View source for Lodged Blade Recycling

{{trope}}
{{quote|(Operative stabs Mal) ''"Do you know what your sin is, Mal?"''
''"Aw, hell. I'm a fan of [[Seven Deadly Sins|all seven]].'' (pulls sword back out) ''But right now, I'm gonna have to go with WRATH!"'' (attacks)|The Operative and Malcolm Reynolds, ''[[Serenity]]''}}

A character has been stabbed with a knife or some other bladed weapon and left for dead. Then, however, instead of just kicking the bucket, he suddenly pulls the weapon out of his body and uses it to fight back, firmly establishing himself as a [[Determinator]] and/or [[Made of Iron]].

Note that in [[Real Life]], this is a very bad idea because the knife sticking in the wound slows down the bleeding considerably. Pulling it out runs a high risk of bleeding yourself to death within minutes. Additionally, touching the lodged blade can result in you surviving the stab wound only to finish the job yourself by cutting off something important inside.

Compare [[Catch and Return]] and [[Human Pincushion]].
{{examples}}

== Anime & Manga ==
* The regenerative immortal Rin does it in in episode three of ''[[Mnemosyne]]'', after being ''vivisected to death'', killing her torturer with the scalpel he accidentally dropped inside her stomach.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII|Final Fantasy VII: Last Order]]'': After being [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|run through]] by Sephiroth's sword and left dangling over a pit, a much younger Cloud somehow summons the strength to pull himself further onto the blade to regain his footing. Then uses it as a lever to fling Sephiroth across the room and into the wall!  {{spoiler|It should be noted that this is [[Unreliable Narrator|the Turk's recount]] of the event, since they didn't witness the actual battle; which has Cloud throw Sephiroth into the Mako pit itself rather than throwing him against the wall.}}
* ''[[Shootfighter Tekken]]'': actually played realistically with a fist-against-knife fight. Knife guy somehow ends up with the knife deep in his side, and proceeds to demonstrate his badassery by expulsing it using just his abdominal muscles. The other characters, including the [[Heir to the Dojo]] he's fighting, just stare at him (the viewer is led to think [[Badass|it's in fear or admiration]], but...) like he's an idiot, because suddenly he starts [[High-Pressure Blood|spraying blood]] and faints very soon after.
* Nanashi pulls Luo-Lang's broken sword from his arm for a final attack in [[Sword of the Stranger]].


== Comic Books ==
* [[Batwoman|Kate Kane]] does it in the final volume of ''[[Fifty Two]]'', {{spoiler|pulling a sacrificial knife out of her own chest to throw it at Bruno Mannheim, who (almost) performed the sacrifice}}. Note that she ''does'' recognize it as a stupid idea that almost costs her her life, but does it anyway because {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice|her lover Renee's life is more important to her]]}}.
* In the graphic novel ''[[Jonah Hex]]: No Way Back'', Jonah stabs el Papagayo with the same knife Papagayo just stabbed him with: while its still ''stuck through his arm!''
* The [[Savage Dragon]] once did this in a [[Crossover]] with [[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]. An undead pirate stabbed him in the back and he ended up with the blade stuck in him for almost an entire issue before he yanked it out in order to use it as a weapon against the animated brain of [[Adolf Hitler]]. Needless to say, it was one of the more memorable stories in the series.
* The ''[[Suicide Squad]]'' has once wound up on Apokolips, and Count Vertigo is stabbed by Kanto (a minion of Darkseid who has kind of a Italian Renaissance Assassin thing going.) Some time later, Vertigo turns out to have been playing possum and stabs Kanto in the back with his own dagger. Darkseid approves of this. Note that Count Vertigo was a [[Death Seeker]] at that point in his history and wouldn't care about the potential lethal side effects of pulling out the knife.


