History Main / KillSat

* The first anime Kill Sat was in ''CatsEye'', but they got the idea from ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''.

* ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]'' of all games has this, while fighting [[spoiler: the Japanese boss]], and you have to dodge it constantly.
** Sadly for this boss, he's not FriendlyFireProof.
--> '''[[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]]:''' There is one particularly sharp-witted boss who attacks you with a satellite missile system ''while standing on the same narrow rooftop''. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Didn't even need to shoot the bastard.]] [[{{Self-Disposing Villain}} It was practically assisted suicide]].

* The penultimate issue of the ''GlobalFrequency'' comic is based around a preset plan by the US government to cause a population reduction by blasting a few major cities with Kill Sats. These are kinetic harpoons, a single shot weapon mostly by virtue of being a fancy orbiting crossbow that fires an artificial diamond at enough speed that the kinetic energy goes off like a nuke when it strikes the ground.
** A kinetic harpoon also appears in ''[[ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}} Blackhawks]]'', though this one is armed with bunches of tungsten rods. Wildman is in love with the concept -- "Why spend all the money and resources building a laser or a missile when an inert object traveling at Mach Ten does the same amount of damage?"

* Gilgamesh Wulfenbach of ''GirlGenius'' made it look like he was directing a KillSat with a handheld scepter. [[spoiler: Subverted when the power source is six large crystals positioned around the city, which fried right before the enemy surrendered.]]

--> Wedge: "We're going to face them with an enemy they've never had the displeasure of fighting. We're going to hit them with the Empire."
-->Tycho: "They're not going to like the Empire."

* ''ElHazard'' arguably has two: Ifurita, a [[PersonOfMassDestruction Miniature Death Star With Breasts]], and the Eye of God, a [[WaveMotionGun superweapon]] which steps up the game by being able to ''selectively'' destroy a planet.

* SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration: In 2nd Original Generations, one of the optional weapons is this.

* In ''ExploitationNow'', the Bad Guy is [[DeathFromAbove incinerated by]] ''[[DeathFromAbove his own]]'' [[HoistByHisOwnPetard "defense" satellite]] after the heroine reprogrammed it to target the building he was in. (Actually they were ''both'' on the roof of said building.) [[http://www.exploitationnow.com/2002-08-12/298 1]], [[http://www.exploitationnow.com/2002-08-17/301 3]]

* In ''ExploitationNow'', the Bad Guy is [[DeathFromAbove incinerated by]] ''[[DeathFromAbove his own]]'' [[HoistByHisOwnPetard "defense" satellite]] after the heroine reprogrammed it to target the building he was in. (Actually they were ''both'' on the roof of said building.) [[http://www.exploitationnow.com/archive.php?date=2002-08-12 1]], [[http://www.exploitationnow.com/archive.php?date=2002-08-14 2]], [[http://www.exploitationnow.com/archive.php?date=2002-08-17 3]]

-->--Dade Leviathan, ''Franchise/{{Star Wars Expanded Universe}}''

A variation of the "WaveMotionGun", Kill Sats have the added advantage that you don't need to be anywhere near either the weapon or the target. Instead, you can fire it from the safety of your headquarters: your satellite will move into position and unleash a shiny descending PillarOfLight on your unsuspecting target. Power/accuracy on Kill Sats vary, ranging from "lone vehicle" to "entire building" to (rarely) "town or small city." [[EarthShatteringKaboom Planet busters]] are another category entirely, as firing them remotely from ''anywhere'' on the surface is inadvisable.

* WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic has an image macro titled "Hate Detected. Firing The Orbital Friendship Cannon. (It's not actually a Kill Sat though, just SpeedLines combined with MundaneMadeAwesome). [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x8bZJPovUQ This]] [[WebVideo/MLPFIMFanFic fanvid]], however, plays it straight.

** The novel ''[[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Shatterpoint]]'' features a De-Orbiting Kinetic Anti-emplacement Weapon, or DOKAW, that essentially drops a chunk of metal from orbit at 30,000 kilometers per hour.

* In the BizarroUniverse ''TransformersShatteredGlass'', the United States has a massive Kill Sat called the [[FunWithAcronyms Global Orbiting Defense Satellite]], which gets hijacked by the Autobots and used to hold the world hostage to their demands.

* The DeanKoontz novel ''Dark Rivers of the Heart'' has a rare heroic use of one. One of the protagonists uses a back door to commandeer a Japanese laser satellite, using it to help make a getaway. The satellite is named Franchise/{{Godzilla}}.

