History Main / Knockback

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* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' actually turned it's knockback into a ''good thing''. Getting struck by an enemy bounces you straight up into the air and Aladdin becomes fully controllable again at the peak of it, so many is the time an enemy will actually help you reach a ledge rather than fall helplessly to your death. This is very prominent in the Cave of Wonders, where if you jump for one of the rising platforms too late and strike the lava underneath, you'll be bounced right up onto the platform and only lose a single heart.

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* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has various enemies whose main power is having more knockback than most, and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' featured a [[RingOfPower ring]] that reduced knockback. Also some enemies (such as some bosses) inflict a KnockbackSlide on ''you'' when you hit ''them''. (Moldorm from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' (and ''Link's Awakening'', ''Four Swords Adventures'', and ''A Link Between Worlds''), as well as the Hardhat Beetles from the same games, are some of the most infamous examples.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' featured knockbacks by various NPC mobs and bosses from when the game was first released, but players didn't get access to them until Patch 3.0, the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion, when a small handful of abilities were given to various classes that would knock [=NPCs=] or other players back. [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules NPCs don't take falling damage and can run up some sheer cliffs]], so {{Knockback}} abilities are generally underpowered against them, but in certain limited circumstances {{Knockback}} effects can be very, very powerful in [=PvP=].

* The sidescrolling ''SuperMarioBros'' games generally provided MercyInvincibility without knockback, which allowed players to short-circuit the fights with Bowser simply by running through him and grabbing the axe at the far end of the arena. This was changed in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'', where coming in direct contact with Bowser knocks Mario back, away from the switch at the opposite end of the arena.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar2'' and ''[[VideoGame/GearsOfWar3]]'' implement a "stopping power" system where being shot slows the player's movement toward the shooter. This was added to prevent players from charging through a hail of machine gun fire for a close-quarters execution with a shotgun. In addition, smoke grenades in 3 (and post-patch 2) cause a flinch effect, while in 1 and pre-patch 2 cause full-on knockback, though they deal no actual damage in either case.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar2'' and ''[[VideoGame/VideoGame/GearsOfWar3]]'' implement a "stopping power" system where being shot slows the player's movement toward the shooter. This was added to prevent players from charging through a hail of machine gun fire for a close-quarters execution with a shotgun. In addition, smoke grenades in 3 (and post-patch 2) cause a flinch effect, while in 1 and pre-patch 2 cause full-on knockback, though they deal no actual damage in either case.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar2'' and ''[[VideoGame/VideoGame/GearsOfWar3 3]]'' implement a "stopping power" system where being shot slows the player's movement toward the shooter. This was added to prevent players from charging through a hail of machine gun fire for a close-quarters execution with a shotgun. In addition, smoke grenades in 3 (and post-patch 2) cause a flinch effect, while in 1 and pre-patch 2 cause full-on knockback, though they deal no actual damage in either case.

* In the side-scrolling ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' titles, knockback always occurred relative to the direction Mega Man was facing, regardless of the direction of attack. In the "classic" series, it also interrupted charged Mega Buster shots (starting in ''VideoGame/MegaMan5''; ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''[='s=] Mega Buster was more stable), and in ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', Proto Man suffered double the knockback from attacks compared to Mega Man.

** The first ''Mega Man'' game did something that no other classic-era game has done since -- namely, defying ContractualBossImmunity and causing the Robot Masters to suffer knockback when struck by any attack, just like Mega Man. This is part of the most common strategy to defeat [[WarmupBoss Cut Man]], but it also turns [[ThatOneBoss Elec Man]] into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FMCwvh60tM a relative pushover]].

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' regular attacks have an amount of knockback generally proportional to damage and only something like the Heavy's minigun does enough damage for this knockback to significantly impede movement instead of just messing with aim. There are some special cases which do much more: explosives, the Scout's Force-A-Nature, sentry guns (which can be even harder to deal with than its damage, especially since the default [[LimitBreak Ubercharge]] does not protect against knockback), melee {{Critical Hit}}s, and the Pyro's [[AttackDeflector airblast]] (which does nothing ''but'' knockback). Probably the most bizarre thing is that damage over time (fire, bleeding) causes ''upward'' knockback for the sake of messing with the user's aim. The Soldier's Mantreads and the Quick-Fix's Ubercharge reduce knockback by 75% and 100% respectively (though the Mantreads do not protect against airblasts).

* In the ''Franchise/WonderBoy'' series (as well as its many ports), MercyInvincibility only protected the player from further HP loss; it did not protect the player from being knocked back or juggled by repeated attacks.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Theatre/{{Annie}} It's the hard knock life for us...]][[note]]Pictured descending from top left: VideoGame/MegaManX1, VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV, VideoGame/SuperMetroid, VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast[[/note]]]]

* '''Knocked back''': The most common manifestation of knockback interrupts the player's action and momentum and pushes them back a short distance (perhaps one or two steps); the character recovers their footing quickly, and the player is able to resume action in short order.

