History Main / FinishingMove

** ''KamenRiderDecade'' somewhat lampshades this; Decade and his rival Diend use [[PowersAsPrograms special]] [[CardBattleGame cards]], divided into five categories, to activate their powers. The category for finishing moves is "Final Attack Ride''.
** Of course, every TransformationTrinket with a computer voice has a different way of announcing the finisher. At least one finisher, though, will almost always boil down to a flying kick, though how it's set up or powered up (propelled by [[KamenRiderRyuki dragon]] [[KamenRiderDragonKnight fire]]? [[KamenRiderKiva Scene becomes creepy night first?]] [[KamenRiderDouble you split in half]]?) changes.
** [[{{KamenRiderDen-O}} Hissatsu! Ore no Hissatsu Waza!]]

** The superkick, first made popular by Chris Adams, was later used by Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/{{Glacier}} and others.

* In ''{{Ultraman}}'' for the SuperFamicom, the enemies can only be defeated with a Specium Beam while they have no HP. To complicate things, their health regenerates, Ultraman's power takes a long time to charge and you'll probably have to spend it sometimes while struggling against the tougher opponents.

* Prettymuch every single ''{{Ultraman}}'' has one of these, executed by crossing the arms into some formation or another. This almost always destroys the monster in one or two shots, and is always used after three or four minutes of wrestling - In fact, the only times it's ever used at the start of a fight is when the monster is capable of withstanding it! The explaination is normally that Ultramen only have so much power to spare on Earth and using their finishing move more rapidly drains their power supply. Thus why they only use it when they've got a pretty good idea that it'll work.

*** Actually, Swagger's finisher is the gutwrench powerbomb. Created by female Japanese wrestler Akira Hokuto, it was popularized by American wrestler (and fellow Oklahoma native) the late "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.

** In ''[[FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Lethality is learned by Assassins at level 5. When it activates, the [[GoryDiscretionShot background fades to red and the characters to black silhouettes]] before the assassin [[SingleStrokeBattle quickly lunges forward, leaving a trail of black blood behind the hapless victim.]]

**** Not to mention one of the best examples of a finishing move in anime history: [[spoiler: SEKKHIA LOVE LOVE TENKYOKEN!!]]

** The fisherman's suplex was a finishing move for Harley Race and [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig]], but is a staple move for light heavyweight and ladies competition.

** Variations of the suplex are used as a finisher by Koko B. Ware and Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}[[hottip:*:The Jackhammer: Half suplex, half powerslam]], but as a move by Wrestling/KurtAngle and Wrestling/ChrisBenoit.

The FinishingMove is the martial arts equivalent of the ForgottenSuperweapon -- a special combat maneuver that is only ever used to cap off a battle, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill especially one that's already been won.]] It's often incredibly flashy, frequently requiring a "charge-up" time long enough that it would be impractical to use if your opponent weren't already on the ground in a bloody heap. Even without a "charge-up" time, using a FinishingMove at the beginning of a fight is often unwise (especially if ItOnlyWorksOnce), because if the enemy can counter it, they most likely will.

When a new FinishingMove is introduced in a story, it's often treated as a case of ForbiddenChekhovsGun -- if the move isn't carried out ''perfectly'', it could backfire and kill our hero(es), or even cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Inevitably, the move turns out to be the only thing that can save them this week, and so [[MillionToOneChance it works perfectly]], and it's treated as being reliable from then on.

** The Guyvers in ''[[{{Guyver}} Bio Booster Armour Guyver]]'' (aka ''Guyver: The Bioboosted Armour'') can fire [[WaveMotionGun devastatingly powerful]] "Mega-Smasher" beams [[ChestBlaster from their chests]]. In something of a subversion, even though the charging time is relatively short for a FinishingMove, it is frequently interrupted (it is one of the only attacks with any charge time at all). In addition, a Guyver cannot use this attack if the protective panels on his chest have any kind of injury, which happens surprisingly often.

