Roboteching: Difference between revisions

 

== [[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]].

** Predictably enough, in the various Budokai Tenkaichi games the attack is perfectly dodgeable as long as you time it right.

*** 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.

** Most of Negi's magic missiles act this way too.

* Done in ''[[Vandread]]'' with any kind of missile spam. The ''Nirvana'' does this with energy shots that can ''dodge friendly vehicles'' when properly targeted on the way to the enemy. An extreme example of gravitational lensing perhaps, although given the abilities of the shows Applied Phlebotinum, the Pixis, it could easily not have even a dubious scientific explanation. Then again, the standard guns of the Dread fighters display a more limited, but similar, principle.

** 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.

* ''[[Eureka Seven]]'''s Nirvash type theEND has a barrage of homing lasers. They ''all'' robotech. Sometimes they gather together and ''re''-robotech. Pick ''any'' fight between theEND and ''anyone'' else. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GM4Gkr1qvg&t=44s See for yourself.]

* The Divine Shooter/[[Mid-Season Upgrade|Axel Shooter]] spell of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''--magic missiles whose individual flight paths Nanoha can control to streak towards different targets.

* The beam fired by the [[Arm Cannon|Psychogun]] in ''Space Adventure Cobra'' can swerve around obstacles to strike unerringly its target, since it is mentally controlled by the hero.

* 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.

* In ''[[Strike Witches]]'' the neuroi attack using ''beams'' that robotech, even when the targets are very close.

* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', the Elite Four all have special powers from out of freaking nowhere, and Lance's is that his [[Mon|mons]]' Hyper Beams can robotech.

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

* 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.}}

** Of course, any surface that can reflect combat lasers is a case of [[Did Not Do the Research]]. Only partially focused beams would be reflected easily (which is how mirror sattelites would work); fully focused beams used to cause actual damage would roast any mirror in microseconds.

* The recent ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' remake features a bunch of missiles fired at Ramiel that behave this way--fired straight up into the sky and suddenly execute a 90-degree turn to aim at the target.

* The missile attacks in the third episode of [[Martian Successor Nadesico]] are intentionally choreographed to the point of outright parody as part of the show's affectionate tweaking of classic super robot anime tropes.

* In [[Space Adventure Cobra]], Cobra's [[Arm Cannon|psychogun]] does this with ease. Justified by it being a completely mind-controlled weapon, projecting his Qi life force as deadly beams.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

** 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.

* ''[[District 9]]'' does this in the climactic battle involving with MNU against the [[Powered Armor]]--the missiles it fires Robotech around the buildings hitting near the mercenaries.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* The ''[[Sten]]'' novels feature a ''sniper rifle'' capable of curving the trajectory of its bullet. It's used to shoot people who are hiding behind corners.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* 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.

** 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.

* [[Star Fleet Battles]] either averts this or plays it straight, depending both on how many drones (missiles) are used, and how clever you are at utilizing the rules. (The rules require that drones always move towards their target at every opportunity, which limits Roboteching. However, if there are a lot of drones, there's a number of tactics involving small, transporter-layed mines that can really spoil your day that Roboteching can seriously blunt.)

 

* 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.

* ''[[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.

** This also occurs in the anime ''[[Gall Force]]'', although the "lasers" may actually be cheaply-animated missiles.

*** No, their missiles Roboteched the traditional way. Those were definitely beams. You could even see them tearing through the ships they hit.

** MLRS units can also do this in some games of the series, aswell as in other games. ''[[World in Conflict]]'', for example.

** This is a default behavior for games using the ''Red Alert 2 / Tiberian Sun'' engine. If an ordinary missile (ie. one that does not have a model like V3s) has its target destroyed before impact, it will Robotech vertically upwards and explode harmlessly.

** One of the recurring enemies, that looks like a [[Spider Mech]], does a two-rocket version of this to you. What said barrage does in quality-per-missile makes up for its quantity.

* 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]].

* [[Ikaruga]] features a cluster of lasers fired from the ''back'' of the ship, which arc around towards its targets.

* The Homing Laser in ''[[Lost Planet]]'' does this, but with four lasers at once.

** 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.

*** And earlier, in the 1984 classic ''Archon II: Adept'', for the titular game piece.

* Shows up to an extent in the early Harry Potter games, where spells will curve toward the nearest available target.

