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Diving Kick

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"Simple. Dive into the air with the Dive Button and time your descent with the Kick button."

Often seen in Japanese media, this is an attack in which a character jumps really high up into the air and dives foot first from above, usually with the right foot out forward with the left leg bent at the knee and pointing inward to gain momentum.

Popularized in the famous tokusatsu franchise Kamen Rider, and popular enough to be seen as a Signature Move of most, if not all, of the Riders seen throughout that franchise, in which it's called a "Rider Kick". If this trope appears in Japanese media, chances are good that it's an Homage to Kamen Rider (especially if they shout "(insert name here) KIIIIIIIIIICK!!" while doing it).

One variation is when two or more characters team up to make a more powerful version of the move.

See also Dynamic Entry and Slide Attack. Not to be confused with Divekick, a Fighting Game that plays with this trope.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 
  • Gunbuster and its sequel Diebuster popularized this trope in the Super Robot Genre, and Studio Gainax uses this in it's other projects often as well. The Gainax version is called Inazuma Kick(Loosely translates to Thunder kick and literally Wife of Rice Kick, since that is how they refer to thunder in ancient Japan since they think thunder helps grows rice.)
  • Fist of the North Star was one of the first manga to use this move and popularized its usage in anime and manga in general, particularly with the clash between Kenshiro and Shin using a upward version of the move on each other via Air Jousting.
  • Naruto has Might Guy do this as a part of his Dynamic Entry pose. His protégé Rock Lee does the same.
  • Buso Renkin: Captain Bravo's Meteor Bravo Kick attack sees him jump high into the air before crashing down on the target foot first. Bravo uses the attack a couple of times during the series and, at one point, the attack is shown to be powerful enough to seriously damage the metal telephone pole his target was standing on after they dodged out of the way.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • Jump Kick and High Jump Kick are portrayed this way.
    • Blaze Kick is occasionally portrayed this way as a fiery variant, such as when used by Mega Blaziken in the animated trailer for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
    • In the Diamond and Pearl episode "Buizel Your Way Out of This", a Buizel does this to Pikachu while he's swimming in a river, driving Pikachu underwater.
    • The Sun & Moon season portrays Rowlet's Tackle like this.
  • Bleach anime episode #280. The Visored Mashiro Kuna does one of these to the Arrancar Wonderweiss Margera, knocking him into the ground. It helps that she is a blatant Shout-Out to Kamen Rider.
  • Lyrical Nanoha
  • The Pretty Cure franchise is filled to the brim with these.
  • The Daitarn Crash is part of the finishing move of Daitarn 3.
  • Two instances in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:
    • First was with Kamina's "WHO-THE-HELL-DO-YOU-THINK-I-AM-KICK!" to two random Gunmen, breaking the legs of the Gunmen he just jacked.
    • The second was the "Man on fire, Blazing Chariot Kick!" on Viral's Enkidu.
  • Nyarlathotep of Nyaruko: Crawling with Love! loves doing these primarily because she's a Tokusatsu fangirl (and the series' creator is a Kamen Rider fan). In specific, she's "borrowed" Kuuga, OOO, Fourze and Wizard's respective Rider Kicks — and that's just in the two seasons of the anime.
  • Haseo does this against Ovan at one point during their fight in the .hack//G.U. Trilogy film when in his B-ST form.
  • In Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji (in EVA-01) and Asuka (in EVA-02) performed a dual version to simultaneously destroy the core of the twin Angels (the 7th Angel). It was necessary to destroy the 7th Angel in perfect sync and in this manner, since it would keep getting up if the twin Angels are not defeated at the same time.
  • Justimon from Digimon, who is a Kamen Rider Expy, does this with his Justice Kick attack.
  • Yellow Tail from Gonna Be the Twin-Tail!! has a diving kick that she performs by turning the parts of her armor into a giant gun and using it to shoot herself in the back to propel her into the target.
  • In Symphogear, Tsubasa's "Heaven's Wrath" move has her jumping up in the air and throwing her sword forward, which transforms into a stories-tall, rocket-propelled BFS. Then, she gets into the kick motion and combines her heel with the sword.
  • In the finale of the Rosario + Vampire anime's first season, Moka defeats Kuyo with a powerful drop kick, with the assist of Ginei pulling a full nelson on Kuyo to prevent the enemy from escaping or defending.
  • Cinque from Dog Days pulls off a Hero Kick a few times, most prominently in the second episode.
  • Medaka Box's Itami Koga is a giant Kamen Rider Otaku, so naturally she does the Rider Kick.
  • One Piece gives us Super Sentai tribute character Soba Mask finishing off a fight with a Meteor Soba Kick that is a straight homage to the Rider Kick, it was something added by the anime (Toei, which also owns Super Sentai so the tribute is very intentional).

