History Main / OffhandBackhand

* Parodied in the ''Do You Know Praying Mantis?'' scene from ''RobinHoodMenInTights''.
* ''Film/RoboCop'' too shoots without looking, but he pre-targets the bad guys in his computerized head. Given the satirical tone of the series, this is almost certainly done tongue-in-cheek.

* ComicBook/TransformersRobotsInDisguise: [[TheDreaded Arcee]], a bot whom many Decepticons are afraid of, goes up against the Constructicons, Bonecrusher backhands her the minute she engages.

* Clumsy in ''Film/TheSmurfs'' does this a few times by accident.

** That one could be explained as Wesley seeing her reflection in the glass (he was steering a boat at the time). A classic badass example is when Wes is interrogating a demon in a bar. The demon starts getting cocky when he sees another demon sneaking up on Wesley...until Wes reaches behind with a shotgun and blows his face off. Which ''should'' grow back on that species.

** That one could be explained as Wesley seeing her reflection in the glass (he was steering a boat at the time). A classic badass example is when Wes is interrogating a demon in a bar. The demon starts getting cocky when he sees another demon sneaking up on Wesley...until Wes shotguns him in the face without turning round.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' featured a variation in the season 4 premiere with a considerably more badass Wesley on the other side of it. Justine picks up a wrench..."I'll take away your bucket". Justine puts down the wrench.

** There was a variation in which Wesley fenced with Giles and kept ineffectually lunging at him while Giles faced the other way and read a newspaper with his other hand the whole time.

*** It also helps that he's been fighting for longer than any of the mooks have been alive, though the fact that he can also hear a ''Nazgul'' coming up behind him clearly marks him as Canon Badass.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/backhand2_7060.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:He does it so often, he didn't even notice.]]
->''Hold it there! [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy You're doing the old "Frozen Take" bit]], which means Doug the Dog... *WHACK*... '''was''' RightBehindMe. Heh-heh-heh!''
--> -- '''Slappy Squirrel''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

* In ''[[Film/TheKarateKid The Karate Kid II]]'', Mr. Miyagi is trying to rescue Daniel from ArrogantKungFuGuy Chozen. He has just finished defeating all of his {{Mooks}}. Then one of them makes the mistake of trying it again from behind...and promptly takes another fall.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', River Song pulls one off as she destroys an entire room filled with the Silence and as Rory asks what kind of doctor she is, she kills one more Silence as she nonchalantly answers his question.
** Possibly one of the most powerful examples of this trope, as due to the nature of the Silence, you forget all about them the moment you take your eyes off them. As such, River pulled an OffhandBackhand on someone she ''[[BeyondTheImpossible could not have even known was there.]]''
*** Unless she heard it moving.

Compare FoeTossingCharge, only even more humiliating for the poor sap on the receiving end. Most users of this move have a BadassBack. There is a certain amount of TruthInTelevision to this: The reverse kick is a fairly viable move.

->''Hold it there! [[GenreSavvy You're doing the old "Frozen Take" bit]], which means Doug the Dog... *WHACK*... '''was''' RightBehindMe. Heh-heh-heh!''

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', the weakest attack of [[RyuAndKen Ialdabaoth and Valefor]] starts out with this... only to continue with [[SpamAttack spamming kick attacks]], finished with a Falcon Punch. Of course, they FlashStep behind the enemy beforehand, so it's less "I know you're behind me" and more "Hey, I'm right behind you".

* In ''{{The Karate Kid II}}'', Mr. Miyagi is trying to rescue Daniel from ArrogantKungFuGuy Chozen. He has just finished defeating all of his {{Mooks}}. Then one of them makes the mistake of trying it again from behind...and promptly takes another fall.

* Mr. Miyagi does this to one of Chozen's henchmen in ''The Karate Kid II''.

* Cheertor from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' does this in the season 3 episode Feral Scream part 2. Waspinator attempts to attack him from behind after he's just acquired his Transmetal 2 form. It did not go as planned.

** When Luffy fights Zoro on Whiskey Peak, they give each other full attention- despite Zoro previously having been about to engage Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. The latter two get pissed that they are being underestimated, and proceed to launch attacks at the "distracted" pair. Neither breaks eye contact nor moves more than a few inches fending them off.

