Basic Trope: A "special" attack which is humorously ineffective.
- Straight: Bob learns the Finger Poke of Doom. When he uses it, the "Of Doom" part is missing and he just pokes his opponent.
- Exaggerated: Bob learns the "Extended Finger Thrust of Hypercharged Ultra Ultimate Demise, Pain And Death." When he uses it, not only does he do nothing, he breaks his finger on the opponent's armor/hard muscle.
- Downplayed:
- Bob learns a new attack. It works somewhat as advertised, but his instructor had exaggerated its effect.
- Bob learns a new attack. It doesn't work as advertised, but Bob finds a way to make it work somehow.
- Justified:
- The move was designed specifically for psychological tactics (see exploited below).
- The move was invented by Kurt von Doom, paternal-paternal Great-Grandfather to the infamous Doctor Doom.
- Inverted: Heart Is an Awesome Power
- Subverted: Bob uses an alleged Finger Poke of Doom on Charlie. Charlie scoffs. Bob claims You Are Already Dead...
- Double Subverted: ...after the Beat, Charlie starts rolling on the floor laughing as if being tickled hard.
- Parodied: Bob pulls off a string of undeniably awesome attacks, knocking Charlie to the floor, almost unconscious. Rex then states that he'll use the Finger Poke of Doom on Charlie to kill him. After the move is used, Charlie gets up, fully healed.
- Zig Zagged: Bob uses an alleged Finger Poke of Doom on Charlie. Charlie scoffs. Bob claims You Are Already Dead. After the Beat, Charlie starts rolling on the floor laughing as if being tickled, and gasps out "Hah, some ultimate attack". Bob coldly tells him to wait. Charlie can't stop laughing harder and harder, and eventually dies laughing.
- Averted: All special attacks are effective when successful.
- Enforced: A game developer wants to trick the players into using this move, teaching them not to judge a book by its cover.
- Lampshaded: "Hey! I thought this attack was meant to be awesome!"
- Invoked: Charlie tells Bob that a certain attack is awesome, and he should learn it. Bob does. It's the Fake Special Attack, and he loses when he tries to use it on Charlie.
- Exploited: Bob uses the move to intimidates his opponent into surrendering or retreating.
- Defied: Bob asks for a demonstration before he learns the new attack. It's the Fake Special Attack, and he tells his teacher not to waste his time.
- Discussed: "Nice fake attack, Bob. Got anything else up your sleeve?"
- Conversed: "How much do you want to bet that Bob's new attack will do something stupid?"
- Deconstructed: Bob realizes how stupid the attack is partway through learning it, and doesn't finish training it.
- Reconstructed: Bob realizes the Heart Is an Awesome Power (or Cherry Tapping) potential in the move, and finishes learning it.
- Played For Laughs: A Wimp Fight between two nerds involves several Fake Special Attacks. Hilarity Ensues.
- Played For Drama: Bob uses the Fake Special Attack in a desperate situation without realizing it's useless. The fight is lost, with catastrophic consequences. Everybody assumes Bob was cocky and used the attack deliberately as Cherry Tapping, and call What the Hell, Hero?
Back to Fake Special Attack
