History Main / RuleOfCool

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!!Sub-tropes:

* This serves as the physics engine for the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' universe, it seems. The core basis of the series' gameplay is beating shit up and making it look good. Several of the cutscenes, concepts and {{Impossibly Cool Weapon}}s are impractically over-the-top purely for raw awesome factor. We have Dante rocking on with a literal electric guitar, and Lady's motorcycle having flamethrower attachments in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'', Nero's sword revving like a motorcycle in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', then Dante also comes back fighting demons by ''swinging a motorcycle'' around in the latter game. This also applies at a meta-level, as Creator/HidekiKamiya was inspired to include the juggle mechanic in the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 original game]] due to a bug that caused enemies to float in the early versions of ''VideoGame/OnimushaWarlords''.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** Most of the technology exists either to be unnecessarily cool or to be unnecessarily complicated, and often both.
** There is not a single creature in the series that is not [[ArtisticLicenseBiology biologically inaccurate]] in one way or another.
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' there's Luminoth Script. It's a three-dimensional array of lit and unlit nodes, linked by lines, with the shape and which nodes are lit or unlit conveying the message. This array is impossible to read or write in two dimensions, needlessly complicated, and likely can't convey the amount of information it's shown to... but it ''looks'' awesome.
* Creator/{{Suda51}}: Many of their games runs off the Rule of Cool.
** ''VideoGame/Killer7'' has a paraplegic assassin whose manifested alternate personalities do his bidding while fighting evil spirits,
** ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' stars an otaku who won a lightsaber on an Internet auction and went on to become an assassin so he can get laid,
** ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'' shows a cheerleader using a chainsaw to survive a zombie apocalypse,
** ''VideoGame/KillerIsDead'': An assassin who fights cyborg mooks with a katana and a cybernetic arm while not hitting on ladies...
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'':
** This trope and intentional {{Zeerust}} are the only things that can explain the giant scorpions, the radiation hanging around after 200 years and keeping things a wasteland, and the fact that that many buildings are still there after being nuked then left to rot for over 200 years, cars that explode in mushroom clouds and most of all... [[spoiler: Liberty Prime. A giant, bipedal robot with Gort's laser eyes and a backpack of miniature nuclear missiles, which it throws like footballs and is voiced by Peter 'Optimus Prime' Cullen.]]
** Is it possible to blow someone's head apart by launching a teddy bear at them? Probably not. When you get the Rock-it Launcher and manage to do just that, will you care about the previous question? No.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** The opening sequence of [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]] counts. Yes, it's a tutorial level, but does it really matter when Sora is navigating a black void, walking on stained-glass floors of Creator/{{Disney}} characters, and it all culminates in a battle against a ''giant Heartless with a hole in its chest in the shape of a heart symbol''?
** The final battle in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', where Sora and [[spoiler:Riku]] fight [[spoiler:Xemnas]]. They're floating in space and you can ''slice buildings flying at you in half and send them flying back without moving''. This is so impossible the only explanation is that the laws of physics were breaking. Considering what was happening at the end of the game, it's not too far-fetched.
** A lot of the combination attacks with world-specific partners fall into this area, as do the Drive Forms. Where did Donald and Goofy go? Why does Sora's roar with Beast kill everything? Why does Auron's sword do more damage when he's got Sora [[BackToBackBadasses attached to his back]]? Where did Sora and Mulan get all those fireworks? Better question. Who cares!? It's ''freaking awesome!''
** Flowmotion from ''VideoGame/{{Kingdom Hearts 3D|DreamDropDistance}}'' also runs off of this. Bouncing off walls, spinning around lampposts, dashing from building to building, and all of it can be used to fight enemies. It's given no explanation whatsoever, Sora just sees another character do it and suddenly he can too.
** Really, the entire series runs on this trope. Its internal logic seems to be "look cool first, explain why later", which also heavily contributes to the series infamous KudzuPlot.
* ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'': Why is one of the bosses an enormous zombie[=/=]FrankensteinsMonster? Why do your weapons include a [[SwissArmyWeapon divine weed whacker with a laser grapple, a shotgun that can fire freezing blasts, a combined rotary cannon and rocket launcher, and a strange weapon that fires shurikens and lightning]]? Why can your character [[SuperMode turn into a demon]], becoming invincible, killing nearly everything in one hit with blasts of inexplicable force, and slowing down time? Because it's cool.
* This is even more true of the GaidenGame ''Painkiller: Overdose''. Why is your character a angel/demon hybrid who makes pop-culture references his backstory couldn't possibly let him know? Why are your first three weapons a disembodied demon head with dangling spine, a redesign of the aforementioned shotgun as a weapon that fires bone shards and petrifying sludge, and a redesign of the aforementioned weed whacker as a magical puzzle cube? Because it's cool.
* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' and ''Serious Sam: Second Encounter''. Hordes of enemies rushing at you for no reason in locales so vast, grandeur and glorious that the only real explanation is to look cool and make you feel like the coolest player ever. [[NintendoHard Which you are.]] [[DifficultyLevels Sometimes.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' was probably created with this rule specifically in mind. It's the only logical explanation for why you're playing as the [[RankScalesWithAsskicking President of the United States battling a coup by the Vice President]] in a [[HumongousMecha heavily-armed mech]], the giant robotic spider the Vice President unleashes on Manhattan, the huge ray-gun on Alcatraz Island and much else.
* Ragnell in the 10th ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' is said to be indestructible, but in the ending cutscreen it is shown heavily nicked for no other reason than to look cool. Granted, Ike did fight a goddess beforehand, so the sword might have been damaged by a power equal to it.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': There is no other way to justify scenes such as a crossdressing ninja punching a hole through a fighter jet to fight its anthropomorphic fox pilot. Following this, both fighters are stopped by being offered tea by a princess. All of them are ''on top of a moving airship that is currently engaged in combat''. The storymode in ''Brawl'' is built on "that would look cool".
** The story mode for ''Ultimate'' is essentially Kirby fighting to save the other members of the playable cast and recruiting the spirits of other video game characters to fight against an EvilGod [[spoiler:and that EvilGod's even ''eviler'' counterpart]].
** One of the settings for battle is a spacecraft that flies out of the atmosphere, climbs into space, goes into hyperdrive, weaves through asteroid debris, hyperdrives back to the planet.
* The [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Red Alert series]] of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games runs on pure cool (ok, maybe some {{camp}} too). A lot of units are there mostly based on sheer cool factor:
** [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert The first installment]] has armored paratrooper bears.
** Basically the whole plot of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer RedAlert3'' is an excuse to allow Japan to fight the US and USSR with ninjas, samurai, HumongousMecha, and psionic anime girls while Creator/TimCurry, Creator/JKSimmons, and Creator/GeorgeTakei engage in HamToHamCombat.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock|1}}''. No, they didn't have automated turrets or flying unmanned machinegun robots in the 60s, and the technology to build an entire city on the bottom of the ocean wasn't even feasible in the late 1940s but that's terribly irrelevant when one considers that you also have a [[BeeBeeGun Magical Hand That Shoots Bees]] and can set people on fire by snapping your fingers.
* For ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' you get the magic to sic a murder of crows on people. Even so, how does the flying city of Columbia carry enough fuel to stay airborne, or to lift all those stone buildings, marble statues, cobbled streets and parks at all? Through ''awesomeness''.
* ''VideoGame/GodHand'': a {{Meme|ticMutation}} about the game goes from "These levels look bland" to "HOLY SHIT THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME I'M THE MOTHERFUCKING Manga/{{FIST OF THE NORTH STAR}} JESUS CHRIST" in three panels. And it doesn't even mention the Luchadore Gorilla.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar''. You play as a large Spartan wearing little but a tunic, wielding blades attached to chains that are sheared into his arms, and you kill monsters 10 times bigger than you in brutal over the top ways. Also, you get to kill a god. Several times. Hell, half the stuff Kratos does would seem appalling if they weren't so damn ''awesome''.
* Fighting games in general lean heavily on this one but Yoda and Darth Vader are in ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur 4]]''. There is no other possible explanation and if the developers try to provide one, they are lying bastards.
* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''. There is an entirely logical explanation as to why your UsefulNotes/{{Pettanko}} brawler can punch her enemies into the sun: Because it's awesome looking.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' indulged in this from time to time, but ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden II'' for 360 revels in it. There are zombies with {{chainsaw|Good}}s and [[ArmCannon cannons for arms]], six-limbed werewolves with [[SinisterScythe giant scythes]], flying battleships, ninja special ops forces with rocket launchers, and a boss fight on the Statue of Liberty. Then ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Sigma 2'' makes you ''fight the goddamn Statue of Liberty itself''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' may be serious and straight-laced in its main story, but when it comes to battles and sidequests, Rule of Cool, along with RuleOfFunny, go into effect. Applications of these rules include, but are not limited to: tossing a mook's head into a microwave and asking the confused store clerk to turn it on, using a baseball bat like nunchucks, defeating enemies with break-dancing moves, parrying sword blows with your ''fists'', bodyslamming your enemies with a ''motorcycle'', and ''fighting a freakin' '''tiger'''''!
* ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarLostParadise'' blends the hyperviolence and martial arts of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' with the gameplay and hijinks of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series. Using the art of Hokuto Shinken to mix drinks at a bar? Why not! Playing baseball with a steel beam and raiders on motorcycles? Go nuts! Bashing mooks to death with ''their own death cries''? Hell yeah!
* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'' features units that operate by this trope, such as the experimentals. The Fatboy, Czar, and Megalith are {{Military Mashup Machine}}s par excellence, the Galactic Colossus is a textbook example of AwesomeButImpractical, the Monkeylord is just kind of the Monkeylord... the list goes on.
* ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'': stars a heavily armored anthropomorphic opossum who flies around with a rocket pack and wields a sword that can generate RazorWind. It's utterly saturated with SteamPunk HumongousMecha, {{Airborne Aircraft Carrier}}s, and {{Military Mashup Machine}}s, and your enemies do things like deliberately blowing a hole in the side of their own spaceship to try and kill you or following you down through re-entry into the planet's atmosphere.
* ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' went from possible though infeasible acrobatics in Jordan Mechner's original games, to Creator/{{Ubisoft}}'s disregard for the laws of physics relative to human motion. Could a man jumping twelve feet out into space at a sheer stone wall grab an eight-inch, ninety-degree angle stone ledge with anything resembling enough grip to keep himself from falling? Try doing it ten times within a minute's span, with your life on the line each time, in addition to running along or up walls for anything more than three steps at most. Why does it all work? ''Because it's cool as hell.''
* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno''. You start off by killing the grim reaper, stealing his scythe, descending into hell and eventually killing the lord of hell himself. Along the way you also fight a giant naked woman throwing babies out of her boobs. Everything this game does is examine sections of the original poem and make them as cool as possible.
* From ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'', it's worth mentioning the final confrontation, the ClimaxBoss battle of the game. It's a fistfight between two guys biologically clearly over fifty and both are perfectly capable of kicking your ass. The battle is on the top of a submarine. Why? ''Because it's cool.''
* A [[http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Persona3/index.html Let's Play]] series for ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' calls attention to this when it mentions who the main character's ultimate Persona is: "Messiah is... well, he's that guy. Yeah. THAT guy. We're going to battle against the incarnation of Death by summoning '''that guy'''. I don't think this game could possibly be any more metal."
* Chie's ultimate Persona in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' looks like [[Franchise/StarWars a samurai Darth Vader with Darth Maul's lightsaber.]] The game also gives you Kintoki-Douji. It carries a Tomahawk MISSILE. Alas, it is a magic-oriented Persona, so it doesn't throw it.
* ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents''. The game's plot revolves around an organization of TheMenInBlack and CoolShades who appear to help people out with their problems ''while dancing to pop songs''. Helping a white blood cell fight off a virus just in time for the Olympics to Ashlee Simpson's "La La"? No problem. Assisting a coffee-addicted taxi driver in driving a pregnant woman to the hospital to the song "[=Sk8er=] Boi"? That's nothing for the EBA. Helping a diver find treasure while "YMCA" is blaring in the background? That's not even trying! How do you save a down-on-his-luck baseball player? By helping him win his next game? No! Clearly, the solution is to help him save a small boy from a giant lava-spewing rock monster in an amusement park! ''With baseball!''
* EBA's predecessor, ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan'', ran on this trope too - Japanese-style male cheerleading is used to encourage a buddy cop pair to fight back against an invading army of battery-like aliens. An overworked salaryman to protects his city and his daughter in Ultraman fashion and the ''entire planet to blast an oncoming meteor with concentrated willpower''
** In the sequel, Earth's population is called upon again, this time to ''turn the sun back on'' through ThePowerOfRock.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'':
** ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars'' for SNES had one level almost entirely composed of the player ''riding on in-flight missiles''.
** ''VideoGame/ContraReBirth'' attempts to one-up this by having the character [[spoiler:ride down the flaming remains of a space station ''during reentry'', and jump from one to the other]] while fighting a boss.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'': heroes and villains of the first ten ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games all beat the crap out of each other.
** [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Sabin]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'''s ability to [[FantasticFightingStyle Suplex the Train]] was actually due to a coding error, where the "Too large to Suplex" tag wasn't turned on. Why do you think this "bug" has been left alone in every subsequent release?
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has one case where a giant interstellar entity hurtles your enemies into a galaxy going supernova. Bahamut's got a long history of destroying things from orbit.
** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', Bahumut's signature move, Exaflare, involves the giant dragon surrounding the MOON with crystals, blowing half of it up, and turning it into a GIANT LASER which is pointed towards the planet, thus taking out a good amount of HP.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has an extreme case of SchizoTech that runs ''heavily'' on the Rule of Cool. There are knights wielding magic swords, DieselPunk gadgets, and airships that are basically ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[RecycledInSpace NOT IN SPACE!]]
* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'' if a boss comes close to dying, then using a demolition shot as the killing blow causes Grave to activate the "Graveyard Special" (FinishingMove), where his coffin launches a super-charged attack (which usually combines two or more his normal demolition shots). While this is not required to kill any boss, the demolition shot is so over the top that it looks awesome. [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Your player character is the reanimated corpse of a hitman with Guns Akimbo and a large coffin on his back that shoots rockets and can semi-morph into a machine gun]]. In the sequel, the original character gains allies. One is a blind samurai with [[GunBlade swords that are also guns]], and a ghost who uses a guitar with a dynamo in it to shoot arc lightning at his enemies. The ghost who defeats his enemies with ''ThePowerOfRock'' is named Rockabilly Redcadillac.
* The makers of ''VideoGame/DeadlyCreatures'' said the game was built upon this. "In real life, tarantulas don't go web swinging from area to area but wouldn't it be cool?"
* ALL of [[Franchise/RatchetAndClank Ratchet's]] guns are powered by this except the most basic ones (sometimes not even them). Let's consider a few:
** The RYNO: a MacrossMissileMassacre gun [[{{BFG}} so large Ratchet can barely lift it]]. The later versions get even ''more'' excessive.
** The Morph-O-Ray and related weapons: stated in the fourth game, [[strike: ''Gladiator'']] ''Deadlocked'', to be based on [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells "Heisenberg uncertainty particles"]]. In ''[[DoubleEntendre Up Your Arsenal]]'', it can turn your opponents into '''[[KillItWithFire phoenix ducks from hell]]'''. With an ''infinite ammo supply''.
** The Glove [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom of Doom]] and related weapons: At first, it simply summons kamikaze walking [[AttackDrone robots]]. Then, things go insane, with a "gold" version that throws robots ''the same size as Ratchet'' (with an ammo capacity of 40 robots, released in groups of four), and the higher levels of the Agents of Doom, which produce flying drones with rocket launchers...
** Even the basic [[MoreDakka rapid-fire weapon]] in ''Up Your Arsenal'' develops Rule Of Cool powers after a while - not only does each shot ricochet an ungodly number of times, they also discharge red lightning when they hit.
** RYNOCIRATOR. Disintegration grenade, for all intents and purposes and the most expensive weapon to get your hands on and keep ammo for... [[AwesomeButImpractical But hey, who cares when you can disintegrate 99% of everything in one shot?]]
* The Karmic Transformers in ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}''. Sure, they don't serve any other purpose than making Amaterasu look different, but there's something ''awesome'' about seeing a [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Japspitzpup.jpg Japanese]] [[http://www.dogslife.com.au/__data/page/5948/Japanese_Spitz.jpg Spitz]] beat up enemies and bosses.
