History Main / PainfullySlowProjectile

[[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* Many 2D platformer games, like ''{{Contra}}'' and ''MetalSlug'', often have enemies attack with bullets and missiles that travel at a shockingly slow pace across the screen. Their deadliness usually comes in [[MoreDakka waves]], from the fact you're a OneHitPointWonder, and from the fact that it's 2D so you can't just casually sidestep the shots.
** This is particularly WTF-inducing in Contra 3, where on lower difficulties, an enemy behind you fires a bullet at you traveling ''slightly faster'' than the character. Since the animation of your character makes it look like he's merely jogging, dodging the bullet is simply a matter of him picking up the pace and literally ''outrunning the bullet''.
*** To ''really'' drive in the WTF factor, note that this means that you can jump out of the bullet's path, let it pass under you, and then, as is lazily floats away from you, run after it and '''kill yourself by hitting it from behind'''.
** This is lampshaded in ''MetalSlug''. There's an enemy that's basically a big cannon on wheels; it has a large barrel, and when it readies to fire it looks like it'll blast half the screen away. It then does a huge BOOM, and... plops down a sloooowly rolling projectile that acts as a moving landmine.

* ''VirtuaCop'', in all its incarnations, feature grenades, rockets, and knives that can be shot out of the air. The first boss of the second game even throws a ''van'' at you, which is deflected with six bullets.
** ''VirtuaCop 3'' features a BulletTime ability where your VeryHighVelocityRounds can be used to shoot enemy bullets out of the air. Repeat: Shoot enemy ''bullets'' out of the air!

* ''HouseOfTheDead'' zombies don't just claw at you, they throw axes, barrels, and crates as well. Sure looks weird when they travel only slightly faster than the zombies beside them running at you. Some bosses also shoot fireballs that can be dispersed by... shooting them.
* ''LethalEnforcers'' has the bosses use rocket launchers or blades. The second has cannons, barrels, and arrows, being in a wild west setting.
* ''ZombieRaid'', aside from the usual fireballs, mixes in wooden stakes, (Which travel far too slowly to be of any real threat) mummy wrappings, and thrown beakers.
* In ''{{Diablo}}'' projectiles only really become dangerous when there are loads of them, or they home. The Amazons in ''Diablo 2'' also have a spell that slows down any missile. The partial exception to this is the red lightning Diablo itself fires, which is very difficult to avoid completely.
* ''StarWars: Empire at War'' and its expansion. Although usually the targets are too slow to get out of the way, the concussion missiles and proton torpedoes are really, really slow.
* ''{{Okami}}'' does this, but there's generally a reason for this - you have to deflect the projectiles with your [[OcarinaPlaylist Power Slash]]. That, and they aren't bullets, they're generally rocks or fruit being thrown at you. In any case, later projectiles are sped up considerably, with the idea that you need to use Mist to slow time down in order to be able to slash them.
* In ''Tiger Heli'', tanks fire slow moving shells that resemble quarters, which you can often dodge quickly, provided nothing is in your escape path. Your bullets, however, move as quickly as you can push the button.

* The Emperor's giant flare balls and bouncing mines in ''DissidiaFinalFantasy''. The slowest projectiles in the game, but if you accidentally dodge into one, then ''you'' become the fastest projectile in the game.

** Not so much in MassEffect 2: heavier weapons are still slower than normal weapons, but they can now home in on you.
* ''Police 911'' has bullets so slow you can easily follow their trajectories.
* In ''ResidentEvil 5'', the SMG and other guns are hitscan, while the huge Gatling gun you can unlock is not. Actually, it's the same Gatling gun the powerful vulcan ganado uses. This also makes the thing nearly useless considering the gun's horrible recoil. Most of the time your bullets fly right past the enemies. The hitscan SMG with infinite ammo makes for a much better weapon.

