History Main / SelfDestructiveCharge

*** The Banzai charges of the Japanese army during WorldWarII, which were standard operating procedure against Chinese Warlord troops (who weren't paid enough to deal with that shit, if they actually got paid at all) and when they were about to be defeated. The preference to die charging the enemy with a melee weapon rather than surrender helped keep the number of Japanese [=POWs=] low, not least because it further disinclined those on the receiving end of said charges to actually accept surrenders.
* Possibly the single most epic examble, would be the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome The Battle off Samar]]. After bringing Task Force 34 away from Samar with a decoy, leaving only the [[CannonFodder Destroyers and Escorts]] of Taffy 3 between the massive Center Force and American troops taking Samar, Center Force's Flagship, the ''Yamato'' by itself, and not counting the 3 other smaller battleships with it, outmassed the entirety of Taffy 3. Taffy 3 proceeds to cover their 6 escort carriers with a smokescreen. At this point, the USS ''Johnston'', a single destroyer, is ordered by Lt. Cdr Ernest Evans to charge ''straight at'' Center Force, [[ViolationOfCommonSense changing course towards the splashes of missed shells]], and closing to torpedo range, many times shorter than the range of Center Force's massive guns, taking down two heavy cruisers before taking hits from the Battleship ''Kongo'', crippling her and one of the shells heavily wounding her captain, who limps out of the butchered bridge to the aft steering section and orders ''Johnston'' to continue the attack, while the other ships follow ''Johnston's'' example and some of them even moving so close that the larger Japanese ships can't fire on them such as the USS ''Roberts'' who did so for an entire hour, before being finished off by the ''[[HeroKiller Kongo]]'', aircraft strafing and bombing Japanese forces with weapons never meant for and not capable of penetrating their armor, and even just making dives ''after running out of ammo'' to cover for those who still had rounds left. In the end, Center Force loses nerve and falls back.

* In the {{Redwall}} book Salamandstron, [[spoiler: Urthstripe the Strong]] goes berserk at the end, ignoring his wounds and went out to fight the BigBad. [[spoiler: He succeeds, hurling himself off the mountain with said big bad.]]

* A truly epic example from the end of ''MetalGearSolid4'', with [[spoiler:Snake stumbling then crawling his way to GW through a hallway literally cooking him with microwaves.]] If you take too long, [[spoiler: Snake will literally use his ''fingers'' to move himself inch by desperate inch towards the end of the hall.]]

# If it's a villain, usually the villain will have their legs blown off somehow and end up crawling toward their target before being put out of their misery by the hero. In most cases, the villain NEVER reaches the target unless it's a SelfDestructMechanism... in which case it's a TakingYouWithMe kind of thing.

* ''Film/WarHorse'': A somewhat accidental one; the British cavalry unit the titular horse is attached to charges a seemingly poorly defended enemy camp, only to be mowed down by gatling guns secured just inside the tree line at the edge of the clearing. The casualties are enormous, and it earns the British commander a WhatTheHellHero speech from the Germans.

* One of the most memorable scenes of the classic movie ''Film/TheBirthOfANation'' is when the protagonist charges a battery of guns, armed only with a flag, to the tune of ''Dixie.'' [[spoiler: He survives, [[ValuesDissonance and goes on to found the Ku Klux Klan in the final act]].]]

Related to RasputinianDeath, may be a form of HeroicSacrifice, [[StupidSacrifice or not]], [[SenselessSacrifice depending on how it goes]]. Basically YouShallNotPass from the other guy's point of view. Contrast with FoeTossingCharge, where the charge isn't quite so self-destructive, and DeathOrGloryAttack, where the charge is only self-destructive if the attacker fails to bring down the target. Usually a DeathTrope, and therefore frequently a DyingMomentOfAwesome.

* The recoil attacks in ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' are very powerful, but damage the user as well as the target. However, Pokémon with the the Rock Head ability can avoid the side affect and thus avert this.

* ''AlienVsPredator'' (1&2): at a distance, humorous as the xenomorphs drag themselves toward you... and in the poorly lit claustrophobic corridors where you're often firing wildly, it's terrifying.

** Speaking of the Eclipse [[spoiler: Guts did this when he tried to reach Casca, who was being raped by the aforementioned Femto, after he chiseled off his own left arm with his broken sword in order to escape a demon that had its jaws around it. Unfortunately, Guts didn't make it, getting within ''inches'' of putting out Femto's eye with said broken sword before being telekinetically hurled back and getting dog-piled by a bunch more demons, so this is much of scenario #2 from above.]]

** Speaking of the Eclipse [[spoiler: Guts did this when he tried to reach Casca, who was being raped by the aforementioned Femto, after he chiseled off his own left arm with his broken sword in order to escape a demon that had its jaws around it. Unfortunately, Guts doesn't make it, getting within ''inches'' of putting out Femto's eye with said broken sword before being telekinetically hurled back by Femto and getting dog-piled by a bunch more demons, so this is much of scenario #2 from above.]]

