History Main / AlmostLethalWeapons

* Justified in the ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' games with Vega, one of the few characters in the series who regularly fights with a weapon. His claw is curved at the tips to prevent him from lethally stabbing his opponents; it can only deal superficial slashing damage. Of course, it can still kill if it hits the right vein, but by that logic, every fighter in the series has skills and/or powers that could potentially kill even without a weapon.

* Justified in the ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' games with Vega, one of the few characters in the series to consistently fight with a weapon. His claw is curved at the tips to prevent him from lethally stabbing his opponents; it can only deal superficial slashing damage. Of course, it can still kill if it hits the right vein, but by that logic, every fighter in the series has skills and/or powers that could potentially kill even without a weapon.

* Justified in the ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' games with Vega, one of the few characters in the series to consistently fight with a weapon. His claw is curved at the tips to prevent him from lethally stabbing his opponents; it can only deals superficial slashing damage. Of course, it can still kill if it hits the right vein, but by that logic, every fighter in the series has skills and/or powers that could potentially kill.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has the Soft Foam Sword a weapon that allows a character to wound to 10% HP 'insignificant' (20 levels or more below the character) [=NPC=]s for use in old content that would require a player to damage but not kill something to capture it or tame it, etc.

Not TruthInTelevision, for obvious reasons. Even a bullet wound to a non-vital area can cause massive infections, shattered organs and bones, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking terrible hospital food]]. Even "nonlethal" weapons such as tasers, pepper spray, tear gas, and beanbag guns can kill under the right circumstances, e.g. a taser being used on someone with preexisting health problems or heart disease (or simply being at too high of a voltage and crossing the line from near-electrocution to electrocution), a beanbag striking someone at close range, through the eye, or at the wrong spot on the chest, or pepper spray or tear gas being used on someone with breathing problems.[[note]] Which is why law enforcement personnel refer to these as [[InsistentTerminology "Less Lethal"]][[/note]]

* Codified by Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/ABetterTomorrow 2.'' In the final scene, approximately 80 mooks are killed with every weapon imaginable. The heroes also suffer injuries, but appear to suffer no ill effects. At the end, they calmly sit in their blood-soaked clothes and wait for the cops to arrive. Interestingly, the only John Woo movies where the heroes suffer the same injuries as the villains are ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'' and, perhaps, ''Film/TheKiller.''

* Codified by Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/ABetterTomorrow 2.'' In the final scene, approximately 80 mooks are killed with every weapon imaginable. The heroes also suffer injuries, but appear to suffer no ill effects. At the end, they calmly sit in their blood-soaked clothes and wait for the cops to arrive. Interestingly, the only John Woo movies where the heroes suffer the same injuries as the villains are ''A Better Tomorrow (1)'' and, perhaps, ''The Killer.''

* Beanbag Guns in ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' guns hurt like hell and leave a nasty bruise. Archer deals with this twice, and complains how a children's toy has the potential of causing internal bleeding.

* Series/{{Supernatural}}: While the Winchester boys's various weapons work pretty reliably on the bad guys, Sam and Dean themselves have managed to survive car crashes, bullet wounds, head trauma and strangulation (among many, many other mishaps) with, at worst, a broken bone.
** There are times where this is averted, some characters died or were at the brink of death because of common weapons[[spoiler:, including Bobby, Rufus, Pamela and, while they were resurrected afterwars, Sam and Dean more than once.]]

* In the first ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'' movie the cyborg assassins sent after Deunan ues their monomolecular whips on anything except living beings. They go to hand to hand combat with Briareos, a practical human tank, and get punched into pieces for their troubles, instead of doing the reasonable thing and slicing him up from the distance.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'', where Jaffa keel over from one hit but the team take multiple hits from the same weapons over the course of the series. It should be noted that three of SG-1 have been killed by [[BoomStick staff weapons]] (and were brought back by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s).
** One episode [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade on it]] by having someone read the long list of injuries O'Neill suffered over the course of his career with the express purpose of pointing out how unusual that was of him.
** Strangely, Jaffas are supposed to be tougher than humans...
** However, this could be justified by the fact that the Jaffa rarely do any healing (as in, clean a wound, bandage it, bedrest etc.). Bullets are repeatedly shown to be much more deadly than the staff weapons. When someone in the SGC is hit, they are given first aid and are transported to the infirmary as soon as possible. Apparently even though Jaffa are tougher, they can be killed by a few bullets just as easily as an ordinary human - most of their "toughness" is more about strength (useless in ranged fight) and resistance to illness (would help recovery but is pretty much useless if you bleed out in just a few minutes).

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', when Han shoots Greedo with a blaster, there is a small explosion, turning Greedo into a blackened, smoking corpse. In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Luke was shot in his false hand, but it only burned off the skin. Range could be a factor; HanShotFirst at point-blank range, while Luke was shot further away. Also the model of blaster; the ExpandedUniverse and a few [=RPGs=] make Han's [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/DL-44_heavy_blaster_pistol DL-44]] into the Galaxy's equivalent of an HandCannon.

