History Main / AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe

* Before ''Soul Calibur 4'', there was ''VideoGame/StarWarsMastersOfTerasKasi'', which was basically just ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' but with Star Wars characters. To keep the Jedi and Sith characters from being {{Game Breaker}}s, lightsabers were essentially treated like clubs or baseball bats.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight''. Batman shoves a thug headfirst into a fusebox; Unconscious. Red Hood shoves a thug headfirst into a fusebox; Death.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' sometimes run into this with characters' built in guns. Typically they didn't do any significant damage, except against [[{{Mooks}} Vehicons]], but in one instance Megatron's arm cannon is enough to [[spoiler:kill Dreadwing with a single shot]], and is '''NEVER''' presented as being that powerful again.

* In a [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11003041/23/Plot-Bunny-Ranch one-shot]] {{Literature/Worm}}/[[Franchise/StarWars Star Wars]] plot bunny, the VillainAntagonist uses a lightsaber that she sets to stun rather than kill when taking down [[FlyingBrick Glory Girl]]. It is lampshaded by one of the heroes in the debriefing.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': The lightsabers. Although they are [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement extremely powerful weapons]] in both games (arguably the ''only'' powerful weapons in the first one), they generally do ''not'' behave like the lightsabers of the traditional StarWars lore. They are more like normal swords, possibly to avoid the GameBreaker status. Possibly justified through the use of "cortosis", a material which [[CripplingOverspecialization blocks lightsabers and little else]]. Presumably, the overuse of cortosis in this era rendered it rare by the time of the movies.
** It should be said that ''all'' StarWars games that give the player a light saber at any point don't portray the weapon the way the movies do, otherwise the player could literally cut through the entire environment. Never mind that it would be a one hit kill on almost all enemies.

* Before ''Soul Calibur 4'', there was ''Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi'', which was basically just ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' but with Star Wars characters. To keep the Jedi and Sith characters from being {{Game Breaker}}s, lightsabers were essentially treated like clubs or baseball bats.

[[folder:FanFics]]
* Magical attacks in the [[FanFic/TheNewMath The New Math]] fanfic can damage to varying degrees depending on the setting of the spells. Protective clothing known as Barrier Jackets also aid in stopping dangerous blows harming the person.
[[/folder]]

* in ''[[Anime/Pokemon Pokémon]]'' Pokemon attacks never kill humans even thou they are said to be ''[[Main/InformedAbility very powerful]]''

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

* Before ''Soul Calibur 4'', there was ''Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi'', which was basically just ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' but with Star Wars characters. To keep the Jedi and Sith characters from being {{Game Breaker}}s, lightsabers were essentially treated like clubs or baseball bats.
* In the comics, Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}'s claws are lethal, and can cut through almost any material as easily as a hot knife through butter. In fighting games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series or ''VideoGame/XMenNextDimension'', his claws basically act as extensions of his fists.

* The villains in ''Film/JohnnyEnglish'' create [[spoiler:a mind control chemical that eventually kills its victim. However, the titular character manages to survive it at the end of the film.]]

* Weapons in ''Left4Dead'' can take out most zombies with a few shots/hits, but shooting a teammate will cause far less damage unless you're on HarderThanHard, where they take the full numbers and a single shotgun blast can incapacitate someone at full health. Played straight in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' with the melee weapons, however: while for the regular-sized infected they're a OneHitKill and even a OneHitPolykill on hordes, they're a love tap on other survivors.

* In ''Tenchu 2'', you get to battle some bosses early on in unwinnable fights; once the boss' health drops under a certain value, the fight will stop and a cutscene will play. It happens even if you enter a cheatcode to deal 100 damage per strike and clearly kill the boss altogether before the cutscene triggers.
* VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight. Batman shoves a thug headfirst into a fusebox; Unconscious. Red Hood shoves a thug headfirst into a fusebox; Death.

** [[BadAss Well, obviously, Zenkichi]] [[StrongFleshWeakSteel is tougher than a battleship.]]

* ''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.

** In the [[BaseBreaker 4th Edition]] you can declare any attack to be retroactively non-lethal, up to and including a ''disintegrate'' spell.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', most notably in ''[[Anime/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...

* The titular ''SwordOfTruth'' works this way - the sword can only cut if the wielder believes the target is an enemy [[spoiler:except in its super-mode that he unlocks near the end of the first book]]. The [[AWizardDidIt wizard]] who gave Richard the sword stresses that the user doesn't have to be ''right'' in their beliefs, they merely have to believe. Which is why wizards agonize over who gets the title that the sword goes with.

* ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' integrated this quality into the gameplay. While crossbows and magic spells are lethal by default, melee weapons differentiate between targets. They kill animals and monsters outright, but only [[SetSwordsToStun knock people down]], allowing you to rob them without killing or intimidate into doing your bidding. The second game perfected the feature by further differentiating between people you might want to keep alive and those you might not, so you don't have to perform Coud de Gras on every last goddamn bandit you fight.

* ''VideoGame/Gothic'' integrated this quality into the gameplay. While crossbows and magic spells are lethal by default, melee weapons differentiate between targets. They kill animals and monsters outright, but only [[SetSwordsToStun knock people down]], allowing you to rob them without killing or intimidate into doing your bidding. The second game perfected the feature by further differentiating between people you might want to keep alive and those you might not, so you don't have to perform Coud de Gras on every last goddamn bandit you fight.

** Like Star Trek's phasers, Ronon Dex's [[HandCannon weapon]] in ''Series/SargateAtlantis'' apparently has multiple settings. The same weapon that can melt through a metal bulkhead in a few blasts can render someone unconscious with no lasting damage.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'': In some scenes transformers die from one hit by even pistol-sized laser guns, but in other scenes they are just knocked down (like Starscream during the battle for Autobot City) or even simply shrug them off (like Optimus Prime in the same battle).