History Main / InertiaIsACruelMistress

* ''[[Fanfic/RyuugisTheGamesWePlay The Games We Play]]'':

* ''VideoGame/Destiny'': This works both for and against Guardians. In PvE, the Cabal love using their jumpjets to get up close to you, which gives you an easy trajectory by which to plot your shot and watch their corpse faceplant. In PvP, the same thing happens to opposing Guardians. Double and triple jumps can't save you from someone drawing a bead on you. The only way to avert this in PvP is maybe with the Warlock's blink jump.

* In ''Comicbook/UltimateXMen'', Ultimate Arcade's debut brought him into conflict with Nightcrawler. He figured out where Kurt was going to 'port to next and was ready with a knife to the gut.

* ''Film/XMen'':

* ''[[Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]]'' uses a variant of this trope- rather than hitting the BigBad with a stopping force while he teleports towards Riddick, [[spoiler: he takes his knife, and simply ''places'' it where the unlucky schmuck is going to be]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}'' has a case similar to the ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' example above. The Forces spell "Friction Knife" focuses air resistance into lacerating injuries, damaging a target depending on how quickly they move while under its effects. Someone using a self-acceleration power such as Time or Forces magic is likely to rip themself apart.

** The hyperdrive in his Literature/KnownSpace series has the same issue. Several times, ships end up having to dump relativistic velocities after returning to their home system, though ''Protector'' introduces in a [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum gadget]] which at least makes that ''possible'' for reaction-drive ships.

* Mentioned as the core weakness of "[[FlashStep instant movement]]" in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' In the tournament arc, it became a key strategic fact in the battle between Negi and Takamichi, who explained it while tripping his opponent up. It showed up again in the fight between Negi and Rakan. Negi's solution? [[spoiler: TWO Thousand Bolts spells and going in close]] so he had the boosted reflexes to handle it.

->[[AC:"Momentum, a function of mass and velocity, is conserved between portals. In LaymansTerms: speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out."]]

* In ''[[Literature/{{Foundation}} Foundation's Edge]]'', it's mentioned that it's possible to figure out where a ship jumped to based on its initial velocity before the jump. Following someone through 32 consecutive hyperspace jumps in a matter of seconds, on the other hand...

* ''TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}'' has a case similar to the ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' example above. The Forces spell "Friction Knife" focuses air resistance into lacerating injuries, damaging a target depending on how quickly they move while under its effects. Someone using a self-acceleration power such as Time or Forces magic is likely to splatter themself.

* In ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Mr. Mighty use [[SuperSpeed Dot Dash's]] momentum against her in a move called [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=88846 "The Backdoor Bounce"]]. For experienced heroes only. [[DontTryThisAtHome Do not attempt at home]].

* A contractor in the second season of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' had the ability to move at FlashStep-like speeds, but because of this trope, had to move in straight lines and at one point crashed face-first into a tree. While this was handy for dodging bullets, he ran up against the little snag that [[spoiler:when you're moving faster than a bullet, anything bullet-sized you run into might as well be one. And April can make it rain.]] The results were not pretty. Oddly enough, air resistance didn't seem to bother him at all.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', when Killer Bee [[SuperMode uses his tailed beast's power]] he can move very quickly, but his movements are very linear, which allowed Sasuke to put him in a genjutsu with some help from Karin (which he easily broke out of) and [[spoiler:Kisame to block his charge with Samehada.]]

* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QqT1P4VO30 short film]] takes Newton's first law to its inevitable, [[UpToEleven over-the-top]] conclusion.
** "A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force", like a terrified middle school kid.

* Two examples from Creator/MarvelComics, using their signature speedster Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}}.
** Quicksilver was once defeated by Comicbook/SpiderMan, against whom Quicksilver was executing a whirlwind vacuum attack. Spidey simply stuck out his arm in Quicksilver's path. And yeah, it was a strain, but ol' Webhead is tougher than Quicksilver.

* Canonically, Comicbook/{{Nightcrawler}} is supposed to be subject to this -- he keeps the same inertia when he teleports. On the other hand, he once avoided going splat by inverting the bamf -- so that he came out of it ''falling up''. It is ''mentioned'' in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' when Nightcrawler explains why he can't teleport off an airplane in flight. He does this in his debut in the movies, using his momentum to confuse the people he's fighting as well as maintain a full sprint through obstacles. He does however teleport off and back to a flying plane, and doesn't seems to have too much trouble with inertia, despite the sudden deceleration caused by being exceedingly unaerodynamic. He'd be traveling noticeably faster than Rogue when he caught her, and she'd be traveling slower than the plane when she returned. His speed wouldn't change much, but it wouldn't have been static.

* Rather forcibly applied in HowToTrainYourDragon by Hiccup [[spoiler: to the Green Death.]]

** In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', Kitty uses this against Juggernaut. She realizes that the kid she's been sent to rescue has the ability to suppress powers. [[spoiler: Since Juggernaut's power makes him unstoppable, taking that power away without his knowledge means that he expects to just crash through the next wall]].
** In ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' Victor takes advantage of this to kill [[spoiler: Wraith.]]

* A fast swimming {{kaiju}} learns this the hard way in ''Film/PacificRim'', [[spoiler:as Gipsy Danger uses its {{BFS}} to bisect it lengthwise thanks to its swimming motion.]]

* In ''[[Creator/IsaacAsimov Foundation's Edge]]'', it's mentioned that it's possible to figure out where a ship jumped to based on its initial velocity before the jump. Following someone through 32 consecutive hyperspace jumps in a matter of seconds, on the other hand...

* [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] once even remarks that this trope is a common weakness of various supernaturally fast creatures: they are unstoppable killing machines while on solid ground, but once airborne, they become a mere physical object sailing through air in mathematically predictable curve. Harry had sent charging Magog (a {{Bullfight Boss}}-type [[FallenAngel Denarian]]) down a long, steep hill just by lifting him up slightly mid-charge, and blasted [[spoiler: Nemesis-infected Cat Sith]] out of the window mid-jump. Even some flight-capable things have this weakness - when a wounded phobofage tried to flee by growing wings, it just made itself a better target and gave Harry time to charge up an attack which ''obliterated'' it.

* An episode of ''StarTrekEnterprise'' had Captain Archer being transported while running down a corridor. He materializes on board ship and takes a couple of steps before coming to a stop.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2:'' "Once you fire this hunk of metal it keeps going until it hits something. [...] If you pull the trigger on this thing, you are ruining someones day, somewhere, at some time. [...] This means: Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son of a bitch InSpace!"

* [[VideoGame/{{Canabalt}} You ran 2917m before hitting a wall and tumbling to your death]].

* This is the entire ''premise'' of ''VideoGame/{{Tribes}}'' since [[GoodBadBug skiing]] was invented in the original. Fall damage and running into walls at high speed can both kill you, but they're both much less damaging than expected (especially horizontally).

* A {{Ninja}} with SuperSpeed in ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' is defeated when he runs groin first into Saitama's fist.

* Defied in ''Film/{{Battleship}}''. The aliens try to LeadTheTarget and fire at where their targetting computer predicts the ''Missouri'' will be, but Mighty Mo's crew drop her anchor and she stops short of the aliens' projectiles.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': "As for tracking us all the way from Reach, well, at light speed my maneuvering options were limited."

----