History Main / SuicideAttack

* While terrorist bombings in Northern Ireland could be devastating, suicide bombing was never a tactic used by the IRA or INLA, probably at least in part because of being at [[RaisedCatholic least nominally Catholic]], and apparently the Vatican is a bit more specific than various sects of Islam about the definition of suicide versus martyrdom. Every so often, however, due to ill-trained operators or unreliable bomb components, a terrorist would be killed alongside the device he was planting. British security forces dryly referred to such incidents as "own goals". It is also suspected that if the IRA command suspected a member of being unreliable or having been "turned" by British Intelligence, he would be cold-bloodedly sent out with a device timed to explode long before he planted it, so as to resolve the unreliability issue. It is also suspected that British Intelligence, hearing about this, deliberately planted suspicion that known IRA terrorists were acting as double agents, so as to provoke the IRA to kill its own members just to be on the safe side.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': A lot of goblin cards destroy themselves in the act of damage the enemy. Most are flavored as the result of goblins being rather stupid and prone to killing themselves on accident, but others, such as such as [[https://scryfall.com/card/ddt/45/goblin-grenade Goblin Grenade]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/ema/138/mogg-fanatic Mogg Fanatic]], are presented as deliberate suicide attacks.

* ''Literature/GideonTheNinth'': One {{Necromancer}} deliberately invokes a SuperPowerMeltdown on himself, turning his {{Mana}} reserves into a tremendous explosion in an attempt to kill the [[SuperToughness nigh-invulnerable]] HumanoidAbomination Cytherea. [[spoiler:It only weakens her.]]

** It has been alleged that Fatah provides large financial incentives for Palestinians to kill Israelis, which they will pay to the attacker's family even if the attacker dies.[[note]]The reality behind this is convoluted and hard to determine, as both sides involved have an interest in slanting and distorting the truth for propaganda purposes. It is incredibly hard to find unbiased and objective reporting on this issue. TheOtherWiki has a - possibly - balanced and bias-free article on this.[[/note]] However, they also provide incentives to survive, get caught, and be put in an Israeli jail for a very long time, zig-zagging the trope.

** It has been alleged that Fatah provides large financial incentives for Palestinians to kill Israelis, which they will pay to the attacker's family even if the attacker dies.[[note]]The reality behind this is convoluted and hard to determine, as both sides involved have an interest in slanting and distorting the truth for propaganda purposes. It is incredibly hard to find unbiased and objective reporting on this issue. TheOtherWiki has a - possibly - balanced and bias-free article on this.[[/note]] However, they also provide incentives to survive, get caught, and be put in an Israeli jail for a very long time, zig-zagging the trope.

* Reaction to Japan sending a military contribution to the coalition forces in Iraq at a time (2004 - 06) when human suicide attacks were happening was predictably along the lines of "Well, ''this'' is going to get interesting." In the event, Japan's contribution was strictly non-combatant: engineer forces were tasked with building a railway line. As they required escorts and guards while doing this, and those guards were provided by British and Australian units, [[Film/BridgeOverTheRiverKwai much snark was had]].

** Fatah provides large financial incentives for Palestinians to kill Israelis, which they will pay to the attacker's family even if the attacker dies. However, they also provide incentives to survive, get caught, and be put in an Israeli jail for a very long time, zig-zagging the trope.
* An OlderThanPrint variant was a striking tactic of the original Assassins/Hashishin. They'd walk up to an emir and stab him in broad daylight, fully expecting the guards to kill them. The purpose of this was twofold: it's easier to assassinate someone if you don't care about living yourself, and it scares the hell out of your enemies, who realize people are willing to die to kill them.