* Most characters in ''RurouniKenshin'' have their own FinishingMove: Kenshin's Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki, Aoshi's Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren, Saitou's Gatotsu Zeroshiki, etc. Subverted with Sanosuke, who only knows one special move, the Futae no Kiwami, (the Sanjuu no Kiwami, its finishing variation, was made up on the spot and is never used again), and Sojiro, whose finishing move is merely a combination of simple ''battoujutsu'' and his incredible speed. The BigBad of the Kyoto Arc, Shishio, has a FinishingMove as well, but we never see it executed.

* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' gives finishing strikes to Negi, Kotaro, and Setsuna on a fairly regular basis. Jack Rakan also lampshades it, stepping into MetaGuy talking about how important having a Finishing Move is. He then proceeds to offer to sell one to Negi for an absurd amount of money. Negi often uses his FinishingMove (Oukahouken) without ending the fight, as its power is based on the number of [[MacrossMissileMassacre magic arrows]] he fires in a given attack.
** Rakan actually develops a hilariously over-the-top FinishingMove for Negi... and later uses it on Negi himself.

** It might have been. Chris Masters used the Polish Hammer to the face of Stevie Richards in his WWE debut match. It broke Richards' nose and hasn't been used since.

** The 4e has an entire character classes, The Assassin and its [[DarkIsEdgy Shadow]]-counterpart Executioner built around the concept of FinishingMove. In game term, they can instantly kill anything that is injured enough-- even if that something's remaining HP is more than the total of the player character's party. Some of their powers make sure enemies they killed stay dead, up to and including ''the freaking Tarrasque''. They put this "finish" in "FinishingMove".

** Units are invulnerable when performing the FinishingMove. When the unit in question is Dreadnought or Wraithlord ([[TheJuggernaut a huge killer robot]]), trying to shoot it can get downright annoying when it gets into melee.

* Colonel in ''MegaManBattleNetwork 6'' has a FinishingMove that blinds you with his cape, then cuts you in half (complete with the screen going black, then a sword flash). At first, it was believed that the move was an instant-kill; later, it was discovered that Colonel's AI simply only used the move when your HP was below its damage.

** ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' in SuperRobotWarsW need a mention for the sheer number of this. At first, it only has the ChestBlaster Burning Fire as its finisher. Midway through the game, it gets the Final Kaiser Blade and 3 Combination Attacks including the Double Burning Fire(which ends with it and ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' watching the burned battlefield but has no dynamic kill). After TimeSkip it gains combination attack with Shin Getter Robo involving one of its previous finishing move, Kaiser Nova(where it creates an interstellar explosion) and Final Dynamic Special which is a FinishingMove by 3 SuperRobotGenre complete with a super robot brofist in dynamic kill.

* Alyssa has a devastating FinishingMove in ''VideoGame/ClockTower 3'' which can kill the first few bosses in a single hit, but which needs to be unlocked by tethering the enemy in place by pulling off several charged shots from different angles before the enemy can break free. Given that Alyssa must spend most of the fight running around in circles looking for an opening to get in a good shot, the fights are hard enough. In the final battle, however, her opponent Lord Burroughs has ''his own finishing move which works in exactly the same way, and is a guaranteed one-hit kill'', and he doesn't need to charge his shots as Alyssa does to bind her in place. A minor laundry issue may ensue.

* In ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'', a FinishingMove is ''required'' to beat almost all major bosses--if you don't complete the necessary button combo in time, the boss will get up, having regenerated all health, and you'll fight him all over again. Finishing moves usually involve Duke climbing onto the boss and ripping off some important body part. Some bosses require more than one finishing move to go down ([[spoiler:FinalBoss takes three]]); yet others offer the "Humiliate" option, which is like a second finishing move but you can TakeYourTime on it.

