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{{trope}}
There is a reason most vertebrates have tails. They can propel you through the water, free up your other limbs for multitasking, are great for balancing, can bait predator and prey alike, are good for showing your intentions and they can swat flies. Why stop there? If it works on a small pest, why not a larger one? You may not have the thumbs necessary for cracking a whip or swinging a chain, but
[[Prehensile Tail
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' has Goku, Korin and Freeza do this
* The Nine-tailed Fox's tails in ''[[Naruto]]'' are incredibly strong, sharp, and hot; they can devastate ''mountains'' and raise tsunamis, as well as pierce human flesh and leave chakra behind, which repeatedly burns and heals the affected area.
* Meroune Lorelei from ''[[Daily Life with Monster Girl]]'' is a mermaid, and so her tail packs a similar musculature and strength to a human's legs. A tail slap from her is thus akin to a roundhouse kick, and can easily knock a man off his feet.
==[[Comic
* The Lizard likes to do this in ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' stories.
**
== [[Film]] ==
* [[Godzilla]] will sometimes attack this way in his movies.
* Littlefoot's mother in ''[[The Land Before Time]]'';
* The
* At the end of ''[[Dinosaur]]'', Aladar and Neera use their tails to attack the Carnotaurus.
* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', Master Viper's fighting style is based primarily around this
* The
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Raptor Red]]'' by Robert T. Bakker uses
* In the ''[[Redwall]]'' series, the otters frequently use their tails as a weapon; the strongest and most skilled can knock an enemy unconscious with a single slap from their tail.
== [[Live
* In ''[[Dinosaurs]]''
==
* The tail is something most people forget about when depicting the Behemoth, except for those who think it was a dinosaur. Most sources depict it as an hippopotamus or a bull, animals most definitely not known for powerful tails.
==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'':
* Dolphins use their tails to stun fish, slamming them through the water at high speed to create a wave of energy that stuns and confuses the fish.▼
*
* Some sharks can cut a man in half with a swipe of their tails.▼
* Most lizards, crocodilians and similar bodied reptiles, even juvenile water dragons.▼
* Dinosaurs in the Diplodocus family of sauropods had long tails that apparently seem to have been whip like. Possibly other sauropods as well, they all had long, muscular tails.▼
* As mentioned in the description, cattle make use of their tails to swat flies, as it can reach everywhere their head and legs do not and has multiple ends they have trouble avoiding. They give the same treatment farm hands they don't like.▼
* Catfish don't have stingers but many species have fins bony enough that people will often assume they were stung by something if hit by them in murky water. Yes, this includes the tail fin.▼
▲* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. During 1st Edition a Dragon Magazine article gave dragons a tail attack usable against creatures directly behind them. In 2nd Edition this was officially added to the game.
== [[Video
* ''[[Pokémon]]'':
* ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'': Minccino and Cinccino's [[Signature Move]] is the [[Trope Namer]]. They usually use their tails to sweep away dust, but at a high enough level can use it offensively in combat. In addition, the moves Slam, Iron Tail [[hottip:*:which involves the tail becoming encased in ''[[Extra Ore Dinary|metal]]'', and Aqua Tail are this trope.▼
** Tail Whip is a subversion, where the user wags their tail cutely to lower an opponent's Defense.
** The [[Extra Ore Dinary|Steel-type]] Iron Tail, introduced in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'', and [[Making a Splash|Water-type]] Aqua Tail, introduced in ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'', count as this.
▲** ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]''
** As detailed in many Pokédex entries, Tauros uses its whip-like tails to psyche itself up for battle by swatting itself. It can also learn Iron Tail via TM.
* Tails from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' can defeat most enemies with a simple swipe of his tails.
* This is primarily how [[Gex]] fights.{{context}}
* [[Croc]] also uses this often.{{context}}
* ''Jurassic Park Warpath'' makes use of
*
* Dragon pets in ''[[Mabinogi (video game)|Mabinogi]]'' always finish their combo on an enemy by spinning in a complete circle and bashing the enemy with their tail.
* In ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'', the campaign unit Merman Brawlers can use their fish tails to hit and stun their enemies, slowing them.
* ''[[BlazBlue]]'':
*
* [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]]:
** ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' introduces the recurring Super Leaf, as well as the P-Wing, which turns Mario or Luigi into their Raccoon forms and gives them a tail-spin attack. The Tanooki Suit adds the ability to turn into a statue at will.
** ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'' is themed entirely around the Super Leaf power-up, extending this trope to a lot of things.
** [[Big Bad|Bowser]] employs tail swipes during his boss fights in ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]''.
* In ''[[La-Mulana]]'', the boss Tiamat can whip out her massive tail to do a lot of damage to Lemeza.
*
* Bullsquids from ''[[Half Life]]'' possess a surprisingly powerful spinning tail-smack finisher which often reduces a victim to [[Ludicrous Gibs]].
==
* In ''The Dolan Life Mysteries'' episode, “[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzrg2tGVO9k&t=115s If Knees Were Backwards, What Would Chairs Look Like?]”, Dolan is slapped by Hellbent, Shima, and Melissa after he mocks tails.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[Gary the Rat]]'s tail is strong enough to knock a man out a building with a flick.
* Grimlock from ''[[Transformers]]'' when not in
*
** Katz uses his
* Whiplash in the original ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|He-Man]]'' line. He gets clubbed the 2002 run.▼
** Courage and Eustace use this against each other after they are turned into kangaroo monsters.
▲* Whiplash in the original ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|He-Man]]'' line.
* The white whale from ''Moby Dick''.{{context}}
▲* Katz uses his extra limb for an advantage during a handball game in ''Courage The Cowardly Dog''.
*
== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* Dolphins
▲* Some sharks can cut a man in half with a swipe of their tails.{{fact}}
▲* Most lizards, crocodilians and similar
▲* Dinosaurs in the Diplodocus family of sauropods had long tails that apparently seem to have been whip like. Possibly other sauropods as well, they all had long, muscular tails.
▲* As mentioned in the description, cattle make use of their tails to swat flies, as it can reach everywhere their head and legs do not, and has multiple ends they have trouble avoiding. They give the same treatment to farm hands they don't like.
▲*
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
[[Category:Tail Slap]]
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