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In many anime, when characters are surprised or seen to do something stupid,
the other characters will sometimes fall or keel over on their faces in some
comical positions with their legs in the air. Where did this originate and is
it used in any other case and or culture where stupidity or shock is _(or)_
not implied?

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/t9Uaq.png)

This [link offers some information](http://tropes.wikia.com/wiki/Face_Fault)
on it but it **doesn't verify or explicitly state**
[its](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Face%20Fault) origin.

> When shocked or surprised, often by an absurdity or non sequitur, the
> listener may fall over onto his face, his limbs in a twisted mass above him.
> In its typical form, the character in question has just heard someone else
> say something so incredibly stupid that it, quite literally, floors them.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/k2ZUy.png)


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2013-04-01T00:56:24.147
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2020-09-10T19:17:38.667
2013-04-01T01:31:02.100
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question
tropes anime-history
What is the origin of the face fault?


According [here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FaceFault)

> When shocked or surprised, often by an absurdity or non sequitur, the
> listener may fall over onto his face, his limbs in a twisted mass above him.
> In its typical form, the character in question has just heard someone else
> say something so incredibly stupid that it, quite literally, floors them. A
> device usually limited to humorous anime, **this may have been imported from
> a similar trope in[early American comic strips called the 'flip-
> take'](http://www.lileks.com/comics/jerry/index.html)**. A variation used
> mainly in films (as falling on one's own face in real life tends to be
> dangerous) has the characters briefly faint backwards, as opposed to
> forwards. Often includes, and is confused with, [Wild
> Takes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_takes).


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-15T06:52:34.727
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2013-04-15T06:52:34.727
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answer