* The old shooting-gallery-style games ''Cheyenne'' and ''Crossbow'' had this; you'd use your gun to defend the protagonist from bad guys, either by shooting them first or (when you fail) shooting their projectiles.
* ''Game/MegaMan's'' projectiles, and heck, almost any projectiles in the game are usually slow. Becomes lethal in ''MegaManX 5''/''X6'' when Zero uses his slow SwordBeam and dashes past it to lunge at you, and you can't jump because his beam covers nearly the entire screen (minus a gap below, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption which is blocked by Zero himself when he advances]]).
* ''{{Hitman}} 2'', especially with suppressed weapons.

* ''{{Steel Battalion}}: Line of Contact'' feels like this with pretty much every weapon, especially smoothbore cannons, due to how easily they can be dodged with the slidestep pedal. The High Velocity Missile Launcher (HVM-la) is faster than usual, but can still be dodged easily at longer ranges, and while the railgun can't be dodged after firing due to ludicrous projectile speed, the lead-up time required to fire it allows skilled pilots to slidestep just BEFORE it fires so it misses wide. Homing missiles like the AS-mis and PZ-mis can be thwarted with chaff and a slidestep as well.

* ''Fallout'' 3 and New Vegas feature these. In FO3, every bullet is a rather slow tracer (which actually seems to function as HitScan with the bullet itself only having a graphical effect). Missiles travel much slower then they ought to as well, though usually not enough to dodge unless they're fired over a very long range, with the same applying to New Vegas. The various Plasma weapons in FO3 (and only some of them in Vegas) also suffer from very slow moving projectiles as their primary disadvantage, as it makes them difficult to use over long ranges and against moving targets outside of VATS. The New Vegas plasma rifle even has a weapon mod which makes its projectiles go faster.

* PlayedForLaughs with the Mooninites' laser cannons in ''AquaTeenHungerForce'' (see the above picture), whose pixelated bullets move sluggishly, but packed enough punch to vaporize Carl (it didn't kill him; it just teleported him to the Moon).
** In a later episode, they use a variant called the Quad Glacier, which ''doesn't move at all''.
** This and their "Jumping is useless" line actually made a bit more sense for [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the Mooninites original origin (cut for time)]] of being the spirit of [[TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 hundreds of old video games buried underground]]: most of those games were entirely 2D, so a projectile too big to jump over would inevitably kill you no matter how slow it travelled.
* Avada Kedavra, the "Unstoppable Death Curse" from ''HarryPotter'' is described as a projectile that can be stopped by solid objects; gravestones and statues, for example. Granted, one probably couldn't do BulletTime or something if out in the open, but this is less than the inevitable doom it was cracked out to be.
* In the film ''{{Runaway}}'', the villain [[{{KISS}} Gene Simmons]] has a pistol that shoots homing bullets. From the bullets [[ArrowCam point of view]] they travel only slightly faster than their running targets.
* Spoofed in a ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}'' episode. The opponents, based on the Mooninites above, have to actually tell Yugi and Kaiba "Just give it a minute".
** Kaiba is so bored by this that he [[ScrewTheRulesIHavePlot screws the rules]] and tells Obelisk (the attack's target) to attack them both to win.

