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Elemental Punch: Difference between revisions
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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]].
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.
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|Video Games]], this trope is often employed to prevent non-magical fighters from being excluded from [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]]. This may be seen as a [[Yin-Yang Bomb]], combining matter with energy. Compare the [[Trick Arrow]], the archer's answer to the [[Elemental Punch]]. See also [[Swiss Army Appendage]], [[Blasting Time]] and [[Power Fist]].
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{{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 ½|[[Ranma
* Early in the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime, most physical attacks simply were physical attacks: Wing Attack was just a bird clobbering the enemy with its wing, Quick Attack was just a really fast dash attack, Horn Attack just meant ramming the opponent with a horn, and so forth. It appears that as the anime progressed, the animators grew more and more attached to the [[Power Glows]] concept. Now, virtually every melee attack stronger than Tackle involves making the colliding part of the attacker's body glow.
* 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 with Spinning|By spinning in place with the leg outstretched.]]
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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).
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The Path of the Brilliant Flame in ''[[Feng Shui]]'' allows you to channel fire energy (or any other kind of energy, if you're houserule-happy) into your physical attacks.
* 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
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* ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' has multiple ways of doing this, including adding Mighty to an elemental Strike power, or creating a touch-range aura.
== 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 ''[[Mega Man X]]'' and ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' games, Zero gets the ability to add elemental powers to his blade.
** Most of the ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'' featured four elementally-attributed sword chips: Fire Sword, Aqua Sword, Elec Sword, and Wood Sword. In some of the games, the swords can be combined into the Element Sword program advance, which uses all four in quick succession.
* Several [[Combination Attack|dual techs]] in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' combine Crono, Lucca, Frog, and Marle's elemental magic with Crono and Frog's sword strokes or Robo and Ayla's fists and bodies.
* ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' has [[F-Zero|Captain Falcon]] unleashing a fiery falcon with his eponymous punches and kicks, [[The Legend of Zelda|Ganondorf]] channeling dark flames into his punches and kicks, while [[Pokémon|Lucario]] had aura mixed into his physical attacks. Many characters also have energy-empowered/elemental physical attacks sprinkled into their movesets.
* 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 ''[[Street Fighter II]]'', Chun Li's fist would glow during her standing Fierce Punch.
** In ''Super [[Street Fighter IV]] Arcade Edition'', if [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Evil Ryu]] can land the full brunt of his second [[Limit Break|Ultra combo]], he charges his fist with a dark energy then uses it to smash his opponent's face into the ground.
* 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 Men Legends]]'' series of games and the second cousin ''[[Marvel Ultimate Alliance]]'' have a large number of buffs that work like this, both individual and team.
* Cole Mcgrath of ''[[Infamous (video game series)|In Famous]]'' is a firm believer in the electro-punch when he has to get his hands dirty, and also has elemental headbutts thrown into the mix.
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** ''[[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.
** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' has it as an exclusive ability of the Ravager/Blaster role as a single attack. Synergists had an ability that made it a lingering effect.
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== Western Animation ==
* Firebenders in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' have done this on occasion, with a particularly spectacular example in "The Southern Raiders" when two of these collided with each other, causing an explosion.
** Some Earthbenders have also been seen to surround their fists (or entire bodies) with rock, although it typically seems to be a defensive strategy.
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