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{{trope}}
[[File:solid-snake-neck-snap_2632.jpg|link=Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)|frame]]
 
{{quote|''"You best protect ya neck!"''|'''[[Wu Tang Clan (Music)|Wu -Tang Clan]]'''}}
 
Next to "[[Off Withwith His Head]]", snapping a person's neck is one of the surest ways to kill someone in media.
 
Typical procedure: [[Alice and Bob|Alice]] stalks [[Alice and Bob|Bob]]. Catching him unawares, Alice grabs Bob's chin with one hand and his opposite temple with the other. Bob just has time enough for [[Oh Crap|his eyes to go wide with the realization of how screwed he is]] when Alice wrenches his head to the side with a [[Sickening Crunch|hideous cracking of bone]] (a walnut cracking was used for this in ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'', which may be [[Ur Example|one of the earliest examples]]). Bob is always killed instantly and almost always [[Dies Wide Open|with his eyes open]]. Sometimes Alice at least appears to put in an effort (or has superpowers or something) but often is remarkably blase about it.
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{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* Kirika snaps a man's neck using his own tie and a fall down an elevator shaft in the first episode of ''[[Noir (Animeanime)|Noir]]''.
* Balalaika, in a truly ruthless and [[Badass]] moment from ''[[Black Lagoon (Anime)|Black Lagoon]]'', snaps the neck of {{spoiler|the leader of the Washimine group}} in one of the final episodes of the anime.
* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', we see Nagi doing this during a [[Pensieve Flashback]]. To a demon. With one hand. In a [[Neck Lift]]. He's just that strong.
* How do you go from [[Non-Action Guy]] to [[Badass]] in ''[[Shakugan no Shana (Light Novel)|Shakugan no Shana]]''? In your first fight, you kill four jerks and then kill the fifth by snapping his neck effortlessly.
* The Dummy-Plug controlled Unit 01 from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)|Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' breaks Unit 03's neck before brutally tearing it apart. Done somewhat realistically in showing the Eva struggling to do so.
* Byakuran from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn (Manga)|Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' does this to {{spoiler|Tsuna}} at the final battle of the future arc. Turns out that his victim survives, fortunately. Nearly scared the heck out of Uni and everyone else, though. This is [[Bowdlerise|toned down]] in the anime. Instead of the neck, Byakuran was either trying to snap his spine or crush all the bones in his body. Sounds less scary, until [[Fridge Horror|you count how many bones AND organs he probably broke this time]].
* ''[[Cowboy Bebop (Anime)|Cowboy Bebop]]'' episode "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui". Jet snaps the neck of a syndicate goon after interrogating him. The offhand, blase manner discussed in the trope description is justified here -- Jet uses his [[Hollywood Cyborg|cybernetic arm]].
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]''
** Dodoria snaps the neck of one of the Namekian Elders after Freeza [[Moral Event Horizon|kills one of the escaping children with a smile on his face.]]
** This is subverted in the Tournament Saga: Videl apparently snaps Spopovich's neck in self defense when it was becoming apparent that he is trying to kill her, and nearly gets herself disqualified as a result, but then he not only revives himself, but even spins his neck back into place in the most disturbing way possible.
* In ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'', {{spoiler|Madara}} does this quite nonchalantly (though seeming somewhat pissed off because he was annoyed by something else) to one of two men he captured when told a techniques demonstration required a live subject and a dead subject.
* In ''[[To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (Manga)|To Aru Kagaku no Railgun]]'' has the dorm supervisor who does this to her tenants for breaking the rules. They get better though.
* Subverted with {{spoiler|Nicholas}}'s death in [[Cyborg 009]], since he gets this done to him {{spoiler|''via [[Telekinesis]]''.}}
* Kasumi Gyoubu from ''[[Basilisk]]'' kills two out of three of his enemies this way. {{spoiler|(Though [[Back From the Dead|not all of those deaths sticked.]])}}
* Subverted in ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force (Manga)|Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'': {{spoiler|Deville attacks Isis [[In the Back]] and says that he heard her neck break, but it doesn't take.}}
 
 
== Card Games ==
* There's a ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering (Tabletop Game)|Magic the Gathering]]'' card called Neck Snap. Thanks to [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], it can be used on things that don't even ''have'' necks.
 
 
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** Similarly, {{spoiler|Joker}} gets his neck snapped in ''[[The Nail]]''. {{spoiler|By ''Batman''. To be fair, Joker had just killed Robin and Batgirl in front of him.}}
* Happens at least three times in ''[[Tank Girl]]'': Tank Girl to a Water and Power trooper after offering him an "oil change"; a Ripper to a W&P trooper during the attack that freed Tank Girl, and a Ripper to a W&P trooper during the attack on the W&P fortress.
* Vandal Savage does this to a secretary fairly prominently in ''[[Kingdom Come (Comic Book)|Kingdom Come]]''.
* ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' v.3, in a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for Princess Projectra. After Nemesis Kid stole her planet, enslaved her people, and murdered her husband, he didn't think he had anything to fear from her. [[Badass Boast|She begged to differ]]. ''*KRRAK!*''
* [[The Punisher]] does this in pretty much any media he appears in. Though just a human, still in great shape.
* Happens quite a few times in ''Fall of Cthulhu'', a graphic novel based on [[HPH.P. Lovecraft]]'s mythos. Justified as the ones doing the snapping are usually not quite what you would call human.
* [[The Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|The Incredible Hulk]] gets his neck snapped from [[Future Me Scares Me|The Maestro]]. He survives but is free to be taken advantage of by a slave girl while he's healing.
* [[Wonder Woman]] does this to [[Justice League of America/Characters|Maxwell Lord]] in ''Infinite Crisis'', and to the monstrous Grendel in ''Secret Six''.
