History Main / MisguidedMissile

* In the final phase of the battle with I.N.E.P.T. in ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'', the player must defeat him by dodging the missiles he fires so they end up hitting him instead. [[TacticalSuicideBoss If only he didn't fire them the way they would hit him in the face when dodged...]]

* Most missiles and torpedoes ''do not'' have IFF systems or methods to safe the weapon once it has been launched, so that the enemy can't render them useless via a compromised code. This is why most air-to-air missiles will detonate if they lose lock; it prevents them from engaging the wrong target, and gives them a slim chance, if they lost it due to evasion, of damaging the original.

-->'''Corran''': "The Y-wings will be targeting the X-wing's homing beacon. Time it right, put the ''Lancer'' between the missiles and the X-wing, and you can scratch one ''Lancer''."

* Done with absolutely no logic in a ''WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel'' short, where Secret for some reason possesses a "Fire away then turn around and blow myself up missile."

[[folder: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Payday'', the movie version of ''DerClown'', shows [[AcePilot Dobbs]] as he sends a heat-seeking surface-to-air missile chasing his helicopter back into the SAM which is so glowing hot that it must emit more heat than the helicopter's gas turbines.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

[[folder: LiveActionTV]]
* Twice in the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' miniseries. Apollo leads a missile away from Colonial One, saving the president, later Starbuck does the same for Apollo.

[[folder:Videogames]]

[[folder:WebComics]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* Done in ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}''. With a burning flag. The episode was {{anvilicious}} about flag [[strike: burning]] ''eating''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' (not to be confused with the above series) episode "Cat and Mouse", Anakin defeats Separatist [[TheDreaded Admiral Trench]] - who has a history of taking out cloaked starships by having missiles lock onto their magnetic signature - by provoking the Admiral into firing another round of missiles at his [[CallForward unusually]] [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack small]] stealth ship, redistributes the ship's power for maximum engine speed and luring the missiles right into the command bridge of Trench's dreadnought while its shields are still recharging and defenseless. As Anakin's ship speeds right towards the bridge, [[OhCrap Trench figures out too late exactly what he's trying to do]] and tries to get the shield back up in vain.

[[folder:RealLife]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' is a partial example - [[spoiler:the titular giant]] ''was'' the target, and he just escaped from the town to save ''it''. [[TearJerker He had no plan or intention to save himself.]]

* Subverted in ''DragonBallZ'' when Frieza chases Goku around with razor-sharp guided energy disks. Goku has the idea to do this and trick Frieza into cutting himself. Frieza sees through it immediately and demonstrates sufficient skill controlling the disks as to avoid endangering himself. [[spoiler:Then double-subverted when Goku distracts Frieza enough that one of the disks bisects him from behind anyway.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' Shin does this when he is bounced by [[spoiler:a pair of [=MiG=]s while in an unarmed Phantom.]]

* In WWII, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_14_torpedo American Mark 14 Torpedo]] was notorious for running in circles, among other serious problems. There is only one confirmed case of a circular run sinking the submarine that launched it (the legendary USS ''Tang''), but there are several of circular-running torpedoes that either passed over a frantically crash-diving submarine or went off close by thanks to their deeply-problematic magnetic influence detonator. Even when they ran straight, Mk14s often ran too deep, failed to explode, or exploded prematurely, doing no damage to the enemy but loudly announcing the presence of an American submarine to any destroyer within 25 miles.
** A similar fate could have been suffered by a number of German U-boats as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-377 U-377]].
** Japanese pilot Sakio Komatsu earned himself a place in both Japanese and US history books when he intercepted one of six Mark 14 torpedoes fired by USS ''Albacore'' at his carrier, the ''Taihou'', with his own aircraft. He might not have gotten credit for it except for the fact that several hundred people saw it happen; it wasn't until about 1950 that US interrogators were actually satisfied it was true. This would turn out to be a ShaggyDogStory anyway. Of the 5 remaining torpedoes, 4 missed, and the last one hit the carrier and ruptured a tank of aviation-grade gasoline for the carrier's aircraft. The fumes from the gasoline later ignited and the resultant explosion sunk the carrier.
* One of the theories about the loss of the USS ''Scorpion'', an attack submarine, was that one of its torpedoes malfunctioned and accidentally turned on in the torpedo room, so it had to be fired off. However, it is thought that the guidance wires got cut when this happened, so it started looking for a target--and the only submarine in the area was the ''Scorpion'' itself. This theory is heavily disputed, however, and most torpedomen familiar with the Mark 37 torpedo deny that this could have happened given the failsafes of the design. Other theories suggest a major mechanical failure or hostile action by a nearby Soviet task force. The only thing that is certain is that both the US and Russian governments know more about what really happened than they will ever admit.
* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the cruiser USS ''Vesuvius'' was struck by a torpedo she launched during a weapons test, due to the aforementioned "swimming in a circle" issue. Due to some swift DamageControl, ''Vesuvius'' was saved from sinking due to this. It is with good reason that American torpedoes through some time in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII have a reputation as [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns being rather unreliable or possibly dangerous to their users]].

* In the ComicBook/Marvel2099 sections of ''SpiderManShatteredDimensions'', it's possible to do this with the homing missiles fired by [[LawEnforcementInc Public Eye officers]]. You need to use [[BulletTime Accelerated Vision]], though.

