History Main / RammingAlwaysWorks

* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' has several examples of this.
** Most notably (and repeatedly) is Hell and Heaven, which is just [=GaoGaiGar=] ramming its fists against the enemy.
** Another example is the J-Phoenix, where J and Renais ''set the J-Ark on fire and ram it against the enemy''.

** And in the ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199 remake series]]'', episode 23 has a part where a Gamilas cruiser is on the receiving end of the Yamato's bow after it uses its Wave Motion Shield as a battering ram.

** The tactic was used (or attempted) against U-boats fairly regularly in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when they were forced to the surface. Many escort vessels didn't carry guns powerful enough to penetrate a submarine pressure hull. When the United States transferred a large number of obsolete WWI destroyers, which were rather lightly armed, to Britain under the Lend-Lease program, they had their bows reinforced by filling the forwardmost chambers with concrete to improve their ramming capability.

* This tactic was seriously considered by the Royal Navy during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, because they were desperately short on ways to attack submarines and the depth charge hadn't been invented yet. Submarines on the surface or at periscope depth could be rammed. HMS ''Dreadnought'', the first modern battleship, actually pulled this off -- indeed, it was the only time ''Dreadnought'' ever managed to sink an enemy ship, and the only time a battleship has ever sunk a submarine, by any method.

** The Japanese also designed a special kamikaze aircraft, the Yokosuka MXY-7 ''Ohka'' (''Ōka'' translitterated in Hebon-shiki). Essentially a 1200kg bomb with wings, a cockpit, and three rocket motors bolted on, it was to be carried to within 20 nautical miles of the target by a bomber, then released. Seven Allied ships were sunk by them, including destroyer '''USS Mannert L. Abele'', though for a variety of reasons (Japan's impending defeat and the fact that the ships delivering the first production run were sunk) they saw limited action. American sailors nicknamed them [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY7_Ohka "baka bombs",]] after the Japanese word for "idiot".

* During the Battle of Guadalcanal in [=WWII=], one pilot of a Grumman F4F Wildcat was helping to attack a force of Japanese bombers. He lined up on a G4M "Betty" bomber, but found that he'd already expended all his ammunition. Instead, he manually lowered the landing gear and repeatedly dropped down on the bomber, bashing the wing with his wheels until it crashed.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/backemup.png]]

[-''[[https://sova.si.edu/details/NMAH.AC.0433#ref11016 A British Cruiser Ramming on Italian Submarine in the Mediterranean Back Them Up!]]'' (1942)-]]]

** In "Endgame", the forces opposing President Clarke's putsch were forced to ram a satellite before it wasted the Eastern Seaboard, after Clarke set the {{kill sat}}s around Earth to destroy it out of spite after it was clear that he was going to lose. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary since backup arrived in time. Still, the explosion was more dramatic than necessary. There aren't any shields in ''Babylon 5'', mind you.
** Also Sinclair at the Battle of the Line. It works, but not in the way he expected.
** Captain Anderson takes out [[spoiler:the Shadow PlanetKiller around Earth]] with this tactic.
** JMS actually got into a debate on this issue, seen [[http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-16723&query=ramming%20speed here]] and [[http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-946&query=ramming%20speed here.]]

** Also seen in "Severed Dreams" when a friendly Earthforce destroyer, damaged beyond repair, T-bones one of Clark's, destroying both vessels.
** And, of course, when Sheridan answers the Shadows' offer by [[spoiler: ramming their homeworld with the original Whitestar, demolishing their capital city. Though most of the damage was done by the two 500-megaton nukes on board]].

** Subverted in the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Crusade}}'', a Drakh cruiser attempted to ram the ''Excalibur'', but Gideon simply blew it out of the sky with their WaveMotionGun.
* The ''Pegasus'' does this in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', with rather impressive results: [[spoiler:not only does the Pegasus utterly annihilate the targeted baseship but when the Pegasus blows apart from the impact, one of its hangar pods [[OneHitPolykill hits a second baseship and destroys that one too]] The hangar pod also crashed into several Cylon fighters along the way, destroying each of them. All told, counting the first base star that she sucker punched with her forward batteries, the last fight of the Battlestar ''Pegasus'' [[DoNotGoGentle felled three base stars]]]].

