Cross Counter

This happens when two fist fighters counter a hook punch by throwing another punch along an opponent's arm, aimed to the face. The result is the two fighters simultaneously punching each other in the face. This is a sometimes comedic way of showing both fighters to be equals in skill and power and sometimes to show that they both have more in common than either of them would like to admit. Other times it's a sign that both combatants are too exhausted to fight properly.

After a Dramatic Pause, to let sink in what just happened, it will typically end with one fighter collapsing to the other's greater Heroic Spirit, or both of them collapsing resulting in a Double Knockout.

See also Punch Parry (if the fists meet in the middle instead), Fearful Symmetry and Single-Stroke Battle. Pull Yourself Down the Spear is the rough bladed equivalent.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Tomorrow's Joe with special lighting and everything. Trope Maker, as far as manga and anime are concerned.
• Megalo Box ends the last fight between Joe and Yuri with one of these after a long match and then cuts to black. The end of the match is about halfway through the episode. The results of the match are left until the very end of the episode.
  • Joe's match with Aragaki in episode 6 ends with the bell ringing just as they're both about to connect with a cross-counter, leaving both boxers with their fists hanging a few inches off the other's face. Aragaki throws in the towel due to his Game-Breaking Injury in the break, acknowledging Joe as a Worthy Opponent.
• Bakugan New Vestroia Episode 26 in the fight Draco Vs Helios.
• Gintama between Umibouzu and his son Kamui.
• Hamatora in the last episode of season 2, Art and Nice starts a fist fight Cross Counter each other.
• Seraph of the End In episode 5, Yuichirou and Kimizuki starts a fight in classes that ends with one of these.
• Bakuman。 Season 3, episode 6, Mashiro and Takato getting into a fist fight that ends with one of these too.

