Some attacks have significant recoil that prevent them from being used safely and effectively, so they require the user to anchor oneself securely before firing or figuring out a way to counteract the recoil (in cases of mecha, by using thrusters).
To show how powerful these attacks are, multiple anchors may be used, and some of them may come loose during the attack itself, or the ground where the attack takes place crumbles under the recoil.
A Dual Mode Unit may have this, usually for an artillery mode, and also require a Transformation Sequence.
May be related to Missing Backblast and/or Law of Inverse Recoil. Might involve Stance System. This trope justifies Do Not Run with a Gun. If the anchor is another character who holds onto you and aims you at the target, you're an Equippable Ally. Someone who's always in this stance is a Mighty Glacier.
Compare Sentry Gun, turrets that you have to anchor to a surface (floor, wall, ceiling) to work; contrast Removable Turret Gun. Also compare Charged Attack, Blade Brake, and Sword Plant. See also Stationary Enemy.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime and Manga
- The Big O: The Big O's Final Stage requires it to anchor itself to the ground before firing its BFG Chest Blaster.
- Bleach: In order to counter her bankai's tremendous recoil, Sui-Feng has to anchor herself to a large stationary object by wrapping a heavy metal sash around it, making her largely immobile. The one time we see her doing this is against Baraggan, where she wraps the sash around the building she's standing on, and even then, the force of the bankai's explosion is so great that it blows the building away and tears the sash apart, sending Sui-Feng flying.
- The Brave Express Might Gaine provides an example of what happens when a BFG is used and this trope isn't in play, as despite digging his heels in Great Might Gaine in Perfect Mode still gets forced backwards by the kickback of firing the Perfect Cannon at full power, and the mecha only just manages to retain his footing once all's said and done.
- Brave Command Dagwon, part of the same series as Might Gaine, similarly has Fire Dagwon get blown back an enormous distance by the recoil of firing the Infinity Cannon. Power Dagwon, the upgrade to Fire, shows off both his incredible strength and the utility of his shoulder-mounted backhoe by using it as a brace that lets him fire the Infinity Cannon without moving an inch.
- In The Law of Ueki, many of the titular character's Celestial weapons are used this way. As he is both a Celestial and a power user, Ueki's Celestial weapons are infused by his power to turn trash into trees, meaning they are summoned as trees and typically are in a form literally rooted to the ground.
- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Reflection takes this to Rule of Cool levels with Fate's finishing attack against Levi when she uses binding spells to anchor her weapon to her own magic circle (which is floating in the air).
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team: while the Gundam Ground Type can use its 180mm Cannon while not anchored, it can plant its shield on the group to act as an elevated firing position. The Ez 8 has anchoring equipment on its knees that can plant itself on the ground for stability when using the same weapon.
- After War Gundam X: Gundam Virsago stretches out its arms and digs its claws into the ground before firing its Chest Break cannon.
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans: Gundam Flauros' Shelling Mode transforms it into a quadruped stance with its shields used to anchor itself to the ground to absorb the recoil of its Backpack Cannon.
- In Mazinkaiser episode 3, Kouji isn't skilled enough to handle Mazinkaiser's Fire Blaster attack as its amazing recoil knocks the machine on its butt. When he goes to finish off Dr. Hell's latest monster, he asks Sayaka and Boss to use their machines to brace Mazinkaiser. Thankfully, by the next episode, this problem is solved.
- One Piece: Luffy creates the Gum Gum Windmill at Arlong Park, where he twists his body into a coil and then allows himself to unwind while holding a target to spin them at a dizzying rate. The attack successfully takes out Moomoo and a large chunk of Arlong's forces, but Luffy also finds he can't pull his feet free easily.
- SSSS.DYNɅZENON has Kaiser Gridknight, who uses the Dynamic Cannon as a Shoulder Cannon. The recoil is so great that the combination has to deploy the claws of Dyna Rex on its heels to anchor itself to the ground, just so it's not blown away from the blast.
- SSSS.GRIDMAN: Buster Borr's treads are used to stabilize Full Power Gridman when using the Twin Buster Grid Beam.
- In Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: New Century, this is required for the Geno Saurer, Geno Breaker, and Berserk Fury to fire their Wave-Motion Gun, the Charged Particle Cannon. The recoil is so great that they would otherwise topple over. However, the Geno Breaker was shown to counter this by using its rear thrusters while firing, allowing it to use the Charged Particle Cannon in the air or on the ground, and to swivel without destroying its ankles.
Literature
- In The Bands of Mourning, Ranette gives Wax an extremely overpowered shotgun, designed to be used against enemies with Super-Toughness. Wax has to increase his weight before firing the gun, or he'll be knocked flying by the recoil.
- High School Dx D: One of Issei's Illegal Move Triaina forms, Welsh Blaster Bishop, replaces the wings of his Draconic Humanoid armour with a pair of huge Backpack Cannons that can fire a Wave-Motion Gun (modelled after that of the Gundam Double X), and adds clawed "fingers" to his knees that extend to embed themselves in the ground before firing. However, after uniting all three Triaina forms into Cardinal Crimson Queen, its Super-Toughness allows him to fire the cannons without bracing (and its altered wing structure means he can even use them while flying).
- INVADERS of the ROKUJYOUMA!?: Theia's "Combat Dress", introduced in volume 16, incorporates a Jet Pack and Anti-Gravity hardpoints, letting her zip around at high speeds while hex-wielding BFGs. So it's saying something when the heavily-armoured Guardian Yellow loadout includes a weapon with recoil so intense (described as a gunpowder cannon with a railgun for a barrel) that she still needs to anchor herself in the ground before she can fire it.
- Knight's & Magic: the cape-like structures on the Goldleo and Jilbatiga come equipped with hidden spikes that extend into the ground as anchors before they fire their Blast Howling attack.
Live-Action TV
- Kamen Rider:
- In Kamen Rider Kabuto, the Finishing Move Maximum Hyper Cyclone has such tremendous recoil that Kabuto must create a backblast with Hyper Clock Up in order to withstand itnote .
- Kamen Rider Zero-One: Vulcan's Super Mode "Rampage Vulcan" is covered in animal sculptures representing the ten Progrise Keys which were combined to create it, though normally it can only tap into a few of their powers at a time. Its "Rampage Speed" mode can extend a single wing from the Falcon sculpture to grant Vulcan Flight, while "Rampage Power" makes him so heavy that his steps crack the ground. His Limit Break "Rampage All Blast" anchors itself before firing by activating both of these at once, with the Falcon wing extending to stab itself into the ground.
- Kamen Rider Gotchard: Fire Gotchard upgrades all of Gotchard's basic forms with the addition of a gigantic jetpack capable of making him move fast enough to Flash Step. When he wants to move even faster than that for his Finishing Move, he extends an array of chains to pin him to the ground long enough to let the jetpack fully rev up, with the chains eventually shattering from the strain and letting him kick the enemy fast enough to send them both flying miles away in seconds. Gotchard has a heat shield to protect him from the air friction of moving that quickly...in the form of the enemy, who isn't so lucky and gets vaporized.
- In the Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger movie, Dekaranger Robo's "Full Blast Custom" configuration outfits it with a "Blast Launcher" and a ballistic shield with mounted Gatling guns. For its Finishing Move, it jams the shield into the ground and uses it as a brace so it can fire the Launcher at full power.
Video Games
- Starcraft has multiple Dual Mode Unit that fill this requirement:
- The iconic Siege Tanks look like normal (if double-barreled) tanks out of the factory, but can deploy into an immobile artillery gun with enormous range and damage.
- Lurkers can only attack while burrowed, leaving them invisible but unable to move. While burrowed, they can attack with subterranean spikes over very long distances.
- In Legacy of the Void, the Liberator has a similar mechanic: it can move and attack air units, or hover and attack any enemies in a target area for long range.
- In Super Robot Wars: Original Generation 2nd, the BuJakuOh's final attack has it extend its Backpack Cannon to great length, then deploy a set of claws that anchor it into the ground, becoming a giant humanoid artillery platform.
- In Super Robot Wars Z 3, the Asclepius's final attack has it anchor itself with dimensional portals from which it draws power for its BFG.
- In Dark Souls the Dragonslayer's Greatbow has to be anchored in the ground to be fired, since it was made large enough to... well... slay dragons.
- Command & Conquer:
- Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun:
- The Brotherhood of Nod utilizes the uncreatively named "Artillery" unit. Unable to fire while moving, they were capable of deploying to gain a, quite frankly, ridiculous range. Before nerfs to their damage this range, along with their accuracy, made them flat-out Game Breakers.
- The Firestorm expansion adds a triple-barrelled version for the GDI. It does less damage per shot, but fires more quickly.
- Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars:
- The Global Defense Initiative's 'Juggernaut' and 'Behemoth' Chicken Walkers are triple-barreled Artillery platforms . The elevated position of their enormous barrels gives them amazing range, but they cannot fire on the move and need to deploy stabilizers before firing. Worth noting that they can begin walking instantaneously, retracting stabilizers as they move, it's the deploying that takes time.
- The Brotherhood of Nod makes use of the 'Spectre' Artillery platform. This is a dual-mode vehicle which is usually quite speedy and Invisibility Cloaked. But upon wanting to fire it anchors six spider-like legs into the ground, a process that takes several seconds, loses its invisibility cloak, and only then can it fire its massive cannon.
- The Chinese Nuke Cannon in Generals has to deploy four anchors on the ground before it can raise its cannon and fire, and it has to lower the cannon and withdraw the anchors to move again. This is Competitive Balance at its finest: this lack of immediate mobility compensates for its superior firepower compared to USA and GLA's own long-range artillery unitsnote .
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3: Uprising gives the Allies the Pacifier, a hovering parody of the Terran Siege Tank that also floats on water (although its immobile, long-range bombardment form can only be used on land).
- Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun:
- In Eternal Darkness, the chapter where you play as Edward Roivas features an elephant gun as a hidden weapon you can get by saving his servants from the monster stalking the mansion. When you aim it, he'll take a moment to steady himself and adjust his feet to stay stable. Firing it before this will knock him on his arse.
- In League of Legends, Xerath the Magus Ascendant is an Energy Being whose Ultimate ability lets him root himself to the ground and deliver a devastating magical barrage from a punishingly great distance.
- Series EV2 in Dungeon Defenders 2 does this to use her Proton Charge attack. Being a robot, her legs transform for a four point balance.
- Fairyside: The "Large bat" boss needs to stay still while firing its projectiles.
- Sion/Eltnum from Melty Blood/Under Night In-Birth's Barrel Replica Limit Break has her anchoring herself with multiple Etherlite chains to the ground before firing a massive laser from her handgun.
- Elsword: Rena and Chung have their own "Siege Mode" skills where they stand completely still while firing stronger shots from her bow and his BFG.
- The Laser Tracer from Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is "a vehicular-sized laser cannon retrofitted to be carried by a single person." Firing it requires the user stand still in exchange for more offensive power than anything except the R.Y.N.O.
- In MechWarrior Living Legends, the Long Tom Artillery Tank and its lesser brother the Thumper must be anchored down before firing their massive cannons. The Long Tom can smite a medium mech from across the map, while the Thumper can pump out constant high velocity cannon fire. In other tanks or Humongous Mecha, deploying or crouching makes establishing a Missile Lock-On much faster and is all-but required for the Arrow IV cruise missiles.
- In Zone of the Enders whenever Jehuty whishes to use the Vector Cannon it has to anchor itself to any solid surface it can find before it can fire. This can be whatever cliffs that happen to be around or a battleship, sometimes the very same battleship Jehuty is aiming at.
- Bahamut's Overdrive, Megaflare in Final Fantasy X. He braces his (normally bipedal) body against the ground while digging his claws into the ground to absorb the recoil. Even so, the ensuing blast (which is bigger than he is) still pushes him back slightly.
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero: The Super Mega Puff keeps Shantae in place, so the arrow keys that are usually used to move her around, can instead be used to designate in which direction she fires the electricity.
- Samus uses her suit's built-in jet pack as retrorockets when firing her Zero Laser in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, presumably to keep herself from being blown away by the massive recoil.
- In the Switch version of Pokkén Tournament, Blastoise's Burst Attack entails using the Arm Cannons in their Mega Evolved form to create ice anchors to hold themself in place while using their large shell cannon to unleash a Wave-Motion Gun-scale Hydro Pump blast.
- In Ring of Red, 4-Legged AFW's deploy stabilizers from their legs when aiming. This ranges from fold-out toes to entire extra feet. Some models even have a firing shovel that folds down.
- Warframe: The Voidrig Necramech's Guard Mode braces it on the ground to handle the recoil of its Arquebex archguns.
- Dawn of War: In the first game, the Tau empire has access to XV88 Broadside battlesuits, which in this game need to anchor themselves to the ground when they switch from their small missile launchers to their devastating railguns.
- Halo Wars:
- The Cobra armored car is a Captain Ersatz of StarCraft's siege tank. It sports a pair of light railguns, but its special ability locks it down and unfurls a single, larger railgun so powerful that its entire turret assembly recoils backwards upon firing. Its first upgrade gives it a set of fold-out armor plates for extra protection when locked down.
- Captain Cutter has the "Elephant" Mobile Mini-Base as his special unit, which inverts this: it's an anchored defense stance. It can deploy itself to bring a set of autocannon turrets to bear on the enemy, and churn out squads of Marines, flamethrowers, and a trio of SPARTAN-II Super Soldiers.
- Shantae and the Seven Sirens: The Cactus enemies prepare their attack by Sucking-In Lines and staying in one place, giving Shantae ample warning and an ability to accurately predict where the spikes that will be fired will go.
Web Original
- RWBY
- Ruby has to perform a Sword Plant when she wants to aim Cresent Rose properly since she specifically designed the recoil to be powerful enough to augment her melee attacks.
- The Ace Op Huntress Elm has a semblance that allows her to extend her aura like roots into the ground, literally planting herself on the spot for either more leverage to swing her massive hammer or fire it in rocket launcher mode, or just tank a hit and restrain an assailant.
Western Animation
- Trevor Belmont from Castlevania (2017) does this against The visitor in S3, when he uses both the Vampire Killer and the Morningstar, when normally he is more of user of Confusion Fu.
Real Life
- Truth in Television. Artillery pieces have anchors to keep them stable as they fire.
- In non-combat roles, smaller excavators often have it as well to steady themselves in case they dig up something big or heavy enough to tip them.
- The 15th century Wall Gun (also called an arquebus, haakbus, hackbut, hook gun, or caliver), was equipped with a lug or hook intended to latch onto a castle's walls for defensive fighting.
- Cheyenne Dog soldiers
supposedly anchored themselves to the ground during battle by sticking their Sacred Arrows through the back-aprons of their loincloths.
