History Main / DetachmentCombat

A RocketPunch is a form of this. HelpingHands is also a form of this if it's voluntary.

* Sally from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' can detach her sew-together arms or legs, although she's a noncombatant who uses this power for escape or distraction.

* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' features unique consoles for saucer separation on the ''Galaxy''- and ''Odyssey''-class cruisers, multi-vector assault mode in the ''Prometheus''-class escort, and dual vector separation on the Haakona Advanced Warbird (a Romulan ship built using stolen plans for the ''Prometheus''). The ''Odyssey''-class and ''Bortasqu[='=]''-class can also equip consoles that allow them to separate an independent section that is also available as a ship on its own, respectively the ''Aquarius''-class destroyer and ''[=HoH'SuS=]''-class bird of prey.

Contrast with CombiningMecha. See also DisposableVehicleSection, LosingYourHead and DroneDeployer. For different kind of detaching, compare OneToMillionToOne; BlobMonster and ElementalShapeshifter may be able to do something similar. Does not mean that the combatant appears not to care about the fight -- that's CavalierCompetitor.

Detachment combat happens when a character, robot, monster, or spaceship has the ability to break into sections, with each piece capable of fighting separately.

Contrast with CombiningMecha. See also DisposableVehicleSection, LosingYourHead and DroneDeployer. Does not mean that the combatant appears not to care about the fight -- that's CavalierCompetitor.

* Sally from ''Film/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' can detach her sew-together arms or legs, although she's a noncombatant who uses this power for escape or distraction.

* HollywoodCyborg Garrison Kane of MarvelComics could send his limbs out to attack people. A disembodied hand slapping him in the face managed to severely gross out {{Deadpool}}.

** In Part 6, Jolyne Kujo pulls this off while fighting Enrico Pucci due to her ability to unravel herself.

* Sometimes shows up in the ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' universe. At the more mundane level, some fleet tender designs have a command section that can separate from the attached repair platform and operate on their own, although this is generally less for combat and more for emergency purposes; serious military application tends to be more limited to unique BattleStar-type designs like [=OLD MAN=][[note]](hemisphere with twelve detachable rectangular platforms extending outwards from the base)[[/note]], the [=SOL=][[note]](cylindrical central section connecting two spheres)[[/note]], or the [=GILGAMESH=][[note]](splittable dodecahedron with a central section for thirteen parts total)[[/note]].

* ''KingdomHearts'' series

Contrast with CombiningMecha. See also DisposableVehicleSection, LosingYourHead and DroneDeployer. Does not mean that the combatant appears not to care about the fight - that's CavalierCompetitor.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''InspectorGadget 2'': G2 can break apart at the waist so that her torso and limbs work as separate combatants. Since she's a robot it's no problem.
* There's an alien from ''Film/MenInBlackII'' who starts out looking like a single tall humanoid. But when it begins to fight Agent Jay, it [[TotemPoleTrench turns into five or six smaller aliens]] that fly around and attack Agent Jay by dive-bombing him.
* Arcee from ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' does this, but there is a degree of ambiguity as whether she's this or a CombiningMecha. The writers of the film initially conceived her as being one robot made of three bikes which would even combine together into a larger robot mode but the appearance of the combined mode was ultimately dropped and Michael Bay changed her into three separate robots which the toys agree with. HOWEVER, the novelization and comics portray her in the way the authors intended, with the combined mode appearing briefly in each.

* The alien in ''Film/TheThing2011'' does this; its arms drop off and scuttle about assimilating people. This only happens once, and may be a response to its body being fatally injured.
* An early conceptual storyboard from ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' had the ''Enterprise'' facing off against the three Klingon cruisers that V'ger had assimilated at the start of the movie. During the fight the ''Enterprise'' is damaged, and she ends up separating her saucer section in order to avoid being a single target.
* Sally from ''Film/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' can detach her sew-together arms or legs, although she's a noncombatant who uses this power for escape or distraction.

