Combat Clairvoyance: Difference between revisions

Not to be confused for [[Calling Your Attacks]], which is about calling out the names of your own attacks as you do them.

 

 

== Anime And Manga ==

* [[Complete Monster|Takuma Fudou]] from ''[[Get Backers]]'' has this by way of precognition. He can look a few seconds into the future, and see what his opponents are going to do.

* The [[Big Bad]] of ''Scryed'' {{spoiler|eventually gains this ability, which becomes something of a Wallbanger considering it allows him to dodge Straight Cougar's attacks (A Speedster who, with his basic Alter, can break the sound barrier; the [[Big Bad]] is physically no stronger or faster than a normal human. This was in his upgraded form, no less).}}

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Nodoka's artifact has the ability to read minds. While this doesn't quite fit the Clairvoyance part of the trope, the use we see most often is her reading her opponent's mind in combat and reacting to the opponent's plan.

* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'', being a series about people who receive ways to predict the future and are then sent to kill each other, of course has this in spades.

* In ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'', upgrading to the three-tomoe state of the Sharingan gives this ability. If they're looking at someone in motion it will be like they can see exactly where and in what position that person's entire body will be in. However, there are some things, like the [[Animal Battle Aura]] of a tailed beast's host, whose movement it can't predict very well. The other shortcoming is that knowing exactly what your opponent is about to do doesn't necessarily mean you're strong enough or fast enough to stop him from doing it.

* ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]''

** It is [[Chekhov's Skill|revealed much later on]] that this skill is called Mantra by the Sky Islanders, but is one of three types of [[Ki Attacks|Haki]], called the "Color of Observation" or "Kenbunshoku".

* In ''[[Psyren]]'' we have Kabuto Kirisaki, whose psychic ability "Menace" acts as both [[Spider Sense]] and [[Combat Clairvoyance]]. He can see incoming danger as a white aura a few seconds before it actually happens.

* Parodied in ''[[Soul Eater (Manga)|Soul Eater]]''. A [[Mook]] shows up who has this ability. Sadly, he can't ''react'' that fast and ends up throwing himself at his opponent's fist at the first opportunity to save himself the bother -- all he saw was different ways he'd get his ass kicked.

* The [[Villain of the Week]] Nurse Okamoto/Hina in episode 5 of ''[[Star Driver]]'' has this, able to anticipate all of Takuto's moves... unfortunately, it also came with a fanservice mode. And since she couldn't stop checking out Takuto she lost.

* Shiki in ''[[Tsukihime (Visual Novel)|Tsukihime]]'' due to his ability to perceive death, knows when he's about to be hit by a lethal blow. Since his opponents are a lot more powerful than him, that's nearly every blow. That doesn't help him in numerous [[Multiple Endings|Bad Ends]].

* Brad Crawford of ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' has the ability to see bits of the future, making him a formidable fighter.

* Canonically, this is the explanation for the [[Star Wars|Jedi Knights']] superior combat-skills and ability to block lasers with their lightsabers... they've got the ability to predict the future in a limited way. This is brought up in Episode 1 when Qui-Gon Jinn pegs Anakin as a potential Jedi due to his ability to participate in Podracing - a sport that human reflexes simply aren't fast enough to keep up with. Jedi can also look further into the future, but this generally requires a lot more effort.

** Of course, Anakin's ability to see the future seems more like a curse than a blessing in [[Star Wars|Episode 2: Attack of the Clones]] and by [[Star Wars|Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith]] we know it's more of a curse than a blessing.

** There's a [[Star Wars (Franchise)/Fanfic Recs|fan fic]], "[http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/22761239/p1/?0 The Sith Who Brought Life Day], where an officer trying to figure out the identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star looks at some of Luke's records. He'd taken a hand-eye coordination test and caused the computer to crash.

* General Buford makes a speech about what will happen at [[Gettysburg]] if he allows the Confederates to take the high ground before the Union infantry arrives. Though this is due to being [[Genre Savvy]] as a result of decades of experience as a professional soldier rather than any superpower, he does reference the trope.

{{quote| '''Buford''': It's like tomorrow's already happened and there's nothing you can do about it.}}

* In the ''[[Dune]]'' series, the Kwisatz Haderach has the ability to (among other things) see into the future, which is used in combat. Mentats can also see the future by way of "projecting" the possible outcomes of a given choice, but their role was not usually that of a front line combatant. And yet when it came to combat, prescience proved useless because of too much happening too fast. During one fight, the most Paul could see was that possible futures include him winning and him being carried out as a corpse. <ref>How unlike Frank Herbert, to introduce a super-cool idea and not quite follow through.</ref>

* The main character from the ''[[Alex Verus (Literature)|Alex Verus]]'' series is one of the best examples of this. He's usually going up against opponents far more powerful than him, but survives through always being one step ahead.

* One spectacular aversion in the book ''Iapetus'', in which after the normal protagonist has had his complete helplessness around espers repeatedly proven to him, he encounters a community leader of an esper colony; a physically brutal sociopath who enjoys killing "monkeys" and feels the protagonist has stolen his girl. And who is unconscious after one punch to the jaw that nobody sensed before it landed.

* What happens when an Allomancer burns the metal atium in ''[[Mistborn]]''. If her opponent does the same, they're flooded by an incredible array of constantly shifting options, as one reacts to the other's future actions, the other reacts to that, etc. Atium also specifically enhances the allomancer's mind in order to deal with the new information. Each book has a scene where someone with atium fights someone without it, and loses. {{spoiler|One is a case of sophistry, one hinges on the fact that this is still clairvoyance and subject to the usual pitfalls and loopholes, and one is a re-enactment of ''300'': atium-users can do tremendous damage, but at some point, the power will start to tell you "You'll drop that sword and collapse."}}

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* In ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'' Phoebe's power of premonition is utilized in this manner.