In the Name of the Moon

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"Hold it! You would have this page without a picture of the Trope Namer? Naoko Takeuchi might forgive you, but I will not!"

Before the Magical Girl confronts the Monster of the Week, she invariably issues a formal challenge, involving an always-repeated Catch Phrase and some topical variant. Reused every week as Stock Footage, typically following the Transformation Sequence (not preceding it) and against some sort of symbolic background. A signature pose and/or gesture generally accompanies the declaration, and there may be Dramatic Wind involved. Frequently, the Magical Girl somehow magically knows exactly the right formula to say directly from her first or second battle, even if she fumbles and is otherwise unsure of her powers.

Note that, unlike By the Power of Greyskull, the speech doesn't trigger, activate, or otherwise have anything to do with the Magical Girl's powers. Instead, it's meant to demonstrate the righteousness of her cause and the amount of ass-whup she's about to uncork. (Don't expect anyone to attack the hero during this speech, by the way. Talking Is a Free Action).

This isn't just a Magical Girl thing, though... Heroes of every stripe have opened a battle with a signature phrase or speech, a bold declaration of purpose. Even some villains have taken up this habit, loudly spitting their purpose at the fools who would dare stand against them.

Named after the challenge Catch Phrase that Usagi always utters in every Sailor Moon battle. A type of post-Invocation, related to other forms of Word Power. Contrast Battle Cry, which is often shorter (but louder) and uttered just before or during the fight. Compare Transformation Name Announcement, Incoming Ham, Leitmotif and can sometimes qualify as a Badass Boast or Badass Creed.

Examples of In the Name of the Moon include:

Anime and Manga

  • Sailor Moon: "Hold it right there!", followed by a description of the bad thing the bad guy was doing. "Unforgivable! A Sailor-suited Pretty Soldier of Love and Justice: Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!
    • Episodes in the US dub that stuck close to the original Japanese script use the above while episodes that deviated from the original script tended to use "I will right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you!" (In fact, in the second episode of the dub, Luna attempts to correct Serena after she uses the "correct" version for the first time.)
    • The other Senshi had their own, albeit shorter speeches that were seldom used.
      • Mars: "Solder of Flame and Passion, pretty sailor suited soldier Sailor Mars! In the name of Mars, I will chastise you!"
      • Mercury: "Soldier of Love and Intelligence, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Mercury! Douse yourself in Cold Water and Repent"
      • Jupiter: "Thunder and Courage, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Jupiter! I will beat you into submission!"
      • Venus: "Soldier of Love and Beauty, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Venus! In the name of Venus I bring divine punishment!
      • The Outer Senshi had their own speeches too. When Uranus and Neptune would appear (surrounded by rose petals, of course), they had a speech:

Uranus: Guided by the new era, Sailor Uranus, appearing magnificent!
Neptune: Also Guided by the new era, Sailor Neptune, appearing elegant!

      • When Pluto joined the group, they had a longer and more complicated speech describing the planets they came from.

Uranus: My guardian is a planet far up in the heavens. Soldier of the sky; Sailor Uranus!
Neptune: My guardian is a planet with the sea of sand. Soldier of embrace; Sailor Neptune!
Pluto: My guardian is the planet suspended in time and space. Solider of revolution; Sailor Pluto!
All three: The three soldiers of the outer solar system, being led by a new crisis, have arrived!

      • Saturn gets one too. Saturn: My guardian is the planet of silence. Soldier of ruin and birth; Sailor Saturn![1]
      • The Sailor Starlights from the last season had their own speech too. Initially, their intro had shades of West Side Story, and would go: "Penetrating the darkness of night, the wind of freedom breaks through! Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Maker, Sailor Star Healer; Sailor Starlights have arrived!" Later, they would get their own individual introductions as well as their better known announcement, "Sailor Starlights, stage on!"
    • During the final season this sequence was lampshaded a few times, with villains throwing protests between sentences, or even escaping during the montage. And then there was that one memorable sequence indoors where Sailor Moon's unwieldy costume managed to break quite a few vases and lamps as she made her speech and pose.
    • Spoofed in the "Sailor Hellblazer" (yes, really) Crossover Fanfic, where John Constantine attempts to resist the urge. This results in:

"In the name of love.... fuck off."

