History Main / ChargedAttack

* ''VideoGame/Postal2'' has the Rocket Launcher. Holding down the fire button will fuel the rockets, allowing the Dude to launch them further at the cost of some more of his rocket fuel. When you fill the fuel meter all the way, though.
--> [[AC:[[HomingProjectile Seeking Rocket]] [[MachineMonotone activated]]]].

* ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'': the Wookiee Bowcaster appears in most games, and can be charged to fire a spread of up to five shots.

** In games such as ''VideoGame/LinksAwakening'' and ''VideoGame/OcarinaOfTime'', Link has the spin attack, charged by holding the attack button, where he spun 360 degrees, dealing extra damage and hitting all enemies surrounding him. The later games introduced an instantaneous version of the attack, albeit weaker and somewhat tricky to perform.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle Games]]'': Ricky, a Boxing Kangaroo who carries Link in his pouch with great jumping and climbing abilities, has the power to summon tornadoes when his punches are fully charged.
** ''VideoGame/TwilightPrincess'' contains a variation on the typical charged attack. When Link is in wolf form, he and Midna can team up for a specialized attack by holding down a particular button (which one depends on whether you're playing with the Wii or the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]) and generating a circle of twilight to encompass multiple enemies. Releasing the button will then cause Wolf Link to more or less ricochet against all enemies caught in this circle, killing them instantly. And the Jump Strike skill, as well. When upgraded, Link can hold his sword up until the spark moves to the point, then does SplashDamage ton enemies in front of him.
** ''VideoGame/SpiritTracks'': One phase in the FinalBoss fight has Link deflect burning projectiles away from Zelda as she charges up the attack that will let him stun the boss, then use teamwork to truly beat him.
** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'': Urbosa's Fury is unleashed in tandem with Link unleashing his own charge attack, by holding the Y button.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' the Medic has an Ubercharge meter for his [[HealingShiv mediguns]] that goes up by healing teammates. When it's full, it allows the user to make themselves and the healing target invulnerable to enemy attacks, giving his heal target {{Critical Hit}}s, tripling his healing power and making both players immune to slowing or knockback, or making them immune to Critical Hits and giving them a 90% resistance against one type of damage (bullet, explosion, or fire) depending on the type of medigun.

** The Soda Popper for the Scout has a charging attack that builds up by dealing damage while wielding the SawedOffShotgun. When the meter is full, you can activate it and have the ability to quintuple jump for a short while (like DoubleJump, but 2.5 times better!).

* ''VideoGame/CupHead'' has the Charge Shot. The normal bullet does mediocre damage but if you hold it down, the bullet becomes bigger and far more powerful.

* A lot of FightingGames has this type as a character\move type. Using a charge move involves holding one direction down for a little, and thrusting in the opposite direction alongside the button press. DifficultButAwesome due to a lot of charge characters being high tier at least.

* Obviously a major theme in [[VideoGame/MarioStrikers Mario Strikers Charged]]. Charging the ball is often essential to scoring normal goals, and activating skillshots and megastrikes requires the player in possession to charge the ball as well.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', Luigi has a charged jumping attack, which goes back further than that. It started with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' (US), where every character can power up their jump by ducking.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' is one of the earliest users of this. The Charged Attack has been a staple of his Buster ever since ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''', and even before then, he was able to charge up Heat Man's Atomic Fire in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2''.

* In the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' series, charged shots are a staple ability, and can also lock-on to most enemies. In ''Command'', one of the several characteristics of the various ships is the lock-on system, which can be non-existant, lock onto the same target multiple times or lock onto multiple targets. Leon's ship has a rather weak laser, but a quick charge that locks onto every enemy on screen.
* All characters in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' can charge up their Smash attacks.
** Some Special B move attacks are more powerful the longer the attack button is held, but some ([[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], Franchise/DonkeyKong, [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Mewtwo, and Lucario]]'s neutral B moves, especially) can be charged up and released whenever the player wishes it. The Super Scope item can also be charged.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' contains a variation on the typical charged attack. When Link is in wolf form, he and Midna can team up for a specialized attack by holding down a particular button (which one depends on whether you're playing with the Wii or the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]) and generating a circle of twilight to encompass multiple enemies. Releasing the button will then cause Wolf Link to more or less ricochet against all enemies caught in this circle, killing them instantly.
** And the Jump Strike skill, as well. When upgraded, Link can hold his sword up until the spark moves to the point, then does SplashDamage ton enemies in front of him.
** In the older Zelda games, however, Link had the spin attack, where he spun 360 degrees, dealing extra damage and hitting all enemies surrounding him. However, it had to be charged by holding the attack button. The 3-D Zelda games introduced an instantaneous version of the attack, albeit weaker and somewhat tricky to perform. The Wii version of ''Twilight Princess'', however, since it uses the movement of the Wii Remote to activate the sword (and thus, no button to hold down), changes the spin-attack to an instantaneous attack with a CoolDown period. The [=GameCube=] version behaved as status quo.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', one phase in the FinalBoss fight has you deflect burning projectiles away from Zelda as she charges up the attack that will let you stun the boss, then use teamwork to truly beat him.

