One-Hit Kill: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
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
Often, the '''One
Usually, the '''One
In [[Anime]], expect to hear the phrase "ichigeki hissatsu!" (literally, "One
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'':
** [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_shoujo_lyrical_nanoha_strikers_the_comics/c008/14.html This] used to be
** The Administration Bureau's ultimate weapon, the Arc-en-Ciel, is also a
* ''[[
* The invaders during the Battle of Mahora [[Story Arc|arc]] in ''[[
** Asuna's fan also inflicts one hit kills on shikigami and summoned beings. Since she can [[Anti
* In ''[[
** Subverted with Usopp, who uses the term "hissatsu" before every single projectile attack. None of them are ever certain hits, and definitely not kills. Then again, this is him being [[Genre Savvy]], because the enemy is supposed to ''think'' they are.
*** Ussop's attacks might not be one hit kills, but he has never missed a target since he joined the Straw Hats. While disguised as Soge King, he used a large slingshot to accurately snipe at and disable marines over a mile away.
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** Not a kill, but one-hit nevertheless. While Bellamy's crew, minus the first mate, was utterly horrified that they had just irritated someone with a hundred-million beri bounty, Bellamy himself was convinced that Luffy had just created a false bounty poster to make himself seem more threatening. So, when Luffy comes around, he decides to put that theory to the test. [[Curb Stomp Battle|It doesn't pan out.]]
** Let's not forget Zoro's Single Sword: Lion Song technique, which cinched the battle with Das Bones and is suspected would have taken out Kaku had he not dodged.
* It's been summed up in ''[[
** There are actually many exceptions to this (for instance if someone else wrote the victim's name at the same time it doesn't count), but none of them play a role in the story.
*** The exceptions still result in the victim's death, it's just that the death can be delayed by at most 23 days. {{spoiler|In the live-action movie adaptation, this is how L beats Light: he writes his own name in the Death Note with a time of death 23 days later, thwarting the [[Gambit Roulette]] that led to Light's victory over L in the anime and manga versions.}}
**** Simultaneous (within .06 seconds) use of at least three Death Notes [[No Kill Like Overkill|on the same victim]] will not result in death for either the victim or any of the Death Note holders, within 23 days or otherwise. Practically impossible, yes, but still there.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
** There are various ways to pull off an 'Automatic Victory' in the card game, such as with the infamous Exodia. There was also a [[HP to One|very-near One-Hit Kill]] with Wiraqocha Rasca's anime effect.
** One particularly famous example came from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
* Yuki Nagato in ''[[
* Ranma's encounters with Herb and Saffron in ''[[Ranma
** Ryouga and Ranma both believed that the ''Bakusai Tenketsu'' ("Exploding Point-hole," or "Breaking Point" in the [[Woolseyism|English version]]) is one of these, since it consists of making rock, soil, and (non-living) wood burst into pieces with the touch of a finger. However, after [[Trickster Mentor|having her fun]] watching the two teens struggle, Cologne revealed that it doesn't work on living things.
* This is why Tohno Shiki from ''[[
** Shiki Ryogi from ''[[
** Technically, Tohno Shiki is capable of doing this as well, except Ryogi doesn't seem to have the [[Cast
*** This is due to the fact that the two Shiki's eyes work slightly differently. Tohno Shiki's eyes perceive ''the point of death'' on something, which when attacked, unravels what makes the object considered to be "alive", and in turn results in death. Ryogi Shiki, on the other hand, perceives the fundamental existence of something, allowing her to kill anything. Ryogi isn't weakened due to the fact that her eyes have always been active, and because of that, seeing the death of everything is normal to her.
**** Also, Tohno has to 'understand' the death of his target, and the human mind was never equipped to comprehend the mortality of inanimate objects. Thus, the more abstract the target, the more he has to strain himself to 'kill' it. Even before her eyes activated, Ryougi was somewhat insane; perhaps she's better able to understand death considering her bizarre mindset.
*** It is theorized that Ryougi has a more complete connection with the Origin of Existence, making not have to struggle to connect with the Origin. Has to do with her multiple personalities and the fact that one of the personalities actually died, whereas Tohno was brought back from the dead. And then there's the possibility that Nasu had not thought about the consequences of using the eyes until Tsukihime was being made.
* ''[[
* {{spoiler|The second summoning of Suzaku and the presence of all Suzaku Seishi notwithstanding, this is how Taka ends the battle with the fake Suzaku in}} ''[[
* [[Bleach
** Her Bankai on the other hand is {{spoiler|A fucking NUKE.}}
* [[Tenchi Muyo
* [[Naruto
** The Jyuken (Gentle Fist style) is an entire taijutsu form based around one hit kills. Both Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Neji have killed targets with one well placed strike. Since the Gentle Fist can target the internal organs of a foe directly, a simple jab to the heart is instantly lethal.
** Itachi Uchiha's [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|Susanoo]] wields the Totsuka no Tsurugi, a sword that seals anyone it pierces in an eternal genjutsu. To date, Orochimaru and edo Nagato, two of the strongest shinobis in the world have been subjected to this[[Fate Worse Than Death|....treatment]].
** Hatake Kakashi has the technique [[Space Master|Kamui]], which can warp away it's targets to an alternate dimension.
*** A quick scan of the jutsu catalogue reveals that virtually all offensive techniques ranked A or S are one-hit kills.
* In ''[[
** Don't forget the two most well-known ones: Dragon Slave, which is only beaten by the ultimate definition of OHKILL, the Giga Slave. Then, there's also Ragna Blade, stemming from the same source as Giga Slave, just on a one-to-one basis.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** The manga played it straight: Kuwabara simply [[Megaton Punch
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Rosario
* Ichika's [[
* ''[[One-Punch Man]]'': Saitama's defining characteristic is that he can take out (almost) any opponent with one hit.
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* [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] knocked out [[Sub-Mariner|Namor]] with one punch in ''Invaders #33''.
* Marv from [[Sin City]] never seems to have to hit a person a second time (although sometimes he does anyway).
* In ''[[Ultimate Spider
** Though this then shifts into [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]], when Goblin - who's fire powered in the Ultimate universe - comes back from this bigger and stronger than ever, allowing him to fulfill the name of the ark.
** Later in that same arc, Peter Parker shows up, bleeding from a gunshot wound, and takes the Vulture out for a while with one web.
==
* Naruto gets to deal one of these out to {{spoiler|Sasuke}} in the [[Alternate History]] fic ''[[
{{quote|
''(Naruto ignores this remark. But...)''
'''{{spoiler|Sasuke}}''': ''(scoff)'' [[Dude, Not Funny|I hope you put up a better fight than your pathetic teammate]].
''(Naruto gawks at {{spoiler|Sasuke}}, then [[Death Glare|glares a hole]] through him.)''
'''Test proctor Hayate''': Begin!
''([[Flash Step]], [[Fan Nickname|"Fuck You" Punch]], broken jaw, [[Ragdoll Physics|ragdolls away]]. KO.)''
''([[Beat]]) [Exit Naruto.]''
'''Hayate''': ...winner, Uzumaki Naruto. }}
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== Film ==
* Any number of Kung Fu B-movies, which often featured characters (usually villains) who knew a special technique that could kill people (or otherwise take them out of a fight) instantly.
** In a parody of this, the Wuxi finger hold in ''[[
** The Flying Guillotine from the movies was a weapon version of this. If it gets on your head and the villain pulls the chain, [[Off
* This happens to {{spoiler|Bill}} in ''[[
* [[Bruce Willis]] pulls off a particularly awesome one-hit kill in ''[[The Last Boy Scout]]''.