* In "The Warrior Princess", an arc of the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' comics, there is a resistance movement fighting an Imperial presence, one of the members is captured, strapped into a chair, and tortured. Then the beloved leader of the resistance walks in, tells him that he'd done well and will be sent home and set free, and then gets behind him and breaks his neck. Then he makes out with the head of the local Imperial forces in front of the dead man's staring eyes. ...As it turns out, the leader of the resistance is secretly evil!
* In ''[[Ultimate X -Men]]'', in the "[[Ultimatum]]" storyline, {{spoiler|Magneto does this to Professor X}}.
* Dudley Soames, a.k.a. Torque, a Nightwing villain, is a ''survivor'' of this.
* This is how [[The Flash|Barry Allen]] killed his [[Arch Enemy]] Reverse Flash. He was put on trial for manslaughter and acquitted. Reverse Flash recovered. Reverse Flash also likes to [[Ax Crazy|break multiple people's necks at super speed]], then slow down and watch them drop all at once.
* ''[[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]]'': Hal Jordan kills Sinestro by breaking his neck. Sinestro recovered.
* The Kingpin made his final ascent to power when he snapped the neck of his boss, Don Rigoletto.
* ''[[The Authority]]'': Killer cycborg Seth does this to Midnighter. It has no effect.
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== Fan Works ==
* Occurs in a [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Fan Fiction]] of ''[[The Land Before Time]]''. The fan fiction's name: ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4044080/1/Land_Before_Time_Twilight_Valley Land Before Time: Twilight Valley]''. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that only smaller bipeds (under 400 lbs) get their necks snapped in this manner and it's usually a 1000 lbs+ dinosaur doing the snapping... and the dinosaurs have essentially taken a CQC course.
* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga (Film)|The Dark Knight Saga]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5659751/1/Knightfall_The_Movie Knightfall: The Movie]'', Bane does this to a guard at Arkham, by wrapping his arms around the guy's head and neck, and twisting, similar to Jason Voorhees in ''[[JasonFriday Xthe 13th (film)]]''.
* In ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2953859/1/Metal_Gear_Solid_Fight_of_Metal_Gears_2 Metal Gear Solid: Fight of Metal Gears 2]'', Jake Snake breaks one bad guy's neck and arm and [[Grievous Harm Withwith a Body|throws them at another]] before snapping off his head.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'', Tristan can break necks ''with his mind''.
 
 
== Films -- Animation ==
* In ''[[Titan AEA.E.]]'', {{spoiler|Korso}} kills {{spoiler|Preed}} this way after the latter's ''second'' [[Face Heel Turn]]. The former is a fit, trained soldier and it still takes him considerable effort to do it, so it is quite well-done [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|(perhaps shockingly so for an animated movie with only a PG rating.)]]
* The [[Darker and Edgier]] animated ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' made-for-DVD movie of 2009 has both Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor doing this to a pair of guards.
* Happens to {{spoiler|[[Brian Blessed|Clayton]]}} at the end of ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'', [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard|which he caused himself]] by carelessly chopping through vines he got himself tangled in.
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Filmfilm)|The Lord of the Rings]]''
** Gimli does this to an Orc in the movie version of ''The Two Towers''. Gimli's version is exceptionally badass in that he does it with one hand while facing the Orc and while trapped under a huge corpse.
** Aragorn does too during the Battle of Pelennor Fields in ''Return of the King''.
* The ur-example might be Varla snapping a man's neck during a fight in ''[[Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!]]'' At least that was during a knock-down, drag-out fight though.
* During John McClane's first brawl in ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Die Hard]]'', he does this to a guy by putting him in a choke-hold and falling down the stairs with him. Missing the usual "walnut-snapping" sound effect.
* [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] appears to crush a Rebel ship captain's spine while strangling him in ''[[A New Hope]]'', but that's not a typical example, as it wasn't exactly a surprise, and he has super-robot-strength arms.
* A Spinosaurus kills a Tyrannosaurus this way in their laughably bloodless battle in ''[[Jurassic Park]] III''. Same sound effect even. One of the raptors also performs this trick on the last remaining mercenary.
* In ''[[Dogma]]'', the angel Bartleby is accosted by a security guard, and says, in what is arguably the best use of a [[Shout-Out]] in movie history: "[[The Incredible Hulk|Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.]]" The security guard doesn't heed the warning, and a few seconds later is on the receiving end of a one-handed version of this trope.
* In the beginning of ''[[Superman (Filmfilm)|Superman]] II'', Non breaks the neck of a guard as part of General Zod's plan to take over the planet Krypton.
* ''[[The Golden Child]]'': A [[Mook]] villain [[Heel Face Turn|converted to the side of the good guys]] breaks the neck of another, unconverted Mook to prevent him from skewering Chandler Jarrow with a crossbow bolt and allow the rescue of the title character.
* In ''[[The Matrix (Film)|The Matrix]] Revolutions'', Morpheus uses this to kill a [[Mook]] guarding an elevator.
* Hayabusa does this to a random [[Mook]] while sneaking into the bad guys lab in ''[[Dead or Alive]]'' [[The Movie]].
* This is how Sonya Blade in the ''[[Mortal Kombat (Filmfilm)|Mortal Kombat]]'' movie finished her nemesis Kano. [[Murderous Thighs|She used her legs to do it]]. Hey, he ''did'' ask her to [[Tempting Fate|give him a break]]...
* Martin Riggs in ''[[Lethal Weapon (Film)|Lethal Weapon]]'' loves doing this.
** In ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]'', Wah Sing Ku does this to a man simply by grabbing him by the throat (one handed) and twisting it around purely by the strength of his wrist, complete with [[Sickening Crunch]]. [[Rule of Cool|The film gets away with this totally ridiculous example by virtue of Ku being played by]] [[Jet Li]].
* The president in ''[[Air Force One (Filmfilm)|Air Force One]]'' does a pretty realistic one, with considerable effort and a quiet little snap.
