Grenade Tag

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It's technically not a backstab if she does it to his front, right?

A wily character is facing up against a Giant Mook who is confident he's going to beat their puny opponent. Our hero does a move in which he runs up to the baddie, flips over him, and then flips away. The baddie turns around confused as to why they've left him otherwise unharmed until he looks down and sees the three explosive Sticky Bombs left on his chest (and yes, they always see the bombs before they go off). Bombs go off and the baddie either falls unconscious if they were knockout bombs or... well, lets just hope it's a PG rated show for the baddie's sake.

Alternatively, if the Guile Hero really is completely outclassed in hand to hand, they may exploit the opportunity to plant the bombs and then break away or goad the baddie into throwing them to safety.

Sub-Trope of Trick Bomb. Usually always a Sticky Bomb, though a normal bomb may be somehow fastened to the baddie where it can't be removed in time (like snarled in a cape). See also Throw Down the Bomblet for characters who may make use of this. Compare Misguided Missile.

Examples of Grenade Tag include:

Anime and Manga

• The Third Hokage in Naruto does this when fighting Orochimaru to the resurrected First and Second Hokage. In this case it's a literal grenade tag, because ninja there use exploding piece of paper.

Comic Books

• In Batgirl #20 (the Stephanie Brown series), Batgirl defeats the speedster Slipstream by sticking several explosive electrogoop batarangs to his back.

Film

• Batman also does this in Batman Returns.
• Bomb Voyage planting the bomb on "Incredi-Boy" in The Incredibles.
• James Bond did this in Casino Royale, using the bomb that LeChiffre's man meant to blow up the tanker truck with.

Literature

• At one point in the X Wing Series, Wraith Squadron is pinned down dirtside by a Viper probe droid. Kell Tainer dives on top of it and bounces off. Then it explodes violently. Turns out he managed to plant a charge.

Live-Action TV

• In the Doctor Who serial The Ribos Operation, the Doctor sticks a bomb to the back of one villains when he embraces him before he heads into the labyrinth.

Web Original

• Haloid. Samus and MC are grappling. Samus breaks off, turns into a ball and flies away. As she does so she drops several mines at MC's feet, which explode and blast MC into the air.

Western Animation

• Batman in most animated versions does this about every episode.
• Robin in Teen Titans.
• Robin again in Young Justice. Honestly, this trope could practically be called The Other Batman Gambit.
• Nick Fury manages this Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes against the Grim Reaper. Bonus points for getting himself tossed off the Flying Car they were fighting on before detonation.

Video Games

• As a general rule of thumb, virtually any game that has Sticky Bombs as usable weapons will involve this at some point.
• In Fallout 3 you can use the pickpocket skill to place an explosive on someone. Doing this nets you the "psychotic prankster" achievement and increments your stat of "Pants Exploded". The Green Hornet radio show also has the titular character's Hypercompetent Sidekick do this to some villains.
  • In Fallout: New Vegas, with a high-enough sneak skill, you can prank a prankster via this.
• Resident Evil 4 when Leon gets into CQC with Ada, she drops her sunglasses on the ground at Leon's feet. Then after a few seconds the glasses explode.
• In Resident Evil remake for the Game Cube, if you're grabbed by a zombie you can use a defensive weapon. These include stun grenades, which can be shoved into the zombie's mouth and shot for an instant decapitation.
• A common tactic in the Gears of War series, though not quite as subtle as in most games - when you smack someone with a grenade, it sticks to them with a wet thnk, and detonates after a couple seconds. Used to be necissary to kill Berserkers in the first game.
• In Alpha Protocol, if Mike decides to kill Leland after agreeing to help him in the finale, he'll reveal that the evidence that he handed over to him was actually a mine. The look on Leland's face says it all.
• In Dead or Alive 4, Spartan-458 Nicole has a showy move where she lifts up her opponent with one hand, activates a Plasma Grenade in the other, slams it into her opponent's torso, then kicks them away before the grenade detonates.