{{quote|
** ... Which is then copied by Rhona Mitra in ''[[Doomsday]]''.
* The [[Duel to
* [[Star Wars
** Both ways. Fire the laser at a target, the target dies. Single proton torpedo to the thermal exhaust port, the Death Star dies.
* [[Snatch|"One Punch Mickey"]], Gypsy bareknuckle boxing champion. Bonus points for doing it when he shouldn't.
* Kick-to-the-face in the trailer to ''[[Ong Bak]]'' is possibly the best example ever.
* In ''[[Diggstown]]'', "Honey" Roy Palmer gets pissed off and knocks out an opponent with a single punch immediately after the round starts.
{{quote|
* All but the tiniest phantoms in ''[[Final Fantasy:
* In ''[[The Punisher (
* ''[[Drive Angry]]'' gives us the Godkiller. A unique gun that can kill anything shot by its bullets in one shot, and even banishes them from existence.
* In the ''[[I Spy]]'' [[The Film of the Series|film]], [[Eddie Murphy]]'s character is a boxing champion known for one-hit KOs. Not exactly a "kill", but it would definitely end your career if you went down from one punch.
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== Gamebooks ==
* 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
** In ''[[Lone Wolf]]'', the bow and arrow, far from being [[Annoying Arrows|just annoying]], often allows a one-hit kill for the hero, if he chooses the right target and is enough of a good shot (though some monsters are utterly immune to this).
** The best Choose Your Own Adventures were better-known for their creatively gory endings to your life than for their successful endings.
== Literature ==
* Avada Kedavra, a.k.a. the Killing Curse, from ''[[Harry Potter (
** Quirrell in ''[[A Very Potter Musical]]'' all but uses the trope name when he describes it as [[Boring but Practical]].
* In the second ''[[Book of Amber]],'' Merlin knows a "neat little cardiac arrest spell." He only uses it once, but he just obliterates a Jabberwock with it. Apparently, he has a separate "death spell," but he never uses it.
** However, he does note that it wouldn't have been a
* The Ivory Knife in P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', a mere scratch from which will kill; it is described as "the very tooth of Death". As one might imagine, this can be somewhat dangerous for the wielder as well. Heroine Jame carries it in her boot sheath for a long while, at first because she doesn't realize what it is, then after she knows, because she doesn't have anywhere safe she can leave it.
* Balefire in ''[[
** Balefire comes at a very high price, though. Since it kills retroactively, the past will be changed - any actions performed by the killed within for everything for a minute back to days (all according to the power of the Balefire) will now not have happened. If this happens to much, reality itself unravels, causing a ''[[Temporal Paradox]]'' that can destroy the world.
* The [[Hive Queen|Vord Queen]] in ''[[
* 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
* "Morganti" weapons in ''[[Dragaera]]'' are all one-hit killers. They also destroy the soul of the victim, making revivification impossible, and also making it impossible for the victim to travel the Paths of The Dead to the afterworld.
* Any of several magic words in the ''[[
* In [[Fred Saberhagen]]'s [[Book of Swords]] series, Farslayer can kill anyone (including demons and gods) anywhere as long as they don't have Shieldbreaker or Woundhealer to save them.
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'', Jadis uses the deplorable word and basically one shots an entire planet, resulting in no more subjects for her to rule. But that's okay, a pair of children help save the day on Earth and Narnia
* Shardblades from ''[[
* In [[The Destroyer]] book series, the martial art of Sinanju is mostly one hit one kill moves.
* In ''[[Billy Budd (
== Live Action TV ==
* In the competitive robot combat show ''[[Robot Wars (TV series)|Robot Wars]]'' robots could be battered into submission and some robots were in fact powerful enough to disable an opponent with a single lucky blow. Robots could also be flipped over and those with no way to right themselves were immobilized and defeated. However there was only one guaranteed way to defeat an enemy robot in a single strike: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jYTotkRN5g&feature=related throwing it over the wall and out of the arena.] The first time it happened, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOojWy6Lta4 no-one could believe their eyes.]
** Not to mention, the pit.
* Arguably, the Zat'nik'tel in ''[[
** It should be noted here that the disintegration idea was quietly phased out after a few seasons when the writers realized that it was stupid. It's even mocked in the 100th episode special ''Wormhole X-Treme,'' which mainly existed to mock things like this.
** Another note: the Zats often [[The Worf Barrage|don't work on an opponent just to prove how badass said opponent is]]. And yet, somehow, SG-1 is always surprised and act like this is the first time that's ever happened.
* Done on ''[[CSI: NY]]'', where a martial arts expert killed the victim of the week with a single blow to the back of the neck.
== Pro Wrestling ==
* It's pretty common in North America for a pro wrestler's [[Finishing Move]] to be used as a
** The
** As well as [[
** Also witness this WWF [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGoQWNElahg title match between Bob Backlund and] [[Kevin Nash
* Though he can't use it for obvious reasons, Michael Tarver of [[The Nexus]] once had the gimmick of the 1.9 second punch, a punch that would instantly KO anyone.
* Santino Marella has The Cobra, a jab to the throat. He's still mostly a [[Jobber]] because he wastes so much time signalling for it that he's almost always intercepted.
** And then after months, he finally hit the move for the first time on [[
** People now have to ''sell'' the damn thing.
* Umaga's Samoan Spike.
* [[
* The Tombstone Piledriver: In the 2 decades that [[
* Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer can actually one-up on the Tombstone: ''nobody'' has ever kicked out of it. As a result, he's only used it seven times to maintain its special-ness. [[Memetic Mutation|Well, eight if you include the time he used it on his cancer]].
* [[
* [[The Big Show]]. The Knockout Punch aka The Weapon of Mass Destruction.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons
** '''[[Massive Damage]]''' -- A well known modification to the game, in which doing a certain amount of damage in a single attack (usually 50 points) means that the poor monster who suffered from it has to make a fortitude save vs. Instant Death. Not quite as used when campaigns have higher-level characters who can dish out 50 damage a turn on average.
** '''[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fingerOfDeath.htm Finger of Death]''' -- 7th-level arcane spell; this one's a generic "save or die" spell.
** '''Circle of Death''' -- the 6th-level version that does this to every creature within a certain radius.
*** 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''
** '''Slay Living''' -- 5th-level divine spell; similar to ''finger of death'', but clerics use it instead of wizards. It's a "[[Touch of Death]]" type thing, too.
** '''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
** '''Cloudkill''' -- 5th level arcane spell; a cloud of toxic gas that kills you without a save, makes you save or die, or deals Con damage, depending on [[Character Level|how many Hit Dice you have]]. Can be disrupted by strong winds.
** '''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
*** Intelligent swords in the earlier editions that had a special purpose could have this as its special purpose power, delivering this effect on ''any hit'' with the weapon when it was wielded against any enemy that the weapon in question was dedicated against. As you can well imagine, swords like these gave those they were dedicated against some ''very'' good reason to fear.
** '''Symbol of Death''' -- 9th-level arcane spell, kills you and ''anyone else near it'' when it's triggered.
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** '''Power Word: Kill''' -- 9th-level arcane spell; kills you without a save if you're at 100 HP or less.
*** Because not all of the "save or die" spells target Fortitude (some target Reflex or Will), a high level wizard is a [[Game Breaker]], as he may kill nearly anything by guessing which save is the weakest.
**** Thus, [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]]. Of course, the one problem is that he has to prepare those spells hours beforehand, so needs to either have a pretty good idea of what enemies he will face, or else [[Crazy Prepared|prepare some insta-death for every kind of enemy he can think of]].
** '''Destruction''' -- 7th-level divine spell; similar to ''finger of death,'' but it destroys the foe's body on a failed save (making resurrection more difficult) and inflicts more damage on a successful save. Damn [[Game Breaker|CoDzilla]].
** '''Blasphemy''', '''Holy Word''', '''Word of Chaos''', and '''Dictum''' are all alignment-based spells that brutalize targets of the other alignment with negative status effects. However, if you are a certain number of Hit Dice (a measure of hit points) below the caster, you just drop dead, no save. Most of the game's most famous antagonists (The various Archfiends, for example) have these abilities ''built in''.
** The ''[[
** [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?!'''''
** 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
** Certain weapons can also deliver One Hit Kills upon hitting certain targets. The Hammer of Thunderbolts, if you've met all the requirements to bring it to full power, can kill any giant instantly upon a failed save.
** A cleric can out-and-out destroy undead with a single good turning check. Once per day, a cleric of the Sun domain can do it with a ''mediocre'' turning check.
** ''D&D'''s fourth edition seems to mostly avoid this, however, with attack powers inflicting mainly straight hit point damage and possibly nonlethal side effects. There ''are'' still some powers (mostly monster attacks) that can kill or petrify a target regardless of remaining HP, but even those are not quite instantaneous and allow at least two chances to shake off the attack via a successful saving throw before the final effect kicks in.
*** However, powers that were meant to take someone out temporarily can be made permanent through the use of the save lock trick, which stacks penalties to make it impossible to escape. With certain powers, like stun, this is effectively a one hit kill. With one specific paragon path daily power, you can permanently banish a target to a pocket dimension where they can't do anything. While possibly game-breaking, it also makes for a good excuse for [[Sealed Evil in
*** 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
** Also, in the first edition of the game, you had the Assassin, whose signature ability allowed him to one-shot anyone on whom he gained surprise, provided he succeeded on the special attack roll.
*** Even if the roll failed, weapon damage was automatic so it could still kill the victim. Also first edition blade venom works when you inflict damage with a weapon so you could still force a poison save if they survived the initial roll and the damage so you had 2 or 3 chances to kill them depending on their hit point total.
** 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
** The Living Death campaign had a special base class (Doctor) who had a skill only they could take (Doctor) and which they were required to spend 1 skill point on per level. With this skill, they could either restore hit points to an ally, or force a Save Or Die from an enemy. Lets do the math: the skill is always 1d20 + level + INT. It could be higher if you spend the 0-3 additional skill points you have the option of spending, or spend one of two skill increasing feats. Let us assume you did neither. Your roll is simply 1d20 + level + INT to set the DC of the Fortitude save of the enemy. This is an instant kill on pretty much any opponent who has a Fort save. And, before you point out that the attack still requires a successful hit at a -4 penalty, I'll also mention that the campaign disallowed armor, so everyone was ridiculously easy to hit.
* ''[[Warhammer
** Don't forget the [[Funetik Aksent|Shokk Attack Gun]]. While it has variable strength, [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|and it can kill the user]], at maximum strength it opens a huge hole into the Warp, killing everything nearby.
** The newest addition to the list being the Space Wolves Psychic Power "Jaws of the World Wolves" which will take anything touched by its line of effect out regardless of wounds, invulnerability or anything else, only a timely reaction can save them.
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* [[Warhammer Fantasy]] has fewer examples than 40K, but they still exist.
** The most powerful spells in the Lore of Dark Magic and the Lore of Death exist for this reason.
* ''[[
* From ''[[Warhammer
** Giants have a random attack table. One of these, Stuff In Pants, instantly kills the unfortunate victim. If you manage to kill the Giant before the end of the game, they escape unscathed though, not that you'd want to live after being through that.
*** For all the American tropers out there, remember that Games Workshop is British, so it is a slightly more [[Squick]] meaning of "Pants"... assuming giants bother with wearing two layers of clothing.
*** There's also "Eat", which has much the same result, but is slightly less disturbing.
** Warhammer also has the Killing Blow rule, which allows a weapon to instakill the target if you roll a 6 to wound. Some weapons can also Slay Outright, which means a single wound inflicted by such weapon causes the target to lose all their wounds.
* ''[[Magic:
** Additionally, a famous early combo based around the card Channel (which allows you to exchange life for mana on a 1-1 basis) and a direct damage spell such as Fireball (which allows you to convert mana to damage on a 1-1 basis) allowed you to fry an enemy on full life in 1 shot. With a number of ultra-rare cards and a bit of luck, you could do this ''on the first turn.'' Unsurprisingly, Channel was eventually banned from all competition.
*** It's actually even worse. The "number of ultra-rare cards" you needed for this first turn kill was ONE: Black Lotus (or a Mox Ruby/Jet in a slightly different variant). The rest of the cards involved were dirt-cheap commons and uncommons.
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*** Of course, if your opponent kills your creature after you use your buffs, it could be slightly awkward for you.
** Plus there are many, many effects that one-shot creatures.
* ''[[
* The [[Yu-Gi-Oh (Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh]] CCG has a series of 3-Tributes creatures whose effect states that if they defeat the opponent by reducing their LP to zero, you win the entire match - not just the game, the ''match'', regardless of how many games you played already and what the situation is. Only one of these, however, is even legal for use in a deck (the rest are all high-end tournament prize cards), and it had a short stint before being outright banned from tournament play.
** There are many ways to achieve one hit wins, like powering up a monster to ridiculous levels with equip cards or using a card like "[[Wave Motion Gun|Wave-Motion Cannon]]."
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**** Chimeratech Overdragon OTK: Cyber Dragon, Future Fusion, and Overload Fusion all limited to one
**** Chain Strike OTK: For a while, Chain Strike was limited to one, which killed the deck. Now it's at two, but Ojama Trio, a key card, is limited to one.
* ''[[
** There's a few other Charms and spells that are one-hit-kills, though many of them are limited in WHAT they can kill instantly (mostly just [[Puny Earthlings|mortal human beings]] or REALLY low-Essence magical entities). Also, due to the way the game's [[Mooks|"extras"]] rule works, any attack against one that succeeds by enough becomes a OHKO as well.
** Five Metal Shrike's [[Wave Motion Gun|Godspear]] deals ''Infinite'' damage and anything near the impact point disintegrates at quantum levels. The only other sources of Infinite damage are falling into the Void, which is to say "You cease to exist", and the Eye of Judgment of a Titan citadel, which is basically the Godspear + five-mile radius + ridiculous amounts of required infrastructure to build.
* ''[[
* ''[[
** The only thing worse is a massive radiation dose (over 4000 rads). You get to make one HT roll. On a [[Critical Failure]] you die in agony, on a failure you die in agony, on a success you die in agony, and on a critical success [[Overly Long Gag|you die in agony]], but it takes longer.
** The GURPS forums see a number of power builds for such abilities, including at least one power that [[Omnicidal Maniac|kills everything within a radius larger than the observable universe]], on a ridiculously small number of points. It does this by using combinations of modifiers that, while not explicitly illegal, would normally be shot down by any GM.
* Naturally, since death in ''[[Paranoia (
** Tactical nukes. Which often come in ''grenade'' form (blast radius 500 meters, maximum throwing radius 50 meters - somehow, no one survives long enough to report this design flaw).
** Plasma generators, basically flamethrowers on steroids. Which malfunction frequently, meaning the fuel tank strapped to your back is about to explode, leaving you a choice between undoing the cumbersome straps and running for it (and incurring a hefty fine for abandoning such expensive equipment) or attempting a difficult repair procedure (one roll just to ''turn off the alarm'', a second to stop the explosion, a third to actually make it fire again). Oh, and expect blowback if you fire into a strong enough wind.
** The "Falling from Great Heights" table goes from "five feet" all the way up to "Orbital". Which has actually been used in official adventures.
** Having The Computer find out you're an actual full-blown Communist. Or a [[Technopath|machine empath]] (It ''really'' hates being manipulated that way).