* From the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'', there is episode "Fire in Space", in which Cylon fighters attempt a kamikaze attack on the ''Galactica'', one crashing inside the launch bay and setting it on fire.

* While it's not shown, ''Series/{{Farscape}}'''s Rigel recounted the tale of how his people used massed kamikaze attacks to drive off a race of invaders who'd killed a billion of their fellows and were eating their young.

* Franchise/StargateVerse:

** The ''Enterprise's'' second encounter with the Borg in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', "The Best of Both Worlds": In the absence of any other way of stopping the Borg from assimilating Earth, Riker ordered Wesley to aim the ship at the Borg cube, and go to maximum warp. (It's unclear exactly what happens when a ship in warp hits a solid object, but at a minimum a forced collapse of the warp field would be tres chaotic.) Fortunately, this proves unnecessary.

** The Dominion of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' employ suicide ramming tactics to destroy Federation ships; specifically, the destruction of the USS ''Odyssey''. They also take down multiple Klingon ships using this tactic during the Dominion War. In ''Odyssey's'' case the ship was already withdrawing, but the Jem'Hadar rammed it anyway, just to show how serious they were.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "The Year of Hell", Janeway destroys Annorax's temporal incursion ship (a starship built around a weapon that literally ''erases things from time'') by crashing the crippled ''Voyager'' into it. Which would have ended the series, except that, by ramming the ship, the catastrophic damage Janeway inflicted caused it to erase ''itself'' from existence, pressing the ResetButton on the entire year and for everything Annorax erased with it before.
** Even the Borg resort to this once on an episode of ''Voyager''. To save ''Voyager'' (actually the modified nanoprobes on ''Voyager''), a Borg cube slams itself into a comparatively tiny Species 8472 bioship, destroying both ships.

* Almost happens in ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'', when [[AncientAstronauts Ma'el]]'s ship is discovered and reactivated. The protagonists discover a living human (and a Roman to boot) aboard in a [[HumanPopsicle stasus pod]]. The Roman ends up speaking flawless English, as he's been leapfrogging through history in order to see if the Taelons have arrived yet (the task Ma'el assigned him) and managed to learn the language during the last several awakenings. After questioning Liam and Renee about the Taelons, he determines that Ma'el's worst predictions have come true and engages the ship's final protocol, programmed by Ma'el. The ship lifts off and accelerates on a collision course with the [[TheMothership Taelon mothership]]. With only minutes left, the mothership is too large to be moved out of the way so quickly. The collision would've destroyed both ships, but Liam manages to engage the ship's self-destruct, before getting into the stasis pod with Renee, correctly assuming that Ma'el would've programmed it to eject if the ship was threatened. The Roman is killed in the explosion, and the mothership is saved.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E8Duel Duel]]" the Liberator is being fired on by three Federation cruisers. Rather than wait till they've worn down their forcewall, Blake decides to go StraightForTheCommander and ram Travis' ship. Instead of [[GameOfChicken taking evasive action]] Travis decides to fire everything he has at point-blank range. {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s intervene before we find out [[UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject what would have happened next]].

[[caption-width-right:350:[-''[[https://sova.si.edu/details/NMAH.AC.0433#ref11016 A British Cruiser Ramming on Italian Submarine in the Mediterranean Back Them Up!]]'' (1942)-]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[-''[[https://sova.si.edu/details/NMAH.AC.0433#ref11016 A British Cruiser Ramming on Italian Submarine in the Mediterranean Back Them Up!-]]]

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[[caption-width-right:350:"This is the Greatest PLAAAA-"[[note]][[SubvertedTrope This didn’t work]] in the first two instances.]][[/note]]

*** [[spoiler:After his GN-X is heavily damaged by Lockon Stratos and his Dynames, Daryl Dodge flies in a suicidal charge towards said Gundam Meister and slams into him. While the Dynames is still intact and Daryl is killed in his GN-X's explosion, it leaves Lockon open to his current opponent, Ali Al-Saachez.]]
** [[spoiler:Allelujah (or rather, Allelujah with his Hallelujah personality) also does this with his Arios against Hiling Care and her Garazzo, running his Gundam in its fighter mode into the Garazzo's midriff and using its Beam Shields to [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe tear it in half]], resulting in Hiling's death.]]