    Comic Books 

    Fan Works 
  • The Bridge has a Kamen Rider Shout-Out in the finale of the Enjin Arc, where a supercharged Monster X uses the newly devised "Graviton Kick" to smash open Enjin to pull Aria Blaze free from it.

    Film — Animation 
  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Mario and Luigi use a diving kick in the climax when they are powered by the Super Star, with both using a Kamen Rider-esque double kick to finish off Bowser once and for all.

    Film — Live Action 
  • 8-Bit Christmas: When Timothy Keane tries a Fighting Game won his Nintendo Entertainment System with the Power Glove, he finds it doesn't work as advertised. After getting mocked about it by the other kids, he gets so frustrated that he does a flying kick towards the TV, breaking the screen and causing the TV to fall over on his dog. (thankfully the dog survived, but got several enjuries)
  • The kung-fu film, Hand of Death ends with the hero, Yun-Fei, battling the main villain Shih Shao-Feng in a lengthy martial arts duel, culminating in Yun-Fei finally turning the tide of battle after delivering three high-kicks on the villain's face.
  • Mortal Kombat: The Movie and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation: Johnny Cage executes his "Shadow Kick" move this way in both films. In what may be a case of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, both times are failures likely due to the move being easily telegraphed.
  • The vault climax of Super Cop 2 has Inspector Yang fighting a Giant Mook at least three feet taller than her. She wins by climbing upon a high balcony, jumping down, and landing a kick on her opponent's face.
  • The Super Inframan, being a Toku homage with the titular hero being inspired directly by Kamen Rider, has a special Finishing Move called "Shadowless Rocket Kick" used to inflict heavy damage to monsters, with at least two of the Quirky Miniboss Squad getting killed with it.
  • Tower of Death has Bobby fighting the giant brute at the end, which he finally defeats by way of high-kick. That penetrates a wooden crate the brute was holding, before going into the brute's face.

    Live-Action TV 
  • The all-time king and Trope Codifier of Diving Kicks is Kamen Rider of course, as pictured above. It's usually the signature Finishing Move of the main hero. There have been variations over the decades (Kamen Rider Kabuto, for instance, favored a roundhouse over the traditional dive kick) but with all the series, movies and crossovers they've been in, nearly every Rider has pulled the classic Rider Kick at one point or another.
  • Kaiketsu Zubat uses a variation of the move where a spinning, forward flip is done before the kick is dropped.
  • Power Rangers:
  • Super Sentai:
  • Ultra Series:
    • Ultraman Leo uses a version called the Leo Kick as one of his signature attacks, performed in the same way as a Rider Kick, as a friendly nod to one of the franchises spawned from the Tokusatsu boom the Ultra Series brought. Leo's variation is especially notable, in that once he reaches the apex of the jump, his extended foot begins to glow right the way up to the ankle, as if it's literally heating up from friction with the air. Ultraman Zero, being Leo's pupil also employs this a lot, mainly for his Dynamic Entry and/or Big Damn Heroes moments.
    • Ultraman Mebius has an episode guest-starring the aforementioned Leo, who arrives to help Mebius as the then-rookie Ultra is failing in battling a villain called Alien Reflect. Mebius has to learn Leo's moves, including the diving kick, and the climax have Leo and Mebius teaming up together to inflict a dual ultra-kick on Reflect which finishes the alien off.
  • Walker, Texas Ranger did this on occasion, when the spinning back kick wasn't appropriate. Most famously, he jumped and kicked a guy through the windshield of a moving car.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • The dropkick and its variations are a staple in most modern matches.
  • The Great Sasuke uses a diving kick as Signature Move.
  • Karate champion Everett Eddy was known for his flying kicks, and he once did an impressive Rider Kick to Antonio Inoki in a wrestling match.
  • Averted by Io Shirai's "Rider Kick", which is a somersault leg drop.

