GuessTheTrope: Combined Energy Attack

So. If you were to Guess The Trope, you might end up with some kind of explosive that destroys spirits, possibly from Ghost Busters; or maybe it's an explosive made by spirits, possibly from Danny Phantom. Unless, of course, you're familiar enough with DBZ and realize this is the name of Goku's rarely-used and never-actually-working Ultimate Attack. I don't think is is a commonly known name for casual fans of the series; also, Japanese fans would know it as "energy sphere" instead.

So we have a non-indicative name, and Google suggests that the term is not used for anything outside the DBZ universe. It's also pretty specific, in that a real spirit bomb must draw powers from all of the cast, and then be thrown by the hero.

Looking over a few of the wicks, it seems that it is easily mistaken for All Your Powers Combined or Combination Attack. For example, ptitled53fvupl is actually a combination attack, Earth Bound is X Just X, and Alundra and Pretear don't seem to match the definition of Spirit Bomb, but are just a different form of Ultimate Attack. Finally, many of the links appear to be simply talking about the Trope Namer.

I think this needs fixing, and quite possibly, either a rename to something more descriptive, or a merge to another trope. Thoughts please?

edited 11th Aug '11 4:11:12 PM by Spark9

I thought it was about an attack that hurt people's souls. Not that either. I haven't seen the trope namer though.

I do know the trope, however, I watched the trope namer as a little kid and thus my recognition doesn't count. It's a rather unindicative name.

my guess was the same as Shima's. Seems like I've seen this before under another name, but I can't recall where.

edited 11th Aug '11 4:36:48 PM by Xtifr

Rant....

I always hated the name of this... such a mistranslation, "Genki Dama" (The japanese name for the attack also a pun off denki gama, meaning "electric rice cooker" more Themed Naming.) means "Energy Sphere" or "Spirit Ball" and the thing never freaken exploded so its not a damn bomb.

End rant.

Really dont care if we rename or not though. I cant think up one that doesnt come across as just All Your Powers Combined. Hey everyone we have ever showed on camera (and sometimes those that havent) give us all your power in one move to this guys ass...

edited 11th Aug '11 4:54:33 PM by Raso

I thought it might be an attacked that damages the opponent's fighting spirit. I support a merge, or a rename if this turns out to be worthy of an article of its own.

I'm sort of confused - it's not Sphere of Destruction right?

-reads description-

-rereads description because he must have missed how this was distinct from other combination attack type tropes-

Um...why is this its own trope?

Its a "willpower of the masses" into a single strike kind of attack.

edited 11th Aug '11 6:45:44 PM by Raso

The thing it's named for is, but the description says that it doesn't have to be.

It should be I mean there are a few small variations but it boils down to borrowing other peoples power for your own personal attack, it cant be a Fusion Dance though this is their attack it just requires other people, although it is related.

edited 11th Aug '11 7:04:37 PM by Raso

As written, the description allows it to be everybody beating on the target, but I'm pretty sure that's already taken. I can't think of a title that says "I'm wielding my teammates' power as well" any better. All Your Powers Combined seems to be mostly about somebody wielding others' abilities, while Spirit Bomb doesn't require the power manifest in any form the donor could use.

I thought this was "Ultimate Attack," but at this point I'm not convinced its a trope.

I watched the trope namer, but that's the only way I could see someone understanding what the trope means.

Borrowing Others' Power, perhaps? This one's a tough nut to crack.

This definitely needs changing.

Reading the above discussion I tend to think this is not different enough from other tropes, and that the examples should be moved to All Your Powers Combined.

Basically this is "All Your Powers Combined and formed into a ball which is thrown by the hero"; that's quite narrow.

I assume it's the use of soul power to create a bomb?

EDIT: Huh.. close, and yet a miss. I think the description is the problem myself. The whole thing is vague and undefined.

edited 12th Aug '11 6:00:54 AM by Sackett

I think there's a trope in here somewhere, but the description is so badly-written that it doesn't do a proper job of actually telling you what it is.

I agree. It could be a trope in itself, but the current description does nothing to differentiate it from others like All Your Powers Combined.

I knew this one already, but only because I'd already seen it in use. I've never been satisfied with the title.

This is definitely a trope. A sister trope to All Your Colors Combined. Like that trope, it involves the entire team joining power for a single attack. Also like that trope, its about them joining 'energy' instead of powers like Super-Strength or Flying. Unlike that trope, its not color coded. Also unlike that trope, it focuses on The Hero.

The name though, it has good wicks and inbounds but if its being missused, maybe a rename in order if we can decide on a better one.

Team Spirit Power

Collective Team Power

Heroic Spirit Unity

something like that

Combination Projectile?

I can see the name as meaning "bomb or attack that uses spirit" rather than "bomb that kills spirits." It's not entirely unindicative.

Then again, I did watch the show as a kid.

But still, if I were putting across the second meaning I wouldn't use the phrasing that's used - I would use something more like Anti-Spirit Bomb or Spirit Killing Bomb, whereas Spirit Bomb resembles Hydrogen Bomb, which isn't a bomb that hurts Hydrogen but is, in fact, a bomb that uses Hydrogen.

edited 6th Sep '11 11:51:53 AM by KnownUnknown

Whereas All Your Powers Combined is about about powers and abilities, I think the essence of this one is about energy. A character (shouldn't have to be The Hero) takes everybody's energy, chi, fighting spirit (or whatever) into himself. Then he can do whatever he wants with it. Of course, Goku rolls it up into a ball and chucks it and people, but I don't think that should be required. It seems perfectly valid to use it to just augment yourself.

So, with this looser definition, are there enough examples that match up? If there are, this thing is going to need a major overhaul. New name, new description, cleaned up examples. Hell, I'd be all for cutting it and throwing the concept back into YKTTW territory.

If there aren't enough examples, it should probably be cut, anyway.