Videogame Effects and Spells

So what can you do in a video game? Jump, attack, swing your sword, rain fire and destruction on your enemy, heal your friends, or maybe do a backflip? This is an index of all the things that video game heroes and villains can pull off.

Tropes:
See also:
 * Ranged Energy Attack Tropes
 * Special Attack

This attack will never miss its target. Ever. Attacks that hit a wide area, rather than a specific target. Arrows can kill you. But they can kill you better if it's on fire! With the right item or spell, a character will be automatically revived in the event of their own KO. A great, flashy move, which is hard to use or does little damage. A stealth attack from behind that does massive damage. An attack that launches bones. The way to free a cursed or possessed person is to beat him up. A barrier made up of geometric shapes. Video games portray drunkenness in silly ways, often with positive status effects. The mainstays of your skillset that you use over and over again, because they are the most effective. The gun shoots bubbles. Lame. A spell that draws from the user's own health or life energy. A multi-hit lightning attack. Charge up a skill by either collecting items or holding a button. Used by multiple games to indicate various Standard Status Effects A special attack that occurs when two or more characters use certain attacks at the same time or in rapid succession. A sequence of moves that strings together. When the enemy attacks, you swat him right back. An attack randomly does extra (or double) damage. A chance for automatic failure, usually in the form of an Epic Fail. A status ailment making its subject take more damage somehow. A unit receives a negative status that inflicts a small amount of damage at regular intervals. A high risk attack that can be very powerful but can also backfire or disadvantage you. Characters are made more powerful near death, or given super attacks. Your attack destroys, not only your enemy, but also all the valuable stuff he would otherwise have dropped. An exploit where a powerful item or technique is achieved early on in the game. You jump, then you jump again. No, it shouldn't be possible, but it's fun. Ice beats water. Water beats fire. Fire beats... spooky? A powerful, unique weapon or ability suddenly obtained near the end of the game to help the hero get through the final challenges. HP: 200 MP: 90 Element: Potassium Weakness: Widdle Kitties An ability which can grow or change as you use it or gain levels. When the characters get supernatural bonuses or weaknesses based on the battlefield conditions. A special combat maneuver you can only use to finish off a battle. The three most common elements in RPGs. The increasingly common gameplay feature that has the player taking pictures of enemies, items, NPCs, or features in the environment. A skill that does a set amount of damage, regardless of the caster's or target's statistics, or pretty much anything else. Enemies in Platform Games can be defeated just by landing on top of them. Games where you can stomp on an enemy to end up higher than where you started from. Hit Points and/or Mana Points are restored over time, depending if it's an ability or an item. Characters can grind a rail without a skateboard--just with their shoes. The player jumps, ducks or crouches in the air, and comes down powerfully onto the ground. An attack that makes standing around in a group a bad idea. An ability that hits so powerfully that the opponent is knocked all the way into the distance (twinkle!) An attack that always reduces its targets' Hit Points to one (i.e. 1 HP away from death). A unique spell or element only usable by bosses or special units, with no weaknesses. An attack that makes you invincible while it's charging or executing. An incredibly destructive, solid blast of Pure Energy emitted from the hands. An action performed to stop being knocked back by a hit. A move you can do to shorten the amount of lag time after an attack, letting you move again more quickly. If a normally lethal amount of damage instead reduces a character to their last Hit Point, and they can endure one more attack before being knocked out. In Eastern RPGs, although magic is usually less efficient than melee attacks, a spell or set of spells later in the game will be much better than the rest. An attack thrown by an enemy just before it dies. In RPGs, certain enemies can take Character Levels away from you (usually temporarily). An attack that hurts your opponent and heals you. A powerful attack or technique available after some requirement during battles (e.g. damage received) is fulfilled. Characters can't just use everything they know; they have to rely on a limited subset of them during battles. A character or ability that seems completely useless at first, but with repeated use and patience can be highly effective later. An attack that damages the target's magic points. A skill that drains a target's magic points and gives it to the caster. A skill that makes attacks damage your magic points instead of your Hit Points. When two sides are equally impervious (or vulnerable) to the other's skills or powers. An enemy or