Missing Backblast: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:MissingBackblast.jpg|link=Super Robot Wars|
{{quote|''Recoilless rifles, aren't.''
|'''Rule #2, Murphy's Law of Combat Operations'''}}
In the world of fiction, rocket-propelled weaponry create negligible, if any, backblast. The characters shown using such weapons are thus able to use rocket launchers with their backs to a wall or within an enclosed space; as if the rocket just levitates away instead of being accelerated by the thrust of a strong jet.
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See the [[Law of Inverse Recoil]] for a related weapons trope and [[Toasted Buns]] for another trope involving missing rocket exhaust. [[Real Life]] aversions may be related to [[Too Dumb to Live]].
'''This trope is so common that only [[Averted Trope|aversions]] and [[Subverted Trope|subversions]] should be listed.'''
=== Aversions and Subversions: ===▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Averted in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' when a civilian helping to fire malfunctioning missiles from an aircraft doesn't realize she needs to get out of the way after setting them off and is blown out of the plane.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Averted in the first issue of ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'', Spider destroys his local bar with an RPG, then complains bitterly about how cold the inside of his car is since crude rocketry took out the passenger side window.
* Subversion: Back when long-running furry anthology [[Furrlough]] was still military-themed, there was a one-page comic called ''Recoilless''. A pair of soldiers are retraicing their steps to find a missing rocket launcher and find it in the hands of an enemy squad, who are attempting to figure out how to use it. They load the gun and fire it, only to have the backblast kill the three soldiers standing behind the firing enemy soldier. The soldier's commander yells at him for apparently firing the gun wrong, and then has the soldier [[Too Dumb to Live|turn the rocket launcher around]]. Certain that they've now figured out how to fire their new toy, the enemy soldier's two commanding officers proudly step back to watch it fire... and are promptly blown up by the firing missile. The last remaining enemy soldier, seeing the carnage behind him, quietly sets the launcher down and sneaks away.
== [[
* Averted in the [[Mass Effect]] fanfiction [[Interregnum]]. One of the stories Garrus tells Sidonis is about the time C-Sec investigated the murder of an elcor, blown out of a tower by a rocket launcher. As Garrus points out, however, "an elcor weighs an awful lot, and that means you need a big, big gun to launch one out of a window"... leaving only a handful of smoking remains of the killer behind.
* In ''[[
== [[Film]] ==
* Averted in ''[[The Enforcer]]''. There is a military demonstration of a LAW rocket, and rookie Inspector Moore is trying to see what it does by standing behind the shooter. [[Dirty Harry]] grabs her by the collar and pulls her back in time; afterwards there is a huge scorch mark on the berm ''where she would have been in the way'', behind the shooter who did not experience any recoil effect.
* A variant in ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]] Revenge of The Fallen'' has Optimus brace himself then, {{spoiler|using the donated parts of Jetfire as flying [[Powered Armor]], uses the backblast of his thrusters to blast Megatron through a wall in some Egyptian ruins. Megatron is effectively out of the fight after this in combination with getting his face shot off and arm ''torn'' off.}}
* [[Playing with a Trope|Played with]] in the German anti-war movie ''Die Brücke''. When one of the boys charged with defending a (tactically actually meaningless) bridge during the last days of [[WW 2]] fires his Panzerfaust at an American tank from inside a house, ''he'' isn't adversely affected and is even momentarily jubilant about his success. Then he turns back towards the elderly owner of the building who was protesting from behind him only moments ago...
** In the remake, the old civilian isn't there, but he ''does'' set the house on fire.
* ''[[True Lies]]'' had a brief moment of realism when one of the terrorists fires a Stinger shoulder-fired anti-air missile from a moving panel truck, causing the terrorist behind him to fly out of the front windshield thanks to the backblast.
* Averted in ''[[Red Dawn]]''. One scene featured a Wolverine's hat being knocked off when he fired an RPG-7. In the final battle two of the American guerillas fire their RPG-7's at the command trailer used by a [[Big Bad|Soviet general]]. An enemy soldier who comes round the corner behind them at that precise moment falls to the ground screaming as he's been scorched by the backblast.
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* Averted in ''[[The Dark Knight]]''. When the Joker fires an RPG from the trailer of a semi, you can see that his henchmen are out of the way and the door on the other side of it is open. In fact, if you watch closely, it seems to have been opened ''first''.
* Partially averted in ''[[Commando (film)|Commando]]''. Cindy attempts to rescue Matrix by firing a M202 Flash rocket launcher. No recoil at all on the first shot then the ''[[Rule of Funny]]'' comes to the rescue of physics with the second shot throwing her backwards into the car.
