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{{trope}}
[[File:
Some people are satisfied with [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]; to them, there's nothing more gratifying than pummeling [[
And then, there's the people who [[Take a Third Option]]: After all, a punch hurts. Fire hurts. A punch of fire is bound to hurt twice as much as either of the two individually. And thus, the art of combining [[Elemental Powers]] with close-quarter combat was born.
▲Some people are satisfied with [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]; to them, there's nothing more gratifying than pummeling [[Mook|mooks]] left and right with your fists. Other people would prefer [[Kill It With Fire|killing them with fire]]; perhaps they just [[Apocalypse Now|just love that smell of napalm in the morning]].
The [[Elemental Punch]] is a melee attack that has an elemental or energy-based upgrade. These come in quite a few flavors:
▲And then, there's the people who [[Take a Third Option]]: After all, a punch hurts. Fire hurts. A punch of fire is bound to hurt twice as much as either of the two individually. And thus, the art of combining [[Elemental Powers]] with close-quarter combat was born.
* Fire is a very common attribute to add to a physical attack. Perhaps this is because of fire's sheer destructive power, or maybe just because an aura of flame enveloping a character's fist is [[Incendiary Exponent|just plain cool]].
▲The [[Elemental Punch]] is a melee attack that has an elemental or energy-based upgrade. These come in quite a few flavors:
▲* Fire is a very common attribute to add to a physical attack. Perhaps this is because of fire's sheer destructive power, or maybe just because an aura of flame enveloping a character's fist is [[Incendiary Exponent|just plain cool]].
* Ice-based attacks are also fairly common, due to their tendency to freeze their targets on contact. Attacks of this type are generally encased in some sort of [[Freeze Ray|coldness energy]] rather than actual ice. Although boxing gloves made of ice are rather common.
* Wind adds an extra bit of force to the punch, or allows you to send a hit from far away. In some cases, a wind punch can [[Razor Wind|tear the target to shreds]].
* Earth (obviously enough) adds mass and defense to the punch. In rare cases, [[Power Fist|the shell can be molded into a more effective weapon]].
* Electricity throws the [[Electric Torture]] aspect into the picture.
* Light-elemental punches have the added benefit of [[Power Glows|easily indicating the power of the attack]]. Dark or shadow-elemental punches, naturally, are a common counterpart. These sorts of attacks tend to involve [[Sucking-In Lines|lines being sucked into the glowy part/weapon]].
* Another variation involves channeling [[Pure Energy]] or [[Ki Attacks|Ki]] into the attack, which generally has an empowering effect rather than adding an elemental attribute. This is typically indicated, once again, by having the fist [[Power Glows|glow]].
Of course, punches are not the only attacks that can be elementally empowered. Elemental kicks are almost as, if not just as, common. [[Spell Blade|Channeling elements into]] [[The Magic Touch|weapons happens quite a bit]], if the [[Flaming Sword]] and [[Laser Blade]] are any indication. And, of course, there's nothing quite like pummeling the enemy with a [[Air Jousting|flying, full-body tackle]] whilst [[Battle Aura|encased in one's element of choice]].
This is a tactic that comes naturally to the [[Magic Knight]] and the [[Supernatural Martial Arts|Supernatural Martial Artist]], and, understandably, usually requires [[Full-Contact Magic]]. In [[Video Game
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Naruto]]'' has several examples of this. Naruto's Rasengan is a palm-thrust amplified by spinning chakra; Sasuke's Chidori is a palm thrust that can slice through its targets due to a blade of electricity; the Hyuuga clan's Gentle Fist fighting style relies on releasing chakra channeled through physical attacks; Sakura and Tsunade's superstrength may also be considered something like this because it involves focusing chakra to release a lot at once with one punch/kick/lift.
** Naruto eventually gets an upgraded form of his Rasengan that uses wind chakra, which ends up something of a subversion, namely in that the [[Razor Wind|hundreds of tiny blades]] it's made of are also cutting ''his own hand'' and it only become truly useful when {{spoiler|he finds a way to use it as a ranged weapon, though only in [[Super Mode|Sage Mode]]}}.
