Tickling under the armpits is a common scenario in many movies, TV shows, cartoons, and comics. Typically, the victim is in a situation where they can’t move or is caught off guard by the aggressor. The sudden tickling forces them to bend or react to protect the area under attack, often resulting in comedic effects for the viewer.
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Why are we ticklish under armpits?
The underarm region, housing the axillary vein and artery, offers unimpeded access to the heart due to the absence of rib cage protection in this area.
There are several reasons why we experience ticklish sensations under our armpits:
Sensitivity of the Skin: The skin beneath the armpits is notably thinner and more delicate compared to other body parts, rendering it highly responsive to various forms of touch, whether gentle or intense.
Abundance of Nerve Endings: The underarm region harbors a dense concentration of nerve endings, particularly in the sensitive areas beneath the arm hair and along the sides of the chest. Consequently, any stimulation of these regions tends to transmit powerful signals to the brain, often triggering the tickling sensation.
Evolutionary Significance: Some scientists posit that the propensity to be ticklish in the underarms may have evolved as a defense mechanism. Given the vulnerability of this area, being tickled in the underarms can provoke reflexive flinching or recoiling, potentially serving as a means to protect against potential threats or attacks.
In some cases, the purpose of tickling under the armpits is not to play, torture the victim, or make them laugh, but rather to deliberately induce a muscle contraction that compels them to retract their arms, altering their initial posture.
Tickling can be exerted on a victim precisely for the purpose of
- forcing his or her arms to contract
- to make him or her let go of a hold
- stop hanging and falling down
- drop an object supported by the arms
In this article you will find a list of situations in which underarm tickling is performed to make the arms lower, lose grip, and cease holding on.
Movies
Dark Star (1974)
A mas is tickled by a evil, ball shaped alien to make him lose his grip and fall.
Drunken Master (1978)
The protagonist is tickled by a friend who wants to disturb his exercises.
Eyecatch Junction (1991)
In “Eyecatch Junction”, two policewomen, Makoto and Atsuko, are having a like-wrestling much. Makoto almost loses but discovers that Atsuko is ticklish and starts to tickle her armpits.
Atsuko try to resist but starts to laugh. Makoto asks her if she’s ticklish, then grabs her and starts to tickle vigorously her armpits. Atsuko laughs loudly until the end of the match.
Sirens (1994)
Estrella tries to free herself, but Sheela asks, “Are you ticklish?” and tickles her belly. The woman snaps back ceasing resistance, and the others move away.
Sliding Doors (1998)
Gwyneth Paltrow is briefly tickled under her armpits by his female friend while she’s painting.
The Jungle Book (1967)
Baloo tickles Louie’s armpits and chest too, he laughs like crazy and begins to lose balance.
Todos por unos, golpes para todos (1973)
A man is tickle dunder his armpits to make him fall.
TV Series
Glee
A girl is tickled under her armpits to make her lower her arms.
Glow
Liberty Bell (Elizabeth Folan Gilpin) is tickled under her armpit to fall out of the ring.
Honey, I shrunk the kids
A boy tickles his mother’s armpits to force her to put her hands down and grasp an object she is holding.
Hope & Faith
Faith is tickled on her armpits as she grabs at the doorway in an attempt not to be taken away.
Wings
Helen Chappel-Hackett played by Crystal Bernard gets briefly ticked under her armpits as she grabs at the doorway in an attempt not to be taken away.
TV Shows
Below Deck
Maria Deckard is tickled under her armpits by a man while performing a handstand.
UK Gladiators
In “UK Gladiators” “hang out” competition, competitors sometimes use underarm tickling to force their opponent to let go and fall into the water, or for strictly comedic purposes.
Cartoons
Ace Ventura
A man climbing onto a balcony is tickled under his arms to make him lose his grip.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin tickles Bettany under her armpit to make her lower her arms.
Daitarn 3
A woman tickles a man under the arms to make a stone slab fall on him.
Dragon Ball
Goku tickles Master Karin to obtain the magic water he helds.
Ep. 45: Goku tickles Husky to make her arms twitch and the dragon balls in her hand fall.
Dragon Ball GT: During the Tenkaichi Tournament, Goku is tickled under the arms by Mugley to cause him to lose his grip and fall off-screen.
