"The Prometheus School Of Running Away From Things" is a catchphrase that mocks characters in movies, TV shows, and games who fail to dodge obvious danger by fleeing in a straight line3. The joke sticks that behavior onto a fictional academy, implying the person on screen graduated from a program that only teaches one useless technique. It shows up as a caption on clips where someone sprints along the exact path of a falling object or oncoming vehicle when a two-step sidestep would save them2.

The line comes from criticism of Ridley Scott's 2012 Alien prequel Prometheus1. In one scene, characters Elizabeth Shaw and Meredith Vickers try to outrun a massive horseshoe-shaped ship as it crashes end-over-end toward them, sprinting parallel to its rolling path instead of stepping a few feet sideways.

Users typically drop the phrase as a caption or top comment on any clip where someone or something dies by running in a straight line along the trajectory of the threat. Common conventions include highlighting cars, boulders, aircraft, or explosions moving on a fixed path where a small lateral step would have solved the problem.