** In Buu's Reincarnation (the penultimate episode of the series), Vegeta does this to his would-be opponent when the latter foolishly attempts to taunt him, knocking him far enough back to hit a billboard, severely injuring him and [[Awesome/DragonBallZ has the other opponents inform the referees that his opponent has decided to forefeit the match without turning around even]] ''[[Awesome/DragonBallZ once]].

** In Buu's Reincarnation, Vegeta does this to his would-be opponent when the latter foolishly attempts to taunt him, knocking him far enough back to hit a billboard, severely injuring him and [[MomentOfAwesome/DragonBall has the other opponents inform the referees that his opponent has decided to forefeit the match without turning around even]] ''[[MomentOfAwesome/DragonBall once]]''.

* Mister E does this to a {{Mook|s}} in BooksOfMagic.

*** It also helps that he's been fighting for longer than any of the mooks have been alive.

** In "[[MusicalEpisode Mayhem of the Music Meister]]", this is done by Black Canary to {{mooks}} while singing about Comicbook/{{Batman}}.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}''. It's practically a {{signature|Move}} of his to leave one mook not a complete heap so he can backhand him when he tries to sneak up.

* In ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' while infiltrating the Pit, Storm Shadow casually kills a guard standing behind a pillar without looking at him or slowing down.

* ''SaturdayNightLive'' once did a skit, featuring John Goodman, of a group of ninjas talking about their work. One lamented to the others, "I tried sneaking up behind him, going real, extra careful and quiet, y'know, but he always gives me one of THESE!" while making the Offhand Backhand motion. One of the other ninjas chimes in, "Yeah, how do they do that?"
* In ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld'', a villain casually kicks Malone away when he tries a ClickHello on him.
* Similarly to the first Literature/{{Discworld}} examples above, in one episode of ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'', Teal'c outmaneuvers a Person of Interest by not following his partner to the back door and instead waiting on the lee side of a Dumpster and sticking his arm out right in the suspect's face as he sprinted past.
** Subverted in a later episode, however. Teal'c hears a Replicator coming up behind him and shoots it dead on with his staff weapon without turning around. The Replicator is totally immune to staff weapons and continues attacking, to Teal'c's shock.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* MichaelJackson shoots a guy like this in the "Smooth Criminal" video.

* Livio the Double Fang from ''{{Trigun}}'' has two cross shaped miniature machine guns that allow him to fire in four directions simultaneously.
** Vash does it to a robot with his gun in episode 9. He even manages to hit it's weak spot dead on.
* Kirika in ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' pulls this off in the third episode after using popcorn to help her find the location of the unlucky {{Mook|s}} on the other end.
* C.T. Smith, from ''ZombiePowder'', while in the middle of a gunfight, using GunsAkimbo. Flips one of his guns over his shoulder and headshoots a mook threatening another main character, then switches back without missing a beat.
* Alucard from ''{{Hellsing}}'' loves to go GunsAkimbo without looking in one direction.

* In the original ''{{El Hazard|TheMagnificentWorld}}'' {{OVA}}, Ifurita demonstrates her newfound independence by laying out Jinnai with a no-look pimp-slap.
* Dutch does this to a panicking Rock in the first chapter of ''BlackLagoon''. Roberta does the same later during a gun battle, when a thug made the mistake of trying to attack her from behind after she agreed to stop shooting.
* At the beginning of ''MidoriNoHibi'', the main character is ambushed from behind by the girlfriend of a gangster he beat up at the story's start... and smacks her down without looking. Or, rather, ''he'' wasn't looking - Midori, attached to his right arm, heard her coming and acted defensively.
* In ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', one would-be Hokuto Shinken wielder is stalking Kenshiro through a town. When he pounces, Kenshiro backhands the faceplate of his helmet in. The punk grabs his ears, announces "You are already dead!", and counts down from ten... [[spoiler:exploding on the zero. When Kenshiro backhands you, he knows where to hit.]]

* Botan, of all people pulls it off in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. Even if Kuwabara warned her, she still didn't even look back before thwacking the mook with a metal bat.

