Calling Your Attacks: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

If you can do something more impressive than just throw a punch, your attack(s) must have an equally impressive name. More than that, you have to call it out as you launch the attack. It doesn't matter if it's a martial arts move, a magical spell or your secret superweapon, if you can't say its name, it just isn't nearly as [[Rule of Cool|cool]] or effective. Also, expect plenty of [[Power Echoes|echoing]] to come with it, and (if a fighter is feeling particulary bombastic) dramatic... * pauses* ... WITHAYELLATTHEEND! A standard feature of practically every [[Magical Girl]], high fantasy, or martial arts anime.

 

 

In terms of realism, this has some ground as traditional and even some current practitioners of martial arts hold the belief that accompanying statements and/or vocal noises alongside execution build up their ''chi'', thereby increasing the power and efficacy of their moves and techniques. Put less spiritually, saying a phrase at the right time during an attack ensures proper breathing. A call used for this reason is known as a ''[[Kiai]]''. The naming of attacks also served a more practical purpose as many martial arts schools, Chinese ones in particular, used to be secret societies. The passing down of techniques was done orally and giving them esoteric names often facilitated this transmission. In addition, ''kiai'' has the potential to startle the opponent and give you an opening.

Another variant, primarily found in video games, displays the attack name on screen as it is being executed, without a vocal "call". This typically happens in games where there is no voice acting; the call is implied. In fact, flamboyant attack/technique names are pretty much a trope in and of themselves.

 

 

For a long time, only attacks that were meant to end the fight (or at least devastatingly powerful) were worthy of calls. Two well-known examples are Kenshiro spelling out the spectacular death he just dealt to his foe and Dragon Ball's signature "[[Kamehame Hadoken|KA...ME...HA...ME...HAAAAAA!!]]". A few pro wrestlers did this as well ("Power bomb!"). It wasn't until the advent of fighting games, particularly Street Fighter 2, that shouting out every little spinkick and ki ball became standard practice.

 

For a very villainous variation, see [[To the Pain]]. For battle cries or shouts, see [[Kiai]] and [[Battle Cry]]. When violently subverted, it's [[Talk to the Fist]]. (Mostly) has nothing to do with [[Calling Your Orgasms]]. When your opponent is calling your attacks, it's [[Combat Clairvoyance]] or [[Kung Fu Clairvoyance]].

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{{examples|'''TROPE... ''EXAMPLES!!'''''}}

== Anime... and MANGAAAAAA!! ==

* We could save you a great amount of time and just say every [[Magical Girl]], [[Shonen]], and [[Super Robot]] anime ever, but if you prefer specific examples, keep reading.

* Hiroshi Shiba from ''[[Kotetsu Jeeg]]'': "MAGNETO PRESSURE!", "DYNAMITE PUNCH!", "SPIN STORM!"

* Akira hibiki from ''[[Raideen]]'': "GOD GORGON! MULTIPLE ARROWS!"

* Justified in ''[[Getter Robo]]'': the reason attacks are called out is because the robots' operating system uses them to ACTIVATE the attacks, which makes a LOT of sense. What's easier, shouting "GETTER BEAM!" and having your robot fire? Or having to press switches, throw levers and turn knobs to do the same?

** Only in the ''Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo'' OVA. The other series don't bother with this, or at least don't mention it outright.

*** The best example of the lampooning is Recoome's most powerful attack: the Recoome Ultra Fighting Miracle Bomber. Goku intervenes and attacks Recoome in the middle of calling out this attack! As a result, {{spoiler|the only way to see this attack is to perform it in the Dragon Ball Z games.}}

** There's also the most well known example: ''KAAAAAAMEEEEEEHAAAAAAMEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAA!''

* In ''[[Tower of God]]'', Ignition Weapos like Black March, Narumada and Green April will only release their special abilities when their name in combined with the command to attack. Since this happens in the heat of battle, there will be shouts.

** [[Missed Moment of Awesome|FIRST EMPEROR'S MARTYR]]!!!

** "Burning in the depths of the pits of darkness, let the fires of hell take you, Let the fires become my sword and strike you down! Venom!"

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''

** Later on, we see him during a battle, making up names as he goes, such as "''Hidden Blade Surfing Rakan! (Newly Named)''".

*** And the Rakan For-The-Hell-Of-It Right Hand Punch.

*** He even renames existing moves; such as when he renamed "Shinmeiryuu Hidden Technique, Zanmaken: Ni no Tachi" as {{spoiler|In Celebration of my First Kiss with Ojou-sama Special!}} so that Setsuna could use it without worrying that the technique was too high for someone of her status to use.

*** A list for Rakan [http://vetus.wordpress.com/rakanpower/ here.]

** Turns out Nagi wasn't much better than Rakan when it comes to this.

{{quote|[[Idiot Hero|Stupid]] [[Papa Wolf|Dad]] PUNCH!}}

** While most of the time this is played straight, there is the strange matter surrounding "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken", roughly translated as "Imperial Broiled Chestnuts Roasting in an Open Fire". That is the name of a ''training exercise'' to increase hand speed, but it led to Ranma using an unnamed [[Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs]] attack in all his subsequent battles. The creators of the anime and video games [[I Am Not Shazam|mistook the training's name for the attack's name]], and so Ranma began to call out "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken" when he used the attack. He actually only calls it out a few times in the anime (and even does it once in the manga); it's in the fighting games where he shouts "Amaguriken!" every time he uses it.

** And naturally, characters in ''[[Ranma ½: The Abridged Chronicles]]'' tend to call out their attacks as well... usually [[The Frantics|"Boot to the head."]]

