One-Hit Kill: Difference between revisions

[[File:Bloody_Mess_FO3Bloody Mess FO3.png|link=Fallout|frame|[[Critical Hit]]!]]

Anytime people gather with the goal of hitting each other until one of them falls over, the ultimate trump card would be a weapon, spell, technique, trick or what-have-you that makes people fall over ''immediately'', without all that annoying [[The Strategist|strategizing]] and [[The Medic|healing]] and stuff. The '''One -Hit Kill''' is that trump card.

Often, the '''One -Hit Kill''' isn't humble enough to just kill, instead [[Taken for Granite|petrifying]], [[Baleful Polymorph|permanently polymorphing]], or banishing its victim to the [[Phantom Zone]].

Usually, the '''One -Hit Kill''' comes at a price. Sometimes it's a [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]] which to use requires [[Cast Fromfrom Hit Points|Casting From Hit Points]], other times it's just really hard to pull off, or leaves you wide open for a counterattack. In electronic RPGs, it's frequently a [[Useless Useful Spell]] because of low hit rates, [[Contractual Boss Immunity|inability to affect bosses]], or a prohibitive cost required to cast it, if not all three combined (Tabletop RPGs, by contrast, have a history of letting [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards|those pesky spellcasters]] make these spells insufficiently useless, turning many fights into a game of "who gets insta-killed first"). In martial arts, it frequently takes the form of the [[Touch of Death]]. If it only works at the start of a fight, it's a [[Back Stab]]. If it only works at the end of a fight, it's a [[Finishing Move]]. If ''every'' enemy attack is a one hit kill, the protagonist is a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]].

In [[Anime]], expect to hear the phrase "ichigeki hissatsu!" (literally, "One -Hit [[Tempting Fate|Certain]] Kill") thrown around when [[Calling Your Attacks|invoking this sort of attack]]. With bladed weapons, cinematic representation of this trope often becomes a [[Single-Stroke Battle]]. See also [[Chunky Salsa Rule]]. Often a [[Death or Glory Attack]]. Compare [[Coup De Grace]].

** [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_shoujo_lyrical_nanoha_strikers_the_comics/c008/14.html This] used to be [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha|Subaru and Teana's]] SOP [[All There in the Manual|before they joined RF6]]. [[Badass|Na]][[Wave Motion Gun|no]][[Person of Mass Destruction|ha]], of all people, had to teach them restraint.

** The Administration Bureau's ultimate weapon, the Arc-en-Ciel, is also a [[One-Hit Kill]] by its very nature. Though it looks like a [[Wave Motion Gun]], what it actually does is twist space-time around its target, seal everything within a hundred-kilometer radius into a pocket universe, then allow said pocket universe to Big Crunch itself. The weapon is far more deadly used on planets than in space, due to the vacuum effect that so much suddenly vanished air/land would leave behind.

* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'''s eponymous school of martial arts. You don't get much more of an instant kill than "[[Your Head Asplode|make the other guy's head explode]]" -- and—and that's just one of the simplest techniques...

* Ranma's encounters with Herb and Saffron in ''[[Ranma ½|[[Ranma ½]]'' ended this way, as he turned their own power against them in devastating variations of the [[Hoist by His Own Petard|Hiryu Shoten Ha]]. More notable in the case of Herb, who was knocked out instantly from this ''one attack'' (he had been punched in the face earlier, but it hardly even hurt his skin.) In Saffron's case, the technique froze him solid and [[Good Thing You Can Heal|shattered him]].

* This is why Tohno Shiki from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' is described as "the greatest wild card" (not the [[Wild Card|trope]]): since his [[Evil Eye|Mystic Eyes]] perceive the concept of Death as lines and dots over ''everything'', all he needs is one chance to [[Deader Than Dead|kill]] his opponent. Given his natural [[Super-Powered Evil Side|killing abilities]] and [[In the Blood|inborn assassins' skills]], all of his fights begin/end with this. In some scenarios, he has been able to kill hallways, a vampire infection (before it takes over his body), and the poison inside someone else's body; although this requires it to be [[Cast Fromfrom Hit Points]].