* ''VideoGame/CrazyTaxi'': In real life, taxicabs wouldn't be allowed to break every traffic law in existence in an effort to get their customer to their destination as fast as possible. Thank goodness this isn't real life.
* Diviner Maros in ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains''. He's a seer who can see an entire section of time at once and spends his time forgetting what week it is and creating time paradoxes. At one point he starts to send you on a mission, only to realize you did that two missions ago and then pauses to remember when he is. He frequently sends you to places he only knows about because you told him where they were when you got back, or gives you advice based on stuff you told him in the future, because he gave you that advice. How can he do this? Because he's cool.
* ''VideoGame/RobotDinosaursThatShootBeamsWhenTheyRoar'': ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* ''VideoGame/MischiefMakers'':
** Sequences in the game include outrunning a tidal wave on a tricycle, riding giant bees, and a stage literally called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Missile Surf.]]
** As for the boss fights, one of them has the main character riding on the back of a giant cat and fighting an anthropomorphic sentai wolf on a transforming motorcycle. The cat can also do the aforementioned missile surf while the main character ''grabs giant lasers'' out of the air and throws them back at the wolf.
* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'': You can punch your enemies to death, but why do that when you can achieve the same result by shoryukening them, punching them thrice in midair, then slamming them into the ground like a rail spike? Then [[GrievousHarmWithABody you can use his corpse to down a military helicopter]], grab the now-plummeting helicopter in mid-air and chuck it down at a tank and finish off with a ground-pound, taking out any infantry stragglers.
* ''VideoGame/LittleRedRidingHoodsZombieBBQ''. Little Red Riding Hood may not be the definition of cool. We've seen zombies in media a million and a half times. [=BBQs=] are what middle age men do to show off their cooking skills while keeping their testicles intact. Put them all together and there is nothing uncool about a grown Little Red Riding Hood in skimpy clothing using a flamethrower on the undead.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}''. Why make a game where you can make God fight Cthulu? Why make a game where you can ''travel back in time, ride a dinosaur through the time machine, and then kill robot zombies.'' Because you can.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}} III, Return of the Ninja Master'': Ninjas on surfboads? Check. Ninjas on kites? Check. Climbing your way to the top of a cliff on falling rocks while fighting flying ninjas? Hell yes, check.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has Marisa, who mentions that spellcards aren't made to be overwhelmingly powerful, but to have beautiful patterns and look cool in both Silent Sinner in Blue, and her own Grimoire of Marisa. That isn't to say there aren't spell cards that worry more about pure power rather than style, but as a whole, you could sell tickets to an audience to see a spellcard lightshow if you were so inclined. The fact that you can't use a card that can't be beat shows that power isn't the main focus, and the point of the system in the first place was so that youkai would ease up on the power and allow competition between themselves and humans.
** ''The entire premise of the games run on this'': it is stated that Reimu has the ability to "escape from reality" in order to effectively make herself invincible against the opposition, but then there wouldn't be much of a game to play.
* ''Naruto: Ultimate Ninja'': Using an Ougi (or Ultimate) triggers a cutscene of your character using his powers with all almighty coolness.
* ''VideoGame/CrimsonSkies''. The PC version: received this line in a review.
-->''These things could never get off the ground in real life. But who cares? They. Look.'' '''Cool'''.
* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'': Court proceedings aren't anything [[MundaneMadeAwesome like that]] in real life, but after you've played a bit, ''you'll wish they were''.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': So it comes time to update the most overpowered and controversial class in the game with a new weapon, what do you give him? Valve gave him a claymore sword that decapitates on killing blows, a shield that resists fire and explosions, AND makes him run faster than any other class in the game. All of this for seemingly no reason other than the fact that the demoman is Scottish, and it makes a pretty cool ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' reference.
* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' does things with the Force that were so cool it blew your mind away. Fighting a forty-story tall alien tentacle monster? Throwing Darth Freakin' Vader into the wall? Crashing a low-flying STAR DESTROYER into a major city!
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** There is a part on ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'''s intro cutscene showing Shadow doing Chaos Control quickly, then punching an alien. Rinse and repeat for 10 to 20 seconds. That part of the cutscene does look pretty cool, and has no effect on any aspect of the game at all, so the use of chaos control here is justified by this rule (Normally, you need a Chaos Emerald and charge up the chaos control to do it, you cannot do it instantly).
** On Shadow's intro on ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Shadow is shown running through snow while avoiding many robots shooting him. He then runs through the robots. The robots blow up, and then he bounces on a single robot to get past a big door. That's a full use of this rule. However, the Chaos Control he proceeds to use is unjustified because it doesn't look as cool as it should... especially after what he just did.
** The first level of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Sonic escapes [[MistakenForTerrorist wrongful capture]] from a G.U.N. (Military organisation similar to NATO) Helicopter, and surfs down the hilly city streets on a chunk of the wing. Then at the end of the level, G.U.N. chases him with a truck-truck-truck, a 4 story tall semi so wide it barley scraped along the sides of the buildings and [[TheJuggernaut sends everything in the street flying on impact]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJIZ0PHyyCI]]
** The truck came back for ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. It now chases Modern Sonic for far longer, has buzzsaws at the front and even chases Sonic UP A BUILDING. Yes, that thing can now fly.
** Question: How can a hedgehog outrun '''''[[spoiler:[[Videogame/SonicColors a black hole]]]]'''''? Answer: Who gives a flying [{{Pun}} fox]]?
* ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!]]''. Why else would a four-foot-tall, 107 lb, 17-year-old kid from The Bronx be travelling around the world, fighting circus freaks, competing for the World '''Heavyweight''' Boxing Championship? ''Because it's cool.'' In the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version, why else is Creator/MikeTyson replaced as the final challenger by '''''[[spoiler: VideoGame/DonkeyKong]]'''''?
* Speaking of the Wii version of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', normally the game only gives you stars for doing specific actions like landing tricky shots or interrupting an opponent's attack. However, when fighting Mr. Sandman you get a free star when his health is very low and he's about to be knocked-out: it serves no practical purpose, but damn does it feel good to get to [[CoupDeGrace defeat the world champion]] with your SignatureAttack.
* Pick any ShootEmUp. Firing [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] larger than your fighter could handle isn't cool enough...
* This is why Grenade Launcher exists in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. As Valve said, they and many people wanted to see more stuff blow up, so they threw in the weapon. Combine the weapon with fire bullets and you got a gun of awesome.
* ''VideoGame/NeedForMadness'': On the loading screen, the following is displayed: "The following game is really mad, because unlike other games it does not try to [[ArtMajorPhysics obey or emulate any rules of physics correctly]]. In fact it was programmed on the basis of ''if it looks cool and feels cool, then it's cool''." .
* ''VideoGame/HybridHeaven''. It's your typical "aliens plotting to take over the world and only you can stop them" plot, but you beat the aliens ''by performing wrestling moves on them''.
* ''VideoGame/JustCause2'' 's programmers stated that they tried to set the game so that the laws of physics would seem to be drunk, to encourage the players to do more crazy things because it would be cool It worked.
* ''VideoGame/UltimaI''. Just Ultima I. After spending much of the game fighting in a standard RPG setting you must upgrade your weapon to a Phazor, buy a space shuttle and fight TIE Fighters to become a Space Ace so a princess will give you the location of a time machine that you can use to stop the BigBad before he reaches OneWingedAngel form. The game seems to combine aspects from TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons, Franchise/StarTrek, Series/DoctorWho and a wide range of other sources.
* ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' has a scene where you have to defend yourself on a rock stage (in the middle of a farm field) while a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic kickass metal song]] plays and pyrotechnics explode around you. Why? Because '''''fuck yeah'''''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Epona gets an upgrade from the "X" in [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his horse]] into a bona fide [[HorsebackHeroism war horse]] in this game, complete with a few RearingHorse moments. SpectacularSpinning applies to the Spinner and the trusty spin attack. You can do some cool ComicBook/SpiderMan moves with the Double Clawshot, walk on walls because of the [[SchizoTech electromagnets]] in the Goron Mines and when fighting bosses there is almost always a moment of ThemeMusicPowerUp when you've exposed an enemy's vulnerabilities.
* ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' involves this trope because it's based in the land of ActionHero movies . Upon entering Movie World, Joe becomes a martial arts expert, capable of taking tank shells to the face, and [[MundaneMadeAwesome can kill enemies just by striking a pose.]] After you defeat Fire Leo by burning at temperatures over 1000000 degrees, you join a planet-dwarfing mech-battle.
* ''Franchise/TombRaider'': Where else can you play as a daring female archaeologist that is packing heat as she fends off enemies from [[EverythingTryingToKillYou wolves, to henchmen, and even a freaking]] ''[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Tyrannosaurs rex]]'' while performing acrobatics to either evade enemy attacks or to get from one place to another. Things get even crazier once Lara Croft gets on a vehicle and can run enemies over or make insane jumps over a chasm. Even the traps are taken to the extreme, such as poison darts, rolling boulders, spikes, fire traps, and many more as the series progressed, yet they still remained awesome.
* The trope is lampshaded by the developers in the remake ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary'' when they discuss the Uzi wielding teenager. In the [[VideoGame/TombRaiderI original game]], the kid was fought in what appeared to be an underground skateboard park and he fought Lara by shooting at her ''while he was skateboarding'' (the area had a ton of pits with lava in them in case you weren't in enough danger) and giving the line "You firin' at me? You firin' at me, huh? Ain't nobody else here; you ''must'' be firing at me!" The developers admitted that looking back on the level design for the boss fight now, it looked pretty damn silly, but at the same time, it was too cool.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Espgaluda}}'' series features characters can slow down bullets and power up their attack by using Kakusei ("Awakening"). Not only does activation [[SuperGenderBender instantly change their gender]], but they also inexplicably change into a different set of clothes. [[WordOfGod The character designer]] said that it was just to look cool.
* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara.'' Samurai DualWielding spears, scythes, chainsaws or six swords at once. Riding horses like circus freaks. Shit blowing up. GratuitousEnglish. Ninjas. Pirates. Zombies. Gundams. A Creator/NorioWakamoto -voiced villain. All historically accurate, of course.
* The UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube WrestlingGame ''WWE Wrestling/WrestleMania XIX'' has a story mode of sorts called "Revenge Mode" where you wrestle to complete various objectives in different locations, such as a Harbour and Shopping Mall. What does this feature? Chokeslamming security guards down a storey or two? Check. Throwing people down several feet into the sea? Check. Wanton destruction for the sake of sabotaging [=WrestleMania=] after you've been fired by Wrestling/VinceMcMahon? Check. A Create A Superstar which lets you add gear that would never be seen in a real life wrestling match? Check. [[BreadEggsMilkSquick A finishing move that involves people getting knocked out from a getting a good look at your wrestler's ass?]] Check. Yep.
* The PoweredArmor in ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'''s main function is the ability to get on your knees and ''jet around the battlefield at 50 miles per hour''. Plus you can slow down everything around you and mark targets in BulletTime. It makes no sense and would be extremely unwieldy and impractical in real life but in the game it's as cool as they come.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'' tasks the player with trying to cook up the most outrageous kills they possibly can to [[ScoringPoints score points]]. To facilitate this, you have a leash you can use to toss hapless enemies around and your kicks can send foes flying great distances. It's nonsensical but it's all in good fun. Having to willfully suspend your disbelief will be a non-issue once you drag that enemy in front of a big Venus flytrap to get eaten alive and your score goes up.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird''. Bail out of a plane amidst {{lampshade|Hanging}}d implausible quantities of stuff which also fell out. Kill enemies ''in free-fall''. Catch a girl and deploy a parachute. See the plane ''coming back to ram you'', ''drop the girl, shoot out the plane's windscreen, fly through it shooting everything in sight, fall out the back, more midair combat, catch Shaundi again...''
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' starts you as a special operative trying to stop a nuclear missile, which you do by dismantling the missile '''in flight''', then you cut to being the President of the United States, then aliens invade, then you get put in the Matrix where you have superpowers.
* The Rule of Cool rules supreme in ''any'' game developed by ''Creator/PlatinumGames'':
** ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' deals with a guy mauling his opponent with a giant [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] ''attached to his arm'' in the most over-the-top and goriest manners possible. Just that is enough already.
** The ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' series as a whole, with a {{Stripperific}} witch wielding a double GunsAkimbo (two in hands, two on feet) brutalizing Angels and demons alike, killing two supreme gods and delivering some of the most stylish over-the-top battle in video game history.
** ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' has the player control 101 superheroes on their way to protect the Earth from gigantic aliens, occasionnally piloting [[HumongousMecha Humongous Mechas]] [[spoiler:and culminating with an AstralFinale during which they fight a MechanicalAbomination almost as big as the Earth itself]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'': Raiden has taken multiple [[TookALevelInBadass levels in badass]] since his debut as the ReplacementScrappy in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' along with a huge amount of {{Angst}}, and now has a super-strong [[UnwillingRoboticisation cybernetic body]] and [[AbsurdlySharpBlade ridiculously sharp]] [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]. At his disposal are ImplausibleFencingPowers such a ParryingBullets and the ability to [[CleanCut cut through practically anything]] including {{walking tank}}s, aircraft, and entire HumongousMecha. Every boss has some impractical but cool weapon such as a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw tail]] or pair of [[ShearMenace scissor-swords]], and each gets their own HotBlooded Rock [[AutobotsRockOut theme music]].
** ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' features a RobotGirl with a fashion sense that would make Bayonetta proud fighting robots with badass weapons. Why is said Robot Girl wearing a blindfold? Partly because it's actually a high-tech visor, but mostly because it looks frickin' cool. The game also has a crossover questline in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. Why? ''Why the hell not!''
** ''VideoGame/AstralChain'': police officers fighting monsters with a monster of their own? Nice!
** It is finally worth noting that Platinum devs were behind several games that warranted entries on this page before Platinum games was created, namely ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' and ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' and ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'': Sure, having a shotgun that shoots missiles or a machine gun that can electrocute people doesn't make much sense, but ''damn'' if it isn't awesome. The DLC goes even further with it; ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'' has a gun that shoots ''swords''. Which then explode into ''more swords.''
* ''VideoGame/NoMansSky'': could ''any'' of the planets you can visit in the game be as close together as they are in RealLife and be ''anywhere'' as viable or possible as they are in-game? Of course not; though you're not likely going to care when they make for some truly ''breathtaking'' {{alien sk|y}}ies and {{scenery|Porn}}.
* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' is the single coolest fighting game ever. The playable cast includes a PirateGirl wielding an anchor as big as she is, a blind assassin who kills people with the demonic entity living in his shadow, a drug dealer turned ninja turned politician, a trash-talking half-dragon bounty hunter who likes Music/{{Queen}}, and a British time-traveller ala Series/DoctorWho plus a kusarigama and fire magic. That last guy is possibly the ''most normal'' character in this game.
** Saying that, its SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}'' comes close. It has a man with a massive sword and a replacement arm that allows him to go [[Anime/DragonBallZ Super Saiyen]], a girl who can pull gatling guns out of thin air [[spoiler:who is also a robot that can rewrite the universe]], a smooth talking intelligence agent with an infinite chain [[spoiler:who screwed up the entire world and is actually God]], a squirrel girl who can punch you into outer space, a suit of armour [[spoiler:possessed by one of the character from another timeline]], and a cat person with duel katanas.
* ''VideoGame/ResovoirDogs'': Striking a real cool pose/doing something neat with your business suit allows you to slay your enemies in bullet time. Why? Why not.
* ''VisualNovel/FleuretBlanc'' has an in-universe example. The bouts run on this; even if you're the first to tap out, you can still win if you have enough style points. As such, many of the techniques are very flashy and impressive while being impractical in terms of actual combat -- such as allowing your opponent to hit you so you have time to play a song for the judges.
* Basically what ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' is built on. A [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft murlock]] and [[VideoGame/{{Starcraft}} Zeartul]] driving a mech made by [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} Volskya Industries]] and using it to beat up [[VideoGame/{{Diablo}} the Lord of Terror]]? Yes plase.
