History Main / SphereOfDestruction

* According to [[AllThereInTheManual the technical manuals]], thermal detonators (of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' fame) behave like this.
** According to the games they appear in, however, they don't. The one in the movie was never detonated.

* Neo and Agent Smith's final battle in ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' produced several [[KungFuSonicBoom perfectly spherical shockwaves]] (made especially visible by the torrential rain).

** Used ''a lot'' in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', especially in the video game adaptations. Sometimes you can apply a [[InactionSequence few cubic feet of air]] for the people who [[KiManipulation shoot these blasts]].

* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' for Answer has Assault Armor, which compresses your [[HumongousMecha NEXT'S]] energy shielding until the [[ToxicPhlebotinum Kojima particles]] that make it explode outwards for a high-damaging blast around your NEXT, conveniently also [[DirtyBomb producing enough Kojima contamination to instantly take down any enemy NEXTs' energy shields]] even if the shockwave doesn't directly hit the opponent. Unfortunately, your own shields will also be disabled for a while after using Assault Armor, leaving you just as vulnerable as your opponent.

* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' for Answer has Assault Armor, which compresses your [[HumongousMecha NEXT'S]] energy shielding until the [[ToxicPhlebotinum Kojima particles]] used to make it explode outwards for a high-damaging blast around your NEXT, conveniently also [[DirtyBomb producing enough Kojima contamination to instantly take down any enemy NEXTs' energy shields]] even if the shockwave doesn't directly hit the opponent. Unfortunately, your own shields will also be disabled for a while after using Assault Armor, leaving you just as vulnerable as your opponent.

* One might well say that nearly ''all'' computer game explosions work like this, as few have variable damage, and nearly none have shrapnel or spalling.

* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' for Answer has Assault Armor which basically detonates your [[HumongousMecha NEXT'S]] nuclear reactor for a high damaging blast around your NEXT.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The Subspace Bombs of ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' do precisely this.
** Technically they send everything within the blast radius into Subspace completely damage free [[spoiler: as we see from the ending of Subspace Emissary when the final boss is defeated and all the locations affected by the bombs are returned.]]
*** Not ''entirely'' damage-free, as in one cutscene where we see the [=ROBs=] at the epicenter of the blast get literally ripped apart by the vacuum forces. Also, [[spoiler: as a consequence of having ''[[NoKillLikeOverkill hundreds]]'' [[NoKillLikeOverkill of subspace bombs detonated inside it at once]], the FloatingContinent is completely and irrevocably destroyed.]]
** Within the gameplay of ''Super Smash Bros'', the SmartBomb from ''VideoGame/StarFox'' is this trope on a smaller scale.
* There's many examples of this in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''. Some recurring ones include the Guilty Resolver spell and some renditions of Explosion.

* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': The Void card used this during the GrandFinale movie.

* ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'': A strategic-class attack spell, banned by international treaty, causes this. When used on a seaborne target, the spell leaves a bowl-shaped hole ''in the ocean'', which quickly becomes a devastating tsunami.
* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'':

[[caption-width-right:250:Who the hell gave [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Fold]] weapons to Gundam fans?]]

* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'': One of Bao's [[LimitBreak Super Moves]] involves him going all ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' on the enemy and encasing himself in a giant sphere of deadly psychic energy.

[[folder:Film]]

** The largest, most obvious example is the [[YinYangBomb Tailed Beast Bomb]]. Depending on the size and density of the attack, the explosion can range from a mountain-destroying sphere, to a [[UpToEleven mountain-range-destroying sphere]], to a county-sized ''cone'' of destruction that extends to space, and ultimately a blast that can destroy a small country. Interestingly, the larger the blast is, the ''less'' of an impact it has on the ground it engulfs, and there is a notable lack of a shockwave, despite the fact that it can cause tsunamis and that ring clouds form around it, similar to a nuke.

** Turned UpToEleven in [[http://kotaku.com/5662499/darth-vader-can-sure-take-a-beating this trailer]] for the sequel (the first video), where Starkiller can ''disintegrate'' {{Mooks}} with his mind. TakeThat, Mace Windu!

Related to ConvectionSchmonvection, DoNotTouchTheFunnelCloud, PillarOfLight and KungFuSonicBoom. Stylistically similar to SphereOfPower.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' frequently employed this; the designers often ignored actual physics in order to create [[RuleOfCool memorable visual images]], at least when the explosions weren't [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic implausibly]] [[CreepyCoolCrosses cross-shaped]].