** Technically, Tohno Shiki is capable of doing this as well, except Ryogi doesn't seem to have the [[Cast Fromfrom Hit Points]] issue. She also doesn't seem to have the problem of having to understand the nature of something's existence first before she can use her eyes to kill its existence.

** The manga played it straight: Kuwabara simply [[Megaton Punch|Megaton Punched]]ed Risho, sending him flying and destroying the Armor of Clay at the same time.

* In ''[[ToA AruCertain Majutsu noMagical Index]]'', {{spoiler|Fiamma of the Right has "The strike that ends everything it touches", which annihilates anything it hits without any destructive force, meaning it cannot be blocked, and "The strike that reaches everything when swung", which reaches the target without any speed, meaning it cannot be dodged.}}

== FanfictionFan Works ==

'''{{spoiler|Sasuke}}''': ''(scoff)'' [[Dude, Not Funny|I hope you put up a better fight than your pathetic teammate]].<br />

''(Naruto gawks at {{spoiler|Sasuke}}, then [[Death Glare|glares a hole]] through him.)''<br />

'''Test proctor Hayate''': Begin!<br />

''([[Flash Step]], [[Fan Nickname|"Fuck You" Punch]], broken jaw, [[Ragdoll Physics|ragdolls away]]. KO.)''<br />

''([[Beat]]) [Exit Naruto.]''<br />

* A staple of [[Choose Your Own Adventure]] books are the no-escape dead ends, though gamebooks (i.e. ''[[Lone Wolf]]'') fit the trope best with instant death if you're lacking the right skill/item or just plain unlucky -- beingunlucky—being not only accepted, but ''expected''.

** However, he does note that it wouldn't have been a [[One-Hit Kill]] on a fire [[Our Angels Are Different|angel]], as they have two hearts

* The demon-in-the-form-of-a-sword "Stormbringer" in [[Michael Moorcock]]'s ''[[The Elric Saga|Elric of Melnibone]]'' series kills any non-magically protected human in one blow (it also eats the victim's soul). "Mournblade" is a similar demonic sword, and one story reveals that there is an entire race of these demons -- alldemons—all of them taking the form of swords.

* Shardblades from ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]'' cut the soul of living things rather than the flesh, and cut straight through almost any inanimate matter without any effort. Slicing the blade through one of a victim's vital organs kills them instantly. Slicing it through a limb "kills" that limb, rending it permanently paralyzed and numb. The only beings that are likely to give somebody with a Shardblade a problem are those with a suit of Shardplate, (which can withstand a Shardblade, at least for a while) or beasts so large that the blade can't easily be sliced into their vital organs (and these are [[BFS|BFSs]]s an average of six feet long, so the fact that there ARE beasts that big, and a lot of them, says [[Death World|something about this world]]).

* It's pretty common in North America for a pro wrestler's [[Finishing Move]] to be used as a [[One-Hit Kill]]. There are many, many matches where one participant spends the whole match getting the snot beaten out of him, then seizes an opportunity to hit his finisher and win the match. Note that this is less common in Mexico, Japan, and Europe.

** The [[One-Hit Kill]] effect is essentially what made [[Diamond Dallas Page]] so dangerous in [[WCW]]. You could beat him up all day, but all he had to do was hit the Diamond Cutter and he'd come out on top -- andtop—and he could hit the Diamond Cutter at a moment's notice, from ''fifty-two'' different positions.

* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' has quite a few, mostly of the "fortitude save or die" variety, including:

*** In earlier editions, this spell was known as the '''Death Spell''', and in AD&D, it dealt death depending on the Hit Dice of those it was cast upon. And unlike Circle of Death, there was ''no saving throw against it'' -- if—if you were hit with it and you had less than nine Hit Dice, unless you had enough people of equal or lower Hit Dice than you to use up the spell's power before it got to you, you were pretty much screwed. And to make things worse, in Second Edition AD&D, if you were killed with a Death Spell, you could not be raised or resurrected, and the only way you could be brought back was with a Wish.

** '''Phantasmal Killer''' -- 4th-level arcane spell; requires a Will save to disbelieve the frightening illusion it creates, and if that's failed, you must [[Your Mind Makes It Real|make a Fortitude save or die]], with success dealing regular damage rather than a one hit kill. There's an upgraded 9th-level version, ''weird'', which is much harder to save against and deals more damage if you succeed. This one's particularly aggravating because ''death ward'', which is supposed to protect you against [[One-Hit Kill|save-or-dies]], does exactly squat against it -- [[Your Mind Makes It Real|because it's an illusion]].

