History Main / PillowSilencer

* [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura]] uses this technique to kill [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Gabriel]] in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/47431372/chapters/119524126#workskin Kwami Magi Homura Magica]]'' after a timeloop in which he akumatized Madoka, as well as to steal his Miraculouses. She actually complains to herself that he had very few pillows and she had to look around his mansion for a while to find one to use for the deed.

* [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura]] uses this technique to kill [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Gabriel]] in [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/47431372/chapters/119524126#workskin Kwami Magi Homura Magica]] after a timeloop in which he akumatized Madoka, as well as to steal his Miraculouses. She actually complains to herself that he had very few pillows and she had to look around his mansion for a while to find one to use for the deed.

In crime films and TV shows, whrn the BigBad's henchmen execute someone with a handgun, it can be a noisy and messy undertaking. But there is a DIY solution right there in the grungy NoTellMotel room: the pillow silencer. Cover the victim's face with a pillowcase and then pull the trigger. Not only will this method help to muffle the sound, it also keeps the blood splatter in check which helps to [[GoryDiscretionShot prevent excessive on-screen gore]] and, from the character's in-universe POV, reduces blood splatter on their clothes.

NoRealLife, please as this is too nasty and gory to read about actual gangland executions.

Executing someone with a handgun can be a noisy and messy undertaking. But there is a solution: the pillow silencer. Cover the victim's face with a pillowcase and then pull the trigger. Not only will this method help to muffle the sound, it also keeps the blood splatter in check which helps to [[GoryDiscretionShot prevent excessive on-screen gore]].

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1535964612078125500
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* Exaggerated for comedy in ''Film/SpyHard'': A mime [[http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/1/15/SpyHard_M2HB_01.jpg/600px-SpyHard_M2HB_01.jpg gets shot]] with a ''[[{{BFG}} .50 Browning machine gun]]'' silenced in this fashion on the pre-credits sequence.
* VillainProtagonist Porter from ''Film/{{Payback}}'' executes his TokenMotivationalNemesis Val Resnick in this manner. A small couch pillow [[HollywoodSilencer apparently makes a perfect silencer]] for Porter's [[HandCannon enormous revolver]].

* In ''Film/CookiesFortune'', Cookie lies down in bed and shoots herself through a pillow.
* In ''Film/{{Haywire}}'', spy-on-the-run Mallory executes an enemy in this fashion, though the silencer part doesn't come into play.
* In ''Film/JohnWick'', Ms. Perkins kills Harry this way.
* The big bad of ''Film/TidalWaveNoEscape'' uses it to murder a witness [[SickbedSlaying in the hospital]].
* In ''Film/BloodAlley'' (1955), Capt. Wilder (Creator/JohnWayne) uses one of these to muffle the sound of shooting out a door lock when Chinese troops are searching the village. He needs to get back to his room to hide an escape map.

* The villain of ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[Recap/ColumboS04E04 Troubled Waters]]" was being blackmailed by an old flame while on a sea cruise with his heiress wife. When the chanteuse declared that she was going to be a ShippingTorpedo during her performance, the villain shot her using a pistol and one of her dressing room's throw pillows. Of course, nobody heard this gunshot; only the bullet hole and some stray feathers made any indication that the pillow served this purpose.
* In ''Series/InsideNo9'' episode [[Recap/InsideNo9S1E2AQuietNightIn "A Quiet Night In,"]] an enraged husband [[spoiler:kills his TrophyWife when she rejects his kiss]]. He grabs a gun, places a cushion on her face and pulls the trigger. Watch the scene [[https://youtu.be/j4B4DffB9iQ?t=1614 here]].
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Ghost" has the criminal of the week named Ghost attempt to kill a six-year-old boy by shooting him through a pillow. Though it's speculated that the killer used it not so much as a silencer but because he found it hard to murder a child while looking at him. He didn't bother with the pillow when he killed the parents a few moments before.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': "[[Recap/MurderSheWroteS4E15MourningAmongTheWisterias Mourning Among the Wisterias]]" features a variant; partway through the episode, the housekeeper Ola Mae talks to Jessica about a missing comforter that had been at the murder scene, thinking the police took it as evidence and haven't returned it. Jessica realizes that the killer used the comforter as an improvised silencer and took it away with them.
* In ''Series/TheProfessionals'' episode "A Stirring of Dust", an Irish hitman uses a seat cushion for this when he has to ShootOutTheLock on a lockbox. He doesn't have an actual silencer for RuleOfDrama (earlier he [[BondVillainStupidity didn't shoot Doyle]] because the gunshot would draw attention).

* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' episode "Old Bones," Clay holds the pistol on Lowell while contemplating using a pillow as an improvised suppressor.
* In ''Series/TrainingDay'' episode "Wages of Sin," Jeff takes out one of Chief Wade's men in a public area by using a pillow to muffle the gunshot.
* In ''Series/TwinPeaks: The Return'' episode 2, [[spoiler:Evil Cooper]] murders a girl this way when he finds out she tried to double-cross him with her partner. First he [[TapOnTheHead knocks her unconscious]] and then places a pillow on her face and reaches with his revolver underneath to shoot her in the temple. Watch it [[https://youtu.be/onHwhQNZojQ?t=2691 here]] (gory).
* In ''Series/TheWire'' when looking for Old Face Andre, Chris Partlow and Snoop encounter his mother. Chris puts a pillow on her face and fires. However, he doesn't kill her and it was more of a fear tactic.
* At least one VictimOfTheWeek has died this way on ''Series/{{NCIS}}''. Possibly more.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
** In season 5's "Turbulence," a teddy bear is used as a silencer for a Desert Eagle 50.
** The titular victim in "Rest in Peace, Marina Garito" (6.18) was killed in this manner. The perp was caught after he over-thought things and returned to the scene to steal the matching throw pillow from the couch.