* RealLife, to a degree: Certain Roman-era barbarian tribes worked up a technique where their soldiers, armed with a javelin, a side-weapon such as a sword, and practically no armor, would throw the javelin and run forward while it was in flight so that both of them would reach the enemy at close to the same time. Not so much "painfully slow projectile" as "painfully fast soldier", though.
** Until the advent of gunpowder, a man on foot had a decent chance of dodging artillery projectiles by the virtue of the fact that the projectiles were not particularly fast and rather large. As long as he wasn't hindered by a tight packed formation.
** When it comes to anti-ship missiles, you're still talking a flight time of about four minutes, depending on the missile or range. Not enough to dodge, but certainly enough to launch surface-to-air missiles.
** Paintball. For safety reasons, markers are capped at a muzzle velocity of 300 feet per second; slow enough to be visible even without factoring in the significant loss of energy to air resistance (paintballs are not terribly aerodynamic). Unless ambushed at close range, you have enough time to hear someone firing at you, look over and see the paintballs coming, and then dive into cover. Pointmen fighting with real guns don't generally have the luxury of dodging.
* Done with a fist in ''RedVsBlue: Revelations''. The Meta is slowed down by his malfunctioning time-altering upgrade. He still charges for Doc, who jokes about the Meta's attempt to very slowly kick his ass. Simmons notes that while the Meta's was appearing to move slowly relative to them, he was still technically moving as fast as he was before, therefore his punch would have the same amount of force. Doc laughs... right up until the point the Meta ''taps'' him, which sends Doc flying into a wall.
* [=~Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie~=] contains a LampshadeHanging: during the climatic battle, Eggman fires such a rocket, and it's shaped like a tortoise to boot. The other, much faster rocket is shaped like a hare, and Eggman writes off the tortoise as a design failure. After the battle is over, Eggman [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee gloats that he could make a better Metal Sonic,]] [[ChekhovsGag only for the tortoise, slow as ever, to come steal the data disc necessary to remake Metal Sonic and explode.]]

* Invader Zim has "Walk for your lives" which not technically a projectile, it's an explosion. It's caused when a time stasis prison malfunctions and explodes, however the explosion is under the time stasis and slowly expands. Resulting eventually in everyone panicking to escape but quickly realizing that they can leisurely walk away from it.

<<|CombatTropes|>>

Offensive projectiles are fast. Bullets are too fast to be seen with the naked eye. Missiles and rockets streak towards their targets at incredibly high velocity. Even arrows, sling stones, and thrown knives travel at considerable speeds, especially since that's how they damage the target. Conservation of momentum and conversion into kinetic energy and all that. Even if you [[YouFailPhysicsForever failed physics]], it's fairly easy to see the faster things travel, the harder they hit if brought to a sudden stop through contact with an intervening body, like yours.

* Many 2D platformer games, like {{Contra}} and MetalSlug, often have enemies attack with bullets and missiles that travel at a shockingly slow pace across the screen. Their deadliness usually comes in [[MoreDakka waves]], from the fact you're a OneHitPointWonder, and from the fact that it's 2D so you can't just casually sidestep the shots.

* ShootEmUps also have very slow bullets and other projectiles fired by your opponents, making it a relatively simple matter to bob and weave across the screen to dodge the barrage. [[BulletHell Usually]].
** In BulletHell games they are still pretty slow. It just becomes hard to find a spot ''without a bullet in it''.
* The old Nintendo NinjaGaiden games not only featured slow bullets, but slow rockets that could be detonated with your ''sword'' before they hit you.
** To be fair, this IS a ninja we're talking about.
* The Bullet Bill enemies in SuperMarioBros are a strange example. They are deadly to the touch, but you can easily outrun them... or [[GoombaSpringboard jump off them]]. It gets weirder when you run into them from behind and still die anyway.
* Some FPS games feature the ability to shoot grenades out of the air, though manual aiming makes this difficult.
* VirtuaCop, in all its incarnations, feature grenades, rockets, and knives that can be shot out of the air. The first boss of the second game even throws a ''van'' at you, which is deflected with six bullets.
** VirtuaCop 3 features a BulletTime ability where your VeryHighVelocityRounds can be used to shoot enemy bullets out of the air. Repeat: Shoot enemy ''bullets'' out of the air!

