History Main / FingerPokeOfDoom

* In the various ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' games, most incarnations of Jack have had a move called Dark Cutter, which when performed causes him to take three steps forward before tapping the opponent on the forehead with his index finger. It's unblockable and among his harder hitting attacks (though it's so slow and obvious it's CoolButInefficient).

* Wrestling/ShawnMichaels lost the European title to Wrestling/TripleH in December 1997. After several minutes of theatrical stalling, Hunter gently pushes Shawn over, Shawn falls to the canvas like he'd been hit with a ton of bricks, Hunter runs the ropes back and forth across the ring for an [[OverlyLongGag absurdly long time]], then drops the weakest splash in wrestling history on an immobile Shawn and covers him to win the title. This match gets a pass for a few reasons: they had something that at the very least "resembled" a match, it was for a tertiary title instead of a world title, it made sense in {{kayfabe}} for them to act this way, and [[StylisticSuck the match got played up like the joke that it was]]. In-universe, Wrestling/SgtSlaughter had put [=HHH=] and [=HBK=] in a match to try and create tension between them and potentially cause a split-up of Wrestling/DGenerationX. However, Helmsley and Michaels figured out what Slaughter was planning, and mocked him by having an intentionally silly match, even cutting [[LargeHam incredibly hammy]] promos when Hunter won. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT_9P5TQ9MI The result]] was ''screamingly'' hilarious, and played as such.

* Neo as The One from ''Film/TheMatrix'' series can stop a hail of bullets simply by raising his hand.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Early on, Midorya learns to weaponize the intense air pressure generated from flicking his fingers when they're charged with One For All's power. An advantage to this is that he only breaks a finger instead of his entire hand by doing this, and he later gets gear designed to help mitigate this risk once he gains enough control over it. It turns out later on that All Might was actually planning to teach Midorya that trick once he got enough control over One For All.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Early on, Midorya learns to weaponize the intense air pressure generated from flicking his fingers when they're charged with One For All's power. An advantage to this is that he only breaks a finger instead of his his entire hand by doing this, and he later gets gear designed to help mitigate this risk once he gains enough control over it. It turns out later on that All Might was actually planning to teach Midorya that trick once he got enough control over One For All.

* ''Literature/{{Overlord|2012}}'': Ainz cows a lizardman village into immediate submission by first summoning a crapload of high-tier monsters as mere messengers, then using another spell to instantly destroy them rather than simply dismissing the spell.

*** Sufficiently experienced Rokushiki practicioners can use ''Tobu Shigan'' ("Flying Finger Gun"), a long-ranged version. There's also ''Tobu Shigan Bachi'' (Fling Finger Gun Sting"), which can be used by flicking instead of jabbing.

** And then there's Freeza forming and unleashing an all-encompassing supernova that destroys Goku's father, Planet Vegeta, all Saiyans minus four (eight, if the ''Dragon Ball'' movies and specials are counted), and a good horde of his own soldiers…all the while sitting and laughing in his hover-chair, using only his index finger.

->'''Lucan:''' (to Mark) Are you sure you're Nolan's son, and not an insect like these creatures?
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021''

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/Invincible''

The trope is named by ProfessionalWrestling fans after the so-called "main event" between [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan]] and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Wrestling/KevinNash on the January 4, 1999 episode of ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro''. Nash did his damnedest to play up how destructive Hulk's poke was and how he was lucky to have survived ([[ThisIndexIsNotAnExample no one was convinced]]).

* In ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearXrd'', Kum Haehyun's [[FinishingMove Instant Kill]] has her paralyze the opponent with her Tuning ability, then flick them in the forehead while they're helpless.

** Kakashi has a ''literal'' [[AssShove Finger Poke of Doom]] with his taijutsu technique, One Thousand Years of Death/Pain.