* The Literature/FightingFantasy world has the [[http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Living_Corpse Living Corpse,]] a shabby zombie-like being that, when hit for the first time, splits into six parts, all floating around and attacking independently leading to a long frustrating fight as each time you won an attack round you randomly rolled to see which part you hit and if you hit a part you'd already disabled the hit was wasted.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', Tenaya 7 can detach her (robotic) hand and send it out. Early on, she snuck it into the Rangers' HQ and pulled an AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs. With just her ''hand''.

* ''WildCards'' has an Ace who can do this. The parts can even regrow if not reattached in time.

* The titular character of the ''OrsonCart'' series, a boy who was hit by a [[ILoveNuclearPower radioactive]] lawn mower and can now seperate his body parts at will.

[[folder:Myth and Legend]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Sockarang from ''WebComic/AxeCop'', with the added twist that his arms are ''socks''.
* ''WebComic/DragonBallMultiverse'': U4 Majin Buu.

* In ''{{TTA}}'', one of the "[[RetiredBadass Ranks of Sanctuary]]" has this as his primary attack method. His secondary atack method is a giant cloud of poison gas which fills the entire arena to kill enemies who try to take their time and counter. He eventually ends up fighting an EvilTwin, leading to the line:

* ''{{Transformers}}'' (Generation One). One episode saw Optimus Prime forcibly detached, his parts spread across New York City when the Decepticons attempted to convert Manhattan into their new base. His right hand (armed with his weapon) was used by the Decepticons as a turret.

* ''OswaldTheLuckyRabbit'' does this often.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' had the Skidblamdir, carrying four ''Navskids''. HilariousInHindsight when ''Moonscoop'' produced ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroes''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Bender once beat the slime out of sewer monster after it tore his arms off - the arms just crawled up monster's back and punched it in the face.

* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime Hunters'', Weavel's body splits apart at the waist, and the bottom half becomes a turret, while the top half starts bouncing around and slashing at you with a sword. Justified, since he is mostly robot (he just has a brain and spinal cord left).

* The Literature/FightingFantasy world has the [[http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Living_Corpse Living Corpse]], a shabby zombie-like being that, when hit for the first time, splits into six parts, all floating around and attacking independently leading to a long frustrating fight as each time you won an attack round you randomly rolled to see which part you hit and if you hit a part you'd already disabled the hit was wasted.

* Majin Buu of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' takes this UpToEleven: being made of bubblegum-like goo, he can control any piece of it that's been separated from his body. Apart from using his legs to knock out Tien, he takes advantage of so he can catch his enemies by surprise and absorb them (which he does by engulfing them in a piece of his goo and reabsorbing it into his body).

* Franchise/{{BIONICLE}} had an example in the heavy crowd-control [[MechaMooks Vahki]] model, the Kraahu. Intact, it could spray stun gas; when that was impractical, it could detach its [[MultiArmedAndDangerous six limbs]] and send them off to fight. This was a viable tactic for two reasons: a) all Vahki, including the Kraahu's individual parts, could fly, and b) said parts could give off a [[ShockAndAwe powerful electric charge]] on contact.

