History Main / SetSwordsToStun

* This is most certainly '''NOT''' TruthInTelevision during actual fights. Blades are designed to cause grievous injuries and kill what they cut/stab. As one addage puts it: The loser of a knife fight dies at the scene, the winner of a knife fight dies on the way to the hospital.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'': The 10th game of the series marks the return of Brutalities. These finishers were last featured in [=UMK3=], but work entirely differently than in that case. They are now tied to the specials of the characters, and are sometimes involving stabbing weapons. Kitana and Mileena are the worst offenders. Kitana has a special move, where she is jumping on the opponent's chest and slices their throat using her fans. Even though normally this would be instant death, when the opponent has more than 10% of health (or so), this only damages them. It turns into a Brutality, when the opponent has less HP than that, and the Kitana player performs the right input for the finisher, and only then will it chop the other figher's head off. Mileena's stabbing special move, where she uses her sais to absolutely gut the opponent with multiple stabs is similarly only lethal under the Brutality circumstances detailed above.

** ''Jedi Knight: [[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Dark Forces II]]'' nicely avoided this problem, though, making the lightsaber nearly a DiscOneNuke. Hit anything with the saber (Well, anything smaller than a truck), and it goes down.

** The ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' games feature characters with incredibly sharp claws or blades like ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/BlackPanther, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante, Vergil]] and VideoGame/MonsterHunter, top tier physical powerhouses like [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], and characters with access to powerful energy projectiles like Comicbook/{{Storm}}, ComicBook/DoctorDoom, [[ComicBook/JeanGrey Phoenix]] and [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Captain Marvel]]. Despite the fact that many of the other combatants are [[Franchise/StreetFighter human martial artists]] (albeit ones with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s), [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil government agents]] or even [[VideoGame/DeadRising reporters]] and ''[[Franchise/AceAttorney lawyers]]'', they're perfectly capable of withstanding beatdowns, slashes and energy blasts from the superpowered characters without dying.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'':
** Kenshin has a reverse blade sword made specifically so he can stun or knock out opponents with it to keep his vow that he'll never kill again. How he doesn't frequently cause severe ''crushing'' wounds is [[MST3KMantra better left unasked]], though he does occasionally deal them on purpose, so he may be pulling his swings. Kenshin in fact used the crushing damage of the dull edge to break the thumb of a bloodthirsty opponent so he wouldn't be able to wield a sword in his dominant hand; when he learned to wield it southpaw, Kenshin crushed his other thumb so he couldn't hold one at all. Kenshin also attempted to use a crushing strike on another enemy once, which failed due to his opponent's sword hilt dampening the blow.

-->-- '''Announcer''', ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur''

* Games in the ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' series. ''Soul Calibur 3'' is an especially bad offender, considering that Sigfried uses an [[{{BFS}} incredibly large sword]], and is frequently seen to drive the pointy end directly into an opponent's skull, yet sometimes after a match, he remarks, "[[OnlyAFleshWound I avoided your vitals. You'll live.]]"

** One routine by Creator/PennAndTeller lampshades this, demonstrating that juggling torches are specially weighted to be very difficult to catch by the lit end, and that if you do, all that happens is that you drop it and calmly walk to the nearest fire extinguisher. Penn then breaks the ends off three bottles and says that, being of irregular weight and having a sharp edge that could actually do some damage, these actually ''are'' difficult and dangerous to juggle. Then he does it anyway.

* Played with a bit in an episode of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. Zelgadis tries to knock someone out by hitting him with the blunt side of his sword, then remembers too late that his sword is double-edged… This was a parody of Escaflowne, where such confusion didn't happen.

* While some of the franchises in ''VideoGame/MagicalBattleArena'' have the benefit of possible in-universe {{justifi|edTrope}}cations, such as how the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' characters may be using [[TheParalyzer Magical Damage]] or how the lethality of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'''s Sakura Cards may be based on Sakura's intent, others do not. Somehow, getting sliced by a [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Ragna Blade]] or being [[ThisIsADrill drilled repeatedly]] wouldn't end with death.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' games are often examples, as lightsabers do only a small amount of damage with each strike, despite being used to cut through metal several times.

