Sweeping Laser Explosion

A variant of Delayed Explosion which is mostly seen in Japanese media. Instead of directly aiming at a target, someone uses their Wave-Motion Gun or similar laser-firing weapon to sweep across the ground. Once the laser has stopped firing, the resulting area will either explode or burst into flame, either simultaneously or in a chain explosion following the path. If something specific is hit with it, expect it to blow up only after the laser has stopped firing. The laser itself can appear ineffective until after the attack stops.

In cinematic settings, this is usually done for dramatic effect to give viewer a moment to see the attack before the effect. In video games, this is a convenient attack as it gives the player time to react to the attack itself.

Compare Ground Wave. In cases where lasers are meant to just cut through things, see Laser Cutter.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• In Bleach: Hell Verse, Ichigo Hollowfies at Kokuto's betrayal and starts spamming Ceros. One of them tracks across the horizon, causing a chain of colossal explosions that billow up through the Circles of Hell and blast a huge hole in Hell's gate.
• During the finale of Deca-Dence, Gadoll Omega fires multiple lasers around the Deca-Dence, followed with huge walls of explosions that knock away all of the characters in the vicinity.
• In Digimon Adventure: (2020), Machinedramon's tail-lasers carve molten tracks in the ground, with small explosions running along the tracks a second or so later.
• During Sieg's battle against Karna in Fate/Apocrypha, Karna creates huge walls of fire after firing his Brahmastra across the ground, even setting one off with a flash from his eye.
• Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: During Tohru's and Kanna's "play", Tohru ends up firing her Breath Weapon as a beam which creates a huge wall of flame across the ground which Kanna just barely dodges. This is more noticeable in the anime version, as the same scene in the manga just makes it look like it is kicking up dirt.
• Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge: The gigantic Huitzil sent to fight Pyron ends up causing one of these when Pyron flies out of the way of its forehead beam.
• One-Punch Man: Monster King Orochi uses these lasers against his fight with Garou, which melt the arena and causes it to explode.
• Strike Witches: If Neuroi's lasers cut through something, they only explode after a few seconds instead of blowing up instantly if directly hit with a laser blast. There are also few cases such as in the beginning of The Movie and later on in the Movie when a Neuroi almost kills Yoshika where just grazing the ground will set off an explosion.
• Transformers: Cybertron: When faced by great numbers, Optimus Prime fires both of his Super Mode cannons in a sweeping movement, with multiple explosions following in the beams' stead.

Films — Animation

• Castle in the Sky: Laputian robots can shoot a laser that causes surfaces to erupt in explosions shortly upon contact.
• Studio Ghibli's previous film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, also features these kinds of lasers courtesy of the Giant Warriors, seen near the end as a Fantastic Nuke when one fires at a stampede of enraged Ohmu.

Films — Live-Action

• Ultra Galaxy Legend Gaiden: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero: Darklops Zero's destruction of the Salome Aliens' robot-creating facility is depicted in this manner, where a single laser fired from Darklops Zero's eye cause a chain of explosions behind everywhere it passes until the entire facility is reduced to ruins.

Literature

• The Icewind Dale Trilogy: In The Crystal Shard, Akar Kessell gives a demonstration of his power by sweeping a ray of Crenshinibon's energy through one of the towns. The description of both the direct devastation and resulting fires is thorough enough.