* ''VideoGame/Postal2'' has the Rocket Launcher. Holding down the fire button will fuel the rockets, allowing the Dude to launch them further at the cost of some more of his rocket fuel. When you fill the fuel meter all the way, though...

* Jehuty's guard-breaking Burst Shot functions this way, though you don't have to charge it all the way. ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'' also has the [[{{BFG}} Vector Cannon]] which requires you to be on the ground(not all that reliable outside of the places the game requires you to use it) and then spends about twenty seconds charging. But if it hits...

* Various special moves and [=fatalities=] throughout the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series have required holding a button for a certain number of seconds. Naturally, the AI can not only perform these moves instantly, but in rapid succession.
** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2'', Liu Kang has the bicycle kick: he floats towards his adversary, making turkey noises, kicking his feet in a bicycle pedal motion. Players had to charge the low kick for a few seconds, but it was well worth the wait.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Nostalgia}}'' the Orb (Fiona's airship weapon) can charge up, missing the turn but gaining more damage next shot. It can be done several times.

* Turning a [[InfinityPlusOneSword Noble Phantasm]] into a Broken Phantasm in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' requires sending massive amounts of prana into it, more than it can hold. However, for most Heroic Spirits, this is AwesomeButImpractical, as while it is nearly impossible to survive being struck by a Broken Phantasm, it destroys their main method of fighting. For Archer, however, it's no sacrifice, as his Broken Phantasms are mere disposable copies of the genuine articles.

** Collect: [[KatanasAreJustBetter Longswords]], [[DualWielding Dual Swords]], [[SwissArmyWeapon Switch Axes, and Charge Axes]] use a gauge that is charged by successful hits to trigger a temporary SuperMode.
** Hold: Greatswords, [[DropTheHammer Hammers]], and Bows make heavy use of gradual charge attacks that get more powerful the longer you hold. [[MixAndMatchWeapon Gunlances]] have the powerful Wyvern Fire that requires charging up.

** Certain attacks (e.g. [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Round Trip]], [[SwordBeam Drive]], [[IaijutsuPractitioner Judgement Cut]], Hard Way) require you to hold a button to perform them, and some (e.g. Drive, Maximum Bet) deal more damage if they are held longer. Some games also have gauntlet-type/gauntlet-and-greave-type weapons (e.g. [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 Ifrit]], Beowulf, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 Gilgamesh]], [[VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry Eryx]]) with held charged attacks as their core mechanic for dealing more damage, especially on their ground combos. These charged attacks may also come with the benefit of a JustFrameBonus upon releasing the held button at opportune times.

** In all games, the Royal Guard style comes with a Royal Guard meter that is filled by blocking hits from enemies. Then you can either perform an attack called "Release" where he releases all of the meter stored in a single powerful attack, or do another action depending on the game; the third game lets you HealThyself with the meter while the fourth lets you access a powerful form that increases your defense drastically.
** The [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 fourth game]] gives Dante a special weapon, a BriefcaseBlaster named Pandora, which has a special gauge called Chaos Gauge. It is filled by doing normal attacks with it, and depleted by using its more powerful Gunslinger style attacks, such as the "Argument" (a missile platform whose ammo depends on how much the gauge you filled) and "Omen" (where he simply opens the briefcase and it emits a bright light that causes damage depending on the gauge).
** Nero's Red Queen sword has a special mechanism called Exceed, where he can rev his sword to increase its power, and it has 3 levels. It is charged by either pressing the rev button multiple times, or doing it while you're attacking normally (needs specific timing).

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', gauntlet weapons (Ifrit, Beowulf and Gilgamesh) have the ability to increase their power by holding the button. Dante also has [[SwordBeam Drive]][=/=][[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Round Trip]] for his sword, and in 1, 3 and 4 there's the ability to charge gun shots (all of them in 1, Ebony & Ivory and Artemis in 3, and Ebony & Ivory, Blue Rose and Coyote-A in 4).

