History Main / SpinAttack

* How is it that this page lacks the grandfather of this trope, the legendary [[LooneyTunes Tasmanian Devil]]?

[[AC:MMORPGs]]

Often a ChargedAttack, this completely unrealistic maneuver consists of [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spinning around like a maniac]] in an attempt to make cheeky enemies (especially [[PersonalSpaceInvader Personal Space Invaders]]) give you a little breathing room.

* In ''LeagueOfLegends'', two characters (Tryndamere and Garen) have this ability, along with a speed boost and slow immunity so they keep up with any enemy player they're shredding. In fact, Garen's signature low level playstyle involves hiding in a patch of grass and waiting for an idiot to walk in ([[MemeticMutation "DEMACIAAAAAA!" is shorthand for that]], [[BeamMeUpScotty though that's another ability entirely]]).

* ''{{Gauntlet}} Legends''

* ''{{Rune}}''

* ''{{Diablo}}''
* ''{{World Of Warcraft}}'': Warrior characters can invest talent points in the low-level [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Whirlwind Whirlwind]] attack or its 51-poing big brother, [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Bladestorm Bladestorm]]. A fair number of bad guys use similar attacks as well.
** As in ''Wrath of the Lich King'', Paladins can get one from a 51-point talent as well in the form of [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Divine_storm Divine Storm]], probably its Protection tree little brother [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Hammer_of_the_Righteous Hammer of the Righteous]] as well, though this one it is a magical hammer spins around the user, instead of the user spinning around like a maniac.
* ''SuperMarioBros 3'' and ''World'' let Mario use this with the Raccoon and Cape {{Power Up}}s
** ''SuperMarioGalaxy'' has this as Mario's main and often only attack.
** The Mario Tornado and Luigi Cyclone attacks in ''SuperSmashBros''.
** Also used in ''PaperMario: The Thousand Year Door'' with the hammer, occasionally required to clear away swarms of enemies. There's the swarm of Dull Bones in Hooktail Castle, the first encounter with the Smorgs in Riverside Station, the similar swarm of Dry Bones in the Palace of Shadow, and optionally, the Boos in Creepy Steeple. There's one enemy that can only be encountered by doing this to the Boos twice.
* ''Ferazel's Wand''
* ''CrashBandicoot'' can twist his body for a mini-tornado attack. Unlike most spin attacks, it's actually his basic attack.
** On Naughty Dog's other series, {{JakAndDaxter}}, the titular characters use a [[strike:similar]] identical HurricaneKick.
* ''{{Stranglehold}}'''s Spin Attack is the most powerful Tequila Bomb maneuver, and generally consists of Tequila spinning around in slow-mo with his arms and his guns outstretched like an angel of death (if he's currently using GunsAkimbo, that is) and blowing away every bad guy in the general vicinity in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kacy00P7TKE&fmt=18 cool cinematic style]].
* Yagudo in ''FinalFantasyXI'' have one hell of a spinning kick, stunning all the players around them(and anyone several feet away).

* In LeagueOfLegends, two characters (Tryndamere and Garen) have this ability, along with a speed boost and slow immunity so they keep up with any enemy player they're shredding. In fact, Garen's signature low level playstyle involves hiding in a patch of grass and waiting for an idiot to walk in ([[MemeticMutation "DEMACIAAAAAA!" is shorthand for that]], [[BeamMeUpScotty though that's another ability entirely]]).
* [[{{Metroid}} Samus]]' legendary Screw Attack. So famous, [[http://www.screwattack.com a website]] was named after it.

* Although the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series has several moves that fit this trope -- most notably Amy's Spin Hammer and Tails' Tails Attack from ''Sonic Adventure'' -- Sonic's skill entitled "Spin Attack" is not this, oddly enough.
** Sonic's Spin Attack is actually a RollingAttack. In mathmatical terms, a traditional Spin Attack yaws left-to-right across the body, and Sonic's pitches forward into a roll.
** On the other hand, Espio the Chameleon and Blaze the Cat have been known to do straightforward versions (with their own bodies of course).

