History Main / EMP

** Not to mention The Lion's “roar,” an [[strike:electromagnet]]ætheric pulse

A more docile variant of EMP is "degaussing," which uses a varying magnetic field to remove magnetism from a metal object. Ships in WWII were degauused to make them less vulnerable to magnetic mines. Modern CRT monitors have built-in degaussers to eliminate color aberrations caused by stray fields. And decades ago a bulk eraser, an even smaller and lower powered version of this, was used to destroy the data on computer tapes and floppy disks (very popular with the [[BastardOperatorFromHell BOFH]]).

** Team Chaar's Blackout, like the movie 'bot who inspired him, can create an electromagnetic shockwave that knocks out nearby machinery..and then bring them back online [[PercussiveMaintenance by doing it again]].

** Team Chaar's Blackout can create an electromagnetic shockwave that knocks out nearby machinery..and then bring them back online [[PercussiveMaintenance by doing it again]].

* In {{The Dark Knight Returns}} the Soviets launch a single nuclear missile at the contested island of Corto Maltese. Superman knocks it off course, but, as Batman points out, this is not a {{Nuke Em}} weapon - the 'Coldbringer' is designed to knock out the enemies' ability to fight, without damaging infrastructure. The weapon detonates, Superman gets [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow almost dead]], and the electrics fizzle out in most of the Americas.

** Blaster uses an EMP gun. It blows up normal electronics but transformers, being more resilient, only suffer from seriously impaired movement coordination (still very painful if you happen to be in jet form at the time).

* In the remake of ''[=~Ocean's Eleven~=]'', Don Cheadle uses an EMP generator to cause a power outage at the casino so George Clooney and MattDamon can get past the security lasers. He even describes the device as "A nuke... without the nuke."

*** Circuit-Breakers, Surge-Protectors?

** Assuming that such a device could be built, the rapid restoration of power (as well as none of the team's items being affected) is a YouFailPhysicsForever[=/=]YouFailEngineeringForever double-header.

* In ''SystemShock'' Magpulser is available. Its use looks strange, but yes, it harms robots a lot (200% damage). It also lives up to it's name by barely affecting cyborgs (50% damage) and not affecting mutants at all (0% damage).
** There are also a couple of other EMP weapons, specifically the EMP grenade, which, when detonated, can screw up your (computer-assisted) interface if you're too close to the blast.

* In ''ModernWarfare 2'', [[spoiler:a nuclear missile is detonated in the upper atmosphere over America, blacking out the eastern states and causing the player to dodge helicopter rain.]] The player also gets an EMP in multiplayer if they get a KillStreak of 15, which disables enemy electronics, including [[InterfaceScrew removing their radar, ammo count and the game score]].
* The Space Pirates of ''{{Metroid}}'' occasionally use EMP grenades. Steam Lords of Elysia can also generate one as an attack. Presumably, Samus' suit is well protected as neither of these actually does anything to her suit.

* ''SplinterCell: Conviction'' has a plot focused on detonating several EMP bombs in WashingtonDC.

* In ''StargateAtlantis'', an EMP is generated by a Naquadah generator overload and is used to destroy some runaway nanites.

** DarthWiki/WallBanger: Who the hell is stupid enough to get themselves cyborged, then build an EMP-emitter right into their chest, and use it too, especially without the needed hardened systems (as demonstrated in the episode, since the guy(?) dies after using it)?

* In the [[BobandGeorge Bob and George]] comics, during the ''[[MegaMan Mega Man 3]]'' storyline, Mega Man was able to convert the Magnet Missiles into an EMP. It's very effective, but [[spoiler:he burns them out after two uses.]]

* In ''ModernWarfare 2'', [[spoiler:a nuclear missile is detonated in the upper atmosphere over America, blacking out the eastern states and causing the player to dodge helicopter rain.]]

EMP, short for electromagnetic pulse, is often used in stories to take out anything electronic. Sometimes shown to be a temporary effect (especially when the RuleOfFun applies in games), it usually results in the permanent disabling of electronic systems.

Radio waves have the generally useful property that they induce currents in conductive material. (That's how a receiving antenna works.) So whenever these MASSIVE radio waves hit something metal, like the wires inside your computer, they produce proportionally MASSIVE power surges. Ever had a piece of electronics destroyed when lightning hit your house? This is a similar effect, except bigger. And everywhere. At the same time.

In particular, transistors-- the building block of modern electronics-- are very sensitive to these power surges. The induced current burns and destroys them. They are so sensitive, in fact, it has been theorized that a single nuke, detonated in the right part of the upper atmosphere, could take out most of the unprotected computers in the United States. Military hardware has to be specially shielded to withstand most of the effects. (Interestingly, ancient computers from the 1950s would also be resistant. They were built with vacuum tubes, which can take the pulse a lot better than modern transistors.)