* In ''[[Death Becomes Her]]'', Madeline is [[Finger-Poke of Doom|pushed down a long flight of marble stairs]] and winds up in a heap with her head twisted around backwards. We do hear several bones break during the tumble.
* In ''[[Commando (Filmfilm)|Commando]]'', [[Arnold Schwarzenegger|John Matrix]] snaps the neck of one of Arius's henchmen while aboard a plane (differing slightly as the said henchman is knocked out first). This leads to the immortal line, "Do not disturb my friend, he is dead tired."
* Arnie again: Douglas Quaid pulls off a sickening neck snap in ''[[Total Recall]]'' when he is first ambushed by the [[Big Bad]]'s goons after he leaves Rekall.
* In ''[[Clear and Present Danger]]'', the drug lord's right hand man Felix kills his lover/informant Moira by breaking her neck while they're making out.
* In ''[[The Long Kiss Goodnight]]'', amnesiac Samantha hits a stag and crashes her car. In the aftermath, she finds the deer bleeding to death and snaps its neck to put it out of its misery. Then she wonders [[Amnesiac Dissonance|How did I]] [[Career Killers|do that]]?
* Borderline example in the ''[[Elektra (Filmfilm)|Elektra]]'' film, where a ninja mook snaps his own neck, just by turning the head ''very fast''.
* ''[[The Avengers (1998 (Filmfilm)|The Avengers 1998]]''. Mrs. Peel's clone does it to a Prospero Project Lab staff member while breaking into the facility.
* In ''[[The Grudge (Film)|The Grudge]]'', this is how [[Stringy Haired Ghost Girl|Kayako]] is murdered by her husband, thus starting the curse. In the sequel, this is also how {{spoiler|Aubrey}} and {{spoiler|Doctor Sullivan}} meet their ends.
* In ''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'', the uber-martial-artist known as the Beast becomes annoyed at the prattling of the mob boss who's hired him and gives him an irritated backhand that causes his head to twist around at least 720 degrees. The Beast runs the mob from that point onward.
* In ''[[The Descent (Film)|The Descent]]'', [[Badass|Juno]] does this to a Crawler.
* Subverted in ''[[JasonFriday Xthe 13th (film)]]''. Jason-fucking-Voorhees snaps someone's neck, not quickly, but slowly, and having to use all of both arms. [[Kane Hodder]] (Jason's actor) clarifies that script called for him to go for the quick snap, but decided that such a kill was [[So Last Season]] and instead convinced the director and writer to go with the slow kill instead.
* In the first ''[[Resident Evil (Filmfilm)|Resident Evil]]'', Rain Ocampo does it to a zombie attacking her and Alice does it repeatedly to zombies with kicks (including multiple dogs) and one [[Murderous Thighs]] attack.
* Silk Spectre in ''[[Watchmen (Filmfilm)|Watchmen]]'' does this to a mugger.
* Mystique in ''[[X -Men: theThe Last Stand (Film)|X Men the Last Stand]]'' neck-snaps a guard with her feet since her hands are chained to the ceiling.
* In ''[[So Bad It's Good|Penitentiary II]]'', [[Mr. T]] kills Ernie Hudson this way, albeit with a crush rather than a snap. As he says, "I'ma kill ya! I'ma kill ya slow!"
* Happens twice in ''[[Buckaroo Banzai]]'':
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* The TV movie ''Chameleon'' has Kam (played by Bobbie Philips) snapping a neck on a person.
* The infamous ''Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' has several neck snap scenes including the disturbing videotape scene of a mother and son getting their necks snapped.
* ''[[Hard to Kill (Film)|Hard to Kill]]'': Mason Storm (played by [[Steven Seagal]]) snapping a neck on one of his assassins who tried to kill him years ago.
* ''[[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]]''
** In ''[[From Russia With Love (Film)|From Russia Withwith Love]]'' Bond tries this on Red Grant during their fight scene, and fails.
** In ''[[You Only Live Twice (Film)|You Only Live Twice]]'' Bond tries it on the assassin who killed Henderson, and succeeds.
** In ''[[Thunderball (Film)|Thunderball]]'' Bond does this to Col. Bouvar in the teaser, with the assistance of a foreplace poker.
** In ''[[Goldfinger (Film)|Goldfinger]]'' Oddjob breaks Tilly Masterson's neck by throwing his hat at her. At long range. In a forest. ''At night''.
* ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' has a few neck snap scenes including one character ([[Jackie Chan]] in his cameo appearance) getting his neck snapped by [[Bruce Lee]] himself during a battle.
* ''[[The DevilsDevil's Rejects (Film)|The Devils Rejects]]'': [[The Speechless|Tiny]] does this to [[Knight Templar|Sheriff Wydell]], who's trying to kill his sister [[Evil Is Sexy|Baby]], and the Sheriff ends up with his [[Crosses the Line Twice|head on backwards]]. Somewhat [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that [[Ironic Nickname|Tiny is seven feet tall]].
* [[Chuck Norris]] dispatches three or four Vietnamese soldiers this way in the third ''Missing in Action'' film. Somewhat unusually, it's used for stealth kills.
* In ''[[Kiss of the Dragon]]'' Jet Li's character disposes of a pair of sadistic martial artists with a pair of neck snaps but with unorthodox methods. The first he catches in the middle of a flip and forces him head-first into the floor, and the second he finishes with a brutal roundhouse kick to the head while the guy is on his knees.
* Jet snaps another villain's neck using an axe kick in ''[[The Expendables]]''.
* In ''[[Iron Man (Filmfilm)|Iron Man]] 2'', Black Widow appears to break a guard's neck with her legs.
* Vampire Eli snaps the neck of a jogger in ''[[Let the Right One In]]'' after feeding to prevent him from turning.
* Additionally, it is also performed by Abby in the remake ''Let Me In''.
* In ''[[Mr. and Mrs. Smith]]'', Mrs. Smith assassinates a target in this way.
