Tap on the Head: Difference between revisions

Another variant is instant knockout caused by shattering either a vase or lamp over someone's head or even just on their back.

 

 

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* Disney's ''[[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]''. Two of the German commandos are knocked unconscious by the animated suits of armor: one by a punch and one by a literal "boot to the head" - a swung iron boot, that is.

* In Howard Hawkes' ''[[El Dorado]]'', John Wayne is taken prisoner when the Dragon sneaks up behind Mississippi and "give me a headache."

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[In Bruges]]''. Ray uses the neck chop variant, while high on cocaine, on a dwarf.

* ''[[I'm Gonna Git You Sucka]]''.

* Richard Henry Benson, ''[[The Avenger]]'' is capable of doing this--with [[Improbable Aiming Skills|bullets]]! In "The Yellow Hoard" he is distracted by smoke sufficiently that he missed his target by a millimeter, and the thug wakes up too early.

* Jame in P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'' is knocked out by blows to the head all the time, both by accident and malice, and is always fine. It seems to happen at least twice per book. It's justified in that she's not exactly human, and her [[Healing Factor]] ensures she repairs; also, realistic effects of concussion appear when the blows were severe.

* Happens to [[Philip Marlowe]] a lot. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by [[Kim Newman]]'s unnamed [[Captain Ersatz]].

* In ''[[Women of the Otherworld|Broken]]'', Elena needs to sneak away from her assigned babysitter. So she hits him on the back of the head, arranges him comfortably on the bed, and takes off. Justified in that he's a [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werewolf]], and she really doesn't need to worry about long term damage. Subverted in that {{spoiler|she didn't actually knock him out at all; once he realized what she was trying to do, he faked unconsciousness and then followed after her.}}

 

== Live Action TV ==

** More realistic effects of a [[Tap On the Head]] are shown in "The Other 48 Days," in which Eko kills two Others with a rock.

** The series is actually quite guilty of this, as characters would be knocked out with a tap every other episode but only when it would fit the plot. All the fighting scenes feature much harder blows then those who render them unconscious. Almost every major character took a beating at some point with a lot of hits on the head but we rarely see one fainting.

* Happens to the title character more or less [[Once an Episode]] in ''Mannix''.

* ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'' uses it so much - for both comic and dramatic effect - that the show's Wiki [http://heroeswiki.com/One_punch_knockout has a page dedicated to it]. Once, Claude saved New York (at least for the moment) with this trope and a good right hook.

* Subverted in ''[[NCIS]]'', when McGee sees a witness to a murder get attacked from across the street. He heads over to her apartment, only to find her door open. While he's seeing if she's alive, the assailant pops out of one of the rooms-which McGee didn't check-and smacks him over the head with a lamp. Despite getting hit hard enough for the lamp to break, McGee is still clear enough to unholster his gun and take a few shots at the fleeing perp, missing by inches.

** Another painful subversion was when it was determined a man confessing to the murder of his fellow marine had actually [[Pistol Whip|Pistol Whipped]] him so he'd stop screaming after being wounded on a battlefield. The blow had cracked the skull and killed the man, his best friend, and the guilt had eaten at him for years.

* In ''[[Buck Rogers]] in the 25th Century'', Buck could take out a whole swarm of Draconian guards with a single sidekick. They fell like a stack of dominoes.

* ''[[Get Smart (TV)|Get Smart]]'', being at its core a Bond parody, did this constantly. While Max was an accomplished martial artist, his preferred method of attack was a karate chop to the back of the neck, either by waiting for somebody to enter the room, distracting them, or sneaking up on them. At one point, he ambushes five KAOS agents in a row as they enter a room. Unfortunately, the sixth person is a CONTROL operative.

** This is a preferred technique of classic Doctor Who baddies; a nondescript karate chop to the shoulder which had a 50/50 chance of knocking people out or killing them outright.

* An episode of ''[[Smallville]]'' has Clark knock someone out with a literal tap on the head. You get one [[Superman|guess why]].

** Interestingly enough, Avon once tried to subdue a maddened Blake using this technique, which was rather risky. Then again, this being Blake, it may have been intentional.

* In quite a few murder mysteries, attempting the Tap On the Head via blunt object very often leads to [[Accidental Murder]] instead.

** If you actually try konking someone over the head, you probably will knock them out... because with much extra damage a head-shot does you'll shoot him straight into unconsciousness. And possibly right past a [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|death check]] too. Presuming the straight hit point damage doesn't do it, he has to make a stunning/knockdown check at ''-10'' if he takes any damage to his brain at all, and any botch (pretty likely at -10) knocks him out anyways. You have to buy a supplement to get the optional detailed injury rules that can leave the victim brain damaged afterwards.

** A solar plexus shot (attack to the "vitals") does less bonus damage than a hit to the head, but it still does quite a bit extra, and has a stunning/knockdown roll at -5. So it probably will take them out, but they won't be unscathed...

 

 

[[Category:Artistic License Medicine]]

[[Category:Tap On The Head]]