If you want to do this zapping without the nuclear fallout, there are a few [[http://science.howstuffworks.com/e-bomb3.htm smaller weapons]] that can generate an EMP. Such a thing is usually a kind of single-use electric generator, which sends out its pulse when crushed by a conventional explosive. The pulse is far weaker, and can kill maybe an office full of computers. In case you wonder why the same explosive charge alone couldn't do it, a range can be extended by rigging up a generator to get a directional emission of microwaves instead of a plain magnetic surge. Getting a city-sized EMP without a nuclear bomb is not feasible with current technology; as to reusable variants, if we had the capacitors necessary to do that, we could also build practical railguns and laser rifles.

A more docile variant of EMP is "degaussing," which uses a varying magnetic field to remove magnetism from a metal object. Ships in WWII were degauused to make them less vulnerable to magnetic mines. Modern CRT monitors have builtin degaussers to eliminate color aberrations caused by stray fields. And decades ago a bulk eraser, an even smaller and lower powered version of this, was used to destroy the data on computer tapes and floppy disks (very popular with the [[BastardOperatorFromHell BOFH]]).

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* {{X-Men}} villain (and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor occasional ally]]) Magneto does this from time to time. Considering how [[GreenLanternRing flexible]] his magnetic powers are usually depicted as being, it's not completely out of the question. Storm has done it with ''lightning bolts'' which ... [[YouFailPhysicsForever no]].
* In the second issue of GlobalFrequency, one of the characters carries non-lethal weaponry, such as EMP grenades, when they are going against a full-body enhancile. [[spoiler:They are... not exactly non-leathal.]]

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* In FanFic/AeonNatumEngel, among the standard depictions of EMP, it's also one of the main reason for the Iceland's DecadeDissonance.

* The last-resort weapons against the robots in the ''{{Matrix}}'' trilogy. Big problem there is that they disable your own devices as well. That includes the devices that plug people into the Matrix.

* In ''AirForceOne'' a stewardess mentions the titular plane is protected against this, which I suppose is TruthInTelevision.
* In ''BrokenArrow'', a nuke detonated underground produces enough EMP to knock down a helicopter flying above it.
* Speaking of EMP and helicopters, this is the favorite weapon of Blackout in the live-action ''{{Transformers}}'' film, and I'm pretty sure other Transformers have used such weapons, if only mentioned in their Tech Specs.
** Blaster uses an EMP gun. It blows up normal electronics but transformers, being more resiliant, only suffer from seriously impaired movement coordination (still very painful if you happen to be in jet form at the time)
* In ''SmallSoldiers'', the kid blows up a power transformer in the back yard. This generates an EMP that fries the circuitry of all the evil toys. The good toys are shielded by a downed satellite dish, somehow.
* In the remake of ''OceansEleven'', Don Cheadle uses an EMP generator to cause a power outage at the casino so George Clooney and Matt Damon can get past the security lasers. He even describes the device as "A nuke... without the nuke."
** Assuming that such a device could be built, the rapid restoration of power (as well as none of the team's items being affected) is a YouFailPhysicsForever / YouFailEngineeringForever double-header.

* The eponymous KillSat in the JamesBond movie ''{{Goldeneye}}''. And the MacGuffin (though only for the first half of the movie) in ''AViewToAKill'' is a computer chip that can withstand EMP, built by Zorn Industries -- Bond is investigating how one of these chips ended up in the Soviet Union.
* The "Ion Cannon" in [[StarWars The Empire Strikes Back]] was a cannon that disabled an entire Star Destroyer without destroying it. "Ion" weapons in future installments of the Expanded Universe (particularly video games) specialize in disrupting machinery.

* EMP (especially handheld EMP) play a key part of Orson Scott Card's Empire series.
* In ''All Frequency Jamming/Full Band Interception'' by Chinese Sci-Fi writer Cixin Liu, the future Russian(or Chinese, as it's changed in the Taiwanese version) army saved themselves from the counquer of NATO by using EMP in the most Badass way --first by deploying stationary EMP emmiters, then by [[spoiler: ramming a giant space station into the sun]]!

** Also used in ''[[{{StargateSG-1}} Stargate SG-1]]'' to remotely knock out an alien device through the Stargate (it didn't work).
*** And [[{{Mac Gyvering}} another]] was used to disable an enemy command bunker (it worked).
* The {{BBC}}'s nuclear holocaust drama ''{{Threads}}'' had an EMP knocking out Britain's electronics before the missiles strike.

** Wall Banger: Who the hell is stupid enough to get themselves cyborged, then build an EMP-emitter right into their chest, and use it too, especially without the needed hardened systems (as demonstrated in the episode, since the guy(?) dies after using it)?

