History Main / BrokenFaceplate

* In ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'', Nakajo [[InvulnerableKnuckles punches]] the masked biker's helmet hard enough to smash it. This doesn't even knock him out.

* In the ''Dornian Heresy'' (an AlternateContinuity of the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} ''Horus Heresy'']]), Sanguinius came into the care of the Baalite mutants who called themselves the Changed. With Sanguinius's help, the Changed defeated the Faceless Ones and piled their smashed rad-suit helmets at the base of Angel Falls.
* In ''FanFic/FalloutEquestria'', Littlepip deals with a troublesome Enclave soldier by putting a large crack in her PoweredArmor faceplate and hurling her into a vat of mutagenic chemicals. The results are [[TransformationHorror not ]] [[NauseaFuel pretty.]]

* In ''Breakaway'', the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Space 1999}}'', astronaut Nordstrom flips out on the Moon's surface, is zapped by a laser barrier and is thrown to the ground, cracking the faceplate of his helmet on an inconvenient rock. He survives it, but it doesn't really get any better for him.

* In ''Videogame/BattleZone1998'', the first NSDF Europa mission ends with a shot of a [[DirtyCommunists Cosmo Colonist Army]] trooper with his helmet shattered, his face [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath bloating out and freezing simultaneously]] in the vacuum. In ''Battlezone II: Combat Commander'', mission failure with the ISDF results in a shot of your character's head exploding out through the LatexSpaceSuit's faceplate while the rest of their body melts.

* During the "Bring Down the Sky" mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', a survivor of the attack mentions that the Batarian terrorists killed engineers working vacuum by smashing their faceplates.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Metro 2033}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'', this is a gameplay mechanic similar to the ''Black Ops'' example above when you go above ground: your gas mask will start to crack and break as you take damage while wearing it. As it gets closer to breaking, it becomes less effective, and when it has a hole punched in it, it's done for and you have to find another in less than thirty seconds.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* [[spoiler: Mistress Butterfly]] of ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'' cements her status as a BigBad by shattering the cyclops like faceplate of a [[TheWorfEffect supposedly powerful]] member of the association called a Judicatrix.

* The remake of ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheBirthOfJapan'' have Doraemon and gang battling the masked villain, GIgazombie, whose mask later gets split vertically into two by a flung spear, revealing Gigazombie's true face to the heroes for the first time. [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse Turns out Gigazombie looks like an ordinary person under that sinister mask]].

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/MotorCrush https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1597675_xl.jpg]]]]

->''His brains they are arrayed among the ruins of the lies he's spoken''

->''His brains they are arranged among the ruins of the lies he's spoken''

* In [[ComicBook/TheTransformers Marvel's Transformers comics]], Optimus Prime's famous faceplate was melted away when he was consumed in the explosion of Unicron's destruction. In the Transformers Generation 2 continuation, his faceplate was punched clean off by the berserk Jhiaxus.

-->-- '''[[{{Music/Gwar}} GWAR]]''', Immortal Corrupter

-->-- '''[[Music/GWAR]]''', Immortal Corrupter

-->-- '''[[Music/GWAR GWAR]]''', Immortal Corrupter

** In "The Flax", Crichton and Aeryn are trapped in a damaged transport pod and the only way to fix it is to depressurize briefly. They have suits but the visor on Crichton's helmet is cracked so he won't be able to fix the environmental controls. Instead he tells Aeryn how to fmake the repairs and how to perform [[CPRCleanPRettyReliable CPR]] to revive him once she's sealed the pod.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'', the state of Dave's eyeglasses symbolizes the state of his sanity. For most of the comic's run, his glasses are intact but represented as opaque. Towards the end when Dave finally realizes the great secret responsible for much of his life's path, his glasses are suddenly represented as clear, showing that he can see clearly now. And then one of the lenses cracks, as a not-so-subtle way to show that Dave is half-cracked.