* A lot of goblin cards in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the [[http://magiccards.info/scans/en/at/29.jpg Goblin Grenade]] from Fallen Empires being the exemplar of this trope.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', [[JustForFun/TropeOverdosed naturally]]. A small minority of Tau commander battlesuits are equipped with bombs. The Tau themselves consider this "the greatest expression of the Greater Good one can make". This isn't used ''en masse'' because [[CombatPragmatist battlesuits - and good commanders - take a long time to produce]]. The Tau otherwise do not have suicide attacks in their army, and view suicidal last stands as foolish; they prefer to feign retreat, or really retreat, then come back when the situation is more favorable.
** At least as of 4th Edition, and we're in 7th as of 2016, this is portrayed not as a suicide attack but as a HeroicSacrifice; the model with the bomb, [[TakingYouWithMe when it would be dead anyway due to wounds or a sweeping advance]], triggers a bomb that damages the attackers. In the older edition, it allowed the bomber's comrades to pull away from close combat and have a chance for survival. In the newer edition, battlesuits generally will save against the bomb, and the explosion may tip combat in their favor, allowing the Tau line to hold. In either case, the model with the bomb only sets it off when the model would already be dead and when its unit is almost certain to be overrun and slain.
** Orks have been known to use Gretchin as missile guidance systems - as in, the gretchin sits on the missile and makes sure it goes where it's meant to - when not using them as duck boards, squig bait, bullet shields or footballs. Generally the Gretchin only realises this is what's going on when it's too late to back out.
** Ork Tankbustas who like melee have a tankhammer, which is a hammer with an artillery shell strapped to the top. Naturally, normal Tankbustas and other Orks are greatly amused whether the attack is successful or not.
** Happens often among the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]], who will happily hurl themselves in unending waves of chittering bodies at enemy lines. Being but extensions of a vast HiveMind and thus (with extremely few exceptions) having no sense of self, they don't hesitate to eat up enemy ammunition with their own bodies. Some breeds aren't even born with ''digestive tracts'', because it's a certainty that they won't survive long enough to process anything and the HiveMind doesn't bother wasting the organs.

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is to take an assault 'Mech and fit it with enough high-damage (and thus, high-heat) energy weapons to overkill most 'Mechs, and then use the Alpha Strike button to fire them all at once. The spiking heat level from each trigger pull will force the 'Mech to shut down and damage its center torso, if not cause it to melt down entirely. So either your 'Mech self-destructs after one or two shots, or the enemy team rushes to kill you before you can power up and fire again. Most pilots that deploy in 'Mechs built like this are mostly there to [[TakingYouWithMe one-shot as many enemy 'Mechs as they can before their own 'Mech explodes]]. The most infamous example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlXw2qGB2w Direstar]], a Direwolf boating a dozen or so [=PPCs=].

** Happens often among the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]], who will happily hurl themselves in unending waves of chittering bodies at enemy lines. Being but extensions of a vast HiveMind and thus (with extremely few exeptions) having no sense of self, they don't hesitate to eat up enemy ammunition with their own bodies. Some breeds aren't even born with ''digestive tracts'', because it's a certainty that they won't survive long enough to process anything and the HiveMind doesn't bother wasting the organs.

** Now canceled TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy and TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar have flagellants, who are doing essentially the same thing as the Sisters Repentia, but with proper DungAges clothing, medieval weapons, no fanservice, and no BDSM undertones.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', during the event of the Whole Cake Island arc, [[spoiler: Pedro does this in an attempt to kill Charlotte Perospeoro and allow the Straw Hats to escape. He succeeds in the latter, but fails in the former as Perospero is seen immeadiately afterwards still alive, although he does end up losing his entire right arm.]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Franky claimed to do this, when he inflated his ass...to use his {{Fartillery}} for himself and Nico Robin as a propellant for his escape.

* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', the barrel enemies from the first world stop dead and explode after a brief moment when you get close.

* In ''Videogame/FateGrandOrder'', Arash's [[LimitBreak Noble Phantasm]] "Stella: The Lone Meteor" is an [=AoE=] nuke that does immense damage but also immediately kills him. This makes him useful as a way to clear through trash mobs.

** On the same basic lines, the Japanese fielded the Ohka ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY7_Ohka Yokosuka MXY7)]]. They were more honest about the pilot's chances and bolted the canopy in place once the pilot climbed inside. US sailors had their own name for the weapon: "{{UsefulNotes/Baka}} Bomb".

