History Main / BOOMHeadshot

* How Charlie kills Carl in ''Film/TheSadist'', after first making him [[AintToProudTooBeg beg for his life]] on [[KneelBeforeZod his knees]].

* How Charlie kills Carl in ''Film/TheSadist'', after first making him [[AintToProudToBeg beg for his life]] on [[KneelBeforeZod his knees]].

[[caption-width-right:350:This is why he hates guns.]]

** [[https://jmsmith.org/blog/david-goliath-2/ Some schools of thought]] claim that this is [[LostInTranslation a mistranslation]] stemming from a mix-up between the Hebrew word for forehead with that of kneepads, greaves, or leg armor -- in other words, David [[{{Kneecapping}} kneecapped]] his opponent before beheading him.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': Howard Hamlin, by Lalo Salamanca, in Kim Wexler's apartment.

* {{Dubstep}}[=/=]Electro house artist Feed Me made a StupidStatementDanceMix for a rather exuberant FPS player (FPS Doug from ''WebVideo/PurePwnage'' again) going about how he pulls these off with gusto. It's aptly titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1BDGqIfm8U "One Click Headshot"]], and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic it's awesome.]]

* ''Film/{{SWAT}}'': During the opening, the two bank robbers outside the bank are killed with headshots by the {{SWAT Team}}s, one by a sniper when he tries to steal a car to escape, one in a close-range gun battle. Inside the bank, Gamble attempts a headshot on the third when he takes a hostage, but misses and hits the hostage in the shoulder instead. There is also a DeletedScene where Hondo tells Chris Sanchez that when she goes for a headshot on a target, she needs to aim for the "vermilion line", i.e. shoot for the center of the face and not the forehead.

* Episode 2 of ''WebVideo/MissingReel'', [[ExcitedShowTitle "Zombies"!]], since it emphasizes how ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' established the "aim for the head" method of killing zombies.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrahCm7UIa4 Lady Une is no slouch in crazy headshots either.]]

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':

* ''Film/{{Tron}}'': The titular character does this to Sark using his disc, which causes chunks of data to [[{{Squick}} bleed from his head]]. This trope surprisingly appears quite a bit in the sequel, ''Film/TRONLegacy''. The most notable example however was when [[ActionGirl Quorra]] shoots one of Clu's mooks, leaving a rather graphic headshot during the [[OldSchoolDogfight dogfight scene]].

** Hank does this to one of the Mexican assassins sent to kill him. Made harder by the fact that Hank's been shot and is more or less paralyzed except for his arms. Made ''easier'' by the fact that the assassin is literally standing directly over Hank in order to kill him with an ''axe'' (it's kind of a thing with him), and messier by the bullet Hank used to put him down: a hollow-point.

* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': In Chapter 1, Mando does this to IG-11 to keep the baby safe, as IG-11 was told to terminate the asset, while Mando will be paid better if he brings the baby back alive.

** At the end of Season 2 Kate went out this way, courtesy of Ari after TakingTheBullet for Gibbs by means of body armor. The event is recreated with Gibbs's ex-wife Diane by Sergei Mishnev.
** In a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in the Season 7 premiere, Gibbs does this to a terrorist who had taken [=McGee=], Tony, and Ziva hostage. From a ''half-mile away''.

* ''WebAnimation/LoboWebseries'': Lobo does this to his enemies quite often.

* Messier does this to a Meyer Security prison guard while rescuing the rest of The Anarchists in ''WebVideo/DoorMonster''[='s=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uam0KMyZh2E&index=3&list=PL0u5ZHidq4X4QhFAX9FzSiYJLRen74sLF The Guards Themselves]].

* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic does this to keep Roger the Angel from killing him in "[[ItsAWonderfulPlot You're a Rotten Dirty Bastard]]." Much to Roger's surprise since he thought angels couldn't be killed.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': When Commander Red reveals that his goal in gathering the Dragon Balls [[EvilIsPetty was to make himself taller]], his adjutant Black is naturally ''not'' happy about it, considering how many lives and resources they've thrown away for him, and shoots him in the forehead before taking over command of the Red Ribbon army.

** Kycilia Zabi shoots her brother Gihren in the head as payback for Gihren committing {{patricide}}. Char, in turn, takes out Kycilia by shooting her in the head with a ''rocket launcher'' as she tries to evacuate A Bao a Qu on her flagship.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrahCm7UIa4 Lady Une is no slouch in crazy headshots either.]]
** In ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' it's an EnforcedTrope since the rules of the Gundam Fight tournament say that losing your Gundam's head is ''instant disqualification''; any other damage to the machine can be repaired without penalty. For a more literal version of this, England's warrior Sir Gentle Chapman ''almost'' takes France's fighter George de Sand out with his sniper rifle, but just grazes the head of George's Gundam due to age and illness hampering his skill.

* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho and Asseylum both die in this manner. They get better in the second season. Inaho comes back equipped with a cybernetic eye to replace his damaged eye and Asseylum is seen again alive in stasis.

* ''ComicBook/ThinBlueLine'': When a TattooedCrook and his posse show up at the police car containing Officer Maca and the mayor, the protestors attacking it try and get in good with them, saying they hate the police too. The crook asks the protestor a few questions about himself, and learns he's a college drop-out. When it seems like the crook is warming up to the protester, said crook brings out his gun and shoots the protestor right in the head.

** In "The Reunion", [[spoiler:the Survivor Boy gets a snowball thrown right in the face by a Purple Republic member]].

** Several members of the Cove Crew and RPF, including both groups' leaders, receive headshots from [[AbnormalAmmo snowballs]] in the gangs' shootout in "The Sale".

!!Examples:

[[folder:Action Games]]
* In one level of 2005's ''VideoGame/{{The Punisher|THQ}}'' video game, the eponymous protagonist is accompanied by S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers. Whenever a criminal is shot in the head, one of the soldiers excitedly growls, "Headshot!" On another level that features head of S.H.I.E.L.D. ComicBook/NickFury, if the Punisher lands a headshot, Fury says, "Way to make it messy, Castle."
* Invoked by Pigsy in ''VideoGame/EnslavedOdysseyToTheWest.''
* ''Videogame/{{MORDHAU}}'' is full of melee examples, with some ranged ones. Since the hitboxes for head, chest, and legs are neatly separate, you can aim for one or the other (it pays to aim for what's least armored if someone skimped on leg armor for example). And strikes to the head are ''very'' damaging, to the point some weapons (like [[DropTheHammer the maul]]) can kill you no matter how thick your helmet is. However, having a helmet still pays off enormously, because even relatively small arming swords can cleave your skull open or just straight-up remove it from your neck if you're going without head protection for whatever reason.

[[folder:Action/Adventure Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** In his ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' DLC, ComicBook/Nightwing is equipped with wrist darts that stun his targets, but a headshot is an instant takedown. Unfortunately, Nightwing's aim constantly sways, which is aggravated if you zoom in for a better shot.
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' in which you get to shoot unmanned drones in the Batmobile, the cannon mounts of drones are their "heads", and a shot at those with the 60 mm cannon will instantly destroy non-Mamba drones, as opposed to a shot at their chassis which will only drain half of their "life". Mamba drones always require at least 2 shots (except with the Missile Barrage), although rapid firing at their "heads" with the Vulcan Gun also seems to kill faster.
* In ''VideoGame/InFamous'', throughout most of the game headshots (or head shocks, as you're using electricity) are instant kill and give extra XP. Especially if the target is in the air, which is one of the stunts.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': This trope is optionally self-inflicted. There is a section at the Snowpeak Ruins dungeon that contains cannons. If you load one with a cannonball and one of your bombs and position Link in front of the blast, he will die instantly, regardless of how many hearts you have at the time.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': Shooting an enemy in the head deals twice normal damage while also (usually) incapacitating them for a few seconds. This is an essential tactic for fighting Guardians, Lynels, and most bosses, since they are too tough to be stunned in any other way (Urbosa's Fury works on some of them, but it has to recharge for several minutes after three uses). [[DemBones "Stal"]] enemies can ''only'' be killed by destroying their heads; if you don't get a one-hit-kill headshot, their skull just falls off temporarily and will join back up with its body if you don't destroy it quickly.
* This is the preferred tactic of hammer or hunting horn wielders when applicable in the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series, due to their ability to knock out a monster temporarily with repeated hits to the head. The head is also commonly the weakest point on a monster, and exceptions to it are generally rather obvious.
* Played for drama in ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''. Cornered by Alex Mercer, [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate McMullen]] chooses to shoot himself in the head to spite Alex. He knows he's going to die anyway, but he [[EatBrainForMemories deliberately goes for the head so Alex can't take his memories]]. Later, when Alex is disguised as Col. Taggart, General Randall shoots him in the head, which [[HumanoidAbomination doesn't do much to him]], but would have killed a normal human.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' games award an instant kill on a headshot, and getting several headshots in a row (as well as hitting certain thresholds of career headshots) helps unlock bonus content.

[[folder:Adventure Games]]
* Future Purple Tentacle in ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'' always goes for a headshot, [[CoolButInefficient even though his weapon is nonlethal and has the same effect no matter where the blast hits]]. This habit leads to his downfall.
* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest SWAT'' (the FMV one) lets you practice the Failure drill on the weapons range.

[[folder:Casual Games]]
* The trope is {{invoked|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/AngryBirds2'', which gives you a "Headpop!" reward if you land squarely on a pig.

[[folder:Fighting Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/BloodyBattle'', one of the methods of execution in the game is shooting someone's head, which will cause it to explode. Shooting any other area will just cause them to be knocked out unless they ran out of lives.
* Getting a headshot in ''VideoGame/{{Divekick}}'' concusses the opponent, making them lose all their special meter and move slower the next round for a few seconds.
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat:
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'': The Joker and Deathstroke both have fatalities ending in this. ComicBook/TheJoker uses his flag gun, then whips out a revolver and does a headshot, while Deathstroke stabs the opponent in the stomach with his sword, then pulls a headshot as a MercyKill. Shang Tsung has the Joker's fatality in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', and it's shown uncensored.
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'': Erron Black has multiple moves where he unloads ''entire clips'' from his [[DualWielding pistols]] straight into his opponent's head, and they get up just fine. It takes brutalities to [[YourHeadAsplode finish the deed]].
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'':
*** The Sonya from the past has defeated past Kano and is ready to snap his neck, but Kano holds past Johnny Cage with a knife, reminding past Sonya that if past Cage dies, Cassie ceases to exist. Past Sonya, thanking Kano for reminding her of the rules, takes out a gun and kills past Kano by shooting him in his right eye, which in turn causes Kano to be affected and become RetGone.
*** [=RoboCop=]'s That One Time Brutality normally has him shoot an opponent in the [[GroinAttack crotch]], leaving them to bleed to death; but against females, he aims for their heads instead, killing them instantly.
* In the mobile game ''VideoGame/ShadowFight2'', blows to the head inflict more damage.

