Petal Power: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

When a character has super powers (especially the [[Power Glows|glowy variety]]), artists will want to personalize them. After all, seeing twenty lime green [[Battle Aura]]s would make viewers think they're watching a rave, not a [[Martial Arts and Crafts]] [[Cooking Duel]]. And so it goes that most [[Ki Attacks]], [[Deflector Shield]]s, [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]], and sundry visual effects are [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|Color Coded]] to the character.

 

 

The petals can be from any flower, but commonly, it's [[Something About a Rose|rose petals]], peach blossoms, or [[Cherry Blossoms]] (these are a big favorite in Anime). Leaves aren't out of the question either, using vine whips is a different trope though. The attack itself may or may not actually be ''made'' of petals; it could just be a fancy visual aid that disintegrates post attack.<ref>which makes you wonder at all the spare energy and work that must have gone into making a generic energy attack look like the picture to the right.</ref> That said, most instances of this trope come with [[Calling Your Attacks|flower based names]] and they actually do evoke [[Green Thumb|power over plants]] in some form.

 

{{examples}}

* Pictured above: Zoisite from ''[[Sailor Moon]].'' His ([[She's a Man In Japan|her in the US dub]]) dark energy attacks take the appearance of cherry-blossom petals.

** In the manga, some of Jupiter's attacks also involved petals.

* Lillymon, Sunflowmon, and Rosemon from ''[[Digimon]]'' have attacks that fit this.

** And even Crusadermon, who is not flower-themed. Turns out, the rose that's typically a prop (see James from [[Pokémon]]) can be used to create a storm of petals to blind/distract the enemy. (It actually seems to hurt them ''just'' once.)

* ''[[Puni Puni Poemi]]'' parodies this trope with Nanase Aasu, who can summon a whirlwind of flower petals...[[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|to absolutely no effect]].

* The kunoichi Karenbana from the 3rd ''[[Naruto]]'' film uses a jutsu that makes her body seem to dissolve into pink petals, which hide her position and prevent her enemy from seeing her attacks.

** And in a Part 1 filler arc, we are called to ''"witness the Flower Ninja Art of the Land of Vegetables"'': the heads [[Alliteration|fly off flowers in the field where the fight takes place]], turning into shuriken or ''exploding''.

* Lady Kayura of ''Yoroiden Samurai Troopers ([[Ronin Warriors]])''.

 

 

* [[The Chick|Saya]] in ''[[Seijuu Sentai Gingaman]]''.

* [[Monster of the Week|Viscount Cherry Blossom]] in ''[[Gosei Sentai Dairanger]]'', who became "Terror Blossom" when he appeared in the second season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

* ''[[Torchwood]]'' has a race of evil fairies that kill you by [[Nightmare Fuel|shoving flower petals]] [[Orifice Invasion|down your throat.]]

 

** To be more specific, the lower-level spell creates a rain of red roses whose smell makes evil creatures [[Standard Status Effect|violently sick]]. The more powerful one creates a rain of black tulips that [[Made of Explodium|explode on contact]] with evil creatures.

** Back in first-edition AD&D, 17th-level monks (the highest that class could go) were called "Grand Masters of Flowers". Which didn't ''sound'' very badass, but they were.

* The odic, a powerful tree-possessing evil spirit from the Basic/Expert/etc version of D&D, can send its drifting leaves to attack victims.

* In ''[[Exalted]]'', the Wood-aspected Terrestrial [[Battle Aura|anima]] can produce this effect. There are also several Wood-aspected combat Charms that can do this.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Touhou]] 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom'' (of course), the final boss Yuyuko Saigyouji has the [[Danmaku]] pattern "Perfect Cherry Blossom of Sumizome" (of course), which clutters the screen with falling petals. In the fighting games, it's her underling Youmu that makes cherry petals appear all around her when she slashes her sword real quick. In both cases, they're deadly or damaging to your health bar. However, if you collect the harmless sort of cherry petals (or the larger-value cherry blocks), you earn your way towards a Supernatural Border, which makes you invincible for a short time and allows you to clear the entire screen of bullets with the touch of a button.

** [[Green Thumb|Yuuka]] [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|Kazami]] uses various flowers and petals as her bullets. She's also one of the more powerful characters in the series.

* ''[[Dead or Alive]]'''s Kasumi has a [[Cherry Blossom]] motif, which she can use to ''teleport''; her half-sister Ayame does the same with iris petals (appropriate to her name). [[Ninja Gaiden|Ryu]] and Hayate (Kasumi's brother) does it with leaves.

* In ''[[Flower]]'', it's pretty much the main thing, allowing you to open flowers and bring color back to the landscape. It is also useful for {{spoiler|destroying some of the man-made structures or making them useful}}.

* In ''[[Castlevania: Circle of the Moon]]'', several of the [[Green Thumb|Mandragora]] based spells involve attacking with flower petals.

* [[Samurai Shodown|Yoshitora's]] special moves all produce flower graphics when they connect. [[Calling Your Attacks|He also yells the flower names.]]

* The Team Rose group attack in ''[[Sonic Heroes]]''.

 

* [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-143 SCP-143] is a forest of incredibly strong trees. ''The [[SCP Foundation]]'' lost three staff members when they were out collecting petals and the wind picked up.

* Showers of rose petals seem to surround Ruby Rose of ''[[RWBY]]'' whenever she does something that employs her [[Personality Powers|"semblance"]] or [[Mana Meter|"Aura"]].

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Power]]

[[Category:Floral Tropes]]