* ''EndOfNations'' has the [[AntiHero Shadow Revolution]] use these.
* A miniature variant (Romanov Attack Satellite) appears as a regular enemy in ''HeavyWeapon''. It will fire a death ray downwards, which will [[OneHitKill instantly fry your tank if it hits]], regardless of your shielding. To avoid such a fate, you have to shoot at it to push it away from you. It's also the game's signature enemy.
* In ''DungeonFighterOnline'', the Wrecking Ball class' ultimate attack is a satellite beam.

* In ''PhantomDust'', this is one of the many psychic powers you can obtain. Where exactly the laser comes from is never explained.
* ''[[NintendoWars Advance Wars]] Dual Strike'' features a Kill Sat called the Black Onyx on the level ''Crystal Calamity''. Its primary purpose is to create a barrier around [[TheDragon Kindle's]] main source of power -- a large crystal that turns the land into desert while creating energy. The Black Onyx also features a potent laser beam.
** Spin-off ''BattalionWars'' features a good guy version -- the Doomsday Weapon used by the Solar Empire to put an end to the Iron Legion in the game's backstory.
* [[spoiler: Belcrant]] in VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny [[spoiler: It was used to fire on the earth to absorb pieces of it to create the Aethersphere]]
* In what is one of the (probably) few ''unintentional'' uses of a Kill Sat, the game ''{{Freelancer}}'' makes mention of a [[SingleBiomePlanet winter world]] attempting to use a vast array of orbital mirrors to gradually thaw out the world, or at least the settled parts of it. Evidently, someone didn't carry the one, because the in-game article basically states that it focused the refracted light into a single coherent beam and described the results as being akin to a superlaser bombardment on the colony.
* In ''{{Warzone 2100}}'', the main antagonist ([[AIIsACrapshoot a self-aware computer virus called NEXUS]]) eventually powers up his laser satellites against the player during the final mission as at this point all of his systems are now back online.

* Looking for a DeathFromAbove superweapon? Play as the good guys and beat the baddies with [[RuleOfCool style]] ''and'' [[GoodWeaponEvilWeapon moral]] in ''CommandAndConquer'', with three different flavors!
** The GDI Ion Cannon in ''[[CommandAndConquerTiberium Tiberium]]'' is a by-the-book kind -- used ''and'' abused against the Brotherhood of Nod. It has a humble start killing small targets but [[TookALevelInBadass eventually moves]] to levelling military bases. As of ''Tiberian Twilight'', it even has adjustable power settings, and there are even some [[PoweredArmor foot-soldiers]] that can call down a strike (first seen in ''Renegade''). Compare this to Nod's [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo excessive use]] of [[SlapOnTheWristNuke tactical nukes]].

** The American Particle Cannon orbital reflectors in ''[[CommandAndConquerGenerals Generals]]'' is a less verbatim kind. Technically, they're not even real Kill Sats -- they're actually part of a bigger [[PillarOfLight beam]] [[WaveMotionGun cannon]] system, and their job is [[ReflectingLaser to reflect beams fired from a Particle Cannon on the ground to another spot on the ground]]. And what do the other two sides get? [[SlapOnTheWristNuke Tactical nukes]] and [[PoisonedWeapons anthrax SCUD barrages]], respectively.
** The Allied Athena Cannon in ''[[CommandAndConquerRedAlert Red Alert 3]]'', in the form of a truck-mounted LaserSight and comms boom paired with a Kill Sat up in orbit -- also less verbatim. Oddly, though, each truck purchased gives you control of a different satellite, [[FridgeLogic leading some players to wonder why, if they have all these satellites up there, they can't just use them]] ''[[FridgeLogic all at once]]''. However, given that the Allies are clearly obsessed with data security ("clearance" must be purchased in order to deploy more advanced weapons), [[FridgeBrilliance it does make a kind of sense]] for them not to give you too many at once.

* ''GearsOfWar'' - The Hammer of Dawn, controlled by the good guys, and somewhat more limited than usual for this trope as it requires a grunt on the ground to 'paint' the target using a handheld laser gun from close range; getting into a position it can reach while it's overhead plays a part in the stages where it's used.

* Ragnarok in ''MegaManZero 4'' was built for BigBad Dr. Weil to use as a Kill Sat. [[spoiler:After Craft does a HeelFaceTurn and wrecks the control room, Dr. Weil then uses it for a ColonyDrop. Zero [[HeroicSacrifice destroys the satellite, with himself still in it]]]].
** ''MegaManX 4'', the Final Weapon satellite was such a Kill Sat that Sigma was trying to use to destroy the Earth.