** The gauntlet and greaves weapons, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 DMC1]]'s Ifrit, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening DMC3]]'s Beowulf and [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 DMC4]]'s Gilgamesh's ground attacks can all be charged "Hold" style. Luckily, this only affects damage and not knockback so you can charge each of your combo's hits without the enemy flying backwards on your first hit.
** In ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening DMC3]]'', there's the [[SuperMode Devil Trigger]] [[ActionBomb Explosion]], Which is a Gather & Hold style attack where you hold the DT button until the filled runes in the DT gauge in the {{HUD}} glows. The more of them glows, the more powerful the explosion, and you can't use it if the gauge has less than 3 runes filled up.
** "Gather" style charging.
*** Nero has his [[EnhancedArchaicWeapon Red Queen]]'s [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum Exceed System]]. Where you can "rev" it to up to three levels in order to [[IncendiaryExponent ignite the sword]], turning it into a RocketPoweredWeapon if you attack with it with the meter filled up.
*** ''[=DMC3=]'' & ''4'''s [[AttackDeflector Royal Guard Style]]. Royal Guard gathers Dante's "rage" each time he blocks successfully under the style. allowing him to "release" it later for massive damage. The gathered rage can also be used to access the "Dreadnaught" form in 4. where Dante becomes an invulnerable StoneWall.
*** ''[=DMC4=]'''s Disaster Gauge for Pandora. It fills the more you hit enemies with Pandora's regular form attacks. once it fills, you can switch to Gunslinger style to use its "calamitous forms" that use up the gauge. One is a SmartBomb that does massive damage but has insanely slow windup. another is a mobile missile battery that can do a MacrossMissileMassacre, and the last is a PrecisionGuidedBoomerang.

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' game, buying the Cuff gives Shantae the ability to perform an elbow dash move that is activated by holding down the attack button.
* Almost all of the titular character's weapons from the ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta}}'' series have some hold charged attack feature; ranged weapons fire ammo when held during attacks, whips will lasso enemies and throw them around, most melee weapons have a charged-up super attack, etc. In addition, there's a special technique called Charge Bullet, that lets her basic ranged pistol attack charge up staggering magic blasts.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarZero'' uses this type of charge functionality to expand your attack options. Charging the Basic or Heavy Attack yields a Photon Art--a specialized technique dependent on the currently-equipped weapon. Charging techniques yields an altered version that is usually meant for crowd control or group augmentation. For example, Foie flies straight ahead and fries the first thing in its path, but Rafoie lobs a fireball over the enemy ranks and fries everything in the blast zone. Alternately, Anti treats the [[StandardStatusEffects statuses]] the user may be suffering short of Paralyze or Freeze, but Alanti does the same to the group ''and'' revives anyone in range, though only at 1HP. If you're going to use this to revive folks, then invest in Star Atomizers or Alresta.

* ''VideoGame/ChildrenOfMana'' has both types, whose effect varies depending on the weapon. For the hold-type, the sword acts as a shield to block ranged attacks, the flail will move straight forward to act as a grapple to pull an enemy or item towards you (or the other way around), the bow will make music that [[StandardStatusEffects give some status ailment to enemies]], and the hammer releases a sort of GroundPound. The collect-type changes the aforementioned hold-type attacks, giving different, more powerful ones. It is charged by hitting enemies and taking damage.

* 'Hold' type charge attacks require holding a controller button (or direction) for a set amount of time and then releasing it (or performing a final combination of button presses) to actually launch the attack. The button to be held is often the attack button, leaving the player defenseless while preparing it, requiring strategy on the part of the player as to whether the attack's strength is worth the time it takes to charge it — doubly so if charging the attack leaves the player unable to ''move'' or evade enemy attacks in the meantime.

* One ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' issue has an AlienInvasion underway upon a populace of human-like natives. Their local superhero is unable to damage the main warship. The two Green Lanterns sent to the scene can thwart the alien robot drones, but can't attack the warship directly because it's ''yellow''. Their solution: one Green Lantern energizes the local superhero, whose attack comes from a power pack on his back channeling energy into his gauntlets, which he shoots at the huge warship in low orbit. The warship bugs out after suddenly taking rollicking damage.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} POSTAL 2]]'' has the Rocket Launcher. Holding down the fire button will fuel the rockets, allowing the Dude to launch them further at the cost of some more of his rocket fuel. When you fill the fuel meter all the way, though...

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' the Medic has an Ubercharge meter for his [[HealingShiv mediguns]] that goes up by healing teammates. When it's full, it allows the user to make themselves and the healing target invulnerable to enemy attacks, giving his heal target [[CriticalHit Critical Hits]], tripling his healing power and making both players immune to slowing or knockback, or making them immune to [[CriticalHit Critical Hits]] and giving them a 90% resistance against one type of damage (bullet, explosion, or fire) depending on the type of medigun.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy''

* ''StreetFighter'' in its later incarnations features variants of a super move gauge, allowing use of more powerful moves when the bar is filled.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX''

* In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl]]'', Mr. Game & Watch's "Oil Panic" move works by collecting [[RuleOfThree three]] enemy projectiles in a bucket, then unleashing a splash of oil. The power of the splash depends on the power of the projectiles that were absorbed (Though in Brawl, it's always fairly strong regardless of what it absorbs).

