History Main / FullContactMagic

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mega_punch_595.jpg]]]]

* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'': Subaru (the current page picture) developed her FinishingMove "Divine Buster" as a homage to her idol Nanoha's long-range WaveMotionGun of the same name. However, Subaru being a BareFistedMonk of the Modern Belkan school, her style of magic formulas [[CloseRangeCombatant aren't very compatible with Nanoha's precision-based fighting style]]. As a result, after gathering up the initial energy into a ball she ''punches'' it to release it as [[ShortRangeShotgun a shotgun-like blast at close range]]. Sequel series ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'' shows that Nanoha's adoptive daughter Vivio (who follows the Ancient Belkan school) has also developed her own take on the Divine Buster inspired by Subaru's.

A SubTrope of MagicalGesture. Compare with MagicDance (which adds choreography to the full-contact-ness), and YourMimeMakesItReal (which takes the motions to their LogicalExtreme). Contrast with the ''much'' less physical PstandardPsychicPstance. Also contrast PowersDoTheFighting.

* Subaru (pictured) and Vivio in ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' uses their ranged attacks this way.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', mages swing and twirl their [[BladeOnAStick spear-like staves]] to rain down magical death at a distance or to whack baddies who've invaded their personal space, complete with nifty elemental contrails.

* In ''[[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2766952/1/Elemental Elemental]]'' The ElementalPowers of the characters are directed through the weapons of their forefathers, among them [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], [[BladeOnAStick spears]], and at one point [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon bladed brass knuckles]].

The practitioner of Full Contact Magic can literally attack you from across the room; he punches the air, and then you get punched. Each spell cast is punctuated not by a subtle gesture, but by a grand motion. He's a wizard that casts spells by fighting. ''Dodging'' opposing attacks or [[ProtectiveCharm setting up]] [[BarrierWarrior on-the-spot shields]] is also important. If the wizard can [[{{Flight}} fly]], it's a whole new ball game.

* The ''Film/HarryPotter'' films, particularly the big wizard-fight in ''Order of the Phoenix'', tend to have this - moreso than the novels due to most offensive spells gaining [[BlownAcrossTheRoom knockback effects]] for the sake of RuleOfPerception.

* The basic concept from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was used in the LiveActionAdaptation ''Film/TheLastAirbender'': less talented benders need more motion to build up energy while skilled benders like Aang or Zuko require less movement for the same results. Katara grows more skilled and confident in waterbending over the course of the movie, barely able to levitate a ball of water to summoning small waterfalls with similar amounts of effort. Unfortunately a number of factors meant the concept mostly did not translate well. Without the the carefully designed and choreographed martial art styling, most of the bending moves just come across as {{Flynning}}, which is made worse by the generally bad fight choreography with characters just standing around waiting their turn to act. The effort required for bending also went up massively, while the results were considerably less impressive. Things that would be generally unremarkable in the animated show for average benders instead take considerable amounts of time to build up, which both looks silly and slows down fight scenes a great deal.

* The world of ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' comes with two distinct flavors of magic - Adept and Elemental. The more combat-oriented characters (Elementals in particular) tend to fight with this sort of style and often incorporate martial arts of one flavor or another into their repertoire to boot.
* Spoofed in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', where the incompetent wizard Rincewind's fighting strategy involves pulling shapes - i.e., making the exaggerated pose of magic-user-about-to-cast-spell with both hands raised and fingers pointing. And then, just before the other guy realizes there isn't going to be any actual magic, following through with a mundane punch, kick or headbutt.

** Floral Butterfly Piercing Technique (HwaJeop Gongpasul) - requires full contact and causes some serious damage (but not without its risks).
* In ''Webcomic/TheFarSideOfUtopia'' this seems like a fairly common option for mages - while Naomi is the only one we've seen use it, the person she's fighting references knowing how to deal with her type (though it doesn't [[http://pastutopia.com/?comic=comic-for-monday-february-16th work well]] for him).