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
** Kenshiro, the big-eyebrowed hero, is in the habit of [[YourHeadASplode making bad guys' heads explode]], either by RapidFireFisticuffs or other means, including forcible pokes with his fingers to activate the opponent's pressure points. He often heightens the effect by ceremonially cracking his knuckles first. In this case, it's all a matter of ''[[PressurePoint where]]'' you poke them.
** Shin's favorite execution method is effortlessly driving his fingers directly through a man's chest. This is how Kenshiro got his scars, as Shin used his index finger to produce the first three points on Kenshiro's ''Hokuto'' pattern, then drove four of his fingers into Kenshiro's chest to add the rest. Needless to say, this is a ''very'', ''very'' painful experience to suffer through.
** Rei doesn't poke people to death, but he can do nearly the same thing by slashing men in half with his fingertips. He is (somehow) able to create a cutting force at his finger's edges. His style happens to be related to Shin's, which is why they both have bare hands able to cut stuff they normally wouldn't.
** Yuda, whose Nanto style is related Rei's and Shin's, actually topped them: he usually does the slashing people in half with his fingertips thing, but he once slashed in ''perfectly symmetrical halves'' a henchman who had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness completed his job]] by ''poking the air in front of said henchman''. The cut started from the back.
** Raoh's version is the probably the most brutal -- which is saying something, considering how violent the series is. Namely, [[spoiler:he dooms Rei]] by striking a point on his chest with a single finger, causing the character in question to die a slow, agonizing death over the course of three long days. It's worth noting that Raoh is just as powerful with Hokuto Shinken as Kenshiro himself.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Shunsui Kyoraku performs this on Chad during the Soul Society arc, after batting aside his enemies' first attack and dodging the rest whilst drinking. When Chad tries to keep fighting despite the difference in their strength, Shunsui draws his swords to cut him down.
** Aizen blocks an attack by Bankai-state Ichigo with a single finger. It's part of the reason fans refer to him as Captain Superman.
** To a lesser extent, Ulqiuorra seems bored in almost all of his fights and even puts less effort in all his fights than the stronger Espada. [[spoiler:It's explained later, as he's meant to be a kind of avatar of nihilism.]] In his fight with Ichigo, he blocks Ichigo's Getsuga with just one hand. HilarityEnsues (sort of) when [[spoiler:Ichigo goes into Resurección Mode and blocks Ulquiorra's strongest attack with one hand]].
** [[spoiler:Isshin]] flicks [[spoiler:Aizen]] through several buildings by basically giving him the finger in chapter 398.
** Anime-only villain Jin Kariya is capable of completely immobilizing enemies simply by pressing his finger on their foreheads.
** Yammy attacks Orihime in chapter 192 with this trope.
** Sui-Feng's Shikai is almost like a dart that's worn on her finger. Two hits in the exact same location, and the target will instantly die.
** Bazz-B has fire-based powers and he's strong that he can [[spoiler:melt Hitsugaya's ice]] with just a finger. He also inflicts him a fatal wound with two fingers while creating a big explosion. With three fingers, he can melt the ground into lava. With four fingers, he makes a massive FlamingSword. With five fingers, he makes a flaming tornado.
** Kenpachi Zaraki can slice a building in half with a flick of his sword arm.
** One of Byakuya's favored moves in combat is to lightly poke his opponent in the chest...and shoot a lightning bolt through his finger via the "Byakurai" spell.