* ''Hanna'' has the title character (a child assassin played by Saoirse Ronan) snapping the neck of another character.
* During ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'', Valentina breaks the neck of a chicken.
* ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]''. Captain Ramius takes the easy route and just crushes [[The Political Officer|Putin's]] windpipe.
* In the 1980 WWII film ''The Sea Wolves'', Roger Moore's character dispatches a Nazi mook this way.
* In ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'', Data (being an android with incredible strength) dispatches one of the Borg this way.
* ''[[Scary Movie]] 4'' played this for laughs in Cindy's boxing scene with multiple broken necks from trips and falls.
* Michael Myers from the ''[[Halloween (Filmfilm)|Halloween]]'' series is quite a fan of this trope. There's Grady's death in ''The Return of Michael Myers'', the hermit in ''The Revenge of Michael Myers'', and Mrs. Strode's death in the remake.
* In ''Bodyguards and Assassins'' the final assassin does this to a [[Mauve Shirt]]. Unusually enough he has to use a scarf for leverage and wastes a fair bit of time pulling it off.
* This is how "The Frenchman" kills his first victim, a sniper, in ''[[The Tournament (Film)|The Tournament]]''. He sneaks up on her using his [[Le Parkour]] skills, then grabs her head and twists it.
* ''[[The Bourne Series|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'' averts this, with Nikki jumping on an assassin's back and trying to snap his neck, only to be flung back into the wall behind them.
* ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Filmfilm)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''. During the fight in Dorian Gray's mansion, Captain Nemo does this to one of the Fantom's mooks.
* ''The Annihilators'' from 1984 has a rather [[Special Effects Failure|bad]] example, with the character simply grabbing an enemy soldier in a headlock and lightly squeezing and pushing his head to the side with his palm, with the soldier's head falling limp with a popping sound effect.
* Kable kills Hackman this way in ''[[Gamer (Film)|Gamer]]''. He has to do it twice before Hackman finally dies.
* Cato does this to one of the other tributes in ''[[The Hunger Games (Filmfilm)|The Hunger Games]]'' after Katniss succeeds in blowing up all the food the career tributes had hoarded.
* In ''[[The Raid (Film)|The Raid]]'' this is how {{spoiler|Mad Dog finishes off Jaka.}}
 
 
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* The eponymous [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''[[The Day of the Jackal]]'' does this several times in several different ways, usually in order to protect his [[Secret Identity]].
* Played straight near the end of Book 11 of ''[[The Saga of Darren Shan]]'' when {{spoiler|Steve kills [[Moral Event Horizon|Shancus]] this way.}} Justified in that {{spoiler|Steve is [[Our Vampires Are Different|superhumanly strong]], and to make things easier for him, it's a [[Complete Monster|child's neck he snaps]].}}
* Happens by accident in the ''[[HonorverseHonor (Literature)Harrington|Honorverse]]'' novel ''The Shadow of Saganami'', when an arms dealer supplying anti-Manticoran terrorists makes a desperate, [[Literature/Tear Jerker|ultimately unsuccessful]] attempt to prevent one of his fellow crewmembers from firing on a RMN shuttle coming to board the dealer's ship, after sensor readings by the ''Hexapuma'' showed that the dealer was running under false transponder codes. Done deliberately in ''Flag in Exile'' by an assassin sent to kill Honor on a guard.
* Prince Xizor does this to a would-be assassin in ''[[Shadows of the Empire]]''.
* Near the end of ''[[The First Law|The Last Argument of Kings]]'', {{spoiler|Frost}} does this to a maimed and tearful {{spoiler|Severard. Both turn out to have been informing on Glokta, though he at first didn't realize that Frost was a traitor, too, and was seemingly going to let Severard live. Then the epiphany hits, and Frost silences Severard before going for Glokta.}}
* Discussed rather horrifyingly at the end of ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]''.
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[ShadowsMan inEaters Zamboulaof (Literature)Zamboula|Shadows in Zamboula]]" Baal-pteor offers [[Human Sacrifice]] like this, to save [[The Power of Blood|blood]] for the god; he has killed hundreds.
* [[George RRR. R. Martin]]'s Haviland Tuf short story "A Beast for Norn". During a fight between a strangling ape and an ironfang, the ape kills the ironfang by breaking its neck.
* In ''Sharpe's Trafalgar'', the eponymous hero proves his Badass nature by deliberately snapping the neck of a man trying to blackmail him. He does note it took a lot of effort.
* Walter and Phyllis kill her husband Herbert this way in ''[[Double Indemnity]]''. Since the [[Hays Code]] was in place at the time, it is not shown on-screen in the film.
* In the final duel between Corwin and Strygldwyr in [[Book of Amber|The Guns of Avalon]] the combatants end up grappling, and each tries to do this to the other. Corwin succeeds, if only barely.
* In ''[[The War of the Ancients]]'' novel trilogy, [[The Dragon|Archimonde]] kills {{spoiler|Malorne}} this way, who was trying to protect his son {{spoiler|Cenarius}}. Subverted in that it still took considerable effort, despite Archimonde being a giant demon. {{spoiler|Malorne}} was no pushover either.
* Suggested in the ''[[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts (Literature)|Gaunts Ghosts]]'' novel ''Traitor General'': When [[Pyromaniac|Brostin]] is a bit too careless in his stealth, MkVenner oh-so-gently places his palm on the other guy's neck. We're not told how Ven's going to do it, but considering that this is one of the most badass guys in an already badass regiment, Brostin wisely decides not to press his luck.
* Appears and is discussed in ''Term Limits''. After a Senator gets his neck broken by an assassin, a soldier comments that the one time he tried to do that in the field, he failed miserably and had to cut the man's throat instead. The fact that people with the strength and skill needed to break a man's neck with one's bare hands is so rare helps point to the discovery that the killers were {{spoiler|ex-US Special Forces}}.