** Both character's weapons also get knocked back in a successful block, which directly affects their position for subsequent moves.

And speaking of strategic uses, knockback is all-too-often remembered for occuring during precision maneuvers, such as when making timed jumps across FloatingPlatforms; every videogame character has at some point been sent plummeting into SpikesOfDoom, or down the nearest BottomlessPit due to taking a hit at the wrong moment; it's the culprit for many a GameOver screen (as well as a few [[RageQuit broken controllers]]).

* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' utilizes significant knockback. Touch even the slightest enemy or brush up against a spike, and Lemeza is sent sailing across the room at full velocity, with no ability to alter his trajectory until he lands. Although the damage is often [[ScratchDamage trivial]], that doesn't matter much if the knockback sends you spiraling down several screens, an all-too-common occurance in the very tall Tower of the Goddess.
* In the side-scrolling ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' titles, knockback always occured relative to the direction Mega Man was facing, regardless of the direction of attack. In the "classic" series, it also interrupted charged Mega Buster shots (starting in ''VideoGame/MegaMan5''; ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''[='s=] Mega Buster was more stable), and in ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', Proto Man suffered double the knockback from attacks compared to Mega Man.

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''. :cough: [[GoddamnedBats Medusa Heads]] :cough: BottomlessPits :cough:.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' and ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', certain characters can have a special trait called "Glory" that prevents them from being knocked back. This was actually dangerous against some enemies, since characters with Glory would take multiple powerful hits when normally they'd only take one hit and be knocked away.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' when your character is hit by "impact" attacks (Explosive or telekinetic powers) he or she will stumble and move back a step or two. [[JustifiedTrope This is completely logical given that they are being hit by a physical force]], but this effect is rather {{egregious}} when your character is hit while ducking behind cover. In this case, when you are already crouched down on the ground, your character will ''stand up'' before they stumble and take a step back. This means your character is ''deliberately'' moving out of cover, since they take an independent action (standing up) before they are uncontrollably knocked back by the force, instead of simply falling down or stumbling where they were.

** ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' also has the Poise mechanic. Heavy armor (or enchanted items) will make it less likely for you to be knocked back by damage. With zero poise, even a barehanded punch will stagger you. High enough poise and you'll be able to tank multiple [[BFS Ultra Greatsword]] attacks. Effects such as the Iron Flesh pyromancy go one step further: enemies who attack you with light, one-handed weapons will suffer knockback ''themselves'' as their weapons bounce off your skin.

* ''VideoGame/Sonic Battle'' has a similar mechanic to ''Dissidia'' above. Basically, every character's "heavy attack", as well as several special moves, can [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom throw opponents across the arena]] (though not ''all'' the way across -- characters automatically recover from being launched after a couple of seconds). A character who hits the wall in this state takes extra damage and collapses to the ground. Where it gets interesting is that upon launching an opponent in this way, characters can enter a special "pursuit mode" to lunge after the victim and -- with a properly-timed press of the attack button -- execute a special "pursuit attack" to [[MeteorMove spike the opponent into the ground for extra damage]], whether or not the opponent has collided with a wall (though the pursuit attack is much easier to connect with after a wall-rush). Furthermore, the effects of being launched can be mitigated by holding in the opposite direction of the launch; this can even allow a character to, upon colliding with a wall, spring off the wall and negate the collision damage, ''entering pursuit mode in the process''. If the character who launched them elected to chase after their victim, this leads to a mid-air SingleStrokeBattle where whoever executes their pursuit attack at the most opportune time deals heavy damage to their opponent.
** ''SonicBattle'' also features a few attacks with more "standard" knockback, where the victim is sent bouncing across the ground. This does not allow for pursuit mode or ukemis.

* As an action [=MMO=], ''VideoGame/DragonNest'' practically requires players to exploit the various forms of this trope as even {{Mook}}s can easily do the same. Resistance to this trope can be a {{Gamebreaker}} especially in PVP.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' has it in various forms. From the simple 'interrupt' ability that interrupts abilities being cast or channeled (and preventing it from being cast again in a few seconds), then there are 'stun' and knock down abilities that is as good as it sounds (but also on very long cooldown), to knockback abilities that sends the enemies flying.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has several player skills that can cause knockback to enemies, which is handy for interrupting attacks. Enemies also posses attacks that can knock back players for the same effect and in some cases, can push them off the edge of the arena for a OneHitKill. In PvP, a properly timed knock back can make or break the match.

* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' utilizes significant knockback. Touch even the slightest enemy or brush up against a spike and Lemeza is sent sailing across the room at full velocity, with no ability to alter his trajectory until he lands. Although the damage is often [[ScratchDamage trivial]], that doesn't matter much if the knockback sends you spiraling down several screens, an all-too-common occurance in the very tall Tower of the Goddess.
* In the sidescrolling ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' titles, knockback always occured relative to the direction Mega Man was facing, regardless of the direction of attack. In the "classic" series, it also interrupted charged Mega Buster shots (starting in ''VideoGame/MegaMan5''; ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''[='s=] Mega Buster was more stable), and in ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', Proto Man suffered double the knockback of Mega Man.

** The first ''Mega Man'' game did something that no other classic-era games have done since, namely, causing the Robot Masters to suffer knockback when struck by any attack, just like Mega Man. This is part of the most common strategy to defeat [[WarmupBoss Cut Man]], but it also turns [[ThatOneBoss Elec Man]] into [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FMCwvh60tM a relative pushover]].

* Freeware ''VideoGame/NinjaSenki'' has all enemies (as well as things like falling rocks) deal hardcore knockback to the player character, with MercyInvincibility practically useless due to the abundance of BottomlessPits.

** The rocks in the first game, which were the only non OneHitKill hazard, tripped Wonderboy when he ran into one, potentially bouncing him into an enemy or BottomlessPit.

** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has two distinct types of knockback. Usually, taking damage just shoves Alucard back a couple of steps, but if he takes one hit that depletes half or more of his maximum HP, [[BlownAcrossTheRoom he goes flying and won't stop until he hits a wall]], at which point he briefly sticks to it before falling down. In the special Luck Mode, this severe knockback is what lets you skip the screen where Death steals Alucard's equipment thanks to his greatly lowered stats allowing the Warg's charge attack to do enough damage to trigger it: in normal gameplay, the only time you're likely to see it happen is if Galamoth hits you with one of his more damaging attacks.

* '''Knocked down''': In its extreme manifestation, the player's character may be knocked back a significant distance (and may even be sent flying through the aie), and the player is unable to control them until the character comes to a stop and is able to get back up onto their feet again.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has various enemies whose main power is having more knockback than most, and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' featured a [[RingOfPower ring]] that reduced knockback. Also some enemies (such as some bosses) inflict a KnockbackSlide on ''you'' when you hit ''them''.

* ''VideoGame/Sonic Battle'' has a similar mechanic to ''Dissidia'' above. Basically, every character's "heavy attack", as well as several special moves, can [[PunchedAcrossTheToom throw opponents across the arena]]; a character who hits the wall in this state takes extra damage and collapses to the ground. Where it gets interesting is that upon launching an opponent in this way, characters can enter a special "pursuit mode" to lunge after the victim and -- with a properly-timed press of the attack button -- execute a special "pursuit attack" to spike the opponent into the ground for extra damage, whether or not the opponent has collided with a wall. Furthermore, the effects of being launched can be mitigated by holding in the opposite direction of the launch; this can even allow a character to, upon colliding with a wall, spring off the wall and negate the collision damage, ''entering pursuit mode in the process''. If the character who launched them elected to chase after their victim, this leads to a mid-air SingleStrokeBattle where whoever executes their pursuit attack at the most opportune time deals heavy damage to their opponent.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' featured knockbacks by various NPC mobs and bosses from when the game was first released, but players didn't get access to them until Patch 3.0, the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion, when a small handful of abilities were given to various classes that would knock [=NPCs=] or other players back. [[TheAIIsACheatingBastard NPCs don't take falling damage and can run up some sheer cliffs]] so {{Knockback}} abilities are generally underpowered against them, but in certain limited circumstances {{Knockback}} effects can be very, very powerful in PvP.
** Humorously, they can get so annoying in dungeons (they disrupt positioning and can knock enemies into reinforcements) that several classes have the ability to turn off the knockback aspect of the spell through the use of a glyph (Mages, Druids, and Shaman, for those who care.)
** The flinching ability is available from the start however, in the form of various stuns as well as interrupts.
* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has three versions: knock back, knock up, and knock down. (In technical terms, knockdown was simply knockback of magnitudes of less than one, usually standardized to 0.67) All melee classes (but not all melee defensive powersets) and the Leaping Power Pool had a power that resisted these effects. There also existed enhancements that provide the player with resistance to it, which are in very high demand as most players hate being knocked around by enemies. There also exist enhancements for increasing the knockback in your own powers. Near the end of the game's life, they introduced an enhancement that reduced knockback to knockdown (by reducing its magnitude to 1% of normal), because many players hated chasing knocked enemies around with melee characters.

