History Main / KnifeThrowingAct

* This is part of an interrogation technique used on a drug dealer in ''Anime/{{Dominion}}''. First, they strap the man on a wheel. Then, Leona walks up in a PlayboyBunny outfit and politely asks who his suppliers are. If he doesn't answer, she stuffs a pinless grenade in his mouth and spins the wheel. Then the rest of the squad starts throwing knives at the man. They call this technique the "Wheel of Fortune".

* In the final level of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', a terrifying [[CircusOfFear circus made of meat]], you must navigate a few deadly obstacle courses including tight ropes, trapeezes, and, of course, sword-flinging knife throwers that only aim for you. There's a puzzle where you have to jump in front of a rotating shield at ''just'' the right moment so that a knife thrower tosses a knife that impales the shield and becomes a handle which you can catch to hitch a ride upwards.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "Dial S for Suspicion", Wilma's old boyfriend Rodney Whetstone is a knife thrower with the circus. Through a series of coincidences, Fred becomes convinced that Wilma is trying to kill to him. Naturally, that night at the circus, Fred is called up onto to stage to act as Rodney's target...

* Anime/PopeeThePerformer'': Popee and Kedamono are both very skilled at knife throwing in very different ways. Kedamono never hits the person being thrown at, but Popee ''always'' does.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'', while Rigadon and Tico work in a circus while penny-less in Yokohama, Rigadon almost gets killed in a knife act thrown by villain and MasterOfDisguise Transfer. Willy steps up and saves him.

* Being part of a circus as his cover, Trowa of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' performs in this act as the target. [[TheStoic He doesn't even flinch]] when the knife was thrown close enough to draw blood.

* "Conspiracy of Silence", an episode of the television spy series ''Series/TheAvengers'', featured a knife throwing act played by real artists Elizabeth and Collins.

* In the music video for Music/{{Coldplay}}'s Magic, this is featured. In the extended edition of the video, Chris Martin's character is stabbed through the heart. Lucky for him, this is {{only a dream}}.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fanart sometimes has [[{{Meido}} Sakuya]] [[KnifeNut Izayoi]] do this ''to'' Hong Meiling. Sometimes (usually depending on Sakuya's mood) the poor girl ends up becoming a {{Youkai}} [[HumanPincushion Pincushion]].

* Some of your first permanent party members in ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' are knifethrowers working at a carnival. They use Riou as part of the act and can actually hit him if you move him around. He gets better, though.

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', at the Cabaret, you can see one of these performed. This being ''Grand Theft Auto'', he 'fails' the act and hits her, resulting in a bloody mess. And judging from the way he yelled at her, it wasn't an accident.

* The Marionettes in ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' use this as an attack.
* In the Amiga game ''VideoGame/{{Heimdall}}'', the protagonist has to prove his worth (in order to recruit a decent crew) by, among other tasks, cut the braids of a barmaid with throwing axes.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'' card Knife Juggler uses this trope. "Put this apple on your head." "Hey, catch!"
* In ''VideoGame/LostSmileAndStrangeCircus'', Billy's usual circus act consists of this, just with stuffed animals instead of people. At one point he asks Noah if she would like to be the LovelyAssistant in one of his acts, but after seeing her reaction says it's a joke.

* Done in the WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker short "WesternAnimation/TheDizzyAcrobat". Woody walks right past the LovelyAssistant just as the knives come flying in but somehow escapes unscathed.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "Dial S for Suspicion", Wilma's old boyfriend Rodney Whetstone is a knife thrower with the circus. Through a series of coincidences, Fred becomes convinced that Wilma is trying to kill to him. Naturally, that night at the circus, Fred is called up onto to stage to act as Rodney's target...

* In ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'', while Rigadon and Tico work in a circus while penny-less in Yokohama, Rigadon almost gets killed in a knife act thrown by villain and MasterOfDisguise Transfer. Willy steps up and saves him.

* ''WEsternAnimation/NumbChucks'': In "Couch Potato", Quills performs a blindfolded knife-throwing act using her quills as the knives and an annoying reporter as the target girl. As she has never done this before, it leads to a nasty accident (off-screen).

