Rolling Attack

It's not just for hedgehogs.

Basically a three ton pill-bug with a bad stomach acid problem. Folds itself into a wheel shape and is able to propel themselves with great speed, using their enormous weight and sturdy armor to crush anything unlucky enough to be in their path to paste.

— DRG Miner's Manual on the Q'ronar Shellback, Deep Rock Galactic

The weaponized use of Be the Ball, this is when a character curls up into a ball and careens forward, destroying everything in their path. Woe especially to those who are on a downwards-sloping hill, in which the attack gets additional gravity power. A lot of the time, characters who use this type of attack have parts on the back that enhance this attack, such as rock-hard armor, blades, or spikes. See also Spin Attack, Sphere Factor, Dash Attack, and Slide Attack. Compare Monowheel Mayhem, which describes a type of vehicle that may be able to execute this sort of attack.

Not related to Roll-and-Move, Unnecessary Combat Roll or Rounded Character. Also see Bouncing Battler.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Digimon: Armadillomon uses this in his Diamond Shell attack, specifically in Digimon Adventure 02.
• Dragon Ball: Mister Satan has a move called "Rolling Attack", which is nothing more than a fancy-looking mobility technique.
• Gundam Build Divers: This is one of the Momokapool's attacks. It's literally called "Rolling Attack".
• Naruto: Choji uses this technique, notably seen with his Human Boulder Jutsu. Isobu the Sanbi could do this as well.
• Pokémon: The Series: The Rollout move, as demonstrated by a Donphan in the picture.
• Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic: The manga and its follow-ups had a trend of giving Sonic several variations for his spin moves which he called out anytime he used them.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: In the Dungeon Dice Monsters arc, one of Yugi's monsters has this as a Special Ability.

Asian Animation

• In Season 3 episode 4 of Happy Heroes, the stone monster curls up and rolls at the Supermen a few times as they're fighting each other.
• In the Motu Patlu episode "Super Murgiyan", the super-powered chickens morph into the shapes of bowling balls and roll themselves at Motu and Patlu's gang to attack them.
• Simple Samosa: In "Khelo Samosa", the giant coins in the game's final boss fight roll towards Samosa's gang in an attempt to hurt them.

Films — Animated

• In Moon Castle: The Space Adventure, Weslie is chased by a melon trooper, who rolls around in an attempt to attack him. Weslie manages to dodge the attack when the melon rolls onto the edge of a cliff which crumbles and falls.
• During the attack on the karate school in Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword, Scooby and Shaggy temporarily become sumo wrestlers and roll over the top of the robot ninjas.
• Wreck-It Ralph shows the Cy-Bug-fused King Candy/Turbo doing this. It can be explained that Cy-Bugs become what they eat, and they ate Turbo's car, along with him.

Films — Live-Action

• In the film Battleship, the aliens use ~7-foot-tall wheel-shaped combat drones that attack this way, by grinding/shredding into & through targets. A single one is capable of sinking a US Missile Destroyer (though it takes a little while), and another decimates a US Marine Corps base including one helicoptor that takes off in time to barely avoid bisection, only for a spiked tentacle to lash out backward from the droid and rip the coptor's tail off.
• Anguirus in Godzilla: Final Wars attacked by curling into a ball and rolling at his enemies. He also attacks this way in the video games Godzilla Save The Earth and Godzilla Unleashed.
• Hook had the Lost Boy called Thudball who did attack of the same name.

Live-Action TV

• Power Rangers:
  • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers featured an armadillo monster called the Soccadillo (it was transformed from a soccer ball by Rita) that could do this. It was also invulnerable while curled. It's entirely possible that Wild Force's Armadillo Zord finisher is a Shout-Out to this monster.
  • Power Rangers Jungle Fury gives us a similar monster... but it's a pangolin, not an armadillo, which the Rangers mistook it for at first. (In fact, its name is just "Pangolin.")

Literature

• Mattimeo had a pair of hedgehogs locking together into a single spiked ball, then rolling around to attack enemies. Incidentally, the book was released two years before the first Sonic the Hedgehog game came out.

