39,327
edits
One-Hit Kill: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (update links) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 2:
[[File:Bloody_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]].
Line 30:
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' has The Winged Dragon of Ra, which has an ability that is literally referred to in the Japanese version as [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"One Turn Kill"]]
** 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! 5D's|Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds]]'', where Yusei was facing off against 3 goons who had an amazingly simple and solid effect-damage strategy going against him, dishing out a lot of damage on each of their first turns. On his second turn, however, he proceeds to unleash a combo that allows his Nitro Warrior monster to execute ''three'' One Hit Kills in rapid succession. The goons' boss even refers to it (in blatant [[Engrish]]) as "One Turn Three Kill."
* Yuki Nagato in ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' - "Commence termination of data link". Pwned. This is also the reason why she won against {{spoiler|Asakura}}, who was busy jumping around, throwing metal spears, while Yuki hacked the time-space program ([[Techno Babble|Whatever that is.]])
* Ranma's encounters with Herb and Saffron in ''[[Ranma ½|[[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 ''[[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 From Hit Points]].
Line 57:
** The manga played it straight: Kuwabara simply [[Megaton Punch|Megaton Punched]] Risho, sending him flying and destroying the Armor of Clay at the same time.
* In ''[[To Aru Majutsu no 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.}}
* In ''[[Rosario
* Ichika's [[Infinite Stratos]] is capable of only this, its ability basically amounting to "rush in to disable the opponent."
Line 86:
** In a parody of this, the Wuxi finger hold in ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]''.
** 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 with His Head|it's game over for you]].
* This happens to {{spoiler|Bill}} in ''[[Kill Bill]]: Volume 2'', when the Bride does a special move that explodes the heart of the victim after the victim takes 5 steps.
* [[Bruce Willis]] pulls off a particularly awesome one-hit kill in ''[[The Last Boy Scout]]''.
{{quote|"I'm gonna need a light. You touch me again, I'll kill ya."}}
Line 105:
== 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 unlucky -- being not only accepted, but ''expected''.
** 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.
Line 119:
* The [[Hive Queen|Vord Queen]] in ''[[Codex Alera]]'' has become powerful enough by First Lord's Fury that, when an [[World of Badass|Aleran]] [[Authority Equals Asskicking|High Lord]] [[Big Damn Heroes|takes the field at the battle of Alera Imperia]], [[Negated Moment of Awesome|she blasts him out of the sky with one hit]]. ''When he's protected by dozens of Citizens and knights.'' Cue the [[Mass "Oh Crap"]].
* 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 -- all of them taking the form of swords.
* "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 ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'' which cause instant death to whoever they were directed at.
* 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 ''[[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]] 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]]).
* In [[The Destroyer]] book series, the martial art of Sinanju is mostly one hit one kill moves.
* In ''[[Billy Budd (novel)|Billy Budd]]'', the titular character is accused of conspiracy and mutiny aboard a British [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men|man-of-war]] by the ship's master-at-arms, who is doing this to fight off his "[[Ho Yay|strange attraction]]" to the androgynous sailor. Upon hearing this, Billy freezes up, unable to say anything in his defense. Eventually, he answers the only way he can - by punching the liar in the temple. The man dies on the spot. Unfortunately, {{spoiler|Billy is found guilty of murder by the tribunal of officers, despite them all being sympathetic to the boy, and hung the next day}}. Interestingly, {{spoiler|the tribunal was about to find him not guilty as a weird case of self-defense, when [[The Captain]] intervened and convinced them of the necessity of the execution}}.
Line 133:
* Arguably, the Zat'nik'tel in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Although it takes two shots to kill, it only takes one to win. The third disintegrates. Yum. Too bad it makes all those clicky buzzy noises when you turn it on. Sort of ruins the element of surprise.
** 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.
Line 155:
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' has quite a few, mostly of the "fortitude save or die" variety, including:
** '''[[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.
Line 181:
*** 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.
** 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 [[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.
** 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 40000]]'' 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.
** 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.
Line 254:
*** 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|Selphie's "The End" and "Rapture"]], and [[Final Fantasy X
*** [[Final Fantasy VI|Setzer's]] Slot ability is different, in that the game will not let you get higher-end results unless the RNG says so. For example, if you get the first two 7s for Joker Doom, and you're not eligible for it, the slot machine will actively skip over the third 7 to prevent you from getting it. On the other hand, if you ''are'' eligible, the machine will help you by skipping ''up to four symbols'' trying to find the last 7. ([[Good Bad Bugs|And thanks to the game's fixed RNG and the way item animations work, an Echo Screen will give you a guaranteed Joker Doom.]])