• Gals! featured this between a pre-teen Ran and a then-gang leader Miyu. Ran won the fight in the end by hitting the ground after Miyu and not only won the right to call herself queen of Shibuya but Miyu's respect and friendship.
• Hajime no Ippo, being a boxing series, is obliged to have them in abundance.
  • Though the main user of said counter, Miyata, usually connects as a full on counter rather than an exchange of hits.
  • A fairly common subversion is for one boxer to parry the other's punch, then complete his own.
• Urusei Yatsura subverted this trope using the "arms too short" variety at the end of a fight between Ataru and a tomcat for the affections of a Cat Girl.
• Eyeshield 21: During the Death March arc, Sena manages to trick an Opposing Sports Team into Cross Countering each other while avoiding their attempts at "unnecessary roughness".
• Yu-Gi-Oh! GX used the "arms too short" subversion when the Master of Oz monster battled an Ancient Gear Golem. At first the Golem was weaker than the Master of Oz, and it was a normal punch... and then another card doubled the Golem's power, and it delivered this, whereupon the Master of Oz's arm turned out to be too short.
  • In a pre-GX example, Yu-Gi-Oh! turned out a card CALLED 'Cross Counter', which depicts Des Kangaroo's entire body (muzzle-flattening punch included) bypassing 'Behemoth the King of All Animals''s massive paw-slam.
    • Des Kangaroo's special ability could also be an example of this. While never seen in the anime, its effect is that if it's attacked by a monster with Attack that is lower than Des Kangaroo's defense, the attacking card is destroyed. This specific move is known as the "Destruction Punch", and there are other cards that grant its effect.
  • There's also the card "Gachi Battle!" which depicts two cards doing this.
  • Also, in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, one episode has Yusei and Jack getting into a fist fight that ends with one of these.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL in episode 80 happens twice, between Alito X Girag and Alito x Yuma.
• A comic featured in a magazine dedicated to the Digimon Wonder Swan games has Taichi Yagami and Ryo Akiyama give one to each other during a More Hero than Thou scene. It was later reproduced as a bonus chapter for Digimon V-Tamer 01.
• Digimon Tamers haves one between Guilmon and Calumon in episode 5, in an Imagine Spot that is a blatant reference to Tomorrow's Joe.
• Digimon Data Squad Between Masaru and Kouki in episode 28.
  • Episode 34 has one between Thoma and Masaru. Note that Thoma actually does it properly {by avoiding Masaru's original attack), which makes sense since he's a trained boxer. Unfortunately, Masaru just ignores the large fist in his face and hits Thoma anyway.
• Dragon Ball has this as well, during the first fight with Goku and "Jackie Chun" (a disguised Master Roshi). The only reason Roshi won was because his leg was longer, so he had better reach in his finishing kick than Goku had.
  • Dragon Ball Z has a straight example during the fight between Goku and Vegeta after he's become a Majin.
  • There's also a Like Father, Like Son moment where Goten and Trunks land cross counters on each other in exactly the same manner their fathers did.
  • In episode 95 of Dragon Ball Super, Goku and Frieza have one during a sparring match that ends in a mutual KO.
• In Death Note, L and Light Cross Counter each other during the Yotsuba arc, after Light tries and fails to convince L that he couldn't be Kira. L uses a kick to fulfill his end of the Counter.
• Done by Ichigo and his dad in the first episode of Bleach.
• In the third episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Simon and Kamina in their newly-combined ganmen (Gurren-Lagann) rushes towards Viral's Enki. Viral throws a punch, and Kamina throws a punch along the same line. When both ganmen's fists hit each other's faces, Dayakka yells out (in Gratuitous English), "CUROSSU COUNTAH!" and the shot takes on the same yellow hue with dark shadows as the punch from Tomorrow's Joe. Another Cross Counter happens much later in the series, being the first attack that starts the Final Battle between the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and the Grand Zamboa.
• The Volume 22 cover of the Food Wars! manga shows the characters Soma Yukihira and Akira Hayama doing the Cross Counter each other.
• Played for laughs in an early chapter of Shaman King, when Anna summons the spirit of swordsmith Mosuke into Ryu's body so he can fix Amidamaru's broken sword. At first, Mosuke is pissed at the fact that his handiwork's been damaged and rushes at Amidamaru (in Yoh's body), who also attacks him with the excuse that his old friend hadn't talked to him in about 400 years. They (Ryu and Yoh, technically) then do this to each other, before the spirits they're hosting smile and greet each other properly.
  Anna: Men are so incredibly dumb. Looks like they can't even meet each other without acting flashy.
• Done during a Filler arc by Luffy and Zoro in One Piece. The following scene has Chopper finding them, locked in the Cross Counter position, buried up to their waists in the sand... apparently they knocked each other out, but didn't fall down.
  • The cover for Chapter 366 has one between Dorry and Broggy, who were last seen continuing their endless fights against each other (always draws) with broken weapons.