Moon: Pretty Soldier of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
Mercury: Soldier of Water and Wisdom, Sailor Mercury! In the name of Mercury, I'll punish you!"
Mars: Soldier of Flame and Passion, Sailor Mars! In the name of Mars, I'll punish you!"
Jupiter: Soldier of Thunder and Courage, Sailor Jupiter! In the name of Jupiter, I'll punish you!"
Venus: Soldier of Love and Beauty, Sailor Venus! In the name of Venus, I'll punish you!"
They also had a variant for group announcements, where they'd each say their first sentence in turn, then their "in the name of * insert celestial body here* " bit, before announcing "We'll punish you!" as a group.

    • At one point in Lucky Star's Lucky Channel, when Akira was ill, yet she still showed up in that segment, one of the things Minoru says she says is "I will lecture you in the name of Mars!"
  • Fushigi Yuugi sends up the practice in its first episode, in which Miaka confronts a gang of street thugs: "The moon may forgive you, but I won't..."
    • It's something of an in-joke; Kae Araki, Miaka's voice actress, stood in for Kotono Mitsuishi as Sailor Moon when the latter was out for appendicitis. She would return to the show as the regular voice of Sailor Chibimoon.
  • Revolutionary Girl Utena: "Grant me the power to bring the world revolution!" This is technically a Borrowed Catchphrase or simply what anyone says while drawing the Sword of Dios, however, as demonstrated by the first episode where it's used by Saionji.
  • Bakuen Campus Guardress: "Summoned by Heaven, Earth, and my pager...."
  • Wedding Peach does a gentler form of this: brides are supposed to be feminine and non-confrontational, so Peach's challenges are always phrased gently and euphemistically.

"The love angel Wedding Peach is extremely displeased!"

  • Naturally, Excel Saga gets in an explicit parody—of Sailor Moon, of course, as Usagi and Excel have the same voice actress in Japanese. Excel berates a band of gangsters who are selling counterfeit animation cels and declares, "In the name of the moon, I will spank you!" (in the North American dub, it becomes, "In the name of the toons, I will punish you!"), complete with Sailor Moon's trademark gestures. Just to hammer the point home, though, she's standing in front of a sheet metal crescent moon and wearing tennis balls and lengths of rope in her hair. In the English dub, Excel also states that she wanted to audition for Sailor Moon, but it was dubbed in Canada.
    • The manga has Iwata, as the closest the Daitenjin get to The Hero, lurch between a few of these: "Are there any bad children here?!?" or "Er... I take command of the heavens and the earth from now on!", for instance.
  • Lampshade Hanging: While Nagisa and Honoka in Futari wa Pretty Cure automatically make their speeches from the first, Nagisa at least is rather upset that she doesn't seem to have a choice about it -- "What am I saying?" and "I said something weird again!" are just two of the comments she makes. In a later episode, she becomes annoyed when another pair of girls consistently misquote her part of the speech.

Bloom: The shining golden flower, Cure Bloom!
Egret: The sparkling silver wing, Cure Egret!
Both: We are Pretty Cure! (ka-ching!)
Egret: Those who desecrate the Holy Fountains...
Bloom: ...stop your cruel behaviour!

    • And Yes! Precure 5 takes it a step further by giving each girl her own speech, as well as one for the whole team ("The power of hope and the lights of the future! Five hearts flapping beautiful wings! Yes! Precure 5!" (ka-ching! again).
    • Fresh Pretty Cure isn't different either. The girls follow a certain pattern when they say their respective speeches, and they have one for the team as well, a very simple one: "Let's! Pretty Cure!" (third ka-ching!).
    • Heartcatch Precure and Suite Pretty Cure follow Fresh's path, but it's finally played with in Smile Pretty Cure when the finally gathered team does their speech... and are promptly hit by a soda missile by the Monster of the Week.
  • Science Ninja Team Gatchaman -- Ken's common speech "Sometimes five, sometimes one! The white shadow that moves unseen! Science Ninja Team Gatchaman!!" to announce his or the team's presence. Alone or in smaller groups, the other members may do a lesser speech, but usually just shout their rank and name: "Science Ninja Team G-2, Condor no Joe!!" etc.
  • The Samurai Pizza Cats would give an introduction to pretty much every fight they were about to jump into. While it was different every time in the Dub version, the Japanese version had them repeat a uniform motto everytime. The Rescue Team had their own version of this.
  • Brilliant, brilliant twist: the Marmalade Boy movie features a memorable scene where five small neighbourhood boys encounter the protagonist as she's practicing tennis, and pretend to be a Super Sentai Five-Man Band, including a formal introduction of the entire team and lots of highly stylized called Ki Attacks. The teenage girl in question decides to be the Cool Big Sis, and cheerfully pretends to be the Monster of the Week in response.
  • In Suzumiya Haruhi, Haruhi uses one of these when accepting the Computer Society's challenge, though only after kicking its president in the head.
  • Dokkoida?! has both the eponymous hero and Neruloid Girl use this trope; it has the Lampshade that they're trying to sell their power suits to the companies they're working for, so they have to help sell the merchandise.
  • Mew Ichigo's "I'll be your server for the earth's future -nya!" in Tokyo Mew Mew. Fans of the English dub know this one as "Mew Mew style, Mew Mew grace, Mew Mew Power, in your face".
    • The English manga translates it as, "For your evil actions, I will make you pay!"
  • Corrector Yui found it hard to think up a pre-battle catchphrase that had to do with deleting things off a computer; she decided on "You'll go in the recycle bin and be empty, empty, emptied!" Lampshaded in one episode;