** The enemy ability "Repose" (previously known as "Calmness") used by the top-tier foe ''Rest'' in [[Final Fantasy VI|Kefka's]] [[One-Winged Angel]] transformation, as a [[Taking You with Me|final attack]]. The character must block it or suffer an instant kill.
Line 281:
* ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|Golden Eye 1997]]'' features the Golden Gun weapon, hindered by its one bullet magazine and that it only does enough damage to deplete either armor or health. There is also the cheat but equally devastating Gold <s>Walther PPK</s> [[AKA-47|PP7]], which can kill ''anything'' in one shot, and has a 7 round magazine.
* The Sky Canyon boss in ''[[Sonic Advance Trilogy|Sonic Advance 2]]'' has a hand-swat attack that will end you regardless of whether or not you have rings or a shield.
** Some bosses in ''[[Sonic Rush Series]]'' have a one hit kill attack, too, but Eggman's generous enough to give you an audio cue ("Get ready to be schooled!").
*** In Act 2 of the ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' version of [[Sonic Heroes|Seaside Hill]], Sonic can run over the water by boosting. There is a giant chopper that attacks if you spend too long outside of certain areas. If it attacks, you lose a life, no matter what. Rings? won't help you? Going as fast as you can? won't help you. {{spoiler|SUPER SONIC? [[Memetic Mutation|IT'S NO USE]]!}}
* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'', the Dominate, Dementation, Thaumathurgy and Animalism disciplines all have an insta-kill spell for non-bosses.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', the final boss Xemnas can attempt to grab Sora, which can only be avoided with invulnerability from something like Reflect or a limit attack. Should he succeed, he'll attempt to [[Kingdom Hearts/Nightmare Fuel|rip out his heart]]. Riku can save Sora from this, but if his HP is too low when he gets caught, you're out of luck, as it'll be completely impossible to stop it in time.
** 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.
Line 301:
** This is subverted in the ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces|Jedi Knight]]'' series, where [[The Force]]-sensitive enemies will ''dodge'' your sniper shots, even if they don't see you. Of course, this is because the lightsaber is the most powerful weapon in these games: one slash is usually enough to kill any non-Jedi enemy and one well-placed slash with the "Strong", Darth Vader-like style is enough to kill ''anyone'' except the bosses. ''Jedi Outcast'' also includes the hidden "realistic combat" mode, which unlocks the lightsaber's full decapitation and dismemberment potential, making each strike (even mere touch!) lethal. That also affects the enemies' lightsabers.
** In ''[[Halo 2]]'''s Legendary difficulty, the Sniper Jackals kill you instantly no matter where they hit.
* 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.
* ''[[Call of Duty]] 4'' and beyond add a knife that is an instant kill if it connects. Bashing people with your gun in earlier games was also generally instant death, unless you did it with a pistol.
* Since we are on the topic of ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'', some incarnations of it include the InstaGib mod, which gives all players Shock Rifles with nearly unlimited ammo and each hit is lethal. This mode was available in ''[[Quake III Arena]]'', too, but with railguns.
Line 307:
** 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.]] Brawl'', some Final Smashes consist of one powerful attack that is (nearly) guaranteed to KO anyone it hits. Zelda's, Marth's, and Captain Falcon's are prime examples. Assembling the three pieces of the Dragoon is also an instant KO, even if the target hasn't suffered any damage. Unless, of course, you miss.
** Similarly, the Home Run Bat item has this effect -- landing a smash attack with it is an almost-guaranteed [[Home Run Hitter]] KO.
** 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.
Line 349:
** 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 ''[[Fallout]]'' games feature notorious examples of this trope. When scoring a critical hit on the head, eyes, or torso, you will, if lucky, land a hit that destroys the enemy immediately (and [[Ludicrous Gibs|messily]]). This can lead to strange situations thanks to the game's damage mechanics: a character in full power armor might take zero damage from a critical hit, and then die instantly from the pain.
* 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 ''[[Ultima VI]]'', anyone? It's one hit kill to [[Earthshattering Kaboom|everything in the game]].
** It did the same thing in ''[[Ultima Underworld]]'', except it was more of "despawning" everything in the game than killing everything in the game (no corpses).
** The ''[[Ultima]]'' series is also famous for its glass swords. One hit kills both the enemy and the sword.
Line 453:
** 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).
* ''[[Counter-Strike]]'' features the infamous AWP (which, incidently, [[Did Not Do the Research|isn't actually an AWP; it's an AW Super Magnum]]) which yields a one-hit kill no matter where the bullet hits its target.