[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
* ''VideoGame/AceOfSpades'':
** Not only played straight but very nearly a GameBreaker, as the hitbox for a player's head is enormous. The standard semi-automatic rifle is nearly as good as a SniperRifle, and headshots with it are a OneHitKill. Being hit in the head by the sub-machine gun "only" costs you [=75HP=], which is hardly better given that most players who wield it ''really'' believe in MoreDakka, and the shotgun... Well, let's just say it averts ShortRangeShotgun.
** As of version 0.75 the rifle was made much less accurate (making sniping with the submachine gun a viable alternative), the shotgun now follows its [[ShortRangeShotgun stock trope]] and the SMG is the most commonly used weapon around.
* The ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator'' PC shooters both allow the [[Franchise/{{Alien}} titular xenomorphs]] to score MELEE headshots in which the player trains their crosshairs on the offender's cranium for a moment (causing teeth to appear all around the edges of the screen), then launches the alien's inner jaws at the target, EATING THEIR HEAD and TOTALLY HEALING YOU, all from up to 15 feet away! This can even be performed on corpses. All parties in the game can go for headshots. The Predator, however, can attack a killed enemy's head with his wristblade to take a trophy.
* ''Assault Cube''. With booming "Headshot" announcement, and double kill-score.
* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'': Generally, only the sniper rifle can really nail a OHK with a headshot, other weapons will just deal out more damage. Bad Company 2 gives you ten more points if you finish an enemy off with a headshot though (a kill is normally 50 points).
* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'': Several weapons can OHK with a headshot and will get a headshot bonus for it. The bonus for Snipers is a marksmanship bonus for doing it at extreme ranges.
* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
** The first game has headshots with the basic pistol deal quadruple damage. This is enough to put down most splicers in one hit-at least until the player reaches Farmer's Market, at which point every enemy gets a massive boost in health. Later on, the player gets a crossbow that deals ''ten times'' normal damage when aiming for the head, enabling you to kill even the toughest splicers with a single bolt.
** ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' has a tonic that amplifies headshot damage with all weapons.
** In ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', each weapon has its own headshot damage multiplier. Whether or not it's an instant kill depends on the power of the weapon and the health value of the enemy being shot.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Black}}'', a good headshot is a good way to get rid of the IncrediblyDurableEnemies that can otherwise take more than 20 bodyshots to take out. [[HeavilyArmoredMook Masked shotgunners]] are immune until you spend some ammo shooting their masks off first unless you're packing the [[BraggingRightsReward M16A2]], which is a OneHitKill on a headshot no matter what.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'':
** Nearly all headshots in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' will remove the head, and even sometimes destroy the entire body. This is sometimes a necessary gameplay gimmick since some enemies will shrug off everything but a headshot. There are also challenges centered around getting certain numbers of headshots for bonus XP.
** As of ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', we have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVpg0vws10Y Face McShooty]]. Averted on non-mammalian targets, though. Spiderants and varkids are more susceptible to abdominal shots, threshers are best dealt with by targeting the eyes (which can be in some pretty weird places - on their tentacles, for example), Hyperion Loaders quite literally fall apart when targeted on the joints, and Crystalisks are virtually invulnerable unless you hit them on the visible crystals on their legs (it's hard to tell if they even ''have'' heads).
* Headshots in ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'' are the easiest skillshot to pull off, though also the least rewarding point-wise. You do however, get bonuses for the PMC's ChargedAttack (Overkill), the [[RevolversAreJustBetter Screamer]] (One-Hit Wonder for the primary fire, Enlightenment for the ChargedAttack), the Head Hunter (Hotshot), the Flailgun (Grenade Gag), and the [[ThisIsADrill Penetrator]] (Root Canal).
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty.''
** Worth noting are the Juggernauts from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'' and ''3''. Though they can stay alive even after multiple headshots from a Barrett .50 cal, a direct headshot from a Thumper or RPG-7 is still a OneHitKill. How you manage to line up that headshot between their MoreDakka and [[ATeamFiring the infamous difficulty of use/inaccuracy of those two weapons]], though...
** ''World at War'' includes a Death Card for co-op mode that, when activated, causes enemies killed via headshot to ''explode''.
* ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'' has the Achievements/Trophies named (Insert Adjective Here) Of Pop, where landing so many headshots nets you an additional character bio sheet in the extras section.
* In ''VideoGame/CombatArms'', a headshot which causes a death results in a rather satisfying "HEADSHOT" plaque showing up. Often happens with the ridiculously overpowered L96 and [=G36E=] guns, but no one's complaining. Even better if it's [[OneHitPolyKill through two people's heads]].
* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike''. Oh, so very much.[[note]] This is actually the game FPS Doug was playing, making it the indirect Trope Namer, although he was also talking about America's Army in his first appearance.[[/note]] Indeed, the ''thwack!'' sound effect and special icon were firsts for FPS games, making this the TropeCodifier in some respects.
* In ''[[VideoGame/DarkMessiah Dark Messiah of Might and Magic]]'', it is possible to do this with a bow and arrow - assuming you can get close enough to both aim and avoid the sorta-subversion of NoArcInArchery, you can insta-kill opponents will a well-placed arrow to the face. You can even do it with the Rope Bow. Sniping zombies from the rafters, hi-larious.
* In ''VideoGame/DayOfDefeat'' and ''Day of Defeat: Source'', shooting someone in the head results in a shhunk sound and the opposing player's helmet flying off (provided it wasn't knocked off prior by an explosion). All weapons are a one-hit kill to the head, provided it didn't pass through any objects prior.
* The ''Delta Force'' series of games awards double points for knocking your opponent's block off in multiplayer. Especially amusing is the fact that this can be done with any of the guns - the knife can't manage it (but killing with that is so rare as to be worth triple points anyway) and nor can the various forms of Boom a player can leave lying around or throw into the other guy's path, but you can score a headshot with a LAW. As in, a rocket that is supposed to be for cracking open TANKS. It was also immensely satisfying to {{Cherry Tap|ping}} an opponent by sneaking to within ten metres of them and planting a 40mm grenade from the M203 InTheBack of their skull, since at that range it won't explode, but will do enough damage to kill the recipient.
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. This trope can even apply with weapons like the minicrossbow, though rather than killing them when they, say, [[EyeScream receive a crossbow dart in the eye]], a tranquilizer dart [[InstantSedation will take immediate effect]] as opposed to taking several seconds to knock them out.
* The ''VideoGame/BrutalDoom'' and ''VideoGame/ProjectBrutality'' mods for the classic ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' games allow the player to shoot enemies in the head for greater damage. Much like the vanilla game's gibbing mechanic, a headshot that reduces the enemy's health to their starting health times negative one will result in their head exploding in a shower of blood and brain matter. This was [[AscendedFanfic picked up]] in ''VideoGame/DOOM2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', with a loading screen telling you "If an enemy has a head, it's a weak spot", which applies to every enemy (except the Cacodemon, which is nothing but a head).
* In ''Videogame/{{Evolve}}'', hitting the monster in the head deals double damage. Behemoth is the exception, with its weakspot in its underbelly. Conversely, hitting a limb does half damage. This only affects projectile-based weapons, as all other weapons deal flat damage regardless of where you hit.
* In ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'' Rex Power Colt says this word for word as one of his phrases when you use a sniper rifle and shoot an enemy in the head.
* Headshots in ''VideoGame/FistfulOfFrags'' not only deal twice the damage but cause the victim's hat to fly off.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' has a few achievements based around this; one for scoring a certain number of headshots over all, one for killing a zombie who hasn't seen you by bashing its head in from behind, and one for killing a Witch with a single headshot (which basically has to be done with a shotgun from point-blank range. And if you screw it up, man is she pissed...)
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has "realism mode" which (among other things) makes headshots much more important. While shooting the normal zombies center-of-mass enough times will still kill them, they don't go down nearly as easily as in the standard mode...and you also chew through ammo a lot faster. The "Headshot!" mutation plays this trope more straight: headshots are the only thing that will kill a common infected, including melee weapon hits to the head. Hitting them anywhere else causes them to just stumble back. Fire, explosions, and chainsaws can still kill commons in a single hit no matter in what body part.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' is an early example of this, and certainly made console owners aware of it. However, headshots only do amplified damage, as showcased by it taking several of them to kill an enemy with 1000% health.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1''. The pistol will require a few headshots to kill most things, but it's very accurate so you can stay well out of range. The magnum will probably do it in one with roughly the same accuracy. Then there is the sniper crossbow: much deadlier than it looks, and headshots can be surprisingly messy. ''Opposing Force'' replaced the magnum with the Desert Eagle which was likewise supremely accurate ''if'' you aimed using its LaserSight rather than your own HUD crosshair. And it had a true sniper rifle.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'': Not only do bodyshots towards headcrab zombies do less damage; they also risk leaving the headcrab itself alive to try to attack you. Father Grigori advises you to aim for the head. You will do well to listen to him. The crossbow's back, too. It's still the long-range terror against anything your size, and it now features heated rebar for bolts.
* Like most shooters, ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' encourages the player to aim for the head:
** The [[SniperPistol pistol]] was particularly infamous in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' for being a headshot ''machine''--it's a HandCannon with a camera that syncs with the Master Chief's armor, essentially giving it a scope--while the ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' version came with a laser sight that unfortunately only works when there is fog or smoke in the area. ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians''[='s=] Warzone mode has some pretty powerful pistol variants too.
** There's also the "Noob Combo", which is [[GunsAkimbo where you shoot a shield draining shot with the plasma pistol before scoring a headshot with the regular pistol]], [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome which was overused to no limit]] in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''[='s=] online gameplay.
** Later games feature a "skull" that, when activated, makes the heads of Grunts, the weakest enemies, explode into confetti with the sound of children cheering. It's a hilarious way to encourage selective aiming since headshots are the most efficient way to kill them.
** {{Defied}} throughout the series with Hunters, however: the head and most of the body are armored well enough to fend off small arms fire. You ''can'' kill them by aiming for the neck, but it's much easier to strafe behind them and land a few shots in the small of their backs (the weak points are helpfully colored bright orange).
** {{Defied}} with the Flood Combat Forms. Shooting their heads off does nothing, because the thing actually controlling the body is in the chest cavity. So you do actually want to aim for center of mass when dealing with Flood.
* In ''VideoGame/JediOutcast'', a headshot was usually a lethal take down. Good luck getting one with the stormtrooper rifle, which, as a sort of MythologyGag, was ''[[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy ridiculously]]'' {{i|mperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy}}naccurate).
* ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'':
** All Specimens have a weak point in the head. Blowing said head off doesn't guarantee an instant kill, but it does prevent them from using any special abilities (the clot's grab, the bloat's vomit, etc), causes them to stagger around blindly (they can still hit you if they find you), makes any further damage hurt more, and kills them after a few seconds anyway from bleeding out through the neck stump. So, aim for the head.
** The Sharpshooter perk is based around this - his weapons are typically single-fire or semi-auto fare which he gets massive headshot-damage and reload-speed bonuses for, from various pistols and {{revolvers|AreJustBetter}}, up to a crossbow and even [[{{BFG}} a breech-loading, .50-caliber sniper rifle]].
* This is a handy way to bring down enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'', as well; but first you often have to shoot off the enemies' helmets and reveal their big pale BaldOfEvil before you can actually score a lethal hit there. Unless you're using the shotgun at close range, or the sniper rifle, which scores 15 headshots with the snipe rifle and you're rewarded with the 'Melonpopper' Trophy. Or you can simply aim for their GlowingEyesOfDoom.
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'':
** The first ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' game has a way of naming the different places where you shoot someone the most (for instance, if you shot the Nazis in the arm the most in a level, one of the titles you could receive would be winger) so if you shot them in the head a lot, you'd get titles like melon popper, cap shooter, helmet plunker, etc. A shot to the center mass can also OneHitKill enemies, especially with higher-power weapons.
** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorVanguard'' rewards the player with a medal if they get over a certain number of headshots per level.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'':
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' shows "HEAD SHOT!" on the screen when you score one. The sniping laser, the Imperialist, obviously does a one-hit kill if it's a head shot and one of the hunters has the ability to be invisible when idle if he has the weapon.
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'': The Nova Beam has the ability to kill certain enemies in one hit if you shoot a particular area (usually the head), and the X-Ray Visor highlights these vulnerable areas. You can even "headshot" Metroids, which are otherwise hard-to-kill nuisances.
* ''VideoGame/{{Nexuiz}}'' and its SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{Xonotic}}'' have the Nex and the Vortex, respectively, which are capable of instakilling by hitting the head, complete with the announcer screaming "Headshot!".
* The bots of ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' will encourage you to go for headshots, with shouts of "I want to see helmets flying!" Because yes, when you land a headshot, the hat or helmet worn by the victim will pop up as a "well done!" signal. Interestingly, the headshot-immune civilians are all bareheaded.
* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' has headshots be {{One Hit Kill}}s.
* In ''VideoGame/Postal2'' a headshot with a shotgun makes [[YourHeadASplode the head of the victim asplode]].
* Headshots in ''VideoGame/ProjectBlackout'' are instantly lethal if the target isn't wearing a helmet.
* ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' used this since the beginning, though it wasn't as noticeable in the original trilogy, where ''any'' shot could kill you or an enemy. The cross-hairs would automatically aim for the head regardless, though, and it's become even more important into the ''Vegas'' duology and ''[[VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege Siege]]'', where no matter what kind of armor your target is wearing, a single bullet to the head will still put them down.
* Parodied in ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}: VideoGame/RavingRabbids 2''s FPS segments. You can get a regular headshot, but can also get a buttshot by hitting them from behind.
* The FPS ''VideoGame/RedSteel'' has an automatic lock-on system, which puts box corners around the entire target's body and lock crosshairs in that region. If the target is standing up or even moving, it's trivially easy to fire at head level (the upper middle portion of the box) and nail the target's head. The lock-on system works through walls, and the location of the crosshair will scale to the size of the box - aiming at head level when the target is sitting will still be locked to his head when he stands.
* ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}} 2'' has a nice, squishy sound when you pop a cap in a Chimera's face, instant kill with even upper-tier enemies except for the bosses, which is handy to know as those Ravagers can be damned lethal.
* The game ''VideoGame/SniperGhostWarrior'' makes a definite point of forcing the player to think much like a real-life sniper, though it somewhat averts this trope by allowing you to miss the sweet spot and simply remove a target's helmet without the insta-kill. Also averted in that a single center mass shot with the high powered rifle is typically enough to drop any target.
* In ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'', in addition to headshots, [[ChunkySalsaRule any shot that removes a limb or disembowels the enemy]], [[GroinAttack or a shot to the nether region]], is a OneHitKill.
* ''Videogame/{{Splitgate}}:'' While all weapons can score headshots, the damage varies per weapon; only the Sniper Rifle consistently delivers an instant kill on a headshot where it otherwise wouldn't.
* Headshots in the ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' series are instantly lethal for human enemies not wearing helmets and deal massive damage to everything else[[note]]a single well-placed shot with a Makarov can kill a boar instantly[[/note]] but are very difficult to score at anything moving at farther than point-blank range. As opposed to most other shooters, though, hitting the center of mass usually makes the human enemy stagger. There's a reason why the Mozambique Drill is so popular in gameplay videos. Subverted, however, by the [[LeadTheTarget realistically detailed ballistics system]]; bullets are affected by weather and gravity, and any gun outside of the sniper rifles that is not tinkered with by a professional technician will make it frustrating for players to get a clean headshot. Therefore, in order for a gun to be considered a proper head-blasting machine, the gun itself must be maxed out in its stats by the map's resident technician to be truly effective. Depending on the gun, it can cost a fortune for upgrades, and to further complicate things, the upgrades are separated into tiers. Furthermore, once a particular upgrade is chosen, the other gets locked out forever, and a few certain guns can only be acquired once, thus forcing you to think your options wisely. This feature is only prevalent in ''Call of Pripyat'' and ''Clear Sky''; in [=CoP's=] case: you have to find the toolkits in all three maps of that game to unlock the tiers, while in CS, you have to find particular items requested by the giver to unlock the tiers.
* In the ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' games, zombies often need headshots to be killed. The aiming of that game can be a bit hard though, so the easiest way to kill them is with your fists. The reason is simple, one punch makes their heads ''fall off''.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':
** The Sniper is the only class that does critical damage on a headshot. A charged-up headshot (from anything but [[UrineTrouble the Sydney Sleeper]], which minicrits on headshots instead) is able to OneHitKill almost everyone else. Everyone else's weapons (with one sole exception, see below) do the same damage no matter where they hit.
** The "Meet the Sniper" video opens with shots of the Sniper driving his RV through the desert; inside, he flicks a [[MythologyGag TFC VIP bobblehead]] on his dashboard and says, "Boom. Headshot." Cut to the title card. Good things are in store.
** One of the Spy's revolvers, the [[HandCannon Ambassador]], is the only non-Sniper weapon in the entire game that can get a critical hit on a headshot. The unpatched Ambassador used to be able to over-penetrate targets, with hilarious [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxTLeLCentE results]], and before the headshots were subjected to damage fall-off, it was able to two-shot most classes at any distance - in a game mostly focused on fighting up close.
* If Jet makes a head shot in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'', it's almost always an insta-kill. The times it's not is when it's glanced off armor. Jet will also say something like "Ouch" or "Yes!" if he manages a perfect hit.
* The original ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' is responsible for the "HEADSHOT!" announcement so dominant in CS servers. ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'', ''VideoGame/UnrealChampionship2TheLiandriConflict'' and ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'' bring this to the extreme by adding the "Head Hunter" award, for 15 consecutive headshots, which typically result in the offending extremity vanishing in an [[ChunkySalsaRule explosion of red chunks]]. ''[=UT2003=]'' also introduced the Lightning Gun as a replacement/alternative to the normal sniper rifle - headshots with it [[IncendiaryExponent set its victims' neck stumps on fire]] along with decapitation for good measure. Interestingly enough, in the '99 original, you can lop an enemy's head off with the Enforcer. [[SubvertedTrope It's purely an aesthetic effect, though, as shooting someone in the head with the Enforcer doesn't do any extra damage]].
* ''VideoGame/UrbanChaosRiotResponse'' even had awards for attaining extremely easy headshots, thanks to the controls.

[[folder:Flash Games]]
* Many Flash "assassin" games, such as ''Sift Heads'' and ''VideoGame/AnakshaFemaleAssassin'' require you to shoot your target in the head. In Anaksha's case, it's justified -- with the amount of gun crime that goes down in [[WretchedHive Santa Lina]], many citizens have taken to wearing body armor.