* In ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' Shin does this when he is bounced by [[spoiler:a pair of MiG s while in an unarmed Phantom.]]

* During the 2nd Indo-Pakistanese War (1973), an Indian Mig fired a missile at a Pakistani Mirage IIIE, but the missile shot down the Mig's wingman.

* Deliberately set up in ''Rogue Squadron'', the first book of the ''ComicBook/XWingSeries''. A ''Lancer'' frigate, specially designed to destroy fighters, has just appeared in the picture. Y-wings (slow bombers) can't get close enough for a missile lock without being vaped. The plan is going to be "let the X-wings distract the frigate so the Y-wings can escape," which is suicide. So Corran Horn comes up with a plan:

** Mara Jade in [[Literature/NewJediOrder ''Destiny's Way'']] fighting some [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] in a submarine pulls off a [[HighSpeedMissileDodge High Speed Torpedo Dodge]] then guides said torpedo right back at them.

* One of the theories about the loss of the USS ''Scorpion'', an attack submarine, was that one of its torpedoes malfunctioned and accidentally turned on in the torpedo room, so it had to be fired off. However, it is thought that the guidance wires got cut when this happened, so it started looking for a target--and the only submarine in the area was the ''Scorpion'' itself. This theory is heavily disputed, however, and most torpedomen familiar with the Mark 37 torpedo deny that this could have happened given the failsafes of said design. As we said before, it's one of several theories about the incident. Others suggest a major mechanical failure or hostile action by a nearby Soviet task force. The only thing that is certain is that both the US and Russian governments know more about what really happened than they will ever admit.

* Mao does [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixpnrbWvsa8&t=10m20s this]] to protect a helicopter full of refugees in the first episode of ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic The Second Raid''. Of course, it was justified that her AS is custom-equipped with electronic warfare equipment. Plus the fact that she did this with ARF missiles which also exist in real life; according to TheOtherWiki, they are specifically built in a way that if someone attempts to jam them, they lock onto the jammer instead(!).

* The entire first section of [[TrueFinalBoss The Doomsday Zone]] in [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic & Knuckles/Sonic 3 & Knuckles]] consists of you doing this to Robotnik's ship with the homing missiles he fires at you.
* This is how you defeat Megaleg in VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy, by blowing out the HumongousMecha with its own Bullet Bills.
** And for the giant robot Malletoid in VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2, at least from the trailer, where you have to eat its own Bullet Bills with Yoshi and shoot them back at certain points on the robot.

* Pulled off by Topper in the finale of ''Film/HotShots''.

The AcePilot either has the skills to blow it up or a plan (well, [[IndyPloy more like on the spot improvising]]) to destroy or escape from the missile. Usually by [[HighSpeedMissileDodge deftly dodging]] [[WronskiFeint and making it hit a cliff or asteroid]], just plain letting it hit his plane but using an EjectionSeat beforehand, or best of all, [[StopHittingYourself leading it back to the launcher!]] If he's being chased by the MacrossMissileMassacre, then expect his new target to go "OhCrap".

* In ''SwordOfTheStars'', destroyers equipped with the Wild Weasel mission section can spoof enemy missiles into tracking it instead of the more valuable targets. Later patches/addons added the chance of some of these missiles returning "to sender" for a nasty surprise. In the latter case, the firing ship's [[PointDefenseless point-defense]] weapons will not intercept the returning missiles. The dreadnought Electronic Warfare command section does this along with two other important functions (sensor jamming and long-range scanning).

* Captain Jack "Heartbreak One" Bartlett took the missile away from Kei "Edge" Nagase's tail in the ''second'' mission of ''AceCombat 5''. [[spoiler: Bartlett got shot down and it isn't until the end of the game you get to see him again]]

* In the {{Marvel 2099}} sections of ''SpiderManShatteredDimensions'', it's possible to do this with the homing missiles fired by [[LawEnforcementInc Public Eye officers]]. You need to use [[BulletTime Accelerated Vision]], though.

->''"Idiots! What goods a guided missile if it comes right back?"''
-->-- '''Androsa Pilot''', ''[[VideoGame/StarFoxZero ''Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins'']]''

[[folder: {{Film}}]]

* Used to introduce us to most of the titular dog's powers in the intro to Disney's ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'', Bolt grabs a magnetic landmine, and unintentionally gets a homing missile on his tail, which he runs away from, leading it back toward a different helicopter which he jumps over, but the missile hits home.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' is a partial example - [[spoiler:the titular giant]] ''was'' the target, and he just escaped from the town to save ''it''. [[TearJerker He had no plan or intention to save himself.]]

* ''[[TheMovie The Man Called]] [[TheFlintstones Flintstone]]'' has Fred and Barney reprogram the missile and then trick the villains inside the missile as it flies off into deep space.

* Done with absolutely no logic in a ''SecretSquirrel'' short, where Secret for some reason possesses a "Fire away then turn around and blow myself up missile."

* During WorldWarOne, the cruiser USS ''Vesuvius'' was struck by a torpedo she launched during a weapons test, due to the aforementioned "swimming in a circle" issue. Due to some swift DamageControl, ''Vesuvius'' was saved from sinking due to this. It is with good reason that American torpedoes through some time in WorldWarTwo have a reputation as [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns being rather unreliable or possibly dangerous to their users]].