Venus exhibits a constellation of anomalous planetary characteristics: retrograde rotation, absence of plate tectonics, negligible magnetic field, and evidence of global crustal resurfacing. While these features have been studied extensively in isolation, no unifying mechanism has been established to explain their co-occurrence. This paper proposes the Trailing-Edge Impact Hypothesis: Venus experienced a massive, oblique collision with a silicate-rich co-planetary body that struck the planet's trailing (western) hemisphere during late-stage accretion. This impact configuration could simultaneously account for Venus's current spin state through angular momentum cancellation, its thick, tectonically inactive crust through retention of impactor material, and its absent magnetic field through disruption of core-mantle coupling. We present the physical reasoning underlying this hypothesis and discuss observational tests that could support or refute it.
