Ki Attacks: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

 

 

Using Ki will usually produce a [[Battle Aura]].

Not to be confused with an attack that uses the [[Kingdom Hearts|Keyblade]], or an attack that uses that D'ni wristwatch from [[Myst|Uru Live]] as a weapon.

 

 

* [[Pure Energy]]: The basic ki attack, just channeling energy.

* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|Shapeshifting]]: Uses spirit energy to gain a new form. Can vary from a different hair cut and , all the way to looking like a different species.

* [[The Empath]]: Sensing the feelings of others by their aura.

May be represented with [[Blasting Time]].

 

{{examples}}

* The advanced techniques of Ranma, Ryoga and Herb in ''[[Ranma ½]]''.

* ''[[Dragon Ball|Dragonball Z]]''. Damn near everything the main characters do in a fight is based on ki, from simply enhancing their speed and strength to flying and throwing around energy blasts.

* ''[[Tower of God]]'' utilizes the [[Pure Energy]], Self Enhancement and [[Elemental Powers]] variants.

* Used sparingly in [[Fist of the North Star]], at least at first.

* ''[[One Piece]]'' has slowly but surely inched its way towards this with "Haki" (also known as "Ambition"). While hints of its use abounded from the Skypeia arc onward, the Amazon Lily arc gave the clearest and most specific examples of it before it was fully explained. When we finally got in-depth information on Haki, it was revealed that it came in three general forms: It allows those possessing its power to (depending on the user) deflect near any attack and even cause pain in the attacker despite defenses such as a body made of rubber or intangibility, and predict the conscious actions of whoever they're fighting, and knock out [[Mook]]-level characters by just being there (and some higher level guys still end up quivering about to collapse in some demonstrations).

** It was actually first used all the way at the start of the manga when Shanks uses it to scare a Sea King away to save Luffy. It looks exactly like it does in the recent chapters, except the sound effect isn't used. Whether the author had it planned all along is unknown, but it was probably fleshed out and developed later because there needed to be a better way to counter certain Logia powers aside from natural elemental weakness.)

* Present in ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', though they don't manifest as the light shows seen in other anime series. Further, you have to be ridiculously bad ass to pull them off in the ''Champloo'' universe: Mugen was only able to fire one off, by chance, after a week of intense training and focus, while Jin can only beat another ki user by using a [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]]/{{spoiler|[[Taking You with Me]] maneuver}}.

* In ''[[Saint Seiya]]/Knights of the Zodiac'', the saints/knights fight using Cosmos. Which is the same as ki, but with another name.

* Interestingly, this is one of [[Badass Grandpa|Hayato Furinji's]] ultimate techniques in ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]],'' a work that otherwise does its best to lie in the realms of non-supernatural fighting ([[Charles Atlas Superpower]] notwithstanding). A variation, however, in that it's not so much an energy blast as it is a whole lot of wind. Not to mention it's ineffective against anyone with a decent understanding of ki, and thus mostly useless except against [[Muggles|ordinary people.]]

 

* In ''[[Immortal Iron Fist|The Immortal Iron Fist]]'', the titular character and his fellow Immortal Weapons all use chi as the foundation for their superpowers. These range from merely increased strength, speed and durability in the case of Fat Cobra, to the Prince of Orphans' slightly less-realistic ability to turn into green mist and possess people.

** Fat Cobra feels that with the power of chi, anything is possible. An ant can wrestle with elephants.

* The Mandarin is a nasty example of a chi user. People tend to forget that he can give himself enough superhuman strength via chi to go hand to hand with [[Iron Man]].

* Then there's the new [[Legacy Character|Power Man]], Vic Alvarez, who possesses the ability to absorb chi and channel it into devastating strikes.

* Stick, [[Daredevil]]'s teacher, belongs to a group of chi-adept martial artists called [http://marvel.com/universe/Chaste The Chaste].

* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' has chi as a variant of magic used by some war mages and martial artists, especially ninja. The most major chi user in the series is Ryan Tabbot, who likes to throw in pop-culture references to other chi-users with his attacks (Hadoken!).

 

 

== Literature ==

* Kylie Chan's ''[[Dark Heavens]]'' books have chi-fuelled martial arts and wuxia.

* ''Keeper of Light and Dust'' by Natasha Mostert has a chi-stealing martial artist as the antagonist.

 

== Live Action TV ==

** The same thing happens, naturally, in ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]'', but with different names for both formations and attacks.

* Ki powers were one of the main shticks of ''[[Gosei Sentai Dairanger]]''. Each Ranger had a different specialty. For instance, [[The Hero|Ryou]] was skilled at [[Playing with Fire]], and [[Kid Appeal Character|Shouji]] was a [[Gravity Master]].

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Still can't beat out [[Game Breaker|Clerics or Druids]] in melee, though. Sad, hmm?

*** Let's be fair. ''Fighters'' are beaten by Clerics and Druids in melee ("CoDzilla"). The Monk just has some bad mechanics.

*** To be fair, the abilities a high level Monk has are pretty awesome by any standards. The problem is that a high level spellcaster (Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Sorcerer) is godly.

*** The Ki power source has now been merged with Psionic. Say hi to [[Internet Backdraft]].

*** Although listed as "psionic," they use it more in the form of "mind over matter" (in fact that's the name of a feat for a certain build.) This trope still applies, because instead of using a weapon or staff or magic wand, the implement of choice is a "ki focus": heavy on the fluff and often with different effects than normal enchantments (such as "increase number of squares you can shift" or "use such-and-such power twice per round instead of once" rather than "do X amount additional fire damage") it basically amounts to something the monk prays/meditates/trains with to turn his entire body into [[Invulnerable Knuckles]].

