View source for Remove the Head or Destroy the Brain

{{trope}}
{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|''If you kill the brain (Bang!)
''then you kill the ghoul (Bang!)
''and its motor functions!
''Aim for the head.''|''[[Creature Feature]]''}}

{{quote|''Cut it out! Stop wasting your damn bullets, you jerks! You need to hit their heads! I told you! See, like this! (shoots zombie in the head)''|''[[Hell Of The Living Dead]]''}}

To put down an undead creature for good, or else render it far more vulnerable, you usually have to '''Remove the Head or Destroy the Brain'''.

This is a trope commonly associated with ([[Our Zombies Are Different|most]]) [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|zombies]] and other forms of undead, much as a good stab in the heart is associated with ([[Our Vampires Are Different|many]]) vampires. Fortunately, this also works on people who are ''not'' the walking dead, so you don't have to worry about it going out of fashion as a killing method - but it's the implication that nothing else will do the job that makes this different from [[Attack Its Weak Point]] (its subtrope/sister trope) and [[Boom! Headshot!]] (its other sister trope).

Take off a zombie's legs, and it'll drag its torso after you; take off the arms, and it'll still try to worm its way in your direction. Even dismemberment may not cut it completely - as long as the head's still around, that undead monster will still be moaning and groaning as it hops or rolls towards you. (And it may or may not be joined by [[Animate Body Parts|the rest of its body parts!]] But once you pulp that noggin, its remains will promptly go inert and wither away... hopefully. Most songs about zombies tend to [[Lampshade]] this trope.

[[Dem Bones|Skeletons]] generally subvert or avert this, as they lack a brain to destroy and are at the point where head removal wouldn't bother them short of a shattered skull - and sometimes not even then! Robots with a [[Cranial Processing Unit]] will have this as a weakness - those without (e.g., [[Starfish Robots]]) may still be able to function [[Depending on the Writer]]. There's also plenty of [[Non-Human Undead]] to confuse the issue further.

'''Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain''' mostly concerns undead. For non-undead targets, see [[Off with His Head]] - if you're considering this because there isn't ''any other'' way, see [[Decapitation Required]]. Using [[Your Head Asplode]] to kill undead foes [[Exact Words|technically fulfills the conditions]].

{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Played completely straight with ''[[Highschool of the Dead]]''. Despite believing the entire situation to be insane, like something out of the movies, the characters rapidly adapt - those that don't [[Anyone Can Die|get eaten]].
* In ''[[Claymore]]'', the Yoma's amazing [[Healing Factor]] makes a quick kill like this absolutely necessary - and even then, it's preferred to completely tear their corpses to bits. [[The Ophelia|Ophelia]] lampshades this, telling the Awakened who breaks her neck that you need to behead Claymores to be sure.
* In ''[[Mermaid Saga]]'', some people who eat mermaid flesh turn into [[Body Horror|zombie-like monsters]], and some become immortal - in either case , the only way to permanently kill them is to decapitate them.
* In ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'', the mystical artifact that creates vampires does so by altering their brains. Decapitation just leaves a pissed-off vampiric head, so destruction of the head is the only way to get rid of them that ''doesn't'' involve sunlight or Hamon. 
* Played mostly straight in ''[[Hellsing]]''. [[Our Zombies Are Different|The ghouls]] will only stop going if they're shot in the head - with the power of the guns [[Badass Normal|that most]] [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|characters]] use, this typically destroys the head completely. It's been stated that they will stop if shot in the heart, but this is only seen with the vampires controlling the ghouls. [[Mercy Kill|Killing them this way is seen as preferable]]; [[Nature Adores a Virgin|the victims who become like this]] had no choice in the matter and are brainless, flesh-eating machines.
<!--Move to Decapitation Required:
* Downplayed with the Namekians of the ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' series, who can be killed like any other being - but they possess a highly potent regeneration factor that lets them regrow lost limbs and recover from non-severe damage. Piccolo in particular states during the Buu Saga that he can regenerate from nearly anything as long as his head isn't damaged,<ref>Good thing too, considering he had just recovered from being [[Taken for Granite]] and then [[Literally Shattered Lives|accidentally broken]] by Kid Trunks.</ref> which presumably applies to the rest of his people.-->
<!--Move to Bizarre Alien Biology:
* The cores of the Angels in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' may not function ''neurologically'' as brains, but are effectively so for the purposes of this trope -- until the core is destroyed, an Angel has effectively unlimited regeneration and can come back from almost any damage.-->

== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[Marvel Zombies]] can only be killed by destroying their brains. Decapitation just leaves an irritated head and a lifeless body (as shown by Zombie Wasp and [[Fan Nickname|Headpool]]). An exception is Earth-Z's Electro, who is a mobile headless body.
* In the original ''[[The Walking Dead]]'' [[Graphic Novel]] series, only destroying their brains will kill the walkers.

