http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpinToDeflectStuff

Who needs shields?

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The principle is simple: spin a rod (or rod-like object) fast enough and you can get it to function as a makeshift shield. Of course, this raises questions like how it can be done without injury (human joints have limited articulation), how the rod can get up to speed fast enough to actually block stuff, how the user manages to recover from the exertion so quickly, and if bullets are being blocked, how the rod isn't damaged if it's not stronger than usual. Your answer? It's cool.

An example of Implausible Fencing Powers and Sister Trope to Parrying Bullets, but can be done with any long and thin object. If it goes beyond deflection into redirection, you get an Attack Reflector. Distinguished from a plain I Know Karate display because it's normally only done when there are dangerous airborne objects approaching. Simple Staff users can be counted upon to do this at least once in their careers. This can also be done using a Spin Attack with almost anything, even your entire body!

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This is a tiny bit Truth in Television in that a few hundred years ago, when bows were the norm rather than guns, there were martial artists who claimed that they could spin a staff fast enough to deflect arrows.note An arrow is about a meter long, so to block one reliably, the staff has to complete half a revolution/second for each meter/second of speed the arrow has. Even at a mere 10 m/s (slower than a sprinter), that's 5 rev/s... hard to pull off continuously, but it only needs to be spun for the brief window between the arrow being en route and being in your chest. A medieval-style longbow can fire at 60 m/s, requiring 30 rev/s. If you could spin a staff half that fast, you could stick airfoils on it and become a human helicopter. To its credit, rotating slower would still provide a better defense than just holding a weapon steady, though not nearly to the degree that it's most commonly depicted.

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Of course, now we do it for bullets and lasers, but nobody seems to mind a lot because Everything's Better with Spinning.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

Comic Books

A regular part of Thor's bag of tricks in the Marvel Universe is spinning his hammer by its handlestrap to create a "shield". Justified by the hammer being magic and the wielder being a god. Note that this is also a variant of the tactic he uses to open dimensional portals, so along with blocking incoming shots, he may be siphoning them away.

Longtime Thor enemy Thunderball has done this at least once, though he was in a Spider-Man comic at the time - he spins his ball-and-chain in a circle to deflect small arms fire. Thunderball is human, but he and his ball-and-chain are empowered by Asgardian magic.

Donatello and Master Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles do this on what must be an episodic basis with their Simple Staff. Leonardo and Michelangelo also do it frequently. Even Raphael has pulled it off a couple of times with his sai.

Films — Animation

One antagonist from the Slayers movies blocks Lina's fire blasts like this. Slightly subverted, in that said antagonist's sword catches fire.

Slightly subverted in Mulan, when Captain Shang uses his spinning Simple Staff to deflect rocks thrown by his students: although he successfully deflects them, it's clear that he's specifically blocking individual attacks, not simply spinning his staff so fast that attacks can't penetrate. When other characters (specifically Mulan herself) try the same thing without proper training, they just end up twirling their staff uselessly as stones pelt them.

Films — Live-Action

Literature

Cashel from The Lord of the Isles can do this with his quarterstaff. Of course, it helps that he's a natural magic-user. When he spins his staff it creates a blue barrier than can stop magic, so clearly the spinning is an aid rather than the whole protection.

Subverted and played straight in Steven Brust's Dragaera books. In the Khaavren Romances, Khaavren fights a duel against an enemy who spins his sword around to block Khaavren's attacks. Khaavren reflects on how dumb that move is, then moves his sword in a spiral to get past the guy's defenses and stab him in the heart. Vlad Taltos, on the other hand, spins his magic chain Spellbreaker in a circle to make an effective spell shield.

Isana does this with water in in the Codex Alera final book. A small pool of water on her arm shaped like a shield and spun at high speed deflects vord attacks, and nearly tears her arm off.

Tabletop Games

The feat to perform this in Dungeons & Dragons 3.5th edition is called "Spinning Defense" (from the Dragon Compendium). It requires a polearm and focusing entirely on defense, but allow the use of Deflect Arrows an unlimited number of times (while it's usually limited to one projectile per round).

Toys

BIONICLE: Nokama's Hydro Blades had this function in Legends of Metru Nui. The toy couldn't do this as easily. Keetongu's Whirling Shields not only blocked energy attacks, but transferred their power to Keetongo himself. On the toy, an axle allows you to spin them. Tahu Nuva in his flying Adaptive Armor had Rotating Fire Blades. They worked on the toy, but with some friction issues.



Video Games

Web Animation

RWBY: Ruby uses this to deflect shots with her massive scythe. It seems to only work on smaller caliber weapons with larger explosives capable of getting through. So does Adam — he deflects incoming fire with his sword in his character short, and he even uses it offensively - by twirling the sword so fast before throwing it as a flying buzzsaw!

