History Main / AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe

* In ''Anime/HighschoolDxD'', Kiba's Sword Birth only seems to be effective against mooks, that is when he actually uses it.

** In the sequel ''Series/{{Legend Of Korra}}'', [[EldritchAbomination Vaatu]]'s laser attack, It's frequently seen blasting through rock, and yet human beings can survive it without any significant injury.
** Lightening receives this treatment throughout both the original series and Korra. I can be a painful shock, an instant knockout, a life threatening injury or an instant kill.

** By the time of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', torpedoes were codified as having a antimatter warhead, making them, pound for pound, vastly more powerful than a nuke. It's therefore astonishing how many times an unshielded target has survived multiple hits.

** By the time of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', torpedoes were codified as having a antimatter warhead, making them, pound for pound, vastly more powerful than a nuke. It's therefore astonishing how many times an unshielded target was survived multiple hits.

* {{Series/Viper}}: Good guy makes [[http://abload.de/img/_20140914-14593270cfx46.jpg cheese out of a car]] with a machine gun but bad girl only puts a dent into a car with her [[http://abload.de/img/_20140915-00470615w1jcw.jpg lethal weapon]]: [[http://abload.de/img/_20140915-011030281vyg1.jpg]].

* ''Series/Viper'': Good guy makes [[[[http://abload.de/img/_20140914-14593270cfx46.jpg cheese out of a car]] with a machine gun but bad girl only puts a dent into a car with her [[[[http://abload.de/img/_20140915-00470615w1jcw.jpg lethal weapon]]. [[http://abload.de/img/_20140915-011030281vyg1.jpg]]

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' phasers justify this with having multiple intensities, including a stun setting. Although some have noticed a tendency, regardless of other circumstances, for the lethality of phasers to be inversely proportional to the importance of the character they're being fired at.

* ''TheHeroYoshihikoAndTheDevilKingsCastle'': Yoshihiko's sword, the Sword of Beckoning, will render any humans it cuts unconscious without harming them, while still being able to actually harm and slay monsters.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', most notably in ''[[MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS StrikerS]]''. Everyone uses 'magic bullets', which are explicitly stated to be as lethal as they need to be -- that being one of the reasons why Mid-Childa outlawed old-fashioned 'slug-thrower' weapons and became a magic-driven society. Thanks to that, Nanoha is able to repeatedly pull off her signature 'befriend by superior firepower' trick without worrying about accidentally killing someone...

* Egregious use in ''{{Super Sentai}}/{{Power Rangers}}'' where in one case a bunch of "monstrous" villains were killed but the few human-looking ones were turned good, by the same same attack blast.
** Going hand and hand with StrongAsTheyNeedToBe, a monster or villain making its debut will straight NoSell the hero's weapon or FinishingMove, and yet can hurt even flat out killed by the same thing they shrugged off in later appearences.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpidermanTheAnimatedSeries'', Doctor Octopus crashes a public demonstration of "argon laser", gets the upper hand against Spider-Man's attempt to stop him, and turns the beam on Spidey as he pins the superhero to the wall -- only for Spider-Man to realize how the beam was [[JustifiedTrope specifically programmed]] to not harm organic matter; Spider-Man suffers only a little ClothingDamage as the beam lases across him before turning the tables and using it to slice off two of Doc Ock's four robotic arms.

* Skeletor's Havoc Staff in the 2003 ''HeMan'' series. He's frequently blasted through rock with it, but nobody he blasts with it ever takes any real injuries.

** In the sequel ''AvatarLegendOfKorra'', [[EldritchAbomination Vaatu]]'s laser attack, It's frequently seen blasting through rock, and yet human beings can survive it without any significant injury.

Is both TruthInTelevision and NOT TruthInTelevision. The part that is true is that everything from someone's bodily condition or idiosyncrasies to any body armor/cover used to the nearness and competence of medical assistance to sheer dumb luck can determine lethality of pretty much anything, right up to and including a head or chest injury - sometimes the difference between survival and death is literally millimeters, and people have survived close calls with almost anything. The part that is '''NOT''' TruthInTelevision is that this can be relied upon - weapons are biased toward high lethality unless they are "less lethal" (where lethality is usually under 20% in expected, proper use) or props/toys (where they are expected to have 0% lethality in expected, proper use), and the skills needed to "merely" injure with a generally lethal weapon (especially a gun) are often lacking in the heat of the moment, if they exist at all, ''and'' your odds of being killed by someone armed with a lethal weapon are generally pretty high, which is why the best response to seeing someone armed is [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere putting as much]] [[DontAskJustRun distance between you and them as possible]].

Is both TruthInTelevision and NOT TruthInTelevision. The part that is true is that everything from someone's bodily condition or idiosyncrasies to any body armor/cover used to sheer dumb luck can determine lethality of pretty much anything, right up to and including a head or chest injury - sometimes the difference between survival and death is literally millimeters, and people have survived close calls with almost anything. The part that is '''NOT''' TruthInTelevision is that this can be relied upon - weapons are biased toward high lethality unless they are "less lethal" (where lethality is usually under 20% in expected, proper use) or props/toys (where they are expected to have 0% lethality in expected, proper use), and the skills needed to "merely" injure with a generally lethal weapon (especially a gun) are often lacking in the heat of the moment, if they exist at all, ''and'' your odds of being killed by someone armed with a lethal weapon are generally pretty high, which is why the best response to seeing someone armed is [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere putting as much]] [[DontAskJustRun distance between you and them as possible]].

* ''[[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Spider-Man 3]]'' has the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs, which alternate between knocking Harry out, giving him amnesia, and vaporizing Venom.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Kenshin almost kills Seijuro with the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, only sparing him because [[DeusExMachina some bolts on his sword gave way]], lessening the blow. Kenshin never comes close to doing that kind of damage with the move again, even against enemies far physically weaker than Seijuro. Justified somewhat as it's explicitly said that Kenshin must be ''very'' careful with that attack.

* Egregious use in ''{{Power Rangers}}'' where in one case a bunch of "monstrous" villains were killed but the few human-looking ones were turned good, by the same same attack blast.

* Amaterasu's Power Slash ability in ''{{Okami}}'' can cleanly cut trees, boulders and various minor demons in half, but when performed on friendly [=NPCs=], it will simply knock them back.

* [[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena's]] chakram is the TropeCodifier. It killed enemies or knocked them out, according to RuleOfDrama... occasionally in the same episode. Occasionally in the same ''throw''. (Though it was always lethal if she used it as a melee weapon.) It's usually used as a non-lethal PrecisionGuidedBoomerang, but on occasion, we've seen it cut through rope, wood and human body parts. Callisto managed to throw it hard enough to ''go through Xena's sheathed sword and into her back.'' Many fans simply figure that there's a button, somewhere on the chakram, that turns it sharp.