== [[Film]] ==
* George A. Romero's ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' film series is the [[Trope Namer]]. is a newsman who [[I Can't Believe I'm Saying This|can't believe he actually has to say this in a news report]]. At least in the first film, the only other option, according to a medical examiner being interviewed in-universe, is to [[Kill It with Fire|dispose of "all persons who die during this crisis from whatever cause" in funeral pyres within ten minutes of their deaths]].
** Ironically, the zombies in his films are only immobilized by decapitation. It's debatable whether the heads themselves actually die if the brain isn't destroyed, and as demonstrated in ''[[Day of the Dead]]'' it's possible to partially reanimate a decapitated head.
* Occurs in ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'', mirroring the quote from the Romero movie right down to the [[I Can't Believe I'm Saying This]]:
{{quote|'''[[wikipedia:Jeremy Thompson|Jeremy Thompson]]''': It's not something you ever really expect to say, is it?}}
* Subverted in ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]''. The characters assume that they can kill the zombies by destroying the brain, just like in ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''. ''Nope.''
{{quote|"You mean the movie ''lied?!''"}}
* In ''[[Resident Evil (film)|Resident Evil]]'', the zombies can only be killed by severing the top of the spinal column or inflicting massive trauma to the brain.
** In ''[[Resident Evil: Degeneration]]'', Leon warns the two specialists accompanying him to the hot zone to shoot the infected in the head. ''Twice''. [[Too Dumb to Live|They never listen, and it gets one of them killed.]]
* ''[[Evil Dead]]'': After {{spoiler|Linda becomes a zombie}}, the only way Ash can put her to rest is to destroy her brain.
<!--Decapitation Required
* ''[[Avengers: Infinity War]]'': {{Spoiler|[[Big Bad|Thanos]] suggests this is what Thor should've done when he severely wounds Thanos with the hammer-axe Stormbreaker, just before he [[Apocalypse How|snaps away half of all life in the universe.]]}}
{{quote|{{spoiler|"You sh... you... [[Determinator|you should've gone for the head]]}}.}}
* The only way to kill an Immortal in the ''[[Highlander]]'' film and TV franchise is to remove their head.
* While not a zombie, the villain in the [[Video Nasties|video nasty]] ''[[Absurd]]'' can only be killed this way. All other attempts to stop him just make a mess.-->

== [[Literature]] ==
* Zombies from ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]'' and ''[[World War Z]]'' are vulnerable only to headshots because the virus causes radical mutation, making everything but the brain completely vestigial. Removing the head renders the zombie harmless, but the head is still 'alive' and can still bite. In fact, the Record Attacks comics recount a rite of passage involving spending the night locked in a room full of moaning zombie heads.
* Some ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' novels dealing with [[The Undead]] state that only a headshot dissipates the [[Black Magic]] animating the corpses.
* Decapitation is actually the only way to kill a vampire in [[Bram Stoker]]'s original ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]]''. [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy-style]] staking is kind of a [[Plot Tumor]] of the Dracula-derived vampire mythos; driving a stake through the heart is used to ''immobilize'' the vampires so it's easier to take the head off.
* Lampshaded in [[Brains A Zombie Memoir]].
* Averted in ''[[Counselors and Kings]]'' - it's explicitly stated that removing the head does ''not'' destroy a zombie, though it does blind and deafen it, since the now-headless undead has no eyes or ears. Magic or completely destroying the corpse through dismemberment or fire is what kills them.
* In ''[[The Forest of Hands and Teeth]]'', zombies can only be killed by chopping off their head.
* Averted in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' -  the only way to destroy a wight is to chop them into little pieces or [[Kill It with Fire|burn them]]. Just dismembering them is not enough, since the severed limbs will still come after you.
<!--Off with His Head
* The titular ''[[Jabberwocky]]'' is dispatched this way in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s poem; both the creature and the weapon that slew it have been referenced by many works and games since.-->