{{Limit Break}}s in videogames are usually intended as Finishing Moves, but often have different uses. Finishing Moves are also common as a natural part of gameplay in games, as opposed to being intended to be used [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill when you probably don't need it]] and it's [[RuleOfCool just cool.]]

** In ''Awakening'', Lethality is learned by Assassins at level 5. When it activates, the [[GoryDiscretionShot background fades to red and the characters to black silhouettes]] before the assassin [[SingleStrokeBattle quickly lunges forward, leaving a trail of black blood behind the hapless victim.]]

** And it always results in an OhCrap moment for Domon's opponents.

* Shin Getter Robo: Has the devestating STONER SUNSHINE it works about as often as the [[DragonBall spirit bomb]] other units in GetterRobo have moves such as Getter Dragon and Shin Dragon's Shine Spark moves and Getter one and New Getter's Getter beam.

* Nearly every pilot in ''GGundam'' has one of these. Naturally, it takes about eight to ten episodes for hero Domon Kasshu to learn the "Super Mode" stance, the activation of which usually marks the ending 3 minutes of the episode.
** "This hand of mine glows with an awesome power! Its burning grip tells me to defeat you! Take this!! SHINIIIIING FINGERRRRR!!!"
** Always results in an OhCrap moment for his opponents.

* [[{{Voltron}} Go Lion/Voltron's]] Juu Ou Ken (Beast King Sword)/Blazing Sword.

* ''AgeOfConan'' features "fatalities" which sometimes trigger upon the use of a combo or spell. In contrast to the normal MMO kill, where the enemy just falls over, these involve decapitation, arterial sprays, electrocution, and such. Even better, upon delivering such a fatality, your character receives a buff for a few seconds, increasing damage and regeneration of mana and stamina. The type of fatality depends on the weapon used (one-handed edged, one-handed blunt, etc.)

* Shin Getter Robo: Has the devestating STONER SUNSHINE it works about as often as the [[DragonBall spirit bomb]]other units in GetterRobo have moves suck as Getter Dragon and Shin Dragon's Shine Spark moves and Getter one and New Getter's Getter beam.

* The Guyvers in ''[[{{Guyver}} Bio Booster Armour Guyver]]'' (aka ''Guyver: The Bioboosted Armour'') can fire [[WaveMotionGun devastatingly powerful]] "Mega-Smasher" beams [[ChestBlaster from their chests]]. In something of a subversion, even though the charging time is relatively short for a FinishingMove, it is frequently interrupted (it is one of the only attacks with any charge time at all). In addition, a Guyver cannot use this attack if the protective panels on his chest have any kind of injury, which happens surprisingly often.

* ''GaoGaiGar'' has "[[YinYangBomb Hell & Heaven]]," which ends up inverting the "super-risky new move" subtrope -- it starts out as a OnceAnEpisode finisher until the characters realize it's slowly killing the mech's pilot, at which point it gets an upgrade to DangerousForbiddenTechnique. GGG summons a magnetic storm to lock his enemy in place when he performs the move.
** Then the Goldion Hammer, the weapon they devised to replace Hell and Heaven, turns out to be just as deadly. Instead of trying again, they decide to build a robot whose job is basically to act as a giant oven mitt so that Gao Gai Gar can use it safely.
*** The Goldion Crusher takes this trope and [[UpToEleven breaks the frickin' knob.]]

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' 's Giga Drill Break(er).
** [[spoiler:Pointedly subverted after the TimeSkip and ostensible GenreShift, when the move not only fails to defeat a foe, but ''is performed offscreen'', in blatant violation of the rules of the genre. Of course, the foe is defeated shortly thereafter, but the point is made.]]
** It also doesn't quite work against [[spoiler:Lordgenome]], although this might be because Simon neglected to howl "FINISHING MOVE!" before the attack.

** The Death Valley Driver (firemans' carry to dump on the head) has had plenty of variations, with the current most famous being Wrestling/JohnCena's Attitude Adjustment (formerly the F-U).