** '''Disintegrate''' -- 6th-level arcane spell. In 3rd and 3.5 edition, it does 2D6 points of damage for every caster level you have (up to 40D6), but in earlier editions, it was a [[One-Hit Kill]] that could reduce you to little more than fine dust on a failed save.

** [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/monk.htm Monks] have a move called [[Touch of Death|Quivering Palm]] which allows them a one hit kill (a remotely activated one hit kill no less). Its uses, however, are annoyingly limited ("Once per '''''week?!''''' [[Tropers Do It Without Notability|Wizards can do it six times per day!]]"). It's done somewhat better in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', where you can use it after resting like all other abilities, and at higher levels can reach a fairly dangerous difficulty class for the saving throw that's on a par with the most over-specialized wizards out there.

** As for Weapon Properties: a lucky shot from a Vorpal weapon will decapitate its target (which usually kills it), a Disrupting weapon will take out undead (as long as they fail a fairly lousy Will save -- butsave—but since you can whack them over and over, they have about 3-4 rounds till they fail their save), and the overpriced Epic weapon property Dread will take someone out on a lucky shot as long as they fail a piddly (or at least, piddly compared to any creature you plan on facing) save.

*** While Vorpal Weapons aren't as useful as they were in previous editions, rolling a critical for a Vorpal Blade allows you to continually reroll damage as long as you do max damage on the die, semi-mimicking the [[One-Hit Kill]] properties of its original version.

** The Rules Cyclopedia's Sleep spell could send you to sleep without a save for 4-16 turns if you had 4+1 Hit Dice or less, and during that time, anyone can use a bladed weapon to kill you instantly regardless of hit points. If you wielded a sword with the Slicing talent and scored a natural twenty, the target of the attack had to save vs. death ray or be [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Killed]], suffering triple normal damage even upon a successful save. A missile with the Slaying talent that hits the target for which it is keyed also forces a save vs. death ray upon its victim to avoid instant death.

* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' has several attacks that cause automatic Instant Death, including the D-Cannon (opens a tear in the reality on top of the target), Force Weapons (rip out the target's soul. Before 5th edition this used to be Kill Outright, and would even kill targets that are immune to Instant Death) and Blissgiver (send the target into an unrecoverable coma). However the price goes to the Vortex Grenade, and it's big brother, the Vortex Missile, which sucks anything in the area of effect into the Warp. If a model as much as touches the template they die with no saves of any kind allowed, regardless of any immunity to Instant Death (superheavy vehicles and gargantuan creatures take D3 structure points and D6 wounds, respectively, and thus might survive). Depending on how the grenade scatters, this may also include the thrower however. This was amusingly proven in a battle report where a legendary and practically immortal hero of Blood Angels single handedly charged into enemy lines armed with a Vortex Grenade, whiffed the throw and sucked himself into the Warp.

* ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'' has [https://web.archive.org/web/20081105143100/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=106427 Phage the Untouchable]: if Phage manages to deal combat damage to a player, that player loses the game. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090519081046/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=73559 Door to Nothingness] has a similar effect.

* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' has several different levels of [[One-Hit Kill]]. On the lower end, we have Yig the snake god, whose instant kill can be dodged or parried and is ineffective if you're wearing some sort of armor it can't go through. Above this, there's the Dhole, which is the size of a battleship, so its attack can't be parried and ignores armor. And then we have [[One-Hit Polykill|Cthu]][[Instant Death Radius|lhu]] . . .

* In many [[RPG|RPGs]]s, "Doom"; or "Death"; or something else with a similar name is a [[Useless Useful Spell]].

** ''[[Final Fantasy I]]'' probably featured the largest variety of one-hit kill spells as standard black magic, several of which actually were very effective against specific monster types (even more as the party leveled up). There was also one enemy called 'Sorcerer' (named 'Mind Flayer' in the remakes) whose physical attacks inflicted only [[Scratch Damage]] but with a side effect of instant KO -- prayKO—pray they don't get to strike first when you encounter a group of 5. The ProRing, despite being obscenely expensive, protects against instant death, and renders Sorcerers completely impotent, [[Guide Dang It|but the game doesn't tell you that, ever.]]

** ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 2]]'' played with this a little. There was an optional boss that would completely regenerate its health every three turns, and 75,000 HP is no number to scoff at in this game(The [[Bonus Boss|Superbosses]] have 100,000). While using an Instant Death ability seems [[Useless Useful Spell|counter-intuitive]] in a boss fight, it's actually the way he is supposed to be defeated.

** In the [[Spiritual Successor]], ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]'', Instant Kills have been replaced by Astral Heats, which seem to have been excessively [[Nerf|nerfednerf]]ed. They can only be used in a tiebreaking final round of a match, require 100% of your super bar, and ''can only be used when the opponent is below 25%'', at which point any normal super move would likely win anyway. After all, [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]].

** Some forms of evil weather, such as the ones found in [[Waterburned]], are instantaneously fatal to dwarves.

* Probably based off the Power Word: Kill example in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'', the Blade of Awe (usable from [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]) in ''[[Adventure Quest]]'' has a small chance (0.1%) to instantly kill whatever you are fighting. There are dagger, spear, and staff variants of the same weapon with have the same ability, and dark and fire versions of the Blade of Awe which have a 0.12% chance instead.

** Similarly, the Home Run Bat item has this effect -- landingeffect—landing a smash attack with it is an almost-guaranteed [[Home Run Hitter]] KO.

* PSI Flash in ''[[EarthboundEarthBound]]'' can do this. It's in the main character’s powerset and actually works on bosses. Should it fail, it typically leaves a status condition.

* [[Counter Attack|Counter Attacks]]s in ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' tend to result in some ''extremely'' brutal one-hit kills, i.e. slapping a guard in the face to spin him around and then stabbing your sword into his hip and ''[[Groin Attack|out his crotch]]''. Moreover, the assassin has full invincibility frames for the duration of the counter kill animation.

* Every attack in ''[[Contra (video game series)|Contra]]'' is a [[One-Hit Kill]]. This [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|applies to enemy attacks too]].

** The canonical [[One-Hit Kill]] and [[Yet Another Stupid Death]] is {{spoiler|"You fall into a pit! You land on a set of sharp iron spikes! The spikes were poisoned! The poison was deadly..."}}. Being on the wrong end of this is a sure sign that the [[Random Number God]] is out to get you, as it requires: {{spoiler|firstly, that a spiked pit be generated; secondly, that you hit the chance that the spikes are poisoned (1 in 7 each time falling into the pit); and thirdly, that the poison is classified as deadly (1 in 20 chance each time you take poison damage)}}. However this can be avoided {{spoiler|through [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]}}.

** On the note of "so much damage that it's an instant kill, assuming there's no damage reduction," taunt kills. Taunting with a certain weapon out (it varies depending on the class) will make your character play through an animation that will kill any enemy unfortunate enough to walk in front of you at the wrong time. They tend to do between 500 and 550 damage, and as mentioned above, the normal maximum health count is 450. Most of these can destroy buildings instantly as well, whereas the backstab and headshot rely on [[Critical Hit|Critical Hits]]s to work, which don't effect buildings.

* Geno from ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'' has an attack (the Geno Whirl) that deals 9999 HP of damage when [[Action Command|timed just right]]. Since no enemy in the game, including bosses, has that much HP, that makes it a [[One-Hit Kill]] attack. However, it does only minor damage to said bosses (except one: {{spoiler|Exor, after losing his protection}}, so it comes in handy for players who consider him to be [[That One Boss]]), along with certain other enemies, namely the [[Chest Monster|chest-based ones]] such as Box Boy.

** They must have been counting on players noticing the broken chain on either side of the fridge, which is fairly hard to see thanks to the graphics. The lesson there is to not attempt a no-saving run on your first playthrough. Oh, and ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'' did have another of those [[One-Hit Kill]] puzzles; remember what you do with the hair dryer?

