straight in the conclusion of the original story - the final alien is destroyed with an oversized blowtorch after a human [[Eye Scream|fires bullets through all three of its eyes]], which causes it to become immobilised. Also, the electrocution weapon required mains power from the base's generators, and the final confrontation is too far away to run a lead.

* Karen Miller's ''[[Godspeaker Trilogy]]'' where {{spoiler|Marlon is immolated by Dexterity's [[Power Glows|glowing touch]]}}

** ''"How about a little fire Scarecrow?"''

** The Holy Fire of the Swords (and occasionally their wielders) is very effective against the forces of darkness.

** In-universe, Harry notes that fire really is a highly-effective weapon against all sorts of nasties, as well as being used against magical enchantments. Fire can disrupt and destroy enchantments when used with that intent, and any wizard worth their salt in combat learns how to use fire first. In ''Turn Coat'', a squadron of Wardens cuts loose on a horde of summoned spirits, and the ensuing literal firestorm is simply stunning to behold.

* Although all the [[Elemental Powers]] in the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' are useful in war, using firecrafting to make a [[Flaming Sword]] is a common tactic when High Lords are fighting because wounds that have been cauterized are extremely difficult for watercrafters to heal. Fire is also handy against [[Horde of Alien Locusts|the Vord]], since the ''croach'' they rely on to keep them alive is very flammable.

* The only way to keep [[Colt Regan|nihil]] from [[Pulling Themselves Together|coming back for more]].

* In the conclusion to ''An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding'', Scottish philosopher David Hume says that reasoning can only lead us either to mathematical truths or knowledge about matters of fact based on experiment:

* As mentioned in the main description, the trolls in the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' world regenerate and can recover from anything...except being set on fire. The heroes in ''[[The Icewind Dale Trilogy|Streams of Silver]]'' take advantage of this weakness as much as they can.

* In Andy Hoare's [[White Scars]] novel ''Hunt for Voldorius'', the Bloodtide, [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|begging for death]], tells them to use fire.

* The Krytos Plague in the [[X Wing Series]] is so highly infectious that decontamination of a building consists of burning everything inside it with plasma, including burning half an inch of concrete off the walls.

* Rapier in [[Matthew Reilly|The Five Greatest Warriors]] burns several men to death inside the Third Vertex

* Averted in [[Terry Goodkind]]'s ''[[Sword of Truth|Stone of Tears]]''. An [[Eldritch Abomination]] shows up and starts killing the crap out of people. A wizard sets it on fire. It screams in pain. Then it puts the fire out and starts killing people some more.

* In [[Michael Moorcock]]'s ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'' there's a scene where the heroes have to destroy a pair of buildings. The captain of their ship is insistent that the buildings can only be destroyed by fire. It turns out that {{spoiler|the buildings are a pair of evil alien sorcerers}}.

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Also, in the episode "Metamorphosis", this is the only way to kill of a [[I'm a Humanitarian|Rugaru]].

* At the end of the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''Planet of Fire'', the Doctor tried this on the Master. [[Unexplained Recovery|He got better]].

** There was at least one classic episode that showed the Daleks' ability to [[Crazy Awesome|shoot fire from their plungers.]]

** Then there was the time Angel became the [[Big Bad]], killed Jenny, then set up the body to get off on how the heroes would react to her murder. That was too much for a distraught Giles, and the former Ripper loaded up with a bowgun, fuel bombs and ''[[Improvised Weapon|a freaking flaming baseball bat.]]''

** Scarrans, who have the power to project their body heat into deadly beams, love using this against their enemies- especially Sebaceans.

** Ditto the fire-breathing Sheeyangs.

** In the season five finale, the Man in Black kicks a dying {{spoiler|Jacob}} into a firepit to finish him off.

** Actually, Greer states that he ''[[Improvised Weapon|made]]'' them in his spare time, thinking they [[Properly Paranoid|might come in useful.]]

* In the series ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]'' (as well as it's book counterpart), the only way to permanently kill a baneling is to burn the body so it cannot be revived. A method the resident wizard Zedd uses proficiently.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Mad King]] from [[Game of Thrones]] apparently loved this trope. It was his favourite way to get rid of his enemies. His enemies including women and babies that the voices in his head told him to destroy. His last words were even [[Madness Mantra|'burn them all,' which he repeated for hours.]]

** The Wildlings are shown to immediately burn any dead body to prevent them from becoming one of the White Walkers.

 

 

* [[Ice Cube]]'s "We Had To Tear This Motherfucker Up" is about the L.A. riots. Including the rash of arsons. It's from the point of view of a rioter.

* [[Amon Amarth]] has numerous songs about the fires and fire god of Ragnarok. "Gods of War Arise" describes vikings burning own a sleeping village.