* ''[[Exalted]]'' has chi in the form of "Essence", an universal energy that permeates all creation and which can be channeled to great effect by any Exalted. These effects range from powerful attacks to resiliency in combat to sorcery to healing to ''parliamentary debate''.

** The Charms have cool names, too, like "Venomous Whispers Technique" and "Excellent Emissary's Tongue."

* ''[[Weapons Of The Gods]]'', being a kung-fu RPG, is ALL about the Chi. (Its core mechanic is that characters have 5 colors of chi, each of which is spent for different chi powers, and which refill independently. Chi management is '''the''' central battle strategy.)

* The Akashic Brotherhood in ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Street Fighter]]'' and ''[[Darkstalkers]]'' from [[Capcom]]. "[[Kamehame Hadoken|Hadoken]]!"

** As an easter egg, ''[[Mega Man X]]'' has been known to perform ki attacks from Street Fighter. This seems to imply that X has ki, and therefore a soul. Of course, easter eggs are rarely ever canon.

*** Not so non-canon, now; ''[[Mega Man X Command Mission]]'' has a series of Reploids called the Ninetails clan, who have mastered a form of robotic chi manipulation, allowing them to power their attacks without the use of an external power source (like every other Reploid's weapons do). Because of this, they're considered extremely dangerous and are locked up in a high-security facility, as a result.

*** Or, if we wanna be a little more reasonable, they can just fire the same sort of run-of-the-mill blaster shots anyone else can (albeit stronger), but they just go through the Hadoken motions.

** The second game states that everyone has the potential to become adepts, but it takes years of exposure to a source of alchemy, such as mount Aleph, the elemental rocks, being bludgeoned with a Psynergy stone, or {{spoiler|The unleashing of the sources of each element via the lighthouse becons}}. Also it's implied that Ki is just another name for one specific type of Psynergy (Force).

** Most notable is the Aura Beam/Cannon move, which blasts enemies with pure soul power (and does extra damage to undead enemies to boot) and Fire Dance, which summons fire spirits to burn every enemy on the battle field.

* Chi in ''[[Jade Empire]]'' is mana. Period.

* Some classes in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' and its sequel have Ki-style moves, especially the White Monk and the Master Monk (in the sequel). Air Render and Aura Blast are especially notable as they are ranged attacks for a melee class. And no, these don't cost mana.

* The Genesis action RPG ''Spellcaster'' stars a monk who has various ki moves, ranging from plain old attacks to and lightning strikes.

* These are the only ranged attacks available to Hong Meiling in ''[[Touhou]] Hisoutensoku''.

** Played around with later, in that there is an entity that is the personification of Mantra known as {{spoiler|Chakravartin, who embued Mantra upon Asura and the other deities that appear throughout the game's ancestors.}}

* A lot of the artes in the ''[[Tales (series)]]'' are of this nature, either as [[Pure Energy]] or [[Elemental Powers]] that are used to form projectiles and/or to augment direct strikes.

 

 

== Web Original ==

** Tatterdemalion, an Israeli superhero sponsored by their government, does something similar, though its not a [[Ki Attack]] in the "oriental martial arts" sense of the word.

* In the [[Whateley Universe]], martial-artists develop and use ''chi'' in various ways:

== Western Animation ==

* First implied in its QuickStrike trading card game, it is later revealed that the energy behind the bending disciplines on ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' is indeed chi. Benders require chi to flow from the breath as form of energy derived from breathing and oxygenation, and then extend it past their limbs to manipulate or manifest their element. Furthermore, one character has even displayed the ability to inhibit bending by striking pressure points on the body, or as she calls it, "[[Power Nullifier|chi-blocking]]" (Kyusho Jitsu). In the show, the source of chi is located in the stomach and flows throughout the entire body, which itself is drawn directly from the Taoist practices of Chi Kung and Tai Chi, on which "Waterbending" is based.

** {{spoiler|The [[Grand Finale]] reveals that before people learned to bend the elements, they used their own energy. Aang then finds a way to bend the energy within Ozai, removing his bending forever. This is never actually called ''chi''-bending, though, it's called energy-, spirit-, or soul-bending by the fans.}}

* In ''[[Yin Yang Yo!|Yin Yang Yo]]'', Woo Foo a special type of martial arts that involves might and magic, with just a smidge of [[Green Rocks]].

* Uncle from ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' is a big fan of chi. His battles against Dalong Wong (anti-Uncle) probably constitutes as a battle between good and bad chi, as these two were chi wizards.

** Then in one episode they found a Chinese Vampire, which drains victims of chi. Once a person is sucked of chi they need a chi transplant to survive. The person takes on the personality of the chi donor. For example, when Jade got drained, Uncle donated some chi, and she began sprouting Uncle's [[Catch Phrase|catch phrases]] and had a hankering for mung beans. She did not, however, gain any of Uncle's knowledge of chi but still volunteered researching ways to kill the vampire. [[Reset Button|Everything went back the way it was]] [[No Ontological Inertia|when the vampire was killed]].

 

 

** See also Derren Brown.

* [[wikipedia:Kizeme|Wikipedia]] on Kizeme goes on about Ki projection and such. While video shows a fairly primitive, yet well-executed feint, which requires no supernatural abilities to preform and is known, in one form or another, in most martial arts, with weapons or without them.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]