Knockback · Game Mechanic Compendium

Definition

Knockback forces a target away from the user, or in a direction the user chooses, against its will, by a blow, a blast, or a field; any damage is secondary. A pull toward the user is the mirror image and belongs to the Pull-target variation of grappling hook; Gloomhaven prints PUSH and PULL as separate effects. Incidental hit physics, the recoil every hit applies, is a payload of hitboxes and hurtboxes, and counts only when the ability names displacement as its effect or when scoring turns on displacement. A brief disable from a launch is a side effect, not a stun; moving the user is dash; falling over in place is a status effect. The push your luck mechanic is unrelated.

Behaviour

Delivery runs from contact (bull rush, Shove) to a cast at a target (Bigby’s Forceful Hand, Depulso), an area wave (Thunderwave, Soundwave), and a projectile (Concussive Blast). Distance is counted in squares, hexes, or feet on a table and is a physics impulse in real time; the value lies in where the target lands. Resistance is the counterplay: weight limits in 1978, an opposed Strength check in 2000, saves in 2024, and boss immunity in Hades.

Variations

Repulsion field (Greyhawk, Players Handbook): a sustained area turns back creatures approaching the user instead of throwing one.
Damage-scaled knockback (Super Smash Bros.): distance grows with the target’s accumulated damage, and victory means knocking targets out of the arena. The scaling belongs to the game’s combat system, not to a single ability.
Hazard and collision push (Gloomhaven, Into the Breach, Overwatch, Hades): the push is valued for the trap, water, cliff, wall, or enemy it sends the target into.
Knockback rider (Dungeons & Dragons, 2024 edition; Hades): Repelling Blast adds a push of “up to 10 feet straight away” to a cantrip hit; Poseidon boons do the same for other attacks.
Programmed body push (RoboRally): robots and option weapons such as the Pressor Beam push robots during programmed movement, closer to the movement system than to an ability.

Gating

Early tabletop knockback is a memorised magic-user spell, bounded by the target’s size or weight rather than by a save. Third edition moves the push into a manoeuvre anyone may attempt, paid with a standard action and attacks of opportunity; the 2024 rules keep Shove as an Unarmed Strike option and Thunderwave on slots, so magic keeps the longer push. Gloomhaven ties PUSH to card actions, rests, and card loss. Super Smash Bros. and Into the Breach make knockback free, and the Smash Damage Meter lengthens it over a match. Overwatch and, reportedly, Hogwarts Legacy put it on cooldowns. Group play adds a social cost: World of Warcraft’s 2008 knockbacks scattered enemies a tank was holding.

