History Main / ArbitraryMinimumRange

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16702139900.30557400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
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->''"See, that's why I don't like guns -- they have a specific range of efficacy. See, most guys make one mistake -- they get too close."''
-->-- '''Eliot Spencer''', ''Series/{{Leverage}}''

Yes, we all know that [[ArbitraryMaximumRange weapons can't fire an infinite distance, and have a maximum range]]. This trope is about the opposite problem.

Besides a maximum range, some weapons (especially siege weapons) have a minimum range, within which it is a lot less effective or unable to fire at targets at all. If an enemy manages to get within this range, the weapon or its wielder is often forced to move back so that it can still engage the enemy.

Other weapons have this due to practicality. It is nearly impossible to line up a perfect sniper shot when your opponent is close enough to beat your face in.

Of course, considering that they're so effective at long ranges, one would think these weapons should be even more powerful for targets up close. But the reason for this is usually not about the firepower, which the maximum range suffers from -- for a target too close, it's [[HeroTrackingFailure very hard to track the target]], and most weapons have a limited tracking speed (except point-defense weapons, which are ''explicitly designed'' to have very high tracking speed). Also, by firing at a target too close, you put yourself at risk from ricochets (yes, it's TruthInTelevision -- bullets can [[PocketProtector bounce off belt buckles and other metal worn objects]]), or explosions if you happen to use high explosive or splash rounds. (This is why missiles and torpedoes have to travel a certain distance from the launching vehicle before they arm themselves to destroy the target.) Additionally, most weapons that use indirect fire (like, for example, the catapult) simply can't strike targets that are too close because the arc would be too small (or they'd have to fire almost straight up). In the case of a cannon, it may be unable to depress far enough to strike the target.

Some weapons have SplashDamage that you must avoid hitting your own men with (unless you [[WeHaveReserves don't care]]). Being FriendlyFireproof, in cover, or being armored enough to withstand your own weapon eliminates that problem.

In gaming, this is done mainly for two reasons. First, having such a powerful weapon without a minimum range can be GameBreaking, since it would have few weaknesses. Secondly, this allows them to target ''only'' things far enough away that [[PointDefenseless they won't get stuck by continuously tracking an extremely close enemy,]] [[ArtificialStupidity and cease to function properly.]]

Contrast ArbitraryMaximumRange, NoRangeLikePointBlankRange, and ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon. Inversion of SplashDamageAbuse -- see above for why. [[PointDefenseless A reason why AA guns can't hit anything.]] FixedForwardFacingWeapon is a SisterTrope. InsertGrenadeHere exploits this trope. Can be one of the reasons why one should NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight.