* A number of the assassins in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''.
** [[PlayerCharacter Travis Touchdown]]: A socially oblivious {{otaku}} and [[ThisLoserIsYou complete loser]] that happens to be surprisingly skilled at killing people with a [[LaserBlade beam katana]], [[WrestlerInAllOfUs knows pro wrestling moves]], is quite thoroughly MadeOfIron, and can [[TimeStandsStill stop time]] by faking opponents out.
** Destroyman: A dirtbag mailman who stars as a superhero in his independent films that convinces [[TooDumbToLive Travis]] to turn his back on him, get zapped by his joy buzzer to the [[CutscenePowerToTheMax brink]] of death, has machine guns in his ''nipples'', and ''a laser codpiece''. And he likes [[CallingYourAttacks announcing his attacks]], which activates his SFX converter, the device that launches his attacks.
** Letz Shake: Singaporean punk rocker with a BrainInAJar-earthquake maker (whose brain just so happens to belong to his father) and has the honor of the most [[RuleOfFunny spectacular]] if not [[AntiClimaxBoss enraging]] death in the game. Said BrainInAJar-earthquake maker (Dr. Shake) returns in [[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle the sequel]] with the express purpose of enacting his revenge on Travis [[spoiler:and Henry]].
** Harvey Moseiwitsch Volodarskii: He's a stage magician, for starters. A stage magician that you fight in the middle of a live performance, while he summons pigeons to attack you, [[InterfaceScrew flips the screen upside-down]] (not that it helps him much) and getting out of his instant-death attack involves a Houdini-esque escape trick.
** Speed Buster: A deaf little old lady with a shopping cart... that turns into a (roughly) fifty-foot long WaveMotionGun. And her [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic BGM]] is called "Mach 13 Elephant Explosion".
** Bad Girl: In her spare time she chugs beer and beats gimps in S&M get-up with a baseball bat...in a lolita getup. She'll also spit booze on to the bat to light it on fire halfway through the fight. [[ISurrenderSuckers Be careful when she goes down]].
** Dark Star: ''Giant Dragon Beam Katana'', for starters. Story-wise and {{metafiction}}ally speaking, the only reason he exists is to set the player up for a MindScrew as he, by revealing his face, convinces Travis that he's his killed-in-front-of-Travis'-eyes-dead [[LukeIAmYourFather father]]... only he's not, which ought to qualify for ''something''--if not crazy-awesomeness then a defining moment in Creator/Suda51-ism.
** From ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': Skelter Helter: Has a fairly bizarre gun, but other than that, is fairly unremarkable... until a few minutes after his decapitation, [[NotQuiteDead he tells Travis he's not done with him]], then raves on about how killing someone isn't the same as ending their life.
** Charlie [=MacDonald=]: Not only is he an assassin, but so's his harem of twenty-four cheerleaders, and apparently their collective ''modus operandi'' is summoning a HumongousMecha from space (or they transform into said mecha, either way is awesome). At which point Travis promptly qualifies himself for this trope ''again'' by revealing that he's had his own HumongousMecha commissioned (its design based on one of Travis' favorite animes, no less), ''[[CrazyPrepared just in case something like this ever happened]]''.
* Albert Wesker, from the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series, has a master plan that involved getting stabbed through the chest (by a Tyrant's large, clawed hand, no less) so that an experimental virus he injected into himself would reanimate him, with glowing red, cat-like eyes, superhuman strength and speed. It sure as all living hell worked.
* Drei from ''VisualNovel/PhantomOfInferno'' starts off as a sweet, somewhat bratty little girl but the NotAsYouKnowThem after the timeskip is made of this. Stepping out in front of big gangsters and daring them to shoot her, sniping items off the belts of her targets from atop a motorcycle, walking down the streets of Tokyo in a rage and trying to pick fights with random youths despite not knowing a word of Japanese, ''having sex with the main character in the middle of a gunfight...''
* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': Adventure Mode. Even the ''rules'' are crazy, such as ''armour-piercing throwing sand'' and the use of ''entire skeletons'' as melee weapons.
* The PlayerCharacter from ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'' has a few moments of this, especially in the "Awesomesmithing" mission: the player wants to make a sword to impress Las Catrinas. How does he/she do it? By taking some trophies made of titanium, throwing them into a nuclear power plant's cooling tower, ''destroying'' the control devices to heat it up, then jumping into the tower to strike the metal. The result is a sword that shoots fire and lightning in addition to stealing enemies' souls. Awesome, but a sane person probably would never have gotten the idea to do this.
* ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'':
** Dekar proclaims himself as the world's strongest man, and he just might be right about that, being a MightyGlacier or MultiMeleeMaster depending on the game. He can take on hordes of enemies and dispatch tough adversaries all on his own. [[IdiotHero He's also a very, very stupid man]], to the point where he fails to grasp simple taunts and even walks right into an enemy's trap at one point. [[GeniusDitz And even then, he's great at giving advice.]]
** In ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'', [[spoiler:Dekar stays behind in an exploding temple to hold off a horde of monsters. He comes back near the end, '''on the back of a whale''', to hold off ''another'' horde of monsters for the heroes.]]
** In ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'', [[spoiler:Dekar allows Idura to pull him into a hellish otherworld in Tia's place. He comes back near the end, and tells Alex that '''he blew up the entire dimension behind him''' during his escape.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' presents [[FilleFatale Lilith]], [[SuccubiAndIncubi Morrigan's]] incomplete clone. Her [[LimitBreak super]] consists of using the same bats that [[VaporWear make up her clothes]] and sending all of them out in a whirlwind attack with the [[ClothingDamage usual]] [[SceneryCensor consequence]]. Her other unique super is her turning into a PlayboyBunny and tossing out a top hat which on contact, sets up a stage with the hapless enemy as the star, and playing a [[RhythmGame dancing mini-game]] that deals more damage to them the better you do. You also inflict them with more [[FireIceLightning elemental attacks]], and a perfect super can even be a OneHitKill FinishingMove.
* ''VideoGame/{{PN03}}''. Starring Vanessa Z. Schneider, a {{stripperific}} [[DanceBattler dance-battling]] {{cyberpunk}} mercernary who inexplicably twerks and [[JigglePhysics jiggles]] her booty while she blasts robots while wearing her skin-tight "Aegis Suit" connected to her spine and powered by her (hotness) energy, with a thong-bottomed {{OneHitPointWonder}} raver/clubwear suit as the ultimate unlock. As the spiritual predecessor to ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', Vanessa is a "crazysexycool" heroine and P.N.03 is the ultimate fanservice shooter, providing endless hours of grinding combos, points, and ass.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'' has Tytree Crowe. Imagine [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]] with amplified happiness, optimism and HotBlooded-ness, meaning that he never gets depressed and is the only character who has the balls required to give Veigue a much-needed WhatTheHellHero speech. And if that still doesn't convince you, then bare his fighting style in mind: martial arts in conjunction with an ''arm-mounted crossbow''. ''And'' one of his [[LimitBreak Mystic Artes]] involves him turning his crossbow into a big WaveMotionGun of lightning.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' took this one step further and gave Hisui ''two'' arm-mounted crossbows.
* Durandal of ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' has some elements of this: he loves composing songs and poems, waxing philosophical, and is very, very snarky. Some of his antics include "The Humbling of Battle Group Seven", in which he took on an entire Pfhor fleet with a single upgraded medium-sized ship and ''almost won'', carving an epitaph ([[GratuitousLatin in Latin]]) into a moon visible from space using a WaveMotionGun, and scaring the crap out of humanity by buzzing Earth in a {{Precursor}} warship [[ItAmusedMe for the lulz.]]
* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' features a battle system heavily based around parrying and blocking attacks... and is set in [[UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod feudal Japan]]. Historically, katanas were extremely brittle due to the low quality of iron in Japan, so parrying was usually avoided. But this battle system is really cool, so the historical inaccuracies are easily ignored.
* In the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series, this is the ''only'' reason every game has the "run toward the camera from a boulder Franchise/IndianaJones style" levels. According to WordOfGod, they wanted to avoid making a "[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic's ass]]" game, that is a game where you spent the entire time staring at the protagonist's ass from behind. They spent a ton of time and effort, and pushed the UsefulNotes/{{Playstation 1}} to its absolute limit, giving Crash a very expressive face and wanted to show it off to the camera by having him come ''toward'' you sometimes.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': The Pokemon World Tournament is a post-game battle facility that lets you battle every gym leader and champion from the series up to that point, [[note]]Except Iris and [[KickedUpstairs Koga]][[/note]] all packing teams consisting of Pokemon with competitive stats and movesets. Even the detractors of post-game battle facilities for their gratuitous use of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard tend to like the Pokemon World Tournament for the sheer nostalgia overload it provides.

** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2'' there's Luminoth Script. It's a three-dimensional array of lit and unlit nodes, linked by lines, with the shape and which nodes are lit or unlit conveying the message. This array is impossible to read or write in two dimensions, needlessly complicated, and likely can't convey the amount of information it's shown to... but it ''looks'' awesome.

* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}} 3: The Alien Wars'' for SNES had one level almost entirely composed of the player ''riding on in-flight missiles''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}: Rebirth'' game for Wiiware attempts to one-up this by having the character [[spoiler:ride down the flaming remains of a space station ''during reentry'', and jump from one to the other]] while fighting a boss.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0AiN8vrn9Y Be Prepared]], Scar's [[VillainSong song]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' has the ground lifting up to the moon while Scar and the Hyenas are standing on it to make a menacing tower, in addition to lots of green lighting and smoke coming out of the ground. Why? Because it's COOL!

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

-->“We’re fighting an army of robots — and I have a bow and arrow,” he says. “None of this makes sense.”
* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'': InvokedTrope when Bloodsport and Peacemaker begin to one-up the other’s attempts at stylish kills.
--> '''Bloodsport''':No one likes a show-off!
-->'''Peacemaker''': Unless what they're showing off is DOPE as FUCK!
-->'''Bloodsport''': ''[mutters]'' Fuck! That's true!

* Much of the AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' is built between the Rule Of Cool and the RuleOfFunny, resulting in varying controversy. Many recurring questions that [[Headscratchers/TeenTitans2003 linger in the fandom]] are the identity of Red X, the identity of Slade and the fuel behind his motives, and which of the Robins Robin is. Glen Murakami on the other hand has openly expressed that he couldn't care less about any of these things, so long as the [[AnimationAgeGhetto kids]] liked it and found it cool. In one interview, he uses the word "[[TotallyRadical cool]]" a good fifteen times to answer just about every other question. Inevitably, the series concluded with [[KudzuPlot more unresolved plotlines than you can count on your hand]]. Invoked In-Universe with the HIVE Five's name.