==[[Live-Action TV]]==
* Downplayed with the [[Not Using the Z Word|Geeks]] in ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'' - the group cuts the head off a walker, but the head is still alive. Daryl comes along and shoots the head, commenting that only a headshot through the brain will put them down.
<!--Decapitation Required
* Some species of demon in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' can ''only'' be killed by removing their heads.  (And a few are completely unbothered by such a trivial injury.)-->

== [[Music]] ==
* [[Creature Feature]]'s ''"Aim for the Head"''. IZA also has a song with the same title and premise.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130430170640/http://www.songstowearpantsto.com/songs/shoot-the-zombies/ "Kill the Zombies (By Shooting Them in the Head)"] by [[Songs to Wear Pants To]].
* "Go Zombie" by [[Zombie Girl]] repeatedly suggests you do this.
* "If You Shoot The Head You Kill The Ghoul" by [[Jeffrey Lewis]].
<!--==[[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends==
Off with His Head:
* [[Classical Mythology]]:
** In most versions of [[Medusa]]'s story, Perseus was explicitly sent to fetch her head by King Polydectes of Seriphus, who expected him to die in the process [[Uriah Gambit|so that he could forcibly marry his mother]]. However, Perseus would succeed with the help of the gods and their gifts in dispatching her by using winged sandals to avoid detection, then using his reflective shield to view her safely and guide his sword; he then collected her head in a special sack. [[Child by Rape|Since she was pregnant at the time due to Poseidon]], her decapitation produced the winged horse [[Pegasus]] and the golden sword-wielding giant Chrysaor, father of Geryon.
*** Perseus would then [[Hoist By His Own Petard|show the head to Polydectes]] - [[Taken for Granite|turning him and his attendant nobles to stone]] - before he presented it to Athena, who placed it on her aegis. Ovid's telling of the story suggests that he made use of it en route, turning the Titan Atlas to stone as he tried to attack. Ovid and some other tellers also suggested that drops of blood from the decapitated head created the corals of the Red Sea, the poisonous vipers of the Sahara, and the [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon-like,]] [[Multiple Head Case|snake-head-tailed]] Amphisbaena.-->
<!--Decapitation Required
* The [[Multiple Head Case|Lernaean Hydra]] (she of [[Hydra Problem|problematic fame]]) was killed this way as part of the Labors of [[Heracles]]. The Hydra was immortal as long as one head remained, and for every one head that was removed, two more grew back in its place - Heracles circumvented this with the helps of his nephew Iolaus, using either a firebrand or the Hydra's own potent venom to sear the neck stumps and prevent them growing back. The Hydra's one immortal head was then cut off with a golden sword gifted from Athena and buried under a stone.
* In [[Hindu Mythology]], Triśiras was a three-headed Asura created by his father Tvaṣṭā to dethrone Indra; his three heads each had their own names, and each performed different tasks. Triśiras grew powerful enough to strike fear into Indra, who attempted to send women to seduce him; when this failed, Indra finally killed him and sent a carpenter to cut off each of his heads and prevent any possible revival. Each decapitation created different types of birds from the remains (later identified in modern times as [[wikipedia:Grey francolin|francolins]]), signifying Triśiras's [[Final Death]].
* Some [[Russian Mythology and Tales|Russian folktales]] have Chudo-Yudo (or Chudo-Iudo), a multi-headed humanlike monster (sometimes a dragon) who can subvert this - he can pick up any of his severed heads and re-attach them with a stroke of his fiery finger.-->