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''

* All characters in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' can charge up their Smash attacks.

* In ''Videogame/SpiritTracks'', one phase in the FinalBoss fight has you deflect burning projectiles away from Zelda as she charges up the attack that will let you stun the boss, then use teamwork to truly beat him.

* ''[[{{VideoGame/Postal}} POSTAL 2]]'' has the Rocket Launcher. Holding down the fire button will fuel the rockets, allowing the Dude to launch them further at the cost of some more of his rocket fuel. When you fill the fuel meter all the way, though...

* VideoGame/{{Touhou}} has got it in the ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View''/''Dimensional Dream'', where you can unleash a charged attack(while still attacking normally, effectively damaging more). In the case of Youmu, her charged attack will vanish some danmaku above her; Youmu also has a charged attack in Ten Desires, in focused mode, unleashing an increasing series of sword slashes above her.

* Many ''Videogame/BioShock'' Plasmids\Vigors, when held on instead of fired away, can result in either a super attack or a trap that when approached by the enemy blows in its face. For a weapon case, the ''Videogame/BioShock2'' DLC ''Minerva's Den'' has the Burst Cell ammo for the [[RayGun Ion Laser]], which after being charged up results in an extreme burst of damage.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', every melee attack can be charged by holding down the button for half a second. This produces a larger swing and a war cry.

* ''{{Swords}}'' has this. It involves building up the character's spiritual energy and unleashing it, providing you can get the attack in before your opponent hits you.

* ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X3 Terran Conflict]]'' and its expansion pack feature several capital ship weapons, such as the Point Singularity Projector and the Photon Pulse Cannon, which are fired in salvos by ship turrets. When under the control of the player, the weapons can be charged up to deal huge amounts of damage, at the cost of draining significant amounts of weapon energy and the [[HeroTrackingFailure inability to use the assisted-aiming mode]].
* ''Videogame/BattleZone1998'' has the MAG cannon, which can only be fired by charging. As the weapon is charged, the amount of projectiles per charge stage decrease as level in damage and ammo cost increases, going from a small, machine gun-like burst to a giant orb of destruction. In the sequel, ''Battlezone II: Combat Commander'', the MAG has two variants: the "combat" variant functions like a shotgun, but gains range, damage, and accuracy as it is charged up. The "assault" variant is a burst fire weapon much like the first game, machine gun-like burst to massive projectile

* ''VideoGame/{{Quarantine}}'' has the Fusion Boy gun which can be charged up by holding the fire button to deal major damage to vehicular [[{{Mook}} Mooks]], and certain vehicles can be destroyed in one hit from a fully charged blast. The drawback is that it uses up 3 energy cells for the charged attack, and it is next to useless during the boss fights, because it is too slow to be used effectively. The weapon will not be available in arms dealer stop-and-shops [[spoiler: until the second level.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''

* The Laser Musket from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' is a single-shot weapon that has to be manually cranked. It does fairly decent damage with just the one crank, so say if you're fighting a gang of raiders and need to crank out a lot of shots, it gets the job done. However, it is unique in that it can be cranked from two to six additional times depending on how you mod it, adding another power cell with each crank. In other words, cranking the weapon six times fires one shot with six times the normal damage. It's a versatile weapon in the early stages and later on it's one of the best sniper rifles in the game, capable of one-shotting practically anything from extreme ranges.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''
** The gauntlet and greaves weapons, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry DMC1]]'s Ifrit, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening DMC3]]'s Beowulf and [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 DMC4]]'s Gilgamesh's ground attacks can all be charged "Hold" style. Luckily, this only affects damage and not knockback so you can charge each of your combo's hits without the enemy flying backwards on your first hit.

* In ''Videogame/FromTheDepths'', Advanced Cannons can be augmented with [[MagneticWeapons magnetic rails]]. The railgun can be fired at any time when a shell is loaded, but its velocity boosting effect is based on how much charge the railgun's batteries have, which are gradually topped off by charging units using engine power. [[DesignItYourselfEquipment Designing a ship]] with more chargers per battery pack can reduce the charging time at the cost of increased engine power drain.

** In the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series, the Arm part of whatever armor usually grants the ability to charge the special weapons, in addition to making the default charged buster [[Music/DaftPunk harder, better, faster, stronger]].
** In the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, Zero gains the ability to charge all of his melee weapons.