* [[The Prodigy]] seem to like this trope a lot. Songs include "Fire", "Firestarter", "Fuel My Fire", "Spitfire", "The Heat the Energy" and "World's on Fire". In the same let's-burn-the-world vein you could probably also include songs like "Molotov Bitch" and "Hotride".

** And in a later video, ''Haifisch'', when Schneider daydreams about killing Till, this is his method of choice.

* Erase This by [[Evanescence]]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyEwgPX0nlo Perish In Fire] by Monster Magnet

* "[[Bloodhound Gang|The roof. The roof. The roof is on fire. We don't need no water, let the motherfucker burn. Burn, motherfucker, burn.]]"

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** And yes, you can [[Order of the Stick|Just keep loping off heads and causing new ones to grow until the thing cannot move due to low blood pressure]], but its a VERY bad idea to actually do so since it takes a while to pull off (assuming you do not have a bunch of hasted gnomes with chainsaws) and every second that you take to take off a head is a second that the OTHER heads are trying to kill you.

** Fire is also extremely useful against most undead, who are often immune to a wide variety of attack modes.

** In general, when wizards start to cast Fireball is the point where they being to outshine the fighters in combat, and most of the high level, high damage spells tend to be fire.

*** Apocalypse from the Sky is a ninth-level spell from the Book of Vile Darkness. It isn't too damaging for a ninth-level spell (10d6 to all in the radius, which is available seven levels previously), but it has a radius of ''ten miles per caster level.'' The weakest person who can cast this spell would be destroying small countries and almost everything in them, and all of it would be through FIRE.

*** The psionic version: the Pyrokineticist. Always chaotic, rarely good, invariably fire-heavy. They are so fire-happy that a prestige class prerequisite is "must have set fire to a structure of any size simply to watch it burn"

*** Searing spell is a feat you can apply to Fire spells to make them ignore Fire resistance, and partially BYPASS FIRE IMMUNITY! It burns so hot it can burn things that can't be burned!

** 4th edition gives us the ''Irresistible Flame'' feat. An epic-tier infernal warlock or pyromancer can simply ''burn straight through fire resistance''. Not as useful as the previous edition's Searing Spell, but still fun.

** Still in 4th edition, the Pyromancer Mage has a class feature which allows him/her to straight-up ignore fire resistance with fire attacks. This, along with the "Burn Everything" feat allowing him/her to treat a creature with total immunity to fire as having 25 fire resistance, allows the pyromancer to kill anything, even creatures formed completely from flames, with fire.

** Early editions of the game had flasks of oil that could be set alight and hurled at monsters, like weak Molotov Cocktails.

** A vampire can heal lethal damage (swords, etc) at the rate of one Vitae per point. This isn't bad: most vampires can just abduct some random passer-by, drain him dry, and be peachy. It takes three days and only slightly less blood than the average person ''contains'' to heal a ''single point'' of aggravated damage.

** The other races are pretty prone to this--almost every race has some sort of flamethrower equivalent, such as Ork "Burnaboyz", who combine flamethrower and armour-cutting blowtorch in one device. They generally tend to be constantly working on deconstruction, lest they get bored and make other Boyz "do the burny dance."

** See also the Cult of the Red Redemption, in ''[[Necromunda]]''. While the Sisters of Battle manage a healthy 0.2-0.8:1 flamethrower-to-soldier ratio in their various squads, virtually all Redemptionists carry a flamethrower, flamethrower pistol, underslung single-shot flamethrower on their rifle, or all of the above. Even their giant chainswords have a flamer built onto them.

** The Imperium's military as a whole gives us flamethrower pistols, full-sized flamethrowers, vehicle-mounted flamethrowers, even [[Humongous Mecha]]-sized flamethrowers, plasma guns, and the meltagun, which is an anti-tank ''microwave''.

** The only way for most factions inside it to permanently get rid of Orks is to burn the corpses. You can turn them into a corpse using it, but you still have to make sure afterwards to prevent the Orks from rising up again from the spores they drop when they die.

** ''Love Can Bloom'' summed up why the Imperium loves fire:

** Confronted by Treemen? ''Fireball''. Being attacked by mummies? ''Burning Gaze''. Taking on anything else? ''Conflagration of Doom''. There's one lore of magic that is based entirely around killing it with fire, plus the various versions of the Lore of Tzeentch (which ''MUTATES'' it with fire).

** There's a category for [[Breath Weapon|Breath weapons]], and a special rule for Flaming Attacks. They are often combined. Case in point, [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]], and the Salamanders of Lustria, who are living [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons|dinosaur]] flamethrowers.