* Tabletop Game example: In third edition ''DungeonsAndDragons'', there was a feat (with a long list of prerequisites) called Whirlwind Attack. Guess what that does. Notably, the feat is almost as poor a maneuver in the game as it would be real life.
** The exception would be using reach weapons (that allow you to melee attack from farther away than close-quarters) make this a less silly option. Unless you're using a whip, since it has the longest reach of all melee weapons, and there are several excellent whip types in non-core books, right up to the GameBreaker psionic PrestigeClass that allows you to create a weapon out of PureEnergy. And empower it with ''more'' PureEnergy. And use feats to make it hit harder, and ignore armor. Basically a dick move that's taken you an entire campaign to pull off, that falls into a range between BoringButPractical and AwesomeYetPractical.
** The Iron Heart school from ''Tome of Battle'' contains a number of maneuvers like this, culminating in "Adamantine Hurricane" which lets you strike every opponent twice with improved accuracy and move in the same round.
* And then 4th Edition ''DungeonsAndDragons'' plays it straight again with several melee AOE powers that do basically this, such as the Fighter's Cruel Reaper, the Ranger's Wandering Tornado, and the Rogue's Dance of Death.
** "Great Cleave" also returns in 4E, this time as a Barbarian power
* [[DevilMayCry Dante]] with his sword during a cutscene. In-game gun version with his Twosome Time, and sword version with his Prop Shredder.
* RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy - not sure if this alleviates the lack of realism at all, but Raidou does not remain perfectly upright while spinning (he passes even closer to the ground under the force of the CombinationAttack category like this), and it takes a little bit of time for him to be able to attack again/block after that.
* ''CodeGeass'' Spinzaku. That is all.
** That is not all. The Siegfried Knightmare frame uses this as a defensive and offensive maneuver due to its bulk and surface. The attack is so effective that it takes the combined forces of Cornelia and the Black Knights to take them down. (In part Cornelia just happened to jump in and used a downed Gekka to fire off a makeshift Hwatcha with downed Knightmare Frame equipment)
* If you're going to talk about weird ''spin kicks'', Albus in ''{{Castlevania}} Order of Ecclesia''.
* DynastyWarriors (and presumably SamuraiWarriors) hand these out like candy. And a good thing, too, since the enemy's primary tactic is the ZergRush and your character is the only competent fighter on your side.

* In ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'', the pins Lightning Anger and Lightning Rage give Neku this kind of attack. In addition, Mink Noise use spinning as an attack, as well as [[SpinToDeflectStuff to avoid being hit by most attacks]].

* Subverted/deconstructed in ItsWalky. A super-powered mook starts spinning rapidly in the presence of the main cast's only BadassNormal, Jason. He runs away at first, then, reasoning that this is probably "more of an oscillating fan thing than an [[TurbineBlender airplane engine thing]]", sticks his arm into the range of the spinning man... who promptly stops dead, severely dizzy.
* Chrono's cyclone technique from ChronoTrigger. A component in a couple of CombinationAttacks, such as a variation where Robo grabs Crono by the legs and spins him around that way.
* A non-game example would be in TheMatrix, the second one, where he gets a pole and just spins around with it to fight off the horde of Smiths.
** Which can be recreated in the ''Path of Neo'' game if you've unlocked the right moves.
* [[PsychoSerum Night]] [[RedShirt Goblin]] [[EpicFlail Fanatics]] in ''{{Warhammer}}', although their rationale for doing so isn't so much "gotta get some breathing room" as it is "[[PsychoSerum RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]]".
* {{Fraxy}} has ''Manjusri'' by Eboshidori, which uses this attack in the final step of its attack pattern. Anything within the barrier will be sliced to a fine powder.
* Mega Man Geo Omega's elemental cyclone attack from MegaManStarForce [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning description on this page]].
** ''Game/MegaMan 3'' has the Top Spin. You press the shoot button in mid-air, and Mega Man spins and damages any enemy he touches. However, more often than not you either get hit in the process, or use randomly use up way more weapon energy than normal, causing most players to dismiss it as useless.
* How is it that this page lacks the grandfather of this trope, the legendary [[LooneyTunes Tasmanian Devil]]?
* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'''s Mikado Sanzenin, of the [[BashBrothers Golden Pair]] of [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Martial Arts Figure Skating]], can perform the Dance of Death --a technique where he spins in place, giving the illusion of many arms and legs, and anyone stupid enough to come close is trapped by innumerable kicks, punches, chops, elbows, knees... Being a master of his art, he never loses his balance experiences no dizziness afterwards.
** When paired with Azusa Shiratori, the other half of the Golden Pair, the two of them can perform the infamous "Couple Cleaver," whereby she grabs a member of the opposing couple by the feet, expecting him or her to hold on to the partner by the hands. Then Mikado lifts ''everyone'' up into the air (with Azusa standing on his shoulders) and spins incredibly fast, so that the centrifugal force makes it increasingly harder for the opponents to hold on to each other. Whoever lets go first, it doesn't matter --the once-trusting couple has been torn apart.
** The more serious foe Ryu Kumon, who can swing his arms to create [[RazorWind arcs of vaccuum]] with the technique ''Kijin Raishuudan'', uses a variation of this technique --''Kijin Dairanbu''-- to spin in place and toss dozens and dozens of deadly razor blades in every direction.
* A spin attack can be performed in the air in Castle Crashers. However, it's the weakest attack in the game, doing only 1 damage regardless of the player's stats.

* Chewbacca could perform a spin attack in the ''Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'' in the ''Super StarWars'' games, but he had to wait to use it again once he stopped using it or if gauge ran empty. Princess Leia also gained a spin attack when she is in her bikini costume in the Jedi chapter of the series.
* [[GGundam STURM UND DRANG!]]
** Exia pulls one off in Gundam00 episode 2 when two Anfs attempt to attack him after the armed intervention. Cue to a dramatic spin attack that has him bisect both of them at the waist.
*** More often than not though, Setsuna has a habit of spinning around a target rather than spinning. This is to note that it is a lot better to blindside an opponent by zipping up behind them than to get surrounded by them.