* ''[[Total Overdose]]'' gives Ram a variety of [[One-Hit Kill]] options, but only the targeted headshot is worth any appreciable points. Most Loco Moves are instantly deadly in a pinch; the Tornado sprays dual uzis in 360 degrees, El Toro allows Ram to charge and headbutt enemies to death, the Explosive Pinata lures in enemies before detonating, and the Golden Gun is loaded with 4 bullets that autokill enemies in the general direction it's fired. These may seem like game breakers, but given the volume of enemies and increasing style-point requirements, their use isn't generally ideal, and mostly reserved for panic situations.

** [[Demonic Possession|Dechronos!Bunny]] throws [[BFS|BFSes]]es on the last ten to fifteen percent of her health. Touching one effectively paralyzes Chelsea while Bunny beats a doll out of her. What, don't have a doll? Say hello to the last save point, sucker! Oh, and don't touch her at this time, either.

* ''Kengo: Legend of the 9'' (aka ''Kengo Zero'' in Japan and Europe) has a gameplay mechanic where your Stamina, although it can be depleted by many things (including walking), only itself affects one thing -- whetherthing—whether or not that person can be one hit killed; basically one of the swordsmen initiates a ''Kumitachi'' (sword lock), the two attempt to physically overpower each other as they move around, draining Stamina, and one who loses all his Stamina is susceptible to, after being thrown, being one-hit killed.

* ''Barbarian'' may well have had the first [[One-Hit Kill]] in the history of one-on-one fighting games, and without being a gamebreaker to boot. You could use a decapitation move at any time in a fight (complete with a shower of badly pixelated blood), but the long buildup time made it very easy for the other player to dodge or interrupt.

** The infamous [[Munchkin|Iai-strike Build]], man. It kills the majority of things in simple two button presses: one to instantly Break your opponent, the other to execute the 9999 HP damage. Character HP naturally [[Cap|capscap]]s at 9999. Oh, and some characters' HP attack *cough*[[Final Fantasy X|Yuna]]'s [[Summon Magic|pony laser]]*cough* also damage Bravery, potentially making it actual [[One-Hit Kill]]. [[True Final Boss|Feral Chaos]] suddenly looks trivial.

* While you have to whittle away half her HP first, Reid's Omega Seal becomes a [[One-Hit Kill]] for optional [[Duel Boss]] Valkyrie in ''[[Tales of Eternia]]''.

** Also in ''Eternia'', and given a callback in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' ([[PlayStationPlay Station 3|PS3]]), bringing the Dhaos cameo from ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'' down to half and pulling off Indignation is an instant kill in homage to ''Phantasia''. In ''Vesperia'', doing this is the only way to unlock Indignation for Rita.

*** Instant kills also exist in the form of fatal strikes in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'', though they only do this to normal enemies, and can only be triggered after depleting one of their fatal strike gauges through use of arts. In the [[PlayStationPlay Station 3]] version, Clint can use this on ''you'' if he or his allies land enough hits. Notable in that it'll still kill you even if you have the otherwise invincible level four Overlimit active.

** Some boss abilities are basically avoidable [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Kills]]. Avoiding might mean to acquire an effect that protects against a good chunk of the damage, running behind line of sight obstacles, interrupting the spell or simply running away whenever it comes up. Tanks may or may not be tough enough to survive it regardless, but everyone else has to avoid it anyway. Some bosses even go as far as coupling this with getting stronger when they kill someone with such a spell.

** The Warlock spell "Curse of Doom" wasn't specifically a [[One-Hit Kill]], but designed to have the potential. It does the most single-tick damage of any of the Warlock's spells, but takes a minute before the damage is applied. If the damage kills your opponent, it spawns a Doomguard demon. On lower-level creatures it can be a [[One-Hit Kill]], (if your [[Squishy Wizard|squishy warlock]] can avoid being killed for 60 seconds) but once you reach boss-level it just does a whole lot of damage. It's since been changed to Bane of Doom which instead deals hefty damage every 15 seconds (not One Hit Kill tier, though).

** A fully-charged Blade Air Slice is a [[One-Hit Kill]] for just about anything but hunters, and his devastator moves are OHK for everything in the area of effect.

* [[Fragile Speedster|Assassins]] from [[Monday Night Combat]] have some rather ''nasty'' [[Back Stab]] techniques with their bladed weapons. It's not strictly speaking a [[One-Hit Kill]], but the target's still helpless to do anything about it.