* Quite a few alchemists from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' fit this one.
** Like Roy Mustang, who can create huge fireballs just by snapping his fingers. His gloves are made of a material that, when rubbed together, acts like a match on abrasive, thus requiring the motion to get a spark he can manipulate.
** Father taking away the ability of people to perform alchemy simply by stamping his foot. Not to mention firing gigantic energy blasts by tapping his finger once he [[spoiler:obtains God]].
** In the 2003 series, a Finger Poke Of Doom was used by the deranged State Alchemist Kimblee to give Scar his eponymous injury.
** And of course, taken quite literally with Lust. Her nickname of "Ultimate Spear" comes from her ability to extend and retract her [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Absurdly Sharp Fingers]] to incredible lengths in less than a second. In the first anime, she can use the ability to fool a crowd into thinking someone was shot.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'':
** At the very end of the series, we know that Yahiko has become a certified badass since he's become capable of blocking a blade with two fingers. Note that this overlaps somewhat with BarehandedBladeBlock, but is much more badass, and is likely to generate an OhCrap response from the one about to get their ass handed to them.
** There's also the fingerpoke version of the Futae no Kawami, which can shatter rocks (and everything else).
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'':
** Younger Toguro gets a lot of these, showing that he had strength beyond any of the characters thus far. The best example was when he took off the whole top half of a corrupt businessman's head by flicking him.
** When [[spoiler:Sensui's "true" personality, Shinobu,]] arrives, the first thing he does is shake Yusuke's hand... which '''snaps''' his arm in two.
** Yusuke gets one himself later, when two fighters charge at him and he blocks their flurry of attacks using one finger each.
* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'':
** Xellos from ''Slayers Next'' destroys a small army of dragons by sticking out his finger and sweeping it in a sort of lazy arc, with his [[EyesAlwaysShut eyes closed]].
** Hellmaster Phibrizzo kills [[spoiler: Gaav, who Lina couldn't stop even with the Ragna Blade]], by ''snapping his fingers''.
** In the original novels, he vaporizes [[spoiler:Gaav]] with just a ''smile''.

* Satan from ''Manga/ShinaDark'' does this to the first Hero group that shows up. He stops the mages by feeding them in mid battle and proceeds to flick the swordsman in the middle of the forehead. Which of course sends said swordsman spiraling through the air.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''. It starts with Nanoha catching Subaru's PowerFist and Teana's LaserBlade [[BarehandedBladeBlock using one bare hand each]]. It ends with Nanoha using a single finger to cast [[spoiler: one of Teana's spells to knock her out]] without the help of [[MagicWand Raising Heart]], and she wasn't using her dominant hand.
* [[EldritchAbomination Asura]] introduces himself this way in ''Manga/SoulEater'', in the absolute creepiest way imaginable.

