History Main / SuicideAttack

* The Soldier's aptly-named Kamikaze taunt in ''TeamFortress2'' has the soldier pull the pin on a hand grenade but not throw it, the explosion killing the Soldier and any enemy within a six foot radius of him.

**** No, it's definately the Dalek's who say this -- the Doctor is holding Davros hostage with a bomb, but the Daleks think he's bluffing as suicide is il-log-i-cal. It's Davros who calls them off as he knows the Doctor is serious.
* The new ''BattlestarGalactica'' had this tactic used by both the Cylons and the Colonials in differing circumstances.

* The backstory to "Frictional Losses" by John W. Campbell, Jr., mentioned the Japanese super-charging airplane engines, packing the planes full of explosives, and crashing them into enemy ships. The enemy in Campbell's story were ''extraterrestrials'', and once the Japanese gave us the idea, the rest of Earth's nations started using kamikazes against the aliens, too, which is why they didn't wipe out humanity entirely (they ''did'' nuke Japan off the face of the Earth). He wrote this story in '''''1936'''''.

** For most species of bees, a sting is a suicide attack when used on mammals.

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** ''Red Alert 3'': One of the special abilities of the Empire is "Final Squadron X'', a squadron of suicide aircraft (though they might be unmanned).

ActionBomb is when this is treated as a HeroicSacrifice rather than a case of WeHaveReserves. Unlike WhyAmITicking (where the person rigged with explosives has been so rigged against his or her will, and is perhaps unaware of it until the kaboom) it's voluntary either way. When the trope is considered to be SuicideAttack, though, the bomber has usually been indoctrinated to ''believe'' it to be noble and just[[hottip:*:[[{{UsefulNotes/Islam}} insert seventy-two virgins joke here]]]]; needless to say, this means that the Suicide Attacker is more often than not a terrorist suicide bomber, or a mook for an EvilEmpire that [[WeHaveReserves has reserves]], and either way they're a CardCarryingVillain. (The RedshirtArmy sometimes uses [[ SuicideAttacks SuicideAttacks]] too, though if the good guys are resorting to this, the work is probably using GreyAndGreyMorality at best.)

ActionBomb is when this is treated as a HeroicSacrifice rather than a case of WeHaveReserves. Unlike WhyAmITicking (where the person rigged with explosives has been so rigged against his or her will, and is perhaps unaware of it until the kaboom) it's voluntary either way. When the trope is considered to be SuicideAttack, though, the bomber has usually been indoctrinated to ''believe'' it to be noble and just[[hottip:*:[[{{UsefulNotes/Islam}} insert seventy-two virgins joke here]]]]; needless to say, this means that the Suicide Attacker is more often than not a terrorist suicide bomber, or a mook for an EvilEmpire that [[WeHaveReserves has reserves]], and either way they're a CardCarryingVillain. (The RedshirtArmy sometimes uses [[SuicideAttack]]s too, though if the good guys are resorting to this, the work is probably using GreyAndGreyMorality at best.)

ActionBomb is when this is treated as a HeroicSacrifice rather than a case of WeHaveReserves. Unlike WhyAmITicking (where the person rigged with explosives has been so rigged against his or her will, and is perhaps unaware of it until the kaboom) it's voluntary either way. When the trope is considered to be SuicideAttack, though, the bomber has usually been indoctrinated to ''believe'' it to be noble and just[[hottip:*:[[{{UsefulNotes/Islam}} insert seventy-two virgins joke here]]]]; needless to say, this means that the Suicide Attacker is more often than not a terrorist suicide bomber, or a mook for an EvilEmpire that [[WeHaveReserves has reserves]], and either way they're a CardCarryingVillain. (The RedshirtArmy sometimes uses {{SuicideAttack}}s too, though if the good guys are resorting to this, the work is probably using GreyAndGreyMorality at best.)

* The music video for the {{Disturbed}} version of ''Land of Confusion'' (made by ''{{Spawn}}'' artist Todd [=McFarlane=]) features a young girl with a bomb strapped to her body and a detonator in her hand, preparing to press the button as a gnarled cleric spouts off rhetoric.

** Ditto in WorldOfWarcraft, there is an engineering gadget called "Goblin Sapper Charge", I leave it too you to know what it does.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* The backstory to "Frictional Losses" by John W. Campbell, Jr., mentioned the Japanese super-charging airplane engines, packing the planes full of explosives, and crashing them into enemy ships. The enemy in Campbell's story were ''extraterrestrials'', and once the Japanese gave us the idea, the rest of Earth's nations started using kamikazes against the aliens, too, which is why they didn't wipe out humanity entirely (they ''did'' nuke Japan off the face of the Earth). He wrote this story in '''''1936'''''.
* In the AlternateHistory series, ''{{Timeline-191}}'', suicide bombers [[CallARabbitASmeerp are called]] "People Bombs". The tactic was invented by the Mormons during the [[WorldWarTwo Second Great War]] and later adopted by Black Marxists, Armenians, and other resistance groups.

* ''DoctorWho'' - "School Reunion".

* The petard unit (the real life basis of which is the TropeNamer for HoistByHisOwnPetard) in AgeOfEmpiresII is a medieval suicide bomber. There is also the demolition ship, although it might be unmanned.

->'''VALHÖLLR!!!'''

** Pirate fire ships in AgeOfEmpiresIII which are essentially ships with parts on fire and the decks filled with black gunpowder. I'd suppose they are manned, but I assume the crew will jump to the sea or escape on lifeboats as soon as they set the ships on collision course on enemy ships.

* In ''{{Naruto}} Shippuuden'', [[spoiler:Deidara tries to kill Sasuke with his "Ultimate Art", his C-0 technique, which involves Deidara feeding his explosive clay to a mouth on his chest (...?) and, after about a minute, detonating himself with enough force to obliterate everything within 10 kilometers. Sasuke survived by using the absolute ultimate defensive technique in the entire series: the [[AssPull Plot no Jutsu]].]]

->'''VALHALLA!!!'''

* The petard unit (the real life basis of which is the TropeNamer for HoistByHisOwnPetard) in AgeOfEmpires II is a medieval suicide bomber. There is also the demolition ship, although it might be unmanned.
** Pirate fire ships in AgeOfEmpires III which are essentially ships with parts on fire and the decks filled with black gunpowder. I'd suppose they are manned, but I assume the crew will jump to the sea or escape on lifeboats as soon as they set the ships on collision course on enemy ships.

* There's a weapon in ''{{Worms}}'' called the Kamakaze that works like this.

* From the {{Pokemon}} series, there are two attacks that let you do this: Self Destruct and Explosion. Not a pure example as the pokemon who learn these moves can learn other moves as well. There is, however, a minefield in a Team Rocket base in Gold/Silver that spawns enemies with Self Destruct as their only move.

** Also from Bungie, the Marathon games feature Assimilated BoBs, who look like civilians but run up to the player and explode, and in Halo 3 some grunts use suicide attacks with grenades.