Virus: What does that even mean?
Yui: It has no meaning!

  • In the Angelic Layer anime, each Deus must think of an entry line that announces their Angel before competing.

Misaki Suzuhara: Wings of an angel! Please guide me and Hikaru!

  • Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z ("Fighting Love! Science Legend!")
  • Re: Cutey Honey: "Flowers on the Earth! Love to the people! Warrior of Love, I am Cutey Honey!"
  • Princess Tutu: In nearly every episode, the title character transforms into her Magical Girl form and teaches the Monster of the Week the evil of its ways through ballet (as strange as it sounds). Every encounter is initiated with the invitation, "Will you dance with me?" and the exact same footage.
  • Team Rocket from Pokémon recite their motto—the same motto -- every time they appear, no matter what they've come to do (although they've been known to humorously modify it on a situational basis), and are often accompanied by special effects from nowhere that disappear a moment later.
    • They do change the motto with each new generation, though.
    • This does not go unnoticed by the protagonists, who even perform a version of it themselves in the episode with Ditto. Team Rocket is not happy with this.
    • They have one prepared, not only for their arrival, but for their inevitable defeat.
  • Kamina, then Simon, and eventually the entirety of Team Dai-Gurren of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann often launch into inspirational speeches against whatever enemy they may be facing (even when that enemy is the moon), and will always end it with some variation of the phrase "Who the hell do you think I am?". Given the nature of the show, the enemy will then be utterly, explosively destroyed seconds later.

Nia: Are you aware of exactly who I am?!

    • And who can forget the birth of the TTGL?

Nia: Even when trapped by karma's cycle,
Yoko: The dreams we left behind will open the door!
Leeron: Even if the Universe stands in our way,
Viral: Our seething blood will determine what will be!
Simon: We will break through Time and Space!
All but Simon: And defy all who would stop us to grab hold of our path!
Simon: Tengen Toppa... GURREN LAGANN!
All: JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!?

  • Both Pretty Sammy and Pixy Misa in the Pretty Sammy series sometimes give speeches upon appearance detailing their roles.
  • Sweet Valerian has this:

Kate: Come forth, Serotonin!
Pop: Appear, Dopamine!
Kanako: Dubba dubba dubba! Relaxation Combat Team Valerian, at your service!

  • The Children in Zettai Karen Children usually perform a roll call when their power limiters are released. The roll call is usually relevant to the situation and frequently comes with heroic posing and colored smoke. Variations of it are frequent, such as adding "... and Wild Cat" to the end when Naomi joins, and Aoi doing one of these when she's on a mission solo.
    • Often someone will then rebuke them for standing on the table or setting off pyrotechnics in an enclosed space.
  • In Naruto, this just isn't done by working shinobi, but Konohamaru and friends do it all the time as little kids playing Ninja pre-Time Skip. Genre Savvy may be involved.
  • Subverted in Mai-Otome when Haruka issues a verbal challenge to Aswad leader Midori before she changes into her Robe, and promptly faceplants when Yukino tells her that she hasn't given Haruka authorization to use her powers yet.
  • What? No mention of "Pichi Pichi Voice! Live Start!"?
  • The Lord of Nightmares, from Slayers Next, does a completely emotionless version of this, immediately before erasing the Big Bad from existence.

"You who stand before me, desiring destruction... so shall you be destroyed."

