Top 10 Most Epic Blows In Video Games

“Doom Eternal” (2020)

While the “Doom” franchise is known for popularizing first person shooters, the combat isn’t limited to weapons. Recent entries have taken melee to bloody and awesome places. In the case of “Doom Eternal,” this gets pretty literal. When an enemy is near death, you can perform glory kills on them; preset animations of amazingly gory violence. By performing these, you can charge up your Blood Punch. Once executed, a bloody swipe taken at your foes will insta-kill weaker enemies and make stronger ones wet their non-existent demon pants.

“Tekken” Franchise (1994-)

This fighting franchise has a ton of great attacks, including punches, but arguably the most flashy and memorable of these is the Lightning Screw Uppercut. The signature move of Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama, this move gives the fighter an aura of lightning and they, naturally, perform several corkscrews before delivering an uppercut. As cool as it looks, the fact that it can’t be blocked has given it a legendary status. Some have even dubbed it the Godfist. And when you can hit opponents with impunity and look good doing it, it does feel positively divine – even if you’re playing as Devil Jin.

“Mortal Kombat” Franchise (1992-)

This series has some of the most bloody and visceral violence in any video game, but few attacks make us, or at least most male gamers, wince quite as hard as this one. Primarily the signature move of Johnny Cage, though his daughter Cassie can also perform it, the Nut Cracker involves doing the splits and then delivering a punch to the opponent’s groin. Although primarily used as a special attack, more recent games allow the option for X-ray attacks, giving you the chance to see the damage in all its painful glory.

“Kirby Super Star” (1996)

When it comes to punching, Kirby probably isn’t the first character that comes to mind. After all, he’s more famous for eating his enemies and gaining their powers. However, in “Kirby Super Star,” a minigame sees the pink puffball pitted against various challengers in a punching contest that involves timed button presses. The more accurate the timing, the greater the force of the punch. If you get perfect timing, the punch will be so powerful that it creates a crack in planet Pop Star! Not bad for a cute, cuddly fluff ball!

“Battletoads” Franchise (1991-)

As ridiculous as a game series about anthropomorphic frogs beating up bad guys is, their powers are even more absurd. During certain attacks, the Battletoads’ limbs will shapeshift into various objects or features in an exaggerated manner. For kicks, this adds a big boot to their feet. For punches, this usually involves their fists becoming oversized. Rash, Zitz, and Pimple leave marks significantly more painful than their namesakes whenever they hit enemies with one of these! We have unconfirmed reports of real gamers experiencing something similar whenever they put their fists through their TVs while playing vehicle sections in these games.

“Final Fantasy VII” (1997)

Although a recurring ability in the “Final Fantasy” franchise, our pick goes to the version from the game that originated it. The last limit break for Tifa, Final Heaven sees the pretty pugilist charge up energy around her fist before striking her opponent; causing a huge explosion in her wake. On its own, it does 2 and half times damage, but the mechanism you use to activate it also has a good chance of doing a critical. Oh, and did we mention that Final Heaven activates after a combo of all her previous limit breaks?

“Resident Evil 5” (2009)

Depending on who you ask, this moment is either the point at which the “Resident Evil” franchise jumped the shark, or the most awesome scene in video games! Or maybe it’s both. Regardless of where you stand, the facts are these – in order to escape the mutated Wesker and meet back up with Sheva while in a volcano, Chris Redfield decides to use a boulder to bridge the gap between them. Instead of just pushing the huge rock, Chris repeatedly punches it to get it to move. Is it realistic? Absolutely not! But it’s kind of amazing – in a titanically stupid way.

“Street Fighter” Franchise (1987-)

The signature move for Ryu, Ken, and their various clones, the Rising Dragon Fist is not to be underestimated. It’s a flashy and memorable move, since it’s a spinning uppercut, occasionally accompanied by flames. In addition, it’s extremely useful in fights, since it tends to be tough to counter and can hit foes in the air or interrupt them. Given the “Street Fighter” series’ long history, the Shoryuken has taken on a legendary and memetic status, often being referenced in other media.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Punching the Soul of a Goddess Into the Sun is as Weird & Awesome as the Rest of This Game

Punching the Finger of a Planet-Sized Baddie & Killing Him? EPIC!

“Super Smash Bros. Franchise” (1999-)

When it comes to video game punches, accept no substitutes! Sure, the “Super Smash Bros.” games have some fantastic punches, like D.K.’s wind-up Giant Punch, or Ganondorf’s Warlock Punch, but neither of them have the satisfying execution or brand recognition of Captain Falcon’s iconic blow. With a simple press of the B-button, the “F-Zero” racer will deliver a powerful blow accompanied by a fiery falcon...while he yells the name of the attack aloud. It looks cool, it’s fun to imitate, and its power is the stuff of memes! There simply isn’t a video game punch quite this awesome.