* TimeCrisis mostly averts this trope, as knives tend to travel very quickly, and I'm not certain they can be shot. Grenades can be shot, or dodged. (Though one wonders how ducking behind cover renders grenades and explosive ordinance harmless...)
** TimeCrisis is only a moderate offender. Knives ''can'' be shot, but bullets are just slow enough that they can actually be dodged if your reflexes are good enough.
* HouseOfTheDead Zombies don't just claw at you, they throw axes, barrels, and crates as well. Sure looks weird when they travel only slightly faster than the zombies beside them running at you. Some bosses also shoot fireballs that can be dispersed by... shooting them.
* LethalEnforcers has the bosses use rocket launchers or blades. The second has cannons, barrels, and arrows, being in a wild west setting.
* ZombieRaid, aside from the usual fireballs, mixes in wooden stakes, (Which travel far too slowly to be of any real threat) mummy wrappings, and thrown beakers.
* SilentScope does have thrown objects on rare occasions. One nasty example is the RecurringBoss [[ThatOneBoss Cobra]] in the second game, who randomly throws various things at you, including grenades, (Which live up the trope) pallets, (Ditto) other enemy soldiers, and even [[HostageSpiritLink Innocent Civilians.]] (Damned if you shoot them, damned if you don't.)
* Even older LightGun games, like the Sega Master System's DeadAngle, had shootable grenades and knives.
* The upcoming ''{{Wanted}}: Weapons of Fate" follows VirtuaCop's example in letting the main character use BulletTime to [[ShootTheBullet shoot bullets]] out of the air.

** Another exception: Lightning bolts from [[DemonicSpider Gloams]].

** {{Heretic}}. Virtually everything being fired at you by any monster can be dodged. The golem's skull projectiles will home in on you, but it's easy enough to get them to impact walls or even other monsters.
* Averted with cannon shells in ViewtifulJoe, where one has to use the ''Slow'' power to see the projectile and hit to return it back to the enemy. But it is in play with missiles though.
* The Emperor's giant flare balls and bouncing mines in DissidiaFinalFantasy. The slowest projectiles in the game, but if you accidentally dodge into one, then ''you'' become the fastest projectile in the game.

* Averted in ''{{Castlevania}}: [[CastlevaniaSorrow Aria of Sorrow]]'', where the handgun weapons causes instant damage to enemies in its line of fire when you shoot it. You can't see the bullets; just the shell that is ejected from the gun and sparks on solid objects they hit.
* In ResidentEvil 4, the majority of your enemies use farming tools and medieval scythes, all of which can be dodged or shot out of the air. You can even shoot ''crossbow bolts''.
* In ResidentEvil 5, the SMG and other guns are hitscan, while the huge Gatling gun you can unlock is not. Actually, it's the same Gatling gun the powerful vulcan ganado uses. This also makes the thing nearly useless considering the gun's horrible recoil. Most of the time your bullets fly right past the enemies. The hitscan SMG with infinite ammo makes for a much better weapon.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in Source games, such as ''{{Half-Life}} 2'' and ''Left4Dead''. Machine guns ''appear'' to fire painfully slow tracers - but the weapons are hitscan, so the bullets reach their target instantly. It's possible to shoot a zombie in the head and watch the bullet miss completely, but the zombie still dies. However, the Left4Dead Tank's thrown rocks can be shot out of the air or dodged, with ample distance/firepower.
** ''TeamFortress2'' plays this straight with the Soldier class. His rockets travel pretty slowly; quicker classes are usually able to get out of the way easily. His Direct Hit side-grade weapon makes the rockets go much faster, since the weapon only works if you hit the target directly with the rocket as the name implies.
*** The Pyro in particular may use an compression blast from his flamethrower to blow rockets way, may even back to the firer.
* Averted in ''CallOfDuty: ModernWarfare'' and its sequel. You can see muzzle flashes, and if you're at ninety degrees to a bullet's path you can sometimes see it (tracers?), but if someone's shooting at you, particularly in hardcore mode, the first indication you get is your death or serious injury.
** This is because the game uses HitScan.
* In the very first game of the {{Soul Series}}, Soul Blade/Edge, Mitsurugi's ending featured a first-person duel with a Tanageshima (gun) soldier. You could see and dodge the bullet as it came towards you, as you ran towards him.