** Eh, not really. The missiles of the Hiigaran Torpedo Frigate are the only ones which find a new target if the original is gone. Vaygr fusion missiles are not that advanced. On the other hand, missiles in the first two games also did this, though the [[Macross Missile Massacre]] of the Missile Destroyer greatly decreased their Roboteching capabilities.

* ''[[Halo]]'' has the needler, a handheld weapon that fires a spray little exploding crystal shards that home in somewhat on the nearest target. You can see them arc around to follow a fleeing enemy. How they do this is never explained (somehow, the covenant have developed self-guided plasma technology)

* 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.

* Missiles in ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' are one of the few weapons that don't need a direct line of sight to the target and robotech to their target after clearing the firing ship. Beware that they don't crash into other ships before they can start turning if your formation's too tight, though. Planetary defense missiles take it further: they not only robotech after launching from the poles of the planet, but if their target is destroyed, they glide for a bit, criss-crossing where the last target was if they were close enough, and robotech to the next target. Against a fleet of weak destroyers, a planetary defense missile may do this several times before hitting something.

* 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.

* Every single ranged attack in the [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game]] ''[[City of Heroes]]'', without fail, will do this if the mob moves. Then again, this is less deliberate than the result of locked-on targetting -- even if the damage of the attack misses the animation usually won't.

** 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.

* Used by the Galbadian ICBMs in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''.

* Hit detection for non-ballistic long-range attacks in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' is done upon firing. If the target moves, the projectile will track the target until it hits, even ignoring obstacles. In earlier patches, this also applied to beam-type spells like the warlock's Drain Life or the mage's Arcane Missiles. As long as the magic-user could start casting the spell, it would continue to hit the target, no matter how far the target moved.

** Fun fact: a player on an upgraded flying mount (which allows one to travel at about 4x normal speed and... well, fly) is ''faster'' than most spell "missiles". It's possible to actually string missiles along behind you if you fly far enough. You'll take damage from the spell pretty soon even if it doesn't catch you, but the visual effect will keep following.

* This is the key ability of the ''[[Ace Combat]]'' QAAMs, given how wimpy the standard missiles are at tracking and staying with targets. Some anti-ground missiles also make sharp turns to hit their targets from above. You also sometimes have cruise missiles leading you on a rather spinny chase.

* The early Mac game ''Airborne!'' (lone anti-aircraft gunner in the corner vs. the world) gave you the option of guided or unguided shells. With the former, the mouse controlled all friendly bullets on the screen as a unit, turning them into an undulating wave.

* This trope is practically [[Final Fantasy VI|Kefka's]] entire moveset in ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]''.

** Also, if [[Final Fantasy X|Jecht's]] [[Limit Break]] is successfully pulled off, rather than simply kicking a meteor into an opponent it splits into several fireballs which all robotech into the opponent for massive damage.

* One of the ships in [[R-Type|R-Type Final]] has a slow-moving charge shot that can be steered with the right analog stick. [[Awesome but Impractical|You have to reconfigure your entire control setup to be able to use this without losing all self-defense by taking your thumbs away from the face buttons.]]

*** The fact that the Tracer Dart would appear as a giant flashing light in the Sniper's screen would also make him well aware of his [[Oh Crap|inevitable]] [[You Can't Fight Fate|fate]].

* Battlefront 2 plays this trope straight and averts it. Interceptor fighters' and Imperial and CIS shuttles have small guided missiles that can sometimes dodge around things to catch their targets (though their targets are more maneuverable), while normal anti-tank rockets mostly just travel in a straight line.

* In ''[[Shadows of the Damned]]'', The Teether's final upgrade, The Dentist does this.

* Rare non-missile example: the ''[[Raiden]]'' series has a roboteching ''laser'', which is able to twist and turn in all sorts of improbable shapes to hit targets once they've been locked on.

* All ranged and magic attacks in ''[[Runescape]]'' follow this trope when attacking a moving player or monster.

* 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.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]''. A humongous mecha tries to perform a [[Macross Missile Massacre]], but all of the missiles just fly straight past its target, or in some cases, curve wildly and hit anything else.

** The Superman series example is quite a [[Player Punch]] moment, as it kills [[The Commissioner Gordon]] "Terrible" Turpin.

** Of course, Batman being [[Memetic Mutation|the goddamn Batman]] that he is, he manages to ''dodge'' them. Darkseid is really impressed.