* Starkiller of ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' fame sort of does a physical "push" with his hands when using force push, especially if he charges it first, and that's before he combines his saber moves with his force powers...
** Especially evident when he Force-punches a walker a dozen times in rapid succession.

* Many Franchise/{{Pokemon}} close-ranged attacks are animated as being points of light gathering on the attacking limb which explode on contact, giving the impression of wizard-monsters beating the hell out of each other with contact spells, a kind of HitFlash.

*** In ''[[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Pokémon X and Y]]'', certain special category moves actually have the Pokémon performing the physical move animation rather than the special move animation. Among them are Grass Knot, Volt Switch, the aforementioned Vacuum Wave, and Hex as well!

* In the games proper, ''Franchise/TouhouProject'''s magic duels consist of a lazily-drifting defender hurling out [[MoreDakka ten trillion bullets]] floating out [[PainfullySlowProjectile at fifteen miles per hour]] while the attacker slowly but precisely [[OneHitPointWonder and VERY CAREFULLY]] dodges their elaborate patterns until time runs out. Since out of context this looks really hilarious, in most fan works they're shown as full contact magic to capture their actual intensity.

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Not really magical, but in Helmajistan Gauron shows us what a telekinetic mecha can do, summoning a ball of energy then doing a slashing motion, ripping a RedShirt to shreds with a big flash. Why is that unusual? Because another time, he simply pointed his finger at an opponent like a gun, imitated the recoil ("Let me show you. See? BANG.") and the opponent promptly exploded. In ''The Second Raid'' finale, Sousuke does [[http://lupussol.files.wordpress.com/2006/07/bscap007.jpg this]] against Gates who is using Clouseau as a human shield: he does a punching motion but stops before hitting Clouseau... Needless to say, it turned out to be his SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and his team's MassOhCrap.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', the [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Amakusa Christians']] origins as an IllegalReligion have led them to develop "invisible" [[ReligionIsMagic spellcasting techniques]], hiding their SpellConstruction within precise applications of everyday actions and objects. As a result, many of them have learned to encode {{Magical Gesture}}s into their fighting techniques as well. Combined with the strange mishmash of Christian and Shinto-Buddhist concepts that their spells are based on, this sums up to make them [[ConfusionFu incredibly confusing to fight]].
* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': Kuroka, Koneko's older sister, uses Senjutsu (Sage) magic. While it allows her to use different abilities like poisons, gasses and illusions, when it comes to deal some damage she's willing to put her body into it. Koneko herself eventually embraces this trope as well once she accepts her Nekomata heritage, combining Kuroka's magic training with her original hand-to-hand combat skills.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': While it is ''possible'' to use the Force without moving, such as when a user is tied up, most Jedi, Sith, and assorted Force users use hand motions to focus their powers. (And for [[RuleOfCool dramatic effect]], of course.)
* In the film adaptation of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'', Gandalf and Saruman's staff-fight in Saruman's chambers was easier than taking ten minutes to explain why Gandalf was powerless to ignore an order from a now-obviously illegitimate authority.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** Negi has a fighting style called "mahou-ken" ([[MagicKnight magic fist]]) that involves releasing delayed spells with [[KungFuKid kung fu]] attacks. Several other characters qualify too.
** Takamichi. Most of the others hit you from a distance or [[KungFuWizard flat-out punch you]] while Takamichi uses the pressure from his fists and [[YinYangBomb kanka]] blasts to make [[SwordBeam fist beams]].
* Subaru (pictured) and Vivio in ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' uses their ranged attacks this way.

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Not really magical, but in Helmajistan Gauron shows us what a telekinetic mecha can do, summoning a ball of energy then doing a slashing motion, ripping a RedShirt to shreds with a big flash. Why is that unusual? Because another time, he simply pointed his finger at an opponent like a gun, imitated the recoil ("Let me show you. See? BANG.") and the opponent promptly exploded. In ''The Second Raid'' finale, Sousuke does [[http://lupussol.files.wordpress.com/2006/07/bscap007.jpg this]] against Gates who is using Clouseau as a human shield: he does a punching motion but stops before hitting Clouseau... Needless to say, it turned out to be his SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and his team's MassOhCrap

* Unlike the majority of mages in ''Manga/BlackClover'', who simply cast spells from their grimoires, Mereoleona Vermillion uses her spells by enveloping her fists in fire or punching out destructive bursts of flames.

