Roboteching: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

Said of missiles or beam weapons that fire along trajectories that are at an unlikely angle off of their target, streak along for a fair distance, and then make sudden synchronized turns in order to actually bring themselves to bear and hit it. The individual missiles of a [[Macross Missile Massacre]] almost always robotech on their way to a target. Often, it seems the best (or only) way to avoid this or a [[Macross Missile Massacre]] is to perform a [[High-Speed Missile Dodge]].

 

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

** This is a parody of several missiles fired in ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]: Do you Remember Love?'', where some of the missiles were drawn as cans of beer.

* In ''[[Transformers Energon]]'', [[Combining Mecha|Wing Optimus's]] "Meteor Attack Mode" fires a [[Beam Spam]] along with a small [[Chest Blaster]], which then absorbs the individual streams of energy to form an insanely powerful [[Wave Motion Gun]].

*** Not in the Budokai games (entirely different set of games, believe it or not). In those, you can only dodge the initial combo that triggers the cutscene-based attack. The only way Piccolo can screw it up then is if he fails the quicktime event, and even then, it only results in fewer grenades, not a dodge.

** Goku was once able to control where his [[Kamehame Hadoken|Kamehameha]] was going against Raditz.

* In ''[[Space Runaway Ideon]],'' the missiles Ideon fires act like this. When they are powered by the god-like Ide, they then fire off as beams of light, with 90-degree angles.

* In her ''Pactio'' powered-up form, Chachamaru from the ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' anime is seen using a roboteching [[Beam Spam]] attack that emerges from her back.

** The same system appears again in ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'', as part of the Shamblo. Here, as well as using it to confuse the opponent, it was also used to reflect incoming beam attacks back at the attacker.

** This was touched on again in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Gundam 00]]'', where {{spoiler|[[The Woobie|Louise Halevy]]}}'s [[Lightning Bruiser|Regnant]] is shown to be extremely dangerous due to the fact that that the shots from its main beam cannon were able to change their paths multiple times.

* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]],'' Gokudera's Rocket Bomb attack does this with hand-thrown dynamite by having secondary and tertiary charges explode to allow him to control the trajectory. At least some mention is made of how difficult a technique this is.

* Many of the ships in ''[[Gall Force]]'' do this too, as lasers will be shot out at right angles to their ship, and once clearing the hull profile, make a 90-degree turn forward to bombard their target.

** Even when they're not controlled by the computer, [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|the Elite Four are cheating bastards]]!

* [[Playing with Fire|Hikaru's]] [[Kill It with Fire|Flame Arrows]] in ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]''. Much more egregious in the [[OAV]] continuity where, even though they're shot straight at an enemy, the fire bursts robotech ''around and past'' the target and then strike it in the back.

* In ''[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato]]'', Gamilus uses mirror satellites to direct their reflex cannon at the Yamato even when it is on the other side of a planet from their base. [[Fridge Logic]] asks, if they have something that [[Frickin' Laser Beams]] just bounce right off of, why not use it for shields? {{spoiler|Eventually the good guys do exactly this to defend against the Desler Cannon. It's a pretty awesome [[Deus Ex Machina]], but it doesn't explain why the Gamilusians didn't think of it first.}}

* Similarly, some robot-controlled planes in ''[[RahXephon]]'' are launched straight upwards and suddenly turn downwards to attack their target from above.

* Beams fired by Nobles' ships in ''[[Wolf's Rain]]'' will maneuver quite extensively to track their target, if they don't hit it straight. At one point, a single beam splits in two to hit different targets.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Also seen in the Ultimate Nullifer in the [[Marvel Universe]].

* In the earlier issues of [[Image Comics]]' ''[[Stormwatch]]'', Flashpoint (one of the members of Stormwatch Prime) also had the ability to control the direction and intensity of his eye blasts. It was ''very'' cool. Too bad the character was a prime [[Jerkass]] and [[The Mole]] (actually, all three members of Stormwatch Prime were moles, but he was the only one who enjoyed it and stayed evil. He [[Karmic Death|got his in the end]], too.)

 

== [[Film]] ==

* In the film adaptation of the comic book ''[[Wanted]]'', this is [[Improbable Aiming Skills|the power]] of all the main characters. They do it with ''bullets.'' Fired from ''regular guns.''