Farhat – Il principe del deserto
Farhat is tickled under his arms by his own shadow as he hangs on a rope. He starts laughing and squirming and eventually falls.
Kyou no Go no Ni (Today in Class 5-2) – Episode 4
Yuki Asano tickles Ryota Satou to make him go down for a height inspection.
Lilo & Stitch
Lupin the Third
Ep S1X17
Lupin plans to steal a large shipment of gold using a machine shaped like a volleyball. It expands by releasing mechanical arms that place all the gold bars inside.
Zenigata follows the machine out of the vault with the gold inside, and takes flight. The inspector with a leap manages to cling to it, thus planning to reach his opponent.
But Lupin has the solution. He pulls one arm out of the car and it begins to tickle him lightly under the armpits. As soon as the inspector starts laughing Lupie understands that he can take advantage of it. Type the instructions into the computer that skyrockets the pace of the arms. The inspector is forced by the terrible tickle to laugh and finally loses his grip, falling on the roof of a building.
Ep. ?
Zenigata, in order not to spring a trap inside a chamber, is forced to cling to a large balloon that he has inflated with his own breath.
Sadistically, Lupin begins tickling his armpits. The poor inspector finds himself forced to laugh and thus loses his grip on his support.
EP. ?
Zenigata chases Lupin over the train tracks. As one’s own track recedes, Zenigata clings with his arms to the edge of the other to keep from falling off.
Lupin then tickles him under his armpits, briefly making him lose his grip.
S1X16
Lupin set up a big heist at a jewelry store. For a change, Fujiko betrays her partners and runs away with the truck full of jewelry.
Lupin tracks the woman down and damages her air vehicle, forcing her to parachute out. Fujiko thus ends up stranded on a branch, with her suitcases still in her hand.
Because she refuses to let them fall, Lupin intervenes with a kind of mechanical telescopic arm.
Turning a crank, the arm moves a clamp on its end. The girl, frightened, begins to fidget but can do nothing. Gripping the device, he reaches into her armpits and moving around gives her a terrible tickle.
Fujiko is forced to laugh and struggle and ends up dropping first one case and then the other.
OAV. Lupin tickles a soldier to make him falls by the bike.
Pollon
Sone giants are tickled under their armpits.
Pokemon Indigo League (ep. 76)
Meowth tickles Ash’s side to make him let go of the torch! From
Sidekick (S2X6)
Two boy and a girl are tickled by their female friend who wants them to lose their grip.
Darkwing Duck
Darkwing Duck is tickled by his daughter who wants him to free her.
Ducktales
Launchpad McQuack tickles Glugzilla to make him to lose his grip.
Fairy Tales
Lucy Heartflia is tickled under her armpits, neck and nelly by Virgo, to prevent her from holding two stone walls apart with her arms.
Garfield
Heatcliff
Miraculous
Marinette is tickled by some girls.
Sora No Otoshimono / Heaven’s Lost Property
Ikaros is tickled by a girl under her armpits, but she not smiles, and has a strange reaction.
Comics
Captain america #342
Diamondback is training in wrestling with Demolition Man. Suddenly she starts tickling his armpits. D-Man starts laughing and states that tickling is not an allowed move in wrestling.
Later, Black Racer, a member of the Serpent Society, enters the ambulance that is carrying Jarvis and attempts to kidnap him. Diamondback clings to Black Racer who is moving the stretcher at super speed.
Suddenly, she tickles her underarms forcing her to let go of Jarvis. Black Racer falls to the ground, and Diamondback thinks tickling is a useful move, after all.
Ducktales
Amelia tickles Webby Vanderquack under her armpits to make her fall. She says it’s a “ticklish situation”.
The Cyriaan Chronicles
Make the goth girl laugh
Tats McCree
Five Weapons
Enrique Garcia tickles Jade the Blade under her armpits because she’s ticklish, to make her lose her grip.
Hang challenges
Elisabetta Canalis tickles Maddalena Corvaglia
Gym exercises
Arm wrestle
Klay Thompson is tickled during an arm wrestle match.
Bhumi Pednekar gets tickled while arm wrestling with RJ Abhay.
Vips
Scarlett Johannson is tickled by Chris Evans.
