History Main / TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain

** A bullet resistance ubercharge from the vaccinator will reduce a fully charged headshot to a mere 38 damage. Every class in the game is capable of surviving that, even a spy wielding the kunai which has the lowest maximum hitpoint total possible.

* ''VideoGame/DeadToRights'' Downplayed, but in the first game Jack survives getting shot across the temple, leaving him with a distinct scar, by Patch, who lampshades how much skill was required to pull off a shot like that ''without'' blowing his brains out.

In RealLife, in relatively rare cases people actually ''have'' survived a bullet to the brain, though it usually comes down to luck and the poor velocity of the bullet, rather than badassery. Slightly more common are cases where a bullet has lodged in the skull. It's actually very rare for someone to survive with their abilities and/or personality intact -- most with brain injuries are left with disabilities and/or personality changes.

* During the Pacific War, Japanese Fighter Pilot [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saburō_Sakai Saburō Sakai]] suffered this while ''flying his Zero Fighter-Plane''. In the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_campaign Battle of Guadalcanal]], Sakai was leading an attack against the American-Controlled Airfield and tried to shoot down an American Dive-Bomber, but the enemy plane's rear gunner fired back, hitting Sakai in the head with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-06_Springfield .30 caliber MG bullet]]. The bullet severely injured his skull, temporarily paralyzed the left side of his body, and blinded him in one eye, and he began to descend into a freefall, but Sakai managed to stabilize his plane and fly back to base. The Return Flight took ''Nearly Five Hours over a distance of 1040km/640mi'' all while in excruciating pain. He was then sent back to Japan and had several cranial surgeries, where he regained his eyesight & recovered from paralysis, and returned to service nearly two years later. After the war, Sakai lived a full life and died in 2000 in his 80s.

* Japanese Fighter Pilot [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saburō_Sakai Saburō Sakai]] during the Pacific War suffered this while ''flying his Zero Fighter-Plane''. During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Sakai was leading an attack against the American-Controlled Airfield and tried to shoot down an American Dive-Bomber, but the enemy plane's rear gunner fired back, hitting Sakai in the head with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-06_Springfield .30 caliber MG bullet]]. The bullet severely injured his skull, temporarily paralyzed the left side of his body, and blinded him in one eye, and he began to descend into a freefall, but Sakai managed to stabilize his plane and fly back to base. The Return Flight took ''Nearly Five Hours over a distance of 1040km/640mi'' all while in excruciating pain. He was then sent back to Japan and had several cranial surgeries, where he regained his eyesight & recovered from paralysis, and returned to service nearly two years later. After the war, Sakai lived a full life and died in 2000 in his 80s.

* Japanese Fighter Pilot [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabur%C5%8D_Sakai Saburo Sakai]] during the Pacific War suffered this while ''flying his Zero Fighter-Plane''. During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Sakai was leading an attack against the American-Controlled Airfield and tried to shoot down an American Dive-Bomber, but the enemy plane's rear gunner fired back, hitting Sakai in the head with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-06_Springfield .30 caliber MG bullet]]. The bullet severely injured his skull, temporarily paralyzed the left side of his body, and blinded him in one eye, and he began to descend into a freefall, but Sakai managed to stabilize his plane and fly back to base. The Return Flight took ''Nearly Five Hours over a distance of 1040km/640mi'' all while in excruciating pain. He was then sent back to Japan and had several cranial surgeries, where he regained his eyesight & recovered from paralysis, and returned to service nearly two years later. After the war, Sakai lived a full life and died in 2000 in his 80s.

* