Back Stab: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

 

As with [[One-Hit Kill]], some enemies can be [[Kung Fu-Proof Mook|immune]] to this. The opposite of this is typically the [[Finishing Move]].

 

Video game-specific subtrope of [[In the Back]]. Not to be confused with [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]], though the two may overlap.

{{examples}}

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** ''Dungeons and Dragons'' 3rd edition renamed the ability from "backstab" to "sneak attack". The main reason for using "Sneak Attack" instead of "Backstab" in later editions of Dungeons And Dragons was because it was no longer required to be 'behind' the enemy to use it; you simply had to catch the enemy off guard (signified by any situation where the enemy doesn't get a DEX bonus to AC). In 4th edition, this is called gaining "combat advantage." Also, the early backstab had to be performed with a dagger or shortsword, weapons one could easily stab someone in the back with, while later editions removed the weapon restriction (weapon restrictions which 4th Edition brought back, probably because of people wondering why more assassins didn't carry around battleaxes instead of daggers).

*** You can also set up a flank on the enemy (have your rogue and another PC adjacent to the enemy and positioned so that a line going between them goes through the enemy). "Rear or Flank Attacks" overlapping with thief's backstab first appeared in ''PO: Combat & Tactics''. Of course, since flanking is easy to set up and facing was removed in 3E (meaning the rules don't have a concept of "from behind" any more), partnering with the fighter to flank enemies is now the standard rogue tactic and the old-school, stalk and pounce "backstab" is obsolete.

*** This can get rather silly if you multiclass, since you can also sneak attack with any spell that requires a roll to hit. Sneak attack with a twinned ''Scorching Ray'', anyone?

** Sneak Attack appears as a common special ability in D&D Minis; the only requirement is that you have another of your minis on the other side of the target. It increases the attacker's damage by a set amount.

* In ''[[GURPS]]'' sneaking up behind a person is very effective because you can make an All-Out Attack (improve accuracy or damage by sacrificing defenses) without fear of reprisal.

* Sneak Attack is a possible feat in ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' although the ability is capped as with all damage, so the best one can do with it is to accomplish the same level of damage as everyone else in certain situations.

** That's underselling it. Attack Bonus is one of the most expensive items to buy in character creation, so most players prefer to buffer it with combat-speciality feats. Sneak Attack is one of the many useful, cheaper ways to hit your caps with regularity.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files (game)|The Dresden Files]]'' game, setting up an ambush successfully means that the targets have to roll their defenses from 0 in the first round of attacks. This makes ambushes particularly effective on high-level characters, for whom the normal defense might roll from 5 or higher, and the dice only allow for, at absolute best, a +4 result.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Assassin's Creed (video game)|Assassin's Creed I]]'' had two different versions of these; the discreet Low Profile Kills you could do within two feet of a guard and walk away from without attracting attention, and the flashy High Profile Kills that scared the crap out of everyone but could be initiated while running and from a greater distance.

** In [[Assassin's Creed II|the sequel]], Ezio can not only use the styles of kill described above, but in a straight-up fight if you work your way around behind somebody who is fighting someone else, and hit the attack button, Ezio will (unless they're not a mook) do an instant kill move with his current weapon. With the long sword and hidden blade, it's an honest-to-god back stab. With the short blade, he actually grabs the enemy with his free arm and plunges the blade into their chest. And with a hammer he, well....what happens is ''very''....crunchy.

* It's a spell Lars can use in ''[[Aveyond]]'' if he chooses to join the the Elite Mage guild.

* The ''Battlefield'' Series. Getting knifed in the back is a humiliating way to go in multiplayer.

* The Thief classes and the Ranger subclass Stalker in the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series can backstab.

*** ...Which would be basically everything it would be really useful to backstab, rendering said multiplier a nice case of [[Awesome but Impractical]] since it only appears about halfway through the expansion pack, at which point everything you'd really like to one-shot this way can't be, and everything else dies within two rounds of making melee contact anyway.

