Enemy Scan: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|Are you, are you ''[[Violation of Common Sense|scanning me in]] [[Free-Fall Fight|freefall now?]]'' How do you even do that?! What are you, ''[[Talking Is a Free Action|readin'?!]]''|'''Ridley''', [[Slowbeef]]'s [[Let's Play]] of ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3''}}
An item, ability, or spell that when used provides the player with otherwise hidden information about the current enemy. This will often reveal the enemy's [[Hit Points]], [[Mana Meter]], attacks, [[Achilles' Heel|weaknesses]] (in [[RPG
Some games feature a [[Monster Compendium|Monster Encyclopedia]] of sorts that may be filled if the player wants [[100% Completion]] (in turn requiring the player to traverse the world and [[Gotta Catch Em All|perform this on every single enemy]]). Frustratingly, this can result in a [[Lost Forever]] if the enemy (or a [[Underground Monkey|specific variation of it]]) only appears a limited number of times.
This may [[Contractual Boss Immunity|or may not work on bosses]], especially the [[Final Boss]]. But it usually does work on [[Helpful Mook
Can become a [[Useless Useful Spell]] if it can only scan weak enemies you don't need to know much about to defeat.
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* ''Angband'' has the "Probing" ability, which gives the current hit-point total of monsters; in some variants it also gives information about resistances, vulnerabilities, and attacks.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' has a version of this that's more useful than normal, mostly because it's [[Talking Is a Free Action|on/off]] rather than take a turn to use it once.
** Much more useful than you think at first. Unlike most
* ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' had the "Sight Scope" item (equipped to Lucca at the start of the game), which allowed the wearer to see all enemies' HP.
** [[Chrono Cross]] has the green elemental spell Infoscope, with the same effect.
* In ''[[Sly Cooper]] and the Thievius Raccoonus'', the Binoc-u-com can be upgraded to provide an
* As in the anime (see above), the Pokédex in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' games acts as this, with varied usefulness. A prominent use for it is to see where one could catch some of the rarer Pokémon.
** In terms of actual battle mechanics, Pokémon with the ability Frisk will reveal the opponent's held item, and the abilities Anticipation and Forewarn can give clues on the opponent's moves.
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* The Scan spirit command in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' lets you see an enemy unit's statistics and only costs 1 SP to use, but since you can see the exact same information after you've traded blows with the enemy once, it's generally not worth it.
** Later games make it more useful by also decreasing the enemy accuracy by 10% for one turn.
* Enemy scanning is an important part of ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games. Once you have encountered an enemy, you get its basic data, like name, type and usually HP and MP. By attacking it with different attacks, you get to know (and keep info on) its strengths and weaknesses. This info is kept if you ever meet any more of it (and usually applies to any of its [[Palette Swap
** ''[[Devil Survivor]]'' averts this by giving you all the info you need straight off the bat.
** [[Mission Control|Fuuka]]: Give me a sec, I'll scan the target.
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* ''[[Wild Arms]]'' games all have some way of analyzing enemy stats. In ''[[Wild Arms 1|Wild ARMs: Alter Code F]]'', you can complete a monster encyclopedia by scanning enemies; getting at least 50% will get you an Ex File Key.
* ''[[Blue Dragon]]'' has a magic book which lets you do this. Surprisingly, it's often the best (or only) way to find out the boss's weakness.
* ''[[Mana Khemia Alchemists of Al Revis]]'' has the main character's "Analyze" skill. Use it once on an enemy, and it will show that enemy's statistics, as well as any subsequent enemies of the same type (not counting [[Underground Monkey]]/[[Palette Swap
* Tohsaka gives Shirou an unnamed book in ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' that scans the abilities of a Servant and puts it into a form that the reader will easily understand if they look at it. Shirou's mind apparently puts things into RPG stat formulas with letter ranked abilities and bizarre numerical descriptors for Noble Phantasms.
* The PKE Meter and [[Goggles Do Something Unusual|Ecto Goggles]] in the modern ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' video games have this feature. The more thoroughly you scan a ghost, cursed artifact, spectral emanation, or any other from an assortment of supernatural entities, the more gameplay hints and quirky trivia you will discover in the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Tobin's Spirit Guide]].
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