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' has an aversion that demonstrates the need for the trope: The blast radius for the Arc-en-Ciel WaveMotionGun is greater than its maximum range, so a ship firing it must immediately jump out to dimensional space or be HoistByHisOwnPetard.
* Briefly happens in ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'' during the Johto league, when Ash's Charizard gets into a close-range arm struggle with Gary's Blastoise:
-->'''Gary''': Charizard's too close! Blastoise can't aim with his hydro cannons!
* The melee variation is invoked and discussed in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' during the first fight between Kenshin and Aoshi: because Aoshi wields a smaller Kodachi, he lacks the reach of Kenshin's sword but has a much better control of his weapon at close range and thus a nearly-impregnable defense. Kenshin only manages to even the odds by gripping his own sword on the blade, giving himself a reach identical to the Kodachi and allowing him to attack Aoshi from a closer range and hit him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action Films]]
* In ''Film/KaamelottPremierVolet'', the first time we see the Burgundians try to lay siege to the castle of Kaamelott, the Jurisconsult pretends that, even if they weren't too inept to make their SiegeEngines work, they parked them way too close to the walls and any shot they'd manage to fire would just whiz past above the castle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature ]]
* In ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'' Russian torpedoes have a safety feature that will only arm the torpedo when it is a safe distance away from the ship that fired it. This is TruthInTelevision. Captain Ramius knows this so he [[spoiler:steers his submarine toward an incoming torpedo so the torpedo does not have time to arm itself and bounces harmlessly off the sub's hull]].
* The soft sci-fi story ''Through Space To The Planets'' has an example of a "ray" gun which also has a gas-like effect, meaning that it cannot be used at close quarters for fear of harming the operator and any other nearby "friendlies".
* At one point in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', some Marines need to use an antitank launcher to blow open a blast door, but can't use the best munition for the job because the range is shorter than said munition's minimum safe distance. In other words, they could use it to get rid of the door, but they'd be blown up too.
* In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''[[Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark Invasion]]'', described as the reason why AntiMatter weapons aren't used on planets. After all, since anti-matter reacts violently when it comes into contact with ''any'' matter, firing it in an atmosphere means that the first thing it encounters will be the air millimeters from the weapon... and the person firing it.
* This is the reason for the desperation tactic attempted by the USS ''Walker'' and USS ''Mahan'' in the first ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'' book. With the Japanese battlecruiser ''Amagi'' ready to pound the two obsolete destroyers to scrap and the rest of the Japanese fleet on approach, the ''Walker'' and the ''Mahan'' head straight for the ''Amagi'' and pass very close to it on either side, thus keeping the battlecruiser's big guns from being able to hit them. However, the smaller-caliber guns on the Japanese ship still did plenty of damage to the destroyers, but the battlecruiser also sustained significant damage from both destroyers' guns. The idea was to hide in the squall behind the ''Amagi'' and hope to escape the area. [[spoiler:The squall turns out to be a NegativeSpaceWedgie and sends the three ships to a ParallelWorld]].
* From ''[[Literature/BlackTideRising Strands of Sorrow]]'':
** Mk 19 grenade launchers are used from Amtracks[[labelnote:*]]'''Am'''phibious '''tracks''', amphibious assault vehicles used by the US Marine Corps[[/labelnote]] on a swarm of zombies, but due to limitations of space and having five of them taking up much of that room, they find out that "overkill" really does exist, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill contrary to usual belief]]. Many of the grenades don't even get to arm before hitting zombies, who wind up just as dead anyway.
** The minimum range of Tomahawk cruise missiles is why the -D variant (cluster munitions) fired to clear a beach of a mass zombie swarm, fired from the USS ''Michigan'', had to be steered around the long way inland before turning back to their actual targets. The other option, moving the ''Michigan'' further out to sea before firing, was considered and rejected.
* The tanks used by ''Literature/HammersSlammers'' can only aim their powerguns so low and close to them, so that infantry with satchel charges can occasionally get too close for comfort. So they have a ring of proximity-triggered AP mines around the vehicle's skirts for a second line of defense.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games ]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** Basic D&D causes missile fire devices (bows, crossbows) to automatically miss against targets within 5' (unless it can't move.)
** In the 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide section on siege weapons, catapults (light and heavy) and trebuchets all had minimum ranges that they could fire at.
** In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' later editions, firing a bow provokes an attack of opportunity. Because giving your opponents free shots is bad, this means that minimum range is outside of your opponent's reach.
** Weapons with the "reach" property let their wielder attack opponents that aren't adjacent to them. However, the vast majority of reach weapons can ''not'' be used to attack enemies adjacent to their wielder unless the one wielding the weapon has the proper feats and/or class features allowing them to do so.
** In 5th edition, having any foe within 5 feet, not just the target, confers "disadvantage" (Roll two d20 instead of one, take the lowest) upon any creature using a ranged attack. Saving throw-based attacks like Sacred Flame, however, do not have this disadvantage. The poor net gets hit with this the hardest, since it's considered a ranged attack with a range of only 5 feet, meaning it always has disadvantage when it's used.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** In earlier editions, barrage weapons had a minimum range. In the 6th edition they still have a minimum range for indirect fire, but can still fire at targets closer than that if they have line of sight to them. However since the rules forbid you from intentionally placing blast markers on your own units (barring a few specific exceptions), blast weapons (which include all barrage weapons) still have a minimum range in some cases; if the entire enemy unit can get so close that you can't place a blast marker on them without hitting the firing unit as well, you can't fire it.
** The Deathstrike Missile has a minimum range of 12 inches on the tabletop, equivalent to 60 feet in real life.
** The Basilisks despite being a cannon with plating has to be using the secondary weapons if the weapon gets close despite the fact that the enemy warlord can be in front of the cannon.
** The Tau are very poor at close ranged combat (because their reflexes are much slower than humans). As a result, most of their weapons have a great deal of trouble locking onto targets at close range.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Some grenade launchers made their grenades not detonate until they had gone a minimum distance after firing. This was done to prevent the user being blown up by their own grenade, but also prevented use of the weapon at close range.
* In ''TabletopGame/BigEyesSmallMouth'', one of the custom variables for the Weapon attribute (which covers all types of attack abilities) is Indirect, which lets the attack strike through a ballistic arc. However, rank 1 of the variable restricts the attack from targeting less than half of its maximum range (determined by the Range variable); rank 2 reduces this to ten percent; rank 3 is the maximum and removes the restriction. SplashDamage is handled by the Area variable instead, so there may not be any practical reason for an attack to have a minimum range.
* Classic ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' Book 4 ''Mercenary''. Several new weapons could not be used at Close or Short range (from 0 to 5 meters away), such as the various PGMP's and FGMP's. The reason is implied from other material, and is that the plasma guns fire superhot plasma, so firing it anywhere close to the user would result in bad news for the user. Double for the fusion guns, since they are pretty much shooting the power of an atomic blast, and are so strong that nearby enemies to the one shot have a chance to be eradicated just as easily.
* ''TabletopGame/RogueTrader'' (the RPG) has minimum range for [[{{WaveMotionGun}} Nova Cannons]], as they cannot safely be used too close to the ship, having splash damage and a chance to explode closer to the firer than intented (technically they can still hit the firer if you fire at the absolute minimum range and roll very badly). This is a holdover from their rules in ''TabletopGame/BattlefleetGothic'', as RT space combat rules are heavily based on that game.
** Of course, it's a JustifiedTrope in a different way as well, since Nova Cannons have a muzzle velocity that's a not-insignificant fraction of the speed of light... Even if it arms the round within nanoseconds, it's still going to be pretty far from your ship by the time that happens.
* Many long-range weapons in ''TabletopGame/{{BattleTech}}'' have minimum ranges, making it harder to hit within that minimum range. There are various rationales for the minimum ranges depending on the type of weapon; from ungainly long barrels for [=AC/2s=], the lightest, longest-ranged Autocannon[[note]]larger Autocannons fire heavier shells at shorter ranges, using shorter barrels as a result, and generally don't suffer from the same problem[[/note]] or Gauss rifles that are hard to swing around at short range, to safety features to prevent self-inflicted damage in the case of [[LightningGun PPCs]] (firing a weapon that is essentially a small scale particle accelerator has notably dangerous effects on the electrically-driven muscle fibers of a 'Mech)[[note]]a savvy, enterprising, or ''crazy'' MechWarrior can disable the safeties on the PPC to fire at closer ranges, with a reasonably high change to damage their own 'Mech as a result, from minor structure damage to outright explosions. Later developments would also create the ER (Extended Range) PPC, which has no minimum range.[[/note]], to booster engines not arming the missile until expended for missile weapons.