* This is how [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Mewtwo]] is portrayed as fighting in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. He uses grand gestures, poses and fighting moves to perform his various psychokinetic attacks to the point that the only actual physical moves he has are a handful of tail-whip attacks.
* In the games proper, ''Franchise/TouhouProject'''s magic duels consist of a lazily-drifting defender hurling out [[MoreDakka ten trillion bullets]] floating out [[PainfullySlowProjectile at fifteen miles per hour]] while the attacker slowly but precisely [[OneHitPointWonder and VERY CAREFULLY]] dodges their elaborate patterns until time runs out. Since out of context this looks really hilarious, in most fan works they're shown as full contact magic to capture their actual intensity.
** FightingGame {{Spinoff}}s ''VideoGame/TouhouSuimusouImmaterialAndMissingPower'', ''VideoGame/TouhouHisoutenScarletWeatherRhapsody'', ''VideoGame/TouhouHisoutensokuChoudokyuuGinyoruNoNazoOOe'' and ''VideoGame/TouhouShinkirouHopelessMasquerade'' upgrade the fights into outright magically-enhanced slugfests.
** There are exceptions to "lazily-drifting," by the way. For instance, there's Marisa Kirisame's Last Word, "Blazing Star": She wraps herself with magic to become a KamehameHadoken-sized ''comet''. She then proceeds to try to ''ram you'' at high speed.

* The attacks of the Blood Mages in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''. Is spinning around really necessary to throw a fist-sized ball of green flame? Though if we are at it, every magic user does this (even Archimonde who supposedly has near-godlike powers does smashing gestures with his hands to throw a human-sized ball of green flame).

* The Kinetic Attack powerset in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' invokes this trope with its attack animations.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** Throughout the series, biotics use exaggerated actions and associated muscle memory to stimulate their abilities. In the second game, Jack is introduced using biotic-powered ''punches'' to clobber people up close and personal. Sadly, this was restricted to cut-scenes until...
** In the third game, Adept and Vanguard Shepards also gain access to biotic melee attacks. Vanguard Shepard (and Vanguards and [=N7=] Furies in ''Mass Effect 3'''s multiplayer mode) are particularly good examples, often deliberately biotic-charging into melee range and blasting enemies through the air with massive point-blank detonations ''before'' punching them to death.
* Aoko Aozaki in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' fights in this style. Her LimitBreak shoots a beam ''with her leg''.
* Red spirits in ''VisualNovel/AseliaTheEternalTheSpiritOfEternitySword'' work like this whenever they're using effective melee abilities. Which basically means if you're using Himika because Orpha and Nanaru are pure casters. Orpha does gain magical melee abilities later, though.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', mages swing and twirl their [[BladeOnAStick spear-like staves]] to rain down magical death at a distance or to whack baddies who've invaded their personal space, complete with nifty elemental contrails.
* Starkiller of ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' fame sort of does a physical "push" with his hands when using force push, especially if he charges it first, and that's before he combines his saber moves with his force powers...
** Especially evident when he Force-punches a walker a dozen times in rapid succession.
* Sora's [[SuperMode Master Form]] seems to favor this in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', mixing physical strikes with his spell attacks. The most direct examples are the forward charge he performs when using [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and his circular dash around [[ShockAndAwe Thunder's]] area of effect. He'll also close in on his target and slash a few times before launching [[AnIcePerson Blizzard]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', piss off [[spoiler:Sans, by deciding to go on the Genocide route,]] and your soul will get smashed against the floor, [[GravityScrew walls, and ceiling]] with a mere wave of the hand. During the last attack he does [[spoiler:it can [[FallDamage actually damage you]], though in an HPTo1 sort of way]].