** The ''bullets'' are far from regular, though. They're shaped to be capable of curving as needed (even to hit a specific spot across town if fired from ''exactly'' the right place. It's improbable, yeah... but not ''quite'' as ridiculous as normal weapons and ammo doing this for no reason.

* The film ''[[Runaway]]'' includes a handgun that fires target-seeking minimissiles.

* There looks to be some of this in the upcoming ''[[Battle: Los Angeles]]''

* One episode of ''[[Airwolf]]'' had a missile fired in '''very''' approximately the direction of the enemy ground troops. They laughed when they saw the missile's flight path wouldn't bring it near enough to hurt them. Then the gunner activated the terminal-guidance laser....

* [[Kamen Rider Double]]'s '''{{color|gold|Luna}}{{color|blue|Trigger}}''' form fires Roboteching [[Energy Weapons|energy bullets]]; its [[Finishing Move|Maximum Drive]], Trigger Full Burst, fires a barrage of them.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** Several other factions have their own analogues, like the Imperial Hunter-Seeker missiles or Ork Grot [[Funetik Aksent|Bomms]]. That latter is particularly notable since it is actually piloted by a [[Our Goblins Are Wickeder|Grot]], each one is a volunteer that the Ork meks conveniently forget to tell, or just won't bother informing, that it's a one way trip.

* Rare fantasy example: The Egyptian-themed unded Tomb Kings in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' field archers equipeed with magic arrows that, in the fluff, do exactly this- at some points they even soar past the target entirely, only to change direction in mid-air and hit enemies in the back. In the actual game, this is represented by their having no positive or negative modifiers to hit, ever.

* One of the ''Champions'' rulebooks has statistics for an energy beam that follows the target until it hits. The rules were complex enough to defy even ''Champions'' attack powers, so the designers wrote it up as a summoned creature instead.

** This is also often an explaination given by GM's and some source materials as to why the spell Magic Missile (and, in certain versions, some higher level versions) ALWAYS hits its target.

* ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' supports three different feats for this. Indirect lets you explicitly avoid obstacles between you and the target. Ricochet allows one bounce per level. Homing makes the attack continue trying to hit after you fire it off.

* The Annihilator Beam in ''[[Metroid|Metroid Prime 2: Echoes]]'' is capable of this.

** Also occurs with missiles and the wave beam in the first.

** And ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Shadow Over Mystara|Shadow Over Mystara]]''.

* Similar to the Magic Missiles, one of the Ghost elemental mage spells, Soul Strike, in the MMORPG ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'' summons a varying number of white glowing orbs which then streak towards the target.

* The swarm-firing missiles in [[Simulation Game|space sim]] ''[[Free Space|Descent: Freespace]]'' and its sequels. More advanced versions even ''corkscrew'' all the way to their targets. Later games in the ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' series also included this trope.

* ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' and its sequel had Jehuty, the player's [[Humongous Mecha]], equipped with a laser weapon whose beams Roboteched out of thin air to home in on locked targets, in a bright-blue rendition of a [[Macross Missile Massacre]].

* ''Jumpman'' for the Commodore 64 has projectiles that move slowly from the side of the screen. Once they get a clear aim at him (i.e. save horizontal/vertical position), they accelerate and move in.

* Several warships in the ''[[Xenosaga]]'' series fire beams at angles away from the ship, which then make a sharp angled turn straight ahead.

* In the ''[[Super Robot Wars|Super Robot Wars: Original Generation Divine Wars]]'' (yes, [[Word Salad Title|that's the title]]) [[Blow You Away|Cybuster]]'s Cosmo Nova special attack is depicted as a Roboteched [[Beam Spam]].

* You can Robotech the shots of the RPG in both the original ''[[Half-Life]]'' and ''[[Half-Life]] 2'' by waving the laser guiding dot around. [[Justified]] because of some nebulous technology that causes the rocket to seek the guiding dot out, and a necessary gameplay element as Combine gunships will attempt to shoot the rockets down and will succeed if you don't bother to Robotech.

*** Actually, manually guided missiles really move quite slow, which is why they were phased out.

** Also, this partially makes up for how slow the missiles travel to target, in comparison with real life.

** Likewise in both games, the AVRiL anti-vehicle missiles only home in to a vehicle while you're aiming at it, allowing you to turn them at the last minute, making them harder to dodge or shoot down. Further, the target only receives a "Missile Lock" warning when you are tracking them, making it a viable strategy to dumb-fire a rocket to near the target and only lock on when it is close by.

