History Main / PrettyLittleHeadshots

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', when [[spoiler:Accelerator gets shot in the head, he falls, blood pooling behind his head. Still not subverted when he gets up again, even though he is bleeding a lot. Justified in that he activated his powers at the last minute, preventing the bullet from going any further into his brain than it did, though he's still brain-damaged afterward.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' has [[spoiler: Dallas Geonoard]]'s immortality first (chronologically, on-screen) being demonstrated when he's shot through the head, leaving a clean bullet hole just in the middle of his forehead. Averted in all other examples. Everyone else who dies in this manner does so bloodily.
* In the ''LightNovel/FateZero'' anime, [[spoiler:Ryuunosuke Uryuu]] takes a high-powered sniper rifle round to the face without any visible damage to his skull. This is a large step down from the original novel, where it's stated the bullet [[YourHeadAsplode obliterated everything from the nose up]].

->''"And the men of the First Shikaris''\\
''Picked up their Subaltern dead,''\\
''With a big blue mark in his forehead''\\
''And the back blown out of his head."''

Whenever someone gets shot in the head on TV, what generally happens is that they end up with a little hole in their head - and that's generally it. There may be a little blood on the wall behind them, implying a fairly gory exit wound, but [[GoryDiscretionShot not one you're likely to see]].

** A bullet that went through a man's head in the first episode, instead of creating a gaping hole, made a perfectly neat and cylindrical hole that didn't bleed and [[TorsoWithAView could be seen all the way through from the entry to the exit point]].
** The villain in "Sympathy for the Devil" has a small bloody hole in his head after being shot despite the fact that he was shot in the head by a ''7.62x39mm rifle bullet'' which should have obliterated his skull.

* Taken to the extreme in ''Film/{{Ronin}}'', where Gregor is shot in the head at close range by the Russian mobster with a HollywoodSilencer. The bullet not only punches a perfect, bloodless hole in the center of his forehead, it also appears to have ''stopped'' there, the base only millimeters below the skin. Presumably this was meant to imply a very low-powered round intended to be discreet although the bullet could not have penetrated the skull. Nonetheless, Gregor collapses and is shortly found dead on the floor, having bled a small pool from his wound.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', Dante is shot in the head repeatedly throughout the series, but it only ever results in a small trickle of blood down his face which quickly heals later. Possibly {{justified|Trope}} by his [[HealingFactor tremendous healing ability]]. Considering that after one such headshot he pulls the bullet out of the entry wound, it's possible that the bullets don't get very far.

* ''Film/TheIllusionist'' has this happen with [[spoiler: the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince]], although there is a little squirt of blood, but that's pretty much it.

*** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' subverts this. When Adam Jensen goes to the morgue to obtain the interface from the augmented terrorist, part of his skull and brain have been cleanly blown off. In [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay]], however, killing an enemy with a headshot will leave no visible damage, regardless of whether you're using a pistol or a shotgun.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' goes to great lengths to avert this trope to hell and back. It doesn't matter what gun you use, there will always be blood and brains all over the floor or wall. The bigger the caliber, the greater the damage until all you have is a bloody stump when firing with a shotgun or rifle.

** Averted again in "Half Measures": the fatal headshot [[spoiler:the drug dealers that killed Tomas]] received makes a large exit would with quite visible splatter.

** [[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar The sequel]] was downright stupid as far as headshots were concerned. The only way for headshots to be an instant kill was with the sniper rifle, and even then it had to be zoomed in. You could honestly take a pistol and shoot the guy in the head, and they'd only lose a little health. And these weren't badass bosses either, these were the civilians! Sometimes even a shotgun took two blasts to the head to kill somebody. There wasn't even blood on the ground anymore. Unlike its predecessor, it has no "good for its time" excuse, considering all the great games that were out that year. This was just downright retarded programming. The game was released in 2003, for those keeping score at home.
*** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' subverts this. When Adam Jensen goes to the morgue to obtain the interface from the augmented terrorist, part of his skull and brain have been cleanly blown off. In [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay]], however, no matter how many times you score headshots on your enemies, nor with what weapon used, their skulls are always intact.