** Averted in one particularly iconic case: while Inner Sphere long-range missiles are all but the poster children for the trope, their Clan counterparts explicitly have no minimum range issues at all. Even decades later, Inner Sphere engineers -- even those with the know-how and resources to laboriously outright duplicate Clan gear -- don't seem to have figured out any practical way to adapt whatever trick makes that possible to their own launchers. (Advanced IS-tech "enhanced" LRM racks with at least a reduced minimum range do exist, but in direct opposition to the lighter and more compact Clan models actually ''add'' weight and bulk to make that happen, so they're not really it yet either.)[[note]]In response, however, the Inner Sphere came up with the Medium-Range Missile, which is a compromise: it has no minimum range, but also no ''tracking system'', making it a dumbfire system that's hard to hit with. While not as damaging as the also-unguided SRM (Short Range Missile) warhead individually, MRM systems fire ''much'' larger salvos than both [=SRMs=] and [=LRMs=] (the standard is an MRM-30, 10 more missiles than the largest LRM launcher), meaning that it requires much more skill to use, but is much more devastating when it hits. The Clans did not like it when they got hit with them[[/note]]
* This happens in tactical wargames of the hex-and-counter variety, too. Units in ''Red Star/White Star'' with a minimum range had this printed on the counters. Mortars in ''TabletopGame/AdvancedSquadLeader'' have both their minimum and maximum ranges on the counters. In pre-gunpowder games, the effect of swordsmen getting in under the effective range of a spear or pike (see Real Life below) is often handled with modifiers to the attack or defense strength of the units concerned.
* In ''TabletopGame/BattleCON'', certain Styles add minimum range to your attack and will miss if your opponent is closer than that. For all characters, the Burst attack misses at range 1, although it lets you move backwards to make up for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games ]]
* ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'': [[spoiler:This is the main weakness of the Spaceguard Turret Network, also known as Stonehenge: a circular array of [[{{BFG}} gigantic]] [[MagneticWeapons rail cannons]] originally meant to shoot down asteroids, now hijacked by the Federal Republic of Erusea and used as a powerful anti-aircraft weapon against the Independent State Allied Forces. Within the array's ''vast'' maximum range, entire battalions of approaching aircraft flying above 2000 feet risk being swatted out of the sky by the sheer shockwaves from Stonehenge's high-velocity, four feet-wide rounds. Once ISAF manages to enter Stonehenge's minimum range, however, it becomes vulnerable to direct attack and must rely on fixed defenses and allied squadrons, as its rail cannons can't do squat about individual enemy fighters that fly too fast and unpredictably for them to track.]]
* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'', all tier 3 siege weapons have a minimum range, for all 3 factions. However, you can use a wave-force artillery to force-attack a point, and causes damage to the line of shooting when it fires, including your troops. And surprisingly, the Brighton coastal guns and wave-force tricannons does not suffer from this limit.
* Siege weapons in ''{{VideoGame/Warcraft}}'' all have minimum range, being completely defenseless against melee units.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
** All manner of ranged physical attacks in, be they bows, guns, or crossbows, used to have a minimum range; if the enemy got too close, you were forced into melee combat. This was removed in one of the expansion packs, largely because the minimum range for ranged physical attacks and maximum range for melee attacks had a sizable gap between them, creating a "dead zone" where the player couldn't attack at all (a serious problem for Hunters as they were the only class made to use physical ranged attacks for the vast majority of their abilities). Certain turrets and siege weapons still have a minimum range, though.
** Some bosses have attacks that they will not use on players in melee range. For example, Garrosh Hellscream will not use Desecrated Weapon on a player in melee range of them, but if they're even barely out of melee range, the weapon might fall on them, putting everyone near the boss inside a Desecrated void zone.
* Siege tanks in siege mode from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' and ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' (averted in tank mode, though). The weapons in siege mode are capable of dealing high damage from a long distance, and can be primarily used either as a turtling base defense, or to take out the weaker units in large bursts (such as blasting a bioball of Zerg and killing a bunch of Zergling fairly fast). The problem is that, once the enemy crosses a specific threshold, the siege tank cannot fire. This can be circumvented by a second siege tank covering the first, but siege tanks also deal friendly fire damage, so it isn't advised. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one of its StopPokingMe quotes:
-->"Why don't you walk about thirty yards out and stand still for me?"
* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' has the Scaredy-Shroom, which can fire at long range and is very cheap, but if a zombie gets too close, it'll hide into the ground and become useless as a weapon. (Hiding doesn't protect it from being eaten by the zombies, either.)
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': Some vehicles, such as Scarabs in ''VideoGame/HaloWars'', are unable to attack extremely close range opponents. Likewise in the main FPS games, tanks without a side gunner are unable to shoot an opponent boarding them without hurting themselves.
* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' and ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'' both have a minimum range (usually 10 meters, just outside of melee combat for most monsters) required before anyone can use a ranged weapon such as a bow or throwing knives and shurikens.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'' moves do not have a minimum range per se but merely differing areas of effect. Nonetheless, moves which can only hit two or three tiles away do mean the user cannot defend against an enemy engaging them at point blank, and must take a step back first.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
** Ballistas and siege tomes (Bolting, Purge, Swarm) have a minimum range of 3. They can fire 10 tiles away in exchange. Some ballistas even have ''15'' range.
** Bows have a minimum range of 2. If you surround a bow user with four units, they can't move and can't attack. This is averted in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' and its remake, where archers can attack and retaliate at point black range. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', non-mounted archers can overcome this limitation by using Crossbows as opposed to regular bows, at the cost of dealing less damage, due to Crossbows ignoring their strength stat. The SS-ranked bow, the Double Bow, does not have this handicap, while still allowing 1-range combat. The skills [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Point Blank]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Close Counter]] also allow 1-range bow attacks.
* Some spellcards in ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' have bullets generated around the boss, but the bullets doesn't have the hitspot immediately. Because of this, a player can get very close to the boss before the bullets are fired, and hence without taking any damage. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZXM5L75h38 This video provides examples, like 1:02, 8:46 and 9:52]].
* ''VideoGame/DuneII''. Missile tanks cannot hit a target 2 hexes or less away. If they try, the missiles will go wild and hit random locations other than the target hex.
* ''VideoGame/{{M1 Tank Platoon}}''. Infantry units automatically fire antitank weapons at any enemy vehicles within range, but they can't hit them if they are too close.
* Most ranged siege weapons in the ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' series, and towers before "siege holes" is researched.
* In ''VideoGame/AlienShooter'', GrenadeLauncher, FreezeRay and flamethrowers have a minimum range, and the grenades always detonate at a certain distance.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Highborn}}'', Teslas and Cannons have a minimum range of two squares away, unlike most characters/machines, which can attack from one square away.
* In the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games, players can use grenade launchers. In most cases, the grenades have to travel a minimum distance before they'll explode, meaning that if someone is too close to you, the grenade will simply bounce harmlessly off the ground or wall next to them. Fortunately, you can usually get a kill with a direct impact.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsAndMerchants'' had this with archers and crossbowmen. If you came near enough to a ranged unit and no other units were in range to shoot at, it would stop shooting. Watch towers were exempt from this, though.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': you cannot fire ranged weapons at point blank range... unless you take a certain mid-level {{perk}} that allows you just that.
* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', ranged units are limited to melee attacks if there's an enemy unit adjacent to them- not only can they not use their main weapon against the adjacent enemy, they can't fire at anyone else either. In most cases, they only attack at half strength, but there are some exceptions to this rule. The same goes for ''VideoGame/KingsBounty''.
* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'': Artillery and battleships have a one-square zone in which it is unable to fire. [=MLRS=] and [=SAM=] trucks have a two-square zone. (as they have longer range).