* As to be expected, ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' takes ArtisticLicenseMartialArts and runs with it. The Furious Five fighting Tai Lung on a robe bridge, Tai Lung fighting Shifu with his paws on fire, and Po using tai chi to redirect cannonballs is just the tip of the iceburg.

--> '''Leader's Wife:''' How much water are you sucking through these stupid fucking tubes on your back?! (Pulls them off)
--> '''Leader:''' THESE TUBES ARE ''COOL!'' And I want a divorce!

* CoolGuns

** Question: How can a hedgehog outrun '''''[[spoiler:[[Videogame/SonicColors a black hole]]]]'''''? Answer: Who gives a flying [[Main/IncrediblyLamePun fox]]?

* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'': How did they build a serviceable jet fighter from parts in a salvage yard? One better than the official military's jets? After building a secret hangar? Many of their Special Missiles violate logic ''and'' physics. Their jet crash into the water with stalled engines ''and they get the engines restarted '''underwater''' and fly away''. Who cares? It's [[IncrediblyLamePun RADICAL]] and plays to an awesome electric guitar soundtrack.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Epona gets an upgrade from the "X" in [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his horse]] into a bona fide [[HorsebackHeroism war horse]] in this game, complete with a few RearingHorse moments. SpectacularSpinning applies to the Spinner and the trusty spin attack. You can do some cool Franchise/SpiderMan moves with the Double Clawshot, walk on walls because of the [[SchizoTech electromagnets]] in the Goron Mines and when fighting bosses there is almost always a moment of ThemeMusicPowerUp when you've exposed an enemy's vulnerabilities.

* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': The titular demon slayers are trained under varied swordsmanship styles, classified under natural elements such as Fire, Water and its derivatives, however, the setting really goes an extra mile to make its sword attacks look much cooler than they seem, that is by adding visual elements embedded to its strikes, all for the sake of it because the setting slightly alludes (which the author had to further confirm due some people still not getting it) to the fact none of the elemental visuals are real, as in there’s no Water materializing from thin air and so forth; the elements are there just because the author thought the attacks look cooler that way.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamantaka_Eye Yamantaka Eye]]. Best known for his work with Boredoms and as the singer for Naked City, Eye is also known for performing under the name Hanatarash. Live performances for these were notorious for their [[http://www.discogs.com/artist/Hanatarash dangerous and destructive nature]] with antics that include a backhoe and trying to throw a Molotov cocktail on stage.

* In the ''{{Videogame/Pokemon}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AMidSinnohNightsDream'', well, the protagonist's partner Pokemon turns into the [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren Lagann]] on multiple occasions, a PintSizedPowerhouse sends an opponent into the stratosphere, and a Pikachu is heavily implied to run some sort of mafia. Does any of it make sense? ''What? [[CatchPhrase Just who the hell do you think they are?]]''

** TheTeam usually follows up a "busted" myth (and plausible and confirmed myths too) with an over-the-top experiment under improbable circumstances just to see how cool it looks like when it explodes. After all, [[CatchPhrase "we've replicated the circumstances of the myth, now let's replicate the results"]], and [[CatchPhrase "if it's worth doing,]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill it's worth overdoing"]].

* The titular protagonist from ''Series/SledgeHammer''; his CatchPhrase is "[[BlatantLies Trust me. I know what I'm doing.]]", and in the beginning of the first episode, he takes out a sniper by ''blowing up the building under him''(after making sure everyone inside had been evacuated, of course).

* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' presents [[FilleFatale Lilith]], [[SuccubiAndIncubi Morrigan's]] [[CloningBlues incomplete clone]]. Her [[LimitBreak super]] consists of using the same bats that [[VaporWear make up her clothes]] and sending all of them out in a whirlwind attack with the [[ClothingDamage usual]] [[SceneryCensor consequence]]. Her other unique super is her turning into a PlayboyBunny and tossing out a top hat which on contact, sets up a stage with the hapless enemy as the star, and playing a [[RhythmGame dancing mini-game]] that deals more damage to them the better you do. You also inflict them with more [[FireIceLightning elemental attacks]], and a perfect super can even be a OneHitKill FinishingMove.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': The Pokemon World Tournament is a post-game battle facility that lets you battle every gym leader and champion from the series up to that point, [[note]]Except Iris[[/note]] all packing teams consisting of Pokemon with competitive stats and movesets. Even the detractors of post-game battle facilities for their gratuitous use of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard tend to like the Pokemon World Tournament for the sheer nostalgia overload it provides.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'': The battle between the Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex could never have happened, given that the species were separated by 20 million years at the very least. That's not to mention a few anatomy errors of both. But no one's complaining. Wicked music, great animation, incredible synchronization? Sit back and relax.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The act of taking Luke Skywalker's prop lightsaber and Creator/GeneRoddenberry's ashes up on the space shuttle.
%%* The only reason for the existence of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Veyron Bugatti Veyron]].
* Parkour and Freerunning, when performed by professionals. This applies to Freerunning especially, since Parkour is usually more concerned with efficiency.
%%* Concorde. An experiment in engineering that was the epitome of cool. Such it was that running in the red didn't matter. It just had to fly.
* They ultimately settled on [[SimpleYetAwesome just kicking down the door and shooting him in the face]], but check out this plan the Pentagon received for catching Osama bin Laden: Parachute in BEARS who would track him down with their "Excellent sense of smell."
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBydVCF4DrY This]] physics experiment. If you want your students to remember waves, the answer is "Flaming Heavy Metal"
* Related to the meteorite sword mentioned above: legend has it that the first copy of Jim Bowie's eponymous knife was made from iron derived from a meteorite. Creator/TerryPratchett's sword is as well.
* A lot of science (especially medical science) worked this way for most of history, regardless of what reality had to say on the subject. Mercury was reckoned to be a cure-all for centuries just because ''oh my God look at that that is so fucking awesome''.
* Quartz watches are not just a lot cheaper than mechanical; they're also a lot more accurate. Why do people buy mechanical at all? A combination of conspicuous consumption and Rule Of Cool. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Drive Seiko Spring Drive]] is a hybrid mechanical, electric and magnetic watch movement that provides a really cool solution to... no actual problem that can't be solved cheaper by a conventional quartz watch.
* There are quite a few instruments and objects used as instruments which may or may not have practical advantages, but are undeniably Cool, such as:
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_neck_guitar Multi-necked guitars]], of course.
** The {{Theremin}}, a box that generates a magnetic field, which the user interrupts to create sound.
** The [[http://youtu.be/yCM-WBqDZ-Q Haken Continuum]], a three-dimensional continuous keyboard.
** The [[http://youtu.be/GQGptfFWZRE laser harp]], an instrument that substitutes [[EnergyWeapon lasers]] for strings.
* This Rule now has [[http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/07/09/1510224/uk-judge-galaxy-tab-not-cool-enough-to-infringe-ipad legal meaning]].
* The only reason anyone would create a DysonSphere, since the level of engineering required to construct a shell around a star means that any race capable of actually building one, ''wouldn't'' need to.
* Queen Elizabeth II was shown jumping from a helicopter after being escorted by James Bond as part of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. If a British Monarch wants to make a BigEntrance, that is the only way to do it.
** Many rumours point to the Queen driving oddly in order to terrorize passengers/nearby people. She actually was trained in operating large, military vehicles back during WWII
* This is the point of concept cars. Believe it or not, they were even more over-the-top way back when than they are now.
* Part of John F. Kennedy's justification for going to the Moon: "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind."
* Firing guns GangstaStyle makes them extremely difficult to aim and control, is dangerous enough to quickly get someone kicked off a shooting range if they're seen doing it, and has gotten several criminals killed in shootouts with police, either through not hitting anything, or [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard causing their own gun to jam]]. This trope is why so many novices insist on using GangstaStyle anyway, and the third strike against it is why police and self-defense experts don't do anything to discourage its use among the criminal element.
* The F-117 is painted black, supposedly for stealth. Some designers on the project have acknowledged that dark grey would be a better color, but the decision was essentially handed down because black would look cooler.
* Grilling steaks...[[https://vimeo.com/104105171 with LAVA]]!
* [[https://twitter.com/elchapocruzman/status/950211799982391296 This rather humorous Twitter post]] calls out PlagueDoctor's on being this trope.
* Richard Garriott, the game designer behind the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series. His house is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Manor D&D style castle]], he insists on being called 'Lord British', and he's been into space.
* Corporal Voytek (or Wojtek, depending on the translation) was a legendary soldier in the Polish army during World War II, serving as an ammo loader for his unit's artillery. Despite spending most of his days smoking, drinking, getting in (friendly) brawls with his squadmates, and considerably ''more'' lethal brawls with the Nazis, Voytek was beloved by his unit for being a sweet guy at heart despite his [[GentleGiant massive size.]] He was so strong that he frequently loaded massive artillery shells onto his squad's heavy guns single-handedly. The good corporal, by complete accident, once discovered an enemy spy hiding in the steam baths, and knocked the spy down with one blow. Clearly he was awesome, so where does the "crazy" come in? Well, probably because Corporal Voytek was [[spoiler: a fucking '''[[https://www.badassoftheweek.com/voytek?rq=voytek bear]]''' ]].
* [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/TTtkLIzCCEI/AAAAAAAAQxc/T_2d-Euqy8E/s1600/Peter%2BD%2B.%2Blw%2B.%2Bviking%2Bwedding.jpg This]] wedding cake. Quoth [[http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunday-sweets-fun-wedding-cakes.html Cake Wrecks]]:
-->Dragonflies, roses, lightning, and a viking helmet? Admit it: you wish ''you'' were invited to this reception.
* The Bersaglieri, the elite shock infantry of the Italian army. On the crazy part, they don't walk but run ''all the time'', even when ''playing brass instruments'' (and their marching band includes ''only'' brass instruments), and were originally created to ''countercharge against enemy cavalry''. On the awesome part, during the Battle of the Chernaya they did countercharge Russian cavalry, and ''routed it'', something that the Zuaves (at the time considered the most badass infantry of the world) had just considered impossible (and prompting the Zuaves to [[OvershadowedByAwesome admit the Bersaglieri were more awesome than themselves]] and gift them their fez as secondary headgear). Oh, and the Bersaglieri were tired because they had just feasted the previous day.
* In UsefulNotes/{{Basketball}} you can get away with a obvious offensive foul of charging a stationary opponent, as long as you're doing it for a sick slam dunk, because there's no way the referees, TV broadcasters or league bosses want to anger the audience by ruling out the biggest reason people come to watch the sport.
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/GiantRobo''. Giant mechas, supernaturally gifted fighters in [[BadassInANiceSuit sharp clothes]] and all rounded up by a pompous Wagnerian soundtrack.