** Not to mention the Saotome Style Ultimate Technique, which consists of screaming "ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE!" really loud, then running away while your opponent is still surprised, and thinking up a new strategy.

** Not only did the English dub rename every attack (despite already being in English) they also were horribly inconsistent. Giving attacks a name they gave a different attack, using something completely unrelated ("Mars Fire Ball Charge" in place of "Evil Spirits Begone!") or just plain wrong! Dic was fairly constant about what they were called despite being renamed (aside from a few early oddities like "Mars Fireball Charge"), while Cloverway would change episode to episode, Such as "Venus Love-Me Chain" being called "Venus Love-Me-chain" or "Venus Love-Me Chain Smash" or "Venus Love-Me Chain Encircle".

* ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' prefers this trope even though characters prove from time to time that it's not necessary and that they can merely summon magic at will (as shown a few times in battles between Nova and Hikaru).

* Spoofed in ''[[Rune Soldier Louie]]'': Louie is little more than a brawler to start with, but he's already named his basic right cross; he calls this attack enough that it practically counts as a [[Catch Phrase]] ("Louie Punch!").

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' doesn't always call her attacks, but her computerized magical wand does, combining this trope and [[Robo Speak]].

** The ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series have tried to integrate this silliness into the traditionally more realistic [[Real Robot]] genre by making these attacks voice-activated. Then there's mecha Fanboy [[Jumped At the Call|turned mecha pilot]] Ryuusei Date, who not only calls out his attacks, but will often ''rename'' them. If the player assigns him to pilot a different mecha, he'll rename ''that'' mecha's attacks too. In the most recent games, his "disease" has apparently spread to Mai Kobayashi ("Queen of Kicks") and Latooni Subota ("Tonfa Princess"), both of whom adopted this habit because they have a crush on him.

** Lampshaded to a degree in the anime adaptation ''Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector'' episode in which Kyousuke demonstrates his now (in}famous "Ultimate Gespenst Kick", as just before he launches the attack an on-screen prompt actually ''instructs him to shout the attack name'', which the normally stoic Kyousuke does with dramatic hot-bloodedness.

*** Macross pilots sometimes wish they were in a [[Super Robot]] show: for example, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3S3SGTUUg GAMLIN KIIIICK!!]

** For that matter, firing the [[Wave Motion Gun|main cannon]] of the [[Cool Ship]] always involves a direct (and yelled) order from the captain, which typically names the weapon explicitly. "Lohengrin, FIRE!"

** ''[[Sousei no Aquarion]]'' is especially [[Egregious]] about this; not only do the characters call their attacks, but pretty much every time a never-before-seen attack is performed by the heroes, a special frame comes up displaying the name of the attack. [http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/31589/ Examples].

* Brilliant, brilliant spoof: the ''[[Marmalade Boy]]'' movie features a memorable scene where five small neighbourhood boys encounter the protagonist as she's practicing tennis, and pretend to be a [[Super Sentai]] [[Five-Man Band]], including [[In the Name of the Moon|a formal introduction of the entire team]] and lots of highly stylized called [[Ki Attacks]]. The teenage girl in question decides to be the [[Cool Big Sis]], and cheerfully pretends to be the [[Monster of the Week]] in response.

** A notable exception is in ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'' where the dubbers ''removed'' an attack's call. In this case, Kazemon's [[Ass Kicks You]] attack was never formally announced (though it was informally referred to as a "Love Tap" the first time it was used); presumably because they didn't want to call extra attention to a [[Stripperiffic]] character doing a butt-thrust. Since it made it seem like Kazemon did this on her own apart from her standard attack list, this made for weird [[Dub Text]].

*** Later in the series this trope is [[Averted Trope|averted]] when Magna Garurumon attacked Cherubimon in the middle of him calling his "Storm of Judgement" attack.

** {{spoiler|[http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/366/09/ "MASHIRO KIIIIIIIICK!!] [http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/366/10/ KIIICK!! KICK! KICK!"]}}

** Seeing as they have the two longest phrases to activate their shikai, it's probably a good thing Kyoraku and Ukitake know how to skip it, using just the zanpakuto names instead. Fridge Logic in how they managed before they figured out how to skip the incantations. When Starrk goes through a full transformation sequence complete with his own, snappier phrase, the captains do not.

** To use their [[One-Winged Angel|resurreccion]], Arrancars say a specific word, followed by the name of their zanpakuto.

* Spoofed in the ''[[Gunnm]]'' manga. While in the middle of an emotional conversation, Gally (or Alita, depending on translation) is attacked by a guy on a motorcycle. She throws him, bike and all, off of a balcony, without a pause in the conversation. When asked what the name of that throw was, she responds, "Um... the Two-Wheeled Biker Throw."

** Aoshi Shinomori ''describes'' his Kaiten Kenbuu technique while he's using it, only announcing the name after the attack.

** In the fight against Enishi, he demonstrates how tough of an opponent his is by matching Kenshin move for move in his fastest attack on one occasion, and [[Talk to the Fist|punching Kenshin in the face]] before he can finish getting even the Hiten Mitsuryugi name out on another.

* Many of the spells from ''[[Slayers]]'' require a [[Magical Incantation]] that ends with the name of the spell being shouted out.

** Spoofed by [[Love Freak]] Prince Phil, who practices what he calls "[[Martial Pacifist|Pacifist Martial Arts]]" and Zelgadis dubbed "oxymoronic attacks" -- "Pacifist Crush", "Goodwill-Towards-Mankind Smash", "Joyous Reunion Bearhug", etc. Phil and Amelia are [[White Magic]] users, so this [[Good Hurts Evil|works well]] against [[Exclusively Evil|Monsters and demons]].