Video Games

• Arcana Heart 3: One of Ragnarok's supers has it tracing both of the available platforms with a small laser from left eye which is followed up with shock waves.
• Azure Striker Gunvolt 2: As part of Asroc's Limit Break sequence, Galette Krone fires off a laser from its detached head that is followed up by a trail of explosions. Gran Torta can fire two of them at the same time that travel towards each other before the explosions happens.
• In The Battle Cats, the player's Limit Break with the Cat Cannon has your base firing a small laser across the entire screen that is followed up with chain of energy explosions. Holy Blast is similar, but the explosions are instead bursts of holy energy.
• Battle Moon Wars: Illya's Himmlisch Glance has her firing multiple lasers from herself, with only one of the lasers hitting the target by grazing through the ground, after which it sets the entire area on fire.
• Blaz Blue Chrono Phantasma: One of Take-Mikazuchi's Distortion Drives has it going into the background and firing a laser across the entire stage which then creates a fiery explosion, which either needs to be jumped over or avoided by hiding behind debris.
• In Bloodborne, the Amygdalas that cling on buildings and the one fought in the Nightmare Frontier can fire these from their numerous bulging eyes.
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2: The Titankhamun boss can fire a laser that leaves behind a trail of explosions on its wake that can be dodged by standing on one of the pillars.
• Bug Fables: Heavy Drone B-33, the boss of Chapter 3, has an attack in which it fires two lasers across the ground, which is followed with a trail of explosions that damage the entire party.
• Castlevania:
  • Orlox in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in his second form does a smaller version of the trope by creating a moderate wall of flames by firing a laser across the ground for a short while, though as the fight progresses he will use the laser multiple times in a row.
  • Balore in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow can fire an Eye Beam that is followed up with a trail of fire.
• Dark Souls III: The Ringed City:
  • The Demon from Below after transforming into Demon Prince can fire a beam of fire which leaves small explosions in its wake. It and the Demon in Pain also have a variant of the trope where they breathe a trail of poisonous mist which then explode into a trail of toxic clouds.
  • The Optional Boss Darkeater Midir has an attack where it sweeps a white laser across the battlefield, followed by a series of explosions along the laser's path. It's a nasty surprise for players who got used to simply dodging through attacks.
• Dawn of the Monsters: One of the Monarch of Flames Agnitor's attacks has her sweep a narrow beam of energy along the ground in front of her, creating an explosion that leaves pools of lava in its wake.
• Deltarune Chapter 2: The Giga Queen fires a beam of battery acid to knock the party down with the following explosion.
• Destiny 2: Forsaken: The exotic One Thousand Voices (obtainable through the Last Wish raid) functions like this. It fires a laser which triggers a delayed explosion.
• Devil May Cry 5: When playing as V, players can summon Nightmare, a powerful demonic familiar. One of its many attacks is a ground sweeping laser that creates explosions that can throw enemies around, giving it huge crowd control power. And it still has the same attack when you fight it and V's other familiars as a Wolfpack Boss near the end of the game.
• Divinity: Original Sin II: The "Laser Ray" Pyrokinesis skill deals fire damage in a long line and leaves lingering clouds of fire behind, which can ignite creatures who enter it.
• Elden Ring: Similar to Darkeater Midir from Dark Souls III, Dragonlord Placidusax is another Optional Boss with an attack that spews sweeping golden beams from his multiple heads which leaves an exploding trail. You can even obtain this attack as the incantation 'Placidusax's Ruin' and use it for yourself.
• In Epic Battle Fantasy 3, 4, and 5, the Boss in Mook Clothing Cosmic Monolith fires a laser that slices the ground, doing minor damage to the party and lowering their accuracy... which causes a HUGE explosion that deals extreme dark elemental damage to the entire field.^note From 4 onward, the laser became purely cosmetic and doesn't do anything. This is a case of That One Attack and Feed It with Fire, as not only do you risk a Total Party Kill if you don't have Magic Defense buffed or Dark-Resistant gear on, but also the Monolith healing from the attack.
• Evolution: The World of Sacred Device: Occasional guest party members Chain Gun and Pepper Box both have special attack parts that allow their weapons to attack groups of enemies with a laser and explosions like this respectively.