History and provenance

Because the definition admits a repelling field, the earliest documented use is Repulsion in Greyhawk (1975). The blow form appears in the Players Handbook (1978) with Push, Gust of Wind, and Bigby’s Forceful Hand. Chainmail (1972) is an antecedent: its fire ball “drives dragon back 1 move” as a resolution outcome. Super Smash Bros. (1999) built a scoring system on knockback, and Diablo II (2000) gave Bash and Smite knockback as skills. World of Warcraft gained player knockbacks such as Typhoon and Thunderstorm in patch 3.0.2 (2008), not at launch.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the ability behaves in each game; gating is what limits its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
Game	Year	Medium	Gating	How the ability behaves
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)	1975	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots	Repulsion, a 6th-level magic-user spell, lets the caster make objects or creatures move in a course opposite to their course towards the caster, for 6 turns at a range of 12 inches. It is a sustained field that turns back whatever approaches, not a blow that throws a target.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook Gary Gygax (TSR)	1978	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots	Four memorised spells displace. Gust of Wind (3rd level) forces small fliers back 1 to 6 inches and holds man-sized ones in place; Bigby's Forceful Hand (6th) pushes a creature of 500 pounds or less away from the caster; Repulsion (6th) moves creatures in its path away at 3 inches per round. The 1st-level Push mainly makes a creature lose its balance.
Super Smash Bros. HAL Laboratory (Nintendo)	1999	Video	At will	Attacks raise the target's Damage Meter, shown as a percentage, and the higher it reads "the easier it is to knock your opponent off". A match is scored in knock-offs rather than by depleting hit points. A Damage option scales knockback for every attack, and a handicap makes a fighter easier to knock off.
Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition Wizards of the Coast	2000	Tabletop RPG	Action cost	Bull rush is a standard action, made in place of an attack or at the end of a charge. The attacker moves into the defender's space, provoking attacks of opportunity, and makes an opposed Strength check with 4 points per size category and +2 on a charge. Success pushes the defender back 5 feet, plus 1 foot per point of margin if the attacker follows; failure sends the attacker back 5 feet.
Overwatch Blizzard Entertainment	2016	Video	Cooldown	Lúcio's Soundwave is a short-range blast wave that knocks enemies away from him, and Pharah's Concussive Blast is an explosive projectile that knocks enemies back. Both are cooldown abilities, used to push enemies into lethal falls. A 2019 PTR patch made knockback distance more consistent and let flying heroes be knocked back.
Gloomhaven Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games)	2017	Board & card	Action cost, Per rest, Consumable	PUSH X on an ability-card attack forces the target to move X hexes in a direction the attacker chooses, each hex farther from the attacker, ending when no hex qualifies. The target may pass through its allies but not its enemies. Forced movement springs traps and takes hazardous-terrain damage. The card is discarded and recovered by resting, or lost.
Fortnite Epic Games	2017	Video	Consumable	The Chiller Grenade (2019), found in stacks of 3, knocks players back and leaves anyone hit, allies included, sliding on icy feet for 7 seconds. Since patch 4.0 (2018) a player knocked off the island counts as eliminated by the opponent, as with fall damage.
Into the Breach Subset Games	2018	Video	At will	Many mech attacks push or pull enemies in addition to, or instead of, dealing damage. Enemy attacks are telegraphed, so a one-square push makes an attack miss or strike another enemy, and ground enemies can be pushed off cliffs, into water, or into each other, damaging both.
Hogwarts Legacy Latest Avalanche Software (Warner Bros. Games)	2023	Video	Cooldown	Depulso, learned in a side assignment, pushes enemies and objects away from the caster and serves as a control spell rather than a damage spell, opening room in a fight. A mastery talent gives a larger push that hits several adversaries, Depulso puzzle rooms require it, and the spell reportedly runs on a cooldown.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), tabletop rpg. Confidence: medium. The definition admits a repelling field, so the earliest documented use is Repulsion in Greyhawk (1975), a 6th-level magic-user spell whose only effect is to move creatures away from the caster. Confidence is medium: the form is a sustained field that turns back approaching creatures rather than a strike; the text is read from a 1979 printing, and its match with the 1975 printing is unconfirmed; earlier tabletop and wargame cases are only partly surveyed. The blow form appears in the Players Handbook (1978) with Push, Gust of Wind, and Bigby's Forceful Hand. Antecedents are Chainmail (2nd edition, 1972), whose fire ball "drives dragon back 1 move" and drives elementals back instead of destroying them, a resolution outcome rather than an ability (its presence in the 1971 edition is unconfirmed), and the air elemental of Monsters & Treasure (1974), whose whirlwind sweeps away creatures under two hit dice, a monster power. The earliest video instances cited are Super Smash Bros. (1999), in system form, and the dedicated skills of Diablo II (2000).