DSBT InsaniT: Alex does this with a spear when Robo-Wolf shoots at him with bullets. Seth points out the impossibility of this. Seth : There is no humanly-possible way you could twirl your spear fast enough to deflect gunfire.

Dreamscape: Keela can create a black shield by spinning her scythe.

Web Comics

Web Videos

Western Animation

Real Life

As noted in the trope summary, the use of staff weapons to deflect arrows. The staff doesn't actually need to be spinning so fast that it's impossible for any arrows to get by, it just needs the staff wielder to have a good idea of when and where the arrow will arrive and times the spin to hit it.

Truth in Television: There was a man who did this with an umbrella. The police tried to spray him with pepper spray and he spun his umbrella making it go into the eyes of the crowd that had gathered.

There is an obscure weapon called an "arrow catcher", used by Gatka martial artists. It is essentially 20 chain flails, linked together to form a giant spider's web, which is then spun around quickly. It's all probably just for show though.

Many jujutsu (and other "soft martial arts") grab defenses involve spinning your arm around the attacker's grasp to reverse the leverage advantage of the attack. A favourite of Steven Seagal.

A fast boxer facing a slower opponent might defend from jabs by swirling his arm around the punch, allowing it to slide harmlessly along his arm rather than hit him squarely.

That is actually the main mechanism of a fencing parry. You spin around your opponent's blade to push it out. A pair of fast and stubborn inexperienced fencers often end up playing "windshield wiper" where they both try to outspin the other.

The clear view screen is a glass disc attached to a motor that was developed as an alternative to the rubber blade windshield wiper. The motor spins the disc at over 1000 RPM, keeping the glass free of rain and snow. The clear view itself is limited to the size of the disc, so nowadays they're usually seen only on ships and larger vehicles.

is a glass disc attached to a motor that was developed as an alternative to the rubber blade windshield wiper. The motor spins the disc at over 1000 RPM, keeping the glass free of rain and snow. The clear view itself is limited to the size of the disc, so nowadays they're usually seen only on ships and larger vehicles. Modern-day Samurai Isao Machii demonstrates his skills by slicing a baseball fired at him from a pitching machine at 160 KMH in half with his sword.

demonstrates his skills by slicing a baseball fired at him from a pitching machine at 160 KMH in half with his sword. The staff technique, Plum Flower , has this as an application.

"Spin your whole body" variant

Anime & Manga

In Naruto, Neji Hyuga does this by spinning his entire body around like a spinning top, creating a vortex that blocks all projectiles and damages opponents caught in it. The lack of dizziness is justified: Byakugan gives him near 360-degree vision, so the visual clues always remain in the sight; and technically, he's not spinning all that quickly himself (the vortex is created by spraying chakra around).

Tomo from Azumanga Daioh tries something similar when walking down a narrow street and worried about being hit by the side mirror of a passing car. All she accomplishes is making herself dizzy and nearly getting run over. The intent, incidentally, is not to magically block the impact of the car (though we wouldn't put it past Tomo to try) but to roll with the impact, spinning in the direction that such an impact would send her anyway.

The Beetle from Getter Robo Go is a not-very Humongous Mecha that can withdraw its head, arms and legs into its body to form a solid steel dome. It then spins really fast.

Seigfried of Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple uses this as the basis of his fighting style; he spins to deflect incoming attacks and redirect the momentum into his own blows.

Kaiten Bancho from Kongoh Bancho uses his abnormal body to spin rapidly like a tornado to deflect attacks.

In the Sinnoh-based seasons of Pokémon, Ash and Dawn command their mons to literally spin in midair to dodge attacks. Later Ash takes it farther by having them spin while using an attack to create a spinning shield of doom (which was such an effective maneuver Paul used the "Counter Shield" against Ash in a later battle).

Mobile Fighter G Gundam: God Gundam's God Slash Typhoon. Using two beam sabers, Domon spins his whole Gundam really fast to deflect George de Sand's Rose Bits.

Rushuna from Grenadier spins in place when shot at, which somehow makes every bullet miss.

Films — Animation

Films — Live-Action

In The Protector, Tony Jaa deflects a sword thrust in Bullet Time by jumping and spinning rapidly, causing it to glance off his body harmlessly.

Live-Action TV

Video Games

Web Comics

Done by Sojueilo of Juathuur (the "spin your whole body" variant). Doubles as a Counter-Attack.

Western Animation

Yumi from Code Lyoko sometimes executes a wildly spinning move to confuse the enemies while deflecting/returning their fire with her tessen fans. Fan Nicknamed "Geisha Tornado".

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Ultimate Way Big deflects Diagon's eye lasers in this fashion.

Real Life