[[folder:Light Gun Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/GHOSTSquad'', hitting an enemy on the head results in a "Good Shot" bonus, but like in ''Virtua Cop'', also by Sega-[=AM2=], headshots cannot be followed up with extra shots. There is a special but very difficult to achieve bonus known as "2 Body 1 Head", which is done by doing a Mozambique Drill on an enemy, plugging 2 shots into the torso and then 1 shot into the head.
* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'', being about zombies, encouraged this. In most games, you can kill them by way of pumping their bodies full of lead, but the quicker way to down them was to blow off their heads, which usually killed them in three shots.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/PointBlank1994''; in stages where you shoot at human-shaped cardboard targets, shooting the center of the chest yields 100 points, the highest point value on the target. Shooting the head only nets 60 points.
* ''VideoGame/SilentScope'', obviously. Double points and a decent time bonus, plus OneHitKill on the bosses.
** In the third ''Silent Scope'' game, your {{life|Meter}} / {{time|dMission}} meter will refill a bit on head shots.
** Headshots on most bosses are a OneHitKill unless they are wearing a mask/helmet.
** Certain bosses must be shot in the head on the first shot. Failure to do so results in retrying the stage (if it's a non-final boss in ''Silent Scope EX''') or a NonStandardGameOver (if it's a FinalBoss).
* ''VideoGame/TargetTerror'' on the highest violence setting, had this. Multiple bullets in the head of a terrorist would result in YourHeadAsplode, a massive point bonus, and in the [[UpdatedRerelease Gold edition]], there's a combat medal for headshot streaks.
* In ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis 2'', ''3'', and ''4'', hitting non-armored {{Mooks}} anywhere will [[OneHitPointWonder kill them]], but headshots yield the most points, followed by body shots, then limb shots. However, getting points doesn't stop at a headshot; shooting the head once and then shooting their body twice (you can hit a Mook twice more after the initial hit) yields the most points.
* ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop'' is possibly the UrExample of headshots in video games. Inverted in ''Virtua Cop 3'', however, where headshots are actually the least lucrative, as they score low and don't allow for chains. The better alternatives are [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shooting their gun]], or just chaining 3 hits starting with any other part of the body.

[[folder:[=MMORPGs=]]]
* The Headshot skill in ''VideoGame/UrbanDead'' results in that zombie being forced to spend 5 more Action Points than normal to rise. However, a skill allows veteran zombies to circumvent this somewhat. In the ''Film/DiaryOfTheDead'' tie-in side city Monroeville (where the zombies are conveniently Romero-style zombies), a headshot is an instant kill.

[[folder:Platformers]]
* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'':
** During the main adventure, you can only kill zombies by shooting them in the head with the shotgun.
** The multiplayer arenas (at least the N64 version) track these. Especially fun when the headshot is from crossbow or knife; the bolt or knife will be stuck in the head as they spin dazed. As an added bonus, in the War multiplayer especially, the player character will often [[CallingYourAttacks yell dialogue for certain kills]], and headshots come with a raft of them, such as "Oooh, nasty!" and "Oho, headshot!"
* Anytime you run into a seemingly-invincible enemy in the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' series, his WeakSpot will inevitably be his head. If the enemy's head fills the screen, then it will be the eyes or an obvious gem or protrusion somewhere on his head. You can even use this trope in ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' to hijack Ride Armors. A well-aimed shot to the head blows up the pilot without damaging the mecha.

[[folder:Puzzle Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FlamingZombooka'': Shoot a zombie in the head to kill it instantly and get more points (500 in the first game, 1000 in the second game and onwards).

[[folder:Rail Shooter]]
* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'': The Sniper Rifle does bonus damage on a head shot. Of course, the thing is so powerful, you don't even need a headshot to take most opponents down. Wolf is the only multi-player character that can survive being shot at all, but he's also the fastest.
* Headshots in ''VideoGame/TransformersCybertronAdventures'' will outright kill the smaller enemies, while bosses and the [[GiantMook Destroyers]] can shrug a few off at the expense of a noticeable percentage of their health.

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/BrutalOrchestra'', any character who is in front of Trigger Fingers when he performs this attack will be dealt an obscene 1945 worth of damage, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill way more than any of them will handle]]. Complete with an animation of two bullets utterly destroying their skull. An achievement of this trope name verbatim will unlock should it happen.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', getting a headshot with a bow causes extra damage.
* Though you can't actually aim for heads in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', one of the death animations for humanoid enemies has the attacker make a wide swinging blow that [[OffWithHisHead slices the head off]] in a [[PinkMist huge gush of blood]].
* In ''VideoGame/FableII'', the last dexterous style is sub-targeting, which allows you to target specific spots on an enemy such as the hand (to disarm them), groin, or head. A headshot will often kill an enemy in one shot, decapitating them in the process. One achievement actually requires killing a [[DemBones Hollow Man]] by first [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shooting their weapons away]], then blasting its head off before finally killing it for good. You can boot the heads around when you shoot one off, too.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** In the original ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'' creatures have a location map for called shots; critical hit effects depend on specific location, and head shots tend to be severe. But it's far from "always instant kill" and usually the head is the second hardest to hit location after the target's ''[[GoForTheEye eyes]]''. Other times it's more beneficial to aim for a different location even if it doesn't bring the enemy down as fast - you'll want to cripple that [[LightningBruiser Deathclaw's]] legs so you can survive long enough to try for a headshot.
** The [[ColdSniper Sniper]] perk exists to facilitate these, and gives a substantial bonus when using VATS to aim at heads, which combined with [[CriticalHit sneak attacks]] allows you to one-shot many enemies. The [[LudicrousGibs Bloody Mess]] perk on the other hand can cause victims' heads to [[YourHeadAsplode asplode]] even if you hit them in the ''foot''. [[RuleOfCool With a flamethrower.]]
** This trope is parodied in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' with the quest "You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head". A ghoul hires you to kill a bunch of humans who considers ghouls to be just like mindless zombies, and specifically requests that you shoot them in the head or else you're paid less. The game also features Mirelurks, [[GiantEnemyCrab bipedal mutant crab people]] with a heavily-armored carapace. Shooting them in the head is the quickest way to bring them down, but said soft target is deeply recessed in their torso and often hidden when they're attacking, making pulling this off easier said than done.
** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'':
*** The base game ''starts'' with this trope, as [[PlayerCharacter the Courier]] receives a double-tap to the skull, courtesy of Benny. Of course, seeing as that's only the start of the game, [[NotQuiteDead it doesn't quite take]]. The game later averts this with the "Three-Card Bounty" quest, in which headshots are discouraged because the questgiver wants the targets' skulls intact so he can verify they're dead. There's also the "Center of Mass" perk that gives the player a damage bonus to shots aimed at the enemy's torso.
*** The "Dead Money" DLC for ''Fallout New Vegas'' features "ghosts", which recover from being killed unless they're ''over''killed to the extent of being decapitated or otherwise dismembered. The easiest way to do this is to cause enough damage to knock them down, then pull a Boom, Headshot on them.
** While attacks to the head in ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas'' cause twice as much HP loss, the effect of [[SubsystemDamage specifically injuring the head]] is almost comically minimal: Perception is lowered by 4 (not that big a deal because Perception only matters before the battle starts), accuracy is lowered somewhat, and if it's the player character they also get an occasional InterfaceScrew in the form of an ImpairmentShot. For comparison, crippling an arm hurts accuracy far worse and a crippled leg can make melee enemies too slow to catch up with you backpedaling.
** ''Fallout 4'' has one of the most unintentionally ludicrous examples of this trope. The companion perk ''Killshot'' was supposed to increase the VATS accuracy of a headshot by 20%. However, due to a typo, it was increased by '''2000%''', making it almost impossible to ''not'' get a headshot, and essentially turning the player into Film/JohnWick.
* In ''VideoGame/FableI'' of all games, thanks to existent but heavily reduced sway of hands, you can headshot from a fair distance with a crossbow or even a ''bow''. It comes complete with a fountain of blood and the disembodied head spinning for another moment in the air. It's only if you can inflict a one-hit kill with it, though (sometimes even more resistant normal enemies can survive a headshot when it's from a weak enough hero and when they're at full HP). For the more sadistic among us, you can also make enemies' head explode in much the same way with a Lightning spell.
* A finishing move when equipped with a sword in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' is decapitation. It doesn't show where the head goes, but it does show a fountain of blood, which makes you wonder just how much of the head is intact afterwards.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' contains a boss battle against [[Film/{{Tron}} Sark and the MCP]] that has this trope as an option. Sometimes, Sark will put up a wall to prevent the party from fleeing. But a reaction command allows for Sora to climb that wall, leap off, and use the Keyblade to stab Sark in the head for a OneHitKill.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' has Giliath Osborne taunting Ash, who is under the will of the curse of Erebonia, to point his gun at Osborne's head to kill him to satisfy his revenge for [[DoomedHometown the Hamel Incident. He never goes through it because the emperor volunteers to get shot in the chest instead which nearly kills the emperor.]]
* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** Through the series, a headshot is (if not an insta-kill) a high damage hit. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' if it is a kill shot your teammates will make impressed comments about it. One of the upgrades for sniper rifles gives an extra damage bonus to headshots.
** In the case of [[MechaMooks security mechs]], killing them with headshots causes them to explode damaging anyone nearby (useful, since they [[ZergRush come in packs]]). Headshotting [[{{Miniboss}} YMIR Mechs]] (which always explode on death) causes them to [[GoingCritical go critical]] and detonate with a ''massive'' boom.
** You can also score perhaps the ultimate headshot on the final boss. Human-Reaper's head, meet [[NukeEm Cain]].
** There are even armor pieces to improve the power of your headshots ([[FriendlySniper Garrus]] wears one).
** Averted in a realistic sense by the Widow series, though: it's so overwhelmingly powerful that there's little incentive to go for headshots. ''Any'' hit will kill most enemies outright.
** Averted with Zaeed's backstory. His business partner double-crossed him and had six of their underlings restrain him while said partner put a gun to Zaeed's head and pulled the trigger.
---> '''Shepard:''' You survived a [[TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain gunshot wound to the head?]]\\
'''Zaeed:''' Yeah, and you survived getting your ship blown up. A stubborn enough person can survive anything. Rage is a hell of an anesthetic.
** Contrary to the first game's relatively realistic PrettyLittleHeadShots with small entrance and exit wounds through the helmet, headshots on Cerberus troops in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' cause the entire head and helmet to disappear, leaving behind bloody neck and a bit of exposed spinal column.
** ''Mass Effect 3'''s multiplayer mode managed to {{zig|ZaggingTrope}}zag this trope. Originally, bosses did not suffer from head shots, with the exception of the Geth Prime, which did due to a bug. A patch removed this and some other similar bugs and people complained that it removed the incentive to aim, as the [[DamageSpongeBoss bosses]] were the main targets you needed head shots on. A latter patch added weakpoints for bosses in, but at a much lower bonus. Headshots did 150% bonus damage, and there were a few weapons and bonuses that could increase this. The new weakpoints (sometimes the head, sometimes somewhere else) did 40% bonus damage and were not affected by weapon or other bonuses to headshot damage.
** ''Mass Effect 3'''s DLC weapon, the M-11 Suppressor, is built around this trope. While not as powerful as other pistols available, it has the largest headshot bonus of any weapon in the game. This essentially means that as long as you can aim for the head, it is guaranteed to kill in two shots if not instantly.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', the default NonStandardGameOver for missing a deadline ends with a mysterious man (Goro Akechi) blowing your brains out in captivity. In the true ending, this is how your Ultimate Persona Satanael disposes of Yaldabaoth in the end.
* All of the ranged weapons in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' have the passive ability to deal increased damage to most enemies by scoring a headshot, which is accompanied by a distinctive sound and hitspark.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'': One gun has this technique. The effect is simulated by a chance of inflicting [[OneHitKill Curse]] damage.
* A successful headshot in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' will cause [[CriticalHit critical damage]] to the opponent. For snipers, who are good at this sort of thing, it's almost a guaranteed OneHitKill. You can protect yourself from these types of hits by crouching behind sandbags or laying down in the grass where the enemy can't see you. Specifically, going into cover (grass or sandbags usually, but other things can give cover, too) prevents critical hits from actually happening, even if a character is actually hit in the head. Unfortunately, it works both ways. Enemies under cover can't receive criticals, either.
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile2Silmeria'', the battle system lets you break off parts of monsters depending on what part you hit. If the part you break off happens to be the monster's head, it's instant death, unless the enemy is a zombie or skeleton or something.
* ''Warrior Of Ras'' was an early RPG that required called shots for each attack. While the head was weak, it is still stronger than the neck which only had a few hitpoints.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' has Sharla's Headshot art. While the name is mostly for flavor, fitting with [[FriendlySniper her sniper side]] and working regardless of the enemy having a head or not, the spirit of the trope remains. The attack has a very high damage output, [[CombatMedic especially for a medic]], and is the only attack the team has that's capable of inflicting [[OneHitKill Instant Death]] on the enemy.

[[folder:Shoot Em Ups]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}'', shooting the head of the centipede gives you more points than shooting body or tail segments.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Gradius}}'' and its spin-offs, starting with Salamander and Gradius II, only one original boss per main series games (except in Gradius V) has the head as its weakpoint, as the announcer directs by shouting "Shoot it in the head!".

[[folder:Sports]]
* Subverted in first-person hunter ''Deer Hunter 2005''. Headshots ''will'' kill the deer instantly, but you won't get the special slow-motion insta-kill bullet cam you get with a lung/heart shot.
* Later played straight in subsequent ''Deer Hunter'' games, notably ''Deer Hunter Classic'' (formerly ''Deer Hunter 2014''), where only the final animal you kill gets the special slow-motion insta-kill bullet cam.
* In ''VideoGame/MutantFootballLeague'', sportscaster Grim Blitzro threatens this on "Brickhead" Mulligan after an obnoxious touchdown commentary.
-->'''Brick:''' GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!\\
'''Grim:''' Brick, if you ever do that again, I'll shoot you in the head!\\
'''Brick:''' But they like it!

[[folder:Stealth-Based Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'' when you shoot an enemy in the head with a shotgun their head explodes with bits of brain and skull fragments raining down.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' Head shots are handled realistically in this series, all guns have meaningful recoil and idle sway meaning that you do have to adjust your shots at a distance especially if aiming for the head. Also head shots are always instant kills unless the enemy soldier's head is shielded in some way, and there is no gore so even with higher-powered guns such as the Barret M82 sniper rifle there are no [[YourHeadAsplode flashy]] [[LudicrousGibs results]]. There's even a multiplayer mode for the hardcore enthusiasts, where head shots are the only shots that deal any damage. Scoring a headshot with a non-lethal weapon will [[InstantSedation cause the sedative to take effect instantly]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'', in keeping with the DarkerAndEdgier feel, averts the "no flashy results" part, with a headshot with any weapon except the tranq guns resulting in a massive blood spray and very nasty wounds.
* In ''VideoGame/SniperElite'', scoring a headshot rewards you with a slow-motion shot of the bullet hitting the enemy and going out through the other side. The sequels go even further, giving you an X-ray shot of the victim's head as the bullet travels through their skull.

[[folder:Strategy]]
* Kardel Sharpeye quotes this in ''VideoGame/DotA2'', aptly classed 'Sniper'. He also has a Headshot skill that is generated at a random chance that does additional damage and makes his target so dizzy they move and attack slower.
* This is one of Caitlyn's quotes from ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''. Her occupation? She's a sheriff carrying a sniper rifle. Her special ability? Every eighth shot she fires is... you guessed it... called 'Headshot', which does additional damage.