* Getting a natural 20 on an attack in ''[[
* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (
* ''[[
* If you roll a 01 in combat in ''[[
* ''[[Monopoly (
* In ''[[
== Video Games ==
* In many [[RPG
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
*** Players will soon have an instant death ability, in the form of the new avatar Odin, which will have AoE death (but with less accuracy the more mobs that surround it), on all normal mobs.
** In most ''[[
*** [[Final Fantasy VIII
** The Tonberries creep slowly towards you then stab you to death. In some cases, it's not an ''instant'' death attack, but just does obscene amounts of damage. Later versions added the "Karma" ability, which deals damage equal to the amount of damage the Tonberry has taken, and it ''always'' has more HP than the maximum your characters can reach...
** From ''[[
** Also, in ''[[
*** ''[[
** In ''[[
*** You do get it in ''[[
*** Along with several other One Hit Kill attacks, many of which belong to the same class (Assassin, obviously).
** One of the optional characters, Beowulf, has a petrification attack that works surprisingly often. Also, {{spoiler|Cloud}} has an attack that kills, petrifies and/or stops his opponents. Not only is it his most reliably lethal attack (his other strong attacks, which simply do HP damage, are too slow to hit much of anything), it's also, surprisingly, one of the easier ones to obtain.
** The infamous "Slots" spell almost always has an instant victory result, if you can time your button presses correctly (Though in the case of [[Final Fantasy VIII
*** [[Final Fantasy VI
** The enemy ability "Repose" (previously known as "Calmness") used by the top-tier foe ''Rest'' in [[Final Fantasy VI
** The "Roulette" Blue Magic, which chooses one victim among all the current combatants. Unblockable, but doesn't kill the undead (they regenerate, as it's an "instant death" effect).
** ''[[
** Most instant death attacks do not work on [[The Undead]], which regenerate to full health when struck by one. However, in ''[[
** Aside from Death spells and Zantetsuken, ''[[
** There's also the Jumbo Cactuar's "[[Death of a Thousand Cuts|10,000 Needles]], which hits for 1 damage 10,000 times in a series where the HP [[Cap]] is 9,999. One game has an ability that allows you to exceed this cap, but the same game has a bonus boss called the Cactuar King with a 99,999 Needles attack. Guess what the boosted HP cap is.
** And (in)famously, [[Revive Kills Zombie]]. A single Phoenix Down is enough to destroy the [[Final Fantasy VI
** ''[[Wild
*** However, if you already know that, he becomes an [[Anticlimax Boss]].
* Every character in ''[[
** This was even more egregious in the PS1 version; the setup for the instant kill was either punch+ kick or a well-timed block, there was no penalty for missing, and you won the entire match.
** In the [[Spiritual Successor]], ''[[
*** ''Continuum Shift'' seems to have un-nerfed them. You can now use them in round 2 of 3 if it would win the match for you, and your opponent can be at or below 35% health.
* In ''[[
** Some forms of evil weather, such as the ones found in
* One of the starting weapons in [http://colourfire.nfshost.com ColourFire]'s arcade mode is a virus that infects enemies and kills them in one hit, blowing up into even more viruses. The only trouble is its short range, and that it has to wear down their health from the inside before they die.
* In ''[[Borderlands|Borderlands 2]]'', an Overpowered Level 8 Fabled Tortoise or Hoplite shield can have a health reduction so hight that any character equipped with it will have his/her HP reduced to '''zero''' (when viewed at a medical vending machine, one can see that the health is literally at negative values). Any attack inflicted upon you (regardless of shield condition) will instantly put you in Fight For Your Life.
* In ''[[
** In addition, a few select enemies and bosses have this. For example, during the boss fight against {{spoiler|Geldoblame after he touched the End Magnus}}, he has the ability [[Exactly What It Says
* Probably based off the Power Word: Kill example in ''[[Dungeons
* ''[[
* The final boss in the [[
** The final boss of Lunar 1 also used that spell (Fate Storm), but unlike in ''Lunar 2'', in ''Lunar 1'' it just killed the target outright. Particularly bad because the boss in question could doublecast, and would always cast Fate Storm along with Hell Wave, a powerful attack-all spell that could easily leave you in critical condition. So you had to revive the dead person AND restore your entire party, unless you learned the pattern and prepared for it beforehand.
** The final boss of the PSP remake of ''[[Lunar:
* ''[[
* The Sky Canyon boss in ''[[Sonic Advance Trilogy
** Some bosses in ''[[
*** In Act 2 of the ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** In the Final Mix version of the same game, Terra has an attack that is a bit like Heartless Angel; it rapidly drains your [[Hit Points|HP]], and you have to push a button at the right time to stop it. Should you fail to do so, or push the wrong button? Instant death.
** The final boss of Sora's story in Chain of Memories has [[Final Fantasy
* [[Guide Dang It|You have to jump through hoops to get it,]] but ''[[
** The second installment's [[Shoryuken]] kills any boss in one hit, provided you remain in contact with him long. Morph Moth is an exception as he pulls a [[One
** The third game downgrades Zero's Saber to a 2-hit kill, but it's still damn useful and a lot easier to get, especially since using it with the Buster upgrade causes it to fire out a cresent beam with the same effect.
** Another "2-hit kill" attack is the upgraded Nova Strike in ''X8''. All Bosses (and I mean ''all'') fall to two hits (regardless of the health of the boss, the first hit always reduces the health to around 25% so the Boss could trigger its [[Desperation Attack]]). The previous incarnations of the Nova Strike is [[Game Breaker]] material enough, but this one?
** One forgotten one is in ''[[
** Like Wood Man, Metal Man has a weakness that will drop him in one hit outside the original Japanese version, except in this case, it's [[Weaksauce Weakness|his own weapon]]. Sure, you can't do it until the second fight with him, but it's still damned funny.
** Also, if aimed exactly right, the Air Shooter can hit Crash Man with all three tornadoes in one shot, killing him instantly. Even in the Japanese version, it will knock off over 60% of his life, making the next hit nearly a guaranteed kill.
** And in ''[[
* Headshots with a sniper rifle in pretty much every [[First
** Another staple variant in FPS is the [[Tele Frag]].
*** Which can be exploited as a valid means of killing in games like ''[[
** In ''Urban Terror'', a shot to the head with any weapon is a OHK, unless they have a helmet, in which case some weapons won't deal enough damage; even with a helmet, a sniper round to the head means death. The Remington sniper rifle is a OHK ''anywhere'', except the arms, in which case it does "only" 67% damage.
** This is subverted in the ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces
** In ''[[
* In the FPS [[Combat Arms]], the headshots were a one hit kill of course, but at one point, getting shot in a, ahem...[[Groin Attack|sensitive region for males]] would also score a insta-kill, along with the humorous announcement "Nut Shot!" with a picture of two cracked walnuts. It was later nerfed to only occur when the fatal bullet (or [[Squick|melee attack]]) would nail the unfortunate player in the nads. Female characters could suffer this too, for balance reasons, but lacked the extra effects the males had.
* ''[[
* Since we are on the topic of ''[[
* The knife in ''[[Battlefield (
** Sort of with the headshots. Sniper Rifles would always be a one hit kill, and shotguns were a one hit kill in the head at close range(along with any other part of the body) but other small arms would just deal more damage than normal.
** The RPGs in 2 and 2142 were one of the few weapons that would result in the victim not able to be revived by a medic, regardless on where they were hit.
* In ''[[Super Smash Bros
** Similarly, the Home Run Bat item has this
** Roy's [[Charge Attack|fully charged]] B attack in Melee. Ike claims this ability in Brawl.
** Ganondorf's up tilt is instantly lethal in Melee, and mostly lethal in Brawl.
** The final boss of Subspace Emissary {{spoiler|Tabuu}} has one (or more, at least in Boss Battles on Intense) instant kill attacks.