* The ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' doesn't know how lethal the damn pumpkin bombs are. In [[Film/SpiderMan1 the first movie]], they vaporized anything they came in contact with. In [[Film/SpiderMan3 the third movie]], pretty much they just ended up knocking people down. Peter and Harry are both hit with pumpkin bombs point blank to the face during the movies, and the latter is at most scarred by it, while the former acts more like he's been punched in the face than anything. In the comics (and the movies' novelisation) Goblin has different bombs for different purposes but this is never even alluded to in the movies.

* In ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', [[spoiler:Sharon]] shoots [[spoiler: Adama]] twice in the chest at close range with her side arm, and he survives. Needed a long stay in the sick bay, though. Later, she shoots [[spoiler: the Cylon leader Natalie]] in the chest at short range with her side arm, and she dies within a minute.

* In ''Franchise/AceAttorney'', murder victims rarely require more than a single blow, stab, or shot to die. But if you're a major character like [[spoiler: Manfred von Karma, Franziska von Karma, or Shi-Long Lang]], a bullet is a mere inconvenience. The game does ''usually'' justify the lethal wounds, in that they tend to hit vital areas, and after the first game, death is rarely instantaneous. Bullets hit hearts (which is [[ImprobableAimingSkills another trope]]), necks are broken, victims live long enough to alter the crime scene...

*** One of the best examples was in a ''Voyager episode''. A nameless Gold-shirt was hit in the shoulder by a small pistol and instantly died, proving the weapons weren't on stun. Chakotay took a blast from a large rifle directly to his center mass... and woke up with a headache. It ''did'' do some nerve damage however that unless treated ''could'' eventually kill him, but the fact it didn't kill him outright is rather ridiculous.

* In VideoGame/XCOM2, any damage sustained from any source in the game will cause your soldiers to be hospitalized on board the Avenger for a period of time to recover from their wounds, the amount of time changing depending on how much damage was sustained.

** This ''can'' be {{TruthInTelevision}}, though. Wounds from handgun bullets are typically quite survivable if medical attention is received quickly enough, but the victim can also die before receiving said attention, depending on what organ(s) got hit. The wounded person's strength of will can also be a factor.

* The ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' doesn't know how lethal the damn pumpkin bombs are. In [[Film/SpiderMan1 the first movie]], they vaporized anything they came in contact with. In [[Film/SpiderMan3 the third movie]], pretty much they just ended up knocking people down. Peter and Harry are both hit with pumpkin bombs point blank to the face during the movies, and the latter is at most scarred by it, while the former acts more like he's been punched in the face than anything.

* Justified in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' games. The best-equipped soldiers, both human and Covenant, have plasma shields. These prevent instant death most of the time, but a handful of weapons are still one-hit kills if properly aimed. In other cases -- especially with the plasma pistol -- your shields may be downed in a single shot, at which point you can be killed with realistic ease, like any {{mook|s}}.
** Or if you play on Heroic or Legendary, in which case it's completely averted.
** Indecisively used on sniper rifles, which will OneHitKill you on a [[BoomHeadShot head shot]] but just take out your shield if aimed anywhere else. Either sniper rifles magically do more damage when aimed at a head, or your ForceField shield is weakest in the place it should be strongest.

*** FridgeBrilliance: Chief's armor is powered by a fusion reactor on his back, meaning the chest area is the most heavily armored portion of his armor to prevent an accidental melt down during combat.

----
<<|GunsAndGunplayTropes|>>

<<|GunsAndGunplayTropes|>>

See Also: ImprobableAimingSkills (kill in one shot, even at beyond limit range, or conversely never accidentally strike a mortal blow when not shooting to kill); ATeamFiring / ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy (can't hit the broad side of a mountain at point-blank range); MadeOfIron (Human Beings Without Special Powers surviving things they really, really shouldn't); AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe (weapon switches between lethal and non lethal according to the plot); and HitPoints (a game rule for when characters are tough enough to survive the same attack or not, often leading to similar results with mooks vs. heroes or [[BossFight bosses]]).

See Also: ImprobableAimingSkills (kill in one shot, even at beyond limit range, or conversely never accidentally strike a mortal blow when not shooting to kill); ATeamFiring / ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy (can't hit the broad side of a mountain at point-blank range); MadeOfIron (Human Beings Without Special Powers surviving things they really, really shouldn't); AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe (weapon switches between lethal and non lethal according to the plot); and HitPoints (a game rule for when characters are tough enough to survive the same attack or not, often leading to similar results with mooks vs. heroes).

See Also: ImprobableAimingSkills (kill in one shot, even at beyond limit range, or conversely never accidentally strike a mortal blow when not shooting to kill); ATeamFiring / ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy (can't hit the broad side of a mountain at point-blank range); MadeOfIron (Human Beings Without Special Powers surviving things they really, really shouldn't); AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe (weapon switches between lethal and non lethal according to the plot); and HitPoints (in games, a ''rule'' for when characters are tough enough to survive the same attack or not).