  • Sanji and Mr. 2 Bon Clay do this to each other with kicks.
  • Happen in movie 4 (Dead End Adventure) in the climax when Luffy and Gasparde which each other with long ranged attacks (Luffy, his stretching power and Gasparde his syrup power hardened into a spike). Normally Gasparde would win as he clips Luffy's side but, thanks to Luffy being covered in flour at the time, he's able to bypass Gasparde's logia ability and finally connect a hit since the flour prevents Luffy's punch from sinking into Gasparde's body.
  • This happens again much later on, in the Fishman Island arc, between Luffy and Jimbei (and Sanji, who had stepped in between them and suffered both fighters' blows).
  • Before the first example above, Luffy and Zoro managed a Cross Counter during the Whiskey Peak Arc.
  • Two variants in the Whole Cake Island arc as Luffy and Katakuri go all out with their attacks. Luffy, using his Gear 4th mode: Snakeman, ricochets his punch around the room before aiming it directly at Katakuri. While Katakuri himself fires a fist shaped mochi at Luffy in the form of a Rocket Punch. Both attacks hit the other square in the face and knock them across the room. Their fight likewise ends in a long ranged manner of this with Luffy's rubber power and Katakuri's mochi stretchiness, as the former hits the latter's midsection and the latter strikes the former over the head. They both pass out afterwards, though ultimately, Luffy wins as he was able to remain standing, while Katakuri falls back into unconsciousness after briefly getting on his feet.
• Naruto:
  • This is how the fight between Sakura and Ino ends in the Chuunin Exam arc.
  • A filler episode has a sparring match between Rock Lee and Naruto end in one.
  • Much later, one occurs between Naruto and one of Pain's bodies, although both avoid direct blows, which is good for Naruto as he avoids getting stabbed in the face and is able to blow the body away using the sheer natural energy from his Sage Mode.
• Happens twice in a row in the second Fatal Fury OVA, during the final fight between Terry and Krauser.
• Done many times in Pokémon: The Series:
  • One instance is between May's newly-evolved Combusken and a Breloom. Seen here.◊
  • Ash's Bulbasaur and Jackson's Meganium during the Johto League Silver Conference. Both examples were following two of the most brutal fights the show had ever seen. The Silver Conference fight's instance is this.◊
  • An earlier instance involved a staged battle between a Hitmonchan and a Machoke, actors on the travelling Pokémon Showboat, that culminated in one of these.◊
  • This trope is played quite straight during the Masters Eight Tournament, in Ash's battle against Cynthia, particularly between Ash's Lucario and Cynthia's Garchomp. Towards the end of the battle, both of them are at their limit, and after rapidly exchanging blows between flurries of Bullet Punch and Dragon Claw, they both go in for a final blow with this trope using Dragon Claw and Reversal as their final blows at the same time to end the battle. Both fall down exhausted afterwards, but Lucario manages to get up, while Garchomp stays down and is declared unable to battle, losing Cynthia the match.
• This happened repeatedly in Angelic Layer. In the fight between Wizard and Hikaru, it was even altered so that, though Wizard was still punching her, Hikaru had kicked him in the face instead.
• Ranma ½:
  • In Mousse's introductory chapter of the manga, Ranma tries to do this with a flying kick, forgetting that he is a girl with shorter legs than Mousse.
  • The comedic version is seen when he allies himself (briefly) with Pantyhose Taro:
    Pantyhose Taro: Thank you, you swell cross-dressing guy!
    Ranma: Never mention it, Pantyhose Taro!
    Both: Don't call me that!
    [cue cross-counter with Taro delivering a straight jab inside Ranma's right hook]
    Nabiki: [The alliance lasted] five seconds, a new record.
• Porco Rosso does this as the final blow in the fight between Porco and Curtis. The whole scene demonstrates that the two are really poor fighters.
• A variation with fencing sabers was done at the end of Char and Amuro's Sword Fight in the finale of Mobile Suit Gundam. They rushed each other, Single-Stroke Battle-style, each delivering a thrust through the other's defenses. Amuro got stabbed in the shoulder, Char got stabbed in the (armored) forehead. This pretty much ended the fight (seeing as they each broke their swords in the process)...until The Movie, anyway.
  • Setsuna and Graham's battle at the end of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 season 1 is pretty much the same, except that they're in their BFS-wielding Humongous Mecha instead of on foot.
    • The final battle of season two ends on a similar note with Setsuna and Ribbons going for a dual stab. Both their units are totally destroyed (GN drives and all) and Ribbons is killed, but Setsuna survives.
  • Another sword version in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny during the Freedom's final moments: Kira managed to put a beam sabre through the Impulse's head, while Shinn ran the Freedom through with its anti-ship blade. Little wonder who won that fight, even if Kira did put the Impulse out of commission for a few episodes.