Professional Wrestling

• The most famous are likely Akira Maeda's often imitated Ajisegiri, the "scissor kick flip" variant in particular usually having no elevation. Fans outside of Japan tend to be most familiar with Jushin Thunder Liger's erroneously named "rolling kopu kick", though variation's on his are more often entirely aerial.
• Depending on how high and far the opponent jumps or doesn't, a rolling senton into the corner turnbuckle, especially if the opponent down against the rear buckle pad, can be a literal rolling attack. Especially when done by larger wrestlers like Kongo Kong, Kevin Steen and Queen's Quest Viper.
• The original rolling thunder was a combination attack with this and a leg drop from Sabu, but Rob Van Dam has since been known to use the rolling thunder on his own since the fall of ECW has mostly left them hanging separately.
• Ultimate Warrior had a much less impressive version of this in an infamous WCW match that was only eclipsed by a botched fireball. Rather than curling up and rolling or grabbing an opponent and forcing them to roll with him, like the previous examples, he just lied on the mat and tried to trip opponents by rolling around. Jay Bradley later used it under the jobber name "Ryan Braddock" against Festus in a slightly more plausible manner.
• Angela Fong's version of the whirly birds starts with her rolling at the opponent...backwards.
• Harlow O'Hara's harlock typically starts with her knocking the opponent down by rolling into their legs before uncurling on their back.

Tabletop Games

• The card Armadillo Cloak in Magic: The Gathering.

Video Games

• In Action 52, the main character in Fuzz Power can do that.
• ANNO: Mutationem: In the boss fight against the Mother Grub, it uses its own body to spin at high speed to roll around the area and attack from above when it launches itself into the air.
• In Armadillo, you have an attack which allows you to turn into a ball.
• In Armillo, the titular armadillo's primary method of breaking obstacles is rolling into them.
• The eponymous duo of the Banjo-Kazooie games can do a roll while they're running.
• Body Blows: Inferno, a flame elemental being introduced in Body Blows Galactic, can roll himself into a flaming Catherine wheel and launch himself at the opponent a la Kano.
• Dark Souls's Thorn armor allows you to damage foes with your dodge roll.
• Darkstalkers: Felicia's Shoryuken incorporates rolling. Her Captain Ersatz from Galaxy Fight, Roomi, does the same.
• Deep Rock Galactic: Q'ronar Shellbacks move by rolling around on the ground and walls, and attack by rolling into dwarves and launching them into the air.
• Dillon from the Dillon's Rolling Western games rolls himself up into a ball as an attack and as his main method of travel.
• Donkey Kong Country: Donkey and Kiddy Kong have a rolling attack, while Diddy Kong has a cartwheel attack. Armies and Bristles also do this. This holds true in Donkey Kong Country Returns.
• Dragon's Crown
  • The Ground Pound attack of the Dwarf has him curling up into a ball before dropping down while spinning, grinding his poor target into the floor.
  • The Amazon's armed mid-air attack has her performing a rolling attack with her Blade on a Stick extended, becoming something akin to a buzzsaw. Adding the Deadly Revolution skill lets her do this multiple times before landing.
• Dual Blades/Slashers: The Power Battle: Jaman, despite being a Mighty Glacier, is capable of rolling and throwing himself at opponents in a manner similar to the above mentioned Blanka, of whom Jaman has a few similarities to.
• DuckTales: The King Terra-firmian boss fight involves him rolling around to attack.
• Dyna Gear have a Talarurus boss who can curl itself into a spiked ball to tackle you.
• Elden Ring: The Lightning Ram skill makes the user curl up and roll forward while imbued with lightning, dealing damage on contact. It's surprisingly effective in PvP thanks of its tracking.
• Eternity: The Last Unicorn have an early enemy, tortoise-like creatures with spiked shells, who can curl into a ball and pull a rolling tackle on you if left idle. However they're quite slow and their rolling attempt can be interrupted by quick slashing attacks.
• The Hide of Morihaus Set Bonus in The Elder Scrolls Online makes your Unnecessary Combat Roll deal damage if you roll through an enemy.
• The fourth Endless Nightmare have a Body of Bodies monster made of various human parts fused into a ball, and it will roll all over the place trying to flatten you with it's fleshy hide.
• In Evolve, the Behemoth can use its roll ability to run over wildlife and enemies. Given that it weighs over a hundred tons, it's surprising this doesn't do more damage.
• Sash Lilac's Dragon Boost in Freedom Planet, which can also propel her upwards, in the air, and downwards from the air. Carol Tea has a subdued version of Sonic's in that it doesn't accelerate her unless done on a downward slope. It helps that the game was originally planned as a Sonic fan game.
• Gizmo: The Player Character can compress his body into a cylindrical shape and roll into enemies, destroying them.
• The green pirates in Goof Troop have a rolling charge.
• In Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak can roll on the ground and then perform a rolling leap that can hit enemies (also making for a handy Long Jump). Averted with the sequels, as the damage ability of this move was removed in them, so that you don't accidentally hit a cop and get chased across half the city.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Ventus's Dodge Roll, and Aqua's Cartwheel have variants that can attack enemies: the Thunder Roll and Firewheel, respectively,
  • The Hebby Repp and Sudo Neku Dream Eaters in Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] can attack in this fashion by curling their bodies into a circle and rolling about like a wheel. The Drill Sye and Cera Terror use the more standard "turn into a ball" variant. They also use said attacks when performing Link Attacks with Sora, the former catching on fire thanks to the extra momentum from being thrown, the latter involving Sphere Factor.
• A number of Kirby's abilities incorporate this, such as Wheel, Snow Bowl, and occasionally Fire. Many of his enemies are capable of the same, like the Wheelies (living, one-eyed tires) and the cunning Beast Pack boss Sillydillo.
• Kyle & Lucy: Wonderworld: Both Kyle and Lucy can build up speed while standing still, and then take off running while covered in flames.
• La-Mulana has blue hedgehog-like creatures which curl up and then speed through scenery.
• The Last Story: Terracor does this whenever it's being stunned. Muruk (as well as Superboss Gigamuruk) rotates its encased body while standing in one spot to paralyze its opponents with electricity.
• Rammus from League of Legends has a skill called Powerball that allows him to roll like a ball with stable acceleration for some time or until he collides with an enemy. Collision will cause nearby enemies to be knocked up and take some damage.
• The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon: During the battle against the golem, Terrador attacks it by covering himself in earth and rolling at high speed through its body like a living cannonball.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • All the 3D Zelda games give Link the ability to roll forward.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: The action is actually called "Attack," even though the most you can attack with it is some crates.^note Majora's Mask 3D fixed this issue.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Link can do a rolling attack (complete with spikes) when he transforms into a Goron.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess lets Link deal damage to enemies if the Iron Boots are equipped while rolling. Repeatedly rolling into a Cuccoo briefly lets you control the Cuccoo (unlike other games where attacking them brings down the fury of the birds' friends).
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: King Dodongo will, if Link fails to kill him while he's stunned, rear up, curl into a ball, and roll around the arena in an attempt to crush him. Link must ride out the attack by either hugging the walls or hiding under his shield.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons: The miniboss Syger attacks by curling into a spiked ball and rolling across the room in an attempt to run Link over.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: When Link is first trying to climb Death Mountain, the Gorons try to keep him away by curling into rocky balls and rolling into him at high speeds.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: Ampilus, crustaceans that live in ammonite-like shells, withdraw into their shells when they spot Link and roll at him. They can electrocute Link if they hit him, but will become dizzy if they run into a rock or wall instead.
• Lost Home: The armadillo can do this while in solo mode, allowing it to defeat some enemies and smash boulders while rolled up.

• Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force: Gongs has one as a special move. It can be done across the ground or shot up into the air.
• Metal Gear: Present in almost every game. Raiden gets a cartwheel-like attack in 2.
• Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter have humanoid-pillbug hybrid monsters, who curls themselves into balls and attack by ramming at you.
• Monster Hunter:
  • Monster Hunter 2 (dos): Rajang can use an aimed rolling dive bomb after jumping into the air.
  • Monster Hunter 3 (Tri):
    • The Uragaan uses this both to travel and to squish pesky hunters, curling its body into a wheel shape and rolling around rapidly. The subspecies (Steel Uragaan) does the same.
    • The Royal Ludroth uses a very silly looking version of this, simply rolling its body sideways like a dog to squish anyone attacking it from that angle.
  • Monster Hunter Portable 3rd: The Volvidon rolls around, both as an attack and as locomotion. As it's based on an armadillo, this is justified.
  • Monster Hunter 4:
    • When Zamtrios absorbs air and inflates its whole body, it can roll onto the hunter to harm them. In High Rank, it jumps backward before rolling forward for a better aim.
    • From this game onward, Furious Rajang can perform its rolling dive bomb three times in a row, adjusting its aim with each rebound, with the third roll a guaranteed hit unless the victim rolls out of the way quickly. Or you can just move towards the Rajang's shadow as soon as it finishes the second roll.
  • Monster Hunter: World:
    • The Great Jagras does the sideways-rolling variant, but only after it eats another monster and bulks itself up.
    • Radobaan is related to the Uragaan but coats itself in bones rather than rock. It also does the trademark rolling attack and is more agile than its sturdier cousin, even able to do a sideways spin when enraged.
• Monster Party: The giant caterpillar in Round 7 uses this as the only method of attacking. Also, this caterpillar is named Royce. In other words, Rolls-Royce.
• Mortal Kombat: Kano and his Cannonball attack. Mileena also possesses a rolling attack, although she keeps it to the ground.
• Pikmin:
  • Pikmin 2: The Segmented Crawbster attacks by curling up into a ball and rolling after your active captain in an attempt to crush him and any Pikmin in his squad under its hard shell.
  • Hey! Pikmin: Shearblugs attack by curling into spiky balls and rolling towards your Pikmin.
• Pokémon:
  • The moves Rollout and Ice Ball. They double in power if the move Defense Curl is used beforehand.
  • The move Steamroller, introduced in Pokémon Black and White, achieves a similar effect, as well as doubling in power if the target Pokémon has previously used the move Minimize.
• Polyroll: Polyroll can roll himself into a ball to attack enemies, bounce off walls, and break through some kinds of obstacles.
• [PROTOTYPE]: Alex can perform an airborne Rolling Attack to hit anything within city block range. It has homing capability as well.
• Psychonauts: Raz can roll around on his Levitation ball. With the Rolling Havoc upgrade it can damage enemies as soon as he starts rolling.
• In Quik The Thunder Rabbit, Quik's only way of attacking enemies is to spin into them.
• Shantae (2002): The boss of the Cackle Mound is a partly-armored Horned Humanoid beast that attacks by becoming a spiked wheel that rolls around the room.
• In the Genesis fighting game Slaughter Sport, final boss Mondu has a roll done by simply holding Down+Forward.
• Sonic the Hedgehog's Spin Dash and Spin Attack are the most well-known examples of this trope. In fact, a lot of variations of this trope are part of his moveset, from his Homing Attack to rolling downhill at high speeds to even just jumping. Most Sonic characters can use some variation of these moves.
• Splatoon: The third boss of the first game, the Octowhirl, is a large, round, clam-like monster that uses this as its main attack. If it tries to roll through a giant puddle of Agent 3's ink, it will get stuck in it, exposing its weak point.
• Street Fighter: Blanka. (A Hong Kong parody film used an actual beach ball painted green to depict this.)