• Fate/Extella Link:
  • One of Karna's Active Skills has him use Brahmastra to create a wall of explosions by firing a laser at the ground in front of him.
  • In a variant, Karl der Grobe's Noble Phantasm involves him summoning a Humongous Mecha to fire a sweeping laser from its mouth twice, towards the sky, creating a giant cross-shaped "scar" on the clouds. Then, a giant Pillar of Light drops from they sky cross. When you fight the mecha as a boss, it has a more traditional example as an attack.
• Fate/EXTRA: Gawain's Excalibur Galatine is generally depicted as him creating a miniature sun above him with Excalibur Galatine, then doing a wide swing with the sword to release a wide-spanning wave of heat that erupts into a giant wall of flames that engulf his opponent.
• Fate/Grand Order:
  • Ozymandias has one of his animations make him fire a laser across the ground, which then creates an explosion once the laser has stopped firing.
  • Black Giant-style enemies such as Akechi Mitsuhide and Maxwell's Demon has their critical attack firing a laser followed by a wave of fire to attack the entire party.
• Final Fantasy:
  • Across the franchise, this is Alexander's most recurring forms of attack. Final Fantasy XIII has one of the more elaborate ones where it fires off multiple lasers to draw a magic circle on the ground which then explodes, while Final Fantasy Type-0 has one of most devastating ones where he finishes off the Militesi forces with a fiery explosion.
  • Final Fantasy VIII: The Ray Bomb attack, used by X-ATM092 and a possible Blue Magic attack that Quistis can learn, involves blasting the ground under the target(s) with a laser, causing it to explode beneath them a few seconds later. Omega Weapon's Megido Flame has it firing multiple lasers across the ground, causing the ground to erupt after it finishes.
  • Final Fantasy X: Valefor's Energy Ray Overdrive fires a laser on the ground, leaving a trail that then explodes a second later. Penance has a move called Obliteration has it firing multiple lasers at once, leading to multiple explosions to happen after that.
  • Final Fantasy XIV: The Ultima Weapon uses this kind of attack frequently in both parts of the fight against it.
• Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones: The animation for the Ivaldi tome has the caster summon a sweeping ray of light which after calling upon heavenly light to shine upon the field causes the screen to erupt in pillars of flames.
• Freedom Wars: These kinds of lasers are warned by a distinct flash and noise. The All-Purpose Biped Abductors occasionally fire lasers that don't directly damage the Player Character or their party members, but the explosion followed by the laser will. Those Abductors will also fire a much bigger explosion by doing a horizontal laser sweep whenever they squat on all fours. Red Rage uses both lasers, but once its Pod is broken, Red Rage spams the tiny explosion lasers after every other attack.
• In Guilty Gear Xrd, Dizzy's Imperial Ray Overdrive was modified to feature Necro firing a laser from his mouth, followed by a chain of fiery blasts from the ground, when originally it only had Dizzy conjure wave of explosions from the ground.
• Heroes of the Storm:
  • The Triglav Protector's gunner gets access to an ability that sweeps a laser across the ground in a line for minor damage, leaving a trail that detonates for much higher damage. While the explosion has a long enough delay and a narrow enough range that anyone who's paying attention can easily sidestep it, this makes the ability great against buildings (which can't move) and enemy minions (which don't get out of the way).
  • Genji's second Heroic ability, X-Strike, has him slashing a giant "X" into the ground with his sword, which releases a blast of energy a second later.
• Honkai Impact 3rd: the "weapon skill" for the special gun-type weapon Judgment of Shamash has the user turn them into a flaming BFS, then leaps up and does a rolling slash that cuts the ground twice, leaving an X-shaped tear on the ground. Then a flame blast erupts out of the tear.
• One of Tor's attacks in Iji has him jump into the background and fire a sweeping beam across the arena, creating an upward blast. You have to jump high to dodge this.
• Kirby Star Allies: Flamberge has a move where she drags her sword along the ground. When she stops, flames erupt from the sword's trail moments later.
• League of Legends: Viktor's Death Ray ability is normally just a laser he fires across the ground, but augmenting it with Hex-Core upgrades it by having a trail of explosions appear at the wake of the laser.
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: Millium's Riot Cannon Craft skill is a small laser fired from Airgetlam that zips across the field before creating blue explosions across the trail. Altina's Brionac Craft skill is similar, but coloured red.
