History Main / AbnormalLimbRotationRange

* Tails of the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series can rotate his two tails as if they were an airplane prop in order to fly. And never gets them tangled. Ever.

* In Mongolian horror film ''Film/TheDemon'', the homicidal StringyHairedGhostGirl does an upside-down crab walk that's highly reminiscent of that scene from ''The Exorcist''.

* ''Film/InspectorGadget'' has this happen to him a few times.
* ''[[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland]]'' has Mad Hatter Play this trope Straight.

* The demonic creature Sammael from the first ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' movie could do this... [[{{squick}} by dislocating its own joints and breaking its own bones]]. It could heal any injury almost instantly, but spinning your own pelvis around a full 180 degrees or bending every joint in your arm the opposite way they were intended to bend has to hurt.
* In the campy horror/comedy ''Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace'', one of the title monsters is "arrested" by the teenager-hating {{Jerkass}} deputy sheriff. As the klown is being shown to a jail cell, the deputy strikes it in the back of the neck with his baton. In response, the klown growls and spins its head completely around.

* In ''Film/AustinPowers: Goldmember'', the title villain is able to dislocate his legs upwards, which is useful for kicking someone in the face behind him.

Not to be confused for HeadTurnedBackwards. A specific sub-trope, for when only the head rotates, is ExorcistHead. For performers who bend far in the expected range, see {{Contortionist}}. If somebody's limbs get bent unnaturally-far because they've been stuffed or dragged into a too-small space, that's FoldSpindleMutilation. If a character uses this to spice up sex see ComicSutra or FlexibilityEqualsSexAbility.

** In the ''Film/{{Thor|2011}}'' movie, the Destroyer robot was impaled from the back and then completely rotated every part of its body to face its enemy, knocked her away, then removed the spear by [[NoSell standing up while the blade slid out by itself]].

** In the ''Thor'' movie, the Destroyer robot was impaled from the back and then completely rotated every part of its body to face its enemy, knocked her away, then removed the spear by [[NoSell standing up while the blade slid out by itself]].

* ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' [[spoiler: has [[CompetitionFreak Violet Beauregarde]] gain this ability while [[CursedWithAwesome still having blue skin]] as a result of [[HarmfulHealing getting the juice squeezed out of her]] after [[BalefulPolymorph turning into a blueberry/human hybrid]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Pearl and Garnet's FusionDance, Sardonyx, has a second set of arms attached to her waist, and no less than four segments (upper body, waist, lower body, and legs) that can rotate independently of each other. Alexandrite (the same fusion, plus Amethyst) also has the segmented waist.

** Also Luffy, after eating the Gum-Gum Fruit, makinng him into a RubberMan and letting him do some crazy stuff with his limbs.

** Also Luffy with the Gum-Gum Fruit; he can do some crazy stuff with his limbs.

* Orianna of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' is a [[{{Magitek}} Hextech]]/clockwork robot powered by a large key in her back. The fact she can freely twist her arms to wind said key unassisted is one of many things that others find [[UncannyValley deeply unsettling]] about her.

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': One of the perks of being a far more advanced version of the Lin Kuei {{cyber ninja}}s is that [[spoiler:Frost]] has unlimited articulation on all of her joints. One of her attacks involves wildly spinning her torso and outstretched arms, while her lower body and head remain facing forward. Other moves allow her to create [[ThisIsADrill ice drills]] from her forearms and launch them at her opponents. She can also use DetachmentCombat, in which a new head will materialize and automatically affix itself to her robotic body.

* In ''VideoGame/PoppyPlaytime'', one of the main dangers is [[AnimateInanimateObject an inexplicably animate "statue" of a cartoon character]] named Huggy Wuggy. While he has long, floppy limbs and towers around 20 feet when standing upright, he appears to have no bones, and [[SuperPersistentPredator when he chases the player character into claustrophobic assembly line vents]], his limbs are all completely scrunched up, [[FasterThanTheyLook allowing him to pursue his prey at an unnervingly fast pace]].

* Woody from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' [[spoiler:when he scares away Sid.]]

*** As said above, Santana (the Pillar Man in question) ''breaks all of his bones'' to achieve this. The best example would be Whamuu's Holy Sandstorm. He twists his forearms so quickly that they form tornadoes powerful enough to smash through stone pillars.

%%* Regan from ''Film/TheExorcist'', the TropeCodifier.
%%* The above ''Exorcist'' example is parodied in ''Film/SonOfTheMask''.

Not to be confused for HeadTurnedBackwards. A specific sub-trope, for when only the head rotates, is ExorcistHead. For performers who bend far in the expected range, see {{Contortionist}}. If somebody's limbs get bent unnaturally-far because they've been stuffed or dragged into a too-small space, that's FoldSpindleMutilation.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' features Spiral, who utilize this trope in a creative way: using his rotating arm as a drill.

* Regan from ''Film/TheExorcist'', the TropeCodifier.
* The above ''Exorcist'' example is parodied in ''Film/SonOfTheMask''.

* An ad for Ingham's Chicken fillet. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX8RxwkQHUA Observe.]]

* In ''Anime/DaiMahouTouge'', Paya's limbs can rotate 360 degrees in all directions, making him immune to all joint locks.

* ''Manga/OnePiece''

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure''

* Lyra has this in the ''FanFic/TriptychContinuum'' due to an unusual degree of just about full-body double-jointing, leading to some rather nonstandard postures which virtually nopony else can replicate. Just watching her stretch can be a mildly traumatizing experience.
* Similarly, the [[FanFic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse Lunaverse]] iteration of Lyra is specifically noted to be amazingly flexible for a pony, capable of bending her limbs and back in ways that would badly hurt just about anypony else.

* ''Series/TheMandalorian''. While other characters shoot GunsAkimbo, the IG-11 [[KillerRobot assassination droid]] is the only character who can do so accurately because it can rotate [[MultiArmedAndDangerous both its arms]] and its optical units independently of each other. In a scene where it's protecting the Child who is hanging from a bag off its chest, it simply reverses its chest section independently of its arms so [[BulletproofHumanShield blaster bolts are deflected off its armored chassis]] while it can still shoot back.

* WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} demonstrates this ability in the Hanna-Barbera short "Popeye vs. Machine": After Bluto steals his spinach, an exhausted Popeye spins his arms like helicopter blades to reclaim his PowerUpFood.