* Chun-Li's Kikousho attack from ''VideoGame/StreetFighter''.

* ''Manga/{{Bastard}}'': Dark Schneider's Black Sabbath spell in the manga works like this, although it is somewhat justified as being a nuclear explosion contained in a force field, in order to focus all of the energy on one target

Explosions in fiction sometimes have a negligible effect outside of anything in the direct blast radius - buildings and sidewalks have relatively precise chunks taken out of them, but there's precious little singeing or shockwave damage. In the most blatantly overdone cases, the blast radius looks like a huge sphere of negative space 1500 feet across, with neat slices taken out of surrounding buildings, pavement, cars, hillsides, et cetera; there appears to have been no actual ''heat'', let alone shockwaves, emanating from the explosion at all - the only result is that a massive spherical section of the environment appears to be ''missing''.

* ''[[Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss Orguss 02]]'': Subverted when a missile TheManBehindTheMan fires at a city creates one of these - and the citizens find themselves still intact once it passes over them. Until they collapse, coughing up blood - neutron bombs, go figure.

** Lina's best spell, the Giga Slave, is actually all about the sphere. It is capable of destroying anything, including gods, because [[spoiler: it draws upon the power of The Lord of Nightmares, creator deity of all things. However, without being limited to a specific area "Destroy Anything" becomes "Destroy EVERYTHING". The spell is front and center for 3 of the 4 big bad fights of the first 3 seasons, and is mentioned as a last ditch resort against the last big bad. More importantly, it is the driving force of the entire second season.]]

* TimeTravel in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies functions like this. They even go out of their way to show the audience the perfectly spherical damage to nearby fences, buildings, and sidewalks. The purpose of the sphere-of-melt is to prevent the time traveler from [[TeleFrag merging themselves with an unanticipated brick wall.]] A discarded scene idea from [[Film/TheTerminator the first film]] was to have another human sent back from the future die in exactly this manner.

* ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooLittle'': Sergai described his bomb as working this way, claiming it would destroy everything in a thirty-meter radius and nothing outside. Which was important because Sergai himself was going to be present at the function where he was planning to set off the bomb. (However, when the bomb does eventually detonate, high in the sky, it looks like normal ImpressivePyrotechnics.)
* Shows up in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' film series, most prominently in ''Film/ResidentEvilAfterlife'', as a spectacular self-destruct system used by Umbrella in their bases. The device itself is about the size of a briefcase but generates an expanding blue sphere of utter destruction that seems to work more like a black hole than an actual bomb, sucking in everything it touches in a roughly kilometer-sized area until it reaches its maximum range and dissipates, leaving nothing behind but a (mostly) perfectly circular crater.
* The Dark Elves' grenades from ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' is both this and WeaponsThatSuck. Incredibly nasty, it's powerful enough to eliminate a NighInvulnerable SuperSoldier in a single blow.
* Happens twice in ''Film/StarTrekGenerations''.

* Firebombs in ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' are potent explosives, but their strength is mostly centered on the direct point of impact. Enemies and objects on the outer perimeter of the blast will receive some damage, but that’s about it. The only collateral damage from a titanic explosion made by three crates of Firebombs exploding at once, strong enough to [[spoiler:mortally wound an Eldritch Abomination]], were the nearby windows shattering from the shockwave.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' the cleansing of ''saidin'' made a black sphere (described as being BlackerThanBlack) which chopped a spherical section - and the cursed city Shadar Logoth - out of the ground. The damn thing also ''imploded'', which left everyone in the area really windswept, but had a minimal effect on the surrounding area. The city itself and everything inside of it, however, was gone forever.
* One of the [[SuperweaponSurprise superweapons]] in Creator/ArthurCClarke's story "Superiority" is the "Sphere of Annihilation", which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just what it sounds like]]. It's devastating when it works... but [[CoolButInefficient the bugs and delays and logistical limitations]] proved to be the first step in the defeat of the narrator's side by "the ''inferior'' science of our enemies".
* In ''Literature/StarTrekFederation'', a crazed cyborg pursues Zefram Cochrane for centuries in hopes of learning to create a "warp bomb" based on an accident during the warp drive's testing. The effect works, creating a perfectly spherical radius of destruction - but the sphere can never be more than 18 meters across. (Any larger, and the drive works fine.) Conventional weapons are thus much more effective.
* Creator/AlastairReynolds' ''Literature/RevelationSpace'' trilogy gets some weapons that do this in the later books. There's one weapon that just nips everything in a chunk of space out of existence (its a real bitch to calibrate, since the only way to test the settings is to ''use it on your own ship'', if you can't stop off at a convenient planet and use the atmosphere), and the "bubble bombs" which seem to work in a similar fashion.
** Hypometric weapons, they're called. Roughly meaning, in this context, "absence of space-time". Nasty, because they can attack arbitrary points in space... lines of sight not required at all. The little bombs are called "bladder mines", and are used more like conventional warheads.
* Bobbles in Creator/VernorVinge's ''Literature/ThePeaceWar'' and its associated stories have this effect. It wasn't until some time after their first use (as weapons) that it was discovered the silver spheres were actually stasis fields, freezing their contents in time instead of simply destroying them. Then people started using them for one-way TimeTravel.