** This is also useful to deal with Skaven Hell Pit Abominations, since killing them with fire inhibits regeneration and prevents them from rolling on the aptly named "Too Horrible to Die" table. Said table can involve them spitting out rat swarms, or standing back up with damage restored and a temper.

* The devout menites of the [[Church Militant|Protectorate of Menoth]] from ''[[Iron Kingdoms|Warmachine]]'' LOVE to kill things with fire. Many of their [[Humongous Mecha|warjacks]], [[Magic Knight|warcasters]], and other warriors have fire based attacks and abilities.

* ''[[Crimson Skies]]'' has an aircraft in it called the Blackflag ''[[Meaningful Name|Firestorm]].'' The plane earned that particular name when one of the first prototype fighters' guns were loaded with magnesium rounds and it spread so much fire across the sky that onlookers had thought the air itself had burst into flames.

 

 

** [[media:usefire.png|The third quote on the quotes page.]]

*** That's just good advice in general.

** Logically, you would expect [[Goddamned Bats|Keese]] in [[Ocarina of Time]] to be this. You would be wrong. Don't block them with your Deku shield.

* The zombies in the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games are vulnerable to fire.

** A particular monster in ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'' plays this absolutely straight. The only way to kill it? Incinerate it in the conveniently placed furnace. Bonus points for the window that lets you watch as the creature is immolated.

*** Although, you actually can kill this boss with your normal ammo and you gain a special treasure for doing it, but on your first playthrough you are not likely to have enough ammo, and you won't have any really strong weapon, so you can't really do it at first play, so burn away!

** Also, Flare is usually one of the strongest spells. While it's technically non-elemental, it sure ''looks'' like fire. (Also called Nuke in some games, which doesn't really clear the matter up much.)

** Most characters apply fire to their enemies. [[Final Fantasy 6|Kefka]] applies it to 50 of his own men.

* This is also true for the MMORPG ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'', where fire will deal up to 200% damage against undead enemies. Fire elemental weapons and spells can also be used against ghost enemies to deal 100% damage (unlike the "normal" element, dealing only 25% or even 0% damage). It is also effective against earth elemental foes.

* Grass-, Ice-, Bug-, & Steel-[[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|type]] [[Pokémon]] take double damage from Fire, and the unfortunate Snover, Sewaddle, and Paras lines take [[Quad Damage]], as do Steel/Bug-types and two of the three forms of Wormadam. Paras and Parasect manages to take Quint Damage with its ability Dry Skin. Scizor, Forretress, Shelmet, and Escavalier have Fire as their only weakness, but it's a [[Quad Damage]] weakness.

** This is a particularly viable tactic against Shedinja, which can only sustain direct damage from five different types - Ghost, Dark, Flying, Rock, and...well, guess.

** The move Fire Fang has the special quality of being able to hit Pokémon with Wonder Guard, even if they aren't weak to Fire normally. While this wouldn't make a difference with Shedinja, it IS a useful way to be able to attack other Pokémon that have Traced Wonder Guard and Pokémon that are hacked so that they are given that ability (which would be useful on a Dark/Ghost cross like Spiritomb because it has no super-effective weaknesses).

** Because if mutilated, gene addled psychopaths rushing at you with hooks to mangle you wasn't [[Nightmare Fuel]] enough, let's turn them into FLAMING MUTANTS WAILING IN AGONY AND ATTEMPTING TO DISEMBOWEL YOU. Much less frightening.

** Sometimes [[Infernal Retaliation|being on fire doesn't always make them stop]]. Sometimes you need to [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|wait for them to burn out]].

* In ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'', the colossus Celosia can be held at bay by the hero holding a lit torch, despite the fact that the colossus dwells in a temple with four much larger fires (safely on pedestals) with no sign that it fears them at all.

** This fact with the torch is vital to your defeat of Celosia: {{spoiler|if you approach it while using the torch it'll back away from you, and this can be used to actually drive it off a ledge. The impact from hitting the ground below breaks the armour on Celosia's back, exposing the vital point.}} The trick now is getting onto its back while it's trying to charge you...

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' lets you adapt your weapons with Incendiary Rounds and the upgraded Inferno Rounds for bringing searing pain to your enemies.

** The sequel keeps the incendiary rounds and allows tech-savvy characters to launch an auto-seeking fireball via the 'Incinerate' power. Both are useful for stopping enemy [[Healing Factor|health regeneration]]. There's even an achievement for letting enough enemies [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|burn to death after they're lit up.]]

** Downloadable content for the second game adds a true flamethrower heavy weapon. Short range, but effective against all defenses, and ''really'' handy for zomb-er, husks, which usually come in swarms.

** {{spoiler|Vido Santiago's death if you go Renegade in Zaeed's loyalty mission.}}

* Several [[Mortal Kombat]] characters use fireballs and such as their special attacks. Quite a few stage fatalities.