[[folder:Survival Horror]]
* In ''VideoGame/ColdFear'', the only way to kill a zombie is to shoot their head, or else they won't stop coming after you.
* In ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot'', getting a headshot will result in the unfortunate target's head bursting like a squeezed zit, even if you're using a dinky .22LR pistol. Considering how guns in the game are rare and mostly situational weapons, this is an efficient way of using them.
* In ''VideoGame/Daymare1998'', headshots are the fastest way to kill a zombie, seeing as how they inflict greater damage. The chances of being able to actually blow a zombie's head off is very low, but the likelihood is increased when either using the shotgun, magnum, or Hallow Point ammo.
* The ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' series are notable for their explicit aversion of the trope. Oh sure, feel free to ''ignore'' the ''multiple'' warnings of "Cut off their limbs" written in blood across the walls of the ghost ship Ishimura; watch as your delight turns to horror as the now ''headless'' space zombie ''continues'' charging at you to claw you into iddy biddy pieces. The only way to kill Necromorphs is to sever their limbs... the head is utterly useless to them. The [[ChurchOfHappyology Unitologist]] soldiers from the [[VideoGame/DeadSpace3 third game]], on the other hand, are ordinary humans and therefore quite vulnerable to headshots.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'', headshots do more damage, interrupt enemies' attacks, and earn you bonus Agent Honor.
* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'': The bad news is that your opponents are psychically mutated, so sometimes headshots don't work. The good news is, you can increase your critical rate (the probability that shooting a mook in the head kills them). Their heads explode in disgusting gore, if they aren't ripped into pieces by a weaker shot first. And considering the difficulty of the game, you will APPRECIATE their violent deaths.
* Literally so in the ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' series: photo-shots centered around the target ghost's head will destroy the ghost quicker. Unfortunately, this usually means you're staring right at the ghost's face as he or she is about to touch you. [[GoddamnedBoss The final boss in the second game must be destroyed this way.]]
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'': One way to stun the animatronics is to use the [=FazBlaster=], which has unlimited uses. However, the animatronics must be shot in the head for the Fazblaster to stun them and Monty is immune because of his glasses.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' and its [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII sequel]], headshots are preferred seeing as how they are a OneHitKill against human enemies and early stages of the infected (Runners and Stalkers). Headshots also provide additional damage to the later stages of the infected (Clickers and Bloaters) while human enemies wearing helmets require you to either shoot the helmet off or use a firearm with more piercing power.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
** In the remake of the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'', blowing off a zombie's head was one of the ways to prevent a zombie from resurrecting as a Crimson Head (as opposed to burning it or blowing off its kneecaps). The headshots were random when using a handgun, but pointing a shotgun at a zombie's head was much more reliable. Additionally, [[TheGunslinger Chris Redfield]] is more likely to secure a headshot than Jill Valentine.
%%** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheUmbrellaChronicles''
** The ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' has a random chance that shooting a zombie in the head would blow it off and make sure they were definitely dead. The chance is low with the handguns, but the more powerful shotgun or magnum increased the odds of securing a fatal headshot.
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'':
*** Unless you are using a particularly powerful weapon, it is nearly impossible to kill any Ganados without shooting them in the head, and even then in Professional mode, it will still take around nine headshots to kill them. The only other way you are encouraged to shoot them is in the legs, so you can run up and melee them in the head (unless they have a mask on, in which case it takes around 60 headshots to kill them).
*** With the exception of the Wii version, where Leon's hand is as steady as you hold the Wiimote, there is fairly realistic gun sway. If you point a gun at a Ganado's head for too long, they will anticipate the shot and start covering their faces or move out of the way.
*** Strangely, despite being able to take multiple bullets to the face, anytime an enemy is killed by an attack directed at its head, their noggin will graphically blow it up, complete with a nauseating splatting sound and chunks of head laying on the ground (strangely, this often doesn't kill them instantly). This includes everything from .50 magnum shots to 9mm bullets to the PC elbowing them in the face.
*** Subverted with the Regenerators and Iron Maidens, where shooting them in the head does almost nothing. Even if you use an extremely powerful weapon, or blow its head off, it'll just regrow in a couple seconds.
** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', headshots are powerful enough to take heads clean off but enemies can take a few seconds to die resulting in still being hit or it can turn them into a more dangerous enemy.
* ''VideoGame/SCPSecretLaboratory'': Headshots deal double damage to human players and [[OurZombiesAreDifferent SCP-049-2 instances]], making them preferred for quickly dispatching them. The {{Revolver|sAreJustBetter}} is of particular note, being capable of killing humans with a single headshot.

[[folder:Third-Person Shooter]]
* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' cannot be forgotten, seeing as a head shot sometimes results in Marcus Fenix (at least in the Campaign) saying Boom Headshot. Or other [[BondOneLiner witty things]] such as, "look Ma, no face" in Gears 2. Everyone has headshot quotes including Baird's "Sorry, was that your spine?" and the epic "So good I should charge admission."
* ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'': If you aim correctly even with the pistol, you can blow an enemy's head off. You even get rewards for collecting heads. You can get a sniper rifle later on to make this easier.
* ''VideoGame/LostPlanet'' makes this the only way to liberate weapons from human enemies. Also, the Machine Gun does double damage if bullets hit the head.
* ''VideoGame/MondayNightCombat'': One of the upgrades for the Gunner class is a face-shield that drops down when it deploys, making headshots only as effective as regular shots. This is invoked by name as a [[BraggingRightsReward ProTag]] and earned for scoring ten headshot kills in a Crossfire match.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rune}}''. Remember the zombies in ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}''? ''Rune''[='s=] zombies are just like that, except since the game has a medieval fantasy setting, your only real options are fire and decapitation. Since normal blows just make them fall over for a few seconds (and you can't decapitate them while they're down,) you don't have access to fire weapons for many levels, and only a spinning jump-slash will reliably decapitate them (plus they're otherwise just harmless but annoying [[TheGoomba goombas]],) zombies get really old REALLY fast.
* ''VideoGame/S4League'' features critical hits, which generally only occur when a player's shot connects with an enemy's head. On the other hand, ''VideoGame/S4League'''s entire setting revolves around unashamedly presenting itself as an online 'sport' played in virtual stadiums over the internet. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Which it is]].
* The ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'' games give a bonus weapon and medal of "Marksman" to a sniper who gains 4 head shots within one life. Snipers can often become GoddamnedBats because of the head shots. The trooper's weapon doesn't instantly kill somebody if you shoot them in the head, but a head shot does more damage to an enemy than a body shot.
* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' had this, too, even explicitly telling you that headshots in manual aim were more lethal. Especially needed when enemies started wearing flak jackets, which could take dozens of rounds to penetrate. Nothing says 'I hate you' like a headshot with the lethal taser.
* ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'': In singleplayer, the two other bots/cons with you make comment about how good your aim is, or the char you're playing makes a smart-arse remark about it. In Multiplayer, it's worth a score bonus. Likely will remain the same in ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron''.

[[folder:Vehicular Combat]]
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': The maximum limit on head armor is the same (that is, quite low) for everybody regardless of size category. Weapons that can do enough focused damage to take out the head in a single shot are given a very high value compared to other weapons in the Battle Value system, used to calculate the overall effectiveness of a mech.
* ''Interstate 76'' centered on armed cars doing battle with each other. In addition to the usual complement of machine guns, rockets, and the like, the player carried a handgun that could shoot at a ninety-degree angle to the direction of travel. Kills with the handgun were preferable because they not only killed the opponent instantly but left the opponent's vehicle intact to be scavenged at the end of the mission.
* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'':
** Amusingly, the games (the computer games, at least) allow you to score headshots ''on HumongousMecha''. The head is a discreet section of the mech with its own armor and generally has very little protection. It's tiny, but an instant kill if you do manage to destroy it.
** In the ''VideoGame/MechCommander'' video games, shooting a mech in the head tended to kill the pilot as well. If the mech was destroyed any other way, the pilot would usually eject the head as an escape pod and survive.
** Some mechs have notoriously large cockpit hitboxes in their respective games. Specifically, ''[=MechWarrior=] 2: Mercenaries'' when regarding the Jenner, the Catapult, and the [=UrbanMech=]. It was not uncommon for players to hit the heads of these models of mechs without actually trying to, and killing the target in a few clustered headshots instead of slugging it out with them. Don't get any ideas that it's easy though, because unlike humans, the actual 'head' on mechs may not correspond exactly to where one would assume the head is and the randomness of the hit chances due to HitboxDissonance thanks to the games' design makes headshots an exercise in luck. Headshots are difficult enough that ''Mechwarrior Online'' considers getting ''a single headshot kill'' to be an achievement, whereas most other combat achievements require doing a particular strategy or technique at least fifty times.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' game for the [=PlayStation=] 2, there is a specific Mini-Con upgrade that allows for Sniper rifle Head shots that are OHKO's for a great many units, though it does take 3 Headshots for the Heavy units, and a couple of Enemies have no head, being non-humanoid Mecha.
* The ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' reboot introduces the Sniper Rifle as a weapon pickup. The longer you keep an aim on the target, the greater the damage will be dealt. However, if you take aim long enough and let the weapon fully charge, you shoot the driver's head instead and [[OneHitKill destroy any enemy's vehicle instantly, regardless of how tough or how much health it has left]]. The catch is that [[DifficultButAwesome the charging time is freakin' long, plus hard to take aim in a fast-paced game]]. The SawedOffShotgun sidearm and the Shotgun pickup have this effect as well. Shooting at the target's windscreen earns you the Point-Blank bonus which deals massive damage. It's essentially headshoting a ''car''.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* At the climax of ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', Dr. Mosely/Zeta kills Dennis with a bullet to the head.
* This occurs a couple of times in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. In the Massacre chapter, Takano does this most notably to Satoko (because she had Satoko completely at her mercy). This also occurs in one of the Bad Endings of the console adaptations of the Beyond Midnight chapter. Granted that our only testimony on this is the receiver of the headshot, but in one of the bad endings the {{Yakuza}} appears to do this to Arakawa.

[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]
* Headshots seem to do more damage in ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' too, when using the slingshot at least. A fully-charged shot to the head will drop almost any student.
* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': While it is certainly possible to kill things by severing their heads, in practice not only are called shots to the head with a ranged or thrown weapon considerably harder to achieve, but arrows and crossbow bolts will bounce off even a low-grade helmet. Melee attacks to the head, on the other hand, are significantly more reliable.
* In ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'' headshots are a OneHitKill, allowing you to go through enemies more efficiently. Given that Tommygun and shotgun users show up quite early and you don't become MadeOfIron until quite a bit later, this is important. You can even go through mob wars using just your .38 pea-shooter by taking cover and making precision headshots. Bonus assassination missions sometimes asked for headshots; this meant even more cash.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'':
** This started creeping into the console version of starting with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', which gave you an M16-type that could be freely aimed while other weapons either fired wherever you faced or targeted centre of mass(though the M16's insane rate of fire and damage output means that it will kill enemies very quickly regardless of where you aim). Both 3 and Vice City also had sniper rifles (although those would be instant kill even if you shot them in the foot). San Andreas let you aim any weapon manually, so even your lousy 9mm starter pistol can get headshots in. Any high-powered gun, such as the .50 cal Desert Eagle, any Shotgun, any Assault Rifle, or any Sniper Rifle, causes [[YourHeadAsplode heads to pop]].
** Reaches its peak in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. Auto-target aims at center of mass while holding the auto-target button allows you to move the crosshair slightly. It becomes laughably easy to get headshots in this way, making many of the game's missions incredibly easy.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony'' requires you to score a certain number of headshots each mission (which requires a shootout) to get the 100% score. "Chinese Takeout" in fact requires ''every'' kill to be a headshot.
** Similar to TBOGT, ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' also uses headshots as a recurring gold medal objective.
*** In the Prologue, the ''very first'' kill you make in the game, a security guard holding a gun to Michael's head, has to be a headshot, otherwise the mission will fail.
*** In "Predator", the player has to kill all three targets, the surviving O'Neil Brothers, with a headshot.
*** In "Meltdown", Michael has to save Amanda and Tracey by killing their captors with a headshot.
*** In "The Wrap Up", FIB Agent Steve Haines kills his subordinate Andreas Sanchez with a near-point blank gunshot to the face when the latter reveals that he was a double agent working against Haines; note this was ''after'' Haines was shot in the leg by a tactical FIB agent. Later in the same mission, Trevor takes down a Merryweather attack helicopter by killing its pilot with a sniper headshot.
*** [[GoldenEnding "The Third Way"]] requires you to kill Steve Haines with a headshot.
*** In the hunting activity exclusive to Trevor, you can shoot your prey in the head; however, most animals die with one shot regardless of where they're shot, and getting heart shots (center of mass) on bucks earns more money and points.
* ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' featured the ability to score headshots and deal critical damage with any projectile, including stones, arrows, crossbow bolts, throwing knives, ''throwing axes,'' and '''javelins.''' Now consider that sharp projectiles sometimes remain visible in an enemy's corpse...
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'':
** As no one is really wearing armor in the game, it rewards this with increased damage. This generally turns rifle hits into one-shot kills, and being able to activate [[BulletTime Dead Eye mode]] makes it all the easier to line up a shot to the head. The player is also rewarded with rather graphic damage models showing large holes blown in the victim's head, something that is not done for hits on any other part of the body.
** A must in the ExpansionPack ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionUndeadNightmare.'' Playing its campy zombie inspiration straight, John must shoot the Undead in the head to put them down for good. That, [[LudicrousGibs reducing them to a fine red paste]], [[KillItWithFire setting them on fire]], or [[HolyBurnsEvil dousing them with holy water]] are all viable ways to end an Undead menace, but the headshot tends to be the go-to choice for players.
* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', headshots are still as gruesome as ever-scoring a hit with a shotgun or explosive bullets will cause the head to ''explode''. In Chapter 3, Sean [=MacGuire=] is KilledMidSentence by a surprise gunshot to the head by the Gray family. A little later, Arthur Morgan writes in his journal that Lenny Summers was killed by a gunshot to the head during the failed Saint Denis bank heist. And at the end of Chapter 6, if Arthur helps John Marston escape with [[KarmaMeter low honor, Micah Bell shoots Arthur in the face]] [[DefiantToTheEnd as he calls Micah a fool]].
* ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'' encouraged bold gameplay by rewarding you more Balls (which allowed you to build your Blind Rage/temporary invincibility meter more quickly). Using pistols gives a 4x bonus, as does using manual targeting (the auto-target aims for center of mass but can be tweaked to aim for specific body parts). And targeting some body parts gives you more Balls than others (fits the trope because the head is a high-value target--it and the [[GroinAttack nuts]] have the highest value).
* In ''VideoGame/TotalOverdose'', head shots give the most style points and are the only way to rack up combos for multiple kills. The most points are awarded for delivering a headshot while airborne, twisting 360 degrees, and getting another headshot before hitting the ground...even more if done leaping from a speeding vehicle.
[[/folder]]