** Jigglypuff's Rest is capable of killing at 0% depending on the situation, but will usually one-hit KO anyone close to or above 40%. The price? The hitbox is pretty much confined to Jiggly's eyes, and if you aren't placed right the instant you use it, you've got 3 seconds to sit helplessly while your opponent charges up a smash. Also, even if you do get a kill, unless it's off the top, your opponent is going to come back to life before you wake up, which means they will kill you if you're above around 80%.
* The ''[[
** "Basara KO's" from ''[[
* Igniz from ''[[
* ''[[Soul Series
* PSI Flash in ''[[
** Then, there of course are PK Beam Gamma and PK Fire Omega from ''[[MOTHER 1
* The entire point behind "Heaven & Hell" or "Hell & Hell" modes in ''[[
* [[Counter Attack
** In the second game, while the archers, agiles, and regular guards with berets die in a single "counter kill," the regular guards with helmets have to have low health before this happens (counter attacks before that will only drain health as the Assassin drives them back), and brutes and seekers can only be countered by polearms, axes, or bastard swords (wielded by brutes, seekers, or mercenaries). However, in return for the smallest window of opportunity, Hidden Blade counters are ''always'' a OHK against any weapon, making it the best melee weapon for any player who can consistently time the button press, and the second game made it ''much'' easier to pull off, with fewer drawbacks.
* In the later ''[[
** Earlier games had the elbow strike, which [[Back Stab|provided a single-hit KO if applied to the back of the head. Otherwise, it stuns]]. In all games, of course, a headshot is a reliable kill, made trickier if the enemy is equipped with helmets.
** ''Conviction'' has the Mark and Execute system. Although you need to melee kill an enemy to make use of it, it allows you to mark up to four enemies and OHK all of them instantly (or fast enough that it doesn't matter).
* Every attack in ''[[Contra (
** In the [[Spiritual Successor]], ''[[Hard Corps: Uprising]]'', enemy snipers will attempt to lock onto you, and if you get caught in the crosshairs, they'll fire a bullet that does 4 points of damage if it connects, enough to kill any character in Arcade mode but it can be survived in Rising mode thanks to life upgrades (most other attacks only deal one point of damage to your [[Life Meter]]).
* ''[[
* Many, many games of ''[[Nethack]]'' have ended with the message "Oh no, <monster>'s using the touch of death!" The player can sometimes acquire their own version of this spell, called ''Finger'' of Death, after the ''D&D'' spell listed above.
** Not to mention being turned to stone, being transformed into a green slime, being disintegrated, being dragged underwater, being eaten (not instantly fatal to you, but fatal if done to/by pets), swords that can behead or bisect you or an enemy instantly, and of course the ''wand'' of death.
** The canonical
* ''[[
** Travis' Darkside Mode in allows for one-hit-kills of a most violent degree.
** Shinobu has a '''pair''' of near instant-death attacks after she [[Turns Red]]: she can take you from full health to ''two points'' with her supercharged Gengoken attack, and her multi-Sonic Sword attack will off you if she hits you with all the blades. And she is the third boss of the game.
** Harvey Moisewitch Volodarskii and Bad Girl also have instant-death attacks, the former if you fail to break out of his magic box, and the latter if you fall for her trap. {{spoiler|Henry breaks one out once his health reaches [[Turns Red]] territory; it's the one that looks like the Stinger from ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' and '''plants you into the concrete'''.}}
** Surprisingly, there are fewer one-hit kills in [[No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
** Travis gains another OHK in the sequel: turning into a tiger and ripping apart the suddenly-terrified enemies.
* The "game ender", a unit or structure that can only be built at or near the end of the tech tree, and even then only at considerable time and expense, but once built, (almost) uncounterably devastates your opponent, is a staple of [[Real Time Strategy|RTSes]]. [[Nuke
* The Spy's [[Butterfly Knife
** And the Sniper's [[Boom! Headshot!|headshot]] ability, when fully charged, inflicts 450 damage, exactly enough to kill an over-healed Heavy and (way) more than enough to kill anyone else.
** On a technical level, only telefrags and falling into pits are One Hit Kills. However, the examples noted deal up to 500 damage without any modifiers and boil down to One Hit Kills except against a Spy using a the Dead Ringer or a Heavy affected by a stun during the time it gave victims a 50% damage reduction to make it less overpowered.
** Sawblades, trains, and the Horseless Headless Horsemann deal damage equal to double your current health.
** 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
* ''[[Time Killers]]'' was notorious for having this. A well-placed hit at any point in the round would instantly kill your opponent.
* Parodied in the [[Fan Service]]-packed PC fighting game ''Bikini Karate Babes''. Venus, one of the boss characters, has a grab move that swipes the bikini top off certain fighters. [[Defeat
* Showstopper from ''[[
* Geno from ''[[
** Some enemies also have attacks that instantly kill the character hit by them, unless said character is wearing an accessory that blocks them (or the player has really ''really'' good timing). Even one of the forms of the final boss has one. Depending on your timing blocking the one hit kill attack, either it was a success or you suffer an [[HP to One]] effect.
* In a partial aversion of the trope, numbered ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' games tend to feature a variety of these, often cheap to cast and geared to work on certain types of targets (inorganic or living). Even better, some of them are almost reliable! ''PSIV'' has a particularly large number of them; between techniques, skills, and combination attacks, nearly every character can kill some kind of enemy instantly. Played straight in that they don't work on bosses.
* The first two ''[[
* The demon morph [[Super Mode]] in ''[[Painkiller]]'' deals out one hit kills to mooks.
** Ostensibly, it's powerful enough to kill bosses in one hit as well, but of course, you can't get souls on boss levels, so no demon morph for you.
*** Actually you can get souls in the very final battle against Lucifer, but he's immune to your attack, as he's a [[Puzzle Boss]].
* The spell "Armageddon" from ''[[
** It did the same thing in ''[[
** The ''[[
* Kill Counters and Superstyle moves in ''[[Heavenly Sword]]''. Kill Counters are performed by hitting Triangle as soon as an attack is blocked, Superstyle moves are performed by beating up enough enemies to fill your power gauge, then pressing Circle near an enemy. Superstyle moves are also used on some bosses, where doing so triggers a [[Press X to Not Die|QTE]] that defeats the boss if performed successfully. Kai's arrows also kill most enemies in one or two hits, depending where on the body you hit them.
* In ''[[
** By the way, the Phantom Hammer doesn't just blast your health to 0 on a hit, it reduces ''all your stats'' to 0 at the same time. In terms of the story, this means that Tor's Phantom Hammer ''completely annihilates Iji's nanofield''. With ''one hit.''
* At the end of 2 trials in the third ''[[
* Several enemies in ''[[
* The ''[[Tenchu]]'' franchise is based around stealth kills. If you attack a guard who is unaware of your presence, you kill him instantly and cinematically as only a freakin' [[Ninja]] can.
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games have the Mudo and Hama spells, both being single-target spells with 40% chance of inflicting instant death. Those are the weakest variants of the instant death spells in that particular franchise. Their most powerful forms, Mamudoon and Mahamaon, have a 60% chance of inflicting instant death on everyone in the party, yours or the enemies'. Of course, elemental affinities can mess with this. Both spells, however, also come in damage flavor. In the ''[[Digital Devil Saga]] series, Hama instead dealt a percentage of damage based on your current Health.
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** Stinger, one of Dante's moves in Nocturne, also has an instant kill factor.