* Annie in ''[[League of Legends]]'' has three different ways of killing it with fire, first she can throw a fire ball, second she can breathe fire, and third she can order her teddy bear to attack you (it turns into a gigantic monster that is on fire)

** In the original ''Alone in the Dark'', just the final boss.

* In much of the ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series, fire is one of four reliable ways to finish off vampires (the other three being sunlight, water, and impalement, although some are resistant to sunlight or water).

** In Blood Omen you have Flame Sword (which is second only to Soul Reaver itself), Soul Reaver has Fire Reaver upgrade and Fire Glyph, Soul Reaver 2 also has Fire upgrade, Blood Omen 2 has Immolate power, that is given near the end and Defiance has another Fire upgrade. Curiously, it also has Flame Balance Emblem upgrade for Kain, but it only makes mooks fight each other.

* The best way to kill Zombies in the ''[[X-COM]]'' series are with Incendiary/Phosphorous rounds, since these will automatically kill the [[Demonic Spiders|Chryssalids/Tentaculats]] inside them.

* In ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' you can kill it with plasma with the Plasma beam, and adapt the beam into a veritable flamethrower as well (sapping away your missiles in the process). Seeing your Space Pirate foes blacken and singe away into dust makes up for the ammunition drain.

** In ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3: Corruption'', the Plasma Beam makes a return, and when you let a full-charged shot rip into a horde of Tinbots, they ''melt''!

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Mages (Fireball etc.), Warlocks (Immolate), and Shamans (Flame Shock) all have direct fire spells. Hunters can lay down fire-based traps.

** Priests have Holy Fire, which used to do Fire damage before later patches modified it into Holy damage instead. It still looks like they're being set on fire from above, though.

** Subverted in early raids since everything was ''immune'' to fire.

** ''[[Memetic Mutation|BY FIRE BE PURGED!]]''

* ''[[Halo 3]]'' brings you unlimited fun with the flamethrower and flame grenades. The latter tend to be so powerful they kill most enemies ''on contact'' and burn through the heaviest Brute armor and Flood forms in seconds.

** In ''[[Halo Wars]]'', the Earth Forces have found that while the Flood is an extremely dangerous threat, flamethrowers are excellent weapons against perhaps the worst most serious menace of the flood spore creatures.

** Played straight {{spoiler|in the case of the Hunter, which is proven to be nigh invulnerable to all of your weapons, is only killed when it gets hit by the engine fire from the ''Ishimura'''s executive-use shuttles.}}

* All 3 ''[[Fallout]]'' games have incendiary weapons: the traditional flamethrower (flamer), Molotov Cocktails (in the first two games), Nuka-Cola Grenade (a ''radioactive'' molotov cocktail with even more explosive results)... and all of those weapons set their foes on fire with a critical hit (or with any hit using a Flamer) before turning the corpses into piles of ash. The 3rd game has flame-spitting ''giant ANTS''. The games just LOVE this trope.

** The [[Flaming Sword|Shishkebab]]!

** In Gears of War 3, the flamethrower is one of the only weapons that has any effect on a Berserker.

* ''[[Call of Duty]]'': World At War allows you to use a flamethrower to set enemy troops on fire. Unlike the flamer in United Offensive, this one has unlimited ammo (although has an "overheating" gauge), which means indiscriminate burning death to any hapless enemy soldier.

** After building the Temple of Planet late in the game, you get this quote from Academician Prokhor Zakharov from "[[Gone Horribly Wrong|the Lab Three aftermath]]"

* ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]''. If you can't kill it with fire, you have to charge into it.

** The Chinese faction from ''Generals'' have a similar love for fire. They've got flamethrowers, incendiary artillery shells, incendiary bombs, incendiary air-launched missiles, and if that doesn't solve the problem, it's time to switch to ''nuclear'' fire.

* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' loves this. It's almost as if the strategists are limited to either using fire to burn things down, or ambushes to surprise the enemy.

** In the Battle of Chi Bi/Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's enormous fleet outnumbering the Wu and Shu forces by something like ten to one was defeated by Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu hatching an intricate plot to burn his ships, then strike back.

** The fire spam gets ridiculous when you get to the Nanman Campaign and meet the armoured soldiers who seem to be invincible to your troops. A few minutes later, you can't help but laugh at Meng Huo's troops wearing ''wooden'' armour as Zhuge Liang uses fire ''yet again'' to win that particular battle. Worse, this battle happens ''after'' Chi Bi where the Shu strategist showed the whole of China without any doubt how good he was at using fire to burn things that belonged to the enemy!

* In ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'', [[Giant Mook|Tanks]] are ''much'' easier to kill once aflame.

** Incendiary ammo in the sequel makes your main weapon have one whole clip of fire bullets, instantly killing common infected with fire while lighting up special infected and watching them burn for a while. [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|You can even use incendiary rounds in a friggin' grenade launcher and watch a horde explode and rain down in firey bits!]]

* The flamethrower in ''[[Return to Castle Wolfenstein]]''.

* In the shark-punching ultra-manly arcade game ''First Funky Fighter,'' a bonus item on stages 1 and 3 will, when hit, cause a firestorm that destroys every enemy on the screen.

* In ''[[Far Cry]] 2'', a [[First-Person Shooter]] set in modern Africa, fire is realistically implemented: many things can cause one to start (gas tanks, fuel barrels, flamethrowers, Molotovs, flare guns, the backblast from rocket launchers, and any sort of explosion) and depending on your surroundings, it can spread, ''fast''. Aside from obvious uses like setting people on fire, enemies also react accordingly, and will back away and avoid fires, making them good distractions, allowing you to flank them, sneak into their base, or escape. Seeing an outpost up in flames, spreading across the grass, up trees, and into the jungle as far as the eye can see, is a sight to behold.

** Thanks to the Firebat, it's also how the Terrans deal with Zerglings, Zealots, other Firebats...

** The sequel adds to the Terrans' arsenal the Hellion, a speedy four-wheeled craft with a flame thrower.

* In ''[[Samurai Shodown]] II'' many characters in that game can, in some way shape or form, torch you. There's 17 total, and counted 11 (plus the support character) can leave you in flames. Toasty!

* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' has a number of methods, including:

** Capture and tame a dragon before it can taste dwarf blood and you have a hellbeast capable of breathing flame (although surprisingly, it isn't immune to fire, meaning particularly stupid dragons tend to incinerate themselves).

** [[Lava Adds Awesome|Magma]]. On the forums it is often remarked that magma solves ''everything'', including, in one case, as a solution to a burning dwarf: if he's melted, he's not on fire anymore. Popular methods include:

*** Flood ''[[Doomsday Device|the entire rest of the world]]'' with magma. The fortress of [[Boatmurdered]] (ab)used this to infamous effect with their Project: "Fuck the World."

*** Use carefully placed reservoirs to drop magma on invaders from above.

*** Use massive towers of pumps to build up the pressure to create [[Awesome but Impractical|magma geysers]] from below.

* In [[Minecraft]], this is an effective tactic to kill mobs from a distance, lighting the ground on fire and having them walk into it.

** In ''[[Skyrim]]'', of the three energy types used in Destruction magic, fire is noted as simply being the single most damaging, and works best overall for when you need to kill something fast. The other two energy types have their uses (cold saps stamina and slows enemies down, and shock drains magicka) but nearly everything worth shooting with magic in the first place is either damaged normally by fire or has a specific vulnerability to flames. It has the added benefit of panicking targets at low health as well.

* ''[[Space Colony]]'' has flamethrowers to deal with fast growing plant life and insect infestations.

** GLaDOS tries to do this to Chell.

** ''"I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now. Even though you broke my heart and killed me. And tore me to pieces, and threw every piece into a fire. As they burned it hurt because [[Blatant Lies|I WAS SO HAPPY FOR YOU]]!"''

* In the ''[[Contra]]'' series, the usefulness of the flamethrower depends on how it works in that particular game. First two games, it kind of sucks, but the third game, it's fucking awesome.

* Can kill almost anything in ''[[Scribblenauts]]''.

** And in ''San Andreas'', with it's trusty throwable cousin, the Molotov Cocktail. Plus, ANY explosion will cause fire.

* ''[[Company of Heroes]]'' practically owes this trope money. To wit: the first heavy weapons that the Americans and the Wehrmacht can get just happens to be the flamethrower upgrade, turning builder units into soldiers to be ''feared''. From there on, the Americans can eventually get the [[Cool Tank|Sherman Crocodile flamethrower tank]] (aka the [[Fan Nickname|Napalm NASCAR]], while the Wehrmacht can upgrade their halftracks with ''[[Dual-Wielding|twin flammenwerfers]]'' and lay fiery waste to entire swathes of land with their Nebelwerfer rockets and Firestorm incendiary artillery barrages. The Panzer Elite don't get flamethrowers, but they can lay incendiary booby traps as well as loft incendiary grenades and mortar rounds. The Brits are perhaps the least burn-happy of all 4 factions, but their sole flamethrowing platform - the faction-specific Churchill Crocodile - is a final-tier unit that gets to fire its main gun as well as use its flamethrower.

