History Main / LawOfInverseRecoil

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': Negi uses the recoil from a magic arrow to avoid a blast by [[spoiler:his father]] during their fight in the Mahora Budokai.

* In ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'', the Laevatein (the MidSeasonUpgrade to the Arbalest) is equipped with a giant gun called a demolition cannon; when in its Howitzer Mode, the recoil is so great that the Laevatein ''will'' be knocked off its feet unless the physics-defying Lambda Driver is active.

* ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}''

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'':

** In the [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands2}} second game]], [[BoisterousBruiser Salvador]], "The ''[[MoreDakka Gunzerker]],''" has the ability to go GunsAkimbo with ''any'' two weapons the player desires, be it machine guns, shotguns, pistols, sniper rifles, or rocket launchers. Naturally, [[TheBigGuy the stout and solid fella]] has no issues with recoil, though seeing as he's spent most of his life abusing steroids, it's probably justified.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The protagonist of Film/TheAxe hurts his shoulder when trying to shoot a handgun one-handed. Repeatedly.

* Averted in ''FanFic/AeonEntelechyEvangelion'', where Shinji while piloting Unit-01 tries to use a High-Velocity Assault Rifle one handed (the other hand was busted) and fail. Being written by the physics student helps.

* ''[[FanFic/TheNowakverse Under the Bridge]]'' has an interesting aversion: The "Gray Mouse" invented a weapon which she calls "Darned Nearly Recoilless Rifle". It uses .22 rimfire ammo (which, on rodents' scale, amounts to artillery), it is held like a bazooka, and "darned nearly recoilless" means that the remaining recoil would still knock the operator over.
* ''FanFic/FalloutEquestriaEmptyQuiver'':

* Recoil is portrayed fairly realistically in ''Film/Revenge2017''. In particular, the first time Jen fires Dimi's Mossberg 590 shotgun, she is completely unprepared for the recoil and it knocks her flat on her ass. The shot goes wild and wings Stan in the shoulder, rather than hitting him in the head. (It should be noted that Dimi, the FatBastard she took it off, was much heavier than the slight Jen.)

* ''Series/YoungIndianaJones'': Almost echoing a scene from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', one episode has Young Indy in a hot air balloon with Remy and a captured German officer being chased by a squadron of fighter planes. Indy tries to fend them off with a machine gun, oblivious to warnings that the gun will "walk up" if he doesn't brace properly, and sure enough, the recoil sends the barrel pointing upwards and punching several nasty holes in the balloon. ("''That'' is walking up.")

** Mugino's "Meltdowner" ([[FrickinLaserBeams basically a giant plasma beam]]) is not described in as much detail as Mikoto's railgun, but it is perfectly possible for a plasma weapon to fire with effectively no recoil. It is also possible to use it as a plasma rocket if necessary; she [[RecoilBoost uses this to survive a fall at one point]].

* The realities behind this trope put the lie to that old practice of [[ShotAtDawn military firing squads]] loading blanks into one rifle, some rifles, or all but a single rifle. According to the legend, this is to make it easier on the riflemen tasked with the difficult job of executing a brother in arms, since none of them would know who actually fired the fatal shot. Sounds mighty poignant and poetic, but anyone who's ever fired a rifle in ''any'' military chambering will know that it's nonsense; the telltale thump from the live rounds would be a dead giveaway to whoever ended up shooting them, while the men who fired blanks would know right away from the lack of felt recoil.

* ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'': The Birth Buster used by Kamen Rider Birth actually has a huge recoil, enough to knock an unprepared person flat on their butt. Like any weapon in RealLife, it evidentally takes practice to use it untransformed (and according to its user, even transformed), as while Date (the primary user) has no problems with it, Goto gets thrown off his feet the first time he tries due to not having the proper knowledge of its use.
** This was done earlier in ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' and mixed with the above Noisy Cricket example from Men in Black.

* In a departure from the franchise's usual recoil-less [=BFGs=], the Dual Crusher from ''Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger'' / Drill Blaster from ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'' knocks the user flat (and that's for morphed Rangers; it could be worse for someone untransformed). A special armored vest had to be developed to disperse the energies.
** Season two of the original series had the Power Cannon, a giant bazooka which had recoil enough to make all six Rangers stumble back.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', this became something of a plot point with the Megazords. The first time the Wild Force Megazord used the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcSOBnzuuRs Bear Blaster,]] it recoiled noticeably and the energy blasts went wild (still hit the target, though.) It was later revealed that the Bear Brothers were too powerful for the Lion Zord to handle and greatly injured him. The next episodes were then spent finding the Soul Bird (to heal the Lion Zord) and the much stronger MightyGlacier Gorilla Zord to replace the JackOfAllStats Lion Zord in controlling the Bear Zords and forming the Kongazord (itself a MightyGlacier compared to the JackOfAllStats Wild Force Megazord.)