** The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series is, for the most part, a perfect embodiment of this trope - headshots cause a blood splatter and the enemy falls down, disconcertingly intact. In the 3D era, sniper rifles would avert this trope by causing the victim's head to burst like a watermelon, but this was removed in ''IV''. One rather classy exception is during a cutscene in ''IV'', when Niko shoots [[spoiler: Vlad]] in the face. Not only does the wound spew an impressive fountain of blood, but Niko knows it is coming and shields his face before firing.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' goes for the middle ground. While headshots do leave wounds on the victim, they're rather small and hard to notice, even if you use the [[{{BFG}} Heavy Sniper]]. Averted with shotguns, which leave multiple small holes that add up to nasty-looking wounds. Also averted with [[spoiler:Sanchez]] when [[spoiler:Haines]] shoots him in the face. The resulting exit wound is large and very gruesomely detailed, with exposed brain tissue and a virtual fountain of blood spraying from the hole.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' headshots will leave your head bloody but otherwise in-tact. However, in the "Meet the Spy" promotional video, when the BLU Spy is killed, his head explodes in a particularly over-the-top manner.

BoomHeadshot is required for this trope to happen. See also BloodlessCarnage, MagicBullets and MoeGreeneSpecial. Contrast PinkMist. This is very unlikely to happen if the victim AteHisGun.

A SubTrope of BoomHeadshot. See also BloodlessCarnage, MagicBullets and MoeGreeneSpecial. Contrast PinkMist. This is very unlikely to happen if the victim AteHisGun.

See also BloodlessCarnage, MagicBullets, MoeGreeneSpecial, and BoomHeadshot. Contrast PinkMist. This is very unlikely to happen if the victim AteHisGun.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

* Subverted in ''Film/FightClub''

This sort of head shot has a startling tendency to occur exactly in the center of the forehead, especially when it would be startling, unlikely, or even impossible to hit there.

* Curiously played straight in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', given its realistic treatment of superheroic violence. [[spoiler: Moloch has been shot in the head, but Rorshach believes he's alive and sitting quietly until he comes around and sees the bullet hole in front (and there ''was'' a small bullet hole in the back, meaning it had to have gone all the way through).]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Spider-Man[[note]]actually Comicbook/ThePunisher[[/note]] and his assistant[[note]]some {{mook}}[[/note]] demonstrating the new and improved [[Creator/StanLee Uncle Lee's]] No Mess Bullets[[TradeSnark ™]]!]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Spider-Man[[note]]actually Comicbook/ThePunisher[[/note]] and his assistant[[note]]some {{mook}}[[/note]] demonstrating the new and improved [[Creator/StanLee Uncle Lee's]] No Mess Bullets![[TradeSnark ™]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SpiderIsland https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pretty_headshot_4683.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Spider-Man[[note]]actually Comicbook/ThePunisher[[/note]] and his assistant[[note]]some {{mook}}[[/note]] demonstrating the new and improved [[Creator/StanLee Uncle Lee's]] No Mess Bullets[[TradeSnark! ™]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Spider-Man[[note]]actually Comicbook/ThePunisher[[/note]] and his assistant[[note]]some {{mook}}[[/note]] demonstrating the new and improved [[Creator/StanLee Uncle Lee's]] No Mess Bullets[[TradeSnark ™]]!]]

Contrary to popular belief, a gunshot wound to the head is not actually always fatal in and of itself, nor is it an InstantDeathBullet. Probably the most famous example of this was the head wound of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage Phineas Gage]], who managed to survive a three-foot-long steel rod through his brain (not without ill effects though). For more details, see the [[Analysis/PrettyLittleHeadshots Analysis page]].

* Happens often in ''[[Manga/DetectiveConan Case Closed]]'' where the victim, if killed by a gun to the head, will usually have one tiny hole in the front with a trickle of blood coming down and a huge splatter of blood on the other side, despite no indication of structural damage to the skull itself.

In Real Life, a headshot virtually ''never'' leaves a neat little exit wound (the entrance wound may, however, be very "neat" in appearance). There is either ''no'' exit wound at all (the result of a low-powered or small round, or a shot from long range), or a pretty serious chunk of the skull is blown away by the exiting bullet (high-powered or large caliber bullets or a close-in shotgun blast). If the round doesn't exit the skull, the blood will be mostly around the entry wound, with possibly a bit of spatter if the victim jerked or twitched. If there ''is'' an exit wound, there's going to be bits of bone, brains and blood (and maybe teeth) all over. Often it's implied that the neat little hole we're seeing is the entry wound, and YouDoNotWantToKnow what it looks like from the other side -- sometimes this will be {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in order to keep the gore down while at least paying lip service to the messy reality.