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'':

* A valid tactic in ''Independence War''. There's a specific set of shields, called Aggressor Shields, created precisely to be activated at the moment of ramming to reduce damage on your own craft.

** In Wing Commander: Privateer, the Orion, a heavy merchant/mercenary gunboat, can successfully ram as an offensive tactic because it has heavily beefed up armor on the front quadrant to enable such assaults.

* Made into a key gameplay mechanic in the Touhou-esque bullet hell shooter Hitogata Happa. Staying alive long enough with a single doll allows you to ram into an enemy creating a devastating explosion. Some bosses are impossible to defeat without sacrificing dolls like this.

* Multiple subversions are in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' turn-based strategy game ''Birth of the Federation''. In the game's simulated ship-to-ship combat, you can order your ships to ram an enemy vessel, thereby bypassing the shields and attacking the hull directly. As your orders play out, your ships will open fire with everything they have, trying (and sometimes managing) to destroy their target before they ram into it. The ram order, however, leaves your ships unable to avoid enemy fire, potentially allowing them to be destroyed before they can even get close. Finally, when a weaker ship successfully rams a more powerful (re: has more hit points) ship, they only do about as much damage as they have hull strength -- ramming a 1000-hp battleship with a 20-hp scout just won't cut it.

* The bigger ships in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' ''Starfleet Academy'' could be used effectively this way. It'd usually still hurt but could finish off or cripple a smaller ship. Combined with cloaking devices on some ships, you could pull off a completely stealth ramming with some luck.

* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'' and its sequel, ramming enemy vehicles with yours causes no damage. At least not until you fix a mine or two on the front. [[MadeOfExplodium Kaboom, yo!]]

** One of the ''Rebel Assault'' games has a mission that requires the player to protect a kamikaze cargo ship until it can hit a shield generator.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' games, numerous servers have a house rule that ramming enemy vehicles results in the rammer being kicked from the server. You would expect that smacking a plane into a plane would destroy them both, and it usually does, much to the chagrin of the flyboys. Ground vehicles ram each other with about as much effect as you would expect, depending on what rams into what. In ''[=BF2142=],'' the ''infantry'' can ram vehicles using Drop Pods (think Franchise/StarshipTroopers). Initially, it was powerful, if hard to aim. However, post-patches, this ability was seriously {{nerf}}ed, in part to prevent physics exploitation.
** A tactic that players developed in Battlefield: Bad Company, which has survived as far as Battlefield 4, is to set C4 on a light, fast vehicle like an ATV or Jeep, and drive at a heavy vehicle like a tank. Two packs of C4 will take out a tank, and as long as you bail out properly, the vehicle's momentum will carry it into the tank, and you can blow it up at your leisure. More inventive players have put C4 on unlikely vehicles, like helicopters, jet planes, and ''[=UAVs=]''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has "Blazing Star", the Last Word Spell Card of Marisa. When [[KamehameHadoken massive laser beams]] [[GonnaNeedMoreX aren't powerful enough]], she just [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer applies more firepower]], and uses it as a RocketJump to attack by ramming.

* ''VideoGame/WildARMs4'' has [[TheSmartGuy Arnaud]] using Plane Fu to kill one of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Brionac Lieutenants]], crashing an ''entire squadron'' of fighter jets right on top of him to make him really dead.

* Ramming in ''Videogame/SpaceEngineers'' is ''extremely'' potent, to the point where many players place [[SpaceIsAnOcean reinforced ramming prows on their ships]] or just straight up build [[{{BFS}} enormous sword spaceships]]. On the other hand, ramming in third-dimensional space is no easy task, especially if your target is actively maneuvering, and there's the issue of actually repairing your ship after spearing it through the enemy. The AttractMode main menu background and the original trailer show gratuitous ship ramming, including one ship snapping in half by a larger one plowing through its central spine.