* While coming to the aid of a trapped survivor in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', Lee, Carley, and Glenn must clear the area of Walkers quietly. This trope can be used on the first Walker, allowing the group to remain undetected.
* A single mission in ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts'' allows performing this. The level takes place in an old Scottish mansion whose owners participate in HuntingTheMostDangerousGame, and are planning a hunt for the next day.
* In ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'', Clifford Unger [[MercyKill Mercy Killed]] his brain-dead wife this way after realizing the doctors at the complex had no intention of saving her or his infant son. However, an alarm was set to go off if her heart stopped, so the complex learns of her death very quickly regardless.

* In ''Film/JohnWick'', Ms. Perkins kills Harry this way

* In ''The Lady in Red'' (1979), Polly fires her Colt into a pillow while performing a MercyKill.

* In ''Blood Alley'' (1955), Capt. Wilder (John Wayne) uses one of these to muffle the sound of shooting out a door lock when Chinese troops are searching the village. He needs to get back to his room to hide an escape map.

* ''Film/SpyHard'': A mime [[http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/1/15/SpyHard_M2HB_01.jpg/600px-SpyHard_M2HB_01.jpg gets shot]] with a ''.50 Browning machine gun'' silenced in this fashion on the pre-credits sequence.

* Played UpToEleven in ''Film/SpyHard'', wherein a mime [[http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/1/15/SpyHard_M2HB_01.jpg/600px-SpyHard_M2HB_01.jpg gets shot]] with a ''.50 Browning machine gun'' silenced in this fashion on the pre-credits sequence.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Ghost" has the criminal of the week named Ghost attempt to kill a six-year-old boy by shooting him through a pillow.

[[RealityIsUnrealistic This actually does work]], with a first shot through a pillow around 2.5 times quieter[[note]]according to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrdLpbflXyQ this]] experiment[[/note]]. A pillow has many surfaces within it (the stuffing) that help absorb and diffuse sound, which is the same concept as a normal suppressor.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "A Stirring of Dust", an Irish hitman uses a seat cushion for this when he has to ShootOutTheLock on a lockbox. He doesn't have an actual silencer for RuleOfDrama (earlier he [[BondVillainStupidity didn't shoot Doyle]] because the gunshot would draw attention).

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "A Stirring of Dust", an Irish hitman uses a seat cushion for this when he has to ShootOutTheLock on a lockbox. He doesn't have an actual silencer for plot reasons, as earlier he was [[BondVillainStupidity reluctant to kill Doyle]] because the gunshot would draw attention.

Executing someone with a handgun can be a noisy and messy undertaking. But there is a solution: the pillow silencer. Cover the victim's face with a pillowcase and pull the trigger. Not only will this method help to muffle the sound, it also keeps the blood splatter in check which helps to [[GoryDiscretionShot prevent excessive on-screen gore]].

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': The titular victim in "Rest in Peace, Marina Garito" was killed in this manner. The perp was caught after he over-thought things and returned to the scene to steal the matching throw pillow from the couch.

* In ''Literature/TheYiddishPolicemensUnion'', [[spoiler:Hertz Shemets]] shot Emanuel Lasker through a pillow to muffle the sound. When Meyer is shown the body, kicking off the plot of the novel, he notices that the pillow is missing.

* TheVillain of ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[Recap/ColumboS04E04 Troubled Waters]]" was being blackmailed by an old flame while on a sea cruise with his heiress wife. When the chanteuse declared that she was going to be a ShippingTorpedo during her performance, the villain shot her using a pistol and one of her dressing room's throw pillows. Of course, nobody heard this gunshot; only the bullet hole and some stray feathers made any indication that the pillow served this purpose.

* In ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'': Clifford Unger [[MercyKill Mercy Killed]] his brain-dead wife this way after realizing the doctors at the complex had no intention of saving her or his infant son. However, an alarm was set to go off if her heart stopped, so the complex learns of her death very quickly regardless.

Executing someone with a handgun can be a noisy and messy undertaking. But there is a solution: the pillow silencer. Cover the victim's face with a pillowcase and pull the trigger. Not only will this method help to muffle the sound, it also keeps the blood splatter in check which helps to prevent excessive on-screen gore.

* In ''Series/InsideNo9'' episode [[Recap/InsideNo9S1E2AQuietNightIn "A Quiet Night In"]], an enraged husband [[spoiler:kills his TrophyWife when she rejects his kiss]]. He grabs a gun, places a cushion on her face and pulls the trigger. Watch the scene [[https://youtu.be/j4B4DffB9iQ?t=1614 here]].

* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' episode "Old Bones", Clay holds the pistol on Lowell while contemplating using a pillow as an improvised suppressor.
* In ''Series/TrainingDay'' episode "Wages of Sin", Jeff takes out one of Chief Wade's men in a public area by using a pillow to muffle the gunshot.

* In ''Series/TheWire'' When looking Old Face Andre, Chris Partlow and Snoop encounter his mother. Chris puts a pillow on her face and fires. However, he doesn't kill her and it was more of a fear tactic.

[[RealityIsUnrealistic This actually does work]], with a shot around 2.5 times quieter[[note]]according to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrdLpbflXyQ this]] experiment[[/note]]. A pillow has many surfaces within it (the stuffing) that help absorb and diffuse sound, which is the same concept as a normal suppressor.

[[RealityIsUnrealistic This actually does work]], mildly though, with a shot around 2.5 times quieter[[note]]according to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrdLpbflXyQ this]] experiment[[/note]]. A pillow has many surfaces within it (the stuffing) that help absorb and diffuse sound, which is the same concept as a normal suppressor.