*
== [[Literature]] ==
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** Also from the Ghosts: in ''Necropolis'', a Vervunhive Wall gun battery fires point-blank at a Chaos war machine, and the backblast fries them. (The gun crew, that is; the regular blast fries the Chaos.)
** In the same novel, during the generals' observation of the battlefield from a guard tower, its missile launchers are disabled because bulletproof shields hastily installed mess with the backblast. The generals decide to have the shields removed, exposing themselves rather than paralyze the guard tower, as they feel safer with working heavy weapons than cowering behind a shield.
* Averted by [[Matthew Reilly]]. When Renshaw fires a rocket in a hovercraft, the backblast destroys the windows behind him.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Averted in an episode of ''[[CSI: Miami]]'', where a guy gets cooked after firing an RPG from inside a cement mixer.
** In another, a paramilitary shoots an RPG (a weapon he didn't realise isn't point-and-shoot) from a car, and the exhaust shatters the opposite window. The CSI team, however, knows what to do with broken glass.
** And in yet another episode, one of the bad guys gets a black eye from the rocket launcher shoving the sight into his face. Despite showing the blast. So we get the back blast, but not the actual purpose, or the recoilless part.
*** Recoilless doesn't mean a complete absence of recoil, it's just reduced. You can't get rid of Newton's second law entirely.
*** Also, depending on the design of the weapon, if you don't properly clean the tube, soot and muck from previous firings can clog the tube up a bit, relieving it of the "Recoiless" adjective.
* According to the History Channel's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20090429183118/http://www.history.com/minisites/shootout/ Shootout!]'', a U.S. combat advisor was knocked off his feet and thrown through the air by the backblast of a heavy RPG.
* In an episode of ''[[Bugs]]'', a bad guy is killed by standing on the "right" end of a timed missile launching ramp.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story "Remembrance of the Daleks", keep an eye on the wall behind Ace when she fires an RPG at a Dalek. The scorch mark is clear proof that these were the days before CGI. Or, you know, decent budget.
* In an episode of ''[[Miami Vice]]'', a criminal is seen visibly reacting to recoil from a stinger missile. However, the backblast can be seen from it, and the others present have already moved a safe distance away in preparation for it.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': In the second season episode ''Innocence'', Buffy uses a shoulder-fired rocket launcher to great effect, and hilarity. She experiences no recoil, which is not surprising, physics be damned, given her super-strength. But notably, she fires from a position where there is nobody or no thing behind her to be fried by the rocket's ignition.
** Note that Xander had military knowledge, due to a spell, and was one the one who instructed her on how to use it, and presumably included that no one should be behind her when she fires it.
== Other ==
* Played straight with many, many vehicles from the Hasbro G.I.Joe toyline. If built to real life specs, the backblast would roast the Joe soldiers.
* [http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/TU001386.html Here] is a rather infamous photo of Dan Quayle holding a rocket launcher for a photo-op in a manner that would kill him and anyone around him if it had a rocket attached and was actually fired.
** To be fair, he isn't holding it in ready-to-fire position anyway, I could argue that it would be very lethal for me and everyone close to me when I fire a RPG-7 while I point it at the ground...
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Rifts]]'' partially averts this. A particular heavy missile launcher is specifically stated to inflict damage to not only anyone standing close behind the firer, but the firer themself if they're not wearing armor. In fact, the backblast will destroy the launcher, which is in of itself a disposable weapon.
* Rocket launchers in ''[[GURPS]]'' create a fairly dangerous backblast when fired. If you use a reactionless missile however, there is no backblast, thanks to superscience.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Averted in the ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield 2]]'' mod, ''[[Project Reality]].'' The backblast from rocket launchers WILL kill other players.
* Averted in [[Tom Clancy]]'s ''[[Ghost Recon]]'' wherein the backblast can kill friendlies directly behind the soldier who fires an anti-tank weapon. However, the backblast physics in the game doesn't seem to take into account walls since said weapon is still safe enough to fire from enclosed areas.
* Similarly averted in ''[[Jagged Alliance]] 2''. Don't stand behind the dude with the LAW if you value your face.
* Also averted in the ''[[Combat Mission]]'' series. While the backblast-to-friendly-face never happens (firstly because each little soldier is an abstraction for a full squad spread over a large area, and secondly because they are representing trained soldiers, not ''morons''), firing a bazooka or panzerschreck from inside a building is a good way to pin down your own troops (the British PIAT is immune to this, as per [[Real Life]]). Note that the game's tactical AI knows better than to do it - it'll only happen through direct player prompt
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** While it averts the backblast problem the RPG is still dangerous in confined spaces, the initial launch will make the rocket jump up a foot or so, if you don't have enough height clearance - Boom.