* Whirlwind Attack and Grand Disarm in ''{{GURPS}}''. After trying it you're defenseless but "in a cinematic game it's traditional for enemies to gape and gawk after this happens".
* In the first four DotHack games, the Twin Blade skills Tiger Claw (and the elemental versions thereof) involves the user spinning like a top, damaging nearby enemies. The skill Staccato, employs ''even more'' spinning, but tilted and is for single target.

* The Dervish ring in ''[[GaiaOnline zOMG!]]'' does this. Based on the icon and attack animation, it's [[RazorWind the air around the user]] that deals the damage and knockback.
* [[BareFistedMonk Monks]] in FinalFantasyTactics and its successors gain the Spin Attack ability early on.
* [[http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Pyro_scripts#Pyro_Panic_Button This script]] for the Pyro in ''{{Team Fortress 2}}'' allows a makeshift form of this attack.
* A minority of FightingGame characters, have some version of a spin-attack. The most common and reconizable ones are Ryu and Ken's HurricaneKick and Chun-Li's 'Spinning Bird Kick' in the popular StreetFighter series.
* You'll see lots of spinning in KingdomHeartsII. Many combo finishers are spin attacks, and Sora's Master Form turns every attack into one. It's even more flashy in Final Form since he controls both keyblades with his mind: cross-diagonal cuts, horizontal spins, drills, smashing spinning tops together, and several others that are probably [[BeyondTheImpossible too awesome to use in another game]].
* Soldiers in [[TransformersWarForCybertron Transformers: War for Cybertron]] perform this with a mace.
* Gyro, a villainous [[SuperSpeed speedster]] from the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' could spin himself like a super-sonic top. His primary method of attack was to move in on a person while keeping his fists extended.
* A legitimately useful tactic in Left 4 Dead 2 involves revving the chainsaw as you spin around, causing zombies to just run into your whirling meat grinder without a moment's hesitation.

* In the {{Bolo}} series, created by Keith Laumer, the titular super-tanks would do a spin attack by locking treads on one side and keep the other side spinning. Anything that was in the bolo's path were crushed into a nice paste.
* Yosuke in {{Persona 4}} does this as his follow-up attack. Though it is one of the least useful ones.
* An entire subclass of Secret Arts in MuramasaTheDemonBlade. The forward roll variants are generally held to be extremely useful.

<<|VideoGameTropes|>>

* Yosuke in Persona4 does this as his follow-up attack. Though it is one of the least useful ones.

[[TheLegendOfZelda http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/link-magic-spin-attack-artwork-zelda-ocarina-of-time.jpg]]

* Although the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series has several moves that fit this trope -- most notably Amy's Spin Hammer and Tails' Tails Attack from ''Sonic Adventure'' -- Sonic's skill entitled "Spin Attack" is not this, oddly enough [[hottip:*:in mathmatical terms, a traditional Spin Attack yaws left-to-right across the body, and Sonic's pitches forward into a roll]].

* In LeagueOfLegends, two characters (Tryndamere and Garen) have this ability, along with a speed boost and slow immunity so they keep up with any enemy player they're shredding. In fact, Garen's signature low level playstyle involves hiding in a patch of grass and waiting for an idiot to walk in.

* Although the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series has several moves that fit this trope -- most notably Amy's Spin Hammer and Tails' Tails Attack from ''Sonic Adventure'' -- Sonic's skill entitled "Spin Attack" is not this, oddly enough.

HurricaneKick is a SubTrope.

* In the [[Bolo]] series, created by Keith Laumer, the titular super-tanks would do a spin attack by locking treads on one side and keep the other side spinning. Anything that was in the bolo's path were crushed into a nice paste.

* In the Bolo series, created by Keith Laumer, the titular super-tanks would do a spin attack by locking treads on one side and keep the other side spinning. Anything that was in the bolo's path were crushed into a nice paste.

* Vita's [[GratuitousGerman Raketen]] [[DropTheHammer Hammer]] attack from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', which has Vita using her rocket-boosted hammer to charge at a target while spinning wildly for extra damage.

** MegaMan 3 has the Top Spin. You press the shoot button in mid-air, and Mega Man spins and damages any enemy he touches. However, more often than not you either get hit in the process, or use randomly use up way more weapon energy than normal, causing most players to dismiss it as useless.

* Tabletop Game example: In ''DungeonsAndDragons'', there is a feat (with a long list of prerequisites) called Whirlwind Attack. Guess what that does. Notably, the feat is almost as poor a maneuver in the game as it would be real life.

** 4E has several much simpler to get melee AOE powers that do basically this, such as the Fighter's Cruel Reaper, the Ranger's Wandering Tornado, and the Rogue's Dance of Death.

** 4e has several much simpler to get powers that do basically this.

* ''CrashBandicoot'' can twist his body for a mini-tornado attack.