* ''[[Prototype (video game)|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 [[One-Hit Kill]] for just about anything but hunters, and his devastator moves are OHK for everything in the area of effect.
* [[La Pucelle|Prier]] actually has the Kanji for "ichigeki hissatsu" appear for her first [[Special Attack]], "[[Groin Attack|Coup de Grace]]".
* In the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series, any attack that successfully hits somebody standing on a panel with the Deathblow geo effect results in instant death, regardless of whether the attack actually did damage. Also, in 2, the Samurai class has the ability to randomly score an instant kill with standard attacks while in critical health, and the Bone Dragons possess the Vendetta evility in 3 and 4, which allows for a low chance of an instant kill upon a successful counterattack.
* ''[[Perfect Dark]]''
** 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.
* ''[[Tekken]]'':
** 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 [[YouTube]] videos show Paul playthroughs comprising of nothing BUT Burning Fists.
Line 478:
** 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 ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', with enough upgrades, leveling up, and the right armor, can regularly do this to most enemies as an Infiltrator Shepard, even being able to kill [[Elite Mook|Harbinger]] in one hit.
{{quote|'''Harbinger''': '''ASSUMING DIRECT CONT'''--* [[Boom! Headshot!]]*}}
** 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.
Line 489:
** The [[PlayStation 2|PS2]] version of Transformers had a minicon which gave you the headshot ability. OHKO to mooks, 3HKO to the Heavies.
* [[Big Bad|Jon Irenicus]] of ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldurs Gate]] 2'' would [[Total Party Kill|kill the entire party]] with one spell if you tried to take him on in the Asylum without enlisting the aid of the inmates.
** 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 ''[[City of Heroes]],''
** 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.
Line 498:
* In ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'', Shimazu Yoshihiro has a Super Skill that will kill any enemy in one hit, whether they be ordinary mooks, bosses or giant robots. Date Masamune's TESTAMENT, when [[Charged Attack|charged for exactly 6 seconds]], comes close.
* In ''[[Space Invaders]] Infinity Gene'', the Classic weapon (modeled after the cannon's design from the original game) first a [[One Bullet At a Time|single laser]] that can kill any normal [[Mooks]] and most sub-bosses with a single shot. To keep this from being a total [[Game Breaker]], the Classic cannon can never be upgraded, and is next-to-useless against the [[Final Boss]].
* 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-Height Fence|Insurmountable Waist Height Fences]].
* [[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.
* ''[[Puzzle Quest]] 2'': Two boss enemies ([[Bonus Boss|The Yeti]] and the Iron Giant<ref>[[The Iron Giant|not that one]]</ref>) have Crushing Kill, which deals 999 damage (more HP than all but the most dedicated level grinder will have). The final boss has Subjugation, which makes the player instantly surrender the fight, winning or losing.
Line 512:
** Shadow Man in Pharaoh Man's stage has one as a [[Desperation Attack]].
* In the ''[[Thief (series)|Thief]]'' series, human enemies can be instantly knocked out with the blackjack, instantly killed with the sword/dagger, or instantly killed with the broadhead arrows if shot in the head or chest. In order to do this, however, they mustn't be alert.
* ''[[
* ''[[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]] on death!
** "Havanski [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Atomic Bombers]]" drop A-bombs, which, if not destroyed, will kill you [[Always Accurate Attack|no matter where you are on the screen]]. A definite [[Demonic Spider]] with tons of health.
Line 524:
** 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 (video game)|Donkey Kong Country]]'':
** In ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'', there are certain attacks and obstacles that will kill the characters upon contact, including the spider swarm near the end of World 5, a mask-drawn flaming wheel in World 6 and, of course, [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|everything while riding on a rocket barret or a mine cart]].
Line 561:
== 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 [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 [[wikipedia:Hydrostatic shock|hydrostatic shock,]] however the jury's still out on whether or not its real.
Line 568:
*** 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.
Line 574:
* ''Nuclear weapons''. If using a nuke on someone isn't a one hit kill, I really don't know what is.
** [[wikipedia:Tsutomu Yamaguchi|Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived two of 'em.]] He died much, much, much later of stomach cancer.
*** 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 on the Tin|concrete bombs]] of about the same size to [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better|obliterate target buildings]] with minimal damage to the surroundings.)
** Project Orion would suggest that a properly designed structure can survive hundreds of nuclear weapons.
| |||