Contrary to popular belief, a gunshot wound to the head is not actually always fatal in and of itself, nor is it an InstantDeathBullet. Probably the most famous example of this was the head wound of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage Phineas Gage]], who managed to survive a three foot long steel rod through his brain (not without ill effects though). For more details, see the [[Analysis/PrettyLittleHeadshots Analysis page]].

It's generally a holdover from the days when BloodlessCarnage was the rule, and is still often used to avoid getting a more restrictive rating than the producers of the show want.

See also BloodlessCarnage, MagicBullets, MoeGreeneSpecial and BoomHeadshot. Contrast PinkMist. This is very unlikely to happen if the victim AteHisGun.

** The villain in "Sympathy for the Devil" has a small bloody hole in his head after being shot despite that fact that he was shot in the head by a ''7.62x39mm rifle bullet'' which should have obliterated his skull.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', when [[spoiler:Accelerator gets shot in the head, he falls, blood pooling behind his head. Still not subverted when he gets up again, even though he is bleeding a lot. Justified in that he activated his powers at the last minute, preventing the bullet from going any further into his brain than it did, though he's still brain damaged afterward.]]

* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' does this surprisingly often, although it's heavily implied to be because most of the characters use small pistols, because it's sometimes averted when bigger guns are used.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' has [[spoiler: Dallas Geonoard]]'s immortality first (chronologically, on-screen) being demonstrated when he's shot through the head, leaving a clean bullethole just in the middle of his forehead. Averted in all other examples. Everyone else who dies in this manner does so bloodily.
* In the ''LightNovel/FateZero'' anime, [[spoiler:Ryuunosuke Uryuu]] takes a high-powered sniper rifle round to the face without any visible damage to his skull. This a large step down the original novel, where it's stated the bullet [[YourHeadAsplode obliterated everything from the nose up]].

* There's a ComicBookAdaptation of ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities,'' where [[spoiler: Madame Defarge]]'s death by a pistol shot, point-black, to the forehead, is an example, which somehow also results in BloodFromTheMouth and the nose.

** Also, the Duke's girlfriend receives a audience-friendly small entrance wound to her headshot.

* In Baz Luhrmann's SettingUpdate of ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' Juliet's suicide by hand gun looks like this.

* ''Film/TheMaidenHeist'' opens with a badass gunfight where Creator/ChristopherWalken takes a bullet to defend his favorite painting, and then puts a bullet in the bad guy's head (a small clean hole) before dying. [[spoiler: it's just an imagined fantasy]]

* In ''Film/YoungGuns'', Murphy is shot by Billy. This is followed by a 20 second slow-mo of him flailing then falling, with a tiny bullet hole precisely in the center of his forehead with just a trickle of blood coming from it.

* Used im ''Film/PansLabyrinth.'' When [[spoiler:Captain Vidal]] is killed by a shot to the head from a revolver at point blank range. The only effects are a tiny bullet hole in his lower face and the blood slowly draining from an eye. His head does not even move as the bullet slams into his face, he just stands there and dies calmly.

* A variation happens in Film/DantesPeak, where Dr. Daltons fiance gets nailed in the head by a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_bomb Lava Bomb]]. The issue here is that the rock in question was able to punch a hole in the roof of the truck she was in that was about the size of Harry's fist. A rock that size, coming down that fast, and with that much force would've effectively turned the poor woman's head inside out, but since this is a PG-13 film, she only has a little blood to show she'd been hit.

* At the end of ''Film/AsianSchoolGirls'', Jack shots his [[DirtyCop corrupt superior officer]] through the head. This leaves a neat little entry wound in the exact middle of his forehead, and a large anount of blood on the wall behind him.

* ''Literature/TheNightMayor'' is set inside a virtual reality realm that runs on the logic of old movies. One of the ways it varies from reality, noted by the characters, is that whenever someone gets shot the result is tidy wound that follows this trope.

* In ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "Omnivore", a woman gets shot in the forehead with a .44 Magnum, and only has a tiny bullet hole with a little blood tricking from it. Pretty much the norm, even in the episode with the sniper.

