History Main / SpinToDeflectStuff

A good thing to note is that this ''is'' TruthInTelevision. Sort of. A few hundred years ago, when bows were the norm rather than guns, there were some people - black-belt martial artists or the equivalent in skill - who trained with a staff and ''could'' spin it fast enough to deflect arrows.

Of course, now we do it for bullets and lasers, but nobody seems to mind a lot because [=~Everything's Better with Spinning~=].

* Tuxedo Mask of ''{{Sailor Moon}}'' did this with his fancy cane/wand (it looks like a magicians' wand, but is probably meant to be a cane) on several occasions.

* Two decades before [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Aang]], Ranma from ''[=~Ranma ½~=]'' spun a simple wooden staff to deflect fire. The difference is, Ranma is a normal human, was afflicted with a shiatsu point that increased his sensitivity to heat (even lukewarm water was painful,) and her ([[GenderBender at the time]]) hands weren't even singed. The next time he used a staff as a defensive measure, he explicitly blocked the attacks by swinging it instead of spinning it.
* Here's an example that actually makes sense in some regards: Joey in the sixth volume of ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'' spins around Yugi's Millennium Puzzle (which is on a string) to act as a shield against several yo-yo wielding thugs. It doesn't deflect them, but instead tangles them up, rendering them useless.

* A Cubone did this with its club to block Pikachu's Thundershock in an early episode of ''[[{{Anime/ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokémon]]''... despite the fact that as a Ground type Pokemon, electricity is null and void.
** You forget that it's ASH'S Pikachu, with the [[ScrewTheRulesIHavePlot magical ability]] to slaughter Ground types with electrical attacks. That Cubone was {{Badass}} by being able to recognize this reality-reversing surprise in advance and properly defend against it.

[[folder:Films - Animation]]

[[folder:Films - Live Action]]

* Done in ''[=~X-Men Origins: Wolverine~=]'' rather impressively; [[{{Deadpool}} Wade]] walks into a room full of {{Mooks}} and manages to deflect all the bullets fired at him using rapidly spinning [[DualWielding dual-wielded]] [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]]. Let's just put this one up to {{Rule Of Cool}}, shall we?
* In Beverly Hills Ninja, Chris Farley's character, [[McNinja Haru]], deflects the bullets Tanley shoots at him with his two swords, [[FridgeLogic and not spun very fast either]].

* {{MAG ISA}} -- How will Eman get out of [[http://www.drunkduck.com/MAG_ISA/index.php?p=720959 this attack from all sides]]?
* Pictured above: Madeline the Paladin deflects some thrown daggers with her {{Weapon of Choice}} [[ImprobableWeaponUser (a hoe)]] in [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level2/level-2-11/ this strip]] of ''[[{{Webcomic/ptitle6n0n2muo}} Rusty and Co.]]''

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* [[SuperSpeed Tachyon]] of the [[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Global Guardians]] once used this technique and a length of steel pipe to deflect automatic weapons fire.

* Given Aang's {{Weapon of Choice}}, this is inevitable in ''[=~Avatar: The Last Airbender~=]''. But he has airbending to help lend speed to his staff spin.
** It also created a buffer of air that helped deflect or stop attacks, making this example somewhat justified.

* So can Robin from ''TeenTitans''.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* In BeverlyHillsNinja, [[ChrisFarley Haru]] deflects the bullets Tanley shoots at him with his two swords, [[FridgeLogic and not spun very fast either]].

** Actually, she does a quick slash with her sword that makes a spinning blue vortex that deflects projectiles. Patchouli and Aya would be more accurate examples, as Patchouli has a move that spins around to create a shield of wind, and Aya does the same - in spell card form - and can function it as an attack too.

* There are at least two instances of this in ''KingdomHeartsII'', both within boss battles. The first is about halfway through the game [[spoiler:in Timeless River, in which Pete attempts to escape on a steamboat. He creates objects that fly towards Sora, who spins his Keyblade in a reaction command to deflect them before knocking them right back at Pete]]. The second occurrence is at the end of the game [[spoiler:during the last battle with Xemnas, whose desperation attack surrounds Sora and Riku with hundreds of red laser bullets. The player must mash two buttons to command the pair to dodge about and spin their Keyblades nonstop to deflect the incoming projectiles]].

[[quoteright:331:[[Webcomic/{{ptitle6n0n2muo}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rustyandco_spintodeflect.jpg]]]]

* Madeline the Paladin in ''[[Webcomic/{{ptitle6n0n2muo}} Rusty and Co.]]'' (the image above).