* Warp grenades in Simon Hawke's ''Literature/TimeWars'' series combine a time machine with a good old-fashioned nuclear device to provide ultimate destructive power within a pre-set (and adjustable) spherical radius, making seemingly neat and clean little nuclear bombs that just happen to have horrific unintended consequences [[spoiler:(the extra destructive force is being shunted into another universe -- an ''inhabited'' other universe, which gets fed up with being nuked and declares war)]].
* The ''Series/BabylonFive'' ExpandedUniverse trilogy ''The Passing of the Techno-Mages'' has Galen accidentally discover a new spell that creates a Sphere of Destruction that, after several seconds, collapses and takes everything in it into another universe. The spheres themselves cannot exceed two meters in diameter. However, there is no limit as to how many or how fast Galen can cast the spell. In a fit of rage, he uses the spell to destroy a skyscraper and level an entire city block by casting it dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
* Yog-Sothoth of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos is literally (made of) Spheres of Destruction: should anyone come into physical contact with "the Key and the Gate", bad stuff happens.
* Literally invoked by Creator/DanBrown in ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' with no apologies to the laws of physics.
-->''As if bound by God's own will, the surging radius seemed to hit a wall. It was as if the explosion were contained somehow in a giant glass sphere. The light rebounded inward, sharpening, rippling across itself. The wave appeared to have reached a predetermined diameter and hovered there.''
* The novo-vacuum in Creator/GregEgan's hard sci-fi novel ''Literature/SchildsLadder'' is an accidentally-created, large-scale version of this: an expanding sphere of 'new' spacetime more stable than our own, annihilating everything it overtakes. Fortunately, it only expands at ''half'' the speed of light.
* ''Literature/TheWillBeDone'' has the Sphere of Destruction. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess how it looks and what it does]]. Despite supposedly being hard to cast, all three times it's used it works just fine. [[spoiler:Well, except for the time when Praen cheated.]]

* Then you have Creator/WhiteWolf's ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' RPG, in which there are at least one spell which fits the trope - the Solar Circle Sorcery spell "Total Annihilation". Invoking the lost name of Ligier, the Green Sun (the sun in Hell, AKA Malfeas), begins with a fifty yard wide, five mile high pillar of green light. Everything caught in it takes major damage as it is destroyed. The pillar grows outward at a rate of 10 yards per second, from twenty five to fifty seconds depending on the caster (a sorcerer with the right hearthstone and good friends can boost this all the way up to 100 seconds).
* ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' has a spell literally called Sphere of Destruction, though that spell isn't nearly as powerful as this trope. More to the point are Divine Level Spells, like Holocaust of Light/Darkness, which ARE this trope.
* If your MagicalGirl incurs too much Magic Overcharge in the game ''TabletopGame/MagicalBurst'', her magical power goes out of control and annihilates everything and everyone (save the most powerful of magical beings) in a sizable radius around her.

