History Main / CallingYourAttacks

* ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'': Magic spells within the game ''Lost World'' are named and casting is usually accompanied with the calling of such, which text has implied is necessary.

** Zoë, [[WomenAreWiser of all people]], uses this trope.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

If you can do something more impressive than just throw a punch, your attack(s) must have an equally impressive name. More than that, you have to call it out as you launch the attack. It doesn't matter if it's a martial arts move, a magical spell or your secret superweapon; if you can't say its name, it just isn't nearly as [[RuleOfCool cool]] or effective. Also, expect plenty of [[PowerEchoes echoing]] to come with it, and (if a fighter is feeling particularly bombastic) dramatic... *pauses* ...WITHAYELLATTHEEND! A standard feature of practically every MagicalGirl, high fantasy, or martial arts anime.

* Memorably parodied at the climax of Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel ''ComicBook/AmericanBornChinese''.

---> '''Recoome:''' Recoome...\\

'''Recoome:''' ... kick!\\

--> "Shabon Spray Freezing!"
--> It was really convenient how she had to shout out the attack phrase, alerting him to the incoming danger.

---> It made her feel a bit like a manga character who'd been given superpowers. She wondered if it would get any more powerful if she yelled "Linear!" while she was using the skill, and decided against it since she hadn't seen anyone else doing anything so silly.

-->'''Spider-Man''': Magic! Magic! Magic with a kick! [[PunchPunchPunchUhOh Magi-]]

--> Molly looked down at her hands. She had never really bothered naming any of her abilities. Not formally, anyways. It seemed like such a waste of time. She had always looked at her powers from a purely pragmatic angle. Tools in a toolbox. But... maybe there was something pragmatic about giving them a little more flavor. If you named your tool, you formed an attachment to it, didn’t you? And wouldn't that improve your mood, and thus your output? Yeah. That made sense.

--> '''Lucas:''' Super-angry-because-you-interrupted-my-singing-SMASH!

-->'''Aimee''': Hailey, you mind not giving each of your attacks a name? It sounds...stupid...

-->"Wild magic stone brings down antimagic shell," the Red Wizard said calmly, for all the world as if he were describing a move in a chess game. [...] "Laeral's Cutting Hand," she announced, her tones a mockery of his own.

-->'''George''': [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Reverse Roundhouse. Jaw fractured... High Axe Kick. Collarbone Fractured.]]

-->'''Shawn''': Metal...SPIN!

** Lampshaded beautifully: At one point Shadehawk [[http://antihero.keenspot.com/d/20030704.html sincerely thanks]] Baron Diamond for yelling "DIAMOND DRILL" before using said move on him, specifically stating that if Diamond hadn't called the attack, it would have hit Shadehawk and killed him. Yeah, Shadehawk won that fight.

--> ''"Tch, have a word with her, please. She sounds absolutely ridiculous. '''Baby-dew immolation blaster!'''"''

* Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily took Captain Falcon's tendency to call out falcon punch and falcon kick and turned it up a notch.
-->"[[ReligiousBruiser Falcon Pray! Falcon Penance!]]"
-->"Falcon Sleep! Falcon Sleep!"
-->[[WithCatlikeTread "Falcon Sneak! Falcon Sneak!"]]

-->'''Barkeep''': Explodey teacup!

-->'''Lothar''': '''[[AC:Shoryuken!]]'''
--> (a spectator): ''Nerd!''

--> '''Aki:''' Hey, Lyle, why do you always yell the name of your powers?\\

-->'''Roahm''': ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow''! *Throws TV*

--> '''Korra''': "[[BlowYouAway Airbend]]!" *performs form at newspaper* "What is ''wrong'' with me? ''Airbend!''"

--> '''Rumble:'''(from card) Ef-ferVESCENT! Ap-ple FRITTER! Ri-boFLAVIN!

--> '''Rumble:''' FIREBALL! UPPERCUT! DOWNERCUT!! [[http://youtu.be/mHm_TuS-KQU?t=51s BOOOOWL OF PUNCH!]]

-->"Hit! Uppercut! Uppercut! Jab, jab!"

---> '''Hak Foo:''' Elephant thrusts its leg! ''(floors Uncle with a punch)'' I meant ''fist''.

--> '''Blossom''': [[AttackPatternAlpha Attack Pattern Alpha Omega]] Creator/{{Atari}}! '''Go!'''

-->'''Storm''': "Power of [[ShockAndAwe lightning]], strike again!"
-->'''Spider-Man''': "Um... [[http://youtu.be/tn053l3hc7s?t=48s Power of web-shooters, get real sticky!"]]

** In many police forces, a cop about to fire his Taser is trained to shout ''"Taser! Taser! Taser!"''[[note]]assuming there's time[[/note]] so their partner won't hear the ''pop'' of the stun-weapon firing, assume the ''suspect'' fired a weapon, and open fire himself.

%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGmeX6CLas IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR!]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' animated series ep "Champions", Jo Nah (a.k.a. Ultra Boy, who has all of Superman's powers but only one at a time) calls out his powers as he activates them [[RuleOfPerception so viewers can know what the hell he's doing]], straddling the line between this trope and ByThePowerOfGrayskull.

* Lampshaded in ''Series/{{One Piece|2023}}'' when Luffy states that calling out one's finishing move is customary of great fighters. Zoro immediately contradicts him, which is pretty funny considering [[HypocriticalHumor he does the same thing]] in the original manga.

** In one of the earlyish issues, Deadpool is trying to get ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} to fight him, and Comicbook/KittyPryde sasses him by saying Wolverine doesn't have time to play Deadpool's "little game". In reply, Deadpool asks, "Speaking of games, you ever play ''Franchise/StreetFighter''?" And then he {{Shoryuken}}s her. (And then it is fighty time.)

* In ''Film/SpiderMan1'', when Peter is trying to figure out [[HowDoIShotWeb how to shoot web]], he tries out various hand gestures and phrases, including "[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Up, up and away]], web!" and "ComicBook/{{Shazam}}!"

* ''WebComic/MuhPhoenix'': ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and Comicbook/CaptainAmerica did it during their fight. Cap called Wolverine for it, before doing it himself.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' CrossOver with the Comicbook/XMen, [[Franchise/SpiderMan Spidey]] hopes that Professor X can help him with his mutation. Unfortunately, he ends up in the Danger Room. In the ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' series, Comicbook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} was quite the LargeHam when using her ElementalPowers, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fz93UFClpo as you can see here.]] Spidey... well, [[DeadpanSnarker couldn't resist]].

* In the podcast audio drama ''Podcast/TheAccount'', being knighted grants a person a number of special abilities, among them a "weapon" of magical energy that's traditionally named and proclaimed when it's used. The protagonist's is Burst Punch, which more experienced knights find a tad lame.

* Not done by the attacker, but the second installment of ''Film/TheShaolinTemple'', ''Kids From Shaolin'' have the hero (Jet Li, a decade prior to ''Once Upon A Time in China'') executing a lower slash with a sword, while Jet's OldMaster calls his attacks as Jet executes the main villain with a slash [[GroinAttack through the testicles]]. "''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7rx6kuEdzI&t=430s Hǎi dǐ lāo yuè]]''! (Fetch the Moon From Beneath the Sea)"

* Played straight in ''Legend of the Drunken Master'' where Wong Fei Hong constantly calls his attacks.

* In the climax of the first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movie: "RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT!"

* The crossover fic ''Fanfic/ColosseumOfTheHeart'' lampshades the fact that both ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' make use of this, with new trainer Sora having to remember to call out Pokemon attacks rather than his own spells.
-->'''Sora''': Rufflet, Aer - I mean, Tailwind!

* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in one of Creator/ProZD's videos, "Video game boss attack patterns," set in ''The King Dragon Canon''.

* In Series/VoltesVLegacy, it is Justified for the Voltes Team to call out the attacks from various weapons of the five individual Volt Machines and also Voltes V they use in battle against the Boazanian Beast Fighters via voice-activation.

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** Since then Chaka has been using a wide variety of called, anime-style attacks, including Chaka Chaka Bang Bang, a [[KiManipulation ki-blast]], and her Kiai attack, which is [[MakeMeWannaShout a calling attack]]. For Christmas, she received a pair of [[PowerFist power gloves]] which supercharge one attack per day, and that attack must be called.

* ''Franchise/Ben10'': Beginning with ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'', Ben has named attacks for a few of his alien forms, such as [[SelfDuplication Echo Echo]]'s [[MakeMeWannaShout Wall of Sound]]. Apparently he only feels compelled to call his attacks as certain aliens but not others, though it makes sense in [[LargeHam Rath]]'s case.

Super trope of {{Invocation}}. SisterTrope of MagicalIncantation. May overlap with ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy, BigWordShout, ScreamingWarrior, [[NoisyNature Roaring Predator]] and PreemptiveDeclaration. Overlaps with MakeMeWannaShout if yelling out the name of the attack '''is''' the attack. In a group, it sometimes overlaps with AttackPatternAlpha. A similar trope, but with bathroom breaks, is CallingYourBathroomBreaks.

For a long time, only flashy {{Finishing Move}}s or powerful {{Limit Break}}s were considered worthy of calls. Two well-known examples are Kenshiro spelling out the spectacular death he just dealt to his foe and Son Goku's signature "[[KamehameHadoken KA... ME... HA... ME... HAAAAAA!!]]" A few pro wrestlers did this as well. ("Power bomb!") It wasn't until the advent of {{Fighting Game}}s, particularly ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', that shouting out every little spinkick and ki ball became standard practice.