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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]] ==
* ''[[
* The Nine-tailed Fox's tails in ''[[
* 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 ''[[
* 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.▼
==
* ''[[Pokémon]]'':
▲* ''[[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.
** 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.
** ''[[
**
* 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 (
* 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]]:
* In ''[[La-Mulana (Video Game)|La-Mulana]]'', the boss Tiamat can whip out her massive tail to do a lot of damage to Lemeza.▼
** ''[[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.
* Crocodile-like enemies in ''[[Earthbound (Video Game)|Earthbound]]'' can "swing their tail very hard" as an attack.▼
** ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'' is themed entirely around the Super Leaf power-up, extending this trope to a lot of things.
* Bullsquids from ''[[Half Life]]'' possess surprisingly powerful spinning tail-smack finisher which often reduces a victim to [[Ludicrous Gibs]].▼
** [[Big Bad|Bowser]] employs tail swipes during his boss fights in ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]''.
▲* In ''[[
▲*
▲* 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
* 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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