** Subverted when Lina begins the lengthy incantation for her famous Dragon Slave spell, blurts out "etc. etc. etc." in the middle and then rapidly casts it with no apparent difference. Other times in the series, it's shown that a spell can be cast with just calling out the name, but is usually less powerful.

** In interviews with the creator, how this ties into the rules of magic in the world were even more blatantly spoofed, with the creator mentioning that [[Idiot Hero|Gourry Gabriev]] has nearly the same magic capacity as Lina, but would never make a good sorcerer because he's so stupid as to be incapable of memorizing the incantations necessary to utilize it.

** [[All There in the Manual|More explanation]] on the rules of magic in the ''Slayers'' universe: mastery of magic in the ''Slayers'' setting is accomplished by skill with "Chaos Words", the [[Magical Incantation|incantations]]. The more powerful a sorcerer is, the less words they need; simply invoking the name is all the good wizards actually need to cast a spell. And if they use more Chaos Words then they actually need, the power of the spell is amplified further. This also means that only the very best wizards in the world can actually cast a spell without even speaking its name.

** Not just for spells. "LIGHT COME FORTH!" is shouted by Weapon of Light users and makes the weapon more effective

* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has both normal and subversive calls. The most impressive attacks are called normally ("'''Giga Drill ''BREAKER!!!!'''''"), but characters do occasionally call normal fighting moves with ridiculous names, e.g. "[[Catch Phrase|Who the Hell Do You Think I Am]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkkFPrNdKu0 Kick]!".

** When Domon does the "Shining Finger Sword" attack in [[Super Mode]] or Hyper Mode, the chant doubles in length. That version, and a video of it, are at the top of this page.

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' usually avoids this, but Michael Trinity couldn't resist shouting "Fangs, fly!" whenever launching them, and ''everyone'' shouts "[[Super Mode|Trans-Am!]]" when that system is activated. Tieria usually announced when he was firing his "Burst Mode" bazooka, but this could simply be a warning to his allies, as said Burst Mode is extremely powerful, and not something you'd want to get hit with, Gundam or no.

* ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' does this; however, it is necessary for her to call the name of the card in order to summon its powers. Indeed, there are times when she can barely get the word out in time to perform the necessary action.

* ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'' is filled with these occurrences. More recently, one character has named his move "Super Ultra Great Delicious All-Out Mountain Storm". Yes, the adjective "delicious" used for a tennis move. Some say this is a sign that the author has lost it.

* The Flash anime ''[[Xin]]'' subverts this: the only guy who calls his attacks is the weakest one there.

* ''[[Mori no Ando]]'': "Do you not know the saying: 'One should not fight- STRIKE MR ANDO STRIKE!'"

* Pretty much all duelists in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' call the attacks of their duel monsters, as well as any magic or trap cards they play. This is even parodied/lampshaded at one point (at least in the English dub) by The Pharaoh himself in his duel with {{spoiler|Dark Marik.}} His opponent is so busy calling out his monster's attack that he fails to notice that Yugi has played a magic card which negates the damage.

** It was played for laughs in the Jounouchi vs. Marik duel - Jounouchi gets control over one of Marik's monsters. Since he doesn't know the monster, he doesn't know its attack's name, so he makes one up - ''Jounouchi Fire!''. The reaction of his friends marks one of the [http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1492/excep.png rare instances in which Yami Yugi is drawn in a semi-chibified style] (the [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]]' dub omitted the joke, replacing it with some generic duel comments).

** Tokiko [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] Kazuki's tendency to do this during his fight against Washio, telling him that calling his attacks gives his opponent an ample opportunity to counter (something at which Washio excels). Kazuki then justifies it by saying it feels more powerful that way.

*** [[All There in the Manual|Which in the manga's liner notes]], turns out to be [[Nobuhiro Watsuki|Watsuki's]] preferred explanation.

* Used after the [[Magic Music]] finishes in ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]''. "Love Shower... Pitch! ♥"

* In ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]'', Eagle Ken likes to punctuate his special boomerang attacks with "Birdrang!"

'''Kurogane:''' Screw that. }}

* In ''[[Death Note]]'', Light prefers to smile silently while writing in the Death Note, whereas {{spoiler|Mikami Teru loves to shout "Sakujo!" ("Eliminate!") after writing each name.}}

* Whenever Hughes Gouli of ''[[Overman King Gainer]]'' uses Ninpou he shouts out the attack, its spoofed when Gouli does this while hotwiring a train transporter and calls it "BLAZING CAR", later spoofed when while fighting a [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] Gouli, Adette uses "Female teacher Ninpou Shedding Sking", after she escapes from Gouli using her Winter Coat as a decoy (she still had her [[Stripperiffic]] outfit on underneath) and defeats Gouli by kissing him.

* ''[[Code Geass]]''

** Despite being a mostly [[Real Robot|serious]] mecha series, once in a blue moon, someone may call an attack. Episode 10 of R2 was notable for having two such occurrences in one episode; Tohdoh's "Shadow Longsword!" and Kallen's [[Wave Motion Gun|"Radiation Wave!"]]

** And, of course, "Lelouch vi Britania commands you..." He dropes the drama when time presses, but still does it often enough for CC to call him on it.

* ''[[GEAR Fighter Dendoh]]'''s attacks are called so hard the name is usually visibly flashed across the screen as they're being performed.

* Subverted in ''[[Battle Programmer Shirase]]'', when Shirase used his Double Compile technique for the first time in the series: the background turns into a yellow blur, the camera pans around him, he called "HISSATSU!! Double compile!!"... and sat back again, listless as usual, stating "that's really unnecessary"... before overloading a top-of-the-line supercomputer, causing it to blow up, ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|with a cellphone]]''.