    • I am not sure if you can give the ultimate being in existence a Crowning Moment of Awesome, but if so, this is it!
  • At one point in the Hellsing manga, the Iscariot Organisation give a pre-battle speech that takes up an entire chapter, "The Screamer" ("We are Iscariot, the Zealot Judas!"). Granted, Anderson does chop up a few vampires while saying his parts, but no one else does.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!! tends to feature this when the God Cards are summoned in a textbook case of What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?. This was featured much less in GX, but Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's reintroduced this with the speeches all the characters give when they Synchro Summon a Monster (Yusei: "Clustering stars will call upon a new power; become the path of light it shines upon!"), although the dub tends to reduce this to a simple Catch Phrase like "Let's rev it up!"
  • G Gundam: THIS HAND OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER! ITS BURNING GRIP TELLS ME TO DEFEAT YOU! TAKE THIS! MY LOVE, MY ANGER, AND ALL OF MY SORROW! SHINING FINGEEEER!
    • THIS HAND OF MINE IS' BURNING RED! IT'S LOUD CRY TELLS ME TO GRASP VICTORY! ERUPTING! BURNING/GOD! FINGEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!
    • AND NOW... HEAT END!
  • In Koi Koi 7, the eponymous Amazon Brigade gives a very long speech, with requisite posing, when they first appear. The speech doesn't appear much more after that.
  • In UFO Princess Valkyrie, Sanada, in her Slayer of Evildoers form, Nekomimizukin, offers the following monologue before a fight with Spot, Mar, and Mur:

"Heavens call! Earth calls! The cats call! Known among the cats as the wandering hero! Mysterious hero Nekomimizukin comes forth!"

    • She continues:

"Hear me, agents of evil! I who happened to be passing by and has absolutely no relation to Valhalla, will not let you go unpunished! Prepare yourselves!"

Nagi:In the name of money, I will punish you!

"People should neither bring harm to themselves, nor to others. That is the guiding principle of my martial arts. But this does not apply to those who have gone astray! Since you lack discipline, I'll have to set you straight. COME ON!"

  • Dancougar‍'‍s Shinobu Fujiwara said this before using the Finishing Move: "The love in our hearts will slice through evil's darkness! DANKUUKOUGAKEN! YATTE YARUZE!"
  • The Great Saiyaman from Dragonball Z is made of this trope.
  • Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: "O wicked spirit born of a lost soul in limbo, receive judgment from the garb of the Holy Virgin; cleansed of worldly impurities; return to Heaven and Earth. Repent!"
    • And in an interesting twist, a version used by the villains. "May the earth shatter, may the oceans dry up, may the sun extinguish itself; grant upon us the power of Our Lord Satan in Hell. We are demons! High-class Commander Demons!"
    • Episode 7 features the heroines actually forgetting their speech and opting for just screaming instead.
      • It seems more of them trying to figure out whether the alien Ghosts even HAVE their own version of Heaven.
  • In Pokémon Special, all the Sinnoh Gym Leaders, minus Byron (who was providing support from underground) and Volkner (who didn't bother to show up), shout out their names and titles before charging in and attacking the Galactic Admins.
  • Shamelessly spoofed in Black Lagoon when Revy et al are chased by a Carnival of Killers. Whilst falling off a collapsing warehouse they find themselves confronted by a White-Haired Pretty Boy in Dramatic Pose, Badass Longcoat and Cool Shades with Broomhandle Mausers held Guns Akimbo.

"I am here to take your life! And who, you ask, is the spectre who stands before you? My name...is Wizard. Lotton the Wizard. And while I have no grudge against you__" (Revy shoots him mid-sentence)

Comic Books

S... for Stupendous!
T... for Tiger, ferocity of!
U... for Underwear, red!
P... for Power, incredible!
E... for Excellent physique!
N... for... um... something... hm, well, I'll come back to that...
D... for Determination!
U... for.. wait, how do you spell this? Is it "I"??

  • And let us not overlook Green Lantern. Even though he rarely says it where the villain of the day can hear him, it still is a classic example:

In brightest day, in darkest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power -- Green Lantern's Light!

    • The Green Lantern invocations were often customized for individuals and races. One of the more interesting variations comes from a story by Alan Moore, with a Green Lantern from a race that had no concept of visual light:

In loudest din, In hush profound,
My ears hear evil's slightest sound.
Let those who toll out evil's knell
Beware my power -- The F-Sharp Bell!

Fan Works

Shinji: (paraphrased) "YOU DARE RAISE A HAND AGAINST THE WOMAN I LOVE? MURDER THE WOMAN WHO RAISED US BOTH?! BY THE GRACE OF YUI IKARI, and IN THE NAME OF ASUKA LANGLEY SOHRYU AND AS VENGEANCE FOR MISATO KATSURAGI, I SHALL TURN THE SKY ITSELF AGAINST YOU!!!"

"In the name of the moon..."
"...Better recognize!"

    • Episode 47 has "Team 4Kids" (with the gratuitous addition of Meowth) doing a parody of the Team Rocket speech.
  • Spoofed in, of course, Sailor Moon Abridged.