*** Which, in turn, leads to a bit of [[Fridge Logic]]: such a weapon typically won't arm itself until after the rocket motor ignites, meaning that it should be Klunk rather than Boom.
* ''[[Halo]]'' is a bit funny about this. For the first 2/3 of the trilogy, the rocket launcher is the only one of its kind, and has a small puff of flame that emits out the back (though it doesn't actually harm anything). The third installment has the return of the rocket launcher, but also features a missile pod that launchers missiles with compressed air before their fuel ignites.
** ''Halo 3: ODST'' has a (Non-[[Heroic Mime|Rookie]]) player that swaps to a rocket launcher shout a warning about backblast, as well.
* ''[[Far Cry]] 2'' has the Carl Gustav guided missile system, which lays backblast quite well- it will start fires, and standing in front of a vehicle and firing will cause the vehicle to explode, killing the player.
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* While not in the normal game, the modding community for [[Operation Flashpoint]] has created a realism modification that adds backblast to all recoilless RPG weapons. (Along with a whole host of other realistic features)
* Darkest Hour, a ''[[Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45]]'' mod set in western Europe, has the very good possibility of teamkilling - friendly fire is always on, and backblast from Bazookas, Panzerfausts, and Panzershrecks is deadly. The PIAT, as historically accurate, has no backblast, but is much slower to reload since there's no way for an Assistant Gunner to help.
* Col. Volgin in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' was man enough to fire a recoilless ''nuclear warhead'' from a chopper traveling in an aerial convoy. He wasn't the only one in that chopper either. At the very least, both of the chopper's side-doors were open.
* Though absent from the actual ''[[Call of Duty]]'' games, backblast is brought up once in the bonus "Soap's Journal" from the Hardened edition of ''[[Modern Warfare]] 3'' - in the entry from the fourth game's Azerbaijan missions, Soap writes that if not for how the [[wikipedia:FGM-148 Javelin|FGM-148 Javelin]] works, he could have accidentally burnt off [[Porn Stache|Price's famed mustache]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Dead Winter]]'': Note the window behind the shooter [http://deadwinter.cc/page/260.htm before] and [http://deadwinter.cc/page/262.htm after] he fires. As for why he's firing so close to a window in the first place, he's not very smart.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats]]''; an aversion happens ''in the opening credits''. Spike pulls the old "launch the hero with a rocket" trick on Heathcliff, but winds up with an [[Ash Face]] from the backblast.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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* The [[WW 2]] British anti-tank weapon called [[wikipedia:PIAT|the PIAT]] may resemble a rocket launcher, but is actually a spigot mortar that uses a small confined explosive charge in the base of the projectile to propel it from the weapon. This system produced no backblast, but resulted in, you guessed it, SEVERE RECOIL, even with the presence of a large cocking spring to absorb it.
** And according to Ian Hogg (in his book ''Grenades and Mortars'' from the old Ballantine Illustrated History of WWII/The Violent Century series), if you didn't hold onto the PIAT ''real tight'' when it fired, the recoil that was supposed to re-cock the spigot against its powerful spring would instead (a) knock you flat on your backside and (b) fail to shove the spigot back fast and hard enough to re-cock it- which meant you had to re-arm the PIAT by hand, which was emphatically not fun.
*** Not fun is putting it mildly. The spring needed over 100 pounds of force (over 50
* Other weapons had different ways of dealing with the backblast problem. The World War One ''Davis Recoilless Gun'', used by British Naval Air Service flying boats to shoot at surfaced U-Boats, had two barrels pointing in opposite directions with a central breech system. One barrel fire a high-explosive shell (at the intended target); the opposite barrel fired a "counter-shot" composed of bird shot and axle grease of the same mass as the shell to provide the recoilless effect. The Davis Gun's manual stated that care had to be taken to avoid ''pointing the counter-shot barrel at any part of the aircraft''; fabric and wood biplanes don't react well to a blast of bird shot at point-blank range (to say nothing of what it would do to a crew-member).
* Much later, in the 1980s, the West German ''Bundeswehr'''s ''Armbrust'' ("Crossbow") shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket launcher solved the backblast problem by a method similar to the Davis Gun, except that its "counter-shot" was a mass of plastic chips ejected at much higher velocity than the rocket, which worked otherwise like the Russian RPG-7 (launched by a recoilless charge, then igniting its own solid rocket motor a safe distance from the launcher). The plastic chips mainly came out as plastic ''dust'', very much like the exhaust from a sandblaster, which lost speed and damaging capability after about 1-2 meters of travel. You ''still'' didn't want to stand right behind the ''Armbrust'' when it fired, but it was specifically designed to be fired from inside a building or other "hide" without injuring or killing the crew with backblast in the confined space.
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