History Main / EMP

** ''Conviction'' has a plot focused on detonating several EMP bombs in UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC. Sam actually gets a backpack that has a built-in EMP generator fairly early in the game. It can only be used three times per level (no recharging it like other gadgets) and the effect is purely temporary, lasting ten seconds at most. He also has access to EMP grenades, which are even less effective, but ranged.
** ''Chaos Theory'' before it added an attachment to the pistol called the "Optically Channeled Potentiator", which allowed the player to temporarily disable any electronic device they aimed the pistol at. This was of the "microwave" variety of electronic disruption, and thus was more directed than many examples. As stated, it's temporary, but it's still quieter and less conspicuous than shooting out the light.
* ''Videogame/{{Splitgate}}:'' The game's only grenades are EMP, and do no damage to the players nor impair them directly; instead, they shut down all enemy portals in the vicinity of the explosion.
* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'':
** ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft|I}}'' features an EMP-wielding [[UnitsNotToScale giant]] spaceship. The EMP knocks out shields, making it only useful against one race, but only REALLY useful against Archons, who have 300 shield and only 10 life. The EMP also eliminates the energy of any units that use energy for abilities, so it can be quite helpful against Terran armies as well. It even works on zerg casters, even though their "energy" is their internal supply of symbiotes and biotoxins. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality But at least it's consistent]].

* In FyodorBerezin's ''Incoming Cataclysm'', the [[AlternateUniverse parallel world]]'s USSR uses EMP generated by high-altitude nuclear detonations to scramble the American fleet's radar systems, so that they can get {{Zerg Rush}}ed by hundreds of missile boats and submarines. The ploy succeeds, and the US is forced to withdraw what's left of its navy from Southeast Asia. It's not entirely clear why the EMP doesn't affect the Soviet tech (the missiles appear to be remotely piloted), but it could be the author's jab at the backward state of Soviet tech.

** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' has them as well, but an upgrade to your augmentations can render you completely immune to their effects. They're also good as ''distractions'' against purely human enemies, as they will investigate an EMP explosion as if it were a regular explosion. Important for a PacifistRun.

* In the remake of ''Film/OceansEleven'', Don Cheadle uses an EMP generator to cause a power outage at the casino so Creator/GeorgeClooney and Creator/MattDamon's characters 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 is a ArtisticLicensePhysics[=/=]ArtisticLicenseEngineering double-header. Not to mention the additional effects that would certainly kill people given the loss of power would also affect anything with an engine and anyone on any kind of life support (e.g. pacemakers).

* One piece of new 32nd-century gear in the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' universe are 'Mech- and vehicle-portable tight-stream EMP ''cannons'', available in one-shot and reusable versions, which on a hit can inflict effects from nothing special over short-lived interference to forced shutdown for a turn on a targeted unit (or destroying a suit of [[PowerArmor battle armor]] outright). They have some significant downsides to compensate, though: they generate a fair chunk of heat per shot, don't cause any actual damage against most targets, even the reusable versions can only fire every ''other'' turn, and the turn after one has fired the unit that used it suffers interference just as if it had taken a relevant hit itself. (Oh, and they're utterly useless against conventional, non-battle armor infantry, too.)

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Crysis}} Crysis Warhead]]'' features EMP grenades that are used to disable the enemy's nanosuits, making them easy kills.
** ''Crysis 2'' lacks EMP grenades, but it does have the K-Volt sub-machine gun, which fires electrostatic bolts that knock CELL troops off their feet and ''stunlock'' [[TentacledTerror Ceph]] enemies in place. The Ceph themselves have an EMP emitter seemingly built into their exosuits which instantly drains your suit energy, disabling your powered armor, cloaking, and sprinting functions, and they will make very good use of it when searching an area for you. Grunts and Stalkers have short-ranged [=EMPs=] that have a range of about a meter or two, while [[TripodTerror Pingers]] have a much larger one combined with some form of sonic pulse, leaving you at the mercy of its rapid-fire plasma cannon should you be caught in range.