* In [[''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' Marvel's Transformers comics]], Optimus Prime's famous faceplate was melted away when he was consumed in the explosion of Unicron's destruction. In the Transformers Generation 2 continuation, his faceplate was punched clean off by the berserk Jhiaxus.
** In the GrandFinale of [[''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'' the original IDW comics timeline]], this was inverted: his faceplate was all that was left of him after his death. Coincidentally, on that occasion he was also consumed by the destruction of Unicron. During his funeral, Windblade placed the faceplate on his (empty) coffin.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManZXAdvent'', the final boss [[spoiler:[[GodhoodSeeker Master Albert]]]] wears a full helmet with the front covered in opaque dark-blue glass that only shows his GlowingEyesOfDoom. Defeating him shows in the following cutscene Grey/Ashe manages to shatter the glass, revealing the fatally wounded [[spoiler:Albert's]] face as he spitefully condemns them [[DefeatEqualsExplosion before he explodes]].

* The movie poster for ''Film/{{Sputnik}}'' shows the protagonist holding the bloodstained and shattered helmet of a cosmonaut. Turns out [[OrificeInvasion something got inside the survivor]].

witch on the isles. At first, it's all she can do just to stay alive, while he's [[JustToyingWithThem not even trying]] - until he lets his guard down and she chips off part of his mask with a surprise attack. This convinces him to get to [[DealWithTheDevil the point of their meeting]], with an added warning that he'll stop being so friendly if she does that again.

* In the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz takes on Emperor Belos, the most powerful [[/folder]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1559597658069536000
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* Ryuga in ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'' gets his helmet smashed open in the last episode of the first season.
* ''Anime/PumpkinScissors'':
** [[ActionGirl Alice]] is buying time for Randel by taking on an entire division of Claymores (masked, heavily-armoured shock troopers). The captain mocks her because she's getting tired; her response is to hack right through the metal faceplate of the captain with her [[{{BFS}} double-bladed cavalry sword]], then slash through his body armour.
** The same episode has another example near the end. [[spoiler: As the body of [[TragicVillain Hans]] of the [[KillItWithFire 908th High-Temperature Troop]] is being carted away, we see the faceplate of his [[ImmuneToBullets flame and bullet resistant armour]] cracked wide open. As he can no longer survive outside his suit, this example is even more appropriate than most.]]
* In ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', one of the most common and effective ways to show that a foe is to be feared is for them to break Hei's [[WhiteMaskOfDoom mask]].
* Very dramatically in the ''Anime/CodeGeass'' first SeasonFinale: [[spoiler: Suzaku shoots a bullet straight at Zero's forehead; the mask slowly cracks, falling into two pieces on the floor and finally revealing Lelouch's identity to both him and Kallen.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', a sign that Vash is [[BerserkButton genuinely pissed]] is that he aims to kill, hitting the eye portion of Monev's transparent faceplate and cracking it, though Monev survives the shot.
* Happens in ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' several times, but it is rarely if ever meant to be a GoryDiscretionShot, given how graphic deaths are in the series.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** In the metaseries, the sight of a shattering faceplate is usually, though not always, the signal that a pilot is now dead. At best, it's a sign of severe injury and possible major life change.
** In ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' Episode 20, in the after credits scene, this involves TheReveal of [[spoiler:Aila]] being the lady with the helmet to Reiji.
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', when Matt is shot by Takada's bodyguards, his goggles are cracked.

* Comicbook/{{Galactus}}'s CoolHelmet is occasionally cracked during battles, though this can happen with opponents who are much weaker than he is, like ComicBook/{{Thor}}. On one occasion, ComicBook/{{Thanos}} was able to [[ClothingDamage blow off most of his armor]] revealing a [[HumanAlien human-looking form]] beneath his armor, though this is [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm just what the human mind perceives]].