* The ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' series takes the minimum range and maximum range tropes and sticks to them.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'', as an archer could fire a bow at point blank. Given that for some quirk in the code it can't be countered it is a way to help the player since the game is {{nintendo hard}}. Averted as well in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis'', the only difference is that this time any arrow at point blank is countered.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', bowguns, crossbows, and guns have an arbitrary minimum range, but you can get around this restriction by aiming and then firing in the same direction as the target.
* In Stone Vigil Hard Mode of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' the cannons used in the fight against the second boss cannot shoot very close to themselves, so you'll have to rely on your teammates to shoot any additional enemies off of you.
* Some weapons in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series cannot be used at point blank range. Ironically, this includes the [[ShortRangeShotgun shotgun]] in most games, which cannot be used against an adjacent enemy.
* In ''VideoGame/SlenderTheArrival'', you can't stun the Proxy with the flashlight's high-beam when it's too close.
* In ''Anarchy'', a PuzzleGame for the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, the object of each level is to shoot all the blocks, a task complicated by not being able to shoot any block right in front of you.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': The Starfleet ''Avenger''-class battlecruiser's unique weapon, the Variable Auto-Targeting Armament, cannot be fired if the ''Avenger'' is within 2 kilometers of its target (ditto the similar weapon of its Klingon MovesetClone, the ''Mogh''-class battlecruiser). Same with the Romulan Hyper-Plasma Torpedo available through the reputation system. In both cases there's a good reason: they're AreaOfEffect weapons, and in the case of VATA, the further from your target you fire it, the more [[RecursiveAmmo submunitions]] it will have time to fire.
* Averted with the Redeemer in the ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' games, which is a mini nuke, but it can blow up in your face given the right circumstances.
* Snipers have this problem in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. A scoped in headshot can kill any class, but being scoped in greatly limits your visual range making it easier for opponents to come at you from the sides or even (almost) straight ahead without being seen.
* This frequently happens in ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks''. While normally even artillery can hit what's in front of it, combining [[WeaksauceWeakness bad gun depression]] with enemies beneath you generally means you can't or shouldn't engage them.
* A simple tactic for fighting dragons in ''Videogame/VagrantStory'' is to get as close as possible to them and stand under their necks; not only is this the perfect position for Ashley to hit their heads with stabbing weapons, it also puts him within the minimum range of their BreathWeapon and forces them to rely on their much less deadly bite and tail slam attacks.
* ''Videogame/MechWarrior'' carries over many of the minimum ranges from ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'', but it's generally most apparent with missiles. In ''Mechwarrior Living Legends'' Inner Sphere [[MacrossMissileMassacre long range missiles]] fire in a ballistic trajectory with a minimum impact & warhead arming distance of about 160 meters. [[SuperPersistentMissile Arrow IV missiles]] likewise arc up and arm in mid-flight. Advanced Tactical Missiles (loaded with standard or extended range ammo) and Medium Range Missiles can hit targets closer due to a straight flight path, but both have a minimum arming distance where they deal no damage. The [[DeathFromAbove Long Tom Artillery Tank]] is incapable of aiming down on flat terrain, forcing it [[DualModeUnit anchor down]] on the downslope of a hill if it wants to hit anything within 150 meters.
* The ShootEmUp genre traditionally has "dead zones" for enemies, especially ground enemies, where the enemy will not fire. This is often to prevent the player from being surprise-shot at point blank.
* Played annoyingly straight in ''VideoGame/CossacksEuropeanWars'', where ranged units will frequently refuse to engage enemies that have closed to melee range. That's right, they'll just stand there getting hacked to pieces without even using those halberds they use to rest their muskets on to defend themselves.
* ''Videogame/EYEDivineCybermancy'' takes into account a weapon's length when aiming. If a character is using a long rifle (i.e. the [[{{BFG}} Excidium]]) and an enemy gets within arm's reach, the weapon will automatically be raised up towards the sky, preventing it from being fired. The user isn't completely helpless, as attempting to fire will result in a psychic HandBlast that instagibs weak enemies and shoves stronger enemies away.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' games have several attacks that are ineffective when the target is too close. Most of these are certain spells and attacks using long handled weapons. Many bosses are safest when battled up close, as most of their attacks have a minimum range, and those that aren't are clearly telegraphed.
* While not a hard-coded feature, ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' tends to have Charger wielders rapid-firing their weapon or tossing bombs if they spot an enemy Inkling within two or three body lengths of them [[note]]Operating word is "spot"; it's not uncommon for any player to get splatted in a sudden ambush or from [[DeathFromAbove outside the horizon ring]] -- usually below, as the terrain blocks visibility in that direction.[[/note]]. The full charge can still splat at that range, but the time spent prepping it is time their enemy will spend splatting them in turn, as the only alternative to these measures is to swim the hell out of there. The reason it's two or three body lengths? [[DropTheHammer That's the kill range for a Roller]].
* Archers in ''VideoGame/ShiningForce'' can only shoot enemies two spaces away (or beyond, with certain types of arrows); anything right next to them isn't available to target.
* In ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'', there is an ability called Long-Distance which allows the unit to attack enemies farther than the range in which they start attacking, however the unit will have an area where the attack will not hit anything. Examples of units with this ability include Nerd Cat, Radiant Aphrodite and Red Riding Mina.
* The Demolitions perk in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'' has weapons that shoot explosive rounds, but most of these weapons' ammo only explode after it passes a certain distance to arm. Only a few exceptions exist in the Orca Bomb Propellor (a steampunk grenade launcher that fires bombs with fuses), the Seal Squeal Harpoon Bomber (a harpoon launcher that fires harpoons on a timer delay and, in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor2'', can be detonated on-command before that), hand grenades that every perk gets (which run on a timer, and in the second game detonate immediately if they hit an enemy directly), and the second game's [=HX25=] (a handheld grenade launcher that fires multiple explosive pellets, which detonate on impact at any distance and [[FriendlyFireproof don't deal self-damage]]).
* In ''VideoGame/{{Nectaris}}'', the Lynx MB-4 buggy can launch ground attacks from precisely two hexes away--no more, no less.
* In ''Videogame/{{Factorio}}'', you can use nukes in your man-portable rocket launcher. But the explosion of these nukes is bigger than the range of the launcher.
* ''VideoGame/AncientEmpires'': Catapults have the longest range of any unit, but they can't attack units in the four squares immediately adjacent to them. Coupled with their inability to move and attack on the same turn, this makes them very vulnerable to enemy units that get into melee range.
* Subtlely encouraged or discouraged in ''VideoGame/BattleGaregga'' depending on how good you are, where getting close enough to enemies to stop them from firing is one of myriad ways to raise the game's [[DynamicDifficulty rank]].
* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'', ammunition for [[LongRangeFighter Gunner weapons]] have a "critical distance" from which they do the most damage. Note that while shots from too far will not only fail to inflict full damage, so can shots fired from too ''close''. The Shot Booster armor skill expands your ammo's critical distances, making it a bit easier to achieve the correct spacing needed to optimize damage.
* In ''VideoGame/DefenseGridTheAwakening'', Cannon and Meteor towers can pick off enemies from long range with their high per-shot damage, however as a tradeoff they cannot target enemies adjacent to themselves.
* Most sniper rifles in ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' have a damage ramp-up system where they'll do more damage the further away a target is, to a point; at point blank range their damage output amounts to essentially scratch damage unless you're able to hit the head. This reinforces their value as long range weapons rather than the [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon "ghetto shotguns"]] they were in previous installments.
* Torpedoes, at least those fired with the computer acting as the torpedo officer in ''Videogame/SilentHunter'', will not explode if they hit something close to the sub. Which sucks ''a lot'' if you're playing the pregenerated mission in ''Silent Hunter III'' about saving the heavily damaged Bismarck of two British battleships attacking her and torpedo one that appears close to your sub, just for the torpedo bouncing harmlessly when it hits.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomic]]
* ''Webcomic/TheWhiteboard'': The comic has [[http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb1279.html a strip]] during the first ZombieApocalypse arc where Doc is reminded how this applies to grenade launchers when one launched at a zombie hits before it has gone far enough to arm itself.
-->'''Roger''': "You just wasted ''one'' guy with a three hundred dollar bullet!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original ]]
* Enforced by item 868 of ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG'':
-->''I cannot have a gun with an area of effect larger than its range.''
[[/folder]]
----