    Tabletop Games 
  • In BattleTech, 'Mechs with jumpjets can perform the so-called "death from above" maneuver. The attacking 'Mech has to stand on a hill and in jumpjet range to its target. It jumps high up and lands feet first on the enemy 'Mech's upper body, ideally destroying the cockpit in the process. Both 'Mechs will take damage and probably fall to the ground afterward, but the attack can be devastating when done by heavy 'Mechs. The 90-ton Highlander even has legs specially designed and armored to maximize damage to the target and minimize damage to the legs caused by the maneuvre (called the "Highlander Burial" in this case). While most descriptions make it sound more like a Goomba Stomp, there are a few books where a mech's DFA is explicitly described as a Diving Kick.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: The artwork for Gouki Finisher appears to depict Gouki the Master Ogre performing this move.
  • The Tabletop Game/Pokemon TCG's card art for the Bug-type Pokémon Lokix depicts it performing this move, which is appropriate considering the Pokémon in question is a reference to Kamen Rider.

    Video Games 
  • Afterimage: Renee can unlock a downkick move with the Plate of Kingworm Afterimage. The kick is strong enough to break crumbling floors, making it function as an Ability Required to Proceed. It can be enhanced with flaming properties via the Flamewalker's Boots Afterimage, which also lets Renee's feet resist damage from some fire-elemental enemies when bouncing off their heads. 42 and Karsa also have this mechanic in their playable versions.
  • EXTRAPOWER: Attack of Darkforce: Guren Tiger, as a tribute to Toku heroes, uses a dive kick for his normal attack that would make any Kamen Rider proud.
  • In Flash Party, for Tina's Down Special move, she launches herself into the air, and comes crashing down on her opponent, sending them flying. And for her Aerial Down Attack, she sends herself straight down to the ground, which launches the enemy into the air.
  • This is expected in the Kamen Rider Climax Heroes games since Kamen Rider is the series that started the idea of Diving Kicks. In the games, every Rider's Rider Kick have variations for each of them and are either used as special moves or finishing moves like in the recent games where for example, Kuuga's Mighty or Ultimate Kick become just special moves, while Agito's Shining Rider Kick is used as his finishing move.
  • This is used as the core motif of Divekick. Diving and kicking are the only two moves you can use to attack, and getting a successful hit results in a One-Hit KO.
  • More than a few characters from Street Fighter such as Dhalsim (uses a spinning variant), Cammy, Yun, Yang, Rufus, Akuma, Gouken, and Seth. Akuma was the original dive kicker in Street Fighter and, interestingly, the move was given to him when he was a Guest Fighter in X-Men: Children of the Atom and he's kept it ever since.
    • The way dive kicks work in-series, suddenly changing the trajectory of the character doing them in mid-air, gives characters that have them an advantage over those that don't. This is especially true in Street Fighter IV where characters with them tend to be higher tier than those without since they allow for some amazing offense.
    • In Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium, Sakura's altered moveset includes a divekick.
    • Akuma keeps his Tenma Kujinkyaku attack in his appearance as a Guest Fighter in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution and it can even be used during juggle combos.
  • Art of Fighting/The King of Fighters: Hien Ryuujin Kyaku has been Robert Garcia's second signature special since AOF2. It's degree of priority and effectiveness varies with each game, but it's usually a Ki-enhanced diving kick. By KOF XI, he gains an HDM version of it as his leadership move and, in KOF XII and XIII, he gains an even stronger version as his Neo MAX.
  • X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse: Avalon's guardian Exodus uses this move against the X-Men in the Boss Battle in which he is fought. As a character that can fly, his version of the attack is more justified than most.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Dr. Doom's Foot Dive. While he's had this move in his previous appearances, the MvC3 version is arguably the most ridiculous incarnation of the move thanks to its generous hitbox. Getting hit by it anywhere on-screen usually results in a long combo that allows Dr. Doom to push his opponent to the corner before KOing them outright.
  • PlatinumGames seems to love this move:
    • Viewtiful Joe: The Red Hot Kick. Sexy Silvia has the Cool Blue Kick (based off of Remy's Cold Blue Kick from Street Fighter III: Third Strike, which is made more apparent in VJ2) and Captain Blue has the self-named Captain Blue Kick. Alastor has his own variant, the Ultraviolet Kick (one of many nods to Devil May Cry on Alastor's behalf).
    • Dante himself in the PS2 version of the first game has the Sparda Kick, analogous to the diving kicks Dante can perform with certain Devil Arms in his games.