    • Though that was mostly due to Kira's no kill policy that he did that. He could have went for the chest instead, making it a double KO. Possibly a win since Kira ended up surviving anyway (thanks to its nuclear reactor, Freedom had its cockpit in a slightly different location than most Cosmic Era mobile suits).
• In the dramatic match between Pegasus Seiya and Dragon Shiryu in Saint Seiya's Galaxian Wars arc, the two combatants leap high above for some Air Jousting and end up locked in a Cross Counter — Shiryu's strongest punch on Seiya's face, Seiya's straight jab into Shiryu's Achilles' Heel (the Dragon's Claw over his heart.)
• Kenshiro and Falco do a cross counter in Fist of the North Star 2 anime when they fight.
• Used in Shamo, between Ryo Narushima and Naoto Sugawara.
• Genesic Gao Gai Gar and Palparepa cross counter during their fight in GaoGaiGar FINAL.
• Arcueid and Ciel in Kagetsu Tohya. Neko-Arc, actually, which indicates how dire the situation is.
  • It's also possible to do this in Melty Blood as a special automatic interaction between the above 2 characters if one of them throws 3 weak punches in a row and the other character parries the first 2.
• Parodied in Shadow Skill when two fighters, exhausted after an all-night duel, cross-counter very slowly.
• EP4 of Umineko: When They Cry features a rare humorous scene where Krauss fights a Goat-man. This scene parodies multiple series, including the Nasuverse, Dragon Ball, and invokes trope after trope. To finish it all off, it ends with a Triple Cross (Krauss!) Counter as the fight ending punch.
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid used this in the second match between Vivio and Einhart, though Vivio managed to dodge Einhart's side of the Cross Counter.
• Happened in episode 71 of the Monster Rancher anime, ending the fight between Mocchi and Most in a tournament. Most, a more experienced fighter, was still standing, but Mocchi was knocked out, leaving Most the winner. Keep in mind this had followed a fight that had lasted the entire day.
• Done rather hilariously harmlessly between Poplan and Kissling at the otherwise extremely bloody finale of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • Fate shows us a nice way to avoid the problem of one's hand being shorter then the opponent's, simultaneously reducing Negi's hit from head-on to glancing. Counts as a variation of the trope, because the "counter" is not straight, but rather a hook.
  • Another is at the end of the Negi vs Rakan fight, resulting in both of them being knocked out.
• In the manga webseries, Key to the Sky, Trisha and Meer perform a crosscounter on one another in chapter 15, however, neither of them are knocked out.
• In High School D×D, Issei and Raiser pull this off in their one on one fight at the final episode of the anime/volume 2 of the light novel. Issei puked blood out of his mouth but Raiser didn't until a few moments later, shocking him in disbelief because he's a phoenix who can heal through any damage right away. Until he sees how Crazy-Prepared Issei is for such an occasion.
• Gajeel and Pantherlily do this in Fairy Tail. Happens too between Gray and Lyon fist fight, then, in the same scene in flashback, between Gray and Natsu.
  • Parodied in the Tartarus Arc where Natsu and Gajeel do this to each other... while they were teaming up to fight a pair of demons.
• Played for laughs in episode 3 of INVADERS of the ROKUJYOUMA!?.
• In Space☆Dandy, Dandy and Meow have a suitably dramatic example after being drafted into opposite sides of an alien feud.
• In Episode 46 of Rockman.EXE, in the fight for Dr. Wily's chip, ElecMan and MagnetMan take each other out in their NetBattle this way. Which also promptly shocks their operators.
• The epic fight between Yusuke and Yomi ends this way in YuYu Hakusho.
• Revy and Roberta in Black Lagoon's fight after an entire night of going at it with each other ends with one of these, causing them to simultaneously knock each other out, though technically Roberta wins by being technically still conscious, though certainly out of it.
• Tiger & Bunny: In the duel between Wild Tiger Vs Barnaby.
• In the manga Ryu Final: Street Fighter III, Dudley's cross-counter punch is literally impossible for Ryu to defeat because of the simple fact that Ryu's arms are too short compared to Dudley's —a fact that the boxer takes full advantage of. In response, Ryu ends up developing the Fist of the Wind, which he uses to punch Dudley's fist and temporarily cripple his offensive instead.
• Exaggerated in Future Diary with Marco's Counter Diary, which exists solely for telling him when he can do these.
• "Lupin III: Part II": Lupin and Goemon end their fight in Falling Cherry Blossoms - The Mysterious Gang of Five - Part II with this move.
• Zegapain: Happens in the last episode between Abyss and Kyo.
• Shadows House: John and Shaun have a classic one of these complete with Double Knockout in episode 11 of the anime.
• GTO: The Early Years: Eikichi and Machida do this in their rematch fight.
• One-Punch Man: There are several instances of cross-counters happening in One-Punch Man.
  • In Episode 20 of the anime (or Chapter 72 of the manga), Suiryu and Choze perform a cross-counter punch in their fight.
  • In the fight between Garou and Bang in the manga, a cross-counter happens.
  • In the famous fight between Saitama and Awakened Garou Cosmic Fear Mode in the manga, they cross-counter each other two times, the first time when they are on Earth and the second time when they are on Io, a moon of Jupiter.