* Search Man.exe can summmon a small one as his most damaging attack in the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series. Unfortunately for him, it's also the easiest of his attacks to avoid, as it'll only fire if [[CrosshairAware its targeting cursor]] touches you, and even if it does, it can still be sidestepped.
* Another Rare hero example is in ''[[MetalSaga Metal Max Returns]]'' the only problem is activating the program that allows you to trigger it using your [[ShoutOut BS Controller]]
* In the GBA version of ''ShiningForce'', the hero gains a spell called "Supernova", which the flavor text implies is a Kill Sat beam. In fact, all magic is [[RetCon described]] as being [[MagiTek provided by satellites]].
* ''SonicTheHedgehog''
** In ''[[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Adventure 2]]'', the bad guys take control of the Space Colony ARK and threaten to use the planet-piercing Eclipse Cannon on the populace, demonstrating its power by using it to destroy half of the moon. Fortunately, the heroes managed to short-circuit the system in time to prevent the planet's destruction (what [[ColonyDrop happened afterwards]] is a different story).
** ''ShadowTheHedgehog'' saw the Eclipse Cannon used once again as part of the Final Story.
** Shadow the Hedgehog'' also featured a "Satellite Laser" weapon as one of several rewards for beating the game; this was a targeting beam for what was presumably an orbital laser satellite. There's a significant delay before firing, during which the target often moves away, which is probably why the laser doesn't see more use by the heroes.
** ''SonicUnleashed'' -- The Kill Sat Eggman used in to break the planet open and [[SealedEvilInACan release Dark Gaia from within]]. The power source for this laser? [[SuperMode Super Sonic]].
* The heroes in ''[[TimeCrisis Time Crisis II]]'' are fighting to foil a plot to launch a nuclear equipped military satellite. A prototype copy of the satellite features as the [[BossFight final boss]], and is equipped with rockets, a laser and a guy in glasses perching on top with a pistol.

* Subverted in ''AnotherCenturysEpisode 2'', a spinoff of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''. The rival's HumongousMecha has access to a network of Kill Sats, but curiously never uses its full force just to wipe out the player's characters. That's because [[spoiler: the rival is actually the main character's partner/love interest, who faked her death to pilot said mecha in order to prevent an alien invasion (here, the Zentraedi from ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'')). She tries to prevent the hero from using the Kill Sats because they run off the pilot's life force; the amount of power required to stop the Zentraedi would cost one pilot his/her life.]] Eventually the main character's mecha unlocks access to the Kill Sats by accident, and he [[spoiler: convinces his partner that they should fight the Zentraedi together, so neither one of them has to die, which of course causes her to switch back to your side.]]

* The Space Marine Force Commander's special ability in ''DawnOfWar'' allows him to call in supporting fire from his Battle Barge in orbit. In DarkCrusade onward, the Tau Ethereal can also call down an Orbital Bombardment.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar: Soulstorm'' has the Tau turn a natural satellite into a Kill Sat. As in, they built a cannon capable of firing across the system's interplanetary distances on a moon. (Flee not, spoilerphobes! This is told to you in the very first campaign cinematic!)
** In ''DawnOfWar 2'', the Orbital Bombardment ability for Space Marine players is essentially three lasers hitting the area of your target. Devastating to anything that gets hit.

* ''DinoCrisis2'' has one of the protagonists activating a satellite to vaporize a gigantic dinosaur.
* ''StreetFighter Alpha 3'' had this as one use of the Psycho Drive, apparently. Also, Karin Kanzuki's ending has her calling in a family favour and using their own Kill Sat to blow up the Shadaloo base.

* The {{BFG}} of ''RatchetDeadlocked'' is the Harbinger, which scatters targets all over the battlefield, which are then quickly followed by beams of light blasting those spots.
** The Deplanetizer from [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 the original game]].

* Top-down {{shmup}} ''[[AeroFighters Sonic Wings]]'' features a barrage of orbital lasers presumably from satellites as the special weapon of one of the playable characters. Video games seem to like to give these to good guys and bad in equal measure.

* In Jack's ending in ''[[{{Tekken}} Tekken 2]]'', he is destroyed by a Kill Sat in front of young Jane. In his ''[[{{Tekken}} Tekken 3]]'' ending, he is carrying adult Jane on his shoulder, when Dr. Abel tries to do the same thing, but he protects her and himself with a BeehiveBarrier.
* In ''SengokuBasara'', Nohime has this as her LimitBreak, summoning the Oda Mon as beacons with pillars of lights coming from the sky.

