Jaw Breaker

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Of balls thou hast gained +5.

Monster trying to get its teeth into you? Here's an unusual solution; force the creature's jaws apart until they break.

Oddly, this is almost always portrayed as causing instantaneous death (in which case it's usually taken to be a "cooler" version of a Neck Snap), when it should leave them alive but in crotch-stompingly horrible pain.

For some reason, Reptilian monsters are especially prone to this.

A nastier variant is to simply tear the jaw off altogether.

Examples of Jaw Breaker include:

Comic Books

  • In 52, after Sobek's true colors are revealed, Black Adam finishes him off this way.
  • Pictured above: in an issue of The Walking Dead, upon being tackled by a zombie, Martinez sticks his hand in its mouth and breaks its jaw before it can bite his fingers. Okay he had gloves on, but still.
  • In Secret Six, Jeanette breaks King Shark's jaw this way. Somewhat subverted, as this doesn't kill him, but it obviously leaves him in excruciating pain.
  • Thragg does this to Dinosaurus in an issue of Invincible, but he lives.

Film

  • King Kong's signature move. He does it to dinosaurs and giant snakes in the 30s version, the 70s version, the 00s version and the video game based on it.
  • Mecha-Godzilla does this to Anguirus in Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla. He lives, though.
  • Derek kills a man in a disturbing scene in American History X with a curb stomp.
  • One of the deaths in Mirrors.
  • Yoko in The Grudge suffers this, as does Kanna in Ju-On. The third The Grudge film shows that Gretchen also suffers this fate.
  • The "reverse beartrap" in Saw.

Literature

  • In His Dark Materials, Iorek tears his rival's jaw off. Symbolic, because the other was a liar.
  • Samson does this to a lion in The Bible.

Video Games

Web Comics

  • The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Doc does it to a zombie. Since it was undead, it doesn't really kill the thing, but it does prevent it from biting him.
    • He doesn't stop with just removing the jaw, though. He proceeds to punch through it's spinal column, which is the part that kills it.
  • Part 4 of The Sacrifice has one of Bill's surgeons turn just as he's getting anesthetics.[context?] The ensuing struggle between her and the doctor has him tear her jaw off before she kills him and moves on to Bill.