* ''[[Fire Shark]]'' has the red flamethrower weapon. At max level, it shot out '''6''' streams of very damaging fire, two of which fired out forward and the other four swept the sides and back of your plane, [[Game Breaker|easily massacring every mook in sight]]. There's a reason why the game is called FIRE Shark...

* [[Touhou Project|Utsuho Reiuji]] wanted to kill [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink|Gensokyo]] with fire. [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|All of it]]. {{spoiler|She gets better}}.

** The "fire" in this case? '''nuclear. fusion.''' In the form of miniature '''stars'''.

* In ''[[Sacrifice]]'' this is naturally the chief weapon of Pyro, god of fire. He has exactly one unit that does not use fire in some fashion, and every single spell involves fire. Even the "defensive" spell Pyro offers does nothing for your defense, and instead just sets you on fire, damaging nearby foes while you are conveniently immune.

* ''[[Age of Wonders]]'' uses quite a bit of fire. Numerous units enjoy the Fire Strike ability, letting them deal fire damage to foes, while the fire school of magic does exactly what you'd expect. The first game also featured flamethrower siege engines, originally invented by the dwarves but buildable by anyone.

* In ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'', fire is a reliable way of killing many units, and an excellent way of killing (most of) [[The Undead]] and [[When Trees Attack|Woses]]. Killing stuff with fire is the [[Our Dragons Are Different|Drakes']] [[Breath Weapon|specialty]].

* In ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'', the darkspawn are weak against magical flames, along with walking corpses and [[When Trees Attack|sylvans]]. However, there are a few creatures completely immune to fire.

** ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' increases your friendly firing fun with Apocalyptic Firestorm, which rains blazes over 10 meters for 10 seconds. The less devastating Combustion Grenade includes a helpful stun effect that can work against fire-immune beings.

* In ''[[Dead to Rights]]'', you defeat the [[Final Boss]] by knocking him into a furnace.

* In [[Kingdom Hearts|either 358/2 Days or Chain of Memories]], this is how {{spoiler|Axel}} kills {{spoiler|Vexen}}. After a speech about nothingness in a completely emotionless voice.

** Fire/Fira/Firaga was a nasty targeted attack spell in game one. In game two, they altered it to produce a short-lived ring of fire around you.

** In Kingdom Hearts II, {{spoiler|Axel}} kills himself with fire.

** Sniper using the Huntsman can also get a light from their Pyro buddies, giving them flaming arrows.

** This is also the best method for sniffing out Spies. Even if they have the Dead Ringer (feign death watch) you can still light 'em up, and it's ''very'' satisfying when you do.

* At the end of ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Allied Assault'', you destroy Fort Schmerzen by triggering a gas leak and igniting it with explosives. Then you have to [[Outrun the Fireball]].

* In ''[[Knights of Honor]]'', one skill your marshalls (Generals) can learn makes archers and siege Weapons more powerful by, obviously, lighting them on fire. you even get a special animation of the enemy troops freaking out, and rolling on the ground before they die from the fire.

** Dito for the cauldrons of burning oil. nothings quite as satisifying as half the enemy army burning at the gates.

* In ''[[Solatorobo]]', Baion's [[Mini-Mecha]], the BERIUS P-2, is specialized in killing things with fire. Certain other minor enemies as well, plus flamethrower traps placed here and there.

* Fire weapons (Units called Arsonists and Fireflies are the two main ones, along with your various scrapyard cycles, bomber planes and helicopters)are the easiest and most effective way to take care of mutant outposts in ''Wasteland Empires'' on Facebook. And although different enemies have different items that work best against them, fire is always good to bring with you whoever you're fighting.

* ''[[Brutal Legend]]'' gives us the Baron, a motorcycle-riding pyromanic bad-ass and leader of the Fire Barons. According to Mangus, they were a group of outlaws that burned whatever they wanted and fled when Lionwhyte took over. They return and {{spoiler|team up with Ironheade after helping them defeat the Drowning Doom,}} which gives rise to one of the most boss lines in the game:

* Not so much for killing, but the PS Vita version of [[Modnation Racers]] weaponizes fireballs as a power-up. The thing is, because stacking power-ups increase their level, you can max it out at level 3 and fire a giant Phoenix to swoop across the track.

** Another pirate-designed weapon is the frigate-scale Incendiary Bomb Launcher, which does burn damage when it hits.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', the ratlike Wights swell and explode when exposed to a candle flame... later on, Quentyn uses magically amplified torchflame to kill a swarm of Redcaps (with messy, gory, tick-poppy type results.)

** Bun-Bun also tried this strategy himself at one point. [http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=990324 It didn't work quite as well.]

* Kyros from [[Irregular Webcomic]]. His obsessiveness to "sort out" any problems he faces by casting a huge fireball, killing everything in his path (usually including himself) is a [[Running Gag]].