* {{Hitman}} 2, especially with suppressed weapons.

** So [[WordOfGod it takes a shotgun]] and a riot shield.
*** Couldn't someone just come up with a "Summon [[strike:large rock]] [[SummonBiggerFish bigger fish]]" spell? Would that really be hard to magically generate cover?
*** Creating objects is generally portrayed as being more difficult than simply manipulating them, especially in the split-second timing of battle. The first time all-out combat between two masters of magic is portrayed in the books, one blocks the other's Avada Kedavra shots by animating convenient statues and other objects to interpose themselves.

* What about [[Film/TheMightyDucks Fulton Reed's]] slap shot? It goes like 11 miles per hour![[hottip:* :by this troper's calculations.]] The first goalie to face his shot in the first movie had more than enough time to skate out of the goal crease (which judging by [[BlownAcrossTheRoom what happened]] to the [[OpposingSportsTeam Hawks]] goalie, seems to have been the wiser decision.)

* Most non-hitscan projectiles in the original Unreal are surprisingly slow, but the biggest offenders have to be the boulders. When a Titan throws a rock, it does not "fly" through the air as much as slowly float its way toward the player. O fcourse, this is a good thing, as a hit from one of those boulders is usually a one-hit kill.

* The Bullet Bill enemies in SuperMarioBros are a strange example. They are deadly to the touch, but you can easily outrun them... or [[GoombaSpringboard jump off them]].

* Invader Zim has "Walk for your lives" which not technically a projectile, it's still painfully slow and deadly.

Related to "VeryHighVelocityRounds". Compare "MagicMissile".

* SilentScope does have thrown objects on rare occasions. One nasty example is the RecurringBoss Cobra in the second game, who randomly throws various things at you, including grenades, (Which live up the trope) pallets, (Ditto) other enemy soldiers, and even [[HostageSpiritLink Innocent Civilians.]] (Damned if you shoot them, damned if you don't.)

* {{Mega Man}}. Mega Man's projectiles, and heck, almost any projectiles in the game are usually slow. Becomes lethal in X5/6 when Zero uses his slow SwordBeam and dashes past it to lunge at you, and you can't jump because his beam covers nearly the entire screen (minus a gap below, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption which is blocked by Zero himself when he advances]]).

-->-- John Freeman, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULWgEnnmcv4 before killing combines with bear hands.]]

* A science-fiction example is the photon torpedoes of ''StarTrek'':
** ''StarTrek VI'' has a torpedo modified to track gas emissions from the cloaked Klingon vessel, which takes several seconds to arrive.
** A particularly egregious re-enactment is in a scene in ''StarTrek: Generations'' where the Klingons have their shields disabled when their cloaking device is remotely activated, and get to stand up and watch as a torpedo approaches to destroy them.
** This is an especially maddening example, as photon torpedoes are specifically designed as faster-than-light weapons that can be used at warp. Admittedly, according to the [[AllThereInTheManual manual]], the engine in a torpedo can only sustain the warp field passed on by the firing ship, and thus doesn't fly at warp speed if launched at impulse.
** All of this is countered by something mentioned in (at least one) novel: photon torpedoes move unbelievably fast. They also travel across HUGE DISTANCES between ships. Those distances just usually [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale aren't portrayed well]] on screen.

* Many 2D platformer games, like {{Contra}} and MetalSlug, often have enemies attack with bullets and missiles that travel at a shockingly slow pace across the screen. Their deadliness usually comes in [[MoreDakka waves]], and from the fact you're a OneHitPointWonder.

* {{Rockman}}. Rockman's projectiles, and heck, almost any projectiles in the game are usually slow. Becomes lethal in X5/6 when Zero uses his slow SwordBeam and dashes past it to lunge at you, and you can't jump because his beam covers nearly the entire screen (minus a gap below, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption which is blocked by Zero himself when he advances]]).