    • Bayonetta has both an upward and a downward version of this move, both of which are named the Afterburner Kick. It changes color depending on what leg weapons Bayonetta has equipped.
    • The adaptation of The Legend of Korra has this as a heavy Airbending attack when jumping.
    • Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Raiden gets a homing variation of this move called "Falling Lightning". This makes it especially useful against flying opponents who may often be beyond the height of his regular jump.
  • Jam Kurodaberi from Guilty Gear has one of these as an air command normal (which becomes an Overdrive in EX Mode), as well as an upward variation of the move.
  • Similarly, in Persona 4: Arena, Chie Satonaka uses the move in an upwards motion. Yu Narukami also has a move that plays the trope straight.
  • in Asura's Wrath, Yasha does this on the Karma Fortresses Brahmastra cannon, which comes from the head, which is bigger than the MOON. He successfully kicks it hard enough on the cheek to dissipate and redirect the lasers' course off the earth itself!
  • Used with a twist in Gravity Rush. Because Kat's main power is control over gravity, the first non-basic attack you get is the "gravity kick", which is this trope, but with the ability to decide what direction you "drop" in; the further you fly while kicking, the more damage it does. The first special attack you get, Spiraling Claw, takes this up to eleven; when it connects you fly around the target and hit them multiple times.
  • Tends to be a staple of 2D Castlevania games; being able to drop kick off of enemies (or partners in games that have them) for a Goomba Springboard is one of the ways a Speed Run is accomplished. There are also recurring skeleton enemies wearing Kamen Rider scarves who use what is effectively the Rider Kick on you.
  • Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: Being a Spiritual Successor of Castlevania, made by the same person who codified the Metroid Vania genre, the protagonist has a similar ability, complete with being able to use it to bounce off of enemies.
  • Being a case of Reference Overdosed, the Disgaea series tends to have a few special attacks of this style in each game; some of them being an especially obvious Shout-Out to Kamen Rider by using the same imagery and special effects involved in the particular kick that's being imitated.
  • Azrael from BlazBlue: Chronophantasma has one in his moveset.
  • In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny, the Liese Twins' Mirage Assault Limit Break ends with Lotte devastating their opponent with one of these.
  • At one point during the final battle in Kid Icarus: Uprising, Hades does this type of attack.
  • One of the Amazon's attacks from Dragon's Crown is this in conjunction with a giant flaming axe.
  • Being an Expy of Akuma, Magma Dragoon from Mega Man X4 uses one. A flaming one, no less.
    • In Mega Man X8, equipping the K Knuckle replaces Zero's Sword Plant "Enkoujin" with a diagonal flaming kick, "Enkoukyaku".
  • In Phantasy Star Online 2, Falz Hunar frequently uses a kick of this nature to close the distance between you and him. It's not terribly difficult to avoid, due to him pausing for a second or two before he rockets towards you foot first. There's also a player example in the Symphonic Drive photon arte, which sends you into your target foot first, regardless of whether they're above or below you.
  • A fairly popular attack form in the Super Robot Wars franchise.
  • A staple of 2D Beat 'em Up games based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since the majority of enemies have no effective Anti Air Attack, spamming this move is a valid (if profoundly boring) strategy.
  • In Strider 2, the Signature Move of the youngest Kuniang sister is a plasma-enhanced diving kick. In the 2014 remake, all three sisters and their master can do it, and they often do it at the same time when fighting together.
  • One of the two jumpkick moves in Double Dragon Neon.
  • Medusa and Rider Kintoki do this as one of their attacks in Fate/Grand Order. Doubles as a Stealth Pun. An Animation Bump for Merlin made it so that Team Pet Fou would do this to him when using his skills.
  • Skullgirls
    • Squigly has the Fallen Woman special, a straight-up diving kick that's performed by having her parasite Leviathan propel her to the ground using his fire while she kicks. Considering how poor her mobility is, it's a great tool to get in against opponents that are being particularly annoying.
    • Fukua inverts this trope with her jumping hard kick: she will only dive after the kick connects. This allows for some crazy combos and mixups should the kick hit.
    • Eliza prefers having people do the dive-kicking for her: her Dive of Horace move has her snap her fingers, calling in her servant Horace to come from the top of the screen and kick them. Horace does the same move while carrying Eliza during her tag-in.
  • The Matrix: Path of Neo has a Dive Kick/Jump Kick type move that's one of the easier ones to pull off.