Comic Books

• Superman:
  • Kryptonite Nevermore: In the cover of Superman Volume 1 issue #242, Superman and his Sandman doppelganger are punching each other's faces.
  • The climax of The Death of Superman had Superman and Doomsday's long, brutal fight end with both of them hitting each other as hard as they can simultaneously. This causes shockwaves for blocks and results in both of their deaths.
  • In the cover◊ of Superman vs. Shazam!, the titular heroes are punching each other in the face.
• In The Smurfs comic book version of "The Hundredth Smurf", Vanity and his Mirror Self duplicate both throw their fists at each other... and end up hurting each other's fists when they connect since they were in mirror sync with each other.
• Wonder Woman (1942): When Fixer manages to piss of the Holliday Girls and get beat half to hell the fight starts with him and Bobby punching simultaneously at each other's faces, but he manages to miss or barely graze her since Etta grabs him in time to redirect his hit.

Fan Works

• Happens at least a few times per round in Well-Matched, though without being very dramatic.

Films — Animation

• There's a three-way Cross Counter in "The Dover Boys", as the three main characters try to punch out the villain, who faints at the last moment, and punch each other out instead.

Films — Live-Action

• Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character and his opponent in City Lights do this and both men go down. They take turns getting up and going down again while the ref counts.
• The Matrix Revolutions features this in the very start of the final battle between Neo and Smith. Since they're both maximally empowered at this point, Neo is thrown back through the air, and Smith, less gracefully, is thrown back and cuts a swath of broken concrete on the surface of the road they're fighting on, coming to a halt only after several metres — though it does little more than anger him.
• Rocky III does a Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame and fades out on a similar shot (Apollo and Rocky simultaneously connecting, but with identical punches).
• Yakuza Apocalypse: The final battle between Kageyama and Mad Dog consists of the two of them cross countering over and over until Mad Dog collapses.
• Happens during the final fight between Creed and Dame in Creed III.

Literature

• Journey to Chaos: The duel between Tiza and Haileyin Mana Mutation Menace ends with both of them slugging the other at the same time and then falling over. This shows that, despite their differences they are evenly matched.