* The MIDAS bomb in ''VideoGame/FrontMission3'' works by emitting several rays of energy, which disintegrate everything they touch, randomly along every single angle and vector, until it creates a perfect sphere of light that leaves nothing behind when it fades. In one cutscene, a MIDAS bomb is dropped on a seaside city; skyscrapers are neatly cleft in twain and left standing, and the sea begins rushing back in to fill the space left by the water that was instantly vaporized by the blast.
** Of course, the story starts proper when one malfunctions, but still creates a lovely and very big sphere-shaped hole in what must be several floors of the bunker it was being kept in.
* One mission in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' has the player boarding a disabled Borg cube, [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth only to find a massive, spherical void has been removed from the center of the vessel by an unknown race the Borg attempted to assimilate.]]
* Giga-Graviton, Sin's ultimate weapon in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', does this - with the added side effect that the vacuum created by the blast does even more damage when it resolves.
** Well, it's not so much the vacuum, but the fact that it cut a perfectly cylindrical section out of the land and sea and the laws of physics took a few seconds to realise what was happening.
** The Ultima spell in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX X]]''.
** The Void summoned by Exdeath in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. Justified in that it's a self-expanding, spherical portal into nothingness, so no shockwave is produced.
* Chun-Li's Kikousho attack from ''VideoGame/StreetFighter''.
** From the Marvel crossovers, actually. The original version, in ''Alpha'', was a small ball with energy trails; this became a curved barrier in ''Third Strike''.
** Ibuki's Yoroitoshi [[https://i.imgur.com/mGT9ZtW.jpg becomes this]] since her ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' debut when the initial grab whiffs.
* Particularly bad in ''VideoGame/ScorchedEarth'', where even nuclear weapons exhibit this behavior.

* Most of the weapons of the 2D ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' games leave perfectly circular holes behind, although worms can still be damaged and moved outside the circular blast radius. Explosives in ''Worms 3D'' leave behind spherical craters - sort of. The "poxel" deformable landscape engine is pretty innovative, but the resolution of an individual poxel is quite low - so the craters are essentially "blocky spheres".
* One might well say that nearly ''all'' computer game explosions work like this, as few have variable damage, and nearly none have shrapnel or spalling.
* ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' demonstrates this effect with the Force Repulse ability, which has the main character leap up and emit a shockwave of Force energy in a sphere around him, bowling over any unfortunate souls in his vicinity.

* Cybuster's "Cyflash" attack in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' takes it a step further: It only hurts what the pilot ''wants'' to hit (i.e. Enemy units).
** Shu's mech, the Neo Granzon's ultimate attack, the Shukutaihou, is pretty much this crossed with a black hole. It also seems to get more and more large an destructive in each installment, that by the time of ''2nd Original Genrations'', it seems to be able to create and then destroy a ''galaxy''.
** ''Super Robot Wars'' in general runs with this as Map based attacks.
* The Lightning spell Luminaire in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''.
* Same as the Almighty (aka neutral) spell Megidolaon from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' and ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga''. It has the added bonus that is a transparent dome of energy, and then it detonates like glass, dealing huge damage (of course, strong characters can shrug off several straight Megidolaons, but eh.)

* Some weapons in ''VideoGame/{{Tyrian}}''- the [[LethalJokeItem banana bomb]], in particular- work like this. They create a huge cyan sphere that does damage to everything in its radius, but which pops instantaneously into and out of existence and only persists for a moment.
* The Quantum Deconstructor of Crypto's FlyingSaucer in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans''.
* The Psionic Decimator in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' does this, as an obvious ShoutOut to ''Akira''.
* So does the Ray Sphere in ''VideoGame/InFamous''.
* ''VideoGame/MachinesWiredForWar'' has a ''gravity collapse weapon'' that seems to be a perfect sphere.
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'': One of Bao's [[LimitBreak Super Moves]] involves him going all ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' on the enemy and encasing himself in a giant sphere of deadly psychic energy.
* The MPBM of ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar''-- the blast itself is a sphere, but the hitbox is a strangely shaped area of death... that's larger than the screen engulfing blast when it's fired by the ADFX-01... and thankfully smaller when it's fired by [[FinalBoss the ADFX-02]].
* The Golden Undead Warrior's berserker move in ''VideoGame/GuardianHeroes''. It causes him to charge up for a few seconds and then unleash a gigantic explosion which will kill or severely maim anything it hits, in addition to knocking them clean offscreen. Just... pray you don't get hit by anyone while he uses it, or it'll hit (and kill) you too.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' focusing on "Unarmed" with Jessica rewards you with the "Magic Burst" super powerful attack.
* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' for Answer has Assault Armor which basically detonates your [[HumongousMecha NEXT'S]] nuclear reactor for a high damaging blast around your NEXT.
* The Quirium Cascade Mine (or "Q-bomb") in ''VideoGame/{{Oolite}}'' generates a literal Sphere of Destruction which, when it touches most objects, vaporizes them and causes ''them'' to generate one.
* ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'': [[spoiler: Berserker Asura uses these in episode 12 along with KamehameHadouken's after completely losing his shit when an innocent girl that's a lot like his daughter in looks is killed by Olga to destroy her and her space fleet. When pressing the [[LimitBreak burst]] button, he creates much bigger ones of these with each press of a burst, and effectively makes Olga retreat with her tail between her legs.]]
** In the Episode IV DLC [[spoiler: the TrueFinalBoss uses these as attacks in his final form.]]
* Cliff's aptly named "Sphere of Might" in VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime
** The Dark Sphere spell that [=PCs=] and enemies alike use has a chance of instantly [=KOing=] the target. Gravitation has a similar scheme, only with a different color and merely slows you down.
* There's many examples of this in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''. Some recurring ones include the Guilty Resolver spell and some renditions of Explosion.
** From ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', there's Dhaos with his signature Dhaos Corridor[=/=]Dhaos Blast, which generates a sphere of energy around him and sends the victims flying. His {{Expy}} Sekundes from ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' later received it (titled "Sekundes Corridor"), as did [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Yggdrasill]] (albeit renamed "Outburst") and [[VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2 Chronos]] (as "Chronos Collider".)
* In [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog his self-titled game]] and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Blast turns him into one. Although, he can also focus it down to a KamehameHadoken for more precise aiming.
* In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', Nobunaga's LimitBreak was changed into this in the third game.

