"Wocketawocketawocketa" is exactly the sound minions make when you shake them like this.
"WHAT KIND OF STUPID NAME IS SHAKEN-UNFAIRLY??"
Falling between the Neck Lift and Metronomic Man Mashing in terms of forcefulness (and physical improbability), the Minion Maracas occurs when someone lifts someone else and shakes them in mid-air, whether for emphasis or from an excess of emotion. Generally applied only in animation and comedic works, due to issues of leverage. The sound of a cowbell is optional.
If the shaking has the pragmatic reason of letting loose something hidden in the subject's clothes, that's Shake Someone, Objects Fall.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The Mysterious Cities of Gold: In the second episode, Gaspard finds Little Stowaways Zia and Esteban on the ship to the New World, and lifts them both in each hand, shaking the boy up and down. But he stops quickly when he realizes Esteban is seasick and about to barf on him.
Comic Books
- Asterix:
- Obelix briefly but cheerfully takes to this move in Asterix the Gladiator:
Obelix: Look, I shake them instead of punching them! They last longer this way!
- He also uses this as an interrogation method on a Gaul who sold Asterix to the Romans, in Asterix and the Banquet.
- Toward the end of Obelix and Co., Julius Caesar angrily shakes Caius Preposterus harder and harder while explaining to him that his schemes have nearly ruined Rome and that he now needs to clean his own mess.
- Obelix does it again to an uncooperative merchant in Asterix and the Magic Carpet.
- In Asterix and the Missing Scroll, Libellus Blockbustus is a choleric little man who's in the habit of doing this to his servants. Including with a mute scribe, while ordering him to talk (he has to be reminded twice that the scribe can't).
- Obelix briefly but cheerfully takes to this move in Asterix the Gladiator:
- Bone: At the end of book 1, Out from Boneville, Fone Bone and Phoney Bone are reunited, and Fone is seen running toward his cousin, apparently to hug him... except instead, he grabs Phoney by the collar and shakes him.
- In the Tintin album Tintin: Destination Moon, an enraged Professor Calculus lifts a security guard easily twice his size and suspends him off a coat rack.
Films — Animation
- The Horned King from The Black Cauldron shakes The Creeper repeatedly after one of his plans fail.
- In Turning Red, Mei shakes Tyler after pouncing on him for insulting her mother and her family temple.
Films — Live-Action
- As part of his Nervous Wreck persona, this is not rare for Louis de Funès' characters to indulge in shaking hapless people.
- Les Grandes Vacances: When Stéphane Michonnet reads the message to Mr. Bosquier saying his son Gérard and Shirley Mac Farrel eloped, Bosquier grabs Michonnet by the lapels and shakes him, taking out his rage on the messenger.
- Hibernatus: At the height of his epic breakdown where he reveals everything to Paul Fournier, Hubert de Tartas grabs the formerly hibernated man and shakes him vigorously.
- Pouic-Pouic: Léonard Monestier to his Servile Snarker butler, Charles, after The Con comes to a crashing end.
Léonard: My concession... [angrier] MY CONCESSION [grabs Charles and starts shaking him]
Charles: Well, actually it has been sold...
Léonard: WHAT!!!
Charles: To Mister Antoine Brévin [with a big smile]
Literature
- In the Discworld novel Guards! Guards!, after finding out that Sybil is in danger, Vimes picks up the Librarian and shakes him — asking him where they took her. The Librarian helpfully points him in the right direction, while quietly musing about the strong emotions it would take for a man to pick up and shake a 300-lb orangutan without even realizing.
- In The Hobbit, Thorin Oakenshield picks up Bilbo Baggins and "shakes him like a rabbit" when he learns that the hobbit has stolen the Arkenstone and given it to the men and elves besieging the mountain. At least, Gandalf manages to convince Thorin to not throw Bilbo down the wall.
- Redwall:
- At one point Captain Plugg of the book Triss picks up two crewbeasts who've done something stupid and actually bangs their heads together.
- In the original Redwall book, Cluny the Scourge does the same to two of his lieutenants whose foraging expedition failed pretty miserably. Slightly unusual for this trope, in that Cluny is explicitly shown to be considerably larger and stronger than his subordinates, so the feat of strength is not so surprising.
Live-Action TV
- Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: After losing a fight with the good guys, Soaron is left helpless as he regenerates. Comes Blastarr wanting to know the location of their enemies. Despite being on the same side, the two robots detest each other and Soaron is defiant because he wants to fight the humans himself. Except Blastarr grabs him by the neck and shakes him violently until Soaron relents and gives him the coordinates.