* ''[[TheKingOfFighters King of Fighters 2000]]'' has the Zero Cannon, a Kill Sat created by the NESTS group, powered by fight energy, but stolen by the renegade Clone Zero, who desires to use it against them. While it fails to destroy NESTS, it does succeed in nuking Southtown. Its later destroyed by Kula Diamond.
* Reversed in ''{{Halo}}'', where human planets are defended by UNSC Orbital Defense Platforms, Orbital "Super [=MACs=]" ([[MagneticWeapons Magnetic Accelerator Cannons]]) that fire [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale 3000-ton slugs at up to 4% the speed of light]] at incoming enemy warships. Smaller MAC weapons are mounted on every UNSC warship, and can be turned to fire planetside in a tick.

* Several of the ''TwistedMetal'' games feature a weapon of this type.

* In ''{{Spore}}'', you get the "Uber Turret", a fast moving low-orbit satellite missile platform. It is an inversion in that instead of attacking ground targets (you deploy on your own colonies; not exactly the thing you'd want to blow), it is used to destroy (in a matter of seconds) squadrons of alien invaders that enter your planet's atmosphere.

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'', Azeroth has 4 Kill Sats in orbit, used by the [[PreCursors Titans]] as orbital defense weapons and named after the Keepers of Ulduar.
** [[spoiler: And the final quest in the new starting area for gnomes suggest the gnomes have some themselves.]]
* In ''RazingStorm'', your allies have one, aimed by firing a laser cannon at the target to transmit its location to the satellite. It's used in Stage 3 to destroy the BigBad and his headquarters, as well as to finish off the GiantSpider [[SpiderTank Tank]] boss.

* ''[[{{Machines}} Machines: Wired For War]]'' has a ion cannon that can wipe out almost anything in its (small) blast radius and set fire to anything just out side it. Taking over an enemy base can gain access to their ion cannon.
* ''[[AceCombat Ace Combat 3]]'' has the OSL (Orbital Satellite Laser) unlockable weapon, which [[GameBreaker only requires a radar lock and the push of a button to annihilate any target in one hit, is available for all aircraft, and has plenty of "ammo" too]].

* ''{{X-Men Legends}}'' gives you super moves for each character. Beast's is "Orbital Bombardment", wherein he magicks a holographic computer from nowhere, presses some buttons and multiple lasers rain down and wipe out all onscreen enemies.
** Mr. Fantastic gets the same ultimate attack in ''MarvelUltimateAlliance''.
* ''ArTonelico2'' features Replekia, which is powered by a CombinedEnergyAttack and amplifies your magic. It's [[GameBreaker rather]] [[NoKillLikeOverkill effective]].

* ''[[EpicBattleFantasy Epic Battle Fantasy 2]]'' gives ''you'' one of these after you reach the first checkpoint. [[OhCrap The final boss has the ability to do this, as well.]]

* In ''TransformersWarForCybertron'', [[spoiler: the alternate form of Trypticon is one]].

* DigimonWorld3 has [[spoiler:Gunslinger]], the location [[spoiler:and last boss, sort of]], of the final boss battle for the main part of the game. It's infested with powerful Digimon and at the end [[spoiler:Snatchmon merges itself with its master and then with the station itself]]. Then it plans to merge with [[spoiler:Earth to make the most powerful Digimon EVER to have existed]].

* ''WarWind'''s human scientist faction can build armed satellites.

* One of the oldest examples of this trope in video games was ''ShinMegamiTenseiII'''s Megiddo Arc - a massive superlaser designed to all but eradicate humanity's last strongholds. The guy who had it constructed? [[GodIsEvil YHVH]]. ''And he's intent on using it - even against cities explicitly confirmed to be aligned with Him''.
* Predating even that is the ''MissileCommand''-inspired ''Ashes to Ashes'' from the early {{Macintosh}} days, which had a satellite-based ion cannon as one of the three weapons in the player's defensive arsenal. It strikes the target area instantly and has unlimited uses, but has a 2 second cool-down delay and a smaller blast radius than ground-based missiles. Still, skilled players can survive for quite a while after exhausting their other weapons.

[[caption-width-right:350:Exhibit A: The GDI Ion Cannon Satellite. Exhibit B: [[NoKillLikeOverkill well, we can't tell what it is anymore.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Exhibit A: The GDI Ion Cannon Satellite.]]

** A kinetic harpoon also appears in ''[[{{Blackhawk}} Blackhawks]]'', though this one is armed with bunches of tungsten rods. Wildman is in love with the concept -- "Why spend all the money and resources building a laser or a missile when an inert object traveling at Mach Ten does the same amount of damage?"