• The fat-man enemies learn a roll-attack upon Streets of Rage 3.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Super Mario Galaxy: During the final boss battle from the first game, one of Bowser's attacks involve him first turning into a rock (which inspired the rock mushroom powerup from the sequel) to crush Mario/Luigi, and later on, using his shell.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2: Rock Mario attacks this way, as he's turned into a large rolling boulder when the Wiimote is shaken. There are even enemies shaped like bowling pins. One of the bosses, Rollodillo, attacks this way as well.
  • Super Mario 3D Land: The Mario Bros. can do one at any time, though it only does damage as Tanooki Mario/Kitsune Luigi. It is, however, very useful for smashing bricks without being under them. This also applies to Super Mario 3D World.
  • Super Mario Odyssey, except this one can be used continuously. It can even go faster when rolling downhill, similar to Sonic in his Genesis games.
• Tamarin: The Tamarin can defeat some enemies by rolling into them.
• In the Turrican series, Turrican's signature ability is his ability to transform into a spiky energy wheel that can destroy many things in its rolling path. This ability was also featured in the Universal Soldier video game, which was a dolled-up Turrican II.
• The Votroche, one of the Mooks in Vampire Night, rolls itself into a ball to attack the Vampire Hunters with help of its armor.
• In the Xenophobe arcade game the 3rd stage Xenophobes known as "Rollers" can roll themselves up into a ball (which is immune to the players' weapons) and roll into the players, knocking them down and damaging them.

Western Animation

• Ben 10: Cannonbolt is basically a free-rolling, high-speed wrecking ball. Unfortunately, he has a lot of power but not much control.
• Extreme Dinosaurs: Stegz an curl his body into a destructive saw blade, using the plates on his back as its cutting edge.
• When Max from Max Steel (2013) enters Cannon Mode his main attack is this.
• In the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes crossover episode featuring Sonic and Tails, they teach KO how to do their signature Spin Dash in order for him to get over a loop. KO's first attempt results in him exploding. After Tails tells him how he learned to perfom the ball-curling technique, KO figures out how to perform the Spin Dash himself.
• PJ Masks: Armadylan, a new PJ Mask who makes his debute in season 2, can do this.
• One of Amethyst's signature moves in Steven Universe. Also used by Jasper to attack both Garnet and Amethyst, suggesting that it's a move common to quartz-type Gems.

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