Remove the Head or Destroy the Brain: Difference between revisions
Remove the Head or Destroy the Brain (view source)
Revision as of 04:35, 7 February 2021
, 3 years agono edit summary
No edit summary |
|||
Line 4:
A trope commonly associated with [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|zombies]] and [[Mummy|mummies]], as well as other forms of undead - to put down the creature for good, or else render it far more vulnerable, you usually have to '''Remove the Head or Destroy the Brain'''. [[Truth in Television|The head and brain are logical targets]] for disabling or killing an enemy, be they living or otherwise - after all, they're basically the cockpit a majority of living thing pilot their meat suit of a body from. The trope also applies to some living and ''nonliving'' beings as well - many [[Humanoid Aliens]] and constructs that are especially durable may operate on similar logic, [[Most Writers Are Human|which only makes sense]].
But what makes this subtrope of [[Attack Its Weak Point]] different from other examples - and what makes it more than just [[Losing Your Head]] - is the implication that nothing else will do the job:
Of course, beings undead and otherwise can also subvert this as well; [[Dem Bones|Skeletons]] are common candidates among the undead both for subverting and playing this straight, and whether robots are still able to function on some level without their head attached [[Depending on the Writer|depends on who's writing.]] There's also plenty of [[Non-Human Undead]] and other similar [[Hybrid Monster]]s to contend with - and not every such creature [[Bizarre Alien Biology|will even have their brain in their ''head'']], after all.
Using this to dispatch [[Multiple Head Case]]s has varying results, depending on how much the heads control the body. Some are sufficiently disabled with the removal of one head, while more persistent types may require the removal of all of them - and then there's the potential for a [[Hydra Problem]]...
One way to make such a
{{examples}}
Line 22:
== [[Child Ballad|Ballads]] ==
==
== [[Fan Works]] ==
Line 28:
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[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.]]}}
* The only way to kill an Immortal
▲<!--{{quote|{{spoiler|Thanos}}: (with the axe halfway in him) You sh... you... [[Determinator|you should've gone for the head.]]}}
▲* The only way to kill an Immortal from the ''[[Highlander]]'' film and TV franchise is to remove his/her head.
==[[Literature]]==
Line 75 ⟶ 72:
** While ''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]]:
*** The vorpal jabberwock is a [[Dummied Out|deferred monster]] in the vanilla game based on the jabberwock; variants that include it, such as
*** [[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 Verbal Blade, the Zyborg quest artifact, is also capable of beheading monsters.
*** In many variants of ''NetHack'' that use the "object properties" feature, "vorpal" is a property that can occur with certain objects, and gives it the same chance to behead monsters as the original Vorpal Blade.
*** [[dNetHack]] in particular 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 many other perks.
*
** 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.
** [[God of War (Video Game)|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.▼
** Downplayed with the serpentine Gorgons, some of whom 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]].
** In the third game, that "honor" would go 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 would have gone inert [[And I Must Scream|suggests that Helios might still have been alive.]]}}
** In [[God of War (PS4)|the 2018 game]], {{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, offering his wealth of knowledge and wisdom to them and even serving as a literal second pair of eyes for Kratos during battles.}}
==[[Visual Novel]]s==
Line 92 ⟶ 94:
==[[Western Animation]]==
* 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
==
==[[Real Life]]==
| |||