** Speaking of the Eclipse [[spoiler: Guts did this when he tries to reach Casca, who is being raped by Femto, after he hacks off his arm in order to escape a demon that had its jaws around it. Unfortunately, he doesn't make it, getting within ''inches'' of putting out Femto's eye with his broken sword before the bastard telekinetically hurls him back and Guts gets dog-piled by a bunch more demons, so this is much of scenario #2 from above.]]

** Speaking of the Eclipse [[spoiler: Guts did this when he tries to reach Casca, who is being raped by Femto, after he hacks off his arm in order to escape demon. Unfortunately, he doesn't make it because he gets dog-piled by a bunch more demons, so this is much of scenario #2 from above.]]

* Zabuza did this in ''{{Naruto}}''. Unlike most villains, he reached and killed his target. However the target was a less badass villain so he may have counted as a hero for that action. Instead of bullets, he got swords, spears, and various other pointy things stabbed in his back.

* Den does this twice in ''BattleAngelAlita''.
** It's undoubtably a Crowning Moment of Awesome, as his last charge [[spoiler: permanently disables a power cable to Tiphares, and causes children to be taught the legend]]

* In the ''{{Claymore}}'' manga backstory, [[spoiler:Roxanne]] engineers [[spoiler:Cassandra]]'s death by letting [[spoiler:Cassandra]]'s close friend die horribly, telling the Organization that [[spoiler:Cassandra]] was planning to rebel in order to gather many other Claymores in the area, and then goading her into trying to reach her through said Claymores. In exchange for all the damage she does to them along the way, she doesn't try to evade their own attacks, and she doesn't quite make it. Her last memory is a smirking [[spoiler:Roxanne]] striking her down with the hilt of her sword.

Related to RasputinianDeath, may be a form of HeroicSacrifice, [[StupidSacrifice or not]], [[SenselessSacrifice depending on how it goes]]. Basically YouShallNotPass from the other guy's point of view. Contrast with FoeTossingCharge, where the charge isn't quite so self-destructive. Usually a DeathTrope, and therefore frequently a DyingMomentOfAwesome.

* The bearded mercenary in TheBartimaeusTrilogy chases Nathaniel into a room full of DeadlyGas. Nathaniel manages to reach the Amulet of Samarkand in the center of the room and put it on to protect himself. The mercenary keeps chasing him, even as his flesh melts away and he collapses as a pile of bones at Nathaniel's feet.

* [[TheDeterminator Starscream]] of ''TransformersCybertron'' pulls this one off - and is such a {{determinator}}, he actually wins ''and survives'' . The reason it's this trope, rather than FoeTossingCharge, is that he eats a number of powerful attacks on the way, and is covered in visible damage by the end of it; he nearly dies (or at least nearly falls unconscious, which is a big deal in this series), and revives himself through sheer willpower, thus fulfilling the "while their body falls apart around them" criteria above.

* [[StrategyVersusTactics Operationally, Alexander Svechin noted that all offensives have the potential to become one of these]]: "The most skillful strategic offensive leads to a catastrophe if available means are inadequate to achieve fortuitously the ultimate aim, which guarantees us peace."

* Any attack conducted against strong tactical defenses without sufficient artillery (or air) preparation and support is a SelfDestructiveCharge regardless of how motivated, experienced, or well-armed the attacking force is. Even if the defender's artillery (or airpower) isn't strong enough or doesn't have the ammo to annihilate the attacking force, then it will still ensure that the course of combat and balance of losses favour the defender.

* When Arthur impales Mordred on his spear in ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'', Mordred draws himself up the spear to land one last fatal blow on Arthur. Reversed in ''Film/Excalibur''.

Note that this trope only refers to "charge" as "to rush forward". Other definitions of the word "charge" may be simultaneously employed to the same result, but they fall under different tropes. These include but are not limited to: [[SelfDestructMechanism a quantity of explosives]], [[ExplosiveOverclocking accumulation of energy]], [[HonorBeforeReason imposition of a duty]], or [[PyrrhicVictory financial cost]].

*** Many WorldWarOne battles, most infamously the Germans at Verdun and the British on the first day of the Somme. The British and Empire forces at Gallipoli.
*** The Banzai charges of the Japanese army during WorldWarII, which were standard operating procedure when they were losing. The preference to die charging the enemy with a melee weapon rather than surrender meant that Japanese [=POWs=] were comparatively rare.

* A [[ZergRush Human Wave Attack]] failing its objective will inevitably become a SelfDestructiveCharge.

* The last episode of ''RoninWarriors's'' [=OVA=] ''Legend of the Inferno Armor'' does this, where Nadia and White Blaze race onto the battle field where Ryo and Mukala are fighting against each other in their Inferno Armors. The impacting forces of the armored warriors is so great that it literally blows Nadia and White Blaze away, killing them both.