[[quoteright:331:[[RustyAndCo http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rustyandco_spintodeflect.jpg]]]]

* Pictured above: Madeline the Paladin deflects some thrown daggers with her {{Weapon of Choice}} [[ImprobableWeaponUser (a hoe)]] in [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level2/level-2-11/ this strip]] of ''Rusty & Co.''

[[RustyAndCo quoteright:331:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rustyandco_spintodeflect.jpg]]

[[quoteright:331:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rustyandco_spintodeflect.jpg]]

A good thing to note is that this ''is'' TruthInTelevision. A few hundred years ago, when bows were the norm rather than guns, there were some people - black-belt martial artists or the equivalent in skill - who trained with a staff and ''could'' spin it fast enough to deflect arrows.

Naturally, the reason this works so well is because [=~Everything's Better with Spinning~=].

* Donatello and Master Splinter from ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' do this on what must be an episodic basis with their SimpleStaff. Leonardo and Michelangelo also do it frequently.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* Slightly subverted in ''{{Mulan}}'', when Captain Shang uses his spinning SimpleStaff to deflect rocks thrown by his students: although he successfully deflects them, it's clear that he's specifically blocking individually attacks, not simply spinning his staff so fast that attacks can't penetrate. When other characters (specifically Mulan herself) try the same thing, without proper training they just end up twirling their staff uselessly as stones pelt them.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* Katt's defensive stance in ''{{Breath of Fire}}'' II'' shows her spinning her [[SimpleStaff staff]] faster than humanly possible.
* Used in ''{{Wonder Boy in Monster World}}'' with all spear weapons to make up for the lack of a shield, funny thing is that you can actually do CollisionDamage TO the enemy if they touch the spinning spear.

* [[StarFox DO A]] [[MemeticMutation BARREL ROLL!]]

* More of a "spin your whole ship" variant, but how could we forget StarFox and its immortal [[MemeticMutation barrel roll]]? In StarFox 64, both the Arwing (nimble spacecraft) and Landmaster (tank) are capable of a spin maneuver that deflects most types of enemy projectiles.

* The title character in ''{{Karas}}'' can do this ''without holding his sword'', and is used both offensively (flying buzzsaw style) and defensively ([[{{SpinToDeflectStuff}} as in this trope...]]) seeing as magic is involved in empowering said sword and the armor... this isn't as implausible as it sounds. This is carried over into his appearance in ''[[{{CapcomVsWhatever}} Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]]'' in its defensive variant.

* Variation in ''{{Naruto}}'': Neji Hyuga does this by spinning ''his entire body around'' like a spinning top, creating a kind of vortex that blocks all projectiles. Good thing he has the traditional ninja immunity to dizziness.

* Slightly subverted in Mulan, when Captain Shang uses his spinning SimpleStaff to deflect rocks thrown by his students: although he successfully deflects them, it's clear that he's specifically blocking individually attacks, not simply spinning his staff so fast that attacks can't penetrate. When other characters (specifically Mulan herself) try the same thing, without proper training they just end up twirling their staff uselessly as stones pelt them.

* Done in ''[=~X-Men Origins: Wolverine~=]'' rather impressively; [[DeadPool Wade]] walks into a room full of {{Mooks}} and manages to deflect all the bullets fired at him using rapidly spinning [[DualWielding dual-wielded]] [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]]. Let's just put this one up to {{Rule Of Cool}}, shall we?

* In ''SengokuBasara'' Yukimura blocks attacks by spinning one of his spears. Then again the whole game runs on RuleOfCool.

* In [[TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]], you have to do this to defeat the wizard Agahnim. Of course, it's a lot easier to do it with the [[ImprovisedWeapon bug-catcher's net]].

** Also, to be fair, Neji (and his clan) have near 360 degree vision, so his visual clues wouldn't seem to be spinning. That doesn't answer how his inner ears don't get all messed up, [[SoYeah so, yeah.]]

* '' ViewtifulJoe'' has a spin kick move, which, yes, deflects attacks.

* Done in ''[=~X-Men Origins: Wolverine~=]'' rather impressively; Wade walks into a room full of {{Mooks}} and manages to deflect all the bullets fired at him using rapidly spinning [[DualWielding dual-wielded]] [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]]. Let's just put this one up to {{Rule Of Cool}}, shall we?