spell that has no elemental affinity and hence no strengths or weaknesses against elemental opponents. A spell or attack that lowers the target's HP by a fraction of the current amount regardless of other factors. Often cannot inflict a killing blow. Where the hero can copy the abilities of bad guys and use them from then on. It's randomized! An ability to fight back after getting knocked down. An ability that surrounds the user with deadly items, which then home in on enemies. Situation where a tough enemy can be beaten with a simple but sometimes overlooked strategy utilizing a single technique or item. You roll yourself into stuff to both damage and travel quickly. Where a gun can have a second "fire" button to produce a range of different effects. Where a boss or character can smash on the ground and send out a wave of energy that causes damage. A powerful attack that is nonetheless far less damaging than its depiction implies. Any weapon, move, or tactic that is normally not a basic punch, kick, or whatever other forms of attack the user normally uses. May or may not require some form of Mana or energy to power it. You spin around like a maniac in an attempt to make cheeky enemies give you a little breathing room. An attack that does damage in a radius around where it initially hits, dealing less damage farther from the center. Abusing an attack's Splash Damage or Area of Effect to get enhanced performance. A gimmick class, character or unit often added by game designers trying to add variety. An item, ability, or spell that enables the player character to move faster. An ability that gives a temporary boost of one form or another to a character or an ally. A spell that negates Status Buffs that enemies (or the players) have cast on themselves. Negative secondary effects that impair one's ability to fight an extended battle. The ability to call on a magical, often mythological entity without the hassle of actually having it follow you around. A mode where an individual temporarily becomes much stronger, almost always accompanied by a visible change towards the Badass end of the spectrum. You swing your sword, and a beam of energy shoots out to hit opponents from a distance. It's so awesome, you want don't want to use it; usually because It Only Works Once. A standard spell which causes The Undead to panic or be destroyed, depending on the work. An attack that can't be blocked, breaking any defense or counter. May be dodged or interrupted, however. Abilities that let you get through situations without fighting, but end up not being all that useful. A spell or effect which sounds useful in theory, but rarely ever works in your favor. When sneaking past an opponent isn't as easy (or rewarding) as just plain fighting them. Video games that actually let your character fly freely about the world. YOINK! You stole PIANO! You know when your parents said you were driving them up the wall? Here's how you actually do it. Tactical or strategic nuclear warheads used in gameplay. You get an item or instrument that can do all sorts of things - but you can't do them yet, because your in-universe character hasn't "learned" about them yet.
 * Always Accurate Attack
 * Area of Effect
 * Arrows on Fire
 * Auto Revive
 * Awesome but Impractical
 * Back Stab
 * Ballistic Bone
 * Beat the Curse Out of Him
 * Beehive Barrier
 * Booze-Based Buff
 * Boring but Practical
 * Bubble Gun
 * Cast From Hit Points
 * Chain Lightning
 * Charged Attack
 * Circling Birdies
 * Combination Attack
 * Combos
 * Counter Attack
 * Critical Hit
 * Critical Failure
 * Damage Increasing Debuff
 * Damage Over Time
 * Death or Glory Attack
 * Desperation Attack
 * Disadvantageous Disintegration
 * Disc One Nuke
 * Double Jump
 * Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors
 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower
 * Enemy Scan
 * Evolving Attack
 * Field Power Effect
 * Finishing Move
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning
 * First-Person Snapshooter
 * Fixed Damage Attack
 * Goomba Stomp
 * Goomba Springboard
 * Gradual Regeneration
 * Grind Boots
 * Ground Pound
 * Herd-Hitting Attack
 * Home Run Hitter
 * HP to One
 * Infinity+1 Element
 * Invulnerable Attack
 * Kamehame Hadoken
 * Knockback Evasion
 * Lag Cancel
 * Last Chance Hit Point
 * Last-Disc Magic
 * Last Ditch Move
 * Level Drain
 * Life Drain
 * Limit Break
 * Limited Move Arsenal
 * Magikarp Power
 * Mana Burn
 * Mana Drain
 * Mana Shield
 * Mutual Disadvantage
 * Non-Elemental
 * Percent Damage Attack
 * Power Copying
 * Random Effect Spell
 * Recovery Attack
 * Reverse Shrapnel
 * Revive Kills Zombie
 * Rolling Attack
 * Secondary Fire
 * Shockwave Stomp
 * Slap-On-The-Wrist Nuke
 * Special Attack
 * Spin Attack
 * Splash Damage
 * Splash Damage Abuse
 * Spoony Bard
 * Sprint Shoes
 * Status Buff
 * Status Buff Dispel
 * Standard Status Effects
 * Summon Magic
 * Super Mode
 * Sword Beam
 * Too Awesome to Use
 * Turn Undead
 * Unblockable Attack
 * Useless Useful Non-Combat Abilities
 * Useless Useful Spell
 * Useless Useful Stealth
 * Video Game Flight
 * Video Game Stealing
 * Wall Jump
 * You Nuke'Em
 * You Shouldn't Know This Already