* Used by TheStoic Thors to put down TheBerserker Bjorn in VinlandSaga.
* Episode 6 of ''Anime/ValkyriaChronicles'': a fistfight breaks out between the members of Squads 1 and 7. During the fight, a soldier (that appears be to be [[OptionalPartyMember Jung]]) attempts to sneak up on Isara (who was eating at the time) before she knocks him out with a hereto-unforeseen {{wrench|Whack}}.
* [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Kenshin]] pulls this off against a mook during one of the Kyoto arc episodes with his sheath.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall Z'', when Frieza fights with Nail, he {{Flash Step}}s, intentionally exposing his back to Nail ''just'' so that he can do this.
** It's unknown if Vegeta was intending to do this trope by turning his back on Semi-Perfect Cell when dominating him, but given his taunting him, it's likely that's exactly what what he planned to do, although Cell seemed to wise up and just deal with Ki attacks.
** In Buu's Reincarnation, Vegeta does this to his would-be opponent when the latter foolishly attempts to taunt him, knocking him far enough back to hit a billboard, severely injuring him and [[MomentOfAwesome/DragonBall has the other opponents inform the referees that his opponent has decided to forefeit the match without turning around even]] ''[[MomentOfAwesome/DragonBall once]]''.

* Sebastian of ''Manga/BlackButler'', in the recent manga arc, gave us a pretty epic one while soaking wet to a zombie on a sinking ship...[[http://www.kuroshitsujimanga.com/img/Kuroshitsuji/56/24.jpg no, seriously.]]
* This is how Hime-chan [[CrashIntoHello met]] with Arisaka in ''Manga/HimechanNoRibon''.
* This is actually a ''technique'' of the Kogan style in ''Manga/{{Shigurui}}''. Its effects are [[{{Gorn}} quite devastating]].

* Saito Hajime does it to a belligerent ronin in the ''VideoGame/{{Hakuouki}} Sekkaroku'' OVA. And when the man gets up from it and comes at him a second time, he does it ''again''.

* There are a lot of heroes who have done this, but CaptainAmerica is especially fond of it. In his case, however, he's far more likely to whack you in the face with his shield. IronMan has done his fair share of this as well. Unlike Captain America, Iron Man will hit you with his fist. Either way, though, you're still going to get a face full of metal.
** One of the funniest times with Captain America was, while in conversation with Ms. Marvel outside Avengers' Mansion on a snowy day, Cap flings his shield to the side, which bounces off a wall, passes behind him—incidentally intercepting the snowball thrown at him by a daring kid who climbed to the top of the outer wall—bounces off the opposite wall, then [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang flies back to Cap's hand]]. Ms. Marvel remarks on Cap's unexpected show of humor.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}''. It's practically a {{signature|Move}} of his to leave one mook not a complete heap so he can backhand him when he tries to sneak up.
* Apparently, the rest of the Batfamily has picked this up from him. Cassandra Cain (Batgirl II) and Steph (Spoiler, later Batgirl III) do this ''in sync'' [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzhhkwmFSG1qbujox.jpg at one point.]]

* {{Darkseid}} takes this to a new level with offhand ''EyeBeams''.
* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} the Gladiator'' has an entire page of Asterix and Obelix walking through the streets of Rome while being constantly assaulted, and disposing of their assailants this way. At the end, Obelix asks Asterix about all the strange people attacking them, and Asterix answers in confusion: "What people?"
* In the "ComicBook/SalvationRun" storyline when the villains are left on a prison planet, The Joker does this to Lex Luthor during their fight for leadership.
* ComicBook/TransformersRobotsInDisguise: [[TheDreaded Arcee]], a bot whom many Decepticons are afraid of, goes up against the Constructicons, Bonecrusher backhands her the minute she engages.

* In ''DespicableMe'', Gru does this to [[spoiler: ''a shark'' after Vector had kidnapped his adopted children]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', Po and the Furious Five are trying to free two of [[BigBad Lord Shen's]] prisoners from prison. After most of the guards are beaten up, the last one sneaks up behind Po, only to get hit with a rather impressive offhand backhand. Tigress compliments him on it.