* In ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', Tasuki's [[Paper Fan of Doom|fan]] requires an incantation for it to shoot fire, so he's one of the few characters who regularly gets to call his attack.

* Spoofed in ''[[Dragon Half]]''. When the King gets angry, he pulls a nearby rope and yells, ''Crushing Press!'', dropping a huge weight on his target (usually his incompetent advisor) labeled "Ye King's Wrath".

* Lampshaded in ''[[Angel Densetsu]]''. Sanzo makes up progressively idiotic names for his attacks, while [[Deadpan Snarker|Ikuno]] comments how he's talking out of his ass.

* ''[[NEEDLESS]]'' is ''made of'' this and wacky characters who use it gratuitously. Some of the more hilarious cases are:

** <s>DOPPELGANGER!!!</s>[[Gratuitous English|DOPPERUGENGA!!!]] (written backwards for whatever reason) Furthermore, the one with this power is one of the female main characters, so expect to hear it in any episode. Yes, you have [[Ditto Fighter|a shapeshifter]] as a good guy.

** Subverted with Kuchinashi: she never say anything, but the screen is filled with stylized attack declaration anyway whenever she use her power.

** BTW, this anime has nothing to do with ''[[Loveless]]'' mentioned above.

* [[Hayate the Combat Butler]] calls out his special attack. The other [[Battle Butler|combat butlers]] do this as well

* Generally averted in ''[[Eureka Seven]]'', though Anemone does call out her "Vascud Crisis" attack. Played for laughs in the [[Breather Episode|soccer episode]], where Moondoggie calls out over-the-top "attack" names when taking a shot.

** Kind of justified with the [[Up to Eleven]] version of that move, "Vascud Swell", as she needs the aid of 6 "amplifier" mechs and has to let them know before she uses it, so they can set up.

* ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' does this once in the first episode; she summons a field of flowers to break [[The Wise Prince|Mytho's]] fall from a window while saying "Waltz of the Flowers" (at the same time that the actual ''[[The Nutcracker (theatre)|Waltz of the Flowers]]'' is playing in the background). In every other instance, though, her vocalizations in combat (as far as ballet can be called combat) is more along the lines of [[Talking the Monster to Death|Talking The Monster Through Its Problems]].

* ''[[Hentai Kamen]]'' flips this trope on its ear. Three words: "Inferno Bullet Train".

* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. Yeah, in American football. This also greatly exaggerates [[Talking Is a Free Action]]. We've got Devil Bat Ghost, Devil Bat Dive, Devil Laser Bullet, Devil Backfire, Devil Stungun, Devil Bat Hurricane, Devil 4th Dimension, Delinquent Deathblow, Gentle Prince Spin... Spear Tackle, Trident Tackle, Shuttle Pass, Zero Gravity Run, the Swim, Rodeo Drive, Roping Rodeo Drive, Quickdraw Pass, Delta Dynamite... The list goes on.

** And this also applies to game plays. Criss Cross, Dragon Fly, Devil Wishbone... Or techniques in general, like the Rip.

* ''[[Grenadier]]'': Rushuna is a gunfighter, but she still manages a couple of these when wielding ''pieces'' of her revolver. "Zero distance range-gun skill!"

* Spoofed at one point in ''[[Beelzebub]]'', where the main character calls a punch and a kick by impressive names... despite them being an ordinary punch and kick. His [[Non-Action Guy]] sidekick even dutifully starts making nonsense up to [[Combat Commentator]] about it.

* [[Sonic X|"SCREW KICK!"]]

* [[Buster Keel|"GAHOU!"]]

* Seen in the various ''[[Di Gi Charat]]'' series, mostly with Dejiko's "Me-kara Biimu" or in English, "[[Eye Beam]]!"

* Done In [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]] by Gokudera and Yamamoto

* [[Yaiba]] does this with almost all his attacks. It's rarely done by the bad guys though.

* Every special move in [[Inazuma Eleven]], complete with subtitile as a shout out to the original game it's made from, with a few exceptions when the moves are being debutted for the first time. In such case, [[Combat Commentator|Magane]] will name them.

** The [[Expanded Universe]] has some of the other girls mock Mami for her use of this trope.

* Parodied in the [[Lucky Star]] OVA during the volleyball game when Konata calls out "Super Ultra Miracle Eccentric Special Serve!".

{{quote|'''Aceman:''' ''"Time to finish you off..! Super Ultra Delicious Dynamite Kraken Gaki Special Atomic Bomber Spiral Core Poisoned Drill Gravity Air Spin Fire Flare Vibrating Spectacular Final [[Overly Long Gag|Yogurt Electronic Synchro Drive Jumping Beam Happy Zero Heat Ice Crusher Terry Itou Stone Mountain Surging Dark Candle Freeze Buster Light Sun Ocean Remarkable Clear Clip Cutter Jab Gazelle Monkey Boar Coelacanth Stardust Poison Papiko Sunder Storm]] [[Lampshade Hanging|Enlightened Over-Named But Really Nothing But An Extremely Normal]] '''PUUUUNCH'''!!!"''}}

* Averted in ''[[Gamaran]]'' despite being a shonen about fighting. The characters usually names the attacks outside of the battle or to their partners in case of a combinated attack. However, when someone performs a special attack the name is "thought".

** Obviously master of cowardly escape and deceit Haruo Nijima also calls his "attacks": "Nijima escape", "Nijima shock baton", "Nijima Human Shield"... you get the picture...