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Non-weapon example: radio transmitters operating in lower frequency ranges (AM radio, for example) tend to have "dead zones" in their immediate vicinity. The full reason involves some complicated physics but it essentially has to do with the longer wavelength causing the radio waves to skip over any receive antennas that are too close to the transmit antenna.
* When a weapon (or the person firing it) is located on an elevated position, it can be difficult or impossible to fire at enemies directly below that position, or within a certain distance. For this reason, fortified locations have towers that can cover one another's bases (along with the length of the wall between them), so enemies can't ZergRush within the minimum range and then sap the walls at their leisure.
* Lampshaded by Creator/EddieIzzard, who points out that if someone's tracking you with a bazooka, you should run toward them, not away.
* All tanks have one. A soldier can get too close to be aimed at by the main gun and it can only point in one direction at a time. But the machine guns meant to deal with this also have a minimum range: within about fifteen feet, you were perfectly safe from their machine guns, because they simply could not depress far enough to hit a man standing so close. But tanks are not usually alone, so another vehicle can kill the annoying soldier. And [[CarFu don't forget it's bad if a tank runs you down.]]
** During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the British developed an anti-tank grenade that was little more than a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_bomb bottle of nitroglycerine coated with glue]]. The user was expected to run up to an enemy tank, smack the grenade onto the armor, and hope to make it to a safe distance before it went off. Although the whole idea was clearly insane, the StickyBomb was nevertheless cheap and quick to manufacture - important advantages given that the British were expecting an [[LastStand imminent Nazi invasion]] and had been forced to abandon most of their anti-tank guns during the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation Dunkirk evacuation]]. The main drawback was that it was terrifyingly easy for the user to get an [[ExplosiveStupidity armed grenade stuck to themselves]]. In the [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/93/a2159093.shtml words]] of one [[UsefulNotes/TheHomeFront Home Guard]] volunteer:
---> "It was while practicing that a [Home Guard] bomber got his stick bomb stuck to his trouser leg and couldn’t shift it. A quick-thinking mate whipped the trousers off and got rid of them and the bomb. After the following explosion the trousers were in a bit of a mess [[BringMyBrownPants though I think they were a bit of a mess prior to the explosion]]."
** Nearly everyone prior to WWII had some kind of magnetic mine designed to be thrown a short distance onto a tank. As they were uniformly bad at sticking and required getting within a few feet of an active tank, most nations quickly phased them out a few days after they first tried to actually use them in combat. On the other hand, magnetic mines for naval use are more effective.
** The Germans produced a number of training films that mostly consisted of ways individual soldiers could jump up on a tank and disable it with whatever materials and weapons they had at hand, [[InsertGrenadeHere including hand grenades.]]
** The machine gun one also applies to nearly every vehicle that has them.
** The Germans also addressed this problem in their own tanks by installing the famous gun that could shoot around corners, the one with the 90-degree bend in the barrel. Installed pointing upwards through the turret roof, it could be traversed through 360 degrees to scythe down any Russians climbing onto the back or angled to fire down into what any approaching enemy might have mistaken for a "dead area" where the conventional machine guns could not reach.
** This is one reason why tanks often operated in teams. The best way to fight off infantry in the dead area was to have other tanks machine gun your own tank. Rifle-caliber bullets won't hurt tanks, but any infantry on the tanks would be reduced to hamburger.
** The above about a minimum range for attacking from elevated positions also counts for tanks, in a sort of reverse angle. The Soviet troops defending "Pavlov's House", for instance, were able to defeat German tanks by waiting until they closed on the house ''then'' opening fire with anti-tank rifles from the roof; at that range and angle, the tanks' thin top armor was exposed and vulnerable to the rifles, and the tanks were unable to elevate their guns enough to retaliate.
** A weird zigzag of this for Russian tanks was that they could not take full advantage of placing the tank's hull behind a crest to gain a "hull down" position (exposing only the turret); the tank's gun could not be depressed enough to fire down the slope. This is because in an effort to reduce their tanks' profile and keep the turret armor well-sloped, Russian tanks (with a few notable exceptions) tend to have shorter turrets than those designed by most other nations. Since the breech of the gun has to be ''inside'' the turret, it needs room to elevate up while the barrel is being depressed down. A shorter turret results in significantly less room to do so. This design philosophy has been retained in Russian and Russian-influenced (such as Chinese, Yugoslavian and Ukrainian) tank design all the way into the 21st century, giving them some distinct strengths and weaknesses compared to Western tanks.
* Grenade launchers and similar weapons can be fired at any range, but the projectile won't arm itself until it has traveled a certain distance, about 15 to 40 meters for 40mm grenades, depending on the model.
* Mortars have one. At around 90 degrees, it will fall back down on the guys that fired it, assuming the wind doesn't blow it away. Oh, there's still the SplashDamage.
** That being said, a mortar might be able to be directly fired with a varying difficulty depending on the mortar. Directly firing a mortar (as in pointing the barrel right at the intended target) was a desperation tactic used by infantrymen in World War 1 when armored vehicles first appeared on the battlefield and anti-tank weaponry had yet to be effectively developed or deployed. Some larger breech-loading mortars[[note]]typical mortars are muzzle-loading, usually fired by simply dropping the shell down the barrel, the shell firing off when it slammed down against the firing pin[[/note]] are specifically designed to have a secondary direct-fire mode, though, and are called "gun-mortars" as a result; there were plans at one point around 2010 to rearm a variation of the [[GunshipRescue AC-130 gunship]] by replacing its existing 120mm howitzer with an equivalently-sized breech-loaded mortar.
* Non-military: Golf. [[SchmuckBait Try to hit <50 yards with a driver at a target.]] You can't. Sure, you can hit 300+ yards with the driver, but you cannot hit a small target ~150 yards away with it accurately. Or putt with it. An interesting SelfImposedChallenge, but you need other clubs to be any good.
* In RealLife this was one of the reasons "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet gyrojet]]" guns (basically weapons that fired self-propelled mini rockets instead of solid bullets propelled by a single gunpowder explosion) never caught on, as it ultimately ended up at a gun with a very strict effective range. Their ammunition took a while to accelerate, meaning they had less momentum at close range - it's very [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200128140158/http://www.deathwind.com/review_2.htm incorrectly rumored]] that one could stop a gyrojet round by literally sticking a FingerInTheBarrel (DoNotTryThisAtHome if you're lucky enough to actually find someone who owns and is willing to fire a Gyrojet - you'll lose your ''entire'' hand this way) - but which also meant they were more affected by wind and obstacles while getting up to speed, meaning they had less consistent accuracy at mid- to long range.
* In WWII, during the Battle off Samar, the destroyer escort U.S.S. ''Samuel B. Roberts'' got so close to the Imperial cruiser ''Chokai'' that the latter ship couldn't depress her guns low enough to hit Roberts.
** Also, in the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, where the destroyer U.S.S. ''Laffey'' got within 15 feet of IJN ''Hiei'' and the latter, a Kongo-class battleship, could not depress her main ''or'' secondary guns low enough to return fire.
** On the other side of the world, when the British midget submarines ''X-6'' and ''X-7'' accidentally surfaced after planting explosive charges under the German battleship ''Tirpitz'', both did so too close for the ship's guns to aim low enough to hit them, forcing the ''Tirpitz's'' crew to resort to small arms fire. ''X-5'' wasn't as lucky.
* In the Falklands War a number of British [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_42_destroyer Type 42 destroyers]] got hit by not only guided anti-ship missiles but also Argentine aircraft lobbing unguided munitions at them. The early iterations of the class were fitted with [=GWS30=] Sea Dart surface-to-air missile system for anti-air defense; problem was, if aircraft or missiles managed to close to within a certain range, [[PointDefenseless software issues with the SAM system caused them to be unable to properly track and fire at targets because they were too close.]] This limitation was the reason why the class was later fitted with two Mk.15 Phalanx CIWS.