** Hell Gaze, another Death-elemental instant kill move.
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
*** Actually, the spells "Die for Me!" and Samsara become a [[Game Breaker]] in Persona 4. They have a 100% success rate to ANY enemy that doesn't resist/block/repel Dark or Light, respectively. Other that bosses, it's actually extremely rare to find normal shadows that block both light and dark.
*** Also in both games, the ability "Ghastly Wail" is instant, unavoidable death for ''any'' character afflicted with Fear. This also works on some bosses, such as P3's Strength and Fortune.
*** Another attack in ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[
** 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 ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[
** The boomerang from ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** Link can learn two sword techniques in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
** Several examples in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
*** The Guardians patrolling the Silent Realm can kill Link instantly. The fact that they are only found in the [[Dark World|Silent Realm]], where Link loses access to his sword, can make encounters with them rather tense.
*** There are three examples of obstacles that, instead of simply making Link reappear at the start of the room where they hit him (a tradition for the series), they ''actually'' kill him: The giant rolling boulder in the Earth Temple, the statue of Buddha in Ancient Cistern that descends when Link gets the Boss Key, and the lava overflowing a certain underground passage in Fire Sanctuary.
*** As in ''Twilight Princess'', the Ending Blow allows instant kill to enemies when it's executed well.
* ''[[
** In Generation I, these moves always fail if the opponent has a higher Speed stat than the user. In later generations, this is changed so that instead they always fail against opponents of a higher level.
** One particularly nasty implementation of the move Sheer Cold comes in the form of a glitch which enables you to make a Machop or its evolved forms learn the move. One of Machop's possible abilities is No Guard, which makes its attacks always hit at the expense of always being hit by opponents' attacks too. Do the math, and you get an instant KO which never misses. The reason Sheer Cold is preferred with this trick is because nothing is immune to Ice-type moves, and even a not-very-effective hit will be a guaranteed KO.
* ''[[Total Overdose]]'' gives Ram a variety of
* ''[[Bunny Must Die]]'' has three bosses with instant death abilities.
** Count Vladmu a.k.a. [[Full
** Chelsea, as a boss, has a mode where crosshairs lock onto you. If you stay in one spot too long, you get a headshot, which kills you no matter how much health you have.
** [[Demonic Possession|Dechronos!Bunny]] throws [[BFS
* ''[[
** Also the Finger of Death
** Also, in ''Warcraft 2'', the Mage's Polymorph spell turned any unit into a neutral critter. Unlike in the sequels, the spell is permanent, making it work like a one hit KO.
* ''[[Fate/stay
** There's also Bazett's ultimate move in the sequel ''[[Fate/hollow
** The RPG spinoff ''[[Fate Extra]]'' gives us another example - The Assassin Li Shuwen's mastery over ''Chi'' and the fighting style of '' Ba Jiquan'' allows him to disrupt the energy flow of any opponent he strikes with a single touch, leading to his opponents dying after a single hit as their bodies ceases functioning. The technique is referred to in the game as 'No Second Strike' in reference to his historical boast that he never needed to hit an opponent a second time.
* ''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
* In the ''[[
* In the GBA installments of ''[[
* ''[[
** Doing a [[Goomba Stomp]] to a common infected will also kill them instantly and break your fall.
** On Expert Level, the Witch ''only has to touch you'' to inflict a one hit kill.
*** The Witch can also do this on any difficulty in Realism mode.
* ''Barbarian'' may well have had the first
* The Critical and Deflect Critical moves in ''[[Onimusha]] 3'', though they are phenomenally hard to pull off. Once pulled off, though, you can chain them using the "Chain Critical" move (after learning it), allowing you to kill loads of enemies in one move. While in Onimusha mode, using either of these moves kills every enemy on the screen.
* ''[[
** The Dullahan attack called "Charon" is not exactly the same attack as the summon called "Charon". They have the same attack animation and damage calculation, [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|but the Dullahan attack has a higher chance of OHKO.]]
** Menardi and Karst have the [[Sinister Scythe|Death Scythe]] attack, which can do this. The Ice Queen's [[Kiss of Death|Icy Kiss]] attack can also oneshot someone in ''Dark Dawn'', a bit of a wake-up call due to the lower level at which you encounter her. {{spoiler|[[Demonic Spiders|Skorpna-type monsters]] in the Grave Eclipse have a OHKO move called Drag Down.}}
* ''[[
** ''Hisoutensoku'' has Reimu's Fantasy Heaven, which is so strong that if you use it in the third round of a match, [[Theme Music Power
** The side story manga also contain this. In one of the early chapters of ''Inaba Of The Moon, Inaba Of The Earth'', Tewi goes for the phrase [[Calling Your Attacks|"One Hit Kill"]] brandishing [[Drop the Hammer|a giant mallet]] [[Mundane Made Awesome|in order to make mochi.]] (She coincidentally also smashes [[Butt Monkey|Reisen's]] fingers.)
* Occasionally in ''[[
** 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 [[
* This is the whole point behind ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[
** In most 2D games, the Screw Attack is lethal for non-boss creatures. It's a reason why it's often obtained late.
** ''[[
** ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'' also has an example in the Nova Beam. By itself, the Nova Beam is just a high-frequency weapon that can damage enemies regardless of special Phazite armor they may be wearing. Use it in conjunction with the previously gained X-Ray Visor though, and you can start targeting some enemies' internal organs for instant kills.
* In ''[[Ace Online]]'', the Bomber-type B-Gears are walking One-Hit Kill (named OHKO by players in-game) dealers. The de facto B-Gear weapon, Bawoos, regularly deal 1000 HP damage per missile, while B-Gears are famous to be able to throw [[Macross Missile Massacre|at least 6-8 of them forwards, and 12 or more downwards]]. Coupled with the fact that most Gears' HP range in around 6-7k HP total, OHKOs are frighteningly regular.
** Another B-Gear example would be their [[Finishing Move]], [[Taking You
* While you have to whittle away half her HP first, Reid's Omega Seal becomes a
** Also in ''Eternia'', and given a callback in ''[[
*** 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 [[
** ''[[
* The majority of ''[[Hitman]]'''s attacks: strangling, poisoning, explosives and sniper shots, although, seeing as most of his opponents are mere humans, it's not surprising.
* ''[[Arcanum:
** Technically, Disintegrate just does 32 000 damage. One would be hard pressed to find anything in the game with more than a couple of hundred hit points, though.
* In the fourth level of ''Renegade'', you have to beat up four mooks armed with knives. And then three more of them, accompanied by a mob boss. Who has a gun. No, you can't pick up weapons. Have fun.
* ''[[
** [[Big Bad|The Lich King]] uses his Fury Of Frostmourne to wipe the whole raid near the end of the encounter, though the raid is resurrected shortly afterwards and wipes the floor with him.
** Some boss abilities are basically avoidable
*** Bloodlord Mandokir in the updated Zul'Gurub dungeon has [[Off
** Additionally, it has become a standard tactic for any player that has a displacement/knockback effect (Elemental Shamans, Balance Druids, Fire Mages, and any particularly skilled Death Knight) to allow in their [[
*** You can also survive being thrown off a cliff with Warlock's 'Demonic Circle', altho it requires good timing.
** The Warriors Execute skill (and similar skills) is meant to be this, although usable only if the enemy is already at low health. Normal opponents and players will die (barring damage-preventing effects like the Cheat Death talent), but against a raid boss it ''only'' deals heavy damage.
** Unique NPC ability example: [[Memetic Badass|Vindicator Kuros]] is a [http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=31008 BAMF.]
** The Warlock spell "Curse of Doom" wasn't specifically a
* ''[[
* ''[[Prototype (
** Alex's defining move as it's OHK - [[I'm a Humanitarian|eating people.]] The simple grab and Consume move will kill any normal military or infected enemy, and heal you in the process! Not so for the hunters, though, which need to be weakened before consumption.