* Parodied in ''Monster Collection'', when the [[McNinja|rogue martial artist mercenary specialized in covert operation]] Crow, seeing how easily the [[The Cavalry|High Lizardmen finest squad]] manages to drive back an army of Giant Ants exclaims: "They're really strong! They call their attacks out loud! You could die if you get embarassed!".

* Played straight in ''[[Danball Senki]]'' with double servings for each [[Finishing Move]]. The player calls out "Hissatsu function" and then the control device calls the name of the attack.

* ''[[Accel World]]'' has Cyan Pile's SPLASH STINGER, as well as a few others.

* The [[Mundane Made Awesome|cricket tournament]] in ''[[Black Butler]]'': "CRIMSON ROSE TORNADO!!" "RUSHING VIOLET VAPOUR, PURPLE BURNOUT!!" Though, in the first example the character apparently just thinks the words. The sub-arc in question is actually a [[Deconstruction]] of calling your attacks and the typical [[Shounen]] [[Tournament Arc]] plot. Later on we see people using to a great effect moves that don't have any special names, and it's made very clear that it's a bad idea to let the opposition predict your attack. (And by the way, no one in the manga has ever called their attacks in the actual fight scenes, probably because they [[Too Dumb to Live|have a modicum of common sense]].)

 

* [[Judge Dredd]] often calls out the names of his [[Trick Arrow|trick bullets]] whenever he fires his Lawgiver. This actually led many readers to erroneously assume that the gun was voice-activated (which in the movie it was).

* In ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' either Colossus or Wolverine will call out for the [[Fastball Special]] before it's performed. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that neither Colossus nor Wolverine are telepathic; they have to signal to each other when to do the attack or you just have Colossus flinging Wolverine around without his consent or Wolverine jumping into Colossus's arms for no reason.

* Johnny Alpha from ''[[Strontium Dog]]'' does much the same thing. "Number Four Cartridge!"

* In one ''[[Invincible]]'' story, it's revealed that to summon a new stone shell for his body, the recurring villain {{spoiler|not really}} [[Heel Face Turn|turned good guy]] Titan yells "Rock On!" This inspires our hero to try saying "Invincible PUNCH!" the first time he hits a guy in their team-up battle. Titan [[Lampshade Hanging|calls him on it]], he explains, and it never happens again... except once in The Pact when he's decking an old man who was admitting to owing him a debt of gratitude. (No, he's not being a [[Jerkass]], it was [[Your Approval Fills Me with Shame|the last person he ever wanted to help]].) The Pact guys don't exactly like it (the name, not the punch) either.

* [[Spider-Man]] occasionally does this, as do his villains. In one [[Egregious]] example, the villain turns around suddenly and shines a blinding beam of light in Spiderman's face. What does he shout as he does this?

* In ''[[Naruto the Abridged Series]]'', they parody this by having all the characters call their attacks with such entertaining names such as "Old Man Monologue Attack" and "Pudding Dragon". Then it's subverted with the "Heart Exploder Death Seal", with actually steals people's souls.

** "DRAMATIC HOKAGE FIGHT JUTSU!!!" "How often could that possibly come up, that you would need to name a technique for it?"

* Fauna of [[DC Nation]] will sometimes call out the animal form (or forms) she's transforming into. It's not essential, but it is a focusing trick, as her abilities come with some [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body|unpleasant side-effects]].

* ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'' has Haruhi screaming [[Touhou Project|"Master Spa~ark"]] when doing certain attack and Kuyou Suou when using her peculiar but effective defense against [[You Will Be Assimilated|assimilation]]: [[Fun Size|"Activating 'chibi-mode'!"]]

 

 

== FIIIIIILM!! ==

* Played with in the movie ''Once Upon a Time in China and America''. The hero's assistant gets in a fistfight with a non-Chinese speaking cowboy, and (atypically) doesn't call his moves, but simply howls abuse at him. Later, when the cowboy switches sides and picks up a few moves, he "calls off" the moves by shouting what he heard before. ("Who the hell do you think you are?!")

** There's also one scene where, as a part of his strategy, Wong Fei Hung calls out the name of a move and then does a completely different, which causes his opponent to complain. When the opponent attacks again, Fei Hung calls out the same move and actually does it this time, nailing the opponent. When the opponent complains again, Fei Hung mocks him, basically saying "Yeesh, you complain whatever I do! You sure are hard to please!"

* In the ''[[Austin Powers]]'' series, Austin always says "Judo chop!" whenever he chops a [[Mook]] on the head. [[Don't Explain the Joke|Despite the fact]] that Judo is a martial art based on ''throwing people to the ground'', and doesn't ''have'' chops. Other characters do this as well, such as Felicity Shagwell to Fat Bastard right before she [[Groin Attack|kicks him the groin.]]

** This may be a spoof of the ''[[James Bond]]'' novel ''Goldfinger'', where the villain describes Karate as "a branch of judo".

** In fact authentic Judo does teach the "judo chop" (called tegatana ate, 'hand-blade strike') but it is not allowed in competition judo. It is only allowed in 'kata' (drills or exercises). Its use in Austin Powers is a spoof of the fact that the "judo chop" was a now-narmish staple of 60s spy shows.

* The western comedy ''[[The Villain]]'', features a scene where protagonist "Cactus Jack" Slade is in a Western saloon gratuitously punching people in various ways, and naming the attacks: "Uppercut. Right cross." Finally, he gets a taste of his own medicine and then some: "And that's a two-by-four."