* Taki generates one in the intro to ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur II'' ([[CutscenePowerToTheMax and nowhere else.]])
* In ''Franchise/MegaMan'', most explosions are shown as yellow-rimmed white spherical blasts, with both exploding bots and the various explosive weapons.
* Some sufficiently large explosions in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsGundam'' will do this. Most of the pertinent examples are [[LimitBreak SP attacks]], such as the air based attack for the Gundam Double X, which fires a blast into the ground that causes an explosion at ground level--in space you can see that it's actually a sphere.
* ''VideoGame/{{Nier}}'': Emil's Ultimate attack negates the existence of everything around him in a sphere. Unfortunately, he doesn't have control over when he gets to use this; the first time, he accidentally destroys a village while erasing the existence of the monster ruling over it. The second time, he uses it on instinct while [[spoiler:Popola]] is busy crushing him to death, but it destroys the skeleton part of his body, leaving him a disembodied stone head.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Exosquad}}'s'' second season, J.T. Marsh's E-Frame is equipped with a Solar Flare, and expanding field of energy that destroys anything caught in it except the E-Frame generating it. When he uses it in battle, it carves out a neat curve in part of a mountain caught in the edge of the effect.

* In theory any explosion in space or similar event (supernova, nova, etc) would fit this trope. In practice, interactions with the interstellar medium, different speeds of the ejecta, presence of a companion star,etc. make the remnant to have other shapes. However there [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1572 are]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeis_147 some]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_3568 exceptions]][[note]]This one is rather a subversion since planetary nebulae tend to have a considerably lower expansion speed than supernova remmants as the other two. If a supernova is a dying scream, a planetary nebula is a dying whisper[[/note]] (more or less).

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' frequently employed this; the designers often ignored actual physics in order to create [[RuleOfCool memorable visual images]], at least when the explosions weren't [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic implausibly]] [[CreepyCoolCrosses cross shaped]].
* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'':
** Lina Inverse's initial ultimate spell works much like this; everything inside the Dragon Slave's blast radius is devastated, while nothing outside of it is even touched. Other destructive spells in the series also usually omit shockwaves, but its harder to notice because if somebody is throwing regular fireballs around they tend to throw ''a lot'' of them.
** Lina's best spell, the Giga Slave, is actually all about the sphere. It is capable of destroying anything, including gods, because [[spoiler: it draws upon the power of The Lord of Nightmares, creator deity of all things. However, without being limited to a specific area "Destroy Anything" becomes "Destroy EVERYTHING". The spell is front and center for 3 of the 4 big bad fights of the first 3 seasons, and is mentioned as a last ditch resort against the last big bad. More importantly, it is the driving force of the entire second season.]]