* Steven Millhauser's short story ''Literature/TheKnifeThrower'' features a thrower who specialises in nicking or marking those who stand at the target board for him. It was published in 1998 as part of a collection that bears the same title.
* The novel ''Knives of Desire'' by Creator/MarionZimmerBradley (writing under the pen name Morgan Ives) is about a woman who becomes involved in a lesbian relationship after joining a circus to be the target girl for a female knife thrower.

* A knife thrower plays a prominent role in the TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} novel ''Carnival of Fear''.

* In ''The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar'' by Creator/RoaldDahl, "the man who could see without his eyes" makes his fortune in part by doing a knife-throwing act while very, very blindfolded.
* Thom practices throwing knives at Nynaeve in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series, when both of them are stuck with the travelling circus.
* The relationship between a target girl and a circus knifethrower is the central motif in the poem cycle ''Das Mädchen und der Messerwerfer'' published in 1997 by noted German poet Wolf Wondratschek.

* The short story ''Han's Crime'' by Naoya Shiga centers around the murder trial of a knife thrower who killed his target during his act.
* Falon's act in the player's troupe in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''.

* Mr Grin in ''[[Literature/AlexRider Stormbreaker]]'' used to be part of a knife-throwing act in which he would catch a knife between his teeth during the act's finale. As a result of the act going horribly wrong, he now sports a GlasgowGrin and [[TongueTrauma has difficulty speaking properly]].

* The cover of ''Stick It to Ya'', the debut album by heavy metal band Slaughter, was infamous for a picture by photographer Glen Wexler of former Magazine/{{Playboy}} playmate Laurie Carr wearing a swimsuit, strapped to a target board and surrounded by knives. The cover of a subsequent release, ''Stick It Live'', featured an image apparently from the same shoot as the first but this time showing the target girl walking towards the board hand-in-hand with a knife thrower.
* "The Devil's Daggers" from the Music/NoxArcana album Carnival Of Lost Souls is the music playing during the knife throwing act Diablo & The Devil's Daggers. It doesn't go well, and both the assistant ''and'' Diablo himself die.
* Music/TomWaits's song "Circus" from his 2004 album ''Real Gone'' features a knife throwing act as part of the eponymous travelling show.
* GretchenPeters uses the target girl as a central metaphor in her song "Woman on the Wheel", which was debuted on her 2010 tour in support of her ''Circus Girl'' album.
* A knife-throwing act appears in the music video for "Midnight Circus" by Sunny Hill, with one of the singers as the target girl.
* The circus ringmaster character in the music video for Music/{{Finntroll}}'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEzuxkkGyWQ Under Bergets Rot]]'' does this at one point.

* Actress Jennifer Ellison appeared strapped to a "wheel of death" target and surrounded by knives in the UK edition of ''Maxim'' magazine in 2005.
* Singer and musician Music/{{Shakira}} appeared standing against a target with knives around her in a photo in the April 2002 issue of ''FHM'' magazine (UK edition).

* Part of Creator/LonChaney's act as Alonzo the Armless in the classic silent film ''Film/TheUnknown''. All of the throwing stunts were done by RealLife armless knife-thrower Paul "Judge" Desmuke, who threw knives with his feet.
* The Russian knife throwing twins from ''Film/{{Octopussy}}''.
* In the French film ''Film/TheGirlOnTheBridge'' (1999), a knife throwing act is at the centre of the plot. Vanessa Paradis stars as Adele, a girl who attempts suicide by jumping from a bridge but is saved by knife thrower Gabor, played by Daniel Auteuil, who persuades her to become his target girl. They soon fall into a complex relationship in which knife-throwing is very overtly and erotically depicted as a sadomasochistic substitute for sex.
* ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' features a confrontation between the main protagonists in which Cameron Diaz's character Jenny Everdeane acts as a target girl in an impromptu [=knifethrowing=] act with the villain, Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. For extra suspension, he keeps "accidentally" slipping, and constantly on the verge of hitting his partner, both to amuse his audience and to make the protagonist sweat.
--> "Whoopsy daisy!"
* The 1987 television movie ''Film/IfItsTuesdayItStillMustBeBelgium'' features Courteney Cox as a character who becomes a target girl in a circus knife throwing act.