* Raffina of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' manages to attend a WizardingSchool despite technically being a {{Muggle}}, aided by an enchanted pouch that turns her martial arts techniques into spells.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', piss off [[spoiler:Sans, by deciding to KillEmAll,]] and your soul will get smashed against the floor, [[GravityScrew walls, and ceiling]] with a mere wave of the hand. During the last attack he does [[spoiler:it can [[FallDamage actually damage you]], though in an HPTo1 sort of way]].

** The Illumnian race from ''Races of Destiny'' can use [[TheSixStats Strength or Dexterity]] to determine their number of spells per day and/or ability to penetrate [[AntiMagic Spell Resistance]], rather than Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as normal. Exactly how this ''works'' isn't explained, but FullContactMagic is a common interpretation. This gets particularly interesting when combined with the "Muscle Wizard" theoretical build, wherein a [[PrestigeClass Cancer Mage]] (who possesses immunity to the negative effects of disease) can gain arbitrarily high Strength by infecting himself with Festering Anger (a disease which causes the victim's muscles to grow until they explode).

** The Hexblades are specifically referred to as "melee warlocks", channeling attacks through a sword or dagger rather than launching from a wand. Re-introduced in 4e as an "essentials" class, they combine SquishyWizard with FullContactMagic, and their battle strategy tends to be "Rush in, magic-stab the crap out of something, teleport out before it can hit you back".

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', piss off [[spoiler:Sans, by deciding to KillEmAll,]] and your soul will get smashed against the floor, [[GravityScrew walls, and ceiling]] with a mere wave of the hand. During the last attack he does [[spoiler:it can [[FallDamage actually damage you]], though in an HPToOne sort of way]].

* The world of ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' comes with two distinct flavours of magic - Adept and Elemental. The more combat-oriented characters (Elementals in particular) tend to fight with this sort of style and often incorporate martial arts of one flavour or another into their repertoire to boot.
* Spoofed in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', where the incompetent wizzard Rincewind's fighting strategy involves pulling shapes - ie, making the exaggerated pose of magic-user-about-to-cast-spell with both hands raised and fingers pointing. And then, just before the other guy realises there isn't going to be any actual magic, following through with a mundane punch, kick or headbutt.

* The basic concept from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was used in the LiveActionAdaptation ''Film/TheLastAirbender'': less talented benders need more motion to build up energy while skilled benders like Aang or Zuko require less movement for the same feats. Katara grows more skilled and confident in waterbending over the course of the movie, barely able to levitate a ball of water to summoning small waterfalls with similar amounts of effort. Unfortunately a number of factors meant the concept did not translate well to live action. Without the the carefully designed and choreographed martial art styling, most of the bending moves just come across as {{Flynning}}. The generally bad fight choreography was also a big issue, as characters were often just standing around waiting their turn to act. The effort required for bending also went up massively, while the results were considerably less impressive. What would be generally unremarkable feats in the animated show, even for an average bender, instead take considerable amounts of flailing, which slows down all the fight scenes a great deal.

* The same basic concept was used in the LiveActionAdaptation ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. Less talented benders have to build up energy with a lot of [[{{Flynning}} excessive movement]], while those who are more skilled like Aang for airbending and Zuko for firebending are capable of impressive feats with minimal movement. Katara grows more skilled and confident in waterbending over the course of the movie, barely able to levitate a ball of water to summoning small waterfalls. Unfortunately, while the idea has some precedent in the series it made a lot of the action scenes (especially with the less talented benders) slower and goofier looking. The loss of all the carefully designed and choreographed martial art stylings of Series bending into random flailing didn't help.
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* Ritsuka in ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'' takes out a Dragon Tooth Warrior with a Gandr-charged fist in an emulation of a [[VideoGame/StreetFighter Shoryuken]]. He also uses Instant Enhancement in short bursts to give himself enough strength to pulverize bone and suplex a giant skeletal crocodile.

* Red spirits in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia'' work like this whenever they're using effective melee abilities. Which basically means if you're using Himika because Orpha and Nanaru are pure casters. Orpha does gain magical melee abilities later, though.