* Particularly bad in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' games, as many characters have attacks that could level a building, yet leave no lasting damage anyway. One ''really'' nasty example is Orochi (a god), who can apparently ''[[YourSoulIsMine steal and destroy his opponent's soul]]'', yet if said opponent is not KO'd by this attack, then they can still get up and fight, despite the fact that they should be a [[SoullessShell hollow shell]]. {{Whip|ItGood}} has a gun and, in some games, it doesn't even deal damage. She has another one as an HSDM and at least deals a good amount of damage. Other characters even have missiles, [[EnergyWeapon lasers]], a [[ThisIsADrill gigantic drill]], an [[EpicFlail iron ball]]... Hell even the [[PlayingWithFire flames]] should be enough to deal third-degree burns but don't. Also, [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown Nakoruru]] literally stabs you in the heart as part of her throw move, and as long as your HP isn't completely depleted, no overly long bleeding occurs and your character walk away just fine.

* The High Frequency Blade in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' is ''lethal'', inasmuch as Raiden can kill any human enemy with it (the reason that it takes several strokes to kill is that the enemies from that point in the game wear extremely heavy armor). However, he can reverse his grip so that he smacks foes around with the dull edge instead of slicing them to kibble, knocking them out in order to allow the player to complete a "No Enemies Killed" play-through. You still kill them if you stab, though. Raiden uses the same technique again in ''Metal Gear Online''.

** And then there's [[BearsAreBadNews Kuma, Panda,]] [[KatanasAreJustBetter Yoshimitsu]], [[KnifeNut Kunimitsu]], [[EnergyWeapon Devil Kazuya, Devil Jin, Angel]], [[PlayingWithFire True Ogre]] and [[ChainsawGood Alisa]]. [[Series/TheWalkingDead Negan]] in ''VideoGame/Tekken7'' carries with him "Lucile", his barbed-wire baseball bat, and his Rage Art even mimics the scene where he [[spoiler:kills Glen in the series]] but you'll still get up after if you have any health left.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', again made by the same people, has a rather blatant case early on when, in a cutscene, the PlayerCharacter Shez takes a stab to the chest from Byleth (the now-RogueProtagonist of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), and instead of being [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice run through]] like you'd expect, they get [[BlownAcrossTheRoom knocked back and sprawled out on the ground]] as if Byleth was wielding a rubber bat instead of a sword. Naturally, because this is still the first chapter, Shez survives this.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', again made by the same people, has a rather blatant case early on when, in a cutscene, the PlayerCharacter Shez takes a stab to the chest from Byleth (the now-RogueProtagonist of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), and instead of being [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice run through]] like you'd expect, they get [[BlownAcrossTheRoom knocked back and sprawled out on the ground]] as if Byleth was wielding a rubber bat. Naturally, because there wouldn't be a game otherwise, Shez survives this.

* ''Franchise/Fallout''

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', during your escape from Vault 101 in the beginning, you cannot kill Amata. No matter what. Shooting her in the head five times at point blank range renders her "unconscious." James likewise is a {{Determinator}} of the grandest scale for walking across the wasteland in only a ratty vaultsuit and taking down super-mutants with a lead pipe (or, when the pipe breaks from excessive wear, ''his fists''.) He's the protagonist's father, so badassery may be genetic.
* If you're not using hardcore mode, companions in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' cannot be permanently killed -- they go unconscious and wake up when the fight is over. (Some extremely powerful enemies may avert this -- for instance, the enemies at the Deathclaw Promontory can tear ED-E into scrap and make him vanish, although the game still thinks he's in your party.)
* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has an amusing twist: if one of your settlements is attacked, the settlers can't be killed by the raiders. They're just winded for a minute and then get back up and rejoin the fight. A stray shot from your own gun, however, is still quite lethal.