* In ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'', the SpacePlane Aerospace Fighters are for the most part, pretty durable against return fire save AntiAir weapons like the LB-X class shotguns. However, two fighters ramming each other will almost always result in mutual destruction. A {{Good Bad Bug|s}} with the [[JokeCharacter otherwise jokeish]] ''Sparrowhawk'' scout plane allows it to usually survive ramming aircraft, or at least leave the pilot alive so he can bail; the usage of cheap, disposable ''Sparrowhawks'' as one-way AntiAir missiles against expensive ''Shiva'' heavy fighter/bombers led to many jokes, including a video where a developer replaced the Arrow IV cruise missile model with a Sparrowhawk.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Similarly to ''Black Flag'', ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' also gives you a ramming prow and the option of charging is available from the very beginning. It's existence is also a bit more justified because it can be used as an icebreaker in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

* In ''Videogame/FromTheDepths'' ramming can be augmented with the Ram part, which deals damage proportional the ship's velocity and mass. White Flayer ships in particular are all built for ramming and are usually covered in rams on every surface; they aren't particularly effective at ramming equally sized vehicles as it usually results in them getting stuck, but they will utterly annihilate anything smaller. In the first White Flayer instant action mission, the [[ATasteOfPower player is given a high-end ramming boat]], the ''Flayed Soul'', and is sicced on a bunch of poorly armed Deepwater Guard fishing boats that will get crushed and minced by the grinders on the ramming ship.

::: This example subverts the usual flaws with the trope, as this single fighter ship's impact causes catastrophic and immediate damage to the much larger ship beyond simply killing the people on the bridge.

[[caption-width-right:350:"This is the Greatest PLAAAA-"[[[[SubvertedTrope This didn’t work]] in the first two instances.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"This is the Greatest PLAAAA-"]]

** Not to be outdone, ''Robotech'' has some spectacular ramming actions in its second part, "The Masters" (aka ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross''). The first time is when a crippled REF ship rams one of the Masters' seemingly invincible mothership and explodes, [[TakingYouWithMe destroying both]], but the most spectacular is when general Emerson, seeing that the troops trying to board the Masters'/Zor's flagship through a hull breach have encountered excessive resistance, ''rams the enemy with his own flagship Tristar in such a way it only grazes the hull, enlarging the breach and running over the enemy bioroids opposing the boarding''. Later, the final battle against the Masters/Zor features Earth ships ramming the enemy motherships and self-destructing. [[spoiler: The ''Tristar'' is the first to do it]].

** Subverted: [[spoiler:in the climax of ''3.0.'', the ''Wunder'' rams into Eva-13 in its new godly form, which, while still causing damage, isn't enough to stop it.]]
** In ''3.0+1.0'', [[spoiler:Misato sacrifices herself by ramming the Wunder into the Imaginary Lilith, delivering the Spear of Gaius to Shinji.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** During her final battle against [[AlienInvasion the Diasporans]] in ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} did this with her own body, taking advantage of her Kryptonian invulnerability to ram through their mothership and destroy it.

* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse: In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', [[spoiler:after Faora attacks the plane carrying Franchise/{{Superman}}'s pod, Colonel Hardy rams it into Zod's ship. Played with in that it's not the ramming that does the job, but Superman's ship detonating; the collision course was the only option Hardy had left to deliver the payload. More specifically, it's the AppliedPhlebotinum in Superman's ship interacting with the AppliedPhlebotinum in Zod's ship to create an UnrealisticBlackHole]].

* Ramming is extremely destructive in ''Literature/Aeon14'', especially when one ship has [[DeflectorShield stasis shields]].

** ''The World at the Edge of Space'' has an {{exaggerated}} version verging on a ColonyDrop: Jessica crashes the stasis-shielded ''Sabrina'' into a planet that's been turned into a gigantic bioweapons laboratory, ramming it all the way ''through'' the planet and out the other side, cracking the crust to the point where magma resurfaces the entire planet in short order. ''And they live to tell about it!''