  • Chrono Trigger's Ayla pulls this off as one of her Techs, and it can be enhanced via Combo Techs with other characters.
  • In the third Digimon Rumble Arena installment, Stingmon is in possesion of this for his aerial as well as the setup for his Super.
  • Shantae (2002): Buying the sash gives Shantae the ability to perform a diving drill kick while doing a somersault kick.
  • Saints Row 4: One of the many superpowers that the Boss gets is "Stomp", a powerful stomp to the ground that damages nearby foes. When used in the air The Boss kicks towards the ground and increases damage depending on how high in the air you are, made slightly easier with their charged jump.
  • Nidhogg: jump-kicking with or without a sword is a high-risk, high-reward move that disarms the opponent if pulled off successfully.
  • Nicholas from Granblue Fantasy does one as part of his charge attack.
  • Android 17 and Mira from Dragon Ball Xenoverse have an attack called the Android Kick, which Mira also uses in Dragon Ball Heroes. In Xenoverse the Player Character can learn it as well.
  • Mortal Kombat:
    • This is one of Liu Kang's signature moves. As seen in the opening cinematic of Mortal Kombat II - and established in dialogue in other games - this was the move Liu Kang used to defeat Shang Tsung in the first game.
    • Kung Lao also consistently uses a mid-air dive kick. It's a staple move among members of the White Lotus as Bo Rai Cho and Kung Jin have similar moves in X.
    • Sonya can use a Flying Kick in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
    • Cassie Cage can use an airborne version of her father's signature "Shadow Kick" called the "Glow Kick".
  • Super Smash Bros.: Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick and Gannondorf's Wizard's Foot can turn into this when done in the air (jumping doesn't quite matter as much). Both of them can be used as Meteor Smashes, which can be canceled out of with a jump or recovery move so you can land another hit faster, or spikes, which cannot be canceled out of. Both of these can be used to edge guard, using attacks to prevent opponents from getting back onto the stage and hopefully ring out. Smash 4 has two variations of Wizard's Foot called "Wizard's Dropkick", where Gannondorf makes a small jump and kicks for a longer distance, and "Wizard's Assault", where Gannondorf spikes directly downward.
    • Sonic the Hedgehog also has a flying dropkick for his down-air attack. It's become something of a signature move for him in promotional materials since it's one of the few moves he has that doesn't have him curled up in a ball and it makes for quite an exciting shot or Dynamic Entry.
    • Other characters join in on the diving fun: Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, Greninja, Bayonetta, Simon/Richter, and Min-Min.
  • Kingdom Hearts III: One of Sora's Reprisals after successfully blocking an attack with Guard is one of these, where Sora flips backwards into the air, and then diving kicks to push his Keyblade tip-first into the target, covered in a spiral drill of light. Of his three Guard counters, it allows him to close in onto a distant target the most. It's called "Counter Kick" in English and "Revenge Dive" in Japanese.
  • Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace: One of Spider-Man's possible moves is a diagonal diving kick while midair.
  • In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Tifa Lockhart's first special attack is literally called "Diving Kick". Though it's probably a coincidence, it may be a reference to the fact that her martial arts master Zangan is voiced by Hiroshi Fujioka, who played the original Kamen Rider.
  • The thoroughly psychotic Cloakers of Pay Day 2 are a Rabid Cop version of this. They will spring from hiding and launch themselves through the air to come crashing down from above foot-first, which will instantly take down any player unlucky enough to be in the way. In spite of their distinctive night vision goggles and the terrifying warbling sound they make on approach, they still often manage to do this stealthily. Somehow.
  • In Party Animals, players can jump and hurl themselves foot-first at opponents. The move would look cool if they weren't stuffed animals with stubby feet, and if they whiff their attack, they can easily go flying off the stage.
  • In an overt Shout-Out to the aforementioned Riders, Naomasa Ii does this in Samurai Warriors as his True Musou attack, as demonstrated here.
  • Them's Fightin' Herds:
    • Tianhuo's Firecracker magic move has her do a flying kick. Though it can be performed in any direction, doing it downwards while in the air results in one of these.
    • Shanty can combine these while using her wall-climbing ability to dive and attack off of the walls.
  • ULTRAKILL: Superboss Minos Prime has one as part of his roster. Not only does it come out very fast after he leaps, he hits hard enough it doubles as a Shockwave Stomp to ensure you have to jump (and probably get uppercutted into the walls for it).
    "DIE!"