* In the 1960s, knife throwing acts provided iconic scenes in several horror or suspense films set in circuses. These include the following three films, which all used Billy Smart's Circus for location filming:
** ''Film/CircusOfHorrors'' (1960), in which Vanda Hudson played a target girl called Magda von Meck.
** ''Film/CircusOfFear'' (1966), which features British actress Margaret Lee as an assistant facing danger in a knife act.
** ''Film/Berserk1967'' (1967), in which Judy Geeson played a target girl in a circus knife act.
* ''Film/PhantomOfTheRueMorgue'' (1954) has an early scene featuring a knife throwing act. The movie was shot using a 3-D system, which was used to give audiences the impression that knives were flying at them.

* ''Film/TheSideshow'' (1928) features a knife throwing act in the climactic scene. The knife thrower was played by Steve Clemente and his assistant by Janet Ford.

* One of Germy and Austin's old jobs in ''Film/DriveInMassacre''.
* The Scorpion is the AffablyEvil knife-thrower in Lucifer's carnival in ''Film/TheDevilsCarnival''.
* In one of the most famous scenes in ''Film/TheVikings'', the Vikings subject a woman accused of adultery to "Odin's test". This consists of using thrown axes to cut the woman's braids while she puts her head through the hollow centre of a large target. All the braids getting cut without she being hurt means she is cleared of the charge. All goes well thanks to Einar.

* In ''Film/VivaMaria'', the boy tied to the board is harmed during this routine because Bardot!Maria distracts the man controlling the spotlight, leaving the knife-thrower in the dark and hitting the boy in the arm. This is PlayedForLaughs.
* A brief but spectacular knife-throwing act is seen during the opening "The Greatest Show" number in ''Film/TheGreatestShowman''.
* ''Film/TheFightingPrinceOfDonegal'': When Hugh wants to prove his point about DividedWeFall regarding the clans, he takes a dagger and throws it on a shield on the wall, explaining that one clan's struggle against the English occupation is not enough. He then throws other daggers on it, and it starts unhooking. Henry O'Neill (Tom Adams) then provokes him into a fight, loses the fight, takes a dagger and throws it on the shield, which makes it fall, meaning all clans are now united and follow Hugh.
* ''Film/TheGreatBeauty'': Geronimo masterfully performs the one on Trumeau at the party hosted by Lillo de Gregorio. The knifes land very close to her as they should.
* ''Film/BlindWomansCurse'': Aiko has one in a carnival, which is pretty neat, since she's blind.
* In ''Film/TheLovesOfHercules'', Deianera's trial by ordeal consists of tying her to a wall and seeing if Hercules can cut her free using some throwing axes without injuring her.
* ''Film/TheBarbarians'': One of the Ragnis is shown practicing his during the tribe's travels when they are still entertainers.
* In ''Film/SkyBandits'', Major Bannock's squadron is based in a circus camp, with many of the performers still there. One of them is seen practicing his knife throwing while chopping up vegetables for dinner.

* ''Anime/KaleidoStar'' has a guest character doing this.
* One of the Student Council meetings in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' had Touga and Miki doing this with Touga as the knife-thrower with plenty of impossible {{Knife Outline}}s all the while. Heaven knows why they were doing this, but then again, it's ''[[MindScrew Utena]]''.
* Being part of a circus as his cover, Trowa of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' performs in this act as the target. [[TheStoic He doesn't even flinch]] when the knife was thrown close enough to draw blood.
* ''{{Manga/Cyborg 009}}'' had this.

* Mousse from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' disguised himself as a circus knife-thrower when he came back (for good) to hunt down Ranma. And he did pin the latter down to the target board, but Ranma escaped the deliberate stabbing.
* A filler episode of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' had Kaoru attempt this, only to hit Sanosuke in the arm on her first try.

* In ''Manga/GunBlazeWest'', Colice Satoh performs a knife throwing act in the circus.