** The Cestus Assault Ram, as its name implies, is designed primarily to ram into enemy ships or fortresses and discharge its cargo of SpaceMarines inside. The ship is designed around a huge magna-melta that fires just before impact to soften up the surface, while the ceramite prow is more than able to survive immersion in molten metal/concrete.

** In their predecessor, ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', the Yggdrasil accelerates so fast that it starts ''hydroplaning off sand'', all in an attempt to crash the ship on top of [[spoiler:[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Id Welltall,]]]] to keep him from destroying Brigandier and Bart. Subverted in that the tactic ''doesn't'' work. [[spoiler:Id]] [[RightBackAtYa just picks the ship up and drops it on top of Bart instead.]] [[spoiler:"Dropping a battleship on me is cheating... take it back!"]]

* ''VideoGame/StarControlII'''s Androsynth had the "Guardian" ship, which featured Ramming Speed (aka "Blazer form") as its most effective weapon. Moving faster than any other ship in the game and becoming {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le will do that for you...

* Subverted by the most heavily armed variant of Focke-Wulf 190A-8, which carried the name ''Sturmbock'' ("battering ram"). While it exactly wasn't intended to literally ram the Allied bombers, the name implied GermanHumor on implementation for conquering a Flying Fortress...

* ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'': In the finale, the [[AbusivePrecursor Builder]] ship ''Tidal Wave'' (formerly the Decepticon Tidal Wave) is ordered by its captain, Banzai-tron, to ram the [[LaResistance Resistance]] ship ''Broadside'' in a final act of suicidal spite, since Banzai-tron refuses to surrender or flee. The result is a massive explosion which takes out both ships.

* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'' has an event chain wherein you can acquire the Necronomicon, summon [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]], [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone immediately regret your decision]], ''ram him with your ship'', and '''kill the Great Old One.''' No one survives as a witness to this act, but your character gains a modifier called "Godslayer" which comes with some cool benefits.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/StarTrekVoyager https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Voyager_rams_timeship.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries "This is the Greatest PLAAAA-"]]]]

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': In one of the early episodes, Rock [[{{Ramprovisation}} uses a derelict ship to ramp the title boat]], then fire a torpedo directly into an attack helicopter -- and flips them the bird in the process, establishing that Rock's got a bit of attitude behind him after all (as he's normally a somewhat milquetoast accountant and negotiator that plays a rather [[TheChick Chick]]-ish role in the show where violence is concerned).

-->'''Doc:''' Marty, he's in a [[InvincibleClassicCar '46 Ford.]] We're in a DeLorean. He would rip through us like we were tinfoil.

* Neither a plane, a starship, nor a boat, but as it is flying... In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', Marty suggests to Doc that they land on Biff's car and cripple it. Doc points out that Biff's old, [[InvincibleClassicCar steel-body vehicle]] would tear through theirs "like tin foil".

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1522 SCP-1522-1]] does this [[spoiler: as part of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge after its mate, SCP-1522-2, is [[MoralEventHorizon sunk by the GOC launching an unprovoked attack]]]]. It does this at '''''Mach 4'''''. The ship on the receiving end of such a blow is destroyed so thoroughly that even its size and classification cannot be determined. [[LeaveNoSurvivors Not even a lifeboat is left intact.]] SCP-1522-1 survived the impact unscathed, [[DrivenToSuicide but not the aftermath]]. Notable for SCP-1522-1 being a humble fishing trawler.

*** Admiral Holdo of the Resistance puts all the above examples to shame by [[spoiler:aiming the evacuated Resistance cruiser ''Raddus''[[note]][[MeaningfulName Appropriately named for]] Admiral Raddus, the mastermind behind ''Rogue One'''s Hammerhead corvette ploy[[/note]] at the First Order's flagship and ''jumping to hyperspace''. The impact ''bisects'' [[MileLongShip the sixty-kilometer-wide]] ''Supremacy'', and the [=FTL=] debris shreds several nearby destroyers. A character in [[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker the sequel]] brings up "The Holdo Maneuver" as a strategy, but it's shot down as [[AwesomeButImpractical a costly, high-risk move]], despite its destructive potential]].