History Main / SelfDamagingAttackBackfire

* In ''VideoGame/HenryStickmin: Infiltrating The Airship'', when facing Right Hand Man in a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' battle, if Henry attempts to use magic, the fire blast will be thrown back at him after [=RHM=] placed an AttackReflector.

* In ''TabletopGames/MutantsAndMasterminds'', one of the stated effects for one level of Side Effect is having the negative effect happen on a miss, or if the target succeeds in resisting it.

* Primrose (and anyone with the Dancer job) in ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' can use Bewildering Grace, which may have a beneficial effect like dealing damage... or a negative effect like damaging ''your'' party. If you're lucky, it'll just be ScratchDamage. If you're unlucky, it'll ''leave everyone in the party with zero MP and BP and [[HPToOne only one HP]]''.

* VideoGame/Doom3: In addition to the standard SplashDamage from the Rocket Launcher, the [[{{BFG}} BFG 9000]] not only also has splash damage but can be overloaded and instantly kill you if you charge it up for too long.

* ''VideoGame/Dota2'': Alchemist's ''Unstable Concoction'' ability has him whip up an unstable, exploding compound in a vial that he can throw at enemies to damage and stun them. The longer he holds onto the concoction, the more damage it deals and the longer the stun. However, if he doesn't throw it in time, the concoction explodes in his hand, causing him to take the damage and stun instead.

** Scout's Boston Basher has the helpful description of "On Miss: Hit yourself. Idiot."

SubTrope of CriticalFailure, which covers failed attacks in general. Can overlap with DeadlyDodging. Related to AttackingThroughYourself. Compare HoistByHisOwnPetard, when the use of a weapon or plan not only backfires, but leads to the user's death or at least defeat. See also the FriendlyFireIndex for tropes about those times your attacks accidentally (or "accidentally") hurt your allies instead of (or in addition to) yourself.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', Ron Weasley tries to cast a slug-vomiting spell on Draco Malfoy with his broken wand. It backfires, causing Ron to vomit slugs instead. [[spoiler:Before the climax, the same happens to Gilderoy Lockhart when he tries to wipe the memories of Ron and Harry Potter.]]

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** Some side specials, such as Little Mac's Jolt Haymaker in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros4'', send their user flying sideways and render them helpless. Of course, if you mess up and accidentally send yourself flying off the stage with one of them, you're doomed.

* Devil weapons (especially the [[AnAxeToGrind Devil Axe]]) in ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' are powerful weapons that boast very high might with little need of training but is offset with a chance of dealing damage to the wielder instead of the opponent. Since the enemy often has less stats than you, it's much more painful if it reverse back to you. The reduced chance of self-infliction is usually based on luck but ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' lowers the devil effect based on level (which will also reset upon class change).

* Primrose (and anyone with the Dancer job) in ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' can use Bewildering Grace, which may have a beneficial effect like dealing damage... or a negative effect like damaging ''your'' party. If you're lucky, it'll just be ScratchDamage. If you're unlucky, it'll ''leave everyone in the party with zero MP and PP and [[HPToOne only one HP]]''.

* VideoGame/Doom3: In addition to the standard SplashDamage from the Rocket Launcher, the [[BFG BFG9000]] not only also has splash damage but can be overloaded and instantly kill you if you charge it up for too long.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/AskWhitePearlAndStevenAlmostAnything https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/selfdamagingattackbackfire_askwhitesteven.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Jasper vs. Diamond.]] Diamond Wins.]]

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** Some side specials, such as Little Mac's Jolt Haymaker in ''Smash 4'', send their user flying sideways and render them helpless. Of course, if you mess up and accidentally send yourself flying off the stage with one of them, you're doomed.

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* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Setzer's special command, Slot, can roll the combination of 7-7-Bar. When that happens, [[TotalPartyKill everyone in your party dies]]. Game over, man, unless you had Reraise or are exploiting a {{Good Bad Bug|s}} that redirects this effect onto your opponents. This feature carries over to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' in Cait Sith's Slot Limit Break, with the 7s being replaced by sections of Cait Sith's face.

** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' features a major enemy — [[spoiler:the PostFinalBoss]] — who doesn't let you attack at all. However, its attacks mysteriously come back and hit it if you can dodge them. Most other opportunities to counterattack require you to hit projectiles back with a hammer or directly hit/jump on the enemy.

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Rarely, when going for a regular attack, there is a chance of the character overshooting their attack and stumbling, causing themselves to fall over and either lose their next turn (in vanilla ''3'' and ''FES'') or be vulnerable to extra damage (in ''4'' and ''Persona 3 Portable'', in which fallen party members get up on their next turn or when an ally helps them up). In ''3'', ranged weapons wouldn't cause this, giving them a small extra benefit despite their lower accuracy.

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* In [[https://tapas.io/episode/1983101 Season 3, Episode 57]] of ''Webcomic/AskWhitePearlAndStevenAlmostAnything'' , when Jasper tries hitting Steven in the head with her crash-helmet, it breaks the helmet and poofs Jasper while Steven is perfectly fine, his gem protecting him from any potential head-trauma. Even with whatever impurities the White Diamond's gem may have had, diamond is one the hardest substances in the universe while gem-weapons are just HardLight constructs. Since Jasper can crush boulders and poof gems in one attack, apply that kind of force to a nigh-indestructible object and the sheer physics of it would be painful.

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* ''ComicStrip/FootrotFlats: The Dog's Tale'': During the rugby match, Wal throws an uppercut in the scrum, and ends up punching himself. To add insult to injury, the referee tells him that next time he punches himself, he'll be sent off.

* Every weapon has a chance of critical failure in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', which it calls a Fumble. Fumbles cause the character to drop their weapon on (insert body part here) and hurt themselves.