!!Non-Videogame Examples

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho and Asseylum both die in this manner. They get better in the second season. Inaho comes back equipped with a cybernetic eye to replace his damaged eye and Asseylum is seen again alive in stasis.
* Subverted in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', many Titans get their heads blown off by explosive cannon shells, but they survive and regenerate. The only way to kill them is to slice (or punch, if you're the Rogue Titan) off a small area at the base of the neck. Turns out that Titan brains are located in their spines. Then played straight later on in the series, with the arrival of the 1st Central Squad. Their custom CoolGuns are designed for blowing a sizable chunk out of a human target's head, which they quickly display by shooting several unlucky soldiers in the head.
** This is the fate of Griez at the hands of Yelena later on during the Marley arc, after he spends much of his limited panel time badmouthing [[SpeakIllOfTheDead the recently deceased]] Sasha Blouse. [[AssholeVictim No one feels too sorry for him when Yelena blows his brains out with a handgun for being racist]].
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'':
** In "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession5BalladOfFallenAngels Ballad of Fallen Angels]]", a Red Dragon mook who [[PutDownYourGunAndStepAway takes Faye hostage]] gets a bullet right through his skull from Spike, setting off a furious [[BloodstainedGlassWindows Church Shootout]] that ends with Spike and Vicious clashing for the first time in the series.
** The villain of "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession6SympathyForTheDevil Sympathy for the Devil]]" also gets a bullet in the head. This bullet, however, is fashioned from a gem that was created from the energy released by the Gate explosion, the same energy which broke Wen's circadian rhythm and made him essentially immortal and unaging, and using it has the effect of rapidly aging him to death as Wen's true age is returned to him.
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': When Commander Red reveals that his goal in gathering the Dragon Balls [[EvilIsPetty was to make himself taller]], his adjutant Black is naturally ''not'' happy about it, considering how many lives and resources they've thrown away for him, and shoots him in the forehead before taking over command of the Red Ribbon army.
* Justifiably so in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. As a significant amount of individuals have cyberized brains that can be transplanted into fully prosthetic bodies even if the rest of the body is gibbed, completely annihilating the brain case of a cyber-brain is often the only way to completely "kill" a person and is often heartily encouraged.
* Manga/Golgo13 almost always goes for a head shot.
* In the 9th volume of ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'', Issei finishes the fight at Kyoto when he fires his Trianna Bishop {{Shoulder Cannon}}s at Cao Cao ''in the face'' just when he was about to retreat. [[BadassNormal Cao Cao survived]] but is missing an eye thanks to it.
* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'' pulls one off in the finale. Namely, Alv becomees one with the [[TransformingMecha Deucalion]] so [[{{Technopath}} Lumiére]] hacks into the ship's left arm and uses the cannons on it to score a hit on the bridge.
* ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' notably inverts the trope almost constantly, as headshots on Battroid-mode [[TransformingMecha Valkyries]] don't kill (though they do render Valkyries almost completely blind unless they switch back to fighter jet mode), yet center of mass shots do (as that's where the cockpit is in Battroid mode).
* Exaggerated in ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove'', when Hikaru kills Baddole Zer by flying right up to him and unleashing a full AlphaStrike into his face.
* ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' invokes yet inverts it even more with the Vajra when one of them gets its head blown off, leaving our heroes all thinking that the Vajra has been killed. Turns out it wasn't, and that the [[BizarreAlienBiology closest analogue to the brain the Vajra have]] is actually located in their ''digestive tract'', right in their center of mass. The GrandFinale plays it straight though, with the death of the BigBad who had inhabited the head of the err... FinalBoss. Taking out the head killed the BigBad but left the Vajra Queen thing alive, due to not having any vital organs in the head.
* In the finale of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', Teana takes out [[QuirkyMinibossSquad two Combat]] {{Cyborg}}s with this. Almost. [[PlayingPossum Deed proved to be more durable than expected]], requiring a second head shot from [[FriendlySniper Vice]]. [[TheParalyzer It doesn't kill them though]].
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Baremos Q7 was a Mechanical Beast built with stolen samples of [[{{Unobtainium}} Alloy Z]]. However, its head was made of a less sturdy metal since Dr. Hell had not enough alloy. During the battle, Kouji eventually noticed the {{Robeast}} was ALWAYS protecting its head. Logically, he aimed for it. Another example happened in one of the first chapters, when he was told Bikong O9 weak point were its horns.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'':
** The series repeatedly subverts this trope as mobile suit cockpits are typically mounted in the torso, whereas the head normally contains sensors and (occasionally) vulcans and/or other weapons. As if that wasn't amusing enough, the first series reverts and then ''re''-inverts the trope during the final battle: Amuro shoots the Zeong in the torso, thinking it a kill shot, only to realize upon seeing the head detach and fly up that the cockpit had, for once, been placed there instead. In turn, Char fires back and blows the Gundam's own head away, to which Amuro boasts that all Char did was cost him his main camera (and vulcans).
** Kycilia Zabi shoots her brother Gihren in the head as payback for Gihren committing {{patricide}}. Char, in turn, takes out Kycilia by shooting her in the head with a ''rocket launcher'' as she tries to evacuate A Bao a Qu on her flagship.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrahCm7UIa4 Lady Une is no slouch in crazy headshots either.]]
** In ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' it's an EnforcedTrope since the rules of the Gundam Fight tournament say that losing your Gundam's head is ''instant disqualification''; any other damage to the machine can be repaired without penalty. For a more literal version of this, England's warrior Sir Gentle Chapman ''almost'' takes France's fighter George de Sand out with his sniper rifle, but just grazes the head of George's Gundam due to age and illness hampering his skill.
** Destroying a Mobile Suit's head is ironically ''usually'' a non-lethal way of taking it out of the fight since the actual cockpit (with a few exceptions) is almost always in the abdomen. As noted with Amuro and the RX-78-2 above, some models have backup cameras and sensors, and can continue fighting even without a head.
** One of the more notorious cases came in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', when the [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]] got its head shot off, and Iino decided to replace it with the head of a salvaged Zaku II until a proper replacement could be built, resulting in the infamous "Zeta Zaku".
* Happens to Johan Liebert from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' twice. Lampshaded by Martin mocking a gunman for ''not shooting someone in the head''. That someone is him.
* In ''Manga/MotherKeeper'', Graham manages two head shots, once was one of Silas's men and later Silas himself.
* Ami's dad in ''Anime/OccultAcademy'' manages to decapitate a chupacabra in episode 8... with a [[ImprovisedWeapon nailgun]].
* In ''Anime/PsychoPass'', [[MadArtist Rikako]] gets shot in the face with a shotgun point blank.
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': When dealing with a FullConversionCyborg, this seems like the only way to win due their durability. Akira uses an anti-tank rifle round on the heads of the DoubleAgent relic thief Yajima, the leader of a robbery of Sheryl's shop Zelmo, as well as the experimental TragicMonster DrivenByEnvy Tiol. The latter two, due to being OnlyMostlyDead and living on digitally, try to get ResurrectionRevenge, but finally die other ways.
* In ''Manga/TheVoynichHotel'', three drug dealers are taken out in this manner by an assassin who's a guest at the hotel. The ghosts of the first two go on to haunt the hotel, with one still missing half his head, while the third appears to briefly come back to life to chew out one of her fellow dealers for mooching their supply.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In the first issue of ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'', MVP gets shot in the head on his first day in basic training.
* ''ComicBook/BackToBrooklyn'': Several times, notably on Penny.
* The ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'' story "An Innocent Guy" tells of a young man who decides he's going to kill the Batman and goes into detail about how he'll do it, sniping him while he's preoccupied. An ImagineSpot shows the bullet plowing through Batman's head and causing a fountain of gore.
* ''ComicBook/TheBeauty'': Some people in the comic are taken out this way.
** [[spoiler:Celebrity Jocelyn Grace was sniped in the head by one of Mr. Calaveras' men before she could reveal the truth about The Beauty to her viewers.]]
** Timo kills the janitor of his gang by blowing the top of his head off.
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} splatters ComicBook/WerewolfByNight's head with a shotgun for sleeping with his wife.
* ''ComicBook/TheF1rstHero'': In Issue #1, [[TheProtagonist Jake Roth]]'s friend Yoshi gets shot in the head, which alerts everyone of a sniper in the area.
* ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'': Subverted when Scarlett survives a point-blank shot to the head.
* ''ComicBook/GIZombie'': [[TheProtagonist Jared]] can take bullet shots to the head and, while they '''do'' kill him, his HealingFactor makes sure it's only temporary.
* ComicBook/IronMan is forced to do this to Mallen in the ''Extremis'' storyline to take him down for good. Tony's so pissed off having done this that he kicks Mallen's lifeless body in total spite. This is also how Obadiah Stane dies. Confronted by a recently returned Tony Stark armed with the Silver Centurian Armor and unable to fight Tony with his massive armor, he blasts his own head to spite Tony and rob him of a victory.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Joker}}'' graphic novel, Joker henchman Johnny Frost shoots one of Harvey's cops in the face and saves Joker's life. The perspective makes it look like the hole takes up half his face.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Justice League 300|0}}1'' Superman spends so much time boasting how he's going to kill a couple of aliens that they shut him up by doing this.
* ''ComicBook/KidColt2009'': When the body of [[spoiler:'Colt' (actually bounty hunter Sherman Wilks)]] is handed in for the bounty, the face is almost entirely gone. [[spoiler:'Wilks' (actually Colt's sidekick Hawk)]] explains that he was shot in the face during their [[QuickDraw duel]], which [[KilledOffscreen isn't directly shown in the comics]]. [[spoiler:Colt and Hawk later discuss the widow they're wiring the bounty to, who was named in Wilks's papers. There's a hole through the papers, suggesting that Wilks was actually shot in the chest, with the headshot a post-mortem tactic to disguise the corpse]].
* In issue #10 of ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'', After defeating Heat Man and taking his weapon, Mega Man shoots him point-blank in the face, with an evil smile. This clued Dr. Light and the others that something was very wrong with Mega Man.
* ComicBook/{{Preacher}} is in LOVE with this trope. The results of headshots are always shown in the most graphic detail with skulls being obliterated, along with showing the victim's brains and eyeballs flying everywhere. Including a few darkly humorous scenes in which characters are shown surviving headshots despite having their entire jaw completely blown off.
* ''ComicBook/SinCity'' does this a lot to gruesome effect. Since it often averts the InstantDeathBullet, almost any quick kills involve bullets to the brain.
** Wallace was notorious about this; most of his kills being headshots. In fact, in the climax, he killed an entire warehouse full of assassins with headshots.
** Miho, likewise, often hit mooks in the head with her throwing-stars and arrows or simply stabs in the head them with her swords. In fact, in one darkly humorous moment, she shot a neo-Nazi through the chest with an arrow and he remained standing, marveling at the entire situation while the rest of the villains ignored him. She then finished him off with a shot through the head.
** In ''The Big Fat Kill'', Dwight killed a few mercenaries via shots to the head.
** Dwight also killed Ava Lord with a shot to the forehead.
** In ''Silent Night'', Marv killed the madame running the child-prostitution ring with a headshot.
** In Marv's first story, he wakes up in a hospital after receiving several bullets to the chest. He complains that, in order to kill him, the bad guys should've shot him in the head -- and enough times to make sure.
** It should also be noted that when John Hartigan committed suicide, he shot himself in the head even though he had already been shot in the back (Sin City heroes tend to walk away from other shots with ease).
** There are aversions, however:
*** When Jackie Boy's gun exploded, the slide went right through his forehead but he was alive for a few more minutes, prompting Miho to finish the job by chopping his head off completely.
*** Dwight was shot in the face with what appeared to be a glancing hit and while he needed immediate medical attention, he remained conscious and survived with a little surgery.
* ''ComicBook/{{Snowman}}'': A number of these happen in the comic:
** A man from Snowman's old tribe is [[EyeScream shot in the eye]] and killed.
** The Snowman finds his daughter dead with a bullet hole in her forehead.
** The Snowman's wife was shot through the head by the white man who raped her.
** August shoots a man in the head because he was going to have sex with her, thinking that she was just a regular mannequin, and not a living one.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'', an ant-like monster is about to sting Gangbuster when ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s heat-vision blows its head up.
* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'', weapon designer Ironfist reveals that he invented "cerebro-sensitive bullets," which have an onboard computer and guidance system that causes them to automatically home in on the head of anyone they're fired at, insuring headshots with 100% success rates. However, because of their lethality, the Autobot Ethics Committee banned them and ordered him to turn in all the bullets and modified guns he'd produced. When he's packing to join the Wreckers, he decides to "accidentally" switch one case and bring it with him. He also reveals to his team that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard he was shot with a prototype of the bullet]] that's slowly burrowing through his head and will [[DeadManWalking eventually kill him]].
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'' Spotlight: Hardhead. Hardhead is shot point-blank in the face by a mind-controlled Nightbeat and shrugs it off completely while pointing out that he has a MeaningfulName.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersTillAllAreOne'': Has Ironhide defeat [[CombiningMecha Bruticus]] by launching a rocket into the giant's visor blowing his head apart and forcing him to separate into his individual components.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'':
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'':
*** Black Widow managed to escape from the defeat of the Liberators at the end of vol. 2, but Hawkeye hunted her, found her, and killed her with a shot to the head. Still, she was DefiantToTheEnd.
*** Hawkeye killed the man in the lobby of the building (actually an alien) with an arrow to the head.
*** Nick Fury tried to kill Herr Kleiser this way. But, as he's Made of Iron, it was OnlyAFleshWound.
** ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'': Cyclops was killed with one by the end of the story.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Wallflower of the Comicbook/NewXMenAcademyX was shot through the head by a sniper as part of Stryker's preparations to attack the Xavier School in the aftermath of Comicbook/HouseOfM.
** Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}'s adamantium-reinforced skull ''prevents'' this. Shooting him in the head is only likely to piss him off. By contrast, his daughter/OppositeSexClone, Comicbook/{{X 23}}'s, skull is not. As a consequence, a headshot is just as messy for her as it would be for any normal person. However because of her HealingFactor she'll get back up again, and ''then'' come gut you. In ''All-New Wolverine'' she even has a WakingNonSequitur while her brain is knitting back together after being sniped. She delivers them, too. In ''Target: X'' she drills a helicopter pilot right between the eyes (Laura was on the ground, the chopper pilot was ''in the air''). She also uses this as an execution method with her claws against a Purifier goon during Second Coming.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' in its early decades had numerous villains taken down by Tracy by shooting them in the head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/CampNightmare'': This is Jerome's fate, thanks to the police.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'':
** The ability to do this almost casually is a trademark of the Winter Soldier - however, he'll frequently put someone down with bullets to the chest, then finish them off with a double-tap to the skull.
** In the sequel, Harry Dresden puts ''three'' bullets from his .44 Magnum revolver into Voldemort's head from close range to kill him - or more accurately, get him out of the way, because Magneto's vengeance-driven method of killing him was too slow and they had other priorities. Magneto was not pleased, and to add insult to injury, it didn't even work.
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/CodeGeassPaladinsOfVoltron''. A Brittanian sniper tries pulling this on Kallen, but her armor's helmet effortlessly protects her. Played straight when Viletta Nu nailed V.V. when he tried to kill [[Anime/CodeGeass Nunnally and Euphemia]] after breaking into the [[WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender Castle of Lions]]. [[CompleteImmortality While it might not have killed him]], it kept him out of action long enough that it was a simple matter to imprison him.
* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheWarriorsDaughter'', Gohan kills Cell by shooting one ki blast through his head. Unfortunately, the energy beam goes also through Bulla's head, who was holding Cell in place to give Gohan a shot at him, aware that it would kill her.
* In ''Fanfic/FourDeadlySecrets'' Ruby demonstrates this several times against Grimm.
* ''Fanfic/{{Frostbite}}'' has a few instances of this with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] at close range, resulting in a number of [[YourHeadAsplode exploding]] [[FacelessGoons Breen]] heads.
* In ''[[Fanfic/HalfLifeFullLifeConsequences Half Life: Hero Begginning]]'', when Henry Freeman's mom protests the Combines pointing their lasers at him, they shoot her and laugh at her. Despite this apparently destroying her head ("haha stupid humen girl with no head"), she's able to tell Henry Freeman to run away before she dies.
* ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'':
** Alucard invokes this trope on numerous occasions, even quoting the trope verbatim during his first fight with Anderson. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] though when Anderson [[NoSell no-sells]] the shot seconds later.
** Jeb Forrest decides to interrupt Integra's orders to Alucard, and Alucard nonchalantly gives him one of these. Nobody cared.
* In ''Hyperemesis Gravidarum'' by Creator/AAPessimal, Julian Smith-Rhodes escapes an assassination attempt simply because the attacker just had to try and make it as emphatic as possible by going for the head-shot: the crossbow bolt misses by a fraction of an inch. Julian was annoyed about this: an Army officer's cap does not come cheap and replacing one with a crossbow bolt-hole through the crown was going to cost him at least twenty dollars.
* In ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/109581/1/i-did-not-want-to-die/i-did-not-want-to-die I Did Not Want To Die]]'', several soldiers are killed in this way.
* ''Fanfic/{{Katzenjammer}}'': Starscream quickly tires of Tidearrow poking fun at him post-inebriation and loses his patience when the other bot is unable to stop himself from laughing at the uncontrollable silly sounds he's making. Starscream takes care of the annoyance by shooting Tidearrow in the head, [[YourHeadASplode causing his cranium to explode]].
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', Ritsuko gets killed when Seele's agent Musashi Kluge puts one bullet through her head.
-->Again Rei did not hear the shot. The back of Ritsuko Akagi's head exploded into a red mist and sprayed on the ground next to her dead body.
* At the beginning of ''Fanfic/OldWest'', [[UnscrupulousHero Rattlesnake Jake]] kills one of Tomson's fellow mercenaries this way. Later Tomson himself is [[ShootTheMessenger killed this way by his boss]]. In the climax, [[TheDragon Ramirez Arvenga]] gets his head blown to smithereens by Sheriff Rango [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass of all people]], [[KilledMidSentence just as the coyote is gloating]] that [[YouWouldntShootMe the chameleon is too spineless to kill anyone]].
* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''VideoGame/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'' MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, twice in one chapter! Tali shreds a commando's faceplate with a [[FlechetteStorm flechette shotgun]] followed by a heavier round to finish the job, and Legion follows up shortly thereafter with a "sickening 'pop'" from his railgun-amplified Widow.
* In one of the [[ChristmasEpisode Holiday Specials]] of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', this is how Descant, the fourth of the Seven Brothers of Orre, kills off the original Pride Sniper, whose title he takes over for himself afterwards.
* ''Fanfic/{{Pop Quiz|Debbie418uk}}'': [[Series/Numb3rs Don]] kills Robert Evans this way as the student was threatening Charlie with a knife to the throat.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10286919/1/Recoil Recoil]]'', Taylor Herbert actually gets real training, and she becomes ''very'' capable. Headshots are now the order of the day.
* In ''Fanfic/RevengeRoad'', Hikaru shoots {{M|urderTheHypotenuse}}adoka in the head, [[InstantDeathBullet killing her instantly]]. She thinks Madoka has to die for stealing Kyosuke away but doesn't think she deserves to suffer because she was her friend for a long time. As for Kyosuke, [[ColdBloodedTorture she's nowhere]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath near as merciful]] with him.
* ''Fanfic/TheRiseOfDarthVulcan'': The titular VillainProtagonist ends his [[CurbStompBattle brief fight]] with Tirek by shoving a crude gun, forged by his Diamond Dog blacksmiths, into Tirek's face and firing off both barrels point-blank.
* How Lyra kills two of Pyrrha's teammates in ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora''.
* ''Fanfic/TheSweetieChroniclesFragments''; Sweetie Belle takes a point-blank shotgun blast to the face courtesy of a Twilight-possessed Blackjack when visiting ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons''. She gets better when Twilight uses her soul to bring Sweetie back to life.
* In Chapter 20 of ''Fanfic/Team8'', Kurenai is killed by being hit in the head with a kunai after breaking Tsukuyomi.
* In ''Fanfic/WorldwarWarOfEquals'', Race [[TankGoodness landcruiser]] commanders stick their heads out of the hatch, making them prime targets for snipers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' has a downplayed, PG-rated example, where Elsa accidentally shoots ice in Anna's head in an attempt to keep Anna from falling, which incapacitated her. Grandpabbie did tell their parents that Anna was lucky it wasn't in the heart, which would've been fatal both in the film and in RealLife.
* ''WesternAnimation/NightOfTheAnimatedDead'': Plenty of undead get bullets to their heads when Ben brings out the rifle. [[spoiler:It takes three bullets to kill the zombified Harry.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/AmericanGangster'': When Frank demands Tango some money, Tango challenges him to shoot him in public, thus Frank coldbloodedly shoots Tango in the head at point blank range.
* ''Film/BadBoysII'':
** The BigBad, Johnny Tapia, shoots his own cousin as well as his right hand, Roberto, in the head for his recklessness.
** In the final confrontation with Tapia, Marcus ends up shooting the latter in the forehead, finally killing him.
* ''Film/{{Balibo}}'': Gary is shot in the head at point blank range by an Indonesian military officer while trying to negotiate the Balibo Five's safety.
* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': During a melee, a mook runs up behind Batman and shoots him in the back of the head at point-blank range. Fortunately his cowl is bulletproof, though Batman flinches in visible pain.
* ''Film/BlackWake'': When the door to the autopsy room has been opened, the two naked women who killed Dr. Jones each get a bullet to the head, which kills them.
* ''Film/BloodBags'': Antonio kills Vittoriao with a shot to the head in Tracy's ImagineSpot.
* ''Film/BloodRansom'': Bill kills two goons who failed Roman, a bartender, and one other patron with a bullet to the head.
* ''Film/BlueVelvet'': [[BigBad Frank Booth]] is shot in the head with a gun. We even get to see brain matter shoot out of the back of his head. Can't say the [[AssholeVictim bastard]] didn't deserve it.
* ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfTheMachineGunWoman'': Despite lying wounded and bleeding on the ground, the Machine Gun Woman saves Santiago by firing a shot that takes off the top of Panguinao's head; sending it flying high into the air.
* ''Film/CamelSpiders'': One of the American soldiers in the prologue, Schwalb, is shot and killed by a bullet to the head.
* In ''Film/CityOfLifeAndDeath'', Kadokawa [[ShootTheDog kills]] Mrs. Jiang by shooting her in the head.
* ''Film/ClownMotel'': One of the clowns gets shot through the head.
* ''Film/{{Collateral}}'' features extensive use of the Mozambique drill, which is a double-tap to center of mass followed by a headshot, and is Vincent's signature killing technique.
* ''Film/ComingHomeInTheDark'': At the climax of the film, Tubs kills Mandrake by shooting him in the head with his own gun.
* ''Film/CurseOfChucky'': After the credits, some guy gets a suspiciously sized package...Chucky cuts himself out of it, verifies he's at old nemesis Andy Barclay's place according to some old photos sitting around--And suddenly finds him standing there with a boomstick aimed point-blank. [[SmashToBlack Bang to black.]]
* Both versions of ''Film/DawnOfTheDead'' feature shotgun-blast-to-the-head scenes. [[Film/DawnOfTheDead2004 The remake]] also has a scene where a character unerringly picks off a string of zombies with headshots, but he's a gun-store owner doing it from a safe rooftop, with a high-powered sniper rifle, while the zombies aimlessly mill around below. And it's all just a morbid way of killing time.
* ''Film/DawningOfTheDead'': In one scene, someone shoots a zombie in the head, causing it to explode in a fantastic fashion.
* ''Film/DirtyHarry'': Dirty Harry shoots the Scorpio killer in the head, sending him to fall into the body of water behind him.
-->'''Dirty Harry:''' But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world that would blow your head clean off...
* At the end of ''Film/FightClub'', this comes into play in an odd fashion. The narrator puts a gun in his mouth and shoots himself through the back of the cheek. Because Tyler is his SplitPersonality, and this act symbolically kills him, this manifests as a ''massive'' subversion of PrettyLittleHeadshots in Tyler's case.
* ''Film/TheFunhouseMassacre'': Sheriff Kate manages to kill Manual Dyer by shooting him through the head. The aftermath includes blood coming out of a hole in the back of his head.
* ''Film/FutureWorld'': The Warlord shoots the Drug Lord right in the head at close range as they're grappling together.
* ''Film/GhostsOfWar'': Near the start of the movie, after a Nazi jeep is flipped by a land mine, a surviving Nazi soldier is shot in the head by one of the soldiers.
* ''Film/GoodFellas'': The murder of [[HairTriggerTemper Tommy [=DeVito=]]] is carried out via a bullet to the head; Tommy himself kills a henchman the same way one scene prior.
* In ''Film/GunsGirlsAndGambling'', The Cowboy kills Redfoot and Dark Eyes with simultaneous head shots through the windscreen of John Smith's car via GunsAkimbo.
* Johnny Wong goes out this way by way of MoeGreeneSpecial in the finale of ''Film/HardBoiled''.
* In ''Film/Hellboy2019'', Hellboy is a crack shot with his massive HandCannon. Almost every hit he lands that is shown on-screen is a headshot with [[YourHeadAsplode predictably gory results]], and he rarely, if ever, seems to miss his target.
* A non-lethal variation occurs in ''Film/HomeAlone1'', where Kevin [=McCallister=] manages to drive away Marv by shooting him between the eyes with a b.b. gun when he pokes his head through a doggie door.
%%* ''Film/JackbootsOnWhitehall'' showed you can even do this to marionettes!
* ''Film/JohnWickChapter2'' somehow manages to kick it up a notch, with [[https://www.visu.info/john-wick-2-kill-count/ over 100 headshots]], 34.4% of Wick's shots going into someone's head.
* Since the film ''Film/JuanOfTheDead'' is set in civilian UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}, none of the main characters own guns or have access to them. Still, Lázaro manages to dispatch a zombie by a (blindly lucky) speargun shot to the head.
* ''Film/KildTV'': The crew finally manage to kill [[spoiler:Adel]] with a bullet to the head.
* ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'': It turns out these things are ''survivable'': Statesman has developed Alpha Gel and nanomachine technology to cure headshots, at the cost of amnesia that requires reliving a traumatic experience to regain their memories. In Harry's case it was the prospect of shooting his beloved dog Mr. Pickle, and in Whiskey's case it was finding out his wife was dead. By the way, that gunshot to the head Whiskey got came from Harry, who realized Whiskey was a traitor.
* Harry Hart delivers quite a few of these in ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', and dies by being on the receiving end of one of these, courtesy of Valentine.
* ''Film/TheLastJedi'': Somehow, Kylo Ren manages to pull this off with a ''lightsaber'' by activating Rey's lightsaber through the head of one of Snoke's guards and deactivating it again so quickly it's almost imperceptible.
* ''Film/ALittleBitZombie'': Penelope kills Max by blowing a massive hole through the middle of his head. Tina kills Penelope the same way.
%%* The opening sequence of ''Film/LordOfWar'' ends this way.
* One of the most famous examples occurs in ''Film/Maniac1980'' when Creator/TomSavini's character Disco Boy gets his head blown off at point-blank range with Frank's double-barrel shotgun.
* In ''Film/TheMatrix'', Trinity disposes of an agent this way by shoving the gun right against his head.
-->'''Trinity:''' [[VerbThis Dodge this.]]
* Happens no less than ''four times'' in ''Film/{{Momentum|2015}}''. In a movie where characters seem to be MadeOfIron, it's better to make certain they're dead.
* ''Film/{{Mohawk}}'': When Myles is torturing Calvin by [[TongueTrauma pouring boiling water into his mouth]], Joshua kills him with a single expertly place musket ball through the forehead.
* ''Film/MysteryTeam'' implies the effects of a cherry bomb hitting someone in the face.
* ''Film/NavySeals'' have Hawkins executing a terrorist, in retaliation for a YourMom line his victim throws at him five seconds before his death.
--> "NEVER. Talk. About. Mom."
* ''Film/NobodySleepsInTheWoodsTonightII'': Adas kills the first killer dancer in his dream by blowing his head off.
* In ''Film/OpenRange'', Butler has just had time to gloat about killing Moose and injuring Button for a second when Charley puts a bullet between his eyes.
* ''Film/ProjectA'' has Inspector Hong saving the hero, Ma, who's subjected to a StockClockHandHang while a mook tries shooting Ma, only for Hong to beat him to the draw.
* Averted in ''Film/PremiumRush''. CorruptCop Robert Monday walks around almost normally for a while after being shot in the head. It takes about a minute for him to realize what happened, and another minute for him to start stumbling and die.
* In ''Film/{{Primal}}'', Loffel makes almost of his kills via headshot so as to bypass the {{Bullet Proof Vest}}s the {{US Marshal}}s are wearing.
* ''Film/RedwoodMassacreAnnihilation'': The soldier accompanying the government official at the end of the movie kills [[spoiler:Laura and Gus]] with one bullet to [[spoiler:each of their heads, as can be indicated by the bullet hole in each of their foreheads afterwards]]>
* ''Film/TheRetreat2021'': Gavin shoots a compatriot in the head at close range who's got cold feet about their plan to murder gays and lesbians.
%%* How Stan dies in ''Film/Revenge2017''.
* In ''Film/{{RIPD}}'' the dead can only die from a headshot. Anything else is considered annoying.
* ''Film/SaveYourselves'': The pouffes manage to instantly kill multiple people by simply shooting their tendrils through their heads.
* Naturally comes up in ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', as many of the soldiers take rounds or even ''artillery'' to the head. However special mention goes to the German sniper; Jackson combines this with ScopeSnipe to put a round right through his eye.
* ''Film/Shazam2019'': While still trying to figure out his new powers, Shazam interrupts a convenience store robbery. One of the robbers shoots him, [[NighInvulnerable with no effect]]. Freddie suggests giving the gun back and having the robber shoot him in the face to see if ''he's'' bulletproof, or if it's just the suit. Shazam does so, but belatedly objects when he realizes [[TooDumbToLive how horribly this could go wrong]]. Fortunately, the headshots do nothing but tickle a bit.
* Stein's death in ''Film/SilentNight2012''. Deputy Bradimore puts a shot between his eyes that splatters his brains over the wall behind him.
* In ''Film/TheSuicideTheory'', Steve uses headshots frequently, as he is a trained hitman. Three men he shoots go down with PrettyLittleHeadshots, while Percival, who hired him to help him commit suicide, survives ''three shots to the head''.
* ''Film/{{SWAT}}'': During the opening, the two bank robbers outside the bank are killed with headshots by the {{SWAT Team}}s, one by a sniper when he tries to steal a car to escape, one in a close-range gun battle. Inside the bank, Gamble attempts a headshot on the third when he takes a hostage, but misses and hits the hostage in the shoulder instead. There is also a DeletedScene where Hondo tells Chris Sanchez that when she goes for a headshot on a target, she needs to aim for the "vermilion line", i.e. shoot for the center of the face and not the forehead.
* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', the titular god performs one of these... as a DynamicEntry.
* ''FIlm/{{Tombstone}}'': Gets referenced after the shooting of Fred White, when Wyatt is holding a gun to Ike Clanton's forehead.
--> Your friends might get me in a rush, but not before I turn your head into a canoe, you understand me!?
