History Main / DeadlyLunge

* The majority of enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' have a lunge attack.

** Many of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'''s non-human opponents have access to these, from the lowliest of radroaches to the mightiest of deathclaws. Most of the ones that don't (like radscorpions or centaurs) typically don't serve as any real threat to an experienced player, as their movement patterns are predictable and attacks easily avoided. Also, [[AchillesHeel crippling an enemy's legs]] (preferably with the poison dart gun) prevents them from doing this.

** Feral ghouls gain this ability in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout4}}'', often lunging hard enough to knock themselves prone.

** [=ReDeads=], at least in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Melee''.

* ''Literature/TheDayOfTheTriffids''. Triffids have a slow means of locomotion, but once they are close they can strike a surprising distance by whipping their trunks forwards while simultaneously lashing out with their stinger.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In Season 7, a wight is captured at great cost and brought before the Royal Court to convince doubters that there really is an army of the undead marching on them from OopNorth. But when the lid of the crate holding the wight is cautiously opened, nothing happens. Sandor Clegane then kicks over the crate... and the snarling wight goes straight for Queen Cersei, only to be stopped at the last moment by Sandor pulling on its chain.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' one of the Exalt types, the Abyssals, have abilities that mimic the powers of the undead. Their signature martial arts style, Hungry Ghost Style, includes a move called Unnatural Shambling Deftness which is described as specifically imitating a zombie's ability to switch suddenly from immobility to a startling burst of speed. In game terms, though, it's just a regular extra action Charm. But the Style also includes such gems of fear as Leaping Horror Approach and Lunging Phantom Method.

* Demon Kids and Simians in ''Franchise/SilentHill'' lunge and jump, respectively.

* ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'':
** The Fiends from ''VideoGame/{{Quake|I}}'' love to leap across distances to get at you, and can OneHitKill you with this attack.
** ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' has the Mutants, who leap towards their enemies (be it the player or [[EnemyCivilWar another mook which took a shot to it]]) should it be in a long distance. The MissionPackSequel ''The Reckoning'' has a weaker version in the Gekk, featuring a slower (and easier to avoid) version of the attack, in exchange for a ranged attack and the ability to attack while swimming.