** A fully-charged Blade Air Slice is a
* [[La Pucelle
* In the ''[[
* ''[[
** The Farsight XR-20 railgun, which is like ''Counter-Strike'''s AWP, but even more [[Game Breaker|broken]]. Not only can it instantly kill any unshielded target with one shot regardless of hit location, but it can also shoot through any number of solid objects. [[It Got Worse|It gets worse]], when you put the Farsight into its secondary mode it will also track the enemies for you, meaning the player could basically kill anything by pulling the trigger anywhere on the level. Broken indeed.
** There's also the golden DY357-LX, a golden version of the normal revolver. It destroys ''anything that '''can''' be destroyed in one bullet''.
*** Both the Farsight and the gold magnum have virtually unlimited penetration, so they would instantly kill ''as many people as you could get in a straight line.''
** The Crossbow has a secondary fire that turns it into a one hit kill weapon, which was far more useful than the primary fire, "Sedate". Add to that the fact that you could retrieve bolts if they missed, and you had a potentially infinite-ammo instant kill weapon.
** The Tranquilizer Gun also has an instant kill function, although it ate up a lot of the gun's ammo and functioned as a melee attack.
* ''[[
** Paul Phoenix has a move called "Burning Fist" (Back+ both Punch buttons) which will not only take a second to charge up, but will take out the opponent in one hit (and send them flying backwards). Some [[
** Jack has an attack called "Dark greeting". He takes a step forwards, with sparks flying from him, and makes a quick chop downwards with his hand. If the opponent is in range, they're down.
** Miguel in ''Tekken 6'' has an unblockable move. He puts his hand over his mouth and laughs, then he winds up and punches the opponent. It's easy to stop him during the laugh or the wind-up, since they both take a while. But if he does manage to land the move, it's an instant K.O.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Super Mario Bros
** There is an enemy called Boss Bass that eats you in one gulp regardless of what powerup state you are in. A very annoying bitch.
** Thwomps get upgraded to this in ''[[
** Pouncers could one-shot Wario in the first ''[[
* Capcom's ''[[
* ''[[
** The Lancer assault rifle has an underbelly chainsaw capable of one-hit kills. ''Gears of War 2'' however has an added quick-time event should two people lock themselves into a "chainsaw duel" and victory is achieved by the person mashing the melee button the fastest.
** In both games, sniper rifle headshots, torque bow shot impalements, and Boomshot (grenade launcher) direct hits all are one hit kills.
** In the third installment, there is the aptly named "One-Shot." Hit an enemy anywhere and he turns into chunky salsa.
* The Widow sniper rifle in ''[[
{{quote|
** Aaaaaaaaand the M-920 Cain heavy weapon, informally known as a "[[Reality Is Unrealistic|nuke launcher]]." On Insanity it will still kill most enemies in one hit, in a very large blast radius, and it will probably kill you for the same reason. And it still won't do very much damage to the final boss, who (if you're really unfortunate) will be moving around too much for you to easily hit it anyway, especially considering that the final-boss area doesn't really have a whole lot of walls for you to just aim the Cain at and hope for splash damage.
** Moreover, enemies in both games still die instantly if they get knocked into areas that enemies cannot walk on (e.g., chasms). And thankfully Geth Rocket Troopers can't one-shot you on Insanity difficulty like they could in ''[[Mass Effect
** ''[[
*** At the end of {{spoiler|Priority: Rannoch}}, getting hit by {{spoiler|the Reaper's laser}} is an instant kill.
* In ''[[
** Once you've unlocked the defibrillator by completing the Ambulance Driver mini-game, you can perform an Insta-Kill, then shock the corpse back to life, then Insta-Kill them ''again''. [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|And again, and again...]]
* Melee attacks in the Campaign mode of ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron]]'' are a one hit kill (insert your own justification - Energon blades disrupting sparks or whatever). The downside is missing leaves you ''completely'' open, and actually getting into melee range is a dangerous prospect what with all the bullets and the [[Frickin' Laser Beams]].
** The [[
* [[Big Bad|Jon Irenicus]] of ''[[
** The Vorpal Sword has a chance of insta-killing any enemy with any hit. And in the expansion, you can take feats like Greater Deathblow that will insta-kill mooks.
* Next to flareguns, the lighthouse in the second DLC to ''[[Alan Wake]]'', "The Writer", is this to the Taken when you're in an area that isn't obsctructed by giant boulders (which can be "cleared" out).
* In ''[[
** The right combination of buffs can grant these, though certain archetypes have an easier time doing it.
** [[Glass Cannon|Blasters]] need only combine their Build Up, Aim, and Sniper attacks. Though it should be noted that this will only work against "minion" enemies, or "Lieutenants" who are lower level than the blaster in question.
** [[Technicolor Ninjas|Stalkers]] need only perform an Assassin attack while Hidden.
** Scrappers can do this with a well-timed critical hit.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Joe Danger]]'', the horizontal red bars will violently knock you off your bike anytime you make contact with them. NO. EXCEPTIONS. It doesn't matter how many times the game's liberal application of physics have allowed you to land in ways that are physically impossible for someone on a motorbike, if even the slightest part of you touches the bar, you are sent flying. While other objects in the game will also send you flying at the slightest touch, they tend to be more noticeably dangerous; nobody expects to survive landing on a [[Spikes of Doom|spike strip]] or giant mouse trap.
** Other objects in the game are randomly given the same instant death property as the horizontal bars, but they exist in hard to reach areas as [[Insurmountable Waist
* [[Fragile Speedster|Assassins]] from [[Monday Night Combat]] have some rather ''nasty'' [[Back Stab]] techniques with their bladed weapons. It's not strictly speaking a
* ''[[
* ''[[
* Certain opponents in ''[[Punch
* ''[[Gotcha Force]]'' features several. The most potent is the Ultimate Cannon, which will one-shot anything that gets nailed by it. One of the harder stages in the game involves taking out six in a single level (which also features Arrow Ninjas that can [[You Will Not Evade Me|anchor an opponent in place]]). Anyone nailed with a missile from the ICBM Tank or the Death ICBM also will get taken out in one shot, although those are easier to evade. These methods are distinct in that they are the one exception to [[Friendly Fire Index]] being [[Scratch Damage]] - friend or foe, these attacks will finish anyone hit by them.
* ''[[Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity]]''
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** If Dust Man sucks you up, he turns you into an E-Tank. If you don't break free, he kicks you into the incinerator.
** Shadow Man in Pharaoh Man's stage has one as a [[Desperation Attack]].
* In the ''[[Thief (
* ''[[
* ''[[
** "Havanski [[Exactly What It Says
** "Romanov [[Kill Sat|Attack Satellites]]" will fire out a deathray below that fries your tank instantly. To avoid death, keep firing at it to push it away so that it will not fire its laser while moving towards you.
** "Shovak Bulldozers" are [[Advancing Boss of Doom|advancing mooks of doom]] that kill you if you brush against one. To avoid death, you have to push them away by constantly firing at them.
** As for bosses, [[Epic Flail|War Wrecker]]'s wrecking ball, Eyebot's lightning, as well as [[Collision Damage]] with [[
** On the bright side, your character has ''two''- [[Smart Bomb|Nukes]] will kill all regular enemies on the screen, and the [[Wave Motion Gun|Megalaser]] will do the same.
* In ''[[
* ''[[
** In the eighth level of the first game, the propellers in the lower end of the ship's stern can kill the characters instantly upon contact. They can only be disabled for a limited time, and it's the reason why getting the Jiggy behind them is called [[That One Sidequest]].