* In the [[Noughts and Crosses]] series, {{spoiler|Jude, as general of the Liberation Militia,}} does this to a subordinate who has betrayed them. He does this one handed, by jerking her upwards while he was standing behind her chair and she was turning to look up at him. He is a fit, strong man, the attack came totally by surprise, and one might suspect that her neck might be less muscled and more fragile than the normal victims of this trope, so it's difficult to tell how realistic this example is.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' uses this trope SOOO much. There are so many times that this is how Angel and co. dispose of pretty much every one of their enemies. In order of most common cause of death: Neck snapping is number one, with shot to death (by bullet or arrows) in a close second, followed by decapitation. No, but really. It's so common, it could be used as a drinking game. Angel especially has used this on [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|demonic entities more than anyone else]]. He also used it to kill Marcus Hamilton (albeit just by punching him in the face really hard) and Drogyn in the series finale. Angelus mentioned when he killed Jenny Calendar with one that he never gets tired of doing it. Maybe Angel just got into the habit.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' loves this trope too.
** This is how vamps kill humans who they don't drain.
** Angelus kills Jenny Calendar this way in his crossing of the [[Moral Event Horizon]].
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** A [[Visual Pun|Demon Biker]] does this to a Vamp, which then crumbles to dust.
** In the comics, {{spoiler|Angel}} kills {{spoiler|Giles}} in this manner, mirroring Jenny Calendar's death.
* Sayid from ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'' does this to another... With his ''[[With My Hands Tied|feet]]''.
* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]''
** In an especially jarring example, Captain Crais does this to a subordinate ONE-HANDED. C'mon, the guy has some training but he's not exactly a ninja.
** Scorpius also managed a one-handed [[Neck Snap]] in the fourth season, but then again, Scorpius is much stronger than the average Sebacean.
** Aeryn snaps several necks too throughout the series. Clearly it is the Peacekeepers' favored close-up method of killing.
* In the ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series]]'' episode "Journey to Babel", an Orion spy breaks the neck of the Tellarite Ambassador using the Vulcan execution technique tal-shaya in order to frame Ambassador Sarek for the crime.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''
** In an episode, Quark asks Garak to kill him, and Garak demonstrates various methods he could use on the holosuite[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUo8W_tbGtE .] One of these is sneaking up on holo-Quark and performing this maneuver, leading the real Quark to lampshade this trope by exclaiming, "Did you hear that sound? Of bones snapping? I don't want that to be the last thing I hear!"
** In one of the more memorable ''Deep Space Nine'' scenes, Weyoun taunts Ezri Dax with some personal information he got during her [[Mind Probe]] interrogation, forgetting that he's standing next to Worf who promptly breaks his neck[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YoPXogkXsk .]
** Worf develops a real fondness for the [[Neck Snap]], as he can be seen using it to dispatch no fewer than four Jem'Hadar on ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''.
** In "Hard Time", {{spoiler|O'Brien}} killed his cellmate this way.
** In "To the Death", a Jem'Hadar "First" snaps the neck of his "[[Number Two|Second]]" for [[You Have Failed Me|insubordination]]. The main point the producers wanted to get across with that was that the Jem'Hadar are far less sympathetic than prior ''Trek'' antagonists....
*** The Jem'Hadar First is visibly angry that Sisko doesn't discipline Worf in this manner.
* ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'':
** After his attempt to turn in Simon and River for the reward money goes wrong in "Ariel" and he gets arrested right along with them, Jayne decides to get the two out of there and kills one of the two Feds holding them in their cell by snapping his neck while handcuffed (though it takes some doing), giving Simon the opportunity to disable the other one.
** In "Bushwhacked," Mal also snaps the neck of the settler-turned-Reaver who is trying to kill the Alliance officer at the end of the episode.
* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'':
** {{spoiler|Knox}} pulls this on {{spoiler|Scott}} during the volume 3 finale. [[Super Strength|Justified]], of course.
** Arthur Petrelli pulls this off [[Telekinesis|with a wave of his hands]] on {{spoiler|Maury Parkman}}.
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* ''[[Kings]]'' does something very similar to ''[[The Long Kiss Goodnight]]'' when Silas, driving alone and angry in the country at night, hits a deer, then gets out of the car and snaps its neck with his bare hands. Of course, since this is ''[[Kings]]'', this is all very [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|symbolic]] and there is an awesome monologue first.
* A favored method of killing by the Terminators in ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', and frequently done one-handed, and usually in the middle of a [[Neck Lift]].
* Most bad guys in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' prefer this method of killing someone, with demons usually doing it with [[Telekinesis]]. Since it's mostly supernatural beings, the ease with which the neck breaks is [[Justified Trope|justified]]. Most notably, this is how {{spoiler|Lucifer eventually kills Dean.}}
* One of JD's fantasies on ''[[Scrubs (TV)|Scrubs]]'' involved his faking his own death and setting up an elaborate funeral solely so that Dr. Cox would hug him. When fantasy-Cox learns this, he snaps JD's neck.
* [[Dexter]] uses this method {{spoiler|to dispose of [[Big Bad|George King, a.k.a., the Skinner]], during the Season 3 finale}}.
* ''[[Twenty Four24]]'': Jack Bauer ''loves'' this move. As with Sayid, Jack uses his legs for half of the kills. One was even with the [[Up to Eleven|back of his leg while he was tied up]]!
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'', {{spoiler|Kusaka}}'s neck gets snapped by Kaixa, {{spoiler|who is Kiba}}.
* In ''[[Dark Angel]]'', Max (Jessica Alba) snaps Terrance's neck in the episode Prodigy (Season 1, Episode 7).
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* One episode of ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' has a particularly poor example when a CIA agent has neck broken. Her chin was moved gently to rest on her collar bone while a cracking sound played on the soundtrack.
* This is how Lucas kills Merlyn in ''[[American Gothic]]''.
* ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]: [[Torchwood: Miracle Day (TV)|Miracle Day]]'' episode 2 ("Rendition") has a suitably bizarre example where Rex {{spoiler|neck snaps a bad-girl CIA agent. In keeping with the theme of the series, however, she doesn't die and later tries to attack Rex while looking like Meryl Streep from ''Death Becomes Her''}}. Further neck-snapping goodness occurs during the Miracle Day finale, too.
* The 2000s TV version of [[Sheena]] often featured the heroine dispatching bad guys this way, usually after morphing into a monster.
* The remake of ''[[Hawaii Five-O]] has an episode in which Kono does this to a mook.
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== Music Videos ==
* In Ivy's (banned) "Temptation of Sonata" music video, as a reenactment of Tifa and Loz's fight in ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'', Tifa's victory involved a necksnap on Loz. It ended up banned due to her essentially infringing on copyrights.
 
 
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== Tabletop Games ==
* You can do this in ''[[GURPS (Tabletop Game)|GURPS]]'' as part of grappling, but you usually fail at the required rolls, unless you have high ST and/or points in the [[Neck Snap]] technique.
* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (Tabletop Game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'' supplement ''Fearful Passages'', adventure "Sleigh Ride". One of the giganteus sneaks up behind Professor Chance and wrenches his neck with a sickening crack.
 
 
== Theater ==
* In ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Theatretheatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'', the Beadle, Judge Turpin's [[The Dragon|dragon]], does this to the poor little bird that was Anthony's gift to Johanna in a quite cruel [[Kick the Dog]] moment before threatening Anthony with the same if he ever steps foot on their street again. In the non-musical version of the play by Christopher Bond that the musical was based on, Sweeney kills the Beadle by dropping him right down the chute with the chair in such a way as to break his neck upon landing, a nod to the way the original Sweeney murdered his customers in ''The String of Pearls''.
 
 
== Video Games ==
* The second part of the new ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' series lets you do this in combat if you only have one weapon, usually vaulting over the enemy, stunning it in the process and strangling it. If it's already critically wounded, you then disarm it and execute it Anakin-style with both your and its own weapon -- otherwise you just take a long, long time twisting its neck which potentially makes you vulnerable to its friends.
* At the end of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', Zant apparently snaps his own neck to kill Ganon? It's not really clear. It obviously has ''something'' to do with the stated connection between Ganon and Zant, but what exactly it means isn't stated (though seeing as Zant does seem to consciously do it to himself, it could be thought that he is disillusioned with Ganon, knowing that he's not a god after all, and is taking him with him in death out of spite.)
* In one early cutscene in ''[[Jade Empire]]'', Master Li snaps a Lotus Assassin's neck by karate chopping it. It should be noted that his strength was sufficient to [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|shatter a ship with a punch]], so breaking someone's neck is really to be expected.
* ''7 Days a Skeptic'', game two of the ''[[Chzo Mythos]]''. Particularly noteworthy for being the absolute sickest breaking sound (and therefore most effective breaking sequence in recent memory) despite the ''[[King's Quest]]''-like graphics. Also shows up in 6 Days a Sacrifice when {{spoiler|the tall man kills the clones.}}
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** This is actually a rather popular way of finishing an opponent in the series; Hotaru and Tanya both twist an opponent's neck past the point where their head should even be attached (Hotaru with his bare hands, Tanya with her [[Murderous Thighs]]) while Quan Chi has a rather lame neck-''stretching'' move in ''Deadly Alliance'', and Scorpion himself has this as his Hara-Kiri ''and'' as the final blow for one of his fatalities in ''Deception''. It's also starting to become customary to break a person's neck before ripping it off Sub-Zero style (or breaking the appropriate bones before dismembering them, if not specifically going for the head)
** ''Mortal Kombat 4'' also has several non-lethal neck snappers. Tanya, Sonya and Reptile all have a "bone breaker" move that makes them twist the opponent's neck 180 degrees before it snaps back into place.
* In the Fight Club activity inside ''[[Saints Row]] 2'', you must finish off your opponents in this way. It is portrayed as being rather difficult though, as it will later involve a lot of [[Button Mashing]] [[Press X to Not Die|to kill]], and it is done in a full rear chokehold like in ''[[Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)|Metal Gear Solid]]''. This is also how human shields are disposed of when unarmed or equipped with a rocket launcher.
** In the sequel Killbane, leader of rival gang The Luchadores, does a one-handed version to {{spoiler|Kiki [[De Winter]]}} after she provokes him by calling him by his real name.
* ''[[Oni]]'':
** Konoko does this in one of her more elaborate attacks. It involves running up to your opponent frontally, simultaneously grabbing them by the neck, jumping in the air and using your momentum to do a ''360 spin kick'', with the guy's neck as a pivot axis. Since his body only goes about 180, you get rewarded with a satisfying crack. Did I mention you can use it to knock down multiple opponents, if they are clustered together?
** [[Big Bad|Muro]] (who can be controlled in certain levels with a cheat code) plays this one straight if you sneak up behind an opponent and use the default grapple.
* In the original ''[[Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)|Metal Gear Solid]]'', the quietest way to kill guards after you have snuck up on them is to snap their necks (although for some strange reason, the guards still seem to bleed after the move is successfully performed as if shot or hit with a killer punch/kick even though that shouldn't happen).
** This is given a nod in ''[[Super Mario Bros. (Videovideo Gamegame)|Super Mario Bros]] Brawl'', where it's one of Snake's throws.
* ''[[Resident Evil]]''
** In one of the first [[Cutscene Power to Thethe Max|cutscenes]] in ''[[Resident Evil 4 (Video Game)|Resident Evil 4]]'', Leon demonstrates his new [[Took a Level In Badass|badass upgrade]] by breaking a villager's neck, using only his foot and the mook's own weight (at least if you hit the buttons on time). [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gCn3Z3m6eMY But don't take our word for it.]