"In the name of the moon, I like wiener schnitzel!"

  • In the Harry Potter/Sailor Moon/Ranma ½ crossover The Girl Who Loved, Harry -- who is Jusenkyo-cursed to turn into the twin of the late Usagi Tsukino and becomes a close friend of the Senshi -- never feels the urge to speechify until he (in girl form) comes face-to-face with Draco Malfoy on the Hogwarts Express at the end of the story's first part, and then it just bubbles up out of him involuntarily:

"The Hogwarts Express is a place for children to come and dream of a brighter future. There is no room for your corrupted spirit and your message of darkness and hate. You have insulted me. You have insulted my friends. You are a threat to the future of those I love. In the name of Love and Justice, I will punish you!"

Film

  • Example (and inversion): in Pulp Fiction, Jules Winfield's (mis)quoting the Biblical book of Ezekiel before pulling the trigger.
  • Spoofed in the film Galaxy Quest, where Classically-Trained Extra Sir Alexander Dane (played by Alan Rickman) is tired of his character's Catch Phrase "By Grabthar's hammer...", even though the fans can't get enough of it. Naturally, the one time when he says this and actually means it is the emotional high point of the whole movie.
  • The eponymous white blood cell in Osmosis Jones yells "Stop! Immunity!" at perps, rather than "Stop! Police!"

Literature

  • Frodo defies the Nazgul at Rivendell, "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" (Sadly omitted from the films.)
  • Beowulf issues formal challenges (and formal boasts at the mead hall the night before).
  • The heroes of Homer's Iliad do likewise, down to formulaic repetition originally designed to allow extemporaneous reciters of epic poetry to keep to the meter. Thus this is Older Than Feudalism.
  • In Diane Duane's Young Wizards and Feline Wizardry books, protocol normally requires a similarly ritualized challenge upon meeting the adversarial Lone Power: "Eldest, Fairest and Fallen, greetings and defiance!" Oh, and always remember to ask the Transcendent Pig the meaning of life when you meet him (the older wizards hope that one day he'll just answer reflexively).
    • You do have to be taught to say these things—it's not the Magical Girl's automatic posturing. But the intent is still there.
  • One of the books of the series The Destroyer had Chiun make an announcement seeming like this, to several international crime bosses he was about to slaughter: "Jackals of crime and despoilers of men, prepare yourselves for death. It is the Hour of the Cat." However, this particular turn of phrase apparently doesn't occur in the other books.
  • The classic fantasy tale The Eye of Argon, widely considered the worst fiction ever written, has a mighty hero prone to yelling "By the surly beard of Mrifkr!" before attacking enemies with his gigantic sword. And any other time.

Live-Action TV

"Power of water! Power of light! Powers unite!" -- Alien Rangers
"Guardians of the Earth, United We Roar! Power Rangers Wild Force!"
"We call forth the Magic! Power Rangers Mystic Force!"
"Rangers Together, Samurai Forever!"

