Switch-Out Move

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"SNAPUBAKURU!!!" —Commentary on a FFA United Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournament match

In the land of fiction, battles aren't always mano a mano - in fact, most of them aren't. Sometimes Alice needs a little help from Bob against the Dark Lord's enforcers. And sometimes... sometimes Bob has to swap in with style. Enter the Switch-Out Move a technique that comes in one of two forms: the user switches with their partner, or else forces their opponent to do the same.

In games, sports or settings where Tag Team battles are common and expected, the entire match usually revolves around characters fighting one-on-one and tagging in or out with their partners as needed - here, the Switch-Out Move may take the form of an attack via Dynamic Entry. Even more rarely, the team members may pool their talents for a Combination Attack that doubles as this. While typical of 2v2 matches, this can also apply to team battles that have a much larger scale and aren't necessarily even matches.

Examples of Switch-Out Move include:

Anime and Manga

• In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yugi Mutou switches consciousnesses with Yami Yugi in this way, at least after little Yugi finds out about Yami; whoever's soul is not using the body occupies their shared mind. This ability ends up coming in handy when Yugi duels Pegasus, who can read minds through the power of his Millenium Eye.
• In Hunter X Hunter, this is the basis of Goreinu's abilities. He can summon two gorillas, a black one and a white one, that are capable of independent movement; Goreinu can instantly switch locations with the black gorilla, and can force someone else to switch locations with the white one.
• One Piece: Luffy attempts this with Zoro, who is holding off Arlong. Unfortunately for the swordsman, Luffy's idea of a Switch-Out Move involves sending Zoro flying backwards about 100 feet in the air.

Comic Books

• The first Marvel Universe Captain Marvel had this ability. His partner, Rick Jones, could send himself to the Negative Zone (and release Captain Marvel to take his place) by striking the Nega Bands on his wrists together over his head.
• Sleepwalker had a similar power, as he could only enter the waking world when his human host Rick Sheridan was asleep. Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly fast and was a big reason the title failed - trying to find a hidden place to switch to a costumed identity is one thing, trying to do so in order to take a nap is much harder.

Professional Wrestling

This trope is so common in pro wrestling that it counts as People Sit on Chairs there. No examples in this medium are needed.

Tabletop Games

• Castling in chess swaps the player's king with one of his rooks (although both the king's and rook's previous positions become vacant).
• Some cards in Magic: The Gathering allow you to do so, such as the "Ninjutsu" mechanic, which allows you to trade one attacking creature for another in the middle of combat.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • The Gladiator Beast archetype of monsters have the ability to "tag-out" by returning to the deck in exchange for a different Gladiator Beast. The second one that comes in ends up with a special ability it wouldn't have otherwise.
  • Beast Soul Swap lets you return a Beast-type on your field to the hand, allowing you to Special Summon another one with the same Level in its place (or technically even the same one).
• The Pokémon Trading Card Game allows Pokémon to switch back to the Bench, which acts as a reserve area, after it attacks. Some Pokémon are required to pay a "retreat cost" from their attached Energy Cards in order to do so. Dunsparce is one of the most infamous Pokémon in this aspect: its debut card, for minimal Energy costs, inflicted Confusion and would retreat, making it near impossible to defeat. Most subsequent cards based on Dunsparce have had an attack-and-retreat move since.

Video Games

• Combat in Pokémon mostly revolves around one-on-one Tag Team matches, with swapping Pokemon being manual and taking that Trainer's turn. There are various moves that cause a Pokemon to be switched out and provide additional effects over a normal tag-out, and can potentially be used in situations where normal switching isn't possible.
  • Gold and Silver introduces Baton Pass, which additionally passes on the user's stat changes and adverse non-cardinal status (e.g. binding, infatuation, confusion, etc.) to the next Pokémon switched in.
  • Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduces U-Turn, a move that attacks the opponent and then immediately switches the user out after. Healing Wish and Lunar Dance are "sacrifice" moves that trade dealing immense damage to the opponent for fully restoring the HP and curing Standard Status Effects of the next Pokémon sent in. Lunar Dance is Cresselia's Signature Move, and additionally restores the benefactor's PP as well.
  • Pokémon Black and White introduces many variations on this. Double Battle-exclusive Ally Switch exchanges the position of your two active Pokemon andhe Escape Button is a one-use item causes the holder to switch out after being hit by an opponent's attack.
• The Capcom vs. Whatever series has these as a form of attack, and even allows for tag-team Hyper Combos that leaves the other character in afterward.
• Tekken Tag Tournament gives all characters a generic stomp into a tag grapple to trade off with their partner, along with a launcher that allowed for a mid-juggle tag - this one was nastier, as it removed the opponent's "red" health. Characters also get team-specific moves, such as King Irish Whipping an opponent to Armor King for a power slam.