* Gundam series:
** The Turn-X Franchise/{{Gundam}} from ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' has this as its most notable ability - its limbs can break off, and divide into smaller pieces, to fly around and attack the opponent from many directions at once with beam attacks and a strange power that dries-out the energy of opponent mechas. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a__a0BkR0fg Recreated on great detail]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ''
** The Great Zeong from the ''G Generation'' video games, apparently the original plan for the Zeong from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' but nowhere near feasible for its time, does the same (and in fact, its various "segments" are based on Zeon mobile armors: the legs on the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Bigro]], the waist on [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the Big Zam]], and the chest on [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam the Apsaras]]). The regular Zeong can send its arms out on cables, and its head is an escape craft, but it's not quite the same.
* Several of the giant robots fought by ''Anime/MazingerZ'' had this ability: Deimos F3, Velgas V5 (its parts had individual rocket propulsion and could attack separately), and a third one. Mazinger Z itself and one of its successors, ''{{Anime/Mazinkaiser}}'', also did it sometimes (detaching [[MidSeasonUpgrade the]] [[RazorWings Scrander Jet/Scrander Kaiser]] off themselves. Moreover, Mazinkaiser used its wings like a cutting, oversized boomerang).
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' also did, not only by [[RocketPunch shooting their punches]] but also by detaching their {{MidSeason Upgrade}}s and attacking with them.
* ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'' -another GoNagai robot- is an expert in this. Given that it uses magnetism to combine its body parts, replace them or shoot them, Jeeg can use any of them to attack (including its head). Also, it employs of variants or RocketPunch!
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** In Part 6, Jolyne Kujo pulls this off while fighting Enrico Pucci due to her ability to unravel herself.
** In Part 5, Ciocolatta can do this with some improvisation from his stand Green Day. This leads to one of the nastiest, most gruesome usages of this trope.
** In Part 5, Buccelatti can do this with his zippers, detaching an arm and reeling it out on a length of zipper.
** In part 1, Zeppeli explains that this is sort of how his Zoom Punch works: he temporarily dislocates his arm to extend the range of his punch, while using [[SupernaturalMartialArts the power of the Ripple]] to block the resulting pain and heal himself.
* ''Manga/GetterRobo'' has used "Open Get" (decombining) to escape from enemy attacks as well as to split up and deliver a barrage of guns or wipe out a horde of minor enemies. Also, they have been known to Open Get, then combine into Getter-3 in midair and ''fall'' on the enemy as an attack.
* Big Volfogg of ''Anime/{{Gaogaigar}}'' fame could split back into his smaller form along with his support units Gundober and Gunglue for a rush attack, then re-combine.
* ''Gatchaman'', called ''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets'' in the West. The five heroes can either go into battle in their individual craft, or combine into their super vehicle.
* Nana from ''Manga/ElfenLied'' got her arms and legs torn off by Lucy, but her Papa gave her fake ones she can control with her vectors and she will sometimes shoot them at people for a long range attack.

* In ''Anime/{{Macross}}'', the Zentraedi command ship can detach the forward weapons section to use as a separate flagship leading the assault, while the rear section acts as a rear command post.
* In ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada'', The Alpha - Beta heavy fighter splits into the light Legioss (Alpha) fighter and the Tread (Beta) fighter - bomber.
* Majin Buu of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' takes this UpToEleven: being made of bubblegum-like goo, he can control any piece of it that's been separated from his body. Apart from using his legs to knock out Tien, he takes advantage of so he can catch his enemies by surprise and absorb them (which he does by engulfing them in a piece of his goo and reabsorbing it into his body).
* In his fight with Sunny, Tommyrod from ''{{Toriko}}'' loses his hand. Then turns out, he deliberatly let this happen, so his hand (which can live on it's own for few hours, due to insect-like nervous system of Tommyrod) can attack enemy from behind. Surprisingly, Sunny [[spoiler:been doing exact same thing with strains of his hair, that Tommyrod ripped off earlier]]

* The page image depicts M.F. Enterprises' Captain Marvel. Not to be confused with the more famous DC and Marvel heroes that also go by that name, the M.F. Enterprises Captain Marvel was an android with the ability to separate his body parts and make them float.

[[quoteright:350:[[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/split2.jpg]]]]

* Steve Ditko worked on a hero that combined this power and being a RubberMan. His name was Jigsaw.
** Not to be confused with two [[Franchise/{{Saw}} villainous]] [[Comicbook/ThePunisher examples.]]

** In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' the saucer of the ''Galaxy''-class can separate and fight independently of the stardrive. However the saucer section is only seen participating in combat in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". On all other occasions it is used as a large escape pod for the non-combatants like the families of the crew.
** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' introduces the ''Prometheus''-class escort, a "one-ship task force" capable of separating into three independently warp-capable sections for combat.

* One of the bosses of ''[[VideoGame/{{Darius}} G-Darius]]'', Eternal Triangle, could split its body into three segments and trap the player in an electric triangle barrier.