    • The "roll calls" themselves count. Most Power Rangers teams will have each member say a phrase and/or their Ranger designation while getting into their Asskicking Pose. (No, bad guys never interrupt this by shooting at them). So too do every Super Sentai. These can get quite long, and trying to list them would probably be a page in itself...
      • Engine Sentai Go-onger took the roll call thing to its logical, hilarious extreme. The Rangers rhyming roll call phrases. There's a roll call for the Gaiarc Ministers. There was a one-shot roll call for one branch of Gaiarc, done by the branch's minister, the vice-minister, and the attack bot du jour. There's a roll call for all 12 Engines (the ones who couldn't speak had their growls subtitled on the side of the screen). There's a roll call for all four combined forms, plus the support robot Goroader GT. When the Yellow, Silver, and a villainess make an all-girl band, G3 Princess (G3 for Go-onger, Go-on Wings, and Gaiarc), they had a roll call (it still rhymes). Ironically, its counterpart Power Rangers RPM took itself a little more seriously than most seasons and did away with roll calls entirely.
  • Each of Kamen Rider Den-O's personalities has a post-transformation catchphrase.
    • Momotaros typically strikes a pose and says, "Ore... sanjou!" (a particularly dramatic way of saying, "I arrive!").
    • Urataros says, "Shall I string you along?" or "Can I reel you in?"
    • Kintaros always says, "My strength has made you cry! Wipe away your tears!" post-transformation (and pre-battle!), occasionally followed by tissues fluttering from the sky like cherry blossoms.
    • Ryuutaros says something along the lines of "Is it alright if I beat you up?" and quickly follows it with "Can't hear your answer!" as he starts shooting (very badly) while the enemy dives for cover.
    • Both forms of Zeronos say "Let me say this to start..."
      • For Yuuto, in Altair or Zero From, the most common version is "Let me say this to start: I'm pretty strong!"
      • Deneb (Vega Form) spoofs this merely by using it ("Let me say this to start... I have nothing to say." or something honest that will annoy Yuuto.)
    • Though he only a few chances to use it, Seig's (Wing Form) catchprase is "Advent. At the top of everything."
  • Parodied in Kamen Rider Decade. When the Mega Manning protagonist gets Den-O's forms, he decides to test them out while fighting Gatack and Bee, only to discover that their Attack Ride cards are...their catchphrases.
  • If you mention Kamen Rider, you have to mention Stronger: "The heavens call me...the Earth calls me...humanity calls me...they call upon me to defeat evil! Listen, evil-doers! I am a warrior of justice! Kamen Rider Stronger!"
  • In Kamen Rider Fourze Kamen Rider Meteor says something along the lines of "Kamen Rider Meteor, your fate is mine to decide!" whenever he appears. As a Meteor Storm, the lines changed into "Kamen Rider Meteor Storm, my fate will deliver a storm!"
    • A much more straightforward one as opposed to Fourze's "Space is here!".[2]
  • This is also very common in all sorts of Japanese live-action series, including jidai-geki (samurai shows). The heros of series like Abarenbo Shogun, Mito Komon, Tokugawa Buraicho, etc., all have set phrases they invoke before taking on hordes of mooks.
    • Mito Komon is slightly different—not necessarily a subversion—as the phrase is accompanied by proof that the Old Man the bad guys have been trying to kill is actually "extremely" important. Very often, this is followed by the horde of mooks getting on their hands and knees, begging for forgiveness.
  • Hayakawa Ken, The Ace of Kaiketsu Zubat, had a different take on it. When confronting a bouncer or hired gun, each of whom held great confidence in their particular skill (swords, guns, cutlery, swords while blindfolded, archery...), he would tell them that their level of skill was "only No. 2 in Japan". When asked, he would 'whistle' and thumb at himself, then proceed to completely upstage the bouncer.
    • Also, when confronting the episode's Big Bad, Ken will sum up all the horrible stuff the villain had done before telling them that they had to pay.
  • In every generation of Sukeban Deka—there have been four primary live adaptations over the past few decades plus several movies—the heroine has speech like this, different in every version. The director of the latest version, the 2006 film, has admitted he was tempted to use all the predecessors' speeches, but eventually settled for a new speech unique to the film.
  • Madan Senki Ryukendo: "Ryukendo!" "Ryuguno!" "Ryujino!" "Raijin!"

Music

  • "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash".
  • Several songs by by Manowar could probably be played before or during a massacre.
  • "You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world, KISS!"

Professional Wrestling

  • Some, but not all, WWE superstars have intro music that begins with their version of In the Name of the Moon. Examples include The Rock's, "If you smellllll..."; Shelton Benjamin's "Ain't no stopping me now"; Edge's "You think you know me"; MVP's "We Ballin..."; John Cena's "Your time is up..."; and Triple H's "Time to play the game. TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!"
    • Although these depend on the actual definition, but tend to be especially common with Divas. Examples: The giggling at the beginning of Trish Stratus's music, "You're not enough for me" for Michelle McCool, "Don't treat me like a woman" for Chyna, "I aint a lady to mess with", for Victoria you get the idea.
  • The Miz: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWESOOOOOOOME. Followed up by: I CAME TO PLAY!!!
  • While he was with WWE: KENNEDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.
  • Randy Orton: "I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD!!" and before that it was "HEY!!"
  • Rey Mysyerio Jr: "Booyaka Booyaka, 61, 619"
  • The Big Show: WELLLLLLLLLL.... WELL IT IS THE BIG SHOW.
  • Cody Rhodes WHHOOOA You're Only Smokes And Mirrors.
  • Chris Jericho: You know I Got Ya, Yeah. One, BREAK THE WALLS DOWN!!!
  • The opening riffs to Brock Lesnar's theme. Also with the breaking glass of Steve Austin's.