Live-Action TV

• In season 7 of Scrubs, J.D. and Turk fake a photo where they do this, which they refer to as the Rocky III Frame Freeze Ending.
• In Power Rangers RPM, two Humongous Mecha do this to each other. The one the bad guys had taken control of was unharmed, while the good guys' mecha was knocked apart.
• In the Ultraman Dyna series, Dyna faces off with Imitation Dyna and their battle ends in this fashion. Dyna was able to avoid his copy's punch while Imitation Dyna's face literally shattered.
• In Kamen Rider Double's Movie, Shotaro (as Kamen Rider Joker) does this to one of the villains. However, because Shotaro's punch was a Finishing Move, he came out on top.
  • Speaking of, Kamen Rider has a variation that pops up from time to time where, instead of hooks, two characters will throw out front thrust kicks at the same time; often this is used to get some space between the characters so one (or both) can do something dramatic.
  • There's also a variation where a heroic and villainous Rider will perform their Rider Kicks at the same time and connect foot-to-foot, getting into a Beam-O-War-esque struggle. Sometimes the backlash will launch them both backwards (as with Wizard versus Wiseman/White Wizard), while other times there'll be a decisive winner (as with Ex-Aid versus Chronus).
• "WEASEL SLAP!!!"
• Robot Combat League: Crash vs Steel Cyclone had one of these as the climax, which ended in some nasty damage for both, though it was Cyclone that had the worst part, getting its arm wrecked.

Music

• In the Dead Sara music video for "Lemon Scent" the lead singer and guitarist engage in some underground Fight Club-esque boxing before both going down with a cross counter.

Pro Wrestling

• A common routine sees two wrestlers both going for a clothesline on each other at the same time, ending up with a clothesline version of this trope. How much damage this accomplishes varies depending on the type of match: a normal, unimportant match might just see the wrestlers go down for a few seconds, while a "Last Man Standing" match (the sole objective of which is to keep your opponent down for a 10-count) or a heated title bout will inject some drama into the match up by having the wrestlers stay down for much longer as they struggle to get to their feet before the 10-count. A less-common variation will see two (usually taller-than-average) wrestlers hit each other with Yakuza Kick/Big Boot-type moves at the same time. Similarly, many high-fliers use the Flying Cross Body - literally just running into a jump so that your body makes a cross with the opponent's and you drive them to the mat - but seeing two wrestlers do this simultaneously is not only a full-body version of the trope but looks more devastating than a car crash.

Web Animation

• The DEATH BATTLE! between Gogeta vs Vegito has them doing this at least once.

