History Main / ShatterpointTap

* ''ComicBook/OrcStain'': One-Eye has the ability to see the weak point in any object and break it open with a tap of his [[DropTheHammer hammer]], even if it is alive.

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* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:Sabo]] is well-trained in such a technique: His way of dealing with his competitors in the Corrida Colosseum is to wander around the battling ring tapping his foot against the floor, finding its weak point, then giving it a good whack to make the ring crumble, forcing a RingOut to everybody. He avoids ringing himself out by grabbing the tournament's prize as it falls along with everything and everyone else.

* Dove from ''Hawk & Dove'' #15 (1990). When the heroes find themselves stranded in Druspa Tau, a place of magic different from their superheroic world, Dove gets this as an upgrade to her [[OrderVersusChaos Order-based]] powers.

** Temugin, son of supervillain The Mandarin, has this as part of a larger suite of [[KiManipulation martial arts-derived superpowers]].

* ''ComicBook/CastleWaiting'' has Tolly, a [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Hammerling]] "doorman", which means that he has the ability to sense the stresses and flaws in solid stone and make holes through walls with barely a tap - the resulting doors even have decorative flourishes.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'', which served as a prototype of sorts for ''Tsukihime'' below (in the Visual Novel section), Ryougi Shiki has a version of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception that includes the RequiredSecondaryPowers that prevents her from suffering from side effects as severe as Tohno Shiki's when she uses them to destroy conceptual objects. It gets to the point where she [[NoSell can cut through the supernatural powers]] of some of her opponents.

* The Series/MythBusters examined breaking safety glass by poking it. It didn't work.
* In ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', after hearing his father's advice on how to open a pickle jar, Josh taps a jar of pickles and the whole jar breaks.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' this took the form of the skill/talent/power Find Weakness. It halved the protection an object (or person) had, making it easier to damage them. Eventually removed in the course of an edition change for being a potential GameBreaker, although that was more a problem with the concrete ''implementation'' (costing too few points for what it did for superheroic campaigns in particular and requiring its own special defense power to stop). The trope itself can still be implemented in the TabletopGame/HeroSystem, it's just that this specific broken mechanic is gone.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' this is the Martial Arts skill Breaking Blow. Like the above, it could be a GameBreaker, but it can also be adjusted to simulate realistic "board breaking" feats.
* In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', this is the first power of entropy (magic dedicated to fate and decay of things). A wizard can use it to see weak spots in everything, from people and objects (which allows him to hit them for massive damage) to finding an entry to a guarded building by spotting the flaw in security procedures.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mousehunt}}'': The Master of the Cheese Claw's picture has her do this to a wooden pillar.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OFuZdMDJmhA#t=141s Wet Hare]]'' starring WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and featuring Blacque Jacque Shellac:
-->'''Bugs:''' Yeah, but what if one of those little rocks at the bottom came loose? That could be di-sas-ter-ous!\\
'''BJS:''' You mean, like thees one?\\
'''Bugs:''' That's ''the'' one!\\
'''BJS:''' Thees is seely! What could happen by taking ''one'' leetle...

* Like his comic book counterpart, the Karate Kid of ''WesternAnimation/JLAAdventuresTrappedInTime'' has this ability. His misuse of it accidentally starts the plot of the film going, and later he uses this skill to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Lr_-4Rb4k punch a glacier out of existence]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' features two instances: Mace Windu shatters open a window to rescue the unconscious driver of a wrecked Republic walker, which is a ContinuityNod[=/=]CallBack to ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' as listed above; Anakin quickly slices a thick glass window with his lightsaber before blowing it out with the Force.

* There is a ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel about this concept, titled ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' and starring Mace Windu, who is a master of this technique. Other Jedi show up with this power from time to time; for instance, in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' series, Jaina learns the physical form to face off against her brother, who has fallen to the DarkSide (she needs it to break his otherwise lightsaber-proof Mandalorian Iron armor). In ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'', Mara Jade demonstrates a variant that works on walls or structures and can [[YouAreAlreadyDead cause them to collapse after a precise interval]]using [[DeathOfAThousandCuts multiple short separated cuts]]. Other characters, Luke Skywalker for example, master the mental form, which treats situations or conflicts this way, seeking out the vital points where those conflicts can be changed by the proverbial RightManInTheWrongPlace. What makes Mace special is he instinctively knows ''both'', and explicitly thinks of situations in terms of crystalline constructs that can be manipulated or broken.

* There is a ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel about this concept, titled ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' and starring Mace Windu, who is a master of this technique. Other Jedi show up with this power from time to time; for instance, in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' series, Jaina learns the physical form to face off against her brother, who has fallen to the DarkSide (she needs it to break his otherwise lightsaber-proof Mandalorian Iron armor). In ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'', Mara Jade demonstrates a variant that works on walls or structures and can [[YouAreAlreadyDead cause them to collapse after a precise interval]] using [[DeathOfAThousandCuts multiple short separated cuts]]. Other characters master the mental form, which treats situations or conflicts this way, seeking out the vital points where those conflicts can be changed by the proverbial RightManInTheWrongPlace. What makes Mace special is he instinctively knows ''both'', and explicitly thinks of situations in terms of crystalline constructs that can be manipulated or broken.