* Similar to the flanking maneuver in ''D&D'', ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'' gives some attacks the "backstab" trait, which causes double damage when flanking a target.

** It does: zapping someone who isn't aware of you knocks them out instantly, while attacking them from the front might take a couple of zaps.

* Heavily used by certain builds in [[Dungeon Crawl]], where it ''multiplies'' damage according to your Stabbing skill.

** If your sneak is high enough, you can even hit the enemy with another sneak attack, and then another, and another, and so on and so forth.

** This is also possible in ''[[Morrowind]]'', if you train your sneak, strength, and skill in what ever your choice of weapon is. At night, one can literally walk straight past a guards line of sight and punch him in the face. If one is so inclined.

** ''[[Skyrim]]'' has a perk in the Sneak skill that causes sneak attacks with dagger type weapons to do 15x normal damage. Realistically this can only be done when behind an enemy. Often triggers a brief execution cinematic, depending on the weapon used and the type of enemy.

*** On top of that, there are gloves you can find that give "double back-stab damage" allowing daggers to do 30x normal damage and one-shot just about anything in the game, including some Dragons. There's also a [[Our Demons Are Different|daedric]] artifact dagger you can get that ''also'' doubles back-stab damage, along with giving a small chance of simply killing the enemy. Combined with the gloves and the perk, you do 60x normal damage, and if that wasn't enough to kill them they might get killed by the 1% chance of instant death ''anyways''. Of course, if you screw it up, they probably eat your face.

* ''[[Fallout 3]]'' includes backstabbing, along with ''stealth chainsaw kills''. Attacking in general while undetected results in a [[Critical Hit|Sneak Attack Critical]] on whoever is hit. While not necessarily a guaranteed kill, it provides a very high damage bonus for executing.

** Earlier titles have the Silent Death perk, which grants double damage for melee attacks from behind while sneaking.

* In several ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games, if your target is facing away from you when you attack it, you will deal double damage.

* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' has the Thief class have two different abilities: Sneak Attack, which deals large damage when behind an enemy, and Trick Attack, which, at first, deals somewhat more damage than a normal attack when behind a ''party member'', and passing the hate from that attack to that party member. Both are normally combined, normally called SATA, to ensure the [[Stone Wall|tank]] has good hate, but this changes at level 60, when the Assassin trait allows Trick Attack to have the same massive damage effect as Sneak Attack, and thusly both abilities are used separately, normally using a [[Limit Break|Weapon Skill]] with Trick Attack.

* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has comparable abilities to ''Dark Messiah of [[Might and Magic]]'', they don't need to be executed from behind, but with all other skills, doing so significantly increases their chance of success.

** And in the original ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics|Tactics]]'', while attacking from behind usually didn't boost damage, it ''did'' guarantee a hit with physical attacks, ignoring dodge or block bonuses from shields. The [[Barehanded Blade Block|Sword Grasp]] ability still worked fine, though.

*** More specifically, there 3 categories of "dodging." Class evasion works only from the front and depends on your class (Thieves and Ninjas dodge more, for example). Shield evasion works from both the front and the sides, although only a few classes can equip shields. Accessory evasion (granted by capes) works regardless of which direction the attack is coming from, although not everyone wears capes because the accessory slot is pretty valuable. Tactically, attacking from the side is usually just as good as from behind, except against knights with shields. The aforementioned Sword Grasp ability just ignores all this and [[Game Breaker|blocks everything.]]

** In ''[[Twilight Princess]]'', the Back Slice involves jumping all the way around the enemy du jour and slicing into their back.

** Similarly one of the parry attacks in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]'' involves rolling under the enemy's attack, around behind him, and slashing. More standard backstabs are also effective against moblins: though they don't do any extra damage the moblin will spend the next few seconds jumping around in pain.

** One of these, with the sword, is actually called "Backstabber" (the others are "Spinecrusher" for the unarmed melee move, and "Tracheotomy" for the knive-to-the-throat).

* In the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' games, the player can sneak up on an enemy and point the gun at the back or side of the their head. This makes them drop their gun and, in Metal Gear Solid 2, lets you steal their Dog Tag.