** Some of the unguided munitions lobbed by Argentine aircraft were conventional bombs. The planes would fly in close to the water, below the radar, then pull up just before encountering a ship and release the bomb. But the bomb had a small propeller in the back that was supposed to unscrew the firing pin as the bomb fell through the air, arming it. If the bomb didn't fall far enough, the firing pin stayed secure and didn't detonate the bomb on impact. The Argentine tactic had the bombs flying a few dozen feet, not the hundreds of feet necessary to arm the bomb. At least one ship had a bomb pierce the hull above the waterline, but the bomb did not explode.
* This trope is why nukes bigger than the Tsar Bomba were never made. The bomber that drops it cannot get out of danger before the nuke detonates.[[note]]There also would be no practical purpose to a nuke larger than Tsar Bomba even if this issue were bypassed, such as by using a bomber ''fast'' enough to escape the blast. Tsar Bomba itself was limited to 50% of its maximum possible yield when tested, because at maximum yield the ''vertical'' blast radius would extend beyond Earth's atmosphere. Meaning that the majority of the energy released would be expended on destroying ''empty space''.[[/note]] By then, [=ICBMs=] were doing the same job. Even with smaller nukes the bombers are forced to maneuver not to get hit by the nukes they just dropped. Again, missiles don't have this problem.
* Almost all missiles and torpedoes arm only after traveling a certain distance, so as not to catch the firer (be it a human or a machine) in the blast radius. Note that as many of these weapons are still being used long after their 'expiration date' and/or with little proper maintenance it is possible for the warheads to explode before reaching their intended minimum range.
* Guided antitank missiles (especially earlier models) may have a minimum range of up to several hundred meters, so shorter range weapons like [=RPGs=] (Rocket-Propelled Grenades) are used to cover this "dead zone".
* Minimum ranges for an air-to-air missile tend to be quite long, usually at least 500 metres and often upwards of a kilometre, to prevent the firing aircraft from flying through the missile's cloud of expanding debris (a rather obviously fatal circumstance for the pilot of the aircraft). Minimum ''effective'' ranges tend to be even longer, as unless the target is travelling in a perfectly straight line the missile will need to turn, and the closer it is the more chance it will overshoot and miss. [[OldSchoolDogfight Machine guns or autocannons]] do not suffer this limitation, at least not to an extent that matters in air combat. The US Air Force learned this the hard way early in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar when the F-4 Phantom, the first US air-superiority fighter to lack gun armament, came up against enemy [=MiGs=] that ''did'' have cannon and quickly learned the many possible ways the earliest heat-seeking air-to-air missiles could fail.
* If you're unarmed, it's preferable to run away from someone with a knife. Against someone with a gun, though, it's easier to deal against them at close range, since you can wrestle the gun so it's harder to be aimed at you.
* In Olympic fencing, there is an entire category of moves called in-fighting used when your opponent is too close for a standard stance. It is advantageous for small fencers to get in close enough to use standard moves against a larger opponent who would have to infight.
** Renaissance fencing, while noticeably different, had many parallels. To address this weakness, many fencers would pair their long rapier or their short sword with a dagger. One of the few real-life examples of dual wielding, this dagger allowed them to parry strikes should they slip past the proper guard and allow them to switch focus should they get too close for their sword to fit between them.
* Longer barreled weapons have a sort of this, they can't fire at someone closer to the person holding it, unless the person with the rifle has the slightest idea what they're doing; in this case, the person with the rifle takes a step backward from the person holding their barrel. The leverage forces the grabber's arm toward the shooter, and brings the barrel of the rifle to point straight at the grabber's chest, so the grabber either ends up releasing the barrel, gets shot in the chest a number of times, or both. Grabbing a rifle's barrel is a dangerous proposition.
** Some very long-range sniper rifles have scopes so specialized for long range that they're incapable of aiming at close-range targets. This is because at extreme ranges (ie around a mile) there's a ''lot'' of bullet drop due to gravity.
* In general, if you have a small weapon (e.g. a dagger) and your opponent has a large weapon (e.g. a longsword), it's best to be as close to your opponent as possible, because your opponent's larger weapon has worse leverage (and your smaller weapon has better leverage) the closer you are to him. This is the reason why polearms are so great at fighting enemies from a distance but less effective once the enemies close that distance.
* In archery, arrows flex when they are fired and take time to snap back into alignment. Fire at an armored opponent at close range and it's very likely that the arrow will hit them while flexed, making it much more likely to ricochet off.
* Against some forms of tank and shipboard armor - typically face hardened - there can be situations where 'Shatter Gap' occurs. This is where the incoming projectile is traveling so fast that it will shatter against the target's armour. As the range increase the projectile slows until it reaches a velocity where the shock of the impact will not cause the projectile to shatter and the armor can be defeated. Increase the range further and the projectile is travelling too slow and the target is safe. However, if the target gets close enough to the firer, while the projectile will still shatter, the shattered pieces are still traveling fast enough to defeat the defending armor. This effect can lead to situations where an enemy armored vehicle will go from being immune, to vulnerable, to immune and finally vulnerable again as the range closes. In naval circles, the middle "dead zone" is often called a "zone of immunity" and during the early-mid 20th century naval architects went to great lengths to widen their own zone of immunity with new armor designs, shrink their enemies' with guns, and improve maneuverability to ensure that you were able to fight at the optimum range based on your and your opponent's zones of immunity.
* Lord Cochrane's 1801 capture of the 32-gun ''Gama'' in his 14-gun ship ''Speedy''. He was able to get close enough that the ''Gama'''s guns couldn't target the ''Speedy'', while the ''Speedy'' could still fire at the ''Gama''. It's a famous enough naval engagement that fictionalized versions of it turn up in several works set in that time period.
* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: having advanced to the enemy position, soldiers quickly found that their standard-issue bolt-action rifle was practically useless: too long to be easily wielded in the tight spaces, and too slow to fire to be effective. Even with a bayonet, it was clunky and awkward, and so trench-fighting became dominated with knives, clubs, axes, [[ShovelStrike shovels]], handguns, and shotguns (to the point that the German government wanted them outlawed), and submachine guns (when they became available; the submachine gun was invented late in the war, with some designs only seeing mass-production start once it ended). At the end of the day, nothing was found to be as easy, instinctive, and effective as a simple combat knife or entrenching spade.
* The Planck Length is the shortest distance in the universe where conventional physics (including special relativity) make sense; below this, one would have to have a solid theory of quantum gravity to correctly model what goes on at that scale (which we don't yet). This length is on the scale 10^-35 m, about 1 ''septillionth'' (10^-20) the size of a proton.
* Punches and kicks are less effective if they impact the target while the attacker's limb is bent (i.e., before they finish the motion by stretching their arm/leg out). Thus, moving ''[[ViolationOfCommonSense towards]]'' your assailant is a good way to mitigate damage in hand-to-hand combat.
* Many defense techniques rely upon this. A good example being leg checks, which involve blocking a roundhouse kick using you shin muscles. The trick involving the use of the muscle, not the bone, but also driving in with this shin so that kick lacks its peak level of strength.
[[/folder]]