** Also in the first game, but in the last level, the titular characters play a quiz game. Failing to answer a question on the green-eyed skull tiles will send them to the lava automatically, and they will die.
** In ''Banjo-Tooie'', the sequel, the characters are crushed by a ton of iron if they lose during any of the three rounds of the Tower of Tragedy minigame.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Donkey Kong Country (
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
* In ''[[
* Emissions in ''[[
** More mundanely, headshots will kill most human enemies with one blow. The RPG and Gauss Gun take this to the next level; they will kill almost ''anything'' in one hit. Good luck finding ammunition, though.
* ''[[
** [[Collision Damage|Touching Andrei Ulmeyda.]] He's the boss of the third chapter.
** The demonic black Smiles during the boss battle of the sixth chapter. In fact, six of the seven Smith members die inevitably because of them. Luckily, Garcian then grabs the ultra-powerful Golden Gun to kill the remaining Smile, as well as the boss himself, in one shot each. From there to the end of the game, he can kill with one shot any Smile (except the final boss, [[Anticlimax Boss|though it still goes down after five shots]]), without even having to aim at their weak points.
* Sort-of-examples from the [[Yggdra Union|Union]] [[Blaze Union|series]]: Jihad,<ref>[[Unfortunate Implications|Crusade]] in the English versions</ref>
* The Sniper Wasps in ''[[Strangers Wrath|Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath]]'', which are [[Guide Dang It|only accessed through the Binoculars]] ([[Lost Forever|which in turn are only available in Gizzard's Gulch]]).
* Melee Warriors in ''[[
* 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>
* The LBX/20 [[Short
* To show how how accurate ''[[Kinnikuman: Muscle Fight]]'' is to the original [[Kinnikuman]] [[Manga]], the developer Matayan included the following one-hit kills
** Prince Kamehame has the 3-count pinfall backdrop. If done correctly, it can KO an opponent instantly. Prince Kamehame even has a special intro with Kinnikuman that lets Prince Kamehame earn an instant victory over Kinnikuman.
** If the Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan is done on Jesse Maivia, it kills him instantly because the Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan was the move that originally finished him off.
** If Kinnikuman or Puripuriman does the fart attack in Black Hole's portable dimension, they break out and fall on top of Black Hole, KOing him instantly.
** If Kinnikuman Super Phoenix performs the Muscle Revenger on Kinnikuman Big Body, Kinnikuman Big Body is instantly killed because the Kinnikuman Big Body was the first victim of the Muscle Revenger.
* ''[[Monster Girl Quest Paradox]]'' has four different types: Instant Death (the usual version in RPGs), Ascension (making the target ascend to heaven), Climax (forcing the target to orgasm) and Predation (eating the target whole). Surprisingly, of the four types Predation is the most effective, as very few enemies are immune to it.
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[
** Later, 4U City's military is shown using weaponized teleporters which transport whatever they hit into [[Another Dimension]]. Not really a one-hit ''kill'', but definitely a one-hit victory.
* The Golden Arrows from ''[[
== Web Original ==
* ''[[
* One of ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s [http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_586_31-life-lessons-you-can-only-learn-from-video-games/ 31 Life Lessons You Can Only Learn From Video Games] is that "no matter how strong and powerful you are, some scrub will take you out with a death spell."
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
** In the grand finale, {{spoiler|Aang's use of 'Soul Bending' borders on a peculiar sort of Have-a-Heart instant neutralization. Ty Lee was feared enough for her ability to -temporarily- kill someone's Bending. Not a 'kill', but in a world where children can throw fireballs it leaves you pretty helpless (Various big name mundanes aside) }}
*** Though Ty Lee's ability to "kill" someone's Bending is notably a multi-hit attack and has been stopped mid-process on at least one occasion during the show.
* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is
** Even without the Elements, a [[Circle of Friendship]] attack has enough power to
* [[
== Real Life ==
* [[Truth in Television]]. Human is not a strong being and most weapons don't need many strikes to kill people.
* 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].
** It is not a ''per se'' kill, but the pain from a good hit can be enough to leave an un(der)conditioned novice brawler hurting too bad to continue fighting even if he is not outright knocked out.
** There is ''possibly'' a phenomenon where the right type of blow can produce [
** Martial arts mysticism aside, chances of an instant knockout are significant if any highly trained fighter is given a reason to go all out against an opponent with little or no conditioning. Even if the attacker has no training, (un)lucky hits can lethally aggravate a pre-existing condition (aneurysms are particularly infamous) and kill in short order.
** It is very possible, if very rare, to cause someone to go into fibrillation (heart beating so rapidly and without any rhythm, such that it doesn't actually pump any blood) simply from hitting them in the right place, with the right force, at the right point of a heartbeat. It doesn't even have to be a hard hit. It is unfortunately common in athletes. One minute they're active, then they get what seems to be a hard bump to the chest, and then they're down and out.
*** Of course, CPR and defibrillation, as well as quick medical treatment has a chance of bringing them back. But for all intents and purposes, until their heart beat goes back to normal, they are dead.
** Punching someone hard enough in the throat can jam their Adam's Apple into their windpipe, causing them to choke to death unless they're treated immediately. It's very rare, but a real enough danger that most combat sports have rules against [[wikipedia:Mixed martial arts rules|throat/neck strikes.]]
* [[Boom! Headshot!]].
** If you want to get technical, a shot to the heart, head, or vital organ will kill. Over time in any case.
* Most weapons, on the other hand, can easily kill with a single hit. That's what they're for.
** [[Instant Death Bullet|But not always instantly, however.]]
* ''Nuclear weapons''. If using a nuke on someone isn't a one hit kill, I really don't know what is.
** [
*** The weapon wasn't used on ''him'', though. It was used on a couple of nearby localities and he just happened to have the "good luck" to survive. If ''he'' had been the target of a nuclear weapon, and his location known and the bomb dropped right on his head, the U.S. Air Force would have certainly claimed victory.
**** Hell, if you're dropping something the size of Fat Man or Little Boy directly onto somebody's head from the height of an airplane, it doesn't even have to explode to kill them. Hitting that small a target is another story, but if you ''can'' hit, the whole several hundred pounds moving at terminal velocity would probably do the trick. (The modern military actually uses inert [[Exactly What It Says
** Project Orion would suggest that a properly designed structure can survive hundreds of nuclear weapons.
*** They were planned to be 0.15 kilotons and the pusher plate wasn't so much as "structure" as "a huge chunk of metal with some shock absorbers behind it".
* [
** Box Jellyfish isn't really ''that'' bad. Many persons survive the sting every year. But the sting of ''Chironex fleckeri'' is always very painful, and if you don't get killed in the first fifteen minutes, you are likely to survive. [Though the pain is so intense you wish you were dead.] The girl in the article was lucky because she was stung in a really nasty way - she should, by all means, have died with that amount of venom.
** Of course, after living on a [[Everything Trying to Kill You|continent of death]], hopefully Australians have started to evolve just enough to survive the types of instant death their land and seas so famously have in abundance.
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** The poison dart frog poison kills even faster; Less than 3 seconds; it has to get in the blood though, so contact itself probably won't kill you.
*** Unless it's the ''Golden'' Poison Dart Frog, which can.
* 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
** And even when the shot is not on the magazine, if it hits the rudder, the ship is a sitting duck, effectively destroyed. Case in point, the Bismark.
** This can also happen with torpedoes. Specifically, a magnetic (or other proximity) torpedo detonating a short distance below the keel of a vessel has the potential to "break its back". Causing the ship to split in two and [[Captain Obvious|sink relatively rapidly]].
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:Older Than the NES]]
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[[Category:For Massive Damage]]
[[Category:Sniper Index]]
▲[[Category:One Hit Kill]]
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