%%* [[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]] .
* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{PRIMARCHS}}'', Everything the titular Primarchs do: using skyscrapers as swords? Drop kicking the moon on someone? Using the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]] as a baseball bat? PoweredArmor which doubles as a ChainMailBikini? Dissing the authors of the work? All of it!
* In the ''{{Videogame/Pokemon}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AMidSinnohNightsDream'', well, the protagonist's partner Pokemon turns into the [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren Lagann]] on multiple occasions, a PintSizedPowerhouse sends an opponent into the stratosphere, and a Pikachu is heavily implied to run some sort of mafia. Does any of it make sense? ''What? [[CatchPhrase Just who the hell do you think they are?]]''
* ''[[Fanfic/ThirtyHs HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH]]'' freely dispenses with both the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' canon and narrative logic wherever it can conceive of something ten times more awesome.

* ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': This is how Jade picks all her [[OperationBlank plan names]], regardless of the actual content of the plan, leading to some nonsensical names.
* Most of ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' runs on this with a generous topping of DarkerAndEdgier and [[{{Gorn}} graphic violence]] out the wazoo. From battlestations the size of ''stars'' to [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon six-necked demonic guitars that can blast warships apart]] to murderous killer androids to ''Franchise/DragonBall''-esque Chaos powers, it's here. According to WordOfGod, most of the physics and science run on this too.

-->'''[[WordOfGod Aleph]]:''' One of the things that Game Theory has as a major theme is that SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, and that doing something crazy-awesome and insane... is crazy and insane, and doesn't have to work just because it's the hero doing it.
* [[http://1d4chan.org/images/8/86/Hell_Yeah_by_Gannadene.jpg The Angry Marines, a homebrewed chapter of Warhammer40K SpaceMarines,]] [[EldritchAbomination fought a Greater Daemon of the Chaos God Nurgle to a near standstill, throwing everything they could at it.]] Then, when that was not enough, they threw what they couldn't: [[ColonyDrop Their Battle Barge, The Litany Of Litany's Litany.]] That shut the demon up. [[RefugeInAudacity Just long enough for them to hit it with a second battle barge, The Maximum Fuck]]. And the Angry Marines may or may not have been rocking out on it while it descended in flames upon the demon's head.

%%* ''Film/The13thWarrior'' is loaded with this.

* This notion was the central focus of ''Film/{{Underworld}}''. This is [[FurAgainstFang a world where vampires are at constant war with werewolves.]]

** On a smaller scale, Angel's survival derby is decided by who has the raddest team/base. They technically didn't say who won the most recent one, but considering the Commander made a DynamicEntry on a {{Megalodon}} wearing a sweater (the megalodon, not the Commander), it's reasonable to guess his team did.

* ''LightNovel/NinjaSlayer''. Everything and [[WorldOfHam everyone]] is so over the top that it has to be seen to be believed. Just think "American 80s and 90s ninja movies" meets ''[[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren Lagann]]'', and ''then'' taken to the next level.

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'': Happens InUniverse with the title character, who can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshift]] instantly with just a thought, but deliberately gave herself a full-fledged TransformationSequence into her combat form entirely because she's a massive {{Otaku}} who thinks that sort of stuff looks awesome. This is also the reason her combat form resembles a combination of the [[VideoGame/WildArms2 Knight Blazer]] and a Franchise/KamenRider, rather than anything more [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]].

* BadassBaritone

* ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' was probably created with this rule specifically in mind. It's the only logical explanation for why you're playing as the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking President of the United States battling a coup by the Vice President]] in a [[HumongousMecha heavily-armed mech]], the giant robotic spider the Vice President unleashes on Manhattan, the huge ray-gun on Alcatraz Island and much else.