* ''[[Cry Havoc]]'' seems to like this trope. Faustus is burned alive, giving him an arm that is possessed... or something. and then the Vatican drops a fuel air bomb on him

* Axel's method of choice in ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. Zexion almost quoted the trope name verbatim when Axel decided to kill everyone that didn't tell him where Larxene was quickly enough.

* In ''[[Roza]]'', she sets the stables on fire using her [[Power Glows|magical]] [[The Power of Blood|blood]].

* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [http://endstone.net/2009/10/12/issue-2-webpage-17/ used on Herrek to get his attention before taunting], with [http://endstone.net/2009/10/15/issue-2-webpage-18/ death to come after].

 

== Web Original ==

* An internet meme [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/kill-it-with-fire is the trope namer].

"Oh, no, you didn't hear me. I said it's a '''flame-thrower'''." Girls. }}

* [[Homestar Runner|BURNINATING THE COUNTRYSIDE! BURNINATING THE PEASANTS!]] [[Crowning Music of Awesome|BURNINATING ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES!!!!!!]]

* An epic [http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/06/kill-it-with-fire-oh-wait-they-already.html Cake Wreck].

* [[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]] use fire as a weapon of choice, either dealing with paperwork, Sues, or general boredom.

** VERY averted by trolls. Flaming a troll only makes the troll stronger.

* [[Enemy of My Enemy (Fanfic)|Have a]] [[Humongous Mecha|Scarab problem]]? Lure it to a fuel refinery, set a few well-placed charges, and torch the bastard. {{spoiler|Just don't be surprised if the resulting fire [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|goes out of control and consumes a sector of the very city that you were trying to stop the Scarab from destroying]].}}

* Speaking of [[Halo]] [[Fan Work]], [[Tactical Noobs]] presents this as being the best way to deal with [[Bring Out Your Gay Dead|homosexuals.]]

* [[Warren Ellis]]'s approach to grilling:

** MAN COOK MEAT WITH FIRE. Not "man show fire to meat and then eat it while it still squirts and pulses." KILL IT DED WITH FIRE YUS. "Medium rare" = "good vet could get it up on its feet in an hour or two." That's not cooked with fire. That's THREATENED with fire. I do not season steak. Start seasoning steak and before you know it? You're French.

** And they show me a ziploc bag full of cow tears. And I say, "Rub THAT on my steak! Let THAT be my seasoning!"

* [[Uncyclopedia]] refers to fire as "nature's weapon attachment".

** He notes in his "Mightily Murdered Power Rangers" review how this phrase has become [[The Artifact]] and tells the comic not to tempt him to change that.

* [[Dragon Ball Abridged|Bulma's]] reaction to seeing Zarbon in his transformed state in [[Dragon Ball Abridged|DBZA]]

* Suggested as an alternative to submitting to [[Wimpification]] during [http://snakesonasora.livejournal.com/2619.html#cutid1 this sporking] of the infamous ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' fanfic, "[[Naga Eyes]]."

'''Axel:''' Plan Awesome: Death by fire! }}

* The last line of the avalable chapter of [http://nothotbutspicy.com/para/50fa3/ the epic tale of Site Kilo-29]: [[Awesome but Practical|"Flamethrower."]] [[Catch Phrase|He said. "Fuck Yeah."]] (don't worry, it's finished) {{spoiler|and he survives!}}

* Yang's reaction to anything that pushes her [[Berserk Button]] in ''[[RWBY]]''.

 

== Western Animation ==

** In a particularly notable example, he sets Tarantulas on fire, who then runs down the hall while ablaze, screaming.

** "Say the word My Queen and he shall burn!"

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': {{spoiler|Fire Lord Ozai decides this trope is an appropriate response to a recalcitrant Earth Kingdom. Why bother with normal methods of subjugation when you can just ''set the continent on fire''? Azula suggested it.}}

* Scrotus threatens to show [[Korgoth of Barbaria]] a new spectrum of pain, and Korgoth responds by tearing a substantial amount of Scrotus's skin off, dousing him with strong alcohol, and lighting him on fire.

** In "Bart Carney," a father/son carny team takes over the Simpson house. In trying to think of a way to take back their house, Bart, Lisa, and Homer are each keen on fire as an option - one that Marge keeps vetoing.

'''Marge''': No fires! }}

** In "Lisa's Sax" when Marge shows Homer a picture an upset Bart drew

'''Homer''': Oh, all right. What...[looks at drawing]...aaah!! Burn it! Send it to hell! }}

** In one episode, Homer has to take care of an endangered caterpillar. Lisa researches the species and discovers that it is "sexually attracted to fire". Homer concludes that God must want the species to die.