    Web Comics 
  • Furry Fight Chronicles shows the dropkick as one of the most used techniques in the comic.
    • Fenny uses it against Roora in the first chapter when Roora got distracted, allowing Fenny to put her in a lock that wins the match.
    • Snuggly uses it against Tanka Tallon, who is not affected by it and gives Snuggly a Curb-Stomp Battle that leaves her in tears.
    • Muko has used it twice on Adelgund and Kalita, adopting it as a Signature Move of hers since it's one of the few techniques Cookie taught her.
  • Girl Genius: When Gil shoves Vole out of the airship after Tarvek and Othar on Gil's flying machine Vole aims himself so that he lands feet first on Othar's head. The resulting K.O. would be satisfying in just about any other situation but given Othar is the one with the best chance of flying the machine it makes Tarvek panic instead.

    Web Animation 
  • Mercury Black occasionally employs these attacks in RWBY, though unlike in many examples, he tends to use an axe kick by raising one of his legs up to strike rather than pointing it downwards.
  • While she doesn't really do this in-game (her sprite doesn't change or move), fandom interprets Wriggle Nightbug Touhou doing this because she appears at the top of the screen where the player usually positions themselves and exaggerates it by having her yell "WRIGGLE KIIIIIICK!" while doing so.

    Western Animation 
  • Pearl of Steven Universe attempts one while driving a walking robot she had created to land a finishing blow. Defied, however, as she is caught by the ankle on the way down and left helpless. She did one more successively in person in a previous episode when destroying an alien robot of uncertain purpose.

    Real Life 
  • The move itself is based on a real-life martial arts jump kick move, albeit meant to be exaggerated when in a fictional work.

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Millionaire Strike

Akiyama's Poundmates summon has him kicking stacks of money at his targets at blinding speed, before leaping up into an almighty dive kick to finish things off.

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