* In one episode of ''Series/QuantumLeap'', Sam leaps into a coroner who has to investigate the death of a girl who, at first glance, seems to have been shot in the head. One of the things that makes Sam disbelieve this cause of death is the lack of blood and the lack of damage to the other side of the victim's head. Turns out she was ''stabbed'' through the temple with the heel of a high-heel shoe, making a wound that visibly resembled the classic version.

* In the pilot of ''Series/TheShield'', after Vic shoots Terry Crowley in the face,there is only a small wound with little blood
* In ''Series/TheWire'', [[spoiler:Jelly]] is shot, point blank, in the side of the head facing away from the camera and nothing is visible but a small blood spurt from the other side.
** Happens with both [[spoiler: Bodie, and Cheese]], as their headshots have no exit wound. [[spoiler: Omar however]] had a clear exit wound when he was shot in the back of the head. Though in reality, it should have take a chunk of his face along with it.

* Averted in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' combined with GoryDiscretionShot. We don't get to see [[spoiler: Moriarty or Magnussen]] in close-up after the former [[spoiler: eats his gun]] and the latter is dispatched [[spoiler: by Sherlock via BoomHeadshot]] but particularly in the latter case the pool of blood suggests the exit wounds weren't clean or pretty.

* One of the weirder aversions is ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', where headshots with the appropriate weapon cause the enemy's head to ''shrink'' (watch it in slowmo!). It'd make some sort of sense if you were using a weird tech gun, but no, bullets cause head shrinkage. This is a visual artifact of the rather hacked method used to animate decapitations; since the head is part of the player model, it can't be deleted from the rest of the model on-the-fly, so it's animated to shrink away to nothing in a single frame as the game spawns the actual head gib (which suddenly has blood all over it) in the same space, but if a modern machine is rendering fast enough, it's visible.

** [[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar The sequel]] was downright stupid as far as headshots were concerned. The only way for headshots to be an instant kill was with the sniper rifle, and even then it had to be zoomed in. You could honestly take a pistol and shoot guy in the head, and they'd only lose a little health. And these weren't badass bosses either, these were the civilians! Sometimes even a shotgun took two blasts to the head to kill somebody. There wasn't even blood on the ground anymore. Unlike its predecessor, it has no "good for its time" excuse, considering all the great games that were out that year. This was just downright retarded programming. The game was released in 2003, for those keeping score at home.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', you can convince a certain enemy near the end to shoot himself with his ultra-high powered energy pistol. The result? His head doesn't show any signs of damage, and when his skeleton is laid bare by another enemy there is a hole... but in an entirely wrong place. Said shot produces a lot of alien blood, but given the lack of hole it is pretty hard to see from where it is coming from.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', during Thane's recruitment mission, an Ecplise mercenary is found shot in the head. Garrus will remark "A perfect headshot, with no collateral damage". As expected, the guy's head is intact, with only some blood-smear on the ground.

** However, using the Sniper Rifle or high powered pistols can result in rather nasty headshots. While the corpse does not leave exit wounds, getting headshots with the likes of the [[{{BFG}} Widow Anti Material Rifle]] shows massive amounts of blood and bone flying off.

* The near-ending cinematic in ''VideoGame/PsiOpsTheMindgateConspiracy'' has a straight example, when Sarah shoots [[spoiler: her twin sister]] from behind. Similarly, scoring headshots on enemies will not leave a visible wound-unless you're using a shotgun, in which case the head will be blown apart.
* In ''VideoGame/UrbanChaosRiotResponse'', normally when you score a headshot nothing happens but if you score a headshot with a shotgun, magnum or some other powerful weapon [[YourHeadASplode their head will be obliterated.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', characters on multiplayer could have their heads blown apart in quarters, either losing 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, or the whole thing, as long as they were Squirrels, Undead or Tediz (Tediz and Undead could have this happen during "It's War" and "Spooky" single player as well, respectively). Multiplayer characters with smaller heads (weasels or uggas) would always lose their entire head. Squirrels/Undead, in particular, were rather nasty, as the grey matter could be seen from any remnant of the head. All characters would stumble for a few seconds before falling when victims of the headshot. Played straight in ''Live & Reloaded'', however, as part of the game's extensive {{Bowdleri|se}}zation.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' goes for the middle ground. While headshots do leave wounds on the victim, they're rather small and hard to notice, even if you use the [[{{BFG}} Heavy Sniper]]. Averted with shotguns, which leave multiple small holes that add up to nasty looking wounds. Also averted with [[spoiler:Sanchez]] when [[spoiler:Haines]] shoots him in the face. The resulting exit wound is large and very gruesomely detailed, with exposed brain tissue and and a virtual fountain of blood spraying from the hole.