* In RomanticallyApocalyptic, [[spoiler:The Good Directory]] possesses (possessed?) at least one of these.

* ''Silver Tower'' by DaleBrown. The title space station has a [[FrickinLaserBeams high energy laser weapon]] called Skybolt that's used to wipe out a swarm of Soviet cruise missiles and save an American naval fleet from destruction. It reappears in later books, but the Skybolt is eventually removed. ''Executive Intent'' has the Mjolnir/Thor's Hammer kinetic kill vehicles, transparently based on the RealLife "Rods from God".

*** In the ''Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath'' expansion, GDI have an additional orbital attack protocol: Thor's Hammer orbital attack satellites that fire Mjolnir rods at the surface, decimating Kane's little armor divisions with impunity.

* A very literal Kill Sat (and a rare occurrence of a Kill Sat being used by a good guy) is found in Jim Butcher's ''Literature/DeathMasks''. [[spoiler: Harry's mentor Ebenezar [=McCoy=] brings down an old Soviet satellite on the home of villainous vampire Paolo Ortega, killing him and his dozens of vampire subjects... as well as the humans they fed from.]]
** That's really a ColonyDrop, not a Kill Sat.

* In ''TabletopGame/ConspiracyX'', the secret organization "Project Rasputin" has a ''psychic'' Kill Sat. It's a gigantic amplifier for a crew of psychic characters, letting them use their powers on anything from one building to several square kilometers. In that area it can do things like read minds, alter memories, or yes, kill people.
** More directly, NASA also had "GunStars" that would fire hockey-puck sized chunks of metal really fast at ground targets.

* In ''Conspiracy X'', the secret organization "Project Rasputin" has a ''psychic'' Kill Sat. It's a gigantic amplifier for a crew of psychic characters, letting them use their powers on anything from one building to several square kilometers. In that area it can do things like read minds, alter memories, or yes, kill people.

* Its firepower is limited and slow, you can pick off soldiers or armored vehicles one at a time, but you can't use it to turn back a full-scale invasion. Thus, usage is reserved for important high-value targets.

* ''Powersat'' by BenBova: a microwave power satellite is turned into a Kill Sat by a bunch of terrorists.

* The GHQ's satellite laser "Leucocyte" in ''GuiltyCrown''. [[spoiler:All 256 of them.]]

* Subverted in ''AnotherCenturysEpisode 2'', a spinoff of ''SuperRobotWars''. The rival's HumongousMecha has access to a network of Kill Sats, but curiously never uses its full force just to wipe out the player's characters. That's because [[spoiler: the rival is actually the main character's partner/love interest, who faked her death to pilot said mecha in order to prevent an alien invasion (here, the Zentraedi from ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'')). She tries to prevent the hero from using the Kill Sats because they run off the pilot's life force; the amount of power required to stop the Zentraedi would cost one pilot his/her life.]] Eventually the main character's mecha unlocks access to the Kill Sats by accident, and he [[spoiler: convinces his partner that they should fight the Zentraedi together, so neither one of them has to die, which of course causes her to switch back to your side.]]

* Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series: the planet Safehold's prohibition on advanced technology is enforced by orbital platforms that, if they detect power sources, will unleash a [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic bombardment]] capable of devastating a small continent. So far, no solution has been found.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has two. One was the "Bahamut ZERO" summon (though it was less a satellite and more a giant dragon blasting the enemy from orbit), and the other was one of Barret's level three limit breaks called "Satellite Beam", which does exactly what the name suggests.

* The ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' series features lasertowers and orbital defense stations, which operate like ''Halo's'' [=Super MACs=] in that they're defensive in nature, blowing hostile ships out of the sky. In ''X3: Terran Conflict'' the lasertower is a UselessUsefulSpell since out-of-sector combat mechanics[[hottip:*:used when the player is in another sector]] negate its main advantage over its targets (superior range). Even in-sector, it can take dozens to bring down a capital ship. Lasertowers got a major buff in ''Albion Prelude'', making them effective defenses.

* The inversion is more common: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-satellite_weapon Anti-satellite weapon]], or ASAT. These range from nuclear explosions [[RecycledINSPACE (IN SPACE!)]] to contemporary missiles. In this age of information, these have incredible destructive potential to infrastructure (compare the 2006 internet slowdown when some undersea cables were destroyed by an earthquake in Taiwan). It's not entirely ominous though, as there are few ways to safely[[hottip:*:hey, it's either this or risk flaming debris falling on your head]] and economically dispose of unused old satellites.

-->-- '''[[BigBookOfWar The Codex Astartes]]''', ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''