* In ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'', which served as a prototype of sorts for ''Tsukihime'' below (in the Visual Novel section), Ryougi Shiki has a version of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception that includes the RequiredSecondaryPowers that prevents her from suffering from side effects as severe as Tohno Shiki's when she uses them to destroy conceptual objects. It gets to the point where she [[NoSell can cut through the supernatural powers]] of some of her opponents.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddnEddy'':

* An accidental version occurs on ''Series/{{Life}}''. The opening of the season 2 episode "The Business of Miracles." Dan Auerbach was killed because someone swapped his oxygen tank with pure liquid nitrogen... he was frozen solid. While Crews and Reese are looking at the scene and conversing with the guy who owns the lab. Crews leans forward and gently pokes the corpse with a pen... and the corpse shatters into a thousand tiny frozen pieces! Which Reese follows by asking, "Do you have to touch everything?"

Not to be confused with PressurePoint, which is essentially this for human bodies, or with TheLastStraw, which is the proverbial straw-and-the-camel's-back rendered literal. Compare with GlassShatteringSound, AttackItsWeakPoint.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ChipNDaleRescueRangers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bvembhu.png]]]][[caption-width-right:350:[[ComicallyMissingThePoint How is she that strong!? She's a mouse!]]]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:Sabo]] is well-trained in such a technique: His way of dealing with his competitors in the Corrida Colosseum is to wander around the battling ring tapping his foot against the floor, finding its weak point, then giving it a good whack to make the entire ring crumble, forcing a RingOut to everybody. He avoids ringing himself out by grabbing the tournament's prize as it falls along with everything and everyone else.

* There is an entire ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel about this concept, titled ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' and starring Mace Windu, who is a master of this technique. Other Jedi show up with this power from time to time; for instance, in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' series, Jaina learns the physical form to face off against her brother, who has fallen to the DarkSide (she needs it to break his otherwise lightsaber-proof Mandalorian Iron armor). In ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'', Mara Jade demonstrates a variant that works on walls or structures and can [[YouAreAlreadyDead cause them to collapse after a precise interval]] using [[DeathOfAThousandCuts multiple short separated cuts]]. Other characters master the mental form, which treats situations or conflicts this way, seeking out the vital points where those conflicts can be changed by the proverbial RightManInTheWrongPlace. What makes Mace special is he instinctively knows ''both'', and explicitly thinks of situations in terms of crystalline constructs that can be manipulated or broken.
* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' book "Faith of the Fallen", Richard carves a statue from a block of marble that has a flaw in it, taking care in his design to minimise the flaw. When the local ruler tries to destroy it, all his thugs can do is ineffectually hammer at it and leave a minor dent in the marble. He then orders Richard to destroy the statue; he hits it once in the weak spot with a sledgehammer and the entire statue crumbles at once.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' this took the form of the skill/talent/power Find Weakness. It halved the protection an object (or person) had, making it easier to damage them. Worth noting for being eventually removed in the course of an edition change for being a potential GameBreaker, although that was more a problem with the concrete ''implementation'' (notably, costing too few points for what it did for superheroic campaigns in particular and requiring its own special defense power to stop). The trope itself can still be implemented in the TabletopGame/HeroSystem, it's just that this specific broken mechanic is gone.

* One Daemon Engine in the new ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' Chaos Space Marines Codex is described as "tapping along fortress walls, listening intently", and when it finds what it's looking for, it hits the wall once, causing it to collapse.

Not to be confused with PressurePoint, which is essentially this for human bodies, or with TheLastStraw, which is the proverbial straw-and-the-camel's-back rendered literal. Compare with GlassShatteringSound.

* Karate Kid of DC's ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' learned how to do this as part of his martial arts training. He's so skilled at it that he's been able to shatter objects even guys like Superboy and Mon-el couldn't dent, and has found weak points in everything from superstrong metals to godlike cosmic beings.

* Ryōga Hibiki of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' can shatter rock with one finger-thrust using his Bakusai Tenketsu technique. While going through the training for the technique both he and Ranma ''thought'' that it worked on everything, including human flesh, [[OnlyFleshIsSafe but it turns out to only work on rocks and similarly rigid material]] (it was originally developed by quarry workers [[MundaneUtility in order to speed up mining]]). However, surviving the TrainingFromHell required to learn the technique (involving large boulders swinging your way. If you fail to find the point, it hits you. If you succeed, you get a boulder exploding in your face) does have the benefit of giving Ryōga SuperToughness.

* In ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'', which served as a prototype of sorts for ''Tsukihime'' below, Ryougi Shiki has a version of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception that includes the RequiredSecondaryPowers that prevents her from suffering from side effects as severe as Tohno Shiki's when she uses them to destroy conceptual objects. It gets to the point where she [[NoSell can cut through the supernatural powers]] of some of her opponents.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Flandre Scarlet]] has a power which functions in this way, which she describes as the ability to [[PersonOfMassDestruction destroy anything]]. Rather than striking the "eye" of an object directly, however, she teleports it into her hand and then crushes it.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ChipNDaleRescueRangers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bvembhu.png]]]]

* In ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', Phil has a statue of Achilles which he uses to demonstrate the hero's [[AchillesHeel infamous weakness]]; he flicks the statue on the heel, and it instantly crumbles into rubble. This joke is further referenced in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII, where a similar-looking statue found in the Olympus Colosseum world has a targetable weakpoint in an identical location that Sora can whack a few times with his Keyblade, causing it to fall over and break a wall, revealing a hidden chest.

** Temugin, son of supervillain The Mandarin, has this as part of a larger suite of [[KiAttacks martial arts-derived superpowers]].