** In the mercenaries minigame, HUNK's special move is the neck breaker...But its quite noisy this time. Although it kills the target instantly, the mook will still shout out or sigh; on top of that, they'll bleed out of their mouths. Not sure whether that makes it more or less realistic.
** When Chris or Jill performs a neckbreak in ''[[Resident Evil 5 (Video Game)|Resident Evil 5]]'' and ''[[Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (Video Game)|Resident Evil Mercenaries 3D]]'', they simply fall down silently. In Chris's case, they don't even try to resist and will simply stand straight up with their arms to their sides when grabbed.
** Several enemies will do this to Leon if he misses a cutscene button prompt, specifically Mendez and U3. Mendez does it with one hand, although right before that he [[Oh Crap|bends heavy steel rods together and throws you twenty feet]], so it's not too surprising.
* Sophitia from ''[[Soul Series|Soul Calibur]]'' does it with her ''[[Murderous Thighs|thighs]]''. To be more specific, she jumps on the opponent's face crotch-first, and gives a sharp hip-twist, with the trademark crunchy noise.
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* Geralt gets one of these on a Salamandra mook in a cutscene from ''[[The Witcher]]''. Bonus points for breaking his neck [[Excuse Me While I Multitask|while he's pissing in an alley]].
* In ''[[Vampire Bloodlines]]'' a vampire with Obfuscate powers or simply some skill in stealth can do this to score an instant kill on an unsuspecting victim. And the trope is justified by the fact vampires are wicked strong.
* In ''[[Gears of War (Video Game)|Gears of War]] 2'', characters dispose of their human shields by doing this.
* In ''[[The King of Fighters (Video Game)|The King of Fighters]] '98'' Rugal (non-Omega) has the "Dead End Screamer" which in its SDM/MAX version starts with him snapping the opponent's neck with his feet.
* Early on in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', if your Dexterity score is high enough, you have the option to use this on anyone who stops you while trying to escape from the Mortuary. Things go better for you if you just bluff your way through, though.
* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]]'', Sarevok, shows his villain credentials in the opening when he uses his monstrous strength to crush an adult man's neck one-handed.
* Despite putting guards in a headlock being his preferred way of dealing with them, it took until ''[[Splinter Cell]]: Chaos Theory'' for Sam Fisher to learn this trick, as the lethal variant on his new 'death from above' attacks.
* In ''[[Heavenly Sword]]'', King Bohan does this to {{spoiler|Whiptail}}.
* Upgrading the [[Back Stab|Stealth Consume]] ability in ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]'' makes Alex switch to snapping his target's neck from behind via [[Super Strength]] rather than ripping them open; quicker and cleaner.
* ''[[The Godfather (Videovideo Gamegame)|The Godfather]]: The Game''
** One of the execution styles involves a neck snap from the front on a weakened opponent. Another involves a snap [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|after choking the guy to death]].
** The sequel retains the snap-after-choking, as well as an upgrade that replaces the garotte stealth kill, and is much faster. Oddly enough, though, it is executed by grabbing the victim with your garrote wire. For some reason, your character strangles them with the wire for a second or so, complete with distressed gurgling from the victim, then snaps their necks to kill them quicker.
* In ''[[The Warriors (Videovideo Gamegame)|The Warriors]]'', some of the bigger and stronger warriors will use this as their sneak attack if you come up behind an enemy from out of the shadows. The smaller guys usually stick to the karate chop to the neck routine.
* One of the many ways of killing your enemies in ''[[Tenchu]]''.
* Seen A LOT in ''[[Uncharted]] 2: Among Thieves''. Whenever you sneak up on an enemy with a melee attack, expect to see some necks broken, and a very satisfying snap. Also, in the online co-op modes, there are exclusive enemies that sneak up behind you, grab your neck, and attempt to snap it. If your buddies don't take him out in time, well, hope you've gotten used to hearing that snapping sound so much.
** Also given a slight nod to realism, as when Nate breaks an opponent's neck, he's almost always putting his full body weight into the effort, either getting them on the ground first to abuse his leverage, or otherwise maneuvering them into a position in which he can exert a lot of pressure. They still die silently, though.
* Done several times in the ''[[God of War (Video Gameseries)|God of War]] '' series.
* Subverted in ''[[God Hand]]''. The Cobra Twist [[Action Commands]] looks like one of these, but not only does Gene need several tugs to do it, it's not even fatal.
* ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]''
** Thane Krios of ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' demonstrates this on one of his target's guards when you first encounter him. In fact, according to the Shadow Broker's [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Broker_Dossiers/Thane_Krios dossier on him], it's his preferred assassination technique on any species including the krogan, who have necks like ''tree trunks''. He needs a "running leaping [[Everything's Better Withwith Spinning|spinning]] neck-snap" to get up enough momentum for that last one. However, [[Combat Pragmatist|half the time he'll just plant a bomb instead]].
** Shepard can perform one on a mouthy mercenary captain if a Renegade interrupt is taken during Miranda's loyalty mission. Shepard is fortunately both a trained combatant and a cyborg.
** Basically the first thing you see Samara do on her recruitment mission is snap the neck of an Eclipse merc with her [[Combat Stiletto|Combat Stilettos]].
* ''[[Dragon Age (Video Game)|Dragon Age]]''
** In the original game, Riordan does this to a mook to escape from a dungeon cell when you first meet him.
** In ''[[Dragon Age II (Video Game)|Dragon Age II]]'' , Fenris does this first to a mook whom he was questioning after pinning him to the ground. Later he ''crushes'' {{spoiler|Denarius'}} neck effortlessly with one hand after lifting him off the ground by it. It's justified; his tattoos grant him magical combat boosts.
* In ''[[Fable (Videovideo Gamegame series)|Fable]] III'', one of the fancy counter animations when using a sword has you do a slo-mo forward flip over them. You snap their neck on the way over.