Sources

Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz. (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. TSR. Rulebook Magic-user spells, 6th level: Repulsion (spell table p. 20; description p. 25). Accessed 2026-10-24. The Repulsion text, range, and duration; the scan is a 12th printing of November 1979.
Gary Gygax. (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook. TSR. Rulebook Magic-user spells: Push, p. 68; Gust of Wind, p. 74; Bigby's Forceful Hand, p. 83; Repulsion, pp. 85-86. Accessed 2026-10-24. Four slot-gated displacement spells with weight and size limits; page numbers from the OCR of a 6th printing.
Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. (1972). Chainmail, 2nd edition. Guidon Games. Rulebook Fantasy Supplement, Wizards: Missiles, exceptions table. Accessed 2026-10-24. The fire ball and lightning bolt that drive dragons and elementals back 1 move instead of destroying them.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. (1974). Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 2, Monsters & Treasure. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook Air Elementals; Djinn. The whirlwind that sweeps away creatures under two hit dice.
Wizards of the Coast. System Reference Document 3.0, Combat Actions. Wizards of the Coast. Rulebook Bull rush [Standard][AoO: Yes]. Accessed 2026-10-24. The bull rush, its opposed Strength check, size modifiers, push distance, and failure rebound; Wayback snapshot of 2004.
Wizards of the Coast. (2025). System Reference Document 5.2. Wizards of the Coast. Rulebook Rules Glossary, Unarmed Strike: Shove, p. 190; Thunderwave, p. 169; Repelling Blast, p. 74. Accessed 2026-10-24. The 2024 Shove, Thunderwave's 10-foot push, and the Repelling Blast rider.
Isaac Childres (Cephalofair Games). (2017). Gloomhaven rulebook. Rulebook PUSH X and PULL X, p. 22; Traps and Hazardous terrain, p. 14. Accessed 2026-10-24. The farther-each-hex push, its separation from PULL, and forced movement into traps and hazards.
Nintendo and HAL Laboratory. (1999). Super Smash Bros. instruction manual (EN-AUS). Nintendo. Rulebook Introduction, p. 3; The Battle Screen; Options: Handicap, Damage; Items: Home-Run Bat. Accessed 2026-10-24. The Damage Meter, knock-off scoring, and the knockback scaling option.
Blizzard Entertainment (Blizzard North). (2000). Diablo II manual. Rulebook Barbarian Skills, Combat skills: Bash, Leap; Paladin Skills: Smite, Sanctuary. Accessed 2026-10-24. Dedicated knockback skills; the scan's printer marks are dated 2002, so it may be a reprint.
Blizzard Entertainment. Lúcio hero page. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. The Soundwave description, in the current site's text.
Blizzard Entertainment. Pharah hero page. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. The Concussive Blast description, in the current site's text.
Tom Powers (Blizzard Entertainment). (2019). Overwatch PTR Patch Notes, February 26, 2019. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Knockback consistency, knockback on fliers, and Soundwave counted as an offensive assist for pushing enemies into lethal situations.
Hayden Dingman (PCWorld). (2018). Into the Breach review: Chess meets Starship Troopers in brilliant, bite-sized battles. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The push as the core verb, and pushes off cliffs, into water, and into other enemies.
Allison Robert (Engadget, WoW Insider). (2008). A plea on behalf of frustrated tanks everywhere. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The knockbacks of patch 3.0.2 (Typhoon, Blast Wave, Thunderstorm) and the friction with tanking.
BradyGames. (2005). World of Warcraft Official Strategy Guide. Book Mage, Fire talents: Blast Wave; Warrior tactics: Thunder Clap. Accessed 2026-10-24. At launch Thunder Clap was a debuff and threat tool and Blast Wave dazed, so neither knocked back.
Hamza Khalid (SegmentNext). (2023). Hades Boons and Blessings Guide. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The Poseidon knockback boons, bonus damage for slamming foes into barriers, and boss immunity.
Gamer Guides. (2023). How To Get & Use Depulso In Hogwarts Legacy. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. Depulso as a control push, its mastery talent, and the puzzle rooms.
Wizards of the Coast. (2015). Robo Rally FAQ. Website Mini Howitzer and Pressor Beam; Ramming Gear. Accessed 2026-10-24. The option weapons that count as pushing a robot, and conveyors that do not push.
Epic Games. (2019). Fortnite v7.30 Patch Notes. Website Battle Royale, Weapons + Items. Accessed 2026-10-25. The Chiller Grenade knocking players back, the 7-second icy slide for allies and enemies, and its stack size.
Epic Games. (2018). Fortnite v4.0 Patch Notes. Website Battle Royale, Gameplay. Accessed 2026-10-25. Elimination credit for knocking a player off the island, as with fall damage, and fall distance in the elimination feed.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Knockback." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-25. http://localhost:4321/abilities/knockback

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