== Film ==
* In ''[[Knight and Day]]'', June accidentally impales an assassin with a knife, followed by the assassin pulling it out of himself to attack June with.
* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', Barbosa does this with the knife Elizabeth used on him. Also doubles as [[The Reveal]] of the Black Pearl's curse. He then does this ''again'' at the end of the movie. {{spoiler|This is [[The Reveal]] for the fact that ''Jack'' is now cursed.}}
* In ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator]] 2'', the T-1000 takes a large metal pole and impales {{spoiler|the T-800}} through the back and leaves. A few minutes later, {{spoiler|the T-800 reroutes its power to an auxillary battery}} pulls out the pole and goes after the T-1000.
* In ''[[Strange Days]]'' this is used at the climax of the movie when {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Max is hanging on to hero Lenny's tie to stop from falling off of a balcony.}} Lenny (who had previously been stabbed by Max) then {{spoiler|''pulls the knife out of his own back'' and cuts his necktie off, sending Max plummeting to his death.}}
* In ''[[Ladyhawke]]'', a character gets hit with a crossbow bolt, pulls it out, rides up to his opponent, and stabs him in the stomach with the bolt.
* In ''[[House of Flying Daggers]]'', near the end,  {{spoiler|Leo attempts to rape Mei}} and is punished by having a dagger embedded in his shoulder by the leader of [[La Résistance]] (who informs him that if he ever removes it he'll bleed to death). After  {{spoiler|murdering Mei}} he pulls it out as a last resort in his [[Duel to the Death]] with Jin  {{spoiler|leading to an [[Everybody Dies]] ending}}.
* In the first ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|Lord of the Rings]]'' film, Lurtz does this with Aragorn's dagger (throws it back at him).
* Ironhide in ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'' gets a barbed weapon (possibly a timed explosive) thrown into his shoulder during a [[Mexican Standoff]] against two Decepticons. He proceeded to pull it out and return the favor to the one who threw it at him, except [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|through the head]]. He proceeded to slam the 'Con onto a car and punt him into a building, exploding soon after. "[[Bond One-Liner|Class dismissed!]]"
* ''[[Shoot'Em Up (film)|Shoot Em Up]]'' has the hero Mr Smith use a scalpel he was stabbed with to fight back.
** Although this doesn't really do the scene justice... {{spoiler|After having all his fingers broken, his torturer decides that the next step is to cut out an eye. Smith waits until the knife is close before headbutting the guy and getting the scalpel lodges in his forehead. Since his hands are broken and he's unable to hold the knife, he stabs it through his hand to be able to use it to fight back.}} [[Serial Escalation|The film is full of this kind of craziness.]]
* Malcolm Reynolds pulls<ref>Pardon the pun.</ref> this during his fight with the Operative in ''[[Serenity]]''.


== Literature ==
* Done by sheer accident in ''[[Discworld|The Truth]]'', when Mr. Pin knocks William back against his desk and William's arm is pierced by the newsman's spike. Aware only that his arm suddenly hurts a lot, William moves to shove the paid killer away from him, and the protruding tip of the spike cuts his attacker's throat.


== Live Action TV ==
* In season 8 of ''[[24]]'', Jack kills one of [[The Mafiya|Vladimir Laitanin]]'s men using a knife that he'd just been stabbed in the stomach with.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': Overlapping with [[I Am Not Left-Handed]], Bra'tac did this in "Lost City" after being stabbed in his empty symbiote sac (tretonin having taken the place of his symbiote). Teal'c did almost the exact same thing in "Talion".
** Unlike most examples, [[Justified Trope|they may have an excuse for not bleeding to death]]. Jaffa heal much faster than normal humans.


== Video Games ==
* The [[Player Character]] Soap does it near the end of ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2'' to {{spoiler|kill General Shepherd with the same knife he stabbed him in the chest with}}. In ''MW3'', he almost dies from it, flatlining during the prologue, and there's a level where you have to get him to safety before he bleeds out.
* Early on in ''[[Saints Row the Third]]'', Gat gets stabbed by Loren during a tussle, but being a [[Made of Iron]] [[Badass]], he just pulls the knife out and throws it at a guard with a machine gun so the others can escape.
* The sword Ganondorf uses in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'' is the one that was used for his execution. Thanks to the Triforce of Power, he survived, pulled it out, and slew one of the Sages holding him before the rest were able to [[Sealed Evil in a Can|seal him away]].
* Played with repeatedly in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots]]'' during  {{spoiler|Raiden's}} fight with Vamp. Towards the end of the fight,  {{spoiler|Raiden}} is pinned to the ground via a knife through the foot. He proceeds to  {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|yank his foot out of the ground and stomp on Vamp repeatedly... with the knife still sticking out.]]}} 


== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', [[The Captain]] does this [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-08-15 when he gets a knife] thrown into his ''[[Eye Scream|eye]].''
{{quote|'''Tagon''': Thank you. Now ''I'' have a knife.}}
** Note that he paid for it in surgery later.
* A rare double version occurs in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' when [http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=061107 Oasis fights] [http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=061108 Nash Straw].


== Web Original ==
* At the end of ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-is63goeBgc Ryan Vs. Dorkman 2]'',  {{spoiler|Dorkman is being cruelly stabbed by Ryan, but he manages to push Ryan back, pull out the lightsaber from his chest, and kill Ryan will a well-placed [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works|saber throw]]}}.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:I Like Swords]]
[[Category:Lodged Blade Recycling]]