History Main / HalfTheManHeUsedtoBe

[[quoteright:200:[[PennyArcade http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_penny-arcade_2009-8-26_-_the_universal_fantasy.jpg]]]]

A character gets cut (or, less often, blown or ripped) in half, usually during combat but occasionally in an accident, building collapse or some other scenario. Different from SawAWomanInHalf because the victims here are usually male, there are no stage magicians involved and the bodies are very rarely put back together.

** The lasers actually cauterizes the wounds, so therefore no blood.

* This happens to Isaku in ''{{Blade of the Immortal}}''.
** Believe it or not [[spoiler:[[IGotBetter He Gets Better.]]]]

** [[spoiler: Poor Hiyori. In the manga, she got cut in half literally by Gin, not noticing until ''[[NightmareFuelUnleaded her legs went]]'' [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091013220230/bleach/en/images/3/30/Hiyori_in_Half_2.jpg flying past her]]''. In the anime she gets ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice instead, but still....]]

* This is the final fate of [[spoiler: Aki Honda]] in ''{{Narutaru}}'', to the point of FanDisservice. Her death was so violent, that it was cut out in the international versions of the manga.

* In an episode of ''ThePowerPuffGirls'' Buttercup slices a cyclops monster in half, its two halves then hop away.
* In the mid evil episode of {{SpongebobSquarepants}} Spongebob slices Squidward in half as a demonstration of karate to the mid evil Sandy, he is fine later.

* [[spoiler: Miko Miyazaki]] in ''OrderOfTheStick''. [[spoiler: Somewhat ironically, as she kills a previous villain this way in one of her first appearances]].

* In an episode of the {{PowerPuffGirls}} Buttercup slices a cyclops monster in half, its two halves then hop away.

* [[spoiler: Miko Miyazaki]] in ''OrderOfTheStick'' [[spoiler: Somewhat ironically, as she kills a previous villain this way in one of her first appearances]].

* Krunch of ''LookingForGroup'' does this to the dwarf that [[spoiler: killed his father]] by grabbing each arm and pulling. THere were LudicrousGibs, of course.

* In almost every one of his various ''FinalFantasy'' appearances, Odin's [[OneHitKill Zantetsuken]] slices enemies in two for instant death, and the halves slide apart. ''FinalFantasyVIII'' had Seifer counter the Zantetsuken and slice ''Odin'' in half. When Gilgamesh inherits the Zantetsuken, the upper half of the sliced enemy (and parts of the scenery) fly off violently.
** He uses this in his fight in the flashback of his battle in the War of the Magi in the castle sequence of Final Fantasy VI, cutting apart several Mooks in the process. Then [[TheWorfBarrage it fails to even faze]] [[OhCrap that last foe]]...

* With the [[BladeBelowTheShoulder Blade]], [[CombatTentacle Whipfist]] and Claw powers in {{Prototype}} you can slice up people in three different ways: sideways, vertically and diagonally. Or you can just grab people with the Musclemass power, and [[BloodyHilarious pull them in half]].

* Wario can get cut in half vertically in ''WarioLandThree''. Since he always comes back together as if nothing happened, it's only a minor inconvinience.

** It goes back as early as ''MegaManZero'', or, maybe even further, ''MegaManX'' (most notabe example: [[spoiler:''Zero'' himself]]).

* Used by Maka and Soul several times in {{Soul Eater}}. Stein does it the once in {{creepy awesome}} fashion with Medusa.
** Doesn't Stein do ''everything'' in {{creepy awesome}} fashion?

* In one book in the ''{{MalazanBookOfTheFallen}}'' series, a wizard gets cut in half in the middle of a battle, and keeps himself alive briefly with magic. [[spoiler: It turns out this was in order to complete a spell to transfer his soul into a little marionnette.]]

** Menoly is not cleanly blasted in half by [[spoiler: Grimmjow]], but it's [[http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/274/12/ close enough.]] Subverted a while later, when [[spoiler: Orihime]] manages to put her back together again.

** Menoly is not cleanly blasted in half by [[spoiler: Grimmjow}}, but it's [[http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/274/12/ close enough.]] Subverted a whilw later, when [[spoiler: Orihime]] manages to put her back together again.

* Used by Maka and Soul several times in {{Soul Eater}}. Stein does it the once in creepy, awesome fashion with Medusa.
** Doesn't Stein do ''everything'' he does in a creepy, awesome fashion?

* Genderflipped in ''NaruTaru''. This is the final fate of [[spoiler: Aki Honda,]] to the point of FanDisservice. [[spoiler:Her death]] was so violent, that it was cut out in the international versions of the manga.

* In ''HeatGuyJ'', [[BigBadassWolf Boma]] takes a katana and slices through a man ''and'' his gun [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome in one clean cut.'']]

* This is the fate of ''RurouniKenshin'' villain Uonuma Usui, cut in half at the waist by Saito Hajime in the manga. This troper doesn't know for sure but suspects the scene was probably toned down for the anime.

* Happens off-camera in ''[[DieHard Die Hard With A Vengeance]]''... we see a man get hit by a steel cable, then when the heroes are moving the body one of them says "I'll get his legs". It's obvious from the way the legs are being carried alongside the rest of the body that the victim was torn in half, but we never get to see the damage in any sort of detail.
** [[{{Fallingwater}} This troper]] advances the guess that the parent has seen a censored version of the movie. The one he saw showed a very brief and blurry, but by no means nonexistent, scene in which said man is actually shown being bisected by the cable.
** [[{{chitoryu12}} This troper]] can back it up. To be exact, it shows a far shot, slightly zoomed and blurry, of the guard on the deck of the ship he's guarding get hit by the cable, at which point his torso is violently thrown away from his legs.

* [[TheVentureBrothers Brock Samson]] does this to mercenary LeTour with his own sword. "A 7-10 split, good luck picking up that spare."

* In the video game ''SpiderManWebOfShadows'', the 'evil' option at the end of a boss battle against a Symbiote-possessed Wolverine involves you tearing him in half at the waist - duplicating the Hulk's impressive feat from years before, in a demonstration of just how strong your Symbiote is becoming... or maybe the designers just forgot about the whole 'Unbreakable adamantium spine' thing and went with RuleOfCool. Either way, [[GoryDiscretionShot you don't get to see the actual damage]] - just the separate halves of him, pointing in opposite directions, while Wolverine bitches at you.