 

 

== Real Life ==

* The [http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/coconutcrab.asp Coconut Crab] is the largest land-dwelling arthropod. It can only be killed with a flamethrower. [[Squick|And it's edible.]]

* The Raufoss Mk 211 bullet. A specialised round developed for use with .50 BMG caliber sniper rifles, its designed to peirce through armour, explode, and then set the target on fire. Its considered a war crime to deliberately use it on a person but for anti-material (as this troper remembers from Army training, things like belt-buckles, glasses, ammo pouches, ect. count as "anti-material" targets) and anti-vehicles its perfectly fine to use.

* For a more impersonal delivery system, there's incendiary bombs, like those used fairly heavily on Japanese cities during [[World War II]], by the USAAF. The June 10, 1945 firebombing of Tokyo caused more deaths than the immediate effects of either of the atomic bombs dropped in that conflict.

** There's also [[wikipedia:The Blitz|The Blitz]] in Britain. Over a million incendiaries were dropped in the first phase. Then the Brits used the same tactic against Germany. The destruction of Hamburg and Dresden are the closest thing Germans have to a Hiroshima-trauma. The bombing of Dresden exceeded the property destruction wrought on Hiroshima. Recent accounting though has shown the death rate to have been much lower.

* Today's flamethrowers are more along the lines of missile launchers that use incendiary ammunition. And then you have the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ane4jB35Hs MLRS version.] A typical example is the Russian RPO Shmel ("Bumblebee"). This is a tube looking like an ordinary bazooka. Inside is a single-shot rocket filled with napalm, or worse, a fuel-air warhead. A rarer variant, RPO Rys ("Lynx"), is the same, but but you can carry extra rockets and reload it.

* It is actually a common practice among those who fight forest fires to start a number of monitored brush fires while also cutting down trees. The rationale? Fastest way to get rid of fuel and helps to stop/control the spread of a forest fire by starving it. That's the way nature does it (minus the "monitored" part). In fact, certain types of cone-bearing trees ''need'' fire to open the cones. Many of the worst fires were that bad because environmental groups [[Did Not Do the Research]] and sued to stop/prohibit thinning. Area grows into a tangle of underbrush and deadfall, lightning strikes, huge zone of flamey badness ensues. The Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia in January 2009 were partially caused by this. That, and all the arson-lit fires.

* The back fire (starting a fire here so that the encroaching fire doesn't have fuel once it gets here) was invented on the ground. A group of fire-fighters were running from a blaze and one of them realized they couldn't escape that way. He stopped and lit a fire, urging his mates to join him. They told him he was crazy and kept running. He was the only one to survive.

* Sadly, this is still a common form of 'jungle justice' in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the port city of Lagos, Nigeria. A person caught red-handed at theft or murder is soaked in kerosene or petrol, tires stacked around him/her, and set on flame for an [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hY9MkG41Hc absolutely horrifying execution].

* What did Sun Tzu & the Vikings both have in common? The love of fire.

* If something won't burn with regular fire, there's always [[wikipedia:Chlorine trifluoride|Chlorine Trifluoride]]. This stuff is so horribly reactive that it can ''light ashes on fire''.

* Contrary to popular belief, witches weren't burned in England (or the Colonies, which mostly followed English practice). In Continental Europe, witchcraft was tried as heresy, for which the penalty was burning: but the pragmatic English tried witches for whatever they were supposed to have done with their magic, from murder down to theft and destruction of property, and sentenced them accordingly. So while there were hangings for witchcraft, there were also many cases of convicted witches getting a fine or just a stern warning. Also contrary to popular belief, this was also the practice in Europe at large. The Spanish Inquisition, for example, was quick to pronounce 'Witchcraft' as 'Insanity' and refused to even consider charges of it. However, many local courts in Spain brought people up on charges of various counts of witchcraft on their own volition, though hanging was again only reserved for the most serious of cases. [[Rule of Three|Yet another contrariety]] to public belief, witches weren't persecuted in Western Europe before the Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church denied the existence of witchcraft and was quick to condemn those accusing others of the practise.

* During much of English history, there were only two crimes punishable by burning: heresy and treason. The latter was punished in different ways depending on the offender's status and gender: nobles of either gender were beheaded; common men were hung, drawn and quartered; and common women were burned at the stake. Treason came in two flavors: High Treason (treason against the state, including most of what we normally think of as treason, plus sundries such as counterfeiting the King's seal or cuckolding the King's heir) and Petty Treason (murder of someone with lawful authority over you, most commonly murder of a man by his wife).

 

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{{reflist}}

[[Category:This Index Is On Fire]]

[[Category:Pothole Magnet]]

[[Category:Trope Names From Memes]]

[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]

[[Category:Heat Index]]