* While some of the franchises in ''VideoGame/MagicalBattleArena'' have the benefit of possible in-universe {{justifi|edTrope}}cations, such as how the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' characters may be using [[StunGuns Magical Damage]] or how the lethality of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'''s Sakura Cards may be based on Sakura's intent, others do not. Somehow, getting sliced by a [[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Ragna Blade]] or being [[ThisIsADrill drilled repeatedly]] wouldn't end with death.

* Aversion: ''VideoGame/BushidoBlade'' has no life bars, and matches can be decided with a single well-aimed strike.
** Hell, if you wound your opponent properly, he'll beg you to kill him to end his misery.
** ''Rune'' goes halfway here (especially in multiplayer matches), as while its [[HitPoints Health Points]] work just like most other games, a lucky swing at an opponent's head that gets through means decapitation and is always an instant kill.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'': Technically, you can hit an opponent 5 or 6 times in a round with Stryker's hand grenades, as they only do 7-8% of damage. His pistol attack (only in Ultimate [=MK3=]) is curiously a ranged one and consists of firing 3 bullets from point-blank range. It does a bit more damage than a grenade, but still, the other character should be dead on the spot.
*** Cyrax and Sektor use bombs and rockets respectively. They inflict about the same damage as Stryker's hand grenades.
** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'': All characters have weapons that do significantly less damage than one would think. This trope applies to Sonya for example, who is a regular human, yet a full-on swing with a sword can't kill her on the spot. You can also throw [[ImprovisedWeapon stones and skulls]] at your opponent, and realistically these items also would inflict quite a lot more damage.
*** As a precursor of the X-Ray moves in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', [=MK4=] had "bone breakers", which were unique for each character, and consisted of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin breaking the opponent's bones.]] All the fighters of course are a-ok in just a few frames, losing around 15-20% of their health, and are perfectly capable of punching and comboing normally, using their (supposedly) broken limbs. The most egregious example is Liu Kang's bonebreaker, as he is straight up breaking the other character's ''spine''... as usual, without any gameplay-affecting ill effects.

** Kenshin has a reverse blade sword made specifically so he can stun or knock out opponents with it to keep his vow that he'll never kill again. How he doesn't cause severe ''crushing'' wounds is [[MST3KMantra better left unasked]]. He nearly does at one point, but the hilt proved to be weaker than the man he was fighting at that point and gave way, dampening much of the impact.

* Used for every blade in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', notably Leonardo's katanas and the Shredder's claws. If used on a non-living object, like a Mouser robot or a water tower, swords and blades are ludicrously sharp. If used on other characters, swords and blades simply knock people unconscious or seem to inflict the same damage as a direct hit with a blunt object. However, exceptions are made in certain situations, such as when [[spoiler:Karai stabs Leonardo in the back]] or when [[spoiler:Leonardo decapitates the Shredder]].

** The ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' games feature characters with incredibly sharp claws or blades like ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/BlackPanther, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante, Vergil]] and VideoGame/MonsterHunter, top tier physical powerhouses like [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], and characters with access to powerful energy projectiles like Comicbook/{{Storm}}, ComicBook/DoctorDoom, [[ComicBook/JeanGrey Phoenix]] and [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Captain Marvel]]. Despite the fact that many of the other combatants are [[VideoGame/StreetFighter human martial artists]] (albeit ones with {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s), [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil government agents]] or even [[VideoGame/DeadRising reporters]] and ''[[Franchise/AceAttorney lawyers]]'', they're perfectly capable of withstanding beatdowns, slashes and energy blasts from the superpowered characters without dying.

* ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} generates a glowing arm-blade with her PsychicPowers. As such, it can slice through anything but against living opponents it causes temporary incapacitation. However, it ''can'' kill if she puts enough power into it and plunges it directly into your head, something that, naturally, she ''threatens'' but never quite gets around to actually ''doing.''

* ''ComicBook/{{Psylocke}}'' generates a glowing arm-blade with her PsychicPowers. As such, it can slice through anything but against living opponents it causes temporary incapacitation. However, it ''can'' kill if she puts enough power into it and plunges it directly into your head, something that, naturally, she ''threatens'' but never quite gets around to actually ''doing.''