==[[Video Games]]==
* ''[[Fallout]]'' series:
** Touted by some humans in ''[[Fallout 3]]'' on how to kill [[Our Zombies Are Different|ghouls]] (with "zombie" being used as a slur for ghouls), even though they die from normal damage just like any other creature would. Funnily enough, ghouls are still sentient, and one particular ghoul wants you to kill certain anti-ghoul humans, paying you more for killing them with a head shot. {{spoiler|However, only one of them is anti-ghoul - the others have a key for a bunker that has the T-51b, and you can keep the keys and take the T-51b for yourself.}}
** ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout New Vegas]]'' has an interesting variation of this trope. While practically anything can die if their head is destroyed, the Ghost People of the Dead Money DLC are a special case. While they die (by game engine standards) if any limb is blown off, they still breathe and are alive to some extent, according to the unique mutation they have - ''unless'' their head is explicitly destroyed, which prevents them from breathing and thus keeping their bodies in motion.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]]'':
** The [[Dem Bones|Stalfos]] of ''[[The Wind Waker]]'' will crumble if struck enough times, leaving their head to hop around until their body either regenerates or the player hits it enough times - smashing their head with the [[Drop the Hammer|Skull Hammer]] will defeat them instantly.
** Stalfos Knights in ''[[Cadence of Hyrule]]'' function similarly, though destroying the body's remains after collapsing them also works.
* In ''[[NetHack]]'' [[Game Mod|variant]] ''[[EvilHack]]'', this is one of the many ways to prevent zombie corpses from reviving.
* In the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' series, [[The Virus]] only reanimates the mid-brain, which controls motor functions and hunger - destroying it or shooting them in the head is the fastest method to drop them by far. Weapons that allow you to specifically explode heads are extremely valuable as a result.
** However, the [[Resident Evil (video game)|first game's]] [[Early Installment Weirdness|play style]] [[Fake Difficulty|doesn't allow basic handguns to be aimed at the head]]. In the Gamecube "[[Fan Nickname|REmake]]" of the first game, if the head isn't removed (or the corpse burnt using limited supplies of fuel or incenidary ammo), "dead" zombies mutate into [[Demonic Spiders|Crimson Heads]] - which in turn mutate into [[Vertical Kidnapping|Lickers]].
*** Also in the first game [[Dirty Cop|Chief Irons]] calls this trope out nearly word-for-word in regards to the mayor's daughter, an {{spoiler|apparent}} [[Zombie Infectee]]. {{spoiler|She was killed by Irons himself; he just [[Not Me This Time|blamed]] the zombies}}.
* The zombies in ''[[Cold Fear]]''. The Exocell parasite nests in the cranium, feeding on the brain.
* Subverted in the ''[[Dead Space (series)|Dead Space]]'' games: One of the gameplay features is called "strategic dismemberment", where removing or destroying certain parts has different consequences, depending on the Necromorph. A Necromorph that doesn't have a weak point in its head will just get mad if you headshot it.
* Minor zombies in the ''[[House of the Dead]]'' series can be taken out like this. Bosses have their own weak points, some of which are in the head).
* Invoked in ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' with Ulyoth Zombies - one has to decapitate them or they will go [[Action Bomb]]. However, zombies of all four Ancients will still fight without their heads; they will be left momentarily stunned if this occurs, comically patting their neck stump as if to say "Oi, who turned off the lights?"
* Used in the final boss battle in the Marine storyline for the 2010 ''[[Alien vs. Predator|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' videogame.
* [[Zig-Zagging Trope|Triple Subverted]] in ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]''. When decapitated, zombies need one more shot to kill them... or if you just wait a few seconds, the body falls down by itself.
* In ''[[Time Splitters 2]]'', the quickest way to kill a zombie is to shoot off its head.
<!--Generally can be moved to Attack Its Weak Point:
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]]'':
** ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'' has the Geldarm, large centipede-like insects that block Link's path in desert levels; the player must attack their body, then strike at the head a few times as they lower to Link's height to defeat them.
** Big Babas in ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' are carnivorous plants that share symbiotic relationships with Deku Likes, acting as the head to their body; the latter can only be defeated by first killing the Big Baba, which allows the player to plant a bomb inside the Deku Like.
** Stalchampion from ''[[Tri Force Heroes]]'' is reduced to a disembodied skull during its final phase.
* In ''[[Star Trek: Bridge Commander]]'', destroying another ship's bridge (which can be considered a brain), will cause the entire ship to explode, even if the rest of the ship was fully in-tact. This is subverted with Klingon ships, as it's very easy to blow off the front of it and would be game-breakingly easy to defeat them. Though you have to wonder who's flying the thing...
-->
<!--Move to Off with His Head - minus the mind flayer thing, which can go to Stat Death/Stupidity-Inducing Attack:
* ''[[Nethack]]'':
** The Vorpal Blade of ''[[Jabberwocky]]'' fame has a 5% chance to [[One-Hit Kill|behead the victim]] upon hitting them - unless they have no head or else are intangible (e.g. ghosts, shades and vortices), [[No Sell|which causes that strike to miss completely]]. This even includes nonliving monsters and [[Multiple Head Case|multiheaded monsters]] such as ettins - of course, [[Yet Another Stupid Death|this also applies to '''''you''''']] if you're caught on the wrong end, which is a very likely danger if you haven't snagged it yet ({{spoiler|especially on the Astral Plane}}). [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything/NetHack|And yes, it always beheads jabberwocks]].
** While [[Ambiguous Situation|''possibly'' not literal]], brainlessness can result from being hit with one too many [[Stupidity-Inducing Attack|brain-eating attacks]] by a mind flayer, which reduces your intelligence - not only is this also an instadeath [[Stat Death|if your INT drops too low]], but even {{spoiler|[[Auto Revive|an amulet of life saving]]}} won't work properly, since [[Deader Than Dead|your brain will still be gone after.]] {{spoiler|On the other hand, you can also polymorph into a mind flayer and inflict ''this'' to non-mindless enemies.}}
** In ''Nethack'' [[Game Mod|variants]]:
*** In many variants of ''NetHack'' that use the "object properties" feature, "vorpal" is a property that gives an object with it the same chance to behead monsters as the original Vorpal Blade. 
*** The vorpal jabberwock is a [[Dummied Out|deferred monster]] in the vanilla game based on the jabberwock; variants that include it, such as [[GruntHack]] and [[UnNetHack]], often give the monster its ''own'' beheading attacks, though it retains the weakness to Vorpal Blade.
*** [[SLASH'EM]] introduces Thiefbane, a chaotic-aligned long sword that has a 10% chance to behead any human or elf (specifically <code>@</code>) that it hits. The [[Punny Name|Verbal Blade]], the Zyborg quest artifact, is also capable of beheading monsters.
*** [[dNetHack]] in particular also introduces many artifact weapons capable of beheading. [[The Mikado|Snickersnee]], the first guaranteed sacrifice gift for [[Samurai]], is now an intelligent knife that has a chance of beheading targets. Samurai can also name The Kusanagi no Tsurugi, which is only possible at level 18 and only actually usable once you hit the [[Level Cap]] of 30; this Tsurugi is an intelligent long sword that can behead targets in addition to providing many other perks.
*** In [[EvilHack]], Cerberus is completely immune to this due to [[Contractual Boss Immunity]], and the removed head(s) will immediately grow back.
* ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' series:
** Various types of [[Hell Hound|Cerberus]] appear as enemies and bosses throughout the series that Kratos usually kills by beheading, one head at a time.
** As a downplayed example, some of the serpentine Gorgons can be beheaded as a specialized finisher in some of the various games. In ''[[God of War: Ghost of Sparta]]'', Kratos's finisher strangles them and causes their heads to explode, releasing petrification energy that [[Taken for Granite|turns all enemies in the room to stone]]; in ''[[God of War III]]'', he uses their freshly-liberated heads to do the same; and in ''[[God of War: Ascension]]'', their heads are cut in half, releasing the petrifying magic on all enemies in the room. Medusa in [[God of War (PS2)|the first game]] and Euryale in [[God of War II|the second]] are dispatched this way, with their heads acting as usable items that can [[Taken for Granite|turn enemies to stone]].
** The first game has the multi-headed Hydra as the boss of the [[Opening Action Sequence]], which doubles as a [[Tutorial Level]]. Kratos is shipbound during the fight, and solves this Hydra problem ([[Hydra Problem|no, not that one]]) by taking out the Hydra King - the "main" head that heals and revives the others - using the ship's main mast to impale it repeatedly through the roof of its mouth, killing the other heads as well.
** In ''Ghost of Sparta'', Kratos uses a giant Archimedean Screw to drill through the head of {{spoiler|Scylla}} and finish her off.
** In ''God of War II'', Kratos kills Clotho, {{spoiler|one of the Sisters of Fate}}, by driving a blade through her skull. He also kills Theseus by smashing his head in with the door he was guarding, and Alrik, whose head he beat in with his own hammer, after defeating them in their respective boss fights.
** In ''God of War III'', the "honor" of having their head become a weapon goes to Helios, whose head Kratos ''pulls straight off his body'' - he can then use the head to blind and stun enemies, illuminate dark areas and uncover secrets. {{spoiler|The fact that the head "screams" when used and still produces light where other gods' powers go inert upon death [[And I Must Scream|suggests that Helios might still have been alive.]]}}
*** Kratos also disposes of {{spoiler|Cronos}} by driving the Blade of Olympus through his forehead.
** The chimera appears as an uncommon enemy type that appears in ''God of War III'' and ''God of War: Ascension'', appearing close to its depiction in classical myth (though with the lion head instead being a face on the body's underside). They are fought in three stages, each ending with Kratos destroying or removing one of the heads; Kratos first cuts off the snake-headed tail, then [[Eye Scream|gouges out the eyes of the lion face]], and finally finishes off the chimera by impaling its goat head with one of its horns.-->
<!--Move to Decapitation Required
* In ''[[God of War (PS4)|God of War]]'' for the [[PS4]], {{spoiler|Mimir asks Kratos to behead him in order to escape his eternal torture, which does kill him temporarily. After being revived by the Witch of the Wood, Mimir gladly assists the traveling pair on their journey from that point; as a disembodied head he offers his wealth of knowledge and wisdom to them, and even serving as a literal second pair of eyes for Kratos during battles.}}
** Brok boasts of subverting doing this ''to himself'' as a child. {{spoiler|Indeed, looking closely at him while in Brok and Sindri's forge will reveal faint cuts and reattachment marks around Brok's neck.}}-->

== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Both [http://liliy.net/wam/archive/regenerating-undead/ lampshaded] and averted in [[The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred]]. One character (Gawain) is a Revenant, an intelligent zombie. The first thing that happens to him is a headshot. Arthur, who witnessed the event then calls foul claiming Gawain can not possibly be a zombie - only to be corrected:
{{quote|'''Arthur''': ''"You're not a zombie. Everyone knows you take them out with a shot to the head. And you're still standing."''
'''Gawain''': ''"Have you ever killed a zombie?"''
'''Arthur''': ''"No."''
'''Gawain''': ''"Met one?"''
'''Arthur''': ''"No."''
'''Gawain''': ''"Then, how exactly do you know that actually works?"'' }}
* In ''[[DMFA]]'', [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_1180.php Lorenda asks Abel and Jyrras what they know about the undead.]
* ''[[Cyanide & Happiness]]'' had a rather tasteless Easter joke about this...{{context}}
* In ''[[The Zombie Hunters]]'', this is accepted zombie-killing procedure. Justified, since the [[Zombie Apocalypse]] has been going on for several years now.
* Averted in [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|the "Special Halloween Episode"]]<ref>[[Webcomic Time|Which ended in March]].</ref> for ''[[Blade of Toshubi]]''.
* The zombie wranglers of ''[[Zombie Ranch]]'' declare the front part of the brain "don't matter", but that destroying the rest is a sure way to put a zombie down or prevent an infected person from turning. If you stay ''away'' from the brain, you can kill an infected person and they'll still rise again later, which leads to [http://www.zombieranchcomic.com/2010/03/10/simple-math/ this fateful decision].