* GunKata practitioners in ''{{Equilibrium}}'' and works influenced by it do this all the time.
** In that film, Preston even pulled off one backhand with a sword: as two mooks attempt to off him, he stabs one sword forwards and one sword back, instantly killing both attackers. Prior to that, he began the same fight by unsheathing the sword of the mook standing behind him and slashing the one in front of him in the face.
** The sword to the back was a sheath that he pulled off one attacker and ''sharpened into a killing point by blocking an attacker with it such that half the sheath was sliced off.''

* ''Film/RoboCop'' too shoots without looking, but he pre-targets the bad guys in his computerized head. Given the satirical tone of the series, this is almost certainly done tongue-in-cheek.
* In ''MuppetTreasureIsland'' Polly Lobster is thrown into the side of the ship and loses consciousness. Some minutes later he recovers, and Mr. Arrow (Sam the Eagle) slams him back against it with a wing, without taking his eyes off the duel between the two captains.
** Minutes later, Sam does it again, while performing a FacePalm.
* Makes an appearance in [[http://www.ifilm.com/video/2884382 this short]] featuring {{TNA}} wrestler Kurt Angle.
** "Less talk, more action"? Pot, kettle, black.
* In ''Film/{{Rollerball}}'', the protagonist does this, then points out that he could hear the other guy.

* Darth Vader does something similar in ''RevengeOfTheSith'': when he's on Mustafar [[LeaveNoSurvivors slaughtering]] [[AssholeVictim the Separatist council]], a [[MechaMooks battle droid]] shoots at him from behind, and without turning around, he just puts his lightsaber behind him, [[ImplausibleFencingPowers deflecting the blaster bolt back]] and destroying the droid. This occurs right before he turns to [[BreakingTheFourthWall face the camera]], showing off the [[GlowingEyesOfDoom red-rimmed yellow eyes]] of DarkSide corruption.
** This is actually a pretty common Jedi ability, and forms the basis of their defense against blaster bolts. A better example would be how Yoda disposed of Sidious's PraetorianGuard in the same movie, offhandedly smacking them both against a wall with the force without even turning around.
* Trinity does this in ''Film/TheMatrix''. With her FOOT.
** This variation was parodied as a RunningGag in ''AustinPowers: Goldmember'': every time Foxxy Cleopatra tries to attack Goldmember from behind, he manages to kick her in the face, at one point ''[[RuleOfFunny raising both legs at the same time.]]''
** Neo also pulled one off during the chateau fight in ''The Matrix Reloaded'': when one mook attempted to backstab him, he blocked over his shoulder.
* Doctor Octopus takes it to another level in ''Film/{{Spider-Man}} 2''. When Mary Jane grabs a 2x4 and starts advancing on him, he uses two of his mechanical arms to snatch it out of her hands and knock her to the floor, all without taking his eyes off Peter. Of course, it's possible the independently intelligent tentacles did it all on their own.
** Well, the film seems to imply that since the tentacles are basically connected to his mind; they can feed him information about his surroundings from their own built-in sensors (and if you watch closely, one of the tentacles was indeed "looking" at MJ before she struck). A similar thing happens during his first battle with Spider-Man. His back is turned completely to the direction Spidey is coming from, yet one of his tentacles seems to spot him coming. Ock then turns around throwing bags of money at Spidey as an attack.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': Legolas does this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tlkrR_hasU#t=2m13s during the hand-to-hand fight in Edoras.]]Finishes off one, another's approaching from behind... '''bam'''
** Aragorn also stabs people without looking at them, the idea being that he's been trained in the elvish martial arts.
*** It also helps that he's been fighting for longer than any of the mooks have been alive.

* Doesn't Bruce Lee also this in ''TheBigBoss''? (Unrelated to the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' character.) He does it in one of his movies, anyway -- to two Mooks ''at the same time''.
** He does it multiple times, with nunchaku and a short staff, in his big MultiMookMelee fight scene in ''ReturnOfTheDragon''.