* In the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'', Optimus Prime seems obsessed with destroying the heads of his enemies. Throughout the course of all three films, he decapitates Bonecrusher, shoots Demolisher in the head, tears Grindor's head in two, shoots off half of Megatron's face (with his own cannon), tears the skin off The Fallen's head, rips Shockwave's eye out of its socket, shoots Sentinel Prime twice in the head, and finally tears off Megatron's head and SPINE.
--> "''[[OutOfCharacterMoment GIVE ME]] [[MemeticMutation YOUR FACE!]]''"
* ''Film/{{Tron}}'': The titular character does this to Sark using his disc, which causes chunks of data to [[{{Squick}} bleed from his head]]. This trope surprisingly appears quite a bit in the sequel, ''Film/TRONLegacy''. The most notable example however was when [[ActionGirl Quorra]] shoots one of Clu's mooks, leaving a rather graphic headshot during the [[OldSchoolDogfight dogfight scene]].
* In ''Film/UnderworldAwakening'', an escaping Selene is shot in the head by a guard. Being a vampire, [[NoSell this just pisses her off]]. She proceeds to drain said guard, which quickly heals the wound.
* ''Film/VirusShark'': Anne is killed with a bullet to the head after she's been infected.
* ''Film/WerewolvesWithin'': After accidentally hitting Marcus with her truck, Gwen is shot in the head and killed.
* ''Film/TheWidow2020'': Zoya has Vika point a FlareGun at her head under her chin, and fire it.
* In ''Film/WildWildWest'', Gordon has been taken captive, and Loveless ''will'' [[MundaneSolution just have someone]] [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shoot him]]. Expecting this, [[BriarPatching Gordon attempts to trick the secessionist Loveless]] into shooting "[his] heart, that has loved this country so much", as Gordon is wearing the bulletproof vest he ''just'' invented. Response?
-->'''Loveless:''' Shoot him in the head.
-->'''Gordon:''' Damn.
* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': A patron at the bar Charlie is introduced in decides to shoot Charile in the head for taking a drink from his glass. Diana's speed allows her to intercept, but there was an attempt to murder him at point blank range.
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Magneto kills Sebastian Shaw by telemagnetically pushing a coin through his brain.
* Everyone in ''Film/TheZombieDiaries'' seems to know that the only way to stop the zombies is to shoot them in the head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The title character of the ''Literature/DanShambleZombiePI'' acquired his "zombie" moniker after dying of a Boom Headshot, inflicted from behind in a dark alley. He keeps the unsightly exit hole concealed with morticians' putty, and wears a hat over the entry hole.
* Averted in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' novel ''Literature/TheWasteLands''. When The Tick Tock Man is shot in the head, the low caliber bullet only grazes the person's skull, a fact which allows someone to revive the person, later.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Characters with firearms training occasionally double-tap their target if they can get away with it. The most impressive headshot in the series, however, was in ''Literature/SmallFavor'', when Kincaid dropped ''two'' Denarians with ''one'' shot, through their heads.
** In ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry finishes off an [[EldritchAbomination Outsider]] after [[CurbStompBattle winning]] a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind by shoving his gun through its mouth, and firing a spell through it as he pulls the trigger. To the tune of Music/{{Queen}}'s "We Will Rock You".
* At the end of ''Literature/FevreDream'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, the BigBad, thousands years old vampire Damon Julian, is killed with a point-blank headshot. From both shotgun barrels.
* At the end of ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' "Ashes of Victory" Thomas Theisman puts an end to the Committee of Public Safety's ReignOfTerror with one of these and one of the most immortal lines in science fiction.
-->'''Theisman''': [[PreMortemOneLiner Goodbye, Citizen Chairman.]]
* Lampshaded In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy when Peeta mentions his father liking buying game from Katniss because she always shoots the bird in the eye, thus preserving the edible part of the flesh - presumably included by the author to show what a good shot her heroine is, but one wonders how anyone, even such a star as Ms Everdeen, could guarantee to shoot at a bird on the wing so accurately!
* Before the beginning of Thomas Bernhard's grim novel ''The Lime Works'', the main character, who is a typical Bernhard character in that he's a dark and tortured DitzyGenius, has [[WhatTheHellHero shot his paraplegic wife in the head with the carbine he fitted to her wheelchair so she could fend off burglars.]]
* ''Literature/TheMarvellousLandOfSnergs'': Gorbo kills the ogre Golithos by embedding three arrows in his head.
* In the ''Literature/Monument14Trilogy'', Robbie gets shot in the head after the kids catch him trying to have sex with Sahalia.
* The preferred method of hitman Sean Callan in Don Winslow's "The Power of The Dog". He sticks with a .22 pistol as his weapon of choice, since he knows the .22 load is powerful enough to pierce the skull, but not exit it. That means the bullet rattles around the skull like a "pinball", shredding grey matter the whole time. Combined with his habitual DoubleTap, it makes him frighteningly efficient at killing.
* In ''Literature/{{Renegades}}'', Nova puts down the Detonator with a headshot, as anything less deadly would've given her enough time to detonate the bombs hidden around the amusement park.
* Literature/ShatteredContinent features these extensively, due to the abundance of things on Neue Erde that a center-mass hit will only slow down.
* In ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'', the Space Marines seem to prefer this, which combined with the fact that bolt rounds are explosive, leaves most of their targets headless.
* ''Literature/VirgilColeEverettHitch'': Koy Wickman's fate, courtesy of Hitch's eight gauge.
-->I hit him in the face with both barrels. It turned him completely around and propelled him about three steps before he went down. It didn't blow his head off like I'd said it would. But it was an awful mess.
%%* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', when Skitter executes Coil.
* ''Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide'' and its companion novel ''Literature/WorldWarZ'': Brain destruction is the only way to kill a zombie (even fire needs to cause brain damage to be effective, and the heads survive after decapitation), but it's not as simple as "Shoot in head, head explodes." It's perfectly possible to miss and shoot off the jaw, and one of the many demoralizing incidents in the Battle of Yonkers was soldiers panicking at the sight of zombies apparently surviving head shots, not realizing that their poorly aimed bullets were glancing off the skull. The fact that real soldiers are trained to aim at the center of mass is also touched upon: they have trouble unlearning that particular rule, and torso hits don't really slow zombies down all that much. Everyone, even the experienced marksmen, has to re-train themselves to shoot for the head. Real soldiers are also trained to fire at the head in situations exactly like those described in the book, though, as part of failure drills, especially at close range. It's even lampshaded in an entry detailing how a Chinese Army unit was up against a horde of zombies, but put them down quickly and efficiently from long range with their snipers, never realizing they were zombies. The Chinese snipers were trained to ''always'' aim for the head, so the zombies never got close to them and the soldiers didn't know what they were dealing with and had no reason to try and find out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': Variant. Since everyone uses [[BodyBackupDrive cortical stacks]], they can survive any injury so long as their stack is resleeved in a new body. Therefore, it's very common for people to shoot at the base of their brainstem, where the stack sits, rather than the skull, since that's a [[KilledOffForReal Real Death]]. And is typical for this trope, some of these shots are a bit improbable. While Kovacs and the numerous assassins certainly have the skills to reliably pull off a stackshot, Ortega's partner Samir manages to get shot perfectly in the stack when he [[TakingTheBullet covers her from a stackshot with his own body]].
* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'':
** During the Brecourt Manner assault in "Day of Days," a lost GI pokes his head up at the wrong moment while getting his bearings, and takes a round through the brain pan. While the series made it InTheBack instead because RealityIsUnrealistic, during the same engagement in RealLife Buck Compton pulled this off on a fleeing German soldier. ''With a grenade.''
** Sergeant Grant is shot in the head by a drunken replacement in "Points." He survives because they were able to rustle up a brain surgeon from one of the local German hospitals.
* ''Series/TheBarrier'': Alejo dies of a bullet in the head, after the armed guard restraining the person Alejo was insulting turns to be an ally of the restrained person taking advantage of FacelessGoons.
* ''Series/BigSky'': Cody gets killed by a shot to the head at close range by. Legarski is also downed by Cassie in the same way, though at a greater distance, later on.
* A hostage situation in ''Series/BlueBloods'' is ended this way when [[PapaWolf Frank Reagan]] kills the crook with a knife to his daughter's throat. Jamie Reagan stops a criminal from blowing up a room full of people this way in "Occupational Hazards".
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':
** In "The Bullet In The Brain" [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin (guess what it's about)]], The Gravedigger is headed to an appeal. Outside the courthouse, she's shot in the head by a high-caliber rifle (as the name of the episode implied). The shot makes her [[YourHeadASplode head asplode]].
** Another episode deals with a victim possibly killed in this manner, but the team have to figure out how many gunmen and who the victim was. It might have been JFK.
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'':
** Hank does this to one of the Mexican assassins sent to kill him. Made harder by the fact that Hank's been shot and is more or less paralyzed except for his arms. Made ''easier'' by the fact that the assassin is literally standing directly over Hank in order to kill him with an ''axe'' (it's kind of a thing with him), and messier by the bullet Hank used to put him down: a hollow-point.
** Hank himself ultimately meets such a fate at the hands of Jack Welker. He's not the first person to meet this fate at the hands of Jack, as Jack had earlier ended Declan's life by shooting him in the face.
** Ultimately, Jack dies [[KarmicDeath the same way Declan and Hank died]].
* Played in Season 8 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', as it happens to Ethan Rayne and The General.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** "Penelope": This is how J.J. takes down the crooked cop who nearly killed Garcia. She does so by ''shooting through a pane of glass'' while he isn't looking.
** "L.D.S.K": Reid manages to take Hotch's ankle-holster gun while being kicked, and then shoot straight through the [[ColdSniper sniper's]] forehead.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'':
** Frank Castle was shot in the head at close-range by the operatives who were sent to kill him and his family when he was about to blow the whistle on war crimes his fellow Marines were involved in. Frank survived, as if by a miracle, but there's an implication that he's taken some brain damage as a result.
** Frank practices one shot-one kill, so many of his targets get this fate: Finn Cooley, Colonel Schoonover, and one of the guys that he lures to a diner by using Karen Page as bait, among others.
** Also within ''Daredevil'' season 3, this is the fate given to Jasper Evans and Ray Nadeem courtesy of Dex.
* In ''Series/DegrassiHigh'', this is how Claude commits suicide. Snake, who found the body, mentioned later that only half his face was left.
* ''Series/TheDevilJudge'':
** Minister Cha kills herself by shooting herself in the head.
** Sun-ah shoots Heo Joong-se in the head, then kills herself the same way a few minutes later.
* Bennett Halverson gets shot by Whiskey in this manner in ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}''. Cue the waterworks.
* In the ''Series/EmeraldCity'' episode [[Recap/EmeraldCityS1E1TheBeastForever "The Beast Forever"]], Dorothy manages the impressive feat of landing a bullet between the eyes of her target without even holding the gun. She tricks East into pointing the pistol at herself and pulling the trigger. When the other witches examine East's body, they wonder how someone carved [[PrettyLittleHeadshots a perfectly round hole into her forehead and wonder why anyone would do so]].
* In the sixth season finale of ''Series/{{ER}}'', a cop on the scene of a mass shooting is shown doing CPR on someone whose brains were splattered all over the concrete. This ''is'' the show's typical subversion of WorstAid, since Dr. Kovac comes by and tells him to stop.
-->'''Dr. Kovac''': We'll never get her back with a head wound like that! Stop compressions!
* Many characters in ''Series/TheExpanse'' get their craniums fatally ventilated, but special mention goes to Shed Garvey, who had the misfortune of getting his head taken clean off by a railgun round during a heated SpaceBattle.
* ''Film/FinalDeployment4QueenBattleWalkthrough'':
** Scourge kills Xanxicon with a headshot.
** Featured in a FirstPersonShooter game near the end of the short film.
* In [[Recap/FireflyE01Serenity the first episode]] of ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', Dobson, an Alliance agent, holds River hostage. He gets about [[KilledMidSentence halfway through his "nobody move or I kill her" rant]] when [[GoodIsNotSoft Mal]], without even so much as ''breaking stride'' on his way back onto the ship, whips his revolver out and puts one right in Dobson's eye socket. The supplemental comic books reveal that Dobson somehow survives this, and gets tasked by the Hands of Blue with retrieving River, giving him a shot at revenge. He fails and gets shot in the other eye by Mal, along with a few more just to make sure he stays dead this time.
* On ''Series/ForeverKnight'', Nick gets one of these in 'Knight in Question'. He's a vampire, so he survives, but ends up with temporary LaserGuidedAmnesia. [=LaCroix=] has to help maintain the {{Masquerade}} by whammying the doctors with the idea that it bounced off Nick's 'very thick skull'.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Theon's rescuer kills the leader of his pursuers point-blank with an arrow to the face.
** A peasant who makes fun of Cersei gets a taste of this from Gregor smashing the poor bastard's head to the wall.
* The last season of ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' had an episode where a guy was wearing a bomb vest wired to his heart rate. The female immortal bounty hunter guest-star shoots him in the head (she tells him that by shooting him there, she will have a few seconds before his heart stops and the bomb goes off), then tackles him out the window and into the water, where the bomb won't hurt anyone else.
* ''Series/{{Hightown}}'': Osito uses this method on more than one occasion.
* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'':
** Sam Thorne is shot in the head execution style by a hitman on the orders of a cartel he was investigating.
** Felton's head is blown off after his undercover operation in a massive auto theft ring is uncovered by an information leak.
* ''Series/HouseOfSaddam'': The execution of several Baath loyalists. Even worse was that those that were spared were ordered to do the killing.
* In ''Series/{{iZombie}}'', {{B|igBad}}laine is fond of killing other zombies in this manner. Justified, since this is a surefire way of killing a zombie. He is shown doing this to two of his underlings who try to steal his clients from under him. He also kills Lowell in this manner, albeit in self-defense. Naturally, he doesn't do that to his human victims, since this would damage the brain, which is his primary commodity.
* ''Series/LetTheRightOneIn'':
** In "Broken Glass" Naomi shoots the killer she's been tracking (really a vampire, though she isn't aware of that) in the chest multiple times (as she's trained to) before finally shooting him in the head after the rest don't even slow him. This kills him, with her being spooked about it.
** Mark saves Eleanor from Matthew with a gunshot to his head.
* ''Series/MidnightSun2016'': Evalina was murdered with a bullet to the back of the head.
* ''Series/MurderInTheFirst'': Alfie Rentman dies this way, after holding a girl hostage and then threatening Hildy, at the hands of a police sniper.
* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode featuring ''Film/{{Gunslinger}}'', heroine Rose delivers the final blow on antagonist Cain by shooting him in the head. However, thanks to a bit of SpecialEffectFailure...
--> '''Joel''': ''[Rose fires, knocks off Cain's hat, Cain slumps over]'' Oh, shot him right in the hat.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' provides interesting variations of this.
** In one episode, Gibbs stops a computer by shooting it. When the computer boots back up again, Gibbs [[ComputerEqualsMonitor shoots the monitor to permanently shut it down]].
%%** This is what happens to the suspect that killed Chris Pacchi.
** At the end of Season 2 Kate went out this way, courtesy of Ari after TakingTheBullet for Gibbs by means of body armor. The event is recreated with Gibbs's ex-wife Diane by Sergei Mishnev.
** In a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in the Season 7 premiere, Gibbs does this to a terrorist who had taken [=McGee=], Tony, and Ziva hostage. From a ''half-mile away''.
--> '''Tony:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner Remember when I said my boss was a sniper?]]