==[[Web Original]]==
* [[Discussed]] in ''[[Tasakeru]]'': During a fight with a [[Made of Iron]] [[Our Zombies Are Different|Revenant]], Commander Nadeshiko wonders how invincible he'll be with a split skull. {{spoiler|She doesn't get a chance to find out.}}

==[[Western Animation]]==
* Mophir's tips for dealing with [[Demonic Possession]] by an [[Artifact of Doom]] in ''[[Justice League]]''. He's rather fond of it, too.
{{quote|'''[[The Flash]]:''' How do we fight it, or them?
'''Mophir:''' Two ways. Pure light from Mophir's gem drives evil spirits back into Dark Heart.
'''The Flash:''' Great. What's the second way?
'''Mophir:''' Separate host head from body. }}
<!--Move to Cranial Processing Unit
* In the final season of ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', [[The Dragon|Scaramouche]] manages to survive his defeat at Jack's hands as a head, and just barely manages to make it back to his master [[Big Bad|Aku]] in time with news that the samurai had lost his sword, which was enough to earn Scaramouche his body back. Unfortunately for him, by the time they next encounter Jack, he's long recovered his sword - [[You Have Failed Me...|Aku's punishment is...]] [[Your Head Asplode|rather apt.]]-->

==[[Real Life]]==
* With one exception - [[wikipedia:Mike the Headless Chicken|Mike the Headless Chicken]] - [[Truth in Television|either of these methods will kill any animal you could possibly encounter in real life]].<ref>Well, okay, aside from the ones that don't ''have'' heads.</ref> Of note is that the effect may be delayed in some insects and crustaceans; cockroaches in particular are subject to popular claims of being able to live without their heads, potentially subverting this trope.
** While their capacity for such is exaggerated, and the trait is by no means exclusive to them, a cockroach's severed head can still survive and wave its antennae for several hours. The body still demonstrates behaviors such as shock avoidance and escape behavior, but will eventually starve to death regardless along with the head.

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[[Category:Head Tropes]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes of the Living Dead]]
[[Category:Undead Index]]