* In ''{{Roxanne}}'' (based loosely on ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac''), CD (Steve Martin) pulls this off after his CrowningMomentOfAwesome showing up the bar fly who (poorly) insulted his nose. After the humiliated guy tries to hit him, CD counters and brings his fist up backwards into the guy face. As the guy stands there stunned CD walks nonchalantly back to his table, not looking back and asks his companions "Has he fallen yet?" just as the guy drops to raucous cheering.
* Despite showing no inclination toward being combat proficient throughout the entire first part of the movie, the main character of ''Film/{{Dagon}}'' (based on ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'') somehow manages one of these during a fight when his girlfriend is threatened.
* Parodied in the ''Do You Know Praying Mantis?'' scene from ''RobinHoodMenInTights''.
* [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Wolverine]] elbows Gambit in the face as he's coming up behind him to deliver an angry speech.
* ''Film/{{Airplane}}''. The hero is being constantly hassled at the airport by cultists offering [[strike:free]] flowers in exchange for donations. After his love rejects him and flies off in the ill-fated airplane, another cultist leans over his shoulder offering a flower...without changing expression, Stryker slams his fist backward into the man's face.
* In ''{{Troy}}'', Achilles parries several blows on the upswing thanks to a BadassBack. Then he [[UnflinchingWalk walks away without looking]].
* After being made to concede defeat to General Miura, [[spoiler: Zealot Lin]] from ''IpMan'' attempts an attack InTheBack. General Miura successfully [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty catches him fighting dirty]]. When he still refuses to give in, General Miura proceeds to show him that cheaters don't prosper on his watch.
* ''[[MichaelCrichton Congo]]''. The female ex-CIA protagonist is bribing a corrupt army officer when one of his soldiers starts running his hand through her [[WhereDaWhiteWomenAt long blonde hair]]. She promptly elbows him in the groin without looking, much to the amusement of his CO.
* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' has River pull this on the captain, just to show how CrazyAwesome she is. Likewise bounty hunter Jubal Early on Simon Tam. On both occasions no one is shot; it's just a less-than-subtle way of saying "Back off".
* ''UndercoverBrother''. Sista Girl strikes someone behind her with a fist twice: Undercover Brother (while he's sexually harassing her) and a golf course security guard.
* ''BuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension''. John Bigbooté does it to one of the hunters.
* ''Film/JudgeDredd''. While Dredd and Herman Ferguson are trying to sneak through the Judge headquarters, Dredd does this to another Judge who is trying to arrest him.

* Nice dual example with Sir James and Ransome in ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', during the climactic fight scene, with no break in their conversation.
* In ''Film/TheAvengers'', [[spoiler:Hawkeye doesn't even turn his head or blink as he fires exploding arrows at a Chitauri squadron. After the Hulk and Thor manage to take down a Chitauri leviathan into Grand Central Station, the Hulk immediately backhands Thor ''right out of the shot'' without a single change in expression.]]
** Earlier, Iron Man snarks one time too many for Thor's taste and gets a face full of [[DropTheHammer Mjölnir]] for his trouble.
*** This is right as he's trying to warn Captain America about his [[DropTheHammer poor choice of words]].
* In ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' while infiltrating the Pit, Storm Shadow casually kills a guard standing behind a pillar without looking at him or slowing down.

* In ''Literature/BattleRoyale'', Kiriyama kills [[spoiler:Mizuho Inada]] this way in the novel. The way in which he pulls this off makes him seem almost psychic.
** At that point, Kiriyama already had [[spoiler:Hiroki Sugimura's tracking device]] which made it impossible for anyone to sneak up on him.
* Cara pulls this off in [[SwordOfTruth Soul of the Fire]]

* The title character of ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' does this constantly.
* Worf stabs one of the boarding-party Klingons in "Way of the Warrior", his first episode on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''.
** [[spoiler: Fake]] Martok stabs two Klingon gards at the same time in this way in the episode Apocalypse Rising.
* A skit in the MST3K episode, ''Overdrawn At the Memory Bank'' has Observer attempting to attack Bobo while the latter is sitting down at a table, eating a fast food meal. As Observer rushes forward with a mighty yell, Bobo calmly holds his fist behind him, which Observer promptly smashes his own face into.
* Part of Spike's EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer.'' Step one: swagger into the current villain's lair and make fun of a mook's overly dramatic speech. Step two: reminiscence about ContemplatingYourHands at Woodstock, then knock out the mook without even looking at him. Step three: stop to fawn over [[IllGirl Ill Vampire Girlfriend]].
** There was a variation in which Wesley fenced with Giles and kept ineffectually lunging at him while Giles faced the other way and read a newspaper with his other hand the whole time.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' uses it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZXfMnPp30c at least once.]] (Check around :55 into the video).