* The eponymous Ran of ''Anime/CarriedByTheWindTsukikageRan'' delivers the dreaded finger flick to a mook whom's she's dragging around by his head, after effortlessly dispatching about half a dozen of his buddies with her bare hands and without even looking at them -- [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome all the while]] [[ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask casually talking to her sidekick]].
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** In the first anime adaptation, ActionGirl Ku Fei demonstrates her bookcase-destroying forehead flick, or "dekopin", in the Library Island mini-arc, much to the horror of the other girls. [[HugeSchoolgirl Ninja classmate Kaede]] can do it too.
** In the manga, Jack Rakan accidentally blows up a mountain. After that, Negi is understandably freaked out by the prospect of having to fight him. And rightly so. [[spoiler:During the fight, Jack actually uses the mountain-destroying attack on Negi. Ouch.]]
** At the end of the Kyoto Arc, [[spoiler:Evangeline shows up to [[BigDamnHeroes save the heroes]] from a giant demon by blasting it with a superpowerful spell... which she activates by snapping her fingers.]]
** Also when Chachamaru repeatedly flicks Negi to interfere with his spellcasting. Or pulls his face into funny faces or pokes him or... well anyway, she doesn't like outright violence much. Also, the point was to keep Negi from casting, as each attack breaks his concentration. This illustrates just how weak a spellcaster is without a partner.
** [[spoiler:Negi himself did this to Sextum, destroying her barrier... [[ClothingDamage and her clothes]].]]
* In ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', Wei activates his BloodyMurder powers by snapping his fingers.
* In ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', the manga, Onizuka flicks a massive guy ''across the room''. Then he proceeds to Arm-wrestle a hundred people in a row...
* ''Manga/TekkenChinmi'':
** There's a very weird symbiosis with GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Ryukai's Spirit Attack allows him to control a person's body from a distance, just by pointing at them. Another example closer to this trope is when one of Chinmi's mentors teaches him how to focus his qi into his fingertips, enough to flip off a ''[[BearsAreBadNews bear]]''.
** Earlier, Chinmi also ran into a hitman enemy whose specialty is finger-poking one's pressure point to the point of stunning the enemy. Chinmi got his ass kicked because of it, but eventually managed to come up with the counter by learning to make his body MadeOfIron.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** Mewtwo. At the beginning of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', he opens his eyes, shattering the containment unit he was in, after listening to the scientists. He becomes enraged as he is [[CloneAngst just an experiment]], so he clenches his fists and thus destroys the entire laboratory he and the scientists are in. He then finishes the job by turning his head three times. Other examples: Nonchalantly waving his hand to create a deadly storm, blasting a Gyarados and its Trainer to the opposite wall by raising his arm, and releasing Nurse Joy by snapping his fingers.
** There's also the anime episode "A Marathon Rivalry", where Team Rocket is able to take down Ash's Staraptor by using mechanical hands hidden in the balloon's basket to poke it repeatedly and forcefully until Staraptor fainted.
** As early as the third episode, after Team Rocket defeats two of his Pokémon, Ash tries to attack the pair himself. After holding him AtArmsLength, James beats him with a flick of his finger, which sends Ash flying into a tree.
* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': Vamdemon/[[DubNameChange Myotismon]] doesn't even need to poke. He can, among other things, block a head-on charge from a Digimon the same level as him and about five times his size by ''pointing at him''. Similarly, there is an instance where he repels multiple projectile-based attacks (which were launched from several Digimon simultaneously) just by ''blowing'' at them.
* Once he gets a bit of a rein on his anger, ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'''s Shizuo Heiwajima starts responding to mildly annoying people by merely flicking them in the forehead (as opposed to his previous method of sending them flying over a city block). Of course, with Shizuo being [[WorldsStrongestMan Shizuo]], this still feels to the victims like someone smacked them in the face with a baseball bat.
* ''Literature/FateZero'''s Iskander casually flicks Waver on the forehead whenever he wishes to dismiss him, knocking him back several feet.
* [[PsychoForHire Gauron]] of ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' pulls this off in one of his most infamous scenes, telekinetically ripping apart a HumongousMecha by "firing" a FingerGun at it.
* ''Manga/Eyeshield21'':
** Gaou, who raises a bruise on the opposing team's quarterback by managing to reach him with his little finger. The bruise is about two inches in diameter.
** Then Mr. Don appears, and he managed to put Gaou out of commission with one strike. ''While weakened.''
* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Accelerator's ability to control vectors lets him pulverize objects as hard as concrete or metal by lightly touching it. The same can be applied to humans...

* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', Nui Harime is so absurdly powerful that she can casually destroy a [[TheWorfEffect Three-Star Goku Uniform (that previously demolished the main protagonist)]] with her pinky. Goku Uniforms are made of Life Fibers, which are supposed to be nigh-indestructible except against the Scissor Blade and other special swords. Justified, since Nui's position as Grand Couturier means she knows how to [[AttackItsWeakPoint attack the most important thread of Goku Uniforms]] for massive damage.
** In the first fight between Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryuin after the latter donned her Kamui for the first time, most of the action was the type of over-the-top nonsense you would expect from the show, except for that half of it had Satsuki [[CurbStompBattle barely putting in effort]]. At one point she barely taps Ryuko with the ''pommel'' of her sword, and it's enough to send her shooting like a rocket across the absurdly large school grounds and halfway through a building.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** In ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' Pillar Man Wamuu takes out an entire team of Nazis this way. First he uses his powers to [[BodyHorror fuse the Nazis' hands together.]] After they are all stuck together, Wham pokes a finger into the Nazi officer's forehead. In an instant, he absorbs all of the Nazis' flesh at once, leaving a pile of joined husks.
** Jotaro's [[FightingSpirit Stand]] Star Platinum, from ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'', possesses a technique called Star Finger. He concentrates Star Platinum's power into his middle and index fingers, and then extends them with such speed and force that they can shatter steel and break bones. At one point, he uses the attack to flick a button from his shirt through an enemy's skull.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'': As a part of symbolism, D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga defeats the attacking Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon by firing his Twin Break Shot from his index finger -- a powerful king ending a "rebellion" with little effort, using only his finger while sitting on his throne to stop the entire force of his enemy. Ironically, he put ''more'' effort in defeating [[FusionDance Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]] than its weaker form, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, which he defeated by not moving at all.
* Jiro from ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' specialzes in [[TheParalyzer in paralyzing enemy by attacking nerves and pressure points]], and, because of that, he often attacks by aggresively poking the enemy. Fact, that he can blow off lomeones head, just by flicking, also helps.
** After he takes of his seals, he becomes so strong, that he can paralyze his enemies with just his ''breath''. Also, in his full power he proceed to kill one of the blue nitros ([[SuperToughness who usually can withstand blows, that can send them flying to another continent]]) simply by ''grabbing his head and shaking it''.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Early on, Midorya learns to weaponize the intense air pressure generated from flicking his fingers when they're charged with One For All's power. An advantage to this is that he only breaks a finger instead of his his entire hand by doing this, and he later gets gear designed to help mitigate this risk once he gains enough control over it. It turns out later on that All Might was actually planning to teach Midorya that trick once he got enough control over One For All.

* Invoked and Averted in ''Manga/SazanEyes'' during the LotusEaterMachine arc: Shiva, who has just become the next Kaiyanwang, suddenly looms over the hero, Yakumo (who's currently without his signature CompleteImmortality) and rises a hand, apparently to cast the deadly Sanzhiyan arts... but as Yakumo braces himself, Shiva just [[NotWorthKilling mockingly slaps him with his finger and floats away]].
* ''Manga/DrStone'': When fighting [[spoiler:Hyoga]], Senku makes a [[StaticStunGun taser]] out of wires and batteries, tied to his little finger. Just one poke sends 100,000 volts through him.
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': Both [[NinjaMaid Tohru]] and [[BadassAdorable Kanna]] can pull these off. Tohru knocked out a thug towering over her with a single strike from her pinky and Kannna did the same to three kidnappers later. Justified as they are actually [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]].

* ''Manga/Overlord2012'': Ainz cows a lizardman village into immediate submission by first summoning a crapload of high-tier monsters as mere messengers, then using another spell to instantly destroy them rather than simply dismissing the spell.

** According to [[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Dave Meltzer]], the whole thing was a "[[WorkedShoot work]]" between the duo wherein Nash would discredit Hogan backstage (the midcard wrestlers, like the viewerbase, were beginning to have doubts about Hogan's commitment), thereby generating support for Nash once he eventually took over as booker. In return, [[MissingStepsPlan Nash would lay down for Hogan...?]] In any case, Goldberg was safetly [[BadassDecay buried]], Nash never jobbed to Goldberg, Hogan got the title, [[StatusQuoIsGod the status quo was preserved]], and Wrestling/MickFoley caused half a million viewers to change the channel and begin WCW's downfall.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

** In one issue, a near death Dr. Octopus was contemplating all the injuries he'd received over the years, most of which involved getting decked by Spider-Man, but one seen of the flashback montage showed [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Mr. Fixit]] casually flicking Dr Octopus with one finger. Doc Ock's comment during that panel suggested it was one of the worst injuries he'd ever received.

* Used in the ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Uncle Scrooge]]'' comic "Cash Flow" after the Beagle Boys have been zapped by an anti-friction ray and an anti-inertia ray -- one flick from his fingers sends them sliding all the way back to the prison.