Ki Attacks: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A staple of the martial arts genre. Ki ([[Why Mao Changed His Name|also chi or qi]]) is the [[Life Energy|life force energy]] of the martial artist and/or the world around him; true masters can tap into that energy and use it for what amounts to superhero-style attacks. Compare Chi with [[Mana]]. Learning how to do '''Ki Attacks''' usually results in your rival learning his own, leading to an endless cycle of [[My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours]].

 

{{examples}}

* The advanced techniques of Ranma, Ryoga and Herb in ''[[Ranma ½]]''.

** Note that Saffron does not actually use Ki Attacks; rather, he shoots out ''[[Playing with Fire|raw flame]]''.

* Interestingly, this is one of [[Badass Grandpa|Hayato Furinji's]] ultimate techniques in ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]],'' a work that otherwise does its best to lie in the realms of non-supernatural fighting ([[Charles Atlas Superpower]] notwithstanding). A variation, however, in that it's not so much an energy blast as it is a whole lot of wind. Not to mention it's ineffective against anyone with a decent understanding of ki, and thus mostly useless except against [[Muggles|ordinary people.]]

 

* In ''[[Immortal Iron Fist|The Immortal Iron Fist]]'', the titular character and his fellow Immortal Weapons all use chi as the foundation for their superpowers. These range from merely increased strength, speed and durability in the case of Fat Cobra, to the Prince of Orphans' slightly less-realistic ability to turn into green mist and possess people.

** Fat Cobra feels that with the power of chi, anything is possible. An ant can wrestle with elephants.

* The Mandarin is a nasty example of a chi user. People tend to forget that he can give himself enough superhuman strength via chi to go hand to hand with [[Iron Man]].

* Then there's the new [[Legacy Character|Power Man]], Vic Alvarez, who possesses the ability to absorb chi and channel it into devastating strikes.

* Stick, [[Daredevil]]'s teacher, belongs to a group of chi-adept martial artists called [http://marvel.com/universe/Chaste The Chaste].

* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' has chi as a variant of magic used by some war mages and martial artists, especially ninja. The most major chi user in the series is Ryan Tabbot, who likes to throw in pop-culture references to other chi-users with his attacks (Hadoken!).

 

 

== Literature ==

* Kylie Chan's ''[[Dark Heavens]]'' books have chi-fuelled martial arts and wuxia.

* ''Keeper of Light and Dust'' by Natasha Mostert has a chi-stealing martial artist as the antagonist.