Video Games

  • In Skies of Arcadia, not only do the various characters of the game do this traditionally, they shout "Moons! Give me strength!" before each spell is cast. Fina does this for her special attacks and later, so does Ramirez.
  • Ishida Mitsunari of Samurai Warriors 3 gets to say the phrase in a certain stage (just replace "the moon" with "Lord Hideyoshi"), which earned him the nickname "Sailor Mofunari" both for this line and his furry outfit in the third game.
  • Sanger Zonvolt of Super Robot Wars gets a short version (in the "hero of antiquity" vein): "I am Sanger -- Sanger Zonvolt! I am the sword that cleaves evil!"
    • Other pilots, especially of Super Robots or when using special weapons like the Shishio Blade, get in their own as well. "There are two stars of calamity...", "One punch can't destroy the world, but it can certainly destroy you!", etc.
    • Touya does this as well Ja-Mu! In the name of my blade, Name of Mech, I will defeat you!
    • Super Robot Wars Z2: Saisei-hen has one of its Big Bads Uther, King of Restoration deliver this awesome speech before using his ultimate attack:

The sun shines on all creation
The king's love is for his subjects
You who tread the path of the Fool
By the light of Salvation
Thou shalt be saved

      • The badassery of this speech is further augmented when the robot, normally concealed by a face mask that only reveals one glowing green eye, showing a rather feminine face, which then SAYS THE SPEECH AT THE SAME TIME, WITH ITS MOUTH MOVING. To add more to its sheer over-the-top nature, the left and right sides of the screen get this flowery, golden border and gold text runs across the screen, all to paralyze its target.
  • Each individual in the Nippon Ichi game Phantom Brave seems to have their own phrase before entering into a battle. While this causes a Battle Aura, it's not entirely clear if it does anything else.

Ash:"You will go no further! For her sake, I will not fail!"

    • It can get quite exaggerated, as near everyone in the game has one. The Raven Captains, Sprout, Raphael, Walnut, even Marona.
  • And in the Nippon Ichi game La Pucelle: Tactics, the main character is likely to yell things like "In the name of the Maiden of Light" and "Repent!" before proceeding beating the crap out of a boss.
  • Games where you select and give commands to multiple characters (RPGs, RTSs, etc...) often have "chatter" that they give whenever you interact with them:
    • Minsc, of the Baldur's Gate series, is famous for his amusingly overblown battle chatter:

"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right Boo?"
"Butt-kicking! For goodness!"
"Feel the burning stare of my HAMSTER and change your ways!"

"I grow tired of shouting battle cries while fighting this mage! Boo will finish his eyes so he does not rise again! Evil, meet my sword! SWORD MEET EEVIIILL!!!"

  • Killer7 has a boss who does a parody of Magical Girl intros: "Like a flower that blooms in the soil of our carnal and corrupt society, I shall administer retribution to stray vermin that graze this land. For I am the Chairman of the Education Guidance Council, Ayame Blackburn!" It's a fifteen-year-old girl in a very creepy anime-girl mask and carrying a machine gun. Also the power rangers style handsome men. "We are the punishing rangers, the handsome men!"
  • Warcraft has quite a few of these, though the Orcs are perhaps the most frequent users of it with "FOR THE HORDE!"
    • The Night Elves have their equivalent: "BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON!"
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (and expansions) has this with the Space Marines any Imperial armies, whose phrases almost always says something along the lines of "In the name of the Emperor".
    • Warhammer 40000 has several for every faction except Necrontyr and Tyranids, unless you count "gauss weapon discharge" and "chittering sounds" as an In The Name Of The Moon.
  • Inspector Daria of Touch Detective frequently attempts to do these, but often puts so much "oomph!" into striking her poses she injures herself.
  • Danzaiver! The Hot-Blooded hero character of Evil Zone has perhaps two or more of these; "For everything that is good." being the first, and the second, longer version used in the final battle; "I cannot be defeated. Absolutely. Positively. For the sake of the WORLD! HERE GOES! THE POWER OF THE SUPREME RULER DESTROYS EVIL! THE ULTIMATE HERO; DANZAIVER!!!" It's hard to keep track sometimes, dude is SERIOUS about his job.
  • One Quirky Miniboss Squad in Super Mario RPG is a villainous parody of Super Sentai (Power Rangers), complete with their equivalent of a Super Sentai Stance:

Axem Red: We fight for evil!
Axem Black: We live for disorder!
Axem Green: We like what we do!
Axem Pink: We struggle for chaos!
Axem Yellow: We are...
(everyone strikes a pose)
Everyone: ...the AXEM RANGERS!!

Axem Yellow: We eat donuts!
Axem Pink: We wear the trendiest clothes!
All: We are... the AXEM RANGERS X!

  • In Devil Survivor, Midori is a cosplayer who acts like a Magical Girl, and even has an In the Name of the Moon speech to go along with it, as well as striking a pose when she does it on the battle screen.