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** Hinata can punch people with {{spoiler|an aura of a lion face on each one of her fists.}}
** One zombie has an explosion element punch.
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' had a few instances of [[Air Jousting]] while encased in an aura of ki.
* Jin from [[Yu Yu Hakusho]] has this as his signature technique. His Tornado Fist wraps a mini twister around his arm, and even if his fist doesn't connect, the wind still blows his opponent off their feet.
* ''[[Digimon]]'', being a [[Mons]] franchise, has countless examples of this. Among the main characters, Flamedramon's Fire Rocket attack involves Flamedramon diving headlong into the enemy while on fire, and Galgomon's Bunny Pummel/Dum-Dum Upper is an uppercut with a currently-firing [[Arm Cannon]], and Leomon's Fist of the Beast King, which creates a lion head made of fire.
* In order to maintain the [[Masquerade]] while competing in a martial arts [[Tournament Arc|tournament]], Negi of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' teaches himself to channel his wind magic through his fist for more forceful punches.
** ''Negima'' has numerous other characters using magic or Ki to enhance the strength of their attacks. [[Boisterous Bruiser|Jack Rakan]] in particular in regard to these attacks. [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v26/c237/13.html Yes, it is a crater. Shaped like a fist.]
* ''[[G Gundam]]'''s Shining Finger, a one-handed head crush with a hand that "[[Power Glows|glows with an awesome power]]".
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*** Subaru's special ability 'Vibration Shatter' means that her fists may also be considered a kind of [[Vibroweapon]]. (Although it's worth noting that most [[Vibroweapon|Vibro Weapons]] act as a kind of lightsaber, whereas Subaru's ability is designed to play hell on intricate machines such as drones or cyborgs by dealing internal damage.
* ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'''s [[Hot-Blooded|Yukimura]] throws a flaming punch at <s> [[Fan Nickname|the Hondam]]</s> [[Humongous Mecha|Honda Tadakatsu]] after pole vaulting himself at him using his spears.
** And earlier on his mentor [[Cool Old Guy|Takeda Shingen]] throws an even bigger flaming punch, vaporizing his opponent and their surroundings in a matter of seconds.
* Natsu from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' consistently uses fire-punches and kicks. {{spoiler|Wonderful when he runs into a character that can negate magic in a bubble around him. So what does Natsu do? A fire jet off his [[Rocket Punch|elbow.]]}}
** Similar effects are observed with Gray (freezing punch), Gajeel (arm turns into iron) and a few others.
** Also, Erza once got extra power on a spear cast by having Natsu punch the spearbutt midthrow.
* In ''[[Ranma
* Early in the ''[[Pokémon (
* Coming from the Logia (elemental in the widest definition of the word) Devil Fruits in ''[[One Piece]]'', users can change into/use Fire, Ice, Light, Electricity, Magma, and many more to add to their punches.
** Sanji can use friction-caused heat to imbue his leg with fire-elemental properties. [[Everything's Better
** During the [[Time Skip]], Brook learned to channel his soul into his sword, imbuing it with a freezing hellwind attribute.
* A number of spells in ''[[The Slayers]]'', such as [[Technical Pacifist]] Amelia's Visfarank, which wraps whatever part of her body she's attacking with in astral energy that allows her to harm otherworldy creatures and deflect magic with kicks and punches.
== Fan
* In ''[[
* Douglas Sangnoir of ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]'' likes to do this with any song that gives him an energy attack. He is particularly fond of punches laced with lightning bolts.
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== Live Action TV ==
* The Rider Punch and Rider Kick in the ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' series.
** This is more true in recent seasons. Blade and Stronger's are lightning kicks, Ryuki and Hibiki had fire kicks, Double has recently patented a wind based kick(appropriately a corkscrew kick), and G had a water/wine based kick(again a corkscrew). Shadowmoon, Kuuga, Kabuto, and both Blacks had energy based kicks. All the others are mainly physical in nature with the exceptions of Ohja, Agito, and Ichigo-tachi who are backed by an element (a poison kick which could fall into water, a possible energy kick, and possible wind kicks).