* Eliot Spencer of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' does this to Iranian secret police.

* ''SaturdayNightLive'' once did a skit, featuring John Goodman, of a group of ninjas talking about their work. One lamented to the others, "I tried sneaking up behind him, going real, extra careful and quiet, y'know, but he always gives me one of THESE!" while making the Offhand Backhand motion. One of the other ninjas chimes in, "Yeah, how do they do that?"
* In ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld'', a villain casually kicks Malone away when he tries a ClickHello on him.
* Similarly to the first Literature/{{Discworld}} examples above, in one episode of ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'', Teal'c outmaneuvers a Person of Interest by not following his partner to the back door and instead waiting on the lee side of a Dumpster and sticking his arm out right in the suspect's face as he sprinted past.
** Subverted in a later episode, however. Teal'c hears a Replicator coming up behind him and shoots it dead on with his staff weapon without turning around. The Replicator is totally immune to staff weapons and continues attacking, to Teal'c's shock.

* Done repeatedly to Ronmark by The MC Bat Commander (and once by Jimmy The Robot) in the "Night Of The Cactus!" episode of TheAquabatsSuperShow. The Commander's arm was mutated by space goo and he blames most of the slaps on his arm having a mind of its own until:
--> '''Ronmark''': Ow!
--> '''Commander''': Mind of its own.
--> '''Ronmark''': But that was your normal hand!
* KamenRiderKabuto does this with his [[FinishingMove Rider Kick]] in his Rider Form. Any MonsterOfTheWeek that tries to attack him from behind typically gets an energized roundhouse kick to the head for its trouble.

[[folder:Music]]
* MichaelJackson shoots a guy like this in the "Smooth Criminal" video.
[[/folder]]

* ''DynastyWarriors'': Sun Ce does this to a {{mook|s}} in a cutscene in the fifth installment.
** He does this ''again'' to two mooks on either side of him in one of the seventh game's scenes.
* One type of demon in ''GodHand'' has an attack where it teleports in behind you and tries to slam you. Hitting the {{Action Command|s}} at this point results in Gene doing this ([[CrazyAwesome with an over-the-shoulder axe kick]]) and sending the demon flying about a thousand yards back.
* In ''KingdomHearts'', [[spoiler:the Xehanort's Heartless-possessed Riku]] does this to Donald.
* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' trailer for the Soldier, said Soldier manages to backhand a Spy ready to backstab him with a shovel.
** Soldiers and Demomen tend to do this when [[RocketJump explosive jumping.]]

* The intro cinematic for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: The Burning Crusade'' features a variant on this, with a [[TheUndead Forsaken]] mage obliterating a trio of murlocs coming up on him from behind with a Blast Wave spell, and a more regular example with a draenei paladin and his [[DropTheHammer hammer]]. One watching might feel that "THAT HAS TO HURT!"
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', the weakest attack of [[RyuAndKen Ialdabaoth and Valefor]] starts out with this... only to continue with [[SpamAttack spamming kick attacks]], finished with a Falcon Punch. Of course, they FlashStep behind the enemy beforehand, so it's less "I know you're behind me" and more "Hey, I'm right behind you".
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'', [[spoiler: Lloyd]] does this to the main character, Emil, just about every time they meet. Unusually for this trope, both are using swords.
* In ''VideoGame/RainbowSix: Raven Shield'', terrorists can shoot you without turning around. It also doesn't help that they spawn right behind you.
* In ''{{Halo 2}}'', Jackal Snipers (instant death on Legendary) can shoot at you without directly aiming, as well as bounce their shots off of walls.
* In ''TheMovies'', one of the scenes allows a character to do this, in {{defi|edTrope}}ance of the scene's standard "bad guy sneaks up and chokes the character to death."