Midori: I'm Magical Dolly, the Warrior of Love! My magical punishment strikes down all demons who do evil!

There is a burden on your shoulders--your head. I shall set your spirit free! Please accept this humble token. No mercy for the damned. Thou hast no escape from the grasp of catastrophe. Meteor Swarm! No apology necessary, your death shall suffice.

  • Kay from Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations introduces herself this way in the third case.
  • Several characters in BlazBlue start (or end) battles like this.

Quicker than the wind and as still as the ocean! Hotter than flames and more magnificent than a mountain!
To rid this world of evil, I will become a hammer of justice!

    • There's also Hakumen:

I am the white void. I am the cold steel. I am the just sword. With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world, and cleanse it in the fires of destruction! I am Hakumen! The end has come!

    • Not to mention the NOL themselves, in lesser fashion:

Dispatched in mankind's darkest hour, we, are knights of the Blue Flame!

Axel: "The Organization's betrayed. In that name, I will annihilate you."
Marluxia: "That line's not you."
Axel: "Had to try it at least once, you know."

Web Comics

In boldest clash!
In deepest shade!
The price of mischief must be paid!
We keep the torch of justice bright!
Galaxy Girl Scouts, it's time to fight!

Catalina: For Asgard!

  • "I am the wielder of the fiber-optic antennae, obtainer of the Gauntlets of Grip, possessor of the will and knowledge of the ancient Broadoniansu, who have entrusted their secrets unto me. The Ultimate in Information and Communications Technology! CAPTAIN BROADBAND!"
  • Rusty and Co. got the best version with responce so far:

- Halt in the name of Law of Chaos!
- Not e'en if that made sense!

In the name of the mighty goddess Ch'Thier, Queen of Light, Spirit of Purity... Go #$&@ # (!@ #& &# yourselves!!

Web Original

  • At least twice, characters in Sailor Nothing awkwardly try to pull this off. Emphasis on "try". They can be hard to remember, okay?
    • Not so much awkward as kind of heart-wrenching (well, okay, it was awkward too) the first time Himei appears as Sailor Nothing:

"... I don't know," she whispered. "I guess I'm a sailor. I'm nothing."

"Unhand him! The frightened reach out, and you cast them aside. The weak cry out, and you raise your fists against them. Now the kingdom rises to repay you in kind. I may have held mercy for you, but there is only one fist that may bruise the face of my angel! Falcoooooooooon PUNCH!"

Western Animation

  • Darkwing Duck, to some extent. The title character likes to mysteriously appear in smoke and dramatically introduce himself: "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the [noun] that [verb]s your [noun]! I am Darkwing Duck!" The second sentence changes depending on the context; DW gives us such gems as --

I am the gum that sticks to your shoe!
I am the batteries that are not included!
I am the check-writer in the Cash Only lane!
I am the wrong number that wakes you at 3 AM!
I am the burned-out bulb you cannot reach!

  • The Tick often starts a battle by giving at tongue-in-cheek description of the Villain Du Jour and telling that they face The Tick. This was played with in the Freaky Friday episode:

The Tick (in a zebra's body): Body pirates, you face The Tick!
Chairface Chippendale (in The Tick's body): No, I face a zebra. You face The Tick.

  • It has been established that Beetlejuice only needs his name said three times to be summoned, but in the animated series, Lydia dresses up the summoning with the same speech (and probably recycled animations). Although as a byproduct of summoning Beetlejuice, her clothing does in fact change.
  • "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"
  • Danny Phantom's ghostly opponents have catch phrases, such as: 'I am the Box Ghost!', 'I am Technus, Master of all technology!' and so on. Subverted in that, for Technus at least, talking is not a free action, and his tendency to loudly announce who he is and what he's doing is a disadvantage for him.
    • Danny himself has a catch phrase too-he always yells "I'm going ghost!" before changing to his ghostly form for a fight. It was even Lampshaded by Vlad in an early episode: -> "You actually have a catchphrase? How cute!"
  • "In the name of the Highland Quid clan, feel my sting!"
  • Jake Long has the habit of saying "Dragon Up!" whenever he assumes his dragon form. However, no other dragon has ever show saying it or anything else during transformation.
    • Haley has also said "Dragon Up!" when transforming, though it may be something copied from her older brother.
  1. "Hametsu to tanjou no senshi," not, shi to saisei no senshi. Her powers have nothing, absolutly nothing, to do with rebirth. More about this common fan misconception here. [dead link]
  2. Uchuu Kita!