* Sylar famously used a NUKE PAWNCH in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''.
== Tabletop Games ==
* The Path of the Brilliant Flame in ''[[
* The ''[[Weapons Of The Gods]]'' RPG has several elemental kung-fu styles, including Blizzard Fist and Holy Fire.
* [[GURPS]] has huge number of ways to perform this kind of attack, including:
** The Basic Set has Innate attacks, when limited to touch range only, can be a touch of elemental power, or if linked to a standard punch or kick become an elemental punch.
** The Burning/Icy/Lightning Touch spells in ''GURPS: Magic'' work like this.
** Some of the kinds gear in ''GURPS: Ultratech'' are basically gloves that channel this kind of attack
** ''Imbuments'' where you can do stuff like light your hands on fire because you're just ''that'' good.
* [[Exalted|Dragon-Claw Elemental Strike.]]
* Presumably at least some of the creatures in ''[[Magic:
* Any spell in ''[[Dungeons
** [[Eberron|Warforged]] have the Shocking Fist feat, which allows them to charge their fist with electricity.
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' inherits ''[[Dungeons
* [[Champions]] offers any sort of elemental attack as a basic power. Hand to Hand Attack for normal, Killing Attack for, well, killing damage. It being HERO, the special effects are up to the player.
* ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' has multiple ways of doing this, including adding Mighty to an elemental Strike power, or creating a touch-range aura.
* Likewise, ''[[Villains and Vigilantes]]'' allows this with its "carrier/payload" option.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' has Fire, Ice, and Thunder Punches and Fangs, and other moves such as Volt Tackle, Blaze Kick, and Aqua Tail that combine a physical attack with an elemental attribute. It wasn't until ''Diamond and Pearl'' that these moves were labeled as physical attacks, though; they were previously treated as special attacks like Thunderbolt and Ice Beam.
** The move Vacuum Wave is a wind-type variant, projecting a punch of "pure vacuum" at the foe.
* In the ''[[
** Most of the ''[[
* Several [[Combination Attack|dual techs]] in ''[[
* ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' has [[F
* Several spells in ''[[Secret of Mana]]'' allow the girl of your party to give any character's weapon elemental effects (although the character who gives you your first spells implies that these spells only work on the boy's weapons).
** Ditto ''[[Seiken Densetsu 3]]'', as long as at least one of party member has the ability to cast the spells or you buy the right consumables.
* In ''[[Eternal Sonata]]'', Falsetto has the attack Snow Claw.
* In ''[[Street Fighter]]'', M. Bison can make his hands glow with his "Psycho Power". In later games, this would actually burn.
** Ken's flaming Dragon Punch fits the mold, the first obvious proof of his [[Divergent Character Evolution]].
** In ''[[
** In ''Super [[
* The fists of the Mishimas in ''[[Tekken]]'' crackle with electricity when they go for a powerful blow.
** In its sister series, ''[[Soul Calibur]]'', powerful, guard-breaking attacks are represented by fire enveloping the user's weapon.
* [[The Big Guy|Murray]] gets a "Flaming Fist" ability in the third ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game, which allows him to incinerate enemies with punches.
* ''[[Kirby]] Squeak Squad'' has an upgrade to Kirby's Sword copy ability, allowing him to combine Sword with [[Fire, Ice, Lightning|Fire, Ice, or Spark]] for an elemental blade. The Wheel and Tornado copy abilities can also carry elements once Kirby acquires the proper copy scroll.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' has several element-based powersets. For melee powers this includes fire/ice/energy/stone/electricity punches.
* ''[[Samurai Shodown]] 2'' had Wan-Fu channel flame through his weapon. Which might be a bit of overkill, since the weapon involved is a huge stone pillar.