* In the Dornian Heresy (an AlternateContinuity of the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} Horus Heresy]]), Sanguinius came into the care of the Baalite mutants who called themselves the Changed. With Sanguinius's help, the Changed defeated the Faceless Ones and piled their smashed rad-suit helmets at the base of Angel Falls.

* Invoked. In ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheMovie'', Cobra Commander's plate falls off infront of Roadblock, [[spoiler:after he was blinded]].

* During their clash in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Finn damages Captain Phasma's helmet, enabling viewers to see one of her clear blue eyes for the first (and possibly last) time.
* ''Film/AdAstra''.
** During the Moon buggy chase, the MauveShirt lieutenant commanding Roy's escort is KilledMidSentence by a BoomHeadshot smashing in his faceplate.
** While investigating a space station laboratory, an astronaut is attacked by an [[ManiacMonkeys escaped lab monkey]] who [[CruelAndUnusualDeath smashes in his helmet and chews off his nose]]. The protagonist desperately tries to cover the massive hole with duct tape, but he's dead by the time they get him back to his own spacecraft.

* Frequently appears in the Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse:

** In the finale to the second ''Saga Of The Gray Death Legion'' novel, Grayson Carlyle is forced to jettison his mech's armored canopy and fight off a lance of enemy mechs. By the end of the fight, he's suffering from second-degree burns and corneal damage from the searing light of his mech's twin {{Lightning Gun}}s

* In the Creator/RayBradbury story ''Kaleidoscope'', several astronauts are thrown into space with no hope of rescue. One of them starts screaming hysterically, and rather than listen to this over the suit radio for the rest of his short life, the protagonist smashes the man's faceplate.

* This happens in Toku shows if someone has taken a '''really''' hard hit. Their suit is always intact next time it's used, though, somehow.

* In ''Breakaway'', the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Space 1999}}'', astronaut Nordstrom flips out on the Moon's surface, is zapped by a laser barrier and is thrown to the ground, cracking the faceplate of his helmet on an inconvenient rock. He survives it, but it doesn't really get any better for him.

* Used in first person in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando''. The leader of Delta Squad will get [[InterfaceScrew cracks and chips on his visor when taking damage]], which will be quickly repaired as the helmet's systems re-surface the visor.
* Used on the cover of ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}''. [[CoversAlwaysLie Not that it ever actually happens in the game]].
* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', a scene near the end of the game shows the aftermath of a battle, with many broken and imobile suits of Terran power armor strewn across the ground. One prominent shot shows a large hole shot through the characteristic domed visor.
** A news report in ''[[VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'' symbolizes a report on [[spoiler: Jim Raynor's faked]] execution with a shot of his suit with a bullet through the faceplace.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** A few examples in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'':
*** [[PlayerCharacter Noble Six]]'s helmet is shown as a DeadHatShot InMediasRes during the opening cutscene, half buried in the dirt, [[{{Foreshadowing}} lying alone and abandoned on a charred battlefield]].
*** [[spoiler:[[InterfaceScrew Seen from first person]] when Noble Six is making a LastStand against the Covenant, and we learn why the helmet was discarded as shown in the opening.]]
** In the teaser for ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', Master Chief's visor is cracked. He sports the look in-game [[spoiler:after Locke kicks him in the face]].

* During the "Bring Down the Sky" mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', a survivor of the attack mentions that the Batarian terrorists killed engineers working vacuum by smashing their faceplates.
* The GameOver screen in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''.
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' Samus comes across the leader of a group of Federation Marines on planet Aether. His faceplate is broken, so you know he's dead.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Metro 2033}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'', this is a gameplay mechanic similar to the ''Black Ops'' example above when you go above ground: your gas mask will start to crack and break as you take damage while wearing it. As it gets closer to breaking, it becomes less effective, and when it has a hole punched in it, it's done for and you have to find another in less than thirty seconds.
* The mask of Yasha, which symbolizes his allegiance to the Seven Deities in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', takes more and more damage throughout the game, at one point being removed when he joins Asura in opposing his bosses, before finally shattering completely when Yasha finally dies in Episode 21.
* In the Macintosh FMV shooting gallery game ''Blood Bath'', the screen cracks when you get hit, and displays a blood splatter when you are killed.
* In ''Videogame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun'' the Nod campaign starts with a pan shot to a fallen Nod trooper, who's helmet is blown open. Unlike most other instances of this trope, if you look closely you can see the remains of the guy's face (it ain't pretty). This is intentionally juxtaposed with Nod Propaganda being broadcast over the trooper's transmitter, which leads into the actual intro.