* In a cutscene in ''BrutalLegend'', Eddie does this to a Tainted Coil cultist sneaking up on him, and even briefly interrupts a conversation he's having with potential LoveInterest Ophelia. "Hold on a sec... *thwack*" She gets one right afterwards. Eddie: "Right shoulder." Ophelia: *stab*

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', one of the possible counterattack animations when an enemy is behind him is a variant of this. Unfortunately, it isn't the specific version he's known for in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''... He saves ''that one'' for a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZHKUVTraWg#t=1m26 cutscene]].
** He does two in that cutscene, once while walking towards Joker and the second standing in front of him.
** He also does it to one of Ivy's plants in another cutscene.
* In the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' spinoff ''DirgeOfCerberus'', Vincent is struggling with his SuperpoweredEvilSide Chaos when a mutated hound-like enemy tries to take advantage of his distraction and ambush him from behind. Vincent sends it flying with a casual backhanded swipe.
* [[BigBad Crow]] does this to [[TheDragon Trejo]] in ''[[DefJamSeries Def Jam: Fight For New York]]'' when he laughed at one of his jokes.
* ''[[{{Gungrave}} Beyond the Grave]]'' does this sort of thing too when using his Burst Attack, and in some cutscenes.
* Kyle Blackthorne from ''VideoGame/{{Blackthorne}}'' could do this as a standard move, even though it was for the most part completely useless.

* In ShadowsOfTheDamned, when an enemy attacks Garcia from behind a button prompt will appear to make Garcia elbow said mook.
* It's technichally possible to do this from the viewpoint of certain characters in SuperSmashBrosBrawl. Finishing off the [[TeleportSpam Teleport spamming]] Tabuu this way is extremely satisfying.

* In ''KidIcarusUprising'', Dark Pit's EstablishingCharacterMoment has him doing this to Pandora, just as she introduces him as her "new minion".
* In one cutscene in VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII pressing the weapon hand button when prompted will have Ezio kill two guards with his hidden blades without so much as a glance.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonsLair II: Time Warp'', Dirk the Daring does this a few times -- a snake tries to attack him from behind, and he gives it a quick bop with his sword in such a way that it looks like it was on accident -- but it's a player command, and [[PressXToNotDie you die if you don't]]. Dirk even does this while ''GRIEVING'' when he thinks Daphne is dead, his head buried in despair... but when an imp moves in to attack -- smack! -- and Dirk doesn't even acknowledge it.

* The usual result of Ralph's attacks on Kevin early in ''KevinAndKell''. An especially effective instance is shown in [[http://www.kevinandkell.com/2001/kk0114.html this strip]].
** [[http://www.kevinandkell.com/2012/kk1227.html He's still got it]].

* A [[EliteMook MANTIS agent]] pulls this on Crossroad in [[http://www.antiheroforhire.com/d/20080425.html this]] ''AntiheroForHire''.
* Subverted in a somewhat early storyline in ''{{Fans}}'': Shanna Cochran is the Mundane being slowly drawn into a world where truly strange things happen and she is less prepared than her somewhat GenreSavvy friends, so at one point when she is about to be attacked by government agents, she attempts an OffhandBackhand, not considering that the agent is bigger, stronger, and more skilled than she is. He proceeds to catch her arm and, with the help of his partner, actually lift and carry her bodily away- while she is still in the OffhandBackhand pose.

* DominicDeegan does it [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2004-01-24 with plants.]]
** Melna does this simultaneously to two dimwitted guards.
** [[CampGay Szark]] [[MasterSwordsman Sturtz]] - [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2008-01-06 "I do a lot of things]] [[DoubleEntendre from behind."]]

* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' [[http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=24&issue=14 Against a Pterosaur.]]
** He also does the gun version. With a ''[[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/8p26 shotgun.]]''
* In ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'', the first clue that the protagonist is [[CuteBruiser not to be trifled with]] is that she pulls off an OffhandBackhand ''[[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=34 in her sleep]]''.
* Svafa, a minor character in ''TheAdventuresOfWiglafAndMordred'', does it in [[http://liliy.net/wam/2008/09/19/thats-like-a-lot-of-blood/ this]] strip
* The first panel of [[http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/302 this]] [[LookingForGroup LFG]] strip has Richard do this. Interestingly, it's a literal offhand backhand at the same time as an offhanded cast, since he seems to have lit his hand on fire.
* [[LackadaisyCats "Viktor?]] Is anyone in th--" '''''[[http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/comic.php?comicid=88 WHOK]]'''''
* Vaelia of ''{{Drowtales}}'' is the local BadassNormal and the main human character among the fae, [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7159 and delivers an offhand]] GroinAttack to a human man who made the mistake of harassing her.
* Ritz of BoxerHockey manages to pull off an offhand [[CurbStompBattle CURBSTOMP]] [[http://boxerhockey.fireball20xl.com/?id=159 here]].
* [[http://axecop.com/index.php/acask/read/ask_axe_cop_11/ You should learn this]] if you want to be on Webcomic/AxeCop's team.
* More like "Offhand YourHeadASplode" , but [[http://www.errantstory.com/2008-04-11/794 don't try to sneak up]] on Webcomic/ErrantStory's Ian.

* Bobby Jacks of ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' pulls off the firearm based version with Andy McCann. Bobby hears the latter cry out behind him and shoots him in the head with a pistol without even turning around. However, this isn't due to ImprobableAimingSkills - Bobby just made a lucky shot.

* The Limp Ninja does this in ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwXjynpy8Ew&feature=fvst Ninja Rap]]''.
* Variant on the theme with an offhand DopeSlap in [[http://www.wordstudio.net/gist/fodder/penguin_animated.gif this animated GIF]].
* ''{{Haloid}}'': Done by Samus to a ''pair'' of elites while dual-wielding energy swords.
* Batman in ''ImAMarvelAndImADC'' does this to the Green Goblin.

* Slappy Squirrel in ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', as quoted above, pulling a huge club out of her purse and....

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** [[spoiler:Aang does this with the BigBad in the finale using the skills he learned from Toph.]] He also does this to a ''boulder'' when he was [[spoiler:storming the Earth King's palace.]]
** Much earlier, Admiral Zhao does this to a North Water Tribe warrior wannabe who tries to attack him during the Siege of the North. Of course, one would have had to be blind and deaf not to see that idiot coming after he announced that he was attacking.
* Brian uses the kicking variation at the end of the "Patriot Games" of ''FamilyGuy''. A neat little subversion, as he sets it up so that Stewie thinks he is going to receive some kind of offhanded karmic retribution for constantly and mercilessly beating Brian until the fifty dollars that he bet on a boxing match was going to happen when he least suspected it: As Brian and Stewie are walking down a sidewalk in London, a double-decker bus passes by, and without a single word uttered and without attracting the attention of Chris, Peter, Meg, or Lois, Brian swiftly juts his left leg out so that Stewie trips and is run over by said double-decker.
* Occurred twice in {{Asterix}}:
** During the last of ''The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'', Obelix and Unhygienix start beating dozens of Romans this way, totally unaware of their presence, and while arguing about who should get the fun on this last task.
** During ''Asterix Versus Caesar'', Obelix asks if he can be nice to the other gladiators, while taking them out with offhanded attacks.

* In an episode of ''StaticShock'', Future!Static does this to a Mook with a quick bolt of lightning from his finger. Present-day Static is naturally quite impressed.

* Daffy did this to Foghorn Leghorn at one point during their fight in ''TheLooneyTunesShow'' episode "The Foghorn Leghorn".
* Tygra does this to one of the bulldog-like Trollog's in the ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' episode "Berbils". And he's shamelessly awesome doing it.
** Kaynar does this to Tygra in "Trials Of Lion-o Part I" after he attempts to sneak up on him while invisible.
* WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} [[http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/archer-grenade.gif does this with a net to catch grenades being thrown at him]] in "Heart of Archness, Part II."

* In the {{MightyMax}} episode "Sirius Trouble" Norman does this to a great white shark.

* In the "Salvation Run" storyline when the villains are left on a prison planet, The Joker does this to Lex Luthor during their fight for leadership.