** Originally, it was entirely based on what you willed to happen. When someone gets distracted, this could be very bad. After a particularly horrible accident, an entire race used all their life force to make it so you could just say what you were going to do (in a language that is now only used by elves) and that's what would happen. It still wasn't foolproof. {{spoiler|Eragon gave a baby a blessing that was supposed to shield her from misfortune. His grammar wasn't very good, so he accidentally made her ''a shield'' from misfortune}}, but it's easier to learn good grammar than to never get distracted.

*** It wasn't the magic system's fault that Eragon didn't know the grammar rules of the language.

** [[Memetic Mutation|"Drive me closer so I can hit them with my sword!"]]

* And God said "Let there be light." Not actually an attack, but close enough to the spirit of the trope. The Word of God ''is'' His power. The way God's power works is He says something and then it's true.

== Live Action... TEE-VEEEEEE!! ==

* [[Toku]] shows (''[[Power Rangers]]'', ''[[Super Sentai]]'' and ''[[Kamen Rider]]'') love this kind of thing. Even if most of the time, the attack is pure [[Stock Footage]].

*** Has been taken to the extreme in the seasons under [[Scapegoat Creator|Bruce Kalish]] where even the ''guns'' are voice activated. That's right. Whether you call them guns or blasters or anything else, these weapons with quite noticeable triggers (y'know, devices which are operated via the finger) require the user to shout: '''"LASERS!"''' in order to make them fire.

** ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]''/''[[Power Ranger Samurai]]'' has an odd variant - the characters ''write'' their attacks [[Words Can Break My Bones|in Japanese kanji]]. Justified as [[Magic A Is Magic A|that's the way magic works for them]].

* The [[Combat Commentator]] version is present in most promotions of [[Professional Wrestling]], with the ringside commentators talking about the move, its history, and how utterly devastating it is. As well, most wrestlers, while not explicitly calling their signature moves, do have a particular pose or set-up they perform to signal it. The late [[Curt Hennig|Mr. Perfect]] actually did call his signature move, turning towards the camera and saying, "Now, you're going to see a Perfect-Plex," before executing the maneuver.

** Perfect's call was parodied/subverted by jobber Reno Riggins, who would have a brief surge of offense, then pause to shout "Get ready for... a RenoPlex!". This would inevitably give his opponent more than enough time to recover and beat the tar out of him.

** [[Bret Hart]], eternally characterised as a master technician, used a variation of this with his [[Five Moves of Doom]] -- "calling" his Sharpshooter by using the same group of set up moves in sequence. It's now common enough to have become a trope of its own.

** Sean "X-Pac Heat" Waltman's crotch chops before the Bronco Buster.

** [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]'s People's Elbow... Nuff Said!

** In the indies, it isn't uncommon for wrestlers to literally yell out the name of the move they're about to hit before executing it. (Or attempting to, as the case may be.) [[Christopher Daniels]], for instance, sometimes shouts "Angel's Wings!" before going for that finisher, Chris Hero shouts "Death Blow!", and on one occasion [[Bryan Danielson]] screamed "AIR...PLANE...SPIN!" before doing [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WifeCQFv_Po this.]

 

 

== Roleplaying... GAAAAAAMES!! ==

* Similarly, it is sometimes necessary in LARP events to call out specific attacks. For instance, a backstab might do 5 damage, but the dagger would only do 1; in that case, the player might be required to say "Backstab - 5" instead of only the damage dealt to inform the victim he's not cheating. Calling out attacks is also used in LARPs that have magic; since there is no actual effect, and since the effects can be more elaborate then simple damage (a sleep spell, for instance), spell names and effects need to be called out.

** Lightning bolt! Sleep! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_ekugPKqFw LIGHTNING BOLT!]

 

== Tabletop... GAAAAAAMES!! ==

** 4th edition actually ''invites'' this, with all attacks having names like "White Raven Strike".

** Even moreso withe the "hellish rebuke" warlock power, an attack that takes the character's angry shouting (with a seemingly expected performance by the player), turns it into fire and hurls it at an opponent.

* The priests of Kor, the god of war and slaughter in [[The Dark Eye]], have the power to harness all the damage their first eight strikes would do and use it all on the final ninth strike. While they are doing this, they will start counting from one to nine, so any enemy familiar with this cult will know what's coming. Doubles as a [[Death or Glory Attack]].

* In the comics in between chapters in any ''[[Exalted]]'' book, the characters sometimes shout out the name of the Charm or spell they are using. All Charms and spells also have names like "Flight of the Brilliant Raptor" and "Hungry Tiger Technique," practically begging for this treatment.

* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' The first step in casting a spell is to announce it which includes naming all its targets, costs and modes. Not announcing your spells properly is a rules violation since it is considered public information that you need to present to your opponent fully.

{{quote|Cast Lightning Bolt on the Grizzly Bears}}

{{quote|'''Vyse:''' [[Wave Motion Gun|MOON STONE CANNON]], ''FIRE!''}}

* Notably, many Japanese 2D fighting games, such as ''[[Street Fighter]]'' and ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' feature characters that shout the names of their signature attacks, famous examples from both being the Hadouken and the Genocide Cutter, respectively.

** Naturally, this was done in the ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom]]'' series of fighting games, which features Western superheroes shouting out their attack names even when they never do so in the comics.

*** FOOT DIVE! HIGH KICK! HIDDEN MISSILES! PLASMA BEAM! MOLECULAR SHIELD!

*** Sometimes the same attack would change names between Legends 1, Legends 2, and MUA, though some characters did get new ones.

** In ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Figher'' and ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' the '''announcer''' will call your attacks. That is, if your Super Combo Finish connects. Abandoned in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', likely due to the sheer volume of audio clips required (usually 2-3 super combos per character, 56 playable characters in all).