* A [[http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7459/hitmanpcgamersmall.jpg controversial ad]] for ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}: Blood Money'' features a beautiful woman in lingerie lying in bed. The only clues that she's dead are the slightly-pale skin tone and a small bloodless bullet wound in the center of her forehead.

** Skulls were actually added in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', but functioned a bit differently. One had to be playing on [[HarderThanHard Legendary]] for them to even spawn and once picked up, the effects were active for as long as the profile of the player that picked them up was being used. The Birthday Party skull itself was in fact present in ''2'', but rather than a burst of confetti, a plasma grenade detonation would accompany headshots for any enemy. When ''Halo 2'' was remastered and rereleased as part of the Master Chief Collection, all of ''Halo 2''’s skulls could be activated via a menu, and the Birthday Party skull retains its original plasma grenade effect. The head is still intact after detonation, however.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' has Cassie Cage ([[SpinOffspring The daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade]])) do this in her fatality after knee-capping the victim. In true Mortal Kombat tradition, [[HighPressureBlood it causes a small blood geyser.]] In a BlackComedy twist, she puts her chewed up gum on the hole after that, making it look like a boil about to pop, which it does.

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' plays it almost completely straight, with only one exception: Headshotting a Taser with the Platypus 70 sniper rifle turns his face into a gaping hole. Everything else, even a .50 cal sniper rifle, leaves nothing but some bloodsplatter.

* Usually averted in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', which tries to be as realistic as possible, there are only two cases where this is played straight, in the case of Andrew Klock and Alan Shinwrath in v1. When they were shot in the face at relatively close ranges (more or less point blank, for Alan), this happened. There was a neat hole in their forehead/between their eyes, some blood, and they fell over. After this though, it was extremely uncommon, since most people on the board learned about the reality of this trope.

* When WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic gets shot in the forehead, there'll be just a small hole with some ketchup surrounding it. Justified, as it's for comedy and seeing a massive gape in his head would make people have nightmares.

* There is the story of news anchorwoman [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbuck]], who commited suicide by shooting herself ''on air'' in TheSeventies. The damage wasn't nearly as severe as [[YourHeadASplode head explosions]] or PinkMist as those in the studio thought it was a tasteless prank... until they realized it wasn't. Christine still died some hours later.

* Played straight in ''Prizzi's Honor''. Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner) shoots a woman in the center of the forehead, leaving a neat round hole but no blood.

* Used in Del Toro's ''Film/PansLabyrinth.'' When [[spoiler:the BigBad]] is killed by a shot to the head from a revolver at point blank range. The only effects are a tiny bullet hole in his lower face and the blood slowly draining from an eye. His head does not even move as the bullet slams into his face, he just stands there and dies calmly.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Drive}}'': When [[spoiler:Blanche]] is shot in the back of the head with a shotgun, we're treated to a slow-motion shot of her head disintegrating in a shower of blood.

* In the novel ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' [[spoiler:Judge Wargrave fakes his own murder by dabbing some red on his forehead and putting a wig on. Nobody investigates further. When he actually ''does'' shoot himself in the head later, the police who investigate cannot figure out that he did it in his bed, rather than the parlor.]]
** Made even worse by the fact that [[spoiler:the gun was explicitly described as being a "heavy revolver", possibly a .357]].

* Creator/AgathaChristie uses this in her novel "[[Literature/{{Curtain}} Curtain: Poirot's Last Case]]" which sees Poirot race against time to stop a serial killer after a man called Norton is murdered where he and Hastings are staying. Unfortunately, Poirot dies before the identity of the serial killer is revealed forcing Hastings to continue the case with only the clues Poirot left behind for him. [[spoiler: The headshot turns out to be the clue to the identity of Norton's killer: ''[[TwistEnding Poirot himself]]'' whose legendary fastidiousness caused him to make an unnecessarily symmetrical headshot. Norton was the serial killer who had been trying to brainwash Hastings into committing murder on his behalf. The only way to save Hastings, given that Poirot didn't have enough hard evidence, was for Poirot to kill Norton before Hastings could be completely brainwashed, and then take his own life to [[HeWhoFightsMonsters avoid the temptation]] of becoming a serial killer himself.]]