Speed Echoes: Difference between revisions

[[File:Fox_Illusion_MoveFox Illusion Move.jpg|link=Super Smash Bros.|frame|[[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Fox McCloud]] shows how it's done.]]One common way of portraying a character as moving very, very quickly in fiction is to make multiple images of them viewable at once. They appear to be moving so fast that they're in several places at once. For the sake of preventing confusion, usually the "non-static" parts are shaded with less color, so we're sure that a character is moving really fast as opposed to being a monster with eight arms. Indeed, this trope is much easier to show than it is to describe -- itdescribe—it's one of those effects that usually has to be pointed out to a casual viewer for them to even realize it's there.

In some fiction, the echoes are more than just a special effect -- theyeffect—they're literal. Other characters can see them and be confused by them, making them effective covers for highly elaborate martial arts attacks. In video games, they can be used as an excuse to force the player to use timing to hit the "real" image. For various reasons, using [['''Speed Echoes]]''' for the [[Doppelganger Spin]] doesn't really make a whole [[Fridge Logic|heck of a lot of sense]], but eh, [[MST3K Mantra|roll with it]].

Note that sometimes this trope can be used somewhat lazily: a character will have [['''Speed Echoes]]''' but aren't really moving all that fast. The echoes are just to make us ''think'' they're moving fast.

This is somewhat distinct from [[Doppelganger Attack]], although technically a work can employ both at once. Related to [[Speed Stripes]] and [[Flash Step]], both of which often employ this trope in their basic function. Indeed, you can see examples of [['''Speed Echoes]]''' in action in both of those pages' images.

{{examples|Examples}}

* One of the [[Tournament Arc|Tournament Arcs]]s of ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' had a character pull this trick with a total of ''eight'' copies.

* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', [[Speed Echoes]] are used to show how fast [https://web.archive.org/web/20090313063016/http://www.onemanga.com/Chrno_Crusade/29/18/ Joshua can move]. Interestingly, there's also another page in the same chapter for an almost [https://web.archive.org/web/20090313063042/http://www.onemanga.com/Chrno_Crusade/29/23-24/ theatrical slow motion effect]. (Warning: the second page contains a spoiler.)

* ''Gundam'' has this for [[Super Prototype|some suits]] in various series. Often [[GundamMobile FSuit Gundam 91F91|occurs]] [[Mobile Suit Gundam SeedSEED Destiny|when]] [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|the Gundam]] enables a [[Super Mode]].

* A variation is found in The Picard Maneuver of ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]''. The premise is that making a short warp jump allows a ship to overtake their own image traveling toward the observer and thus appear in two places at once. Too bad this is completely ridiculous at least for ''Star Trek''. If starships didn't have filters to prevent this, they'd be surrounded by ghost images of every ship that ever entered or left warp in that area, as proven by Lawrence Krauss.

* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', when Hiro stops time, he sees a long Daphne-colored trail leading him to the speedster.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'' does this with Cloud's [[Finishing Move|Omnislash version 5]].

* Many, many, ''many'' 2D [[Fighting Game|Fighting Games]]s have the character summon "afterimages" during [[Desperation Attack|Desperation Attacks]]s, high jumps, or even evades.

* ''[[Castlevania]]: Symphony of the Night'' used afterimages whenever...well...ANYTHING happened, really.

* This is how the Speed Booster power-up is animated in the 2D ''[[Metroid]]'' games where it appears.

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' and friends show this in the 2D games, mainly the [[Sonic Advance Trilogy]] and [[Sonic Rush Series (Video Game)|Sonic Rush Series]].

* In the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' games, Fox and Falco's Side B moves leave [[Speed Echoes]] behind as they zip across the screen.

* High-end [[Guns Akimbo|Dual Pistols]] attacks in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' create [[Speed Echoes]] as the character spins to bring their guns to bear on targets.