* In [[Atlantica Online]], all player characters call their magic skills every time they use them, on the lines of

"[Enemy's name]!Take this![Magic's name]!".''Even with healing spells.''

** The punch was also adopted by the anime, where it is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFtw7qW7Vcw insanely powerful].

** Also, in ''Brawl'', when Snake fights Falcon and uses his codec, he and Otacon lampoon this by saying they've always wanted to do something...unlike [[Ho Yay|what you're thinking]], they do a laudably over-the-top "FALCON PUUUUUNCH!" "FALCON KIIIIICK!".

** Kirby, after copying Falcon's or Ness's powers, also calls out the attack names, but in his insanely cuter, higher-pitched voice. "[[Memetic Mutation|Fawcon Punch!]]"

*** Kirby also calls out his attacks in the ''Hoshi no Kirby'' anime (but removed from the dub).

*** In Tales of Vesperia, Rita takes a long time scrying out Violent Pain whenever she casts it. She has a full speech ready each time. Put her in [[Berserk Button|Overdrive]] though, and she'll just screw over the scrying incantation by saying "Blah blah blah," followed by calling out her attack. "Violent Pain!"

** Hermana of ''[[Tales of Innocence]]'' actually yells "Puuuunch[[" and "Kiiiiiiick]]" for some of her moves.

** According to some supplementary material, the main character herself modified the combat to the system used in the games sometime between the fifth and sixth games (that is, of course, assuming the [[Shrug of God|first five games are even canon]]).

** [[I Love Nuclear Power|Utsuho Reiuji]] does it with ''bright yellow CAUTION! signs and a warning klaxon''.

* In ''[[Valkyrie Profile 2]]'', all characters call out their [[Finishing Move]] at the end of their little speech while performing it. For mortals and einherjar, the speech ends with "Finishing Strike: (name of attack)". The gods finish with the shout "Divine Assault: (name of attack)".

** This is also done in ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'', with the addition of Suo's call of 'Ougi!', Badrach's 'Deathblow', and Jun's "Mugen no kensen, Blade Art, Senko-Jin!" Not to mentiong the mages who call all their spells... and go into a full [[Invocation]] for Great Magics...

** Destroyman can't help it, even if he knows it's the flaw in his battle strategy. His weapon, the SFX Converter, is made so that it'll automatically do an attack by calling the attack. He needs to call out the attacks or he can't use any attack except his melee attack.

** Travis seems to have stolen some of his attack names from the [[Show Within a Show]] anime he's fond of, given that its main characters are Blueberry, Cranberry and Strawberry...

* Ability names are displayed when used in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', but occasionally the character using them will call them out with a descriptive preface. "Destruction of nature, gather in flame...Fire!" Removed from the English version of the PSP remake.

* Being an amalgamation of a great many [[Humongous Mecha]] anime, ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' has more of this than even entire series of fighting anime. Although just about everyone does it, [[Original Generation]] character and [[Ascended Fanboy]] [[I Know Mortal Kombat|Ryusei]] has a particular joy for doing this, even when simply letting off a couple shots in a [[Real Robot]], to the point where he initially gets some funny looks from the other characters. It seems to be infectious, as those same characters end up using this trope more and more as the games go on.

** A somewhat odd example exists in that there is technically an attack that ''everyone'' calls out, no matter their predilection to doing so normally. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISQIKZTr5d4 The] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-EmFkf-jUk infamous] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3zJCj0l5lk Gespenst] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1Whnv2KS2o Kick] seems to cause pretty much anyone who uses it to suddenly become markedly [[Hot-Blooded]] and scream the name of the attack at the top of their lungs. Hilariously, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcTNymCqzuk the anime] suggests that the reason everyone does this is that they actually ''have'' to shout it out in order to execute the Gespenst Kick properly.

{{quote|'''SHOUT NOW!!'''}}

{{quote|'''Beat:''' This is it for you! Fire Blast!

'''Falsetto:''' By lightning and thunder will you be thrown. By wind will you be scattered! Heaven and earth! Howling Thunder! }}

** Sometimes, the names Bang calls out for his attacks aren't even the right names. Ex. "Critical Super Crash!" for "Bang's Unstoppable Double Palm Thrust." He even has two slightly different names for an attack based on whether it is being used on the ground or in the air.

** Against personal rivals, the voices change to something relevant to the character pair.

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'': "CHAOS CONTROL!"

** [[Sonic Colors|"Laser! Drill! Spikes! Cube! Rocket! Hover! Frenzy!"]]

* In ''[[Viewtiful Joe]]'', the first time you fight Captain Blue, he shouts, "Captain Blue kick!" For some reason, he does not do this in the next battle.

** Other characters get into it, too. Joe calls out his "Red Hot Kick!" move, while Alastor calls out almost all of his moves.

{{quote|'''George''': [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Reverse Roundhouse. Jaw fractured... High Axe Kick. Collarbone Fractured.]]}}

 

** Required for certain Noble Phantasms to activate, particularly those that have one-shot effects, as you need to call their "true names". ''"Gae... BOLG!"''

** Happens to a lesser degree in the prequel ''[[Fate/Zero]]''. Still, EX... CALIBUR!!!

* Used suprisingly often (as it's a [[Visual Novel]]) in ''[[Brass Restoration]]''. Most notably, "FOREHEAD CRUSHER!"

* ''[[Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!|Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai]]'' has all members of the Kawakami Temple doing this, and Assistant Master Lu even spends time brainstorming names for his new special moves.