* '''Flinching''': Short-term knockback yields little more than a 'flinching' animation and may interrupt whatever action the player was performing (a {{combo|s}} or ChargedAttack, say). The knockback otherwise does not impede or interfere with player movement or control.

* '''Knocked down''': In its extreme manifestation, the player's character may be knocked back a significant distance, and the player is unable to control them until the character comes to a stop and is able to get back up onto their feet again.

If the protagonist is a OneHitPointWonder then knockback is rarely a concern (except for some of the aforementioned uses), but may still occur if the hit cost the player their current powerup of their [[VideogameLives current life]].

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has various enemies whose main power is having more knockback than most, and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' featured a [[RingOfPower ring]] that reduced knockback. Also, for some enemies (such as some bosses), inflict a KnockbackSlide on ''you'' when you hit ''them''.
* The final segment of the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' suddenly ramps up the effects of the game's knockback--while present-but-negilible before, even a small attack will now result in the heroine getting totally decked. During one sequence of attacks, it is entirely possible to get "stunlocked" and make the fight {{Unwinnable}} until you inevitably die and get sent back to the checkpoint.

* Explosive weapons and melee attacks in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' cause knockback, while weaker weapons cause flinching. This applies to both enemies and the protagonist. The knockback from some weapons reaches BlownAcrossTheRoom levels - Many secrets in the game can only be obtained by taking advantage of this.

* This is actually the best ability Django's vampire form has in ''[[VideoGame/{{Boktai}} Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django]]''. As a human his weapons don't knock enemies back, but as a vampire it throws them a fair distance away. Since it changes the entire game mechanic from sort-of-stealth HitAndRunTactics to "run right in and thrash enemies until they die" tactics, it's a borderline GameBreaker.

* Some fighting games like VideoGame/GuiltyGear have a pushblock mechanic that allows a defender to enter a state where the opponent is pushed away when their physical attack is blocked.
* The ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series is based ''entirely around'' {{Ring Out}}s; characters do not have depletable HP but instead receive greater knockback as they take damage, until they are inevitably thrown from the arena.
* Some games such as later ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' entries take Knockback to an extreme, making some attacks capable of bouncing an opponent off the wall[=/=]floor in order to extend combos.
* A key game mechanic in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', in the form of Wall/Floor/Ceiling Rush. Essentially--many attacks send the opponent away from the fighter at high velocity. If an attack has the ability to wall rush, and there's a wall somewhere along the victim's trajectory, they'll slam into it for extra damage (base value of one-half of the damage done by the original hit in ''Dissidia'', one-quarter in ''Duodecim''). Interestingly, various attacks have various 'likelihoods' of wall rush--a lot have zero chance of rushing, no matter if your opponent is right up next to the wall/ceiling, some have wall rush for a certain amount of distance (e.g. Bitter End can wall rush, but the opponent recovers if there's no wall for a long way), and a very amusing few (Nightglow, Shadow Bringer, and Cross Slash, for few) basically have guaranteed wall rush--so long as there ''is'' a surface to slam into, the opponent ''will'' do it--even if the closest wall is [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom hundreds and hundreds of meters away]].

* ''Flinching'': Short-term knockback yields little more than a 'flinching' animation and may interrupt whatever action the player was performing (a {{combo|s}} or ChargedAttack, say). The knockback otherwise does not impede or interfere with player movement or control.
* ''Knocked back'': The most common manifestation of knockback interrupts the player's action and momentum and pushes them back a short distance (perhaps one or two steps); the character recovers their footing quickly, and the player is able to resume action in short order.
* ''Knocked down'': In its extreme manifestation, the player's character may be knocked back a significant distance, and the player is unable to control them until the character comes to a stop and is able to get back up onto their feet again.

''Knockback'' is a VideoGame simplification of basic physics where if a character is struck by an attack, it will physically push them aside some measure of distance[[labelnote:*]]Sometimes even allowing them to get to places they normally can't[[/labelnote]]. Modern games featuring full physics engines can incorporate numerous factors (relative mass, speed, gravity/wind, etc.) to calculate the exact force and direction of it, while older and simpler (and by extension, {{Retraux}}) will use extremely simplified rules, such as whether the attack originated from the right or left of the player and which direction the player was facing.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', a power attack will cause an opponent to stagger, and the Unrelenting Force shout will stagger an enemy, or send them flying at it's highest level.
*** One of the higher tier archery abilities, Power Draw, introduces knockback to arrows, half the time. Needless to say, the [[StunLock ability to stun an opponent at range over and over again]] is almost a GameBreaker. The only reason it isn't is because it only affects creatures that are about as big as the player; dragons, for example, don't care about knockback at all.