->''"See that's why I don't like guns, they have a specific range of efficacy. See, most guys make one mistake, they get too close."''

* In Stone Vigil Hard Mode of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' the cannons used in the fight against [[TurtlePower the second boss]] cannot shoot very close to themselves, so you'll have to rely on your teammates to shoot any additional enemies off of you.

Of course, considering that they're so effective at long ranges, one would think these weapons should be even more powerful for targets up close. But the reason for this is usually not about the firepower, which the maximum range suffers from - for a target too close, it's [[HeroTrackingFailure very hard to track the target]], and most weapons have a limited tracking speed (except point-defense weapons, which are ''explicitly designed'' to have very high tracking speed). Also, by firing at a target too close you put yourself at risk from ricochets (yes, it's TruthInTelevision -- bullets can [[PocketProtector bounce off belt buckles and other metal worn objects]]), or explosions if you happen to use high explosive or splash rounds. (This is why missiles and torpedoes have to travel a certain distance from the launching vehicle before they arm themselves to destroy the target.) Additionally, most weapons that use indirect fire (like, for example, the catapult) simply can't strike targets that are too close because the arc would be too small (or they'd have to fire almost straight up). In the case of a cannon, it may be unable to depress far enough to strike the target.

Contrast ArbitraryMaximumRange, NoRangeLikePointBlankRange and ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon. Inversion of SplashDamageAbuse -- see above for why. [[PointDefenseless A reason why AA guns can't hit anything.]] FixedForwardFacingWeapon is a SisterTrope. InsertGrenadeHere exploits this trope. Can be one of the reasons why one should NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight.

* Most sniper rifles in ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' have a damage ramp-up system where they'll do more damage the further away a target is, to a point. This cripples their value up close (unless the player can consistently land headshots) in comparison to previous installments, where they had a reputation as [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon "ghetto shotguns"]] due to (ironically) being more useful up close than at range.

* While not a hard-coded feature, ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' tends to have Charger wielders rapid-firing their weapon or tossing bombs if they spot an enemy Inkling within two or three body lengths of them [[note]]Operating word is "spot"; it's not uncommon for any player to get splatted in a sudden ambush or from [[DeathFromAbove outside the horizon ring]] -- usually below, as the terrain blocks visibility in that direction.[[/note]]. The full charge can still splat at that range, but the time spent prepping it is time their enemy will spend splatting them in turn, as the only alternative to these measures is to swim the hell out of there. The reason it's two or three body lengths? [[DropTheHammer That's the kill range for a Roller]].

* Briefly happens in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' during the Johto league, when Ash's Charizard gets into a close-range arm struggle with Gary's Blastoise:

--> "It was while practicing that a [Home Guard] bomber got his stick bomb stuck to his trouser leg and couldn’t shift it. A quick-thinking mate whipped the trousers off and got rid of them and the bomb. After the following explosion the trousers were in a bit of a mess [[BringMyBrownPants though I think they were a bit of a mess prior to the explosion]]."

* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'', all tier 3 siege weapons have a minimum range, for all 3 factions. However, you can use a wave-force artillery to force-attack a point, and causes damage to the line of shooting when it fires, including your troops.
** And surprisingly, the Brighton coastal guns and wave-force tricannons does not suffer from this limit.