** Not to mention The Lion's "roar", an "ætheric" pulse. It disables all mechanism around, including Clanks, as well as [[spoiler:Agatha's collar keeping The Other at bay in her mind]].

* ''VideoGame/GhostRecon: Future Soldier'' likewise includes EMP grenades that temporarily short out electronics within their blast radius. If you're hit by one, your active camo won't work and you won't be able to see your HUD.

-->-- ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** The use of one forms the climax of the series "Reconstruction". The characters also spend a lot of time arguing over whether it's pronounced "E-M-P" or "emp", with even the computer warning using the [[RuleOfFunny latter]] pronunciation, making Washington the only one who uses current pronunciation of E.M.P.

-->''[[TheStinger Emp? You have got to be fucking ki]]--''

* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' has the "Bluescreen Protocol" research ("Named for an inexplicable computing phenomenon common before [[AlienInvasion the war"]]) that unlocks EMP weapons. Bluescreen Rounds can be equipped by soldiers so that their guns deal extra damage to robotic units and lower their [[HackYourEnemy hack resistance]], while EMP Grenades and later Bombs deal even more damage and also have a chance to shut down robot units for two turns, but can ''only'' affect robot units. More ambiguously synthetic units like the Codex, Spectre and Gatekeeper take extra damage from EMP attacks, but can't be stunned by them or hacked.

** The Space Pirates occasionally use EMP grenades in the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy''.
** 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 beyond standard shield drain. Some special electricity-based attacks, however, cause [[InterfaceScrew static to appear on the HUD]].
** Getting hit by an EMP in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' instantly puts Samus into corrupted mode with a full phazon tank. This is a double-edged sword for the pirates though; if Samus can't vent the phazon in time (due to a paralyzing attack, for example) it's a NonStandardGameOver for her, but to vent phazon she has to BeamSpam it all out, and those beams are highly destructive to anyone nearby. Such as, for example, the hapless pirate that threw the EMP...

** SpiritualSuccessor ''{{VideoGame/HAWX}}'' uses the microwave-type focused emission instead on one of its missions, with a base located on a hilltop being protected by three EMP emitters in the valley floor. Any aircraft approaching the base gets zapped by the EMP - however, the upwards-focused nature of the system is what allows the player to overcome it, via [[AirstrikeImpossible flying extremely close to the ground and blowing up the emitters from beneath their effective altitude]].
** Speaking of Clancyverse games, ''VideoGame/EndWar'''s "Electronic Warfare" support ability operates like an EMP (and MissionControl even calls it that when you get hit by one).
** ''VideoGame/GhostRecon: Future Soldier'' likewise includes EMP grenades that temporarily short out electronics within their blast radius. If you're hit by one, your active camo won't work and you won't be able to see your HUD.
* In ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo-Tooie]]'', Mumbo can use an EMP spell in Grunty Industries to shut down factory machinery.

* In ''Computer War'' by Creator/MackReynolds, a country being invaded sends saboteurs to set off an explosive-activated EMP device in the invading country's Ministry of Finance, wiping all the computer tapes and plunging the country into economic chaos. The story had been written in 1967, so [[MasterComputer no-one had thought of a distributed computer network]].

* 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 conquer of NATO by using EMP in the most badass way -- first by deploying stationary EMP emitters, then by [[spoiler:ramming a giant space station into the sun]]!
* In ''Literature/ArkRoyal'' the aliens' plasma weapons prove extremely vulnerable to EMP, they explode.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'': In addition to the EMP grenades mentioned above, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 Modern Warfare 2]]'', ''3'', and ''Black Ops II'' also feature regular [=EMPs=] as a killstreak reward, which destroy almost all active killstreaks and disable enemies' electronics, including the ability to call in most further killstreaks,[[note]]The only streaks that aren't stopped are the Tactical Nuke in ''[=MW2=]'' (since it's still falling even when the EMP hits), the Ballistic Vests in ''[=MW3=]'' (since it's just plain body armor), and the K-9 Unit (since they're just dogs) and Orbital VSAT (since it's a satellite well out of the EMP's range) in ''Black Ops II''[[/note]] for about a minute. Dropping the M.O.A.B. in ''[=MW3=]'', as the replacement for the instant-win Nuke streak from ''[=MW2=]'', also grants the same effects as an EMP.

* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'':
** 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 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]] and destroying almost all active killstreaks the opposing team has. It still fails physics forever, of course, because the team that used it is unaffected and the effect only lasts for one minute. Granted, this is [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality in the name of balance]] -- who would use the EMP if it affected their own team as well? Nobody. Who would use the EMP if it lasted until the end of the round? '''[[GameBreaker Everybody.]]'''
** In addition to the return of the EMP killstreak, the semi-hidden M.O.A.B. killstreak in ''Modern Warfare 3'' also gives an EMP-like effect upon detonation, which still only lasts one minute, alongside adding a lot of dust and a red tint over the map that lasts for the remainder of the match.

* in Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese episode 17, Girl take the Mouse's Tesla Coils Transformers (somewhat represents Marx Generator of ATLAS-I), suddenly, Girl kick the Coil Generator that disables all the towns and cities across the USA.

* ''The Milkweed Triptych''

* ''ComicBook/IronMan'' has one built into his armor. It disables his own gear as well, which then takes about six minutes to fix itself. The exact same thing is in the ''ComicBook/WarMachine'' armor.

** Villain (and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor occasional ally]]) ComicBook/{{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.
** ComicBook/{{Storm}} has done it with ''lightning bolts'' which... [[ArtisticLicensePhysics isn't possible]].
** In the Ultimate Universe, there was a very minor villain called Syndicate who had a literal electromagnetic pulse- that is, his heartbeat would send out waves of electronics-disrupting surges. He also had two heads.

* In the ''Series/{{Intelligence|2014}}'' episode "Athens" an EMP attack disrupts Gabriel's chip, giving him LaserGuidedAmnesia. In the epilogue Dr. Cassidy modifies the chip to make it less susceptible.

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', the two {{Badass Normal}}s on the team are stuck fighting a pair of super-powered androids. Halfway through the episode, Artemis refers to the two as "machines" and it dawns on Robin that they can use one of these to beat them, since they'll never be a match for them as-is. They cannibalize a vircator from an X-ray machine in the medical lab and hook it up to their main power generator in order to pull it off.

** The creator of the chips that run the toys' AI originally did so for military purposes, and mentioned that the chips were discontinued because they were so vulnerable to EMP, but that the toy business is not cutthroat enough to warrant worrying about nukes. This causes them to believe that the only way to generate an EMP is via atomic bomb, until Mr. Fimple, in his best "WhatAnIdiot"-voice, explains basic electromagnetism.

* In ''Literature/ConcienciaYVoluntad'', a massive EMP is the main weapon against the invading US armies in the Southern Cone. But this costs the destruction of all the communication, and the sublevation of the provinces, making that several regions in the time of the novel declare independency from Buenos Aires.

** In the ''Neuromancer'' universe, many companies use Artificial Intelligences to run their computing needs, especially security. Notably, there is a regulatory agency (the Turings) that is aware that AIIsACrapShoot: as such, all AI-equipped supercomputers must be built with an EMP destruct device, triggerable by any Turing agent. As one AI-savvy character puts it, "Every AI ever built has an electromagnetic shotgun wired to its forehead." This is important, as the story revolves around two AIs (Wintermute and Neuromancer) that wish to merge into one superentity-an act that would certainly trigger the EMP bombs.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim's staff has a built in EMP emitter with a range of 20 yards. He doesn't use it much as it disables his own electronic gear too, and it takes a second to set up as parts of the staff have to be shifted around.

* In ''ComicBook/DarkAgesMarvel'', Dr. Strange finds and pops open a portal to a world that has a perpetual EMP so he can destroy the machine threatening the Earth. However, the machine pulls a TakingYouWithMe, preventing him from closing the portal and putting the Earth into darkness.