• In Makai Kingdom, whenever Overlord Zetta cameos in another game in his Sacred Tome form, his Zetta Beam will cause this. This is best seen in his bonus fight in Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories and his DLC in Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice.
• In Mega Man Zero, Copy X's second form has a move where he fires a laser through the small platform you need to fight him on, after which it catches on fire for a short while.
• Mechstermination Force: The Mechrachnid W6 can set either the floor or a wall on fire by firing a laser across it and letting it explode, depending on the phase.
• Melty Blood: Aoko Aozaki's Another Arc Drive ends with her firing a laser from her foot that persist for a short while while she lets her leg down, which causes a chain of fire to erupt.
• Overwatch 2's "Zero Hour" cinematic justifies the explosion after a giant Null Sector omnic fires a sweeping laser beam across the streets of Paris and bisects the Overwatch Orca dropship in half. The laser broke through to the gas main running directly underneath, which caused a sweeping explosion a couple seconds afterward.
• Persona 5: The Inferno spell animation involves summoning a laser to sweep the ground to create a wall of fire.
• Pocket Tanks: The Space Cannon weapon starts with a Kill Sat firing a laser across a good portion of the ground. The beam doesn't deal any damage, but after it's done, a series of explosions follows the same path the laser traced.
• Pokémon
  • Zygarde's Core Enforcer Secret Art has it carving the letter Z into the ground with a giant laser which then erupts after Zygarde is done drawing it.
  • Regidrago's Dragon Energy Secret Art has it forming into a dragon's head to fire a laser across the opposing field which then erupts in dragon energy.
• In RPG Maker 3, the stock "Beams" and "Demon (Beams)" attack effects have a small blue laser connect the caster and the ground under the opponent, which shortly bursts into flame. If the attack is set to affect all opponents, it sweeps across the enemy's side of the battlefield, and the resulting flame becomes a wall of fire.
• Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Sonic Rush: One of the Final Boss' attacks is a laser beam that sweeps across the arena. The beam itself is harmless, but produces a chain of damaging explosions about half a second after it vanishes.
  • Sonic Mania: In the fight against Heavy King, one of Heavy King's attacks is a laser which sweeps across the bottom floor. Like the above example, the laser is harmless but a chain of damaging explosions appear across the floor which can be avoided by standing on the Hyper Emerald statues.
• Star Ocean: Till the End of Time: Maria Traydor's Laser Blast Killer Move has her drag a laser from her gun in a wave in front of her, which is then followed by a series of explosions along its path.
• Street Fighter V: G's Critical Art, Pangaea Burst, has him charging his hands with lava and then firing a small laser from his finger that causes geysers of magma to erupt.
• In Super Kirby Clash, stronger versions of Aeon Hero/Galacta Knight has his Chasing The Tail laser move to be upgraded to have the floor erupt in flames after he is done firing the laser.
• In Touhou 12.3: Hisoutensoku, Utsuho Reiuji's Skill Card, "Ground Melt", allows her to fire a harmless laser on the ground, which then creates a series of dome-shaped explosions along its path.
• World of Warcraft: In the Khadgar Harbingers animated short, when granted a vision of what he could do with the power of the Guardian, Khadgar raises his staff into the air and it projects a seemingly harmless laser that sweeps across the army of demons arrayed before him. Shortly after the laser dissipates, a trail of massive explosions clear the path traced by the laser.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction: When Reshef is unsealed, a purple beam of light sweeps across the floor in a semicircle, and columns of energy follow in its wake.

Web Comics

• Grrl Power: Sydney demonstrates a move she calls "The Robotech" by slicing a huge fleet of alien fighter ships with a laser, which then explode in unison the next panel.

Real Life

• Truth in Television, if the laser in question is hot enough and the target is volatile enough. Simply put, when things heat up very fast, they may ignite or explode, and a powerful enough laser is perfect for doing that.
• Inverted with gamma ray bursts, where the explosion is the source of the laser rather than the result; they come from especially powerful supernovae, and the magnetic field of the parent star(s) has a rifling effect that focuses the radiation from the blast into a beam.

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