* Deconstructed in ''Series/NineteenTwo'', where Jean-Pierre Harvey gets shot in the eye during a police operation in response to an armed suspect, suffering severe brain damage that leaves him mentally and physically crippled before he passes away.
* On ''Series/RookieBlue'' Andy is talking to a young woman when suddenly the woman gets shot in the head and Andy is splattered with the woman's blood and brain matter. The woman is brain dead and the doctors keep her body alive only because she is an organ donor and they need the police investigation to be closed before they can perform the transplants.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': This is how Sherlock gets rid of Magnussen in "[[Recap/SherlockS03E03HisLastVow His Last Vow]]", after the latter is [[TooDumbToLive dumb enough to reveal that there are no hard copies of his]] {{Blackmail}} [[TooDumbToLive material, and it was all kept in his head]].
* The first episode of ''Series/TheShield'' ends with [[DecoyProtagonist Detective Terry Crowley]] being suddenly shot in the head by Vic Mackey during a raid.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has a rather surprising (for the time) example in the first season episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E24Conspiracy Conspiracy]]": when confronted by Commander Dexter Remmick, who had been possessed by a parasitic lifeform, Picard and Riker both set their phasers to kill and fire on Remmick, causing his head to melt and promptly explode.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Ghouls can only be killed by a headshot. It is also a preferred method of killing [[{{Ghostapo}} Nazi necromancers]].
** In the episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS03E05BedtimeStories Bedtime Stories]]'', Sam uses the Colt to kill the Crossroads Demon this way.
* In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', the unceremonious death of Derek Reese after suddenly encountering an armed Terminator at close range.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Jason Stackhouse and Jessica Hamby get into an argument when he realizes she's just fed on a complete stranger. It escalates to the point that Jessica bites Jason on the neck, prompting him to shoot her in the head with his duty gun to get her off him. As Jessica is a vampire, it heals instantly, but she is none too pleased. She later rants about it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsqfJVsVrM4 in one of her vlogs]].
* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':
** It's common to see [[NotUsingTheZWord walkers]] getting headshots, but a particularly brutal example on a human was the death of Axel, who was casually talking to Carol and is suddenly KilledMidSentence by the Governor from afar. MoodWhiplash indeed.
** In the episode "Coda", escaped-hostage Bob Lamson gets executed by Rick in this manner. Also, from the same episode, Beth's death. Dear God, Beth's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn_vi6OVO_k death]].
* In ''Series/TheWire'' Chris Partlow, TheDragon for sociopathic druglord Marlo, trains his soldiers to shoot for the head if they're close enough and have a clear shot, or low enough that they'll be able to kill or incapacitate even a target that wears a BulletProofVest, as several of the drug dealers and [[KarmicThief stick up artists]] tend to do. We see it play out several times, perhaps most memorably when Chris and Snoop distract Bodie so that one of their men can sneak up behind him and shoot him in the head. [[DoubleTap Twice]]. In Season 3, Tri takes out Jelly this way as well, starting a gang war.
* ''Series/YTheLastMan2021'':
** Roxanne euthanizes one of her women who's dying from a gunshot with a headshot from close range.
** Regina is killed by a shot to the head after attempting to stop militia women storming the White House.
** Roxanne is shot dead by Nora this way at the end of Season 1.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* "Aim For The Head" by Music/CreatureFeature is all about doing this to ghouls, and "A Gorey Demise" mentions "K is for Kim, who was shot in the head".
* {{Dubstep}}[=/=]Electro house artist Feed Me made a StupidStatementDanceMix for a rather exuberant FPS player (FPS Doug from ''WebVideo/PurePwnage'' again) going about how he pulls these off with gusto. It's aptly titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1BDGqIfm8U "One Click Headshot"]], and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic it's awesome.]]
* The music video for "All About Us" by Music/{{Tatu}}, this is how one of the singers kills the man who almost raped, then beat and tried to kill her.
* In ''Music/WarrenZevon'''s "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner": "That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen blew off Roland's head."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* OlderThanFeudalism. In ''Literature/TheBible'', David hits Goliath right between his eyes with his slingshot. Then David goes up and behead Goliath with his own sword, [[PragmaticHero just to make sure he was dead]].
* Myth/CelticMythology: Similarly, in the ''Lebor Gabala Erenn'' or ''Book of Invasions'', an ancient Irish myth, Lugh of the Long Arm shoots a sling stone through his grandfather Balor's eye, driving it into his brain and killing him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinballs]]
* Done to the T-1000 in ''Pinball/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' when he tries to break into the elevator.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* In ''Podcast/TheFallenGods'', Solvin one-hit kills a draconian with an arrow directly through its head.
* In the first episode of ''Podcast/{{Jemjammer}}'', Alana hits a giant spider right between the eyes with her gun--and it's strong enough to completely disintegrate it.
-->'''[=Æ=]lfgifu:''' Next time we let ''her'' go first.
* The audio drama ''AudioPlay/WereAlive'' is a story set during a ZombieApocalypse with this being the most effective way to kill a zombie.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* In ''Roleplay/NanQuest'', Pablo is killed this way. Justified, as the target was standing still and had to be killed as quickly as possible.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': You can make a called shot at an enemy mech's head, but only if the mech is immobile due to being shut down or the pilot being unconsious. You take a mild penalty, but since the target typically won't have any defensive bonuses for movement this usually isn't too bad. In return, if you can deal at least 12 points of damage to the head you're guaranteed to kill the mech.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'', headshots are either the best or worst combat option. There is an attack penalty, but most [=PCs=] are skilled enough at gunplay that missing is rare. On the other hand, helmets tended to be much sturdier than body armour, so the chance of doing damage is reduced. But it's often worth it since headshots give the possibility of an instant kill if your gun is powerful enough.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' makes headshots a very tempting target with a 4x damage multiplier and even if the damage isn't lethal requires an immediate (nearly impossible) roll to avoid being stunned and knocked down. The penalty to hit, however, is very large.
* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' a headshot deals triple damage if they're not wearing a helmet, but requires three successes on a Single Shot, in which case you don't get any extra dice for your gun's rate of fire and have to rely on your Trait dice (which have an unaugmented max of three dice). But you can still hit them somewhere else unarmored with just two successes, and the [[SniperRifle H-101 Long-arm]] deals 15 damage per hit, more than any other gun short of the [[{{BFG}} V-801 Mag-Lance]].
* ''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'' gives a -8 penalty to your roll if you're going for a head shot. For comparison, BlastingItOutOfTheirHands is only a -6. But a head shot also does double BODY damage, and five times the STUN damage, so unless your target is wearing a helmet it's worth trying.
* A combat technique of the same name in ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'' allows you to aim at an opponent's head. You get a penalty to the attack but it does double damage if it hits.
* This is a called shot in TabletopGame/ShadowRun.
* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': This is depicted in the artwork of [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Graydle_Combat Graydle Combat]]. Graydle Slime is seen being shot in the head by a card effect, and Graydle Slime Jr. emerges from it as a result.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}'': Crown Prince Rudolf dies via a self-inflicted headshot in Mayerling, as in real life.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* In ''Ride/MenInBlackAlienAttack'' at Ride/UniversalStudios, guests are encouraged to aim for the aliens' heads for best chance at scoring points.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': This happens a lot with the combatants.
** [[Franchise/StarFox Fox McCloud]] inflicting this on [[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]] with a charged pistol.
** ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} gets hits by this courtesy of Characters/{{Deathstroke}}. However, Deadpool's healing factor meant it didn't last.
** ComicBook/GreenArrow dies this way when his opponent, ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} uses his Adamantium-tipped arrow to shoot through not just his head, but his Diamond-tipped arrow beforehand too.
** [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlue Meta]] getting this when Caroline uses his own weapon to blow his head off.
** [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]] when [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] uses his pirecing laser keyblade on him.
** [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Leon S. Kennedy]] to [[Franchise/DeadRising Frank West]], though with a thrown knife. Considering Frank was a zombie, it was only fitting Leon killed him that way.
** [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlue Donut]], [[CollateralDamage Church, Tucker, and Tex]] getting this when Caboose's richoetting bullet ends up hitting them.
** [[ComicBook/XMen Storm]] inflicting this on [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korra]], though using Korra's own lightning and through direct physical contact.
** [[Manga/{{AKIRA}} Tetsuo Shima]] suffers this when ComicBook/{{Magneto}} unleashes an energy beam through his head, as part of a MercyKill.
* ''WebAnimation/InvaderZimLostEpisodeRare'': Dib gets a bloody hole blown in his forehead with a pistol courtesy of Zim-Zam, and then a second, even bigger one. This does not bother him in the slightest.
* ''WebAnimation/LoboWebseries'': Lobo does this to his enemies quite often.
* ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner''
** In "The Run", one of the elite ''Tempest'' players gets a finger-gun blast through the head thanks to Tari.
** A much more fatal example occurs in "Fatal Error" with Lucks.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
** Sarge is struck down by Tex this way. He's revived by Grif. [[WorstAid Giving him CPR]]. Yeah, it's like that.
** In Season 14, this is how Daggerknife is killed, trying to show that he was so devoted to the Red cause that he ''shot himself to prove it''. Sarge accepts it and decides he's the best man to have the title of Sergeant, but since he's ''dead'', he gets it.
* In WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation's ''VideoGame/DayZ'' review, Yahtzee's {{Author Avatar}} is shot right between the eyes by a sniper after finding [[SchmuckBait a cache of guns and ammo in an abandoned building in front of a conspicuously broken window and a dead player with the same injury.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
%%* ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'': Walter's response to Mary's hypocritical ''InTheNameOfTheMoon'' speech.
* ''Webcomic/FateTypeRedline'': Archer shoots a Nazi officer in the face, which destroys the top half of his head.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Ruxala makes taking out warrior wasps look easy by shooting a bunch in the head, while [[BerserkerTears crying about the death]] the things have wrought and [[OffhandBackhand without even looking at most of them]]. She keeps this up after she's been stabbed and poisoned and is [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120622 being carried from the wreckage.]]
%%* ''{{Webcomic/Sarilho}}'': Implied in the case of Victor. Totally not implied for Jacinto. Twice.
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
** Subverted with Uniocs, they don't have "heads" per say, but their eyes look a bit [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2008-08-10 like heads.]]
** One villain gets a bullet [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-06-21 through the mouth]], but thanks to some blood-nanites [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-08-19 it doesn't take.]]
* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': When Cassidy attacks Undine during their training club, Bud [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-14-page-29 interrupts their fight]] via a laser blast to the head of Cassidy's [[DoppelgangerAttack clone]], destroying it instantly.
--> '''Bud:''' Sorry, reflex.
* Early in chapter 1 of ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'' sniper Grey O'Shea puts a round through the faceplate of an [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Azatoth]] soldier flanking one of his fellows. Then another Azatoth returns the favor and shoots his spotter in the back of the head.
* ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'': In "Deng Deng: Doom", Baylord Doom gets a giant magical spear thrown sideways through the head. It would have killed him if he hadn't been using his SuperMode.
* ''Webcomic/Trevor2020'': Enid [[HandCannon shoots]] Trevor in the eye, blasting a hole in his head. [[ImplacableMan Doesn't slow]] [[HealingFactor him down]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Website/TheOnion'' with their report on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQhvW-tjNM&NR=1 "Close Range"]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* This is one of [[TheGunslinger Percy's]] abilities in ''WebVideo/CriticalRole.'' Mechanically, he can take a headshot to impose disadvantage on attack rolls; he's also killed a stitch monster in the Underdark and Clarota this way.
* Messier does this to a Meyer Security prison guard while rescuing the rest of The Anarchists in ''WebVideo/DoorMonster''[='s=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uam0KMyZh2E&index=3&list=PL0u5ZHidq4X4QhFAX9FzSiYJLRen74sLF The Guards Themselves]].
* Episode 2 of ''WebVideo/MissingReel'', [[ExcitedShowTitle "Zombies"!]], since it emphasizes how ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' established the "aim for the head" method of killing zombies.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic does this to keep Roger the Angel from killing him in "[[ItsAWonderfulPlot You're a Rotten Dirty Bastard]]." Much to Roger's surprise since he thought angels couldn't be killed.
-->'''Roger:''' Hmm... so God lied to me.... that seems like a bit of a dick move.
* How [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Snake]] kills Liquid the second time around in ''WebVideo/StupidMarioBrothers''.
* ''Series/TheWeather'': "James" the hunter kills the talkative owl by shooting it in the head, accompanied with a shot of the owl's blown-off head.
%%* Activists against autonomous killer drones shot a cute little film. (Technically, Boom Head C4, but with the same result.) %%Provide the actual link
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'', Gwen performs a G-rated version of this by using a squirt gun against aliens who are weak to water.
* Another G-rated example occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E4WhereNoDuckHasGoneBefore Where No Duck Has Gone Before]]"; Launchpad blasts Bulvan in the face with the food-maker he nabbed from the Kronks' robot, knocking him back and blurring his vision long enough for the party to escape.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS12E11BriansABadFather Brian's a Bad Father]]", Quagmire shoots [[{{Jerkass}} Peter]] through the skull (with [[EyeScream his eyeball popping out]]) as payback for getting shot in the arm by him. Peter does survive, though is left in a crippled state.
-->'''Quagmire:''' [[BondOneLiner Alright, we're good.]]
* One episode of ''Westernanimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' has Mordhaus snipers blasting off Erik Jomfru's head, leaving just his tongue flailing.
[[/folder]]

* In the 9th volume of ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'', Issei finishes the fight at Kyoto when he fires his Trianna Bishop ShoulderCannons at Cao Cao ''in the face'' just when he was about to retreat. [[BadassNormal Cao Cao survived]] but is missing an eye thanks to it.

* Manga/{{Golgo 13}} almost always goes for a head shot.
* In the 9th volume of ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'', Issei finishes the fight at Kyoto when he fires his Trianna Bishop ShoulderCannons at Cao Cao ''in the face'' just when he was about to retreat. [[BadassNormal Cao Cao survived]] but is missing an eye thanks to it.

* Happens to Johan Liebert from ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' twice. Lampshaded by Martin mocking a gunman for ''not shooting someone in the head''. That someone is him.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': When dealing with a FullConversionCyborg, this seems like the only way to win due their durability. Akira uses an anti-tank rifle round on the heads of the DoubleAgent relic thief Yajima, the leader of a robbery of Sheryl's shop Zelmo, as well as the experimental TragicMonster DrivenByEnvy Tiol. The latter two, due to being OnlyMostlyDead and living on digitally, try to get ResurrectionRevenge, but finally die other ways.