 

== Web... ANIMATIOOOOOON!! ==

* Saltman, a guest character in ''[[Banana-nana-Ninja!]]'', fires his "SAAAALT LASER!" which is, strangely, a ''glob'' of salt.

* Tucker from [[Red vs. Blue]] does this after he gets his sword, saying either "swish" or "stab" for either sort of attack. He only knows those two.

** "What's to understand about swish, swish, stab?"

** '''[[Turn Undead|TURN UNDEAD!!!]]'''

** Power word: Stun is described as [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0306.html a single word], naturally when Vaarsuvius casts it s/he simply yells [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0716.html STUN.]

* [[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]''

** [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/10p40/ This strip]. Though it's a demonstration rather than a proper attack.

* Both played straight and subverted in ''[[Molten Blade]]''. The second time Fred tries this, his target hears him in time to dodge the attack.

* In ''[[Antihero for Hire]]'', Baron Diamond takes this to absurd extremes, with "Diamond Knuckle" ("That's just a regular punch!"), "Diamond Pivot", "Diamond Wall Grabbing Move," and so on in that [[Incredibly Lame Pun|vein]].

* ''[[Gold Coin Comics]]'' does this all the time, when a character is about to use a special skill or spell.

* Cardboard Tube Samurai does this at least once in ''[[Penny Arcade]]'', at [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/3/14 the end of "Cardboard And Steel"].

* ''[[Exploitation Now]]'' mocked it in [http://www.exploitationnow.com/2002-01-21/213 these] three strips.

{{quote|'''[[Naughty Tentacles|Tentacle Demon]]''': (to captives) Anybody up for a game of Monopoly or something while we wait for her to finish shouting the name of her ultimate attack?}}

* Lampshaded in ''[[1/0]]'', [http://www.undefined.net/1/0/?strip=938 when Marcus tries to make a spark].

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', Zoe, [[Women Are Wiser|of all people]], invokes this trope.

{{quote|'''Zoe:''' You gave me enough time to set a trap. A little trap I like to call ... ''[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date{{=}}090630 MISSILE BARRAGE!]''}}

* And let's not forget [[Dominic Deegan|DEATH FROM ABOVE!!]]

* Spoofed in ''[[MS Paint Masterpieces]]'' with Quintet's [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Kick-You-In-The-Face-Attack]]. Played straight with most of the other Robot Masters.

* [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' because it's about a group of RPG'ers who are always saying what they are doing.

* Plenty in ''[[The Way of the Metagamer]]''. There's [[With Catlike Tread|"SNEAK ATTACK!"]] and [[Memetic Mutation|"FALCON PUNCH!"]], and the author shouts about whatever he's doing, usually as [[Techno Babble]].

* Used in parody in ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'' whenever a character causes particular annoyance. A quick "AYUUU BEEEEEM" or "SUPAHHH CHOP" generally leaves the offending character as a heap on the floor or a [[A Twinkle in the Sky|speck vanishing into the sky]].

* Made as a joke in ''[[One Piece: Grand Line 3 Point 5]]''

{{quote|''Luke'': "Gomu Gomu no ROCKET!!!!"

 

== Web... ORIGINAAAAAAL!! ==

* An inversion happens in the ''[[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad email]]'' episode "hremail3184", when Strong Bad hits Homestar with a rake, a shovel and a garden weasel, and it's Homestar who shouts "Rake", "Shovel" and "Weasel" upon being hit.

** There's also Stinkoman and his trademark "Double Deuce!" attack.

{{quote|Mortimer: Your bullets have little to no effect on me.

Junesake: How about some of this!? [impossibly long attack name name]

{{quote|"Sam Art: Darkness Needles!!!" Sam yelled, prodding a Combine in the eye with the blunt end of a pencil.}}

* In ''[[The Impossible Man]]'' Yuki calls her attacks, Jamal has a named attack of his own, and Kaijumon owners have named attacks for their pets.

{{quote|'''Aimee''': Hailey, you mind not giving each of your attacks a name? It sounds....stupid....}}

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGmeX6CLas IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR!]

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' (usually the leader Blossom) call out group attacks like Acrobattack, Cherry Bomb, and Furious Flaming Feline, obviously so the others know what attack they're using.

{{quote|'''Blossom''':[[Attack Pattern Alpha|Attack Pattern Alpha Omega]] [[Atari]]! '''Go!'''}}

* In ''[[Defenders of the Earth]]'', the Phantom frequently calls on "The Power of 10 Tigers" before performing a feat of great strength.

* [[Spider-Man]] mock-calls his attack when [[Storm]] does this.

** For those wondering, this comes from the [[Spider-Man: The Animated Series|90s cartoon]], where Spidey meets the [[X-Men (animation)|X-Men]], hoping that Professor X can help him with his mutation. Unfortunately, he ends up in the Danger Room. In the ''[[X-Men (animation)|X-Men]]'' series from the same time, Storm was quite the [[Large Ham]] when using her [[Elemental Powers]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fz93UFClpo as you can see here.] Spidey... well, [[Deadpan Snarker|couldn't resist]].

'''Spider-Man''': "Um... Power of web-shooters, get real sticky!" }}

* [[Ali Baba Bunny|HASSAN]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlMJfX_V6Ic&feature=related CHOP!]

** Jump-kick! Psych, it was a punch!

** Vampire kick!

 

 

** Also inverted for "Reloading!" and any variations; you're informing others that you're currently ''unable'' to attack because your weapon is out of ammo.

** According to the other wiki, in some states, one has to announce the intent to use deadly force before they can legally be justified fighting back in self defense against an attacker.

 

----

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Magical Girl Tropes]]

[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]