Awesome Yet Practical: Difference between revisions
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People love things that [[Rule of Cool|look cool and flashy]]. Unfortunately, you frequently end up with [[Awesome but Impractical|flashy-looking things that don't actually work very well]]. On the flip side, you get [[Boring but Practical|things that work well, but aren't particularly interesting or impressive]]. Can't there be a happy medium?
Well yes, there can. Combining the best aspects of [[Awesome but Impractical]] and [[Boring but Practical]] is
Compare [[Simple Yet Awesome]], which is less impressive to see but just as awesome anyway.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[Snow Crash]]'''s Y.T., a skateboard courier who carries packages in urban environments, has a device mounted on her skateboard to help her avoid splattering herself on glass walls at 40
** Skateboarding to a delivery wouldn't be practical without the additionally awesome magnetic grapple to steal tows from passing vehicles.
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* ''[[Infamous (video game series)|In Famous]]'' is, [[Dueling Games|unsurprisingly]], similar to ''Prototype'' in this. The final move ''calls lightning from the skies to smite your foes'', which is easily the most effective way to defeat normal enemies, and even the final boss takes good damage from it.
** The sequel has Ice Launch, which not only looks awesome but launches you up a good two storeys, allowing you to avoid climbing smaller buildings and only consuming a small amount of energy.
* [[Counter Attack
* ''[[BioShock (series)]]''. [[Shock and Awe|Electric]] [[Shotguns Are Just Better|buckshot]]. Bam.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' games have Surf, a move normally used on the world map. Unlike the other comparable moves (Flash, Fly, Dig, etc), Surf is actually worth using in battle as well, being on par with pure-combat moves like Earthquake, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam.
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* For players of ''[[X (video game)|X3]]: Terran Conflict'' and ''Albion Prelude'' with a good supply train for munitions, M7M Missile Frigates can single-handedly level sectors with [[Macross Missile Massacre]].
* Most of the magic in ''[[Dark Souls]]'' is really cool, and almost all of the spells are lifesavers in the right situations. Iron Flesh in particular turns you into a slow but durable [[Chrome Champion]] that can tank just about anything the game throws at you.
* The Glaive in ''[[Dark Sector]]''. Awesome to look at, awesome to use, and almost always useful. Small wonder the normally [[
* ''[[Vanquish]]'' turned this trope into a video game. Everything Sam Gideon is capable of doing in battle looks frickin' sweet but also serves a greater purpose ([[Bullet Time|AR Mode]] attaches target identifiers to all available targets so you can pick them apart while you're still slowed down, boosting is like doing a rock and roll power slide but at 50
* The Medi-Gun in [[Team Fortress 2]]. [[The Medic]] is absolutely the rock of the team, supplying everyone with heals. This is accomplished by a real sweet backpack hooked up to a gun that shoots people with [[Power Glows|glowing tendrils of light]]. The Uber-Charge only makes it more awesome; for seven seconds both the medic and his patient are glowing, invulnerable metallic demons of death.
* Many ultimate abilities of [[League of Legends]] champions fall under this, particularly those belonging to [[Death or Glory Attack|burst damage based]] characters once you get their cooldowns sufficiently lowered. Special note goes to [[Light'Em Up|Lux's]] [[Wave Motion Gun|Finales Funkeln]]: Good damage, once of the longer ranges in the game, and can be used as frequently as every 24 seconds, with the right gear.
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* The F-35 Lightning II (a.k.a. the Joint Strike Fighter) is intended to be this in comparison to contemporary fighter jets. In particular, it has a much lower price tag than the F-22 Raptor, has stealth coatings that don't need to be reapplied after every flight (F-117 Nighthawk), and the Marines' version features VTOL that doesn't allow exhaust to get sucked into the intakes (Harrier).
** Sadly (for Americans anyway), the F-35 is turning into [[Awesome but Impractical]]. Much lower price? Not anymore (F-22 unit cost per plane $150 million, F-35 now at $122M to $184M). The stealth was in 2006 downgraded from "very low observable" to "low observable". In November 2011, a Pentagon study team identified 13 areas of concern that remained to be addressed in the F-35.
** The F-22 itself went from
* [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks|Sharks.]] Though there are a large variety of shark species [[A Worldwide Punomenon|floating around]] today, sharks are one of only a handful of species whose basic form has remained unchanged since prehistoric times, others including crocodiles and alligators. Sharks are no smarter, no stronger, no faster, and yet no less deadly than they were before humans' earliest ancestors showed up, and what this means is that all that time there was ''no need for them to improve.''
** And on land, wolverines. These things aren't much bigger than a medium-size
* The USAF's A-10 Thunderbolt. A truly awe inspiring machine that fulfills its function very well.
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