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is to take an assault 'Mech and fit it with as enough high-damage (and thus, high-heat) energy weapons to overkill most 'Mechs, and then use the Alpha Strike button to fire them all at once. The spiking heat level from each trigger pull will force the 'Mech to shut down and damage its center torso, if not cause it to melt down entirely. So either your 'Mech self-destructs after one or two shots, or the enemy team rushes to kill you before you can power up and fire again. Most pilots that deploy in 'Mechs built like this are mostly there to [[TakingYouWithMe one-shot as many enemy 'Mechs as they can before their own 'Mech explodes]]. The most infamous example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlXw2qGB2w Direstar]], a Direwolf boating a dozen or so [=PPCs=].

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is to take an assault 'Mech and fit it with as many high-damage (and thus, high-heat) energy weapons as the chassis will allow, and then use the Alpha Strike button to fire them all at once. Firing so many energy weapons at once will OneHitKill most 'Mechs, immediately overheat your 'Mech every time you pull the trigger, and alert the enemy team to where you are and what you're doing. So either your 'Mech self-destructs from overheating, or the enemy team rushes to kill you before you can power up and fire again. Most pilots that deploy in 'Mechs built like this make it their goal to [[TakingYouWithMe one-shot as many enemy 'Mechs as they can before their own 'Mech explodes]]. The most infamous example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlXw2qGB2w Direstar]], a Direwolf boating a dozen or so [=PPCs=].

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is to take an assault 'Mech and fit it with as many high-damage (and thus, high-heat) energy weapons as the chassis will allow, and then use the Alpha Strike button to fire them all at once. Firing so many energy weapons at once will immediately overheat your 'Mech every time you pull the trigger, and the enemy team will be alerted to where you are and what you're up to. So either your 'Mech self-destructs from overheating, or the enemy team rushes to kill you before you can power up and fire again. Most pilots that deploy in 'Mechs built like this make it their goal to [[TakingYouWithMe one-shot as many enemy 'Mechs as they can before their own 'Mech explodes]]. The most infamous example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlXw2qGB2w Direstar]], a Direwolf boating a dozen or so [=PPCs=].

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is to take an assault 'Mech and fit it with as many high-damage (and thus, high-heat) energy weapons as the chassis will allow, for the express purpose of {{One Hit Kill}}ing other people. The drawbacks are that firing so many of these weapons at once causes the heat level of your own 'Mech to spike out of control, your 'Mech will shut down immediately to vent that heat, and the enemy team will be alerted to where you are and what you're up to. So either your 'Mech self-destructs from overheating, or the enemy team rushes to kill you before you can power up and fire again. Most pilots that deploy in 'Mechs built like this make it their goal to [[TakingYouWithMe one-shot as many enemy 'Mechs as they can before their own 'Mech explodes]]. The most infamous example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlXw2qGB2w Direstar]], a Direwolf boating a dozen or so [=PPCs=].

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is to take an assault 'Mech and fit it with as many high-damage (and thus, high-heat) energy weapons as the chassis will allow, for the express purpose of {{One Hit Kill}}ing other people. The most infamous example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlXw2qGB2w Direstar]], a Direwolf boating a dozen or so [=PPCs=]. Every press of the Alpha Strike button will fire all [=PPCs=] at once, obliterating whatever 'Mech is in the crosshairs and sending the Direstar's own heat level skyrocketing out of control. This massive heat spike will cause the Direstar to either self-destruct from overheating or get destroyed when the enemy team moves to retaliate while the Direstar pilot's shut down trying to cool off. These 'Mech builds are considered troll builds by the [=MWO=] community, since the only reason to ever deploy in one is to piss people off.

* A technique in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior Mechwarrior Online]]'' popularized by Youtubers is the "Direstar", or a Direwolf that's been stripped of its armor to make room for a dozen or so [=PPCs=], which you then fire all at once with the press of a button to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill overkill]] any enemy 'Mech. The tradeoff is your own 'Mech is very fragile, and the heat spike from firing this many [=PPCs=] at once will cause your 'Mech to self-destruct from overheat after only firing once or twice. This and other similar builds are widely regarded in the community as troll builds, since there's no tactical benefit to them aside from pissing off the enemy team.

* ''VideoGame/VGAPlanets:'' The [[Franchise/StarTrek Klingon]] {{Expy}} has ships equipped with Glory Devices, which can be detonated to damage enemy forces, both in space and down on the surface of planets.