Video Games
- The Legend of Zelda:
- The Happy Mask Salesman in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask starts furiously shaking Link around upon learning that Link failed to recover the titular mask.
- Linebeck in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass does this to Link as well near the beginning, leaving the poor kid too dazed to stand-up straight after giving him a key.
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks begins with Alfonzo picking up a half-asleep Link and shaking him awake.
- Kano from Mortal Kombat has a special move where he grabs an enemy by the neck, heaves them up and violently shakes them for significant damage.
Webcomics
- In the fan webcomic Batman and Sons: Rivalry
, Diana shakes both Batman and Green Arrow simultaneously — one in each hand — to urge them to stop their stupid feud.
- In Disney High School, after Ariel was singing and Eric (her crush) fortuitously heard her, a panicky Ariel rushes to the arts and craft club, grabs Rapunzel by the front of her shirt and frantically shakes her.
Ariel: HE HEARD ME SINGING! HE HEARD!!!
Rapunzel: Who? What? Stop shaking me! - In Girl Genius, after Violetta and Moloch mercilessly tease her about her romantic prospects, Agatha Heterodyne gets upset and violently shakes the both of them together, making "Wocketa wocketa wocketa" sound, while scolding them for their childishness.
- Goblins:
- Minmax briefly shakes Fumbles while holding his neck in retaliation from being bitten.
- There's a minor character who was named Shaken-Unfairly by the tribe soothsayer, who ends up giving us the page quote.
- Minmax briefly shakes Fumbles while holding his neck
- Narbonic:
- Dave lifts Human Artie off the ground in joy, freaking him out.
- In the earlier story, "Professor Madblood and the Doppelganger Gambit", Artie, who has been turned into a copy of Dave, shakes Mell. Then he notes how cathartic this felt.
- Schlock Mercenary: Considering the A.I. Ennesby is both maracas-sized and -shaped, it shouldn't be too surprising he'd end up shaken like one. Notably, when Sergeant Schlock is trying to convince him to use his maser.
Western Animation
- Occurs in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien with the Earthquake Machine alien Andreas holding Kevin by his collar. He uses his vibration-generating powers to shake him even harder.
- In Darkwing Duck, Taurus Bulba alternates between doing this and a more standard Neck Lift to Hammerhead.
- In the Duck Dodgers episode "Detained Duck", Krak the Klunkin shakes Duck Dodgers to refresh his memories. Although it happens to be a case of mistaken identity.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- During the first dream of "Bloom & Gloom", upon noticing her brand-new cutie mark, Apple Bloom excitedly shakes Applejack fast enough that her head becomes a blur while making a ringing sound.
- In "Sparkle's Seven", upon finding that the Canterlot juice bar is closed in the day, Rarity (in full Shadow Spade mode) grabs the helpful stallion that informed her by the lapels and shakes him while wanting to know about the secret palace entrance.
- "Frenemies": During the Villain Song, after Chrysalis sends Tirek tumbling down a flight of stairs, the centaur grabs an annoying Cozy Glow, sings "For all this pain and torture, I swear you'll pay!"... and then he shakes the filly forcefully enough for her tongue to hang out.
- "A Trivial Pursuit": When Twilight explains to Spike that Pinkie Pie's involvement in the Trivia Trot game is throwing off all of her calculation, she grabs the dragon in her hooves and shakes him vigorously.
- SpongeBob SquarePants. Of all characters, SpongeBob lifts up Mr. Krabs and shakes him in "Can You Spare a Dime?" while angry that he wouldn't give Squidward his job back. Leads to an accidental Shake Someone, Objects Fall.
Real Life
- Terriers, Dachshunds, and generally any dog that hunts smaller animals, famously do this to kill their prey, grabbing them around the neck with their extremely strong jaws and shaking them around until they stop moving. Partly because it works, and partly because it keeps their prey from biting back.
- Can be the source of the aptly-named Shaken Baby Syndrome. In short, NEVER do this to a small child (or at all, preferably). If you are taking care of a baby and they just will not stop crying no matter what you do, and you're so mad you feel like you might shake them just to make it stop, a common piece of advice is to put the baby down in their crib (or somewhere else safe) and go sit down in a different room for 5-10 minutes until you feel calmer.