* The Bulldozer units in ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' can have its faceplate broken when shot at enough times, allowing you to do massive damage afterwards. in ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'', Bulldozers have several layers of faceplates and when you break them all, you can see the unit's face.
* In ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' while infiltrating a TYM factory in Hengsha, [[PlayerCharacter Jensen]] comes across a TYM employee who just got caught in an industrial accident. He is trapped in a room full of toxic gas, and something smacked him across the head and broke the clear visor of his HazmatSuit. He has a secondary rebreather beneath that, but it is clearly not as effective without the suit's seal, and the man is running out of time.
* In ''Videogame/BattleZone1998'', the first NSDF Europa mission ends with a shot of a [[DirtyCommunists Cosmo Colonist Army]] trooper with his helmet shattered, his face [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath bloating out and freezing simultaneously]] in the vacuum. In ''Battlezone II: Combat Commander'', mission failure with the ISDF results in a shot of your character's head exploding out through the LatexSpaceSuit's faceplate while the rest of their body melts.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' uses the broken face plate during the very first mission. It happens almost immediately to the PlayerCharacter, though they quickly repair the damage with their omnitool. Later...the effects of a completely shattered face plate are a little harder to overcome.

* The bad ending of ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' if you run out of time on the sixth stage.
* This happens to [[BlackKnight Alternis Dim]] after his defeat in ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault.''
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' - the mask of Peter's new, armored suit gets cracked about halfway through the final boss battle. [[spoiler: Peter briefly tries to hide his face, only for Octavius to reveal he already knows it's him.]]
* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the BigBad Shriek's [[HornsOfVillainy horned skull headgear]] gets broken when Seir fends her off near the end of the story.

* Meta Knight from the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series normally falls victim to this after you defeat him in his boss fight. It also reveals that his real face is [[spoiler: a lot like Kirby's]]. He normally flees after you see it.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'', the state of Dave's eyeglasses symbolizes the state of his sanity. For most of the comic's run, his glasses are intact but represented as opaque. Towards the end when Dave finally realizes the great secret responsible for much of his life's path, his glasses are suddenly represented as clear, showing that he can see clearly now. And then one of the lenses cracks, as a not-so-subtle way to show that Dave is half-cracked.

* An early page of ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'' has resident FriendlySniper Grey O'Shea save one of his unit by putting a round through the faceplate of an [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Azatoth]] soldier.

* ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' has a situation where a North Korean superhero raids a research faculty in the USA intending to steal a superweapon. the american general tells him, smugly and unwisely, that his platoon of SuperSoldiers are wearing power armour and protection that makes them imvulnerable to superpowers. The supervillain Colonel Glass then smiles wickedly and points out that his name is Colonel Glass. What do you think my superpower is? He then notes the soldiers are wearing vision-enhnacing lenses in their faceplates. which from the point of view of a supervillian who can manipulate glass and turn it into, say, razor-sharp shards propelled with some force, is rather convenient. He then proceeds to blind each soldier in one eye. Because he's felling merciful.

* In the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz takes on Emperor Belos, the most powerful witch on the isles. At first, it's all she can do just to stay alive, while he's [[JustToyingWithThem not even trying]] - until he lets his guard down and she chips off part of his mask with a surprise attack. This convinces him to get to [[DealWithTheDevil the point of their meeting]], with an added warning that he'll stop being so friendly if she does that again.
[[/folder]]