* Almost all enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}'', but mainly the Boks (zombies) and the mummies.
* The majority of enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' have a lunge attack.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'': Shadows, with the lunging spike and the lunging bite they do when they are low on life.
* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''
** Captain Cross breaks this out with his electric baton if you try to make Alex pick up a gun and JustShootHim.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Prototype 2}}'', James Heller can pounce on enemies with his Claw power active. This is in part to make up for the fact that grabbing things in the first game requires a clear line to the target, which made the process prone to frequent misses.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadRising'', the zombies speed up significantly once they get close. They are noticeably more aggressive at night time and in dark areas, as well.
* Pretty much every zombie in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' is a [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation disheveled muddy-colored marathon runner]], but the Hunters are particularly bad about this. He's also the only one that can actually jump on you. There's also the Charger; clumsy most of the time, but can charge at remarkable speed.
* Commando (Pro) perk from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' allows you to cover some distance when knifing. Unless they use a shotgun.
* The [[FishPeople Lagoon Creature]] enemies from ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPC'' walks at a brisk pace, until they spot the titular character a distance away, at which point they will utter an audible "huh?" before sprinting towards the hunter.
* ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' has a zombie enemy which normally crawls aimlessly on elbows and knees - until it rears up and flings itself at you across surprising distances. One of your first encounters with them is in an unlit asylum.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} 2'' has some skeletons walking around slooowly with very long swords, and suddenly charging and slashing at you. And they can rise again after being defeated.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''
** Many of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'''s non-human opponents have access to these, from the lowliest of radroaches to the mightiest of deathclaws. Most of the ones that don't (like radscorpions or centaurs) typically don't serve as any real threat to an experienced player, as their movement patterns are predictable and attacks easily avoided. Also, [[AchillesHeel crippling an enemy's legs]] (preferably with the poison dart gun) prevents them from doing this.
** The Geckoes in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' do this. The vanilla ones aren't that deadly, but the Golden and Green ones are.
** Feral ghouls gain this ability in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout4}}'', often lunging hard enough to knock themselves prone.
* Demonic monsters referred to as "Howlers" pose the primary threat, at least early on, in ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersUndying''. Roughly humanoid with canine features and some ape-like elements thrown in, howlers gallop towards the player until they get close enough to pounce. In this case "close enough" is about twenty meters or so. They always land ready to strike with their razor-sharp claws.
* The Franchise/{{Alien}} in most ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' games can do this. It is [[SuperSpeed not slow on foot to begin with]], and some variants can pounce over the map if needed.
* There are various such moves in ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden''.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' features this as a move for both the player and enemies. Warriors, for example, have ''four'' variants of this for different situations. It also has an inversion, the Death Knight's Death Grip. It instantly drags the target to the caster's location.
* Many enemies in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' have moves that let them close distance very quickly, though some of them are nice enough to telegraph their moves giving you time to get out of the way. Others, like Ornstein the Dragonslayer, aren't that obliging.
* ''Videogame/DeadSpace'': Most of the enemies, frankly. There is a varied pattern between [[MightyGlacier strong foes being slow]], and weak, low damage output but quick and agile ones. Unless they're [[LightningBruiser stalkers]] from the second and third games, which will flank and charge you the moment they (it's always "they") get the chance.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' has some of the wildlife doing this.
* In ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars II'', the Warp Pulse upgrade allows Tarka ships to do a nigh-instant "lunge" in tactical combat, but with the caveat that any enemy ship in the way causes the lunging Tarka ship to crumple like an egg.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** Promethean Knights in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', who are normally quite slow-moving, will sometimes suddenly lunge, sprint or zig-zag-hyperspeed-charge at you to attack you in melee (or with their Scattershot), usually after you've broken their shield at longer ranges.
** In all games, the Energy Sword can trigger a lunge when an enemy's in a certain range.
** The Thruster Pack ability, introduced in ''Halo 4'', can also be used to suddenly close distance for a melee or shotgun attack, or to board a vehicle.
** ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' allows sprinting Spartans to perform a "Spartan Charge" shoulder bash which does more damage than the standard melee attack.
** The Flood players from ''4''[='s=] Flood multiplayer gametype possess significantly boosted Thruster Packs, higher base movement speeds, and blade-arms that act like Energy Swords, so deadly lunging is pretty much their baseline tactic.
** In the campaigns, lunging was commonly used by various Flood forms, and was the primary form of attack by [[PersonalSpaceInvader Infection Forms]], to particularly lethal effect against unshielded enemies.
* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has this as a common attack for vampire-type enemies who like to lunge out of walls.
** The deadly lunge is also, rather oddly, a common attack for Smith and his copies in later parts of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'', Withered Foxy can kill you this way.
* The regular zombies in ''VideoGame/DyingLight'' fit this trope to a T, jumping at the player character anytime he gets too close. Volatiles and Night Hunters, while they're always fast, are capable of extreme bursts of speed when they want to kill the protagonist.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}'', a few zombies (and animals) can pull this on the player, though a harmless "leap" ability to close the distance is far more common. The experimental builds add feral predators, an upgrade to the [[VideoGame/Left4Dead feral hunter]] with a very nasty version that can knock the target over and inflict blood loss.
* The Zombie Soldiers in ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 3'' and ''4'' use this as an attack. Interestingly enough, it's also a SuicideAttack, and they die in a small explosion of infectious fluids and parts when they hit the player (or sail over and hit the floor).
* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}:''
** Spider mines are land mines that unbury themselves when they see a nearby enemy and run at it, usually too fast for the enemy to react.
** In the second game, Protoss Zealots can gain the Charge ability, which greatly boosts their speed as they close in on their enemies.
** In ''VideoGame/HeartOfTheSwarm'', Zerglings and Banelings can be upgraded to jump at the enemy. Hilariously broken with Banelings, as they now jump over melee troops and even cliffs to deliver explosive acid death.
** In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfTheVoid'', one Dark Templar upgrade lets them teleport to an enemy, stab them, teleport to another enemy, stab them, etc.
* This is the special movement ability of [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranid]] bioships in ''VideoGame/BattlefleetGothicArmada2'', and one of two damn good reasons to keep the critters as far away from your ships as possible at all times (the other being their insane [[BoardingParty boarding strength]]). All Tyranid ships are naturally stealthed, and some types get massive boosts to ramming damage, which combined with their lunge ability can destroy fully intact Imperial battlecruisers in a single hit virtually out of nowhere. You don't know pain until you've witnessed a Tyranid cruiser OneHitKill your flagship that's twice its size and tonnage.
* Many a hostile ghost in ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' use this as their primary form of attack.
* ''VideoGame/PrimalCarnage'': Both the ''Novaraptor'' and the ''Oviraptor'' have this as their secondary attack. The attack functions extremely similar to the Hunter's pounce in ''Left 4 Dead'', where the dinosaur will leap upon a human, pinning them to the ground and mauling them to death, which deals continuous damage. The pinned human is helpless and can only be rescued by a teammate damaging the dinosaur, or if the dinosaur runs out of stamina mid-attack, and otherwise the attack is a OneHitKill.

* The zombies in ''Literature/CanYouSurviveTheZombieApocalypse'' fit this trope to a T.

Compare AnkleDrag.

[[folder:Films]]

* In the Assyrian wall relief the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Hunt_of_Ashurbanipal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]'' has several scenes where viscous Asian Lions lunge at the king. One of the scenes has a dying lion lunge at the chariot, each muscle beautifully defined, as it becomes impaled upon Ashurbanipal's assistants spears. Another scene has Ashurbanipal kill a lion in mid-jump by grabbing it by the neck and stabbing it in the gut.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': Shadows, with the lunging spike and the lunging bite they do when they are low on life.