* The antibody coralians in ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' attack in this fashion, blowing precise, spherical holes into buildings (and anyone unfortunate enough to be in that part of said building).
* Sho, the protagonist of the ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' anime is encased in a gravity-based Sphere of Destruction as protection during his TransformationSequence. The villains use this to their advantage in one episode, handcuffing Sho to his girlfriend in the knowledge that if he transformed, the sphere would annihilate her.
* Subverted in ''[[Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss Orguss 02]]'', when a missile TheManBehindTheMan fires at a city creates one of these - and the citizens find themselves still intact once it passes over them. Until they collapse, coughing up blood - neutron bombs, go figure.
* The dome around Mugen/Infinity Academy during the climax of ''Anime/SailorMoon S''. The Sailor Scouts are even able to hold its expansion by using their powers at its exact border.
** The {{Big Bad}}s of the first two seasons [[spoiler: are destroyed this way, Queen Beryl and the Negaforce with a giant energy ball, and Wiseman with an exploding energy wave powered by two silver crystals, although in Wiseman's case the other Sailor Scouts may have been in the blast radius and were not harmed at all.]]
* In ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', these make up most of the attacks of wide-area spell users like Reinforce and Hayate. Even [[WaveMotionGun Starlight Breaker]] was turned into a city-wide Sphere of Destruction in the hands of Reinforce.

* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': This is one of Velgemon's attacks, and being the upgraded form, it is quite lethal.

* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura's'' Void card used this during the GrandFinale movie.
* Dark Schneider's Black Sabbath spell in the manga ''Manga/{{Bastard}}'' works like this, although it is somewhat justified as being a nuclear explosion contained in a force field, in order to focus all of the energy on one target
* Several jutsu in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' have a similar effect:

* The Festum in ''Anime/FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' seem to shoot small black holes at their targets; the visible effect is a purple sphere for a couple of seconds which then disappears leaving a perfect spherical void. They appear to have a pull effect as one unfortunate RedShirt found out in the first episode.
** They explode into black holes when destroyed as well. The same technology is somehow incorporated into the Fafner's [[TakingYouWithMe Fenrir System]].
* Masamori's Zekkai is a tiny Sphere of Destruction in ''Manga/{{Kekkaishi}}''.
* One of [[spoiler:Kuma]]'s powers, especially Ursus Shock in ''Manga/OnePiece.'' In his case it doesn't seem to vaporize anything, just knock out all of the people and leave most of the architecture still standing, despite being an explosion of compressed air.

* A strategic-class attack spell, banned by international treaty, in ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'' causes this. When used on a seaborne target, the spell leaves a bowl-shaped hole ''in the ocean'', which quickly becomes a devastating tsunami.
* Firing the [[WaveMotionGun Angel Arm]] in ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' has this effect both at the target and, if used at a high enough power, at the point of origin.
* It is implied that this is how the Tokyo Jupiter from ''Anime/RahXephon'' came to be. Detonating a Trans-Dimensional Drive can also create one artificially although no one has the idea of weaponizing it until the final battle.
* Manga/{{Zeorymer}} [[spoiler:and Great Zeorymer]]'s Mei-Oh Kougeki.
* Spoofed in the first five minutes of ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'', when [[RobotGirl Nano]] [[CrashIntoHello runs into a random schoolboy]]. While it certainly ''looks'' impressive, the end result is just Nano and the boy getting stuck on different roofs (although Nano could easily get down [[ShrinkingViolet if she weren't so timid]]), and a bunch of small items being thrown around the town (most of which end up falling on [[FieryRedhead Yuko's]] head).

* In the self-titled game and ''VideoGame/Sonic2006'', Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Blast turns him into one.
* In ''Videogame/SengokuBasara'', Nobunaga's LimitBreak was changed into this in the third game.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', one of Shadow's most powerful attacks, Chaos Blast, usually manifests as this, though he can also focus it down to a KamehameHadoken for more precise aiming.

** Before that, the finale of the Ace VS Blackbeard fight ends with [[http://www.mangareader.net/103-2548-27/one-piece/chapter-441.html a clash of the two's big guns]]. [[spoiler: Blackbeard's unnamed one wins]].

* Chun-Li's Kikousho attack from ''StreetFighter''.
** From the Marvel crossovers, actually. The original version, in Alpha, was a small ball with energy trails; this became a curved barrier in Third Strike.
* Ibuki's Yoroitoshi [[https://i.imgur.com/mGT9ZtW.jpg becomes this]] since her ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII]]'' debut when the initial grab whiffs.

* In the self-titled game and Sonic 2006, Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Blast turns him into one.