* The bazooka in ''VideoGame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors''. ''Hoo'' boy.

* The bazooka in ''VideoGame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors''. ''Hoo'' boy.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': A killer was identified because they weren't used to the recoil of the revolver they used, and left a nice long scrape of knuckle skin on the brick wall they were shooting from behind, as well as a nick on the top of the gun's frame where it hit the attractive concrete handrail at the top.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonTwo,'' Pete, a man who knows how to handle more heavy-duty guns than the simple pistol Clementine, an eleven year old at this point, is used to, tells her to be careful around something like a hunting rifle because it would "knock you on your ass." When she finally does pick up a hunting rifle during a crisis, when she fires, it does indeed knock her on her ass, literally sending her falling backwards onto the ground.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeason2,'' Pete, a man who knows how to handle more heavy-duty guns than the simple pistol Clementine, an eleven year old at this point, is used to, tells her to be careful around something like a hunting rifle because it would "knock you on your ass." When she finally does pick up a hunting rifle during a crisis, when she fires, it does indeed knock her on her ass, literally sending her falling backwards onto the ground.

* ''VideoGame/{{Counterstrike}}'' was an early FirstPersonShooter built around the concept of using realistic recoil to force players into using single shots and short bursts rather than spraying full-auto. Recoil causes any automatic weapon to become so inaccurate that holding down the trigger is only useful at extreme close range.

** Starting with ''Borderlands 2'', Hyperion guns literally have ''inverse recoil'' -- they have a "recoil-powered stabilizer" that actually makes the gun more accurate as you keep firing it.

* Recoil is portrayed fairly realistically in ''Film/Revenge2017''. In particular, the first time Jen fires Dimi's Mossberg 590 shotgun, she is completely unprepared for the recoil and it knocks her flat on her ass. The shot goes wild and wings Stan in the shoulder, rather than hitting him in the head. (It should be noted that Dimi, she FatBastard she took it off, was much heavier than the slight Jen.)

* A sequence in the Creator/DCComics MiniSeries ''[[ComicBook/GreenLantern Guy Gardner]] Reborn'', parodying [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel's]] ThePunisher, has the title character burst into a room with GunsAkimbo, and rapidly lose control of them, injuring himself.

* ''Series/CSINewYork'': A killer was identified because they weren't used to recoil of the revolver they used, and left a nice long scrape of knuckle skin on the brick wall they were shooting from behind, as well as a nick on the top of the gun's frame where it hit the attractive concrete handrail at the top.

* In ''Fill/RideAlong'', Ben gets taken to a shooting range to test his shooting skills, and fails repeatedly to hit the target at all with a pistol. He then demands a shotgun, but when he fires it, the recoil knocks him backwards off his feet into [[TrashLanding a large litter bin]].

* Recoil is portrayed fairly realistically in ''Film/Revenge2017''. In particularly, the first time Jen fires Dimi's Mossberg 590 shotgun, she completely unprepared for the recoil and it knocks her flat on her ass. (It should be noted that Dimi, she FatBastard she took it off, was much heavier than the slight Jen.)

On the flip side, ''real'' shoulder-fired rocket launchers have very little to no recoil: they are open at the back and make use of Newton's third law of motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (rocket power relies on this law of physics), imparting no momentum ("recoil") on the shooter (sometimes, it is augmented with counterbalancing weighted objects expelled backwards). There is ''some'' recoil, originating from either friction between projectile and tube, compressed-air expulsion system, or anything else needed to throw several pounds several feet forward. In fact, they're alternatively called recoilless rifles for this [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin lack of recoil]]. Grenade launchers, meanwhile, use the same propulsion method as normal firearms, yet have very easily manageable recoil simply because the projectile moves much more slowly than your typical bullet. Yet, when used by a fictitious character, both of these somehow pack enough force to violently push back the wielder. Presumably, this is due to the erroneous belief that anything that destructive ''has'' to have a powerful kick. See MissingBackblast and BlownAcrossTheRoom for related [[TheCoconutEffect misconceptions]].