* ''[[EverQuest]]'' has three player-usable insta-kill spells: Disintegrate (destroy target), Banishment (destroy summoned target), and Banishment of Shadows (destroy undead target). Usually regarded as [[Useless Useful Spell|Useless Useful Spells]]s because they are often resisted, unusable on higher-level creatures, expensive to cast, and deny rewards for the kill.

* ''[[Heavy Weapon]]'' has three regular enemies that ''will'' kill you in one hit, regardless of the strength of your [[Deflector Shields]]. This can be very bad because you ''lose'' all your [[Smart Bomb|Smart Bombs]]s on death!

* ''[[Killer 7Killer7]]'' examples:

* Sort-of-examples from the [[Yggdra Union|Union]] [[Blaze Union|series]]: Jihad,<ref>[[Unfortunate Implications|Crusade]] in the English versions</ref>, Rivellion,<ref>Angelic Thunder in the English versions</ref>, Judgment Zero,<ref>provided only the unit head is alive</ref>, and [[Gloria Union|Megiddo]]. While they don't immediately destroy the enemy unit, they are [[Unblockable Attack|unblockable]] and result in an instant victory for the Clash they're used in. Jihad and Megiddo also come with damage bonuses.

* Melee Warriors in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Awakening'' can learn a move called "Peon's Plight", which is an instant kill against generic [[Mook|mooksmook]]s, does a double [[Critical Hit]] against elites, and a normal critical against bosses. ''Very'' useful for thinning out the herd, and an absurdly easy way to get the "Heavy Hitter" achievement (main character does 250+ damage with one attack).

* Aside from plain old [[Bottomless Pits]] and lava, ''[[The Smurfs]]'' on the SNES had three: [[Zombie Apocalypse|The local equivalent of zombification]], the rotating [[Bridge Logic|tree bridge]],<ref>If it rotates under you, you're dead before you reach the bottomless pit underneath</ref>, and [[Collision Damage]] with [[Final Boss|Gargamel]].

* The LBX/20 [[Short-Range Shotgun|shotgun]] in ''[[Mechwarrior]] Living Legends'' will one-hit-kill any jet fighter in the game if enough of its pellets hit the plane. The [[BFG|Long Tom Artillery Piece]], carried by only one unit in the game, will one-hit-kill anything lighter than 50 tons with a direct hit, and near-misses will kill light mechs and hovercraft. While the LBX is horrendously effective versus other targets, the Long Tom suffers from a ''massive'' minimum range ,<ref>unless the artillery tank is parked on a hill, it cannot aim low enough to hit anything within a hundred meters</ref>, a painfully slow reload time, a pathetically slow engine, and a total lack of [[Point Defenseless|support weapons]].

* ''[[SCP Foundation]]'': [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20090316130341/http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-544 SCP-544] perceived threads extending upwards from the heads of others, as well as from other living things, and could kill anything instantly by cutting its thread with his mind.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' gives the impression that the advanced Firebending ability to shoot lightning is a [[One-Hit Kill]] if it manages to get a direct hit. This is offset by the difficulty of shooting lightning in the first place (it requires a mindset which is opposite to the usual for Firebending, and insufficient skill is likely to cause it to explode in the users face), and even when mastered the time it takes to build up the charge tends to telegraph the attack.

** Even without the Elements, a [[Circle of Friendship]] attack has enough power to [[One-Hit Kill]] a trio of Windigos, powerful monsters capable of causing a world ending blizzard.

* It is entirely possible to kill or knock out a person instantly with a single surprisingly gentle blow. However, beyond accidental cases there is [https://web.archive.org/web/20080821160401/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040521.html little evidence for the existence of a reliable martial technique].

* In naval warfare, a well-aimed or lucky hit in the opposing ship's magazine can lead to that ship being blown up by its own ammunition. This is what basically happened to three British battlecruisers at the battle of Jutland in 1916 and to the ''HMS Hood'' in 1941. Similarly, hydrogen-filled Zeppelins in [[World War OneI]] were easily downed with just one burst of incendiary ammunition and a number of [[World War II]] planes were quite vulnerable to hits in their fuel tanks, most notoriously the [[wikipedia:Mitsubishi G4M|Mitsubishi "Betty"]] aka the "one-shot lighter" or "flying zippo".