* In ''24'' Day 4, a defense contractor deploys an EMP taking out several square blocks of downtown Los Angeles. During Day 8, Samir's terrorists sneak an EMP bomb into [[spoiler: CTU New York]] with an "escaped" hostage to [[spoiler: disable the Manhattan radiation sensors.]]
** The latter is possibly one of the more [[TvTropesDrinkingGame egregious]] usages of an EMP ever, and completely loaded with FridgeLogic. Not only does the EMP take down the entire operations of [[spoiler: CTU]], but it seems to have been of the plot convenient type, since random devices still work, like flashlights and cell phones (sure, maybe they thought the EMP only affects things which are plugged in, but wouldn't the servers have had UPSes, or at least wouldn't someone have a laptop?). In addition, one has to question exactly how bad [[spoiler: CTU]] security would have been to allow any vehicle within range without first checking it (why not just have the hostage park outside), and why [[spoiler: other agencies couldn't just pick up all of the operations that had been dropped by CTU, since when a major terror threat is unfolding, how often is just one agency working on it?]]

*** Solves one issue, raises another: if no one has personal phones anymore (all cells are NSA issued), how is [[spoiler: Dana]] communicating with the terrorists without being noticed?

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has EMP ''grenades'' as Tau equipment used for dealing with tanks. They rarely see that much use, due to the Tau being the inventors of the railgun - a long-ranged tank killer that makes a [[FrickinLaserBeams lascannon]] look wimpy.

* ''CityOfHeroes'' has a couple of EMP powers, one of which is delivered via TrickArrow. It's just described as "a massive pulse of electro-magnetic energy", without going into detail how it is formed. They are "powerful enough to affect synaptic brain patterns" (ie temporarily disable all enemy actions, electronic or otherwise), while dealing "high damage to machines and robots". It's a very ''good'' power, it just doesn't make much sense outside of Superhero Logic.
* [[spoiler:Solidus attempted to EMP New York City]] in ''MetalGearSolid 2''.
* Quite a few video games have EMP grenades as weapons. Examples;

** ''Enemy Territory: Quake Wars'' (Considering that your enemy are basically Borg, this works quite well.)

** {{Project Snowblind}} [[SpiritualSuccessor naturally]] includes them and forms the main plot line.

** In Generals, China has an EMP bomb dropped by an airplane. Pretty effective if used with other special abilities to destroy an enemy force or as a starter for an attack on the enemy base. And it looked [[RuleOfCool Cool]].
* In ''Modern Warfare 2'', [[spoiler:A nuclear missile is detonated in the upper atmosphere over America, blacking out the eastern states and causing the player to dodge helicopter rain.]]
* The Space Pirates of {{Metroid}} occasionally use EMP grenades. Steam Lords of Elysia can also generate one as an attack. Presumably, Samus's suit is well protected as neither of these actually does anything to her suit.

* ''SplinterCell'': Conviction has a plot focused on detonating several EMP bombs in Washington D.C.

* The use of one forms the climax of the ''RedVsBlue'' series "Reconstruction." The characters also spend a lot of time arguing over whether it's pronounced "E-M-P" or "emp."
** [[spoiler: It's "emp" by the way]]
*** [[spoiler: No it's not, it hasn't entered the general lexicon (in America or elsewhere) long enough to make the transition from acronym to word like NASA. Nobody's going to know what you're on about if you talk about an "emp" pulse, least of all the engineers (military or otherwise) who deal with such phenomena]]
**** [[spoiler: I gathered having the computer pronounce it "emp" was just a joke... to piss off Washington.]]

* MaxSteel has an episode where Roberto builds a handheld, explosion-less EMP projector in a very short timeframe as a method of dealing with super robots gone rogue. This causes a friendly-fire issue, as Max will die if he loses his [[{{Nanomachines}} nanoprobes,]] which are just as vulnerable to EMP, and the robots immediately start a fight instead of helpfully lining up. One of them even goes for the EMP device when Berto hesitates on account of this, presumably intending to aim it at Max. Max solves the problem by taking it and using it himself, thus putting his body behind the direction of the blast. He still takes enough of the EMP to destroy a large portion of his nanoprobes, and loses consciousness while the survivors cannibalize the dead probes to replicate new ones.

* In the [[BobandGeorge Bob and George]] comics, during the [[MegaMan Mega Man 3]] storyline, Mega Man was able to convert the Magnet Missiles into an EMP. It's very effective, but [[spoiler:he burns them out after two uses.]]

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* {{X-Men}} villain (and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor occasional ally]]) Magneto does this from time to time. Considering how [[GreenLanternRing flexible]] his magnetic powers are usually depicted as being, it's not completely out of the question. Storm has done it with ''lightning bolts'' which ... no.

* EMPs (especially handheld EMPs) play a key part of Orson Scott Card's Empire series.
* In '''All Frequency Jamming/Full Band Interception''' by Chinese Sci-Fi writer Cixin Liu, the future Russian(or Chinese, as it's changed in the Taiwanese version) army saved themselves from the counquer of NATO by using EMPs in the most [[Badass]] way --first by deploying stationary EMP emmiters, then by [[spoilers: ramming a giant space station into the sun]]!