** In ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', when the player does this they can now execute a 'body search' feature, which will usually make for gaining better items then found normally from enemies.

** In ''Solid 3'' onwards, it's difficult to perform the CQC Grab (and follow up with a chokehold or throat slit) unless you approach your target from behind.

** Somewhat awesomely, Duster the thief has the ability to potentially make the enemy's preemptive attack effort blow up in their faces by either hitting them with a spinning back kick, still getting the first attack in the round, or by jumping behind them, where the battle begins as if * you* were the one to sneak up on them.

** Again, doing it wrong, the fighter sets up a flank, and the Rogue/Assassin unleashes his sneak attack for massive damage, every 3 turns using his save or die death attack, not to mention the rarity of a critical hit in the first place.

** For posterity, that's a fighter/weapon master. Typically uses a rapier or scimitar, has a keened weapon, improved critical, and ki critical. That brings the rapier/scimitar's already-wicked 18-20 threat range to 10-20. That's right. They threat for a critical [[Game Breaker|HALF THE TIME. Throw the DC >43 instant death devastating critical in there for good measure.]] This procs two or three times per turn.

** The Pyro has a weapon suited for this tactic, the Backburner, which, while not a guaranteed instant kill, triples the already high flamethrower damage when used from behind (and even if the enemy gets away, there is a good chance that he'll die from the burn damage). The problem is, the Knife registers a backstab from 80 degrees to each side of the enemy's back... axis, and the Backburner, only 45 degrees. In addition, if the target turns around after being fired at, the triple damage stops rolling in and the Pyro is quickly blasted in the face. Spies never get that - the Knife deals damage equal to six times the enemy's current HP on a backstab. Hence the fandom name "BADburner"...

** There are a handful of counters for the Spy's instant-kill backstab in Team Fortress 2: A Medic's Uber-charge (active) makes him invulnerable, the Sniper's Razorback shield (passive) blocks one backstab attempt and momentarily freezes the spy, a scout with bonk atomic punch active which makes him invulnerable, and the Spy's Dead Ringer watch (active) fakes death. The Dead Ringer's effect makes the Spy somewhat useful for pushing carts (if disguised as his own team), as it isn't immediately obvious that the person was a Dead-Ringer Spy.

* The ''[[Tenchu]]'' series was practically built around these, as a ninja kills without being seen. If you can get into striking range of your target without being spotted by him or anybody else, your attack instantly kills him - in a rather flashy way - without so much as rousing the guards. ''Tenchu 3'' has a separate one for every possible way you could approach a target and a special one that's triggered when your target is standing on an incline.

* In the ''[[Thief]]'' series, Garrett can knock out guards with a single hit from his blackjack on the noggin.

** He can also kill most unalerted enemies with a single blow from his weapon (a short sword in ''Dark Project'' and ''Metal Age''; a dagger in ''Deadly Shadows''), or (versus human enemies) with a broadhead arrow to the head. However, the resultant noise and blood stains, and mission requirements that discourage or even ban killing on higher difficulty levels, make blackjacking the more practical method of enemy elimination. ''Thief: Deadly Shadows'' plays this trope the straightest, as you must be directly behind the target to score a blackjack or backstab.

* While it's not exactly a ''[[Visual Novel|game]]'', this is how the Nanaya clan in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' operates. As they're almost entirely normal humans going up against demons and vampires, the only way to win is to get close to them before they notice you and cut them to bits. Kiri, Shiki's father, actually used a mace to crush skulls, throats and internal organs. Shiki can mostly avoid this one because [[Evil Eye|his eyes]] [[Game Breaker|cheat,]] though he does take out at least one DAA like this in supplementary material.

* ''[[Kingdom Of Amalur]]'' has enhanced damage for non-detected backstabs with a dagger weapon.