* A late weapon in the ''[[X-COM]]'' games was a guided rocket launcher that you set waypoints for the rocket to pass through before striking its target. More specifically, the first game had the Blaster Launcher while the second had the similar Distruptor Pulse Torpedo Launcher.

** ''X-Com Interceptor'' had a missile with vector thrusters. It was designed to be capable of extremely sharp 180° turns thus outmaneuvering it is impossible.

** For that matter, ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'' had a missile that, once fired, the player would control in first person view. One puzzle required the player to guide said missile through a maze of ventilation ducts. I am not making this up.

* In ''[[Fable]]'', the arrows generated by the "multi-shot" spell do this on their way to the target.

* ''[[Drakengard]]'''s Dragon has a lock-on attack that fires several fireballs that robotech. The Chaos Evolution of the Dragon has fireballs that robotech in straighter lines with more angular turns.

** ''Armageddon'' also has the Magic Bullet that is Roboteching set to ''eleven''.

* The Drunken Missile launcher in ''Rise of the Triad'' fires a salvo of missiles which fly in random directions until they sense a target, at which point they converge on the target from all angles making it difficult to avoid all of them.

* In ''[[Call of Duty]] 4'' the Javelin missile launcher does this, quickly popping up after being fired and then slamming down on the targeted tank from almost directly above; see Truth in Television examples.

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni|Higurashi Daybreak]]'' has this, in the form of Rika's charged ranged attack. She fires a bunch of purple missiles that robotech to the person you're currently locked on to.

** Especially obvious if the target teleports while the attack is in flight; partnering a [[Mighty Glacier|sniping power]] with [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Teleport Foe]] often resulted in the over powered attack making u-turn.

** The Bullet Rain power in the Dual Pistols set does this whether or not the target moves; your character fires a spray of bullets in a cone, which then all arch back toward your target, hitting them and the targets around them.

* Another non-missile example is shown in ''[[Mega Man Battle Network|Mega Man Network Transmission]]''. Both Brightman and Bass use lasers that adjust angle mid-flight; Bright's lasers adjust themselves once by 45-degree angles, and Bass's twice by 90-degree angles.

* In ''[[Bulletstorm]]'' you can robotech your sniper rifle bullet, in [[Bullet Time]].

* Guided missiles in the ''[[X Universe]]'' games fire from ventrally-mounted, forward-facing tubes (or flank-mounted tubes, in the case of missile frigates) and immediately curve off after the target. Leads to some spectacular visuals when you're dealing with [[Recursive Ammo|swarm missiles]], which tend to fly in a spiral pattern.

* Missiles in ''[[Escape Velocity]]'' likewise fire forward, then curve off after their target.

 

== Webcomics ==

* [[Schlock Mercenary]] touches on this behavior at some points, with a possible [[Justified Trope|justification]]. Missiles can be fired in "random walk" mode, presumably involving repeated and sudden changes in velocity as they close with their targets, in order to make it harder for point defense to shoot them down.

 

** The latest variant of the Sidewinder, the AIM-9X, has an ability to be aimed via a helmet-mounted sight and obtain lock-ons from almost 90 degrees off the direction of the firing fighter's nose. Furthermore, it can robotech a full 180 degrees off its rail to pursue a target. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g4_jzqBJnA Check it out here.]

** The Russian [[wikipedia:Vympel R-73|Vympel R-73/AA-11 Archer]] is also aimed by a helmet-mounted sight, can can "see" targets up to 60° off the missile's centerline - and entered service 18 years earlier. After NATO learned about the capabilities of this missile, development of the AIM-9X, the IRIS-T and others was started.

** Pretty much the point of guided weapons ''period.''Thrust vectoring and hover/loiter capabilities on newer missile designs will most certainly take future ordnance in this direction.

* Modern torpedoes behave like this. The United States Navy's ASROC weapon system fires a rocket off a destroyer/cruiser on a ballistic path that drops a torpedo into the water miles away. The torpedo will then go around in one of several search patterns so the torpedo's sonar system can lock on to the target sub before finally closing to attack.

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]