* The ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' and ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'' series switch between weapons with innate elemental properties and separate equipment that grants elemental attacks. Slaughtering armies of mooks is just that much more satisfying when they fly burning through the air.
* The ''[[X
* Cole Mcgrath of ''[[
* The protagonists in all three ''[[Disgaea]]'' games have these. Laharl and Adell have fire punches, while Mao has a palm of light, or some kind of plasma, it's hard to tell.
* In ''[[
** In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', Shamans have these. Rockbiter(Earth), Frostbrand(Ice), Flametongue(Fire), Windfury(Wind) and Earthliving(Life, used for healing). Paladin Seals also works like this, doing holy damage. Death Knights also have these in the form of Ice and Shadow. All classes can enchant their weapons to give similar effects every now and then.
* The Sword Magic ability in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series works like this:
** ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' restricted it to certain swords, but kept it as a constant effect once cast.
** ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' had it as a [[Combination Attack]] between Vivi and Steiner, where the latter had to use MP each time to use it.
** ''[[Final Fantasy X
** The remake of ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' on the DS didn't have a Sword Magic ability, but Cid had Upgrade, which let him expand an attack item to charge his weapon with that element. You could also get an Augment to give this to another character.
** ''[[
** The ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' series has the Gladiator class.
* In ''[[
* The ''[[
* This is standard for element-oriented playable characters in ''[[Freedom Force]]'', since all of them need at least one melee attack and a skill chain based on it. The purest example is [[Playing
* This is a standard-issue ability for keyblade-wielders in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep]]'' courtesy of the [[Super Mode|Command Styles]]. [[Kill It
* In ''[[Dubloon]]'', characters can learn moves like "Ice Palm" or "Fire Punch".
* The second generation of ''[[
* Monks in ''[[
* ''[[
* In the ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' and ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' series, there's Terry Bogard and his iconic Burning Knuckle special move.
** This move gets a [[Shout-Out]] in Konami's ''[[Lightning Legend Daigo no Daibouken]]'': one of its characters, Mayu Uzaka, has a special move she calls "Uzaka Punch" that's exactly the same in design as Terry's Burning Knuckle.
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== Web Original ==
* Blitz of the [[Whateley Universe]] has touch-based electrical powers, so she has to make contact to shock you. And she's a martial artist. So this is exactly her style of fighting. ''She's learning to use a meteor hammer.''
* [[Elemental Powers|Elemental]] [[Psychic Powers|psychics]] in ''[[
* In ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3X75iJLogI Tag Match]'', a short movie produced by Thousand Pounds Action Company, James Young's character (the second one to fight the lady) conducts electricity through his fists twice, using that ability to [[The Paralyzer|paralyze his opponent]].
== Western Animation ==
* Firebenders in ''[[
** Some Earthbenders have also been seen to surround their fists (or entire bodies) with rock, although it typically seems to be a defensive strategy.
* In ''[[
* In one episode of ''[[The Boondocks]]'', Huey dons a glove that gives him electrically charged punches.
* On ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', [[Batman]] has been known to use taser-equipped brass knuckles.
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== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[
** Noah conjured up [[Dual Tonfas|a pair of tonfas]] and [https://egscomics.com/comic/2011-04-26 lightning-struck] a dragon-bulldog summon — as it became apparent later during the fight, alone those things are clearly better than just sticks, but not so zappy.
* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' {{spoiler|Zimmy}} delivers one of these from the ether to {{spoiler|Antimony's father.}}
** A bit later Ysengrin had a disagreement with some of his "subordinates", so Antimony wrapped him in a fire that didn't burn him. So he had a bit of fun before she transformed into fire elemental as fully as she does and smiled at them.
* ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' had Melissa "charging" her hands, in ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' re-crossover chapter she delivered a "slap-ZAP!" to Ash. And later a "{{smallcaps|palm sized meteor strike overdrive}}" to {{spoiler|Tandy}}, who tried to pull [[Insulted Awake]], but pissed her off ''seriously'', and probably in several ways at once.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
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