** Similarly, all manner of ranged physical attacks in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', be they bows, guns, or crossbows, used to have a minimum range; if the enemy got too close, you were forced into melee combat. This was removed in one of the expansion packs, largely because the minimum range for ranged physical attacks and maximum range for melee attacks had a sizable gap between them, creating a "dead zone" where the player couldn't attack at all (a serious problem for Hunters as they were the only class made to use physical ranged attacks for the vast majority of their abilities). Certain turrets and siege weapons still have a minimum range, though.
*** Some bosses have attacks that they will not use on players in melee range. For example, Garrosh Hellscream will not use Desecrated Weapon on a player in melee range of them, but if they're even barely out of melee range, the weapon might fall on them, putting everyone near the boss inside a Desecrated void zone.

** Bows has a minimum range of 2. If you surround a bow user with four units, they can't move and can't attack. This is averted in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' and its remake, where archers can attack and retaliate at point black range.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', non-mounted archers can overcome this limitation by using Crossbows as opposed to regular bows, at the cost of dealing less damage, due to Crossbows ignoring their strength stat. The SS-ranked bow, the Double Bow, does not have this handicap, while still allowing 1-range combat. The skill Point Blank that appears in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' also allows 1-range attacks.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' - the Ballistas work this way, but also regular bows act like this also. If you surround a bow user with four units, they can't move and can't attack.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', non-mounted archers can overcome this limitation by using Crossbows as opposed to regular bows, at the cost of dealing less damage, due to Crossbows ignoring their strength stat. The SS-ranked bow, the Double Bow, does not have this handicap, while still allowing 1-range combat.

* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', ranged units are limited to melee attacks if there's an enemy unit adjacent to them- not only can they not use their main weapon against the adjacent enemy, they can't fire at anyone else either. In most cases, they only attack at half strength, but there are some exceptions to this rule.
** The same goes for ''VideoGame/KingsBounty''.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'', as an archer could fire a bow at point blank. Given that for some quirk in the code it can't be countered it is a way to help the player since the game is {{nintendo hard}}.
** Averted as well in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis'', the only difference is that this time any arrow at point blank is countered.

--> "It was while practicing that a [Home Guard] bomber got his stick bomb stuck to his trouser leg and couldn’t shift it. A quick thinking mate whipped the trousers off and got rid of them and the bomb. After the following explosion the trousers were in a bit of a mess [[BringMyBrownPants though I think they were a bit of a mess prior to the explosion]]."

** The Germans also addressed this problem in their own tanks by installing the famous gun that could shoot around corners, the one with the 90 degree bend in the barrel. Installed pointing upwards through the turret roof, it could be traversed through 360 degrees to scythe down any Russians climbing onto the back or angled to fire down into what any approaching enemy might have mistaken for a "dead area" where the conventional MG's could not reach.
** This is one reason why tanks often operated in teams. The best way to fight off infantry in the dead area was to have other tanks machine gun your own.

** A weird zig-zag of this for Russian tanks was that they could not take full advantage of placing the tank's hull behind a crest to gain a "hull down" position (exposing only the turret); the tank's gun could not be depressed enough to fire down the slope. This is because in an effort to reduce their tanks' profile and keep the turret armor well-sloped, Russian tanks (with a few notable exceptions) tend to have shorter turrets than those designed by most other nations. Since the breech of the gun has to be ''inside'' the turret, it needs room to elevate up while the barrel is being depressed down. A shorter turret results in significantly less room to do so. This design philosophy has been retained in Russian and Russian-influenced (such as Chinese, Yugoslavian and Ukrainian) tank design all the way into the 21st century, giving them some distinct strengths and weaknesses compared to Western tanks.

** That being said, a mortar might be able to be direct-fired with a varying difficulty depending on the mortar. Direct-firing a mortar was a desperation tactic used by infantrymen in World War 1 when armored vehicles first appeared on the battlefield and anti-tank weaponry had yet to be effectively developed or deployed. Some larger breech-loading mortars[[note]]typical mortars are muzzle-loading, usually fired by simply dropping the shell down the barrel, the shell firing off when it slammed down against the firing pin[[/note]] are specifically designed to have a secondary direct-fire mode, though, and are called "gun-mortars" as a result; there were plans at one point around 2010 to rearm a variation of the [[GunshipRescue AC-130 gunship]] by replacing its existing 120mm howitzer with an equivalently-sized breech-loaded mortar.
* Non-military: Golf. [[SchmuckBait Try to hit <50 yards with a driver at a target.]] You can't. Sure you can hit 300+ yards with the driver, but you cannot hit a small target ~150 yards away with it accurately. Or putt with it. An interesting SelfImposedChallenge, but you need other clubs to be any good.
* In RealLife this was one of the reasons "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet gyrojet]]" guns (basically weapons that fired self-propelled mini-rockets instead of solid bullets propelled by a single gunpowder explosion) never caught on, as it ultimately ended up at a gun with a very strict effective range. Their ammunition took a while to accelerate, meaning they had less momentum at close range - it's very [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200128140158/http://www.deathwind.com/review_2.htm incorrectly rumored]] that one could stop a gyrojet round by literally sticking a FingerInTheBarrel (DoNotTryThisAtHome if you're lucky enough to actually find someone who owns and is willing to fire a Gyrojet - you'll lose your ''entire'' hand this way) - but which also meant they were more affected by wind and obstacles while getting up to speed, meaning they had less consistent accuracy at mid- to long range.
* In WWII, during the Battle off Samar, the destroyer escort U.S.S. ''Samuel B. Roberts'' got so close to the Imperial cruiser ''Chokai'' that the ''Chokai'' couldn't aim its guns low enough to hit the Roberts.
** Also in the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, where the Destroyer ''USS Laffey'' got within 15 feet of the Battleship ''IJN Hiei'' and the battleship could not depress its main ''or'' secondary guns low enough to return fire.

* * Renaissance fencing, while noticeably different, had many parallels. To address this weakness, many fencers would pair their long rapier or their shortsword with a dagger. One of the few real life examples of dual wielding, this dagger allowed them to parry strikes should they slip past the proper guard, and allow them to switch focus should they get too close for their sword to fit between them.

* Punches and kicks are less effective if they impact the target while the attacker's limb is bent (i.e. before they finish the motion by stretching their arm/leg out). Thus, moving ''[[ViolationOfCommonSense towards]]'' your assailant is a good way to mitigate damage in hand-to-hand combat.