* Referenced in ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor''. The marines hear someone listening at the door during a secret meeting with the captain, so they leap outside throwing a couple of knives which hit on either side of Harumi, who's dressed in a skintight outfit (instead of her usual look) as she's trying to assassinate Captain Tylor.
* In the ''VideoGame/HeartNoKuniNoAlice'' movie, Alice suddenly finds herself strapped to a board in the circus. Two demented kids start throwing knives at her, ignoring her protests. One of the knives cuts her cheek. The last two would have landed in her chest if Blood Dupree hadn't blocked them in time. Enraged at them for endangering her, he annihilates the kids with a machine gun.

* ''ComicBook/DeKiekeboes'': Depicted in “Doorgestoken Kaart”.
* General Alcazar in ''Recap/TintinTheSevenCrystalBalls'' has a Knife Throwing Act. After creating a full KnifeOutline around his Indian target, he asks an audience member to blindfold him. His blind throw hits right in the center of the target held over the Indian's chest.
* Knife throwing was one of the skills mastered by the Gambler, a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] foe of the ''Franchise/GreenLantern'', during his time at the carnival.

* In "Sawdust and Slow Death" in ''ComicBook/JonahHex'' #15 (original series), Jonah joins a circus and becomes the unwilling target of an armless knife-thrower (possibly inspired by ''Film/TheUnknown''; see ''{{Film}}'' examples below).
* Gitano is the knife thrower for the ''Cirque du Romani'' in ''ComicBook/LadyMechanika''.
* {{ComicBook/Hawkeye}} developed his skills as part of a knife throwing act with the Swordsman.
* In ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'' #29, John Steele is subjected to one after being captured by the Circus of Crime.
* Blade Benson was the knife thrower in the [[CircusOfFear Circus of Crime]] who fought Kid Colt in ''Kid Colt'' #106.

* In ''[[ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian Savage Sword of Conan]]'' #119, Conan (in a scene that is undoubtedly a ShoutOut to the movie ''Film/TheVikings'') is forced to play a game where his sister's head is stuck through the middle of a hollow target and he must throw axes to sever her braids while blindfolded. Luckily, he manages not to slay his own sister; and since he ran out of sisterly braids while still having an axe left, he indulges in a manly jest and throws the weapon at Magloclun, cutting the clan leader's own braid.

* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'': One gag has Gaston walk in on Fantasio tossing knives at something. Fantasio sadly informs Gaston that due to the amount of mail Gaston hasn't sorted out and filed, they have no choice but to head into a new career, revealing that he's been tossing knives at Gaston's life-sized latex dummy of himself, with very few misses. Gaston suddenly feels an urge to organize mail.

* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': "El Casador and Conchita"

Stabby's main schtick in ''WesternAnimation/AnimalCrackers2017''. Other circus performers in the film do this as well.

* In ''[[VideoGame/telepathRPG Telepath RPG chapter 2]]'' this is Niven's shtick. The problem is he's very good at ''hitting'' the target with his knives, not missing them, forcing him to reimburse you for the damage he deals to you when you volunteer. You can get him to join your party and put those 100%-accurate blades to better use.

* Referenced in ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor''. The marines hear someone listening at the door during a secret meeting with the captain, so they leap outside throwing a couple of knives which hit on either side of Harumi, who's dressed in a skintight outfit (instead of her usual HelloNurse look) as she's trying to assassinate Captain Tylor.

* ''Series/TheLastleg'': In series 18, ep. 5, the team decide to test whether Prince Andrew's claim that an overdose of adrenalin can destroy your ability to sweat. To do this, Adam has Alex blindfolded and strapped to a board surrounded by balloons. Adam tells Alex that his going throw knives to pop the balloons. He then proceeds to pretend to throw knives while the balloons are popped by Josh who is standing next to the board. Alex's flinches reveal that he has no idea it is being faked.

* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'': One gag has gaston walk in on Fantasio tossing knives at something. Fantasio sadly informs Gaston that due to the amount of mail Gaston hasn't sorted out and filed, they have no choice but to head into a new career, revealing that he's been tossing knives at Gaston's life-sized latex dummy of himself, with very few misses. Gaston suddenly feels an urge to organize mail.

* General Alcazar in ''Recap/TintinTheSevenCrystalBalls'' has a Knife Throwing Act. After creating a full KnifeOutline around his Indian target, he asks an audience member to blindfold him. His blind throw hits right in the center of the fruit held over the target's chest.