* Rogues in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' get several moves which are only effective from behind:

** Garrote (does damage over time)

** Ambush (a more powerful version of Backstab which can only be used while stealthed)

** And there's Cheap Shot, a move that stuns the target and gives two combo points (other skills give one). It's as cheap as it sounds. Although only requires stealth or the Subtlety tree's Shadow Dance, the rogue can smack some muppet in the face if they so choose.

** Druids can change into catform to imitate Rogues, having several moves that can only be used from behind as well: Shred and Ravage (roughly equal to Backstab and Ambush, respectively). Pounce on the other hand (which stuns and has a similiar effect to Garrote) only requires stealth but can be used frontal aswell (although doing so is riskier).

** Furthermore, ''all'' melee attacks benefit from the attacker being behind the target. Attacks made in this manner cannot be parried or blocked. [[The AI Is a Cheating Bastard|Unless you're attacking an NPC]].

*** The computer can even ''dodge'' attacks made in their back. Don't ask us how they pull that off.

* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' Rogue class are capable of the same thing. Park Leliana or Zevran behind an enemy [[For Massive Damage]].

** Anyone can take advantage of flanking bonuses in ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'' and ''[[Dragon Age II]]''. Rogues can develop more expert skill at this, with wider flanking angles, increase critical chance and danage, and completely penetrate defenses. DA2 gives them this as an active attack, which allows them to [[Flash Step]] directly to the rear.

* ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' gives the eponymous hero a few low-profile KO moves like the Silent Takedown (performed from behind) or the appropriately named Corner Takedown. In Predator stages, these moves can be pretty important since most enemies are packing heat and you can't take sustained fire for very long.

* In ''[[The Godfather (video game)|The Godfather]]: The Game'' you can garrote an enemy if you manage to sneak up behind him unnoticed. It's not particularly powerful, though; its only real use is to take out the victim without alerting people not in line of sight, and since standard strangulation from the front is equally silent, the only real advantage is the extra Respect. In the sequel the [[Neck Snap]] is at least faster and you can also order Bruisers to do stealth kills.

* In the free MMORPG ''[[Lunia]]'', Tia has the backstab attack, whose damage is tripled if she uses it against the enemy's back.

* In Gladius, you get a huge bonus to damage if you hit an enemy from behind. Many lightweight gladiators, especially bandits, also have a Backstab attack.

* In the ''Mechwarrior'' series, armor is lighter on the rear of the battlemechs. Attacking from behind allows lighter vehicles to cripple even a [[Mighty Glacier]] with a little luck.

** In G-Nome, another(less popular) mech title, HAWCs are similarly poorly armored from behind. This doesn't hold true for all of them, as the shape and contour of many of the stranger vehicles mean there is no "behind."

** Playing as an Infiltrator class can also give you a damage bonus if you attack while invisible.

** Stealth kills are slated to return in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', with Shepard now able to ''pull enemies from behind cover'' (after sneaking into melee range) to stab them to death with the Omniblade.

* As mentioned above in [[Tabletop Games]], this is a favored Rogue tactic in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online]]''. One of the best ways to get a Sneak Attack on someone is to use your Sneak ability to get behind them and then make with the stabbity.

* The next gen ''[[Ninja Gaiden]] 3'' allows you to use these on occasions. Seeing [[Highly-Visible Ninja|Ryu Hayabusa]] using stealth sure is at odds with the rest of the series.

* ''[[The Old Republic]]'''s Scoundrel class has the Backblast ability, which is a backstab ''with a shotgun''.

* In ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'', Shulk, Fiora, and Riki all have arts that cause a significantly greater amount of damage when hitting from behind. There's also a gem that boosts the damage of all attacks that strike from behind by a large degree (Including the aforementioned arts), which can effectively make ''everything'' into a backstab.

 

* ''[[Nerf Now]]'' gives [http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/444 this] advice.

* In the world of ''[[Homestuck]]'', attacks from behind (regardless of stabbiness) tend to ignore hit points and be more automatically deadly, though the most recurring instance of this is by [[Knife Nut|Jack Noir]], so this trope still gets plenty literal use.

[[Category:Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty]]

[[Category:For Massive Damage]]