* In the ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)/Supplemental Material|Supplemental Material]] video "[http://www.teamfortress.com/sniper_vs_spy/day05_english.htm Meet the Spy]", the Red Spy breaks the Blue Medic's neck with a karate chop.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', High King Maulgar did this to the previous High King as a show of his strength, killing him and [[Klingon Promotion|becoming ruler of Outland's ogres]] under Gruul.
* In ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Video Game)|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'' Adam can both do a "normal" snap and a fancy version where he grabs an enemy by the face and spins his mechanical hand a full 360 around the joint. He is a cyborg after all. And then there's the version he can do [[Barrier-Busting Blow|from the opposite side of a concrete wall]].
* In ''[[Crysis (Video Gameseries)|Crysis]] 2'' one of the [[Back Stab]] animations is this. Alcatraz is using [[Powered Armor]] that gives [[Super Strength]].
* In ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'', whenever Mimi {{spoiler|transforms into her true spider-like, Rubee-pooping form,}} she snaps her neck. With an audible sound effect. And it rotates a full 180, turning her head upside down. [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?]]
* In the opening cinematic of ''[[Assassin's Creed Revelations (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed Revelations]]'', the protagonist Ezio snaps a soldier's neck like a twig. Considering that he's a trained killer and pretty darn buff, it's reasonably believable.
* Two different neck snaps are present as finishing moves in ''[[Dark Sector]]''. One is fairly pedestrian, the other is an unusual and especially brutal variant where Hayden bends an enemy over backwards, places it in an upside down headlock and lifts up sharply, breaking the neck.
* In ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', there's an assassination animation that utilizes this trope for three enemies: the Grunts (in which the Spartan simply cups its head and twists), the Elites (the Spartan leaps on its back, grabs its snout and pulls), and other Spartans (the Spartan knocks his target on his/ her stomach, leans down, and casually twists the head).
* Available as a melee attack in the reboot of ''[[Syndicate (Video Game)|Syndicate]]''. You are an advanced cyborg, after all.
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2 (Video Game)|Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', you can cut the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|githyanki]] high commander's post-defeat [[Hannibal Lecture]] short by breaking her neck.
 
 
== Visual Novels ==
* In ''[[Yarudora (Visual Novel)|Yarudora]] series vol. 3: [[Sampaguita (Visual Novel)|Sampaguita]]'', {{spoiler|Boy}} performs this on a [[Mook]] guarding the enemy headquarters, in order to [[Storming the Castle|storm it]] with maximum surprise effect.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Gnoph]]'', Abbey dispatches a [[Mook]] this way early on, demonstrating her superhuman strength.
* Pella, the bard from ''[[Looking for Group (Webcomic)|Looking for Group]]'' snaps a guard's neck with her thighs, promising to write a song about it when they escape.
* Nikol, in ''[[Seventy 70-Seas (Webcomic)|Seventy Seas]]'', at one point [http://70-seas.com/?p=486 snaps, and then unsnaps a monk's neck].
* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', Dr. McNinja does this to a random security guard in one of his early stories.
* ''[[Goblins (Webcomic)|Goblins]]''
** An imprisoned owlbear is incapacitated after going on a rampage against its cruel captors. Upon hearing that the creature will be kept alive and tortured, a fellow prisoner [http://www.goblinscomic.com/02142008 uses this method] to give the owlbear a mercy kill.
** [http://www.goblinscomic.com/08242008 And there is the one where Kin kills Tayshun].
** In the ''Tempts Fate'' subcomic, [http://www.goblinscomic.com/tempts-fate-5/ Tempts Fate does one to a monster] as an [[Offhand Backhand]].
* ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]''
** Miko Miyazaki does this to Sabine {{spoiler|on her first day in jail as a fallen paladin}}. Of course, since Sabine's an [[Our Demons Are Different|Outsider]], it just makes her annoyed.
** Xykon does this to {{spoiler|Lirian}} in ''Start of Darkness''.
* The technique is described in loving detail in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' webcomic, ''Pillars of Faith''. Given Faith has Slayer strength, this is performed as a decapitation technique involving a double torque.
 
 
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' parodies this all the time, including the "Happy Ending" and "Jared Gets Fat" sketches from Season 1
* ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]''
** Brock Sampson walks Hank Venture through this in "Ghosts of the Sargasso". Apparently he thinks ''Hank Venture'' is strong enough to do this.
{{quote| '''Hank:''' And that'll knock him out... even more?<br />
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'''Hank:''' You've ''thought'' about this!<br />
'''Brock:''' Yes, I have. }}
* Patrick Smith's short ''Delivery'' features two brothers fighting over a package. One of them eventually defeats the other by snapping his neck. {{spoiler|And the box they were fighting over? Empty.}} According to Smith, it was a meant to be a rebuttal to all those [[Anvil Onon Head]] cartoons, saying that his character will die if one falls on them.
* In ''[[Star Wars: theThe Clone Wars (Animation)|Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'', Asajj Ventress and her allied Nightsisters decide to test the loyalty of their newly-empowered minion, Savage Opress, by commanding him to kill his brother. Savage does so with a [[Neck Snap]]. (Not with a Force Choke [[Neck Lift]], mind you, as is traditional in this universe—Opress has only an instinctual knowledge of the Force in this episode, and no formal training. He does it with his bare hands.)
* Stan Smith does this several times in ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' Stan, while being high on crack, kills a monkey this way (which wouldn't really be that hard). He also kills [[Jay Leno]] this way in a fit of anger.
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'': McBain does this to the trope namer of [[Commie Nazis]].
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'': [[Shrinking Violet|Fluttershy]] does this to a bear. Yes, this is a little girl's show. {{spoiler|The bear's fine. Apparently, it's a violently effective form of chiropractic therapy.}}
 
{{reflist}}
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