Video Games

• This is known in most fighting games as "trading hits" or just "trading" for short. Usually leads to a Double Knockout (which counts as a loss if it's a complete draw match.)
• During the final battle against the True Final Boss in Asura's Wrath, Asura and Chakravartin can get into one during the bout. The victor of that action's decided by if you hit or miss the QTE.
• Dudley from Street Fighter III has a move with this exact name, and it functions in the same way as well, only it's more of a blazing-fast dash punch than a straight up exchange. He does deal equal or close to equal damage to what hit him, though. Sadly, it can't actually result in a double KO ever, since if he's KO'd during the move, he'll hit the Counter... and immediately collapse in defeat, with the move doing no actual damage to his opponent.
• The first fight of World Tour in Street Fighter 6, between the Player Character and The Rival Bosch, ends in a cutscene with the two exchanging punches this way. This is repeated near the end of the story, revealing the mysterious Cardboard Combatant to be a Psycho Power-boosted Bosch.
• In Konami's arcade boxing game, The Final Round, the title sequence involves two boxers giving each other one.
• Metal Gear:
  • Done in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Liquid and Solid duel on top of a wrecked Metal Gear Rex, and end up in a Cross Counter.
  • This is then repeated in a much more satisfying way in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots where during the final fist fight with Liquid Ocelot, one of the many context-sensitive actions the player can pull off is a Cross Counter.
  • One of the Quick Time Events in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance when fighting the final boss ends in one, although there's no outcome where both the boss and Raiden get hit: if you succeed in the QTE, Raiden evades the boss' punch at the last second and if you fail, he gets hit before his fist connects with the boss' face.
• Done in Yakuza 2. The final battle with Ryuji Goda, the final quick time event results in an epic cross counter! Almost as epic as the MGS4 one referenced above. Incidentally, Yakuza borrows heavily from MGS, among others, obviously including Ashita no Joh.
  • In Yakuza 5, the fight between Kiryu and Saejima ends in this fashion regardless of who you chose to fight as.
  • In the Kiwami remake of Yakuza, the intro of the final battle has Kiryu and Nishiki lunge at each other before knocking each other away.
• In the end of Viewtiful Joe 2, Joe and his father and Big Bad, Jet Black wound up in this. Jet then commented on his son's "Strong jaw".
• Final Fantasy Tactics A2 has as a Master Monk ability named this: however, instead of either being a support or reaction ability that activates when the enemy character has a Counter as their reaction ability and reproducing the normally expected results, it's actually just an action ability that does more damage than normal (often double) and bypasses an enemy's counter, if the enemy has a Counter skill.
• Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice has it as a Nekomata support ability. It increases counterattack damage by 50%.
• Bruce Irvin from Tekken can do a cross counter (called the Nightmare Punch) when the player times it with an opponent's punch. Also subverted in Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion's arcade intro — both Jin and Kazuya evade each others' fists. Once again subverted in Tekken 7's arcade intro — Kazuya evades Heihachi's fist, but Kazuya connects with Heihachi and sends him flying into a rock. The current Bandai Namco logo used for the series shows Kazuya and Jin in an Impending Clash Shot. Finishing a match with a tag move with Jin and Kazuya in Tag 2 will have them replicate the scene in-game (including cutting away right before they connect).
  • Someone made a nice long video of Bruce countering people all day. It looks like he can't double KO unless you do the punch too late, and if performed successfully, he never actually gets hit by the opponent's attack.
  • Alisa can perform a variation of this in her punch counter. Her opponent punches her head, and she punches their gut. However, her head falls off harmlessly and she just puts herself together afterwards by generating a new head.
  • Heihachi also has a kick variation of this called the Heaven's Wrath, performed against any attack the opponent lands on you, if you're hit during the active frame of the move. The difference with his version from normal Cross Counters is that while the attacks from both parties are generally simultaneous or near-simultaneous with them, Heihachi just takes the hit, and while the opponent just stands there dumbfounded with their leg in the air firmly against the side of his head, he just kicks them away with his right foot.
    • Yet another version of this could be Heihachi's Headbutt Carnival throw, which is functionally identical to his other, similliar throw in appearance, but characters who possess headbutt attacks of their own can avoid getting knocked down by it and counter-headbutt Heihachi right back...who can then counter-counter their headbutt and repeat the sequence until either character screws up the input or runs out of life first.
    • Paul Phoenix and Forrest Law perform a cross counter in their ending in Tekken Tag Tournament... but instead of a punch, they both kick... and instead of their faces, well, their reactions say it all.
  • In Tekken 7, if two fighters are down to their last portion of health and attack simultaneously, the camera will zoom in and see which fighter will deliver the final blow.
  • The final fight between Jin and Kazuya in Tekken 8 ends with the two fighters doing this to each other. Depending on who won, either Jin or Kazuya will fall.
• In MadWorld with the power struggle between Jack and the Black Baron, trading a jab, an uppercut and a headbutt. If Jack wins, he ends with a hammer fist with both hands, while if the Black Baron wins, he lets loose a Single-Stroke Battle of Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs with explosive punches.
• Persona 4 features this in Yosuke's Max Social Link event where Yosuke wishes to be seen as the Main Character's equal. In response, they choose to have a Ho Yay-filled brawl that ends with one of these.
• Tales of Vesperia has this as a skill where more damage is given for attacking an attacking enemy
• In the climax of the Final Fantasy XI mission pack A Shantotto Ascension, after the final battle, the player is treated to a cutscene in which two giant Shantottos duke it out in Yhoator Jungle, ending with a spell powered cross counter. The fake falls while the real one stands tall. And this was not the actual characters fighting, but their spell powered avatars.
• God of War III: The final battle in has this with Kratos and Zeus, in which father and son manage to punch each other across the room.
• For Bayonetta's artwork in honor of her reveal as the final Guest Fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, it displays an epic battle of Light vs. Darkness, with the very bottom displaying Little Mac and Ryu locked mid-cross counter. Cross countering is actually possible in the game proper as well, though it all comes down to whoever's attack connected first.
• Injustice: Gods Among Us has a variantion of this: When a counter is initiated, both characters are knocked back, recite character-specific lines and attack each other simultaneously. During the clash, players need to bet portions of their super meter to earn the upper hand. Whoever loses is knocked back and takes more damage. If it's a tie, then both characters are knocked back and take little damage.
• Ryu and Kyo Kusanagi in this◊ promotional image for Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000. For the Updated Re-release, Capcom vs. SNK Pro, a similar image◊ was done featuring Dan Hibiki and Joe Higashi (the two characters added to the release).

Webcomics

• Dragon Ball Multiverse: Gotenks does this to AU Gotenks. Several times, as it's Played for Laughs.
• Weak Hero:
  • In the fight between Ben and Jimmy, Jimmy throws a punch that Ben decides to take head-on, retaliating with his own punch that hits at the same time. Both come out of it standing, and it devolves into a fiercesome flurry of blows.
  • Another cross counter happens between Ben and Jimmy when the comic flashes back to their fight in middle school. The difference in power between their punches makes Jimmy realise that he can't win the fight.

Western Animation

• The Cat Fight episode of Justice League Unlimited ended with a still frame of Huntress and Black Canary delivering a flying kick to one another.
• Happens in an episode of Family Guy during a fight between Peter and Ernie the Giant Chicken. Neither one is knocked out, though.
  • And again in the episode where Cleveland and Loretta split up, but with Cleveland and Quagmire (in a direct nod to the Rocky III ending)
  • Happens in much more visceral detail when Peter and Homer get into an epic fight that damn near destroys Springfield!

• In the Futurama episode "The Farnsworth Parabox", when Leela-A and Leela-1 attack each other in a perfectly symmetric way, they collide their foreheads and both are knocked out.
• In Transformers: Prime, Optimus Prime and Megatron perform one during the opening theme, with the show's title appearing before the moment of impact. They do this to each other a few times in the actual series, as an Opening Shout-Out.
• Steven and Amethyst of Steven Universe attempt this at the end of their fight in "Steven vs Amethyst", but they're so weak by that point that they both miss completely and fall over laughing.

Real Life

• The Cross Counter. It's not just for punches anymore
• There is an actual move like this in real life, but usually just called a cross, and much more effective. Assuming both boxers are right-handed, one goes for a front (left) hand jab, while the opponent uses the back (right) hand to cross the opponent's now outstretched left arm and connect with the opponent's head. If done correctly, it is an effective counter that will also protect the user from the opponent's jab.
  • It should be noted that in a real Cross Counter scenario, the cross would prevent the hook from landing (because it stuns the opponent and prevents them from completing the hook) unless it's really weak or really late; that's why Cross Counters are so rare in real life.
  • The rear-hand-hook-over-jab version is very popular in Mixed Martial Arts (Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua especially throws it with great success). The reason is poor striking technique among a lot of fighters (who mostly start as wrestlers): not tucking the chin behind the shoulder of punching hand and general focus in MMA on single punches rather than combinations (due to takedown risk Hit-and-Run Tactics work better), which means that a large number of jabs is usually thrown without any followup strikes (sometimes to set up a takedown).
  • Lyoto Machida◊.
• Filipino wrecking ball Nonito Donaire is a master of this technique; after baiting Fernando Montiel into throwing a big right cross, Donaire countered over it with a monstrous left hook which left Montiel spasming on the mat. See it for yourself.
• Alexis Arguello, who was one of the most precise punchers to ever step into the ring, shows the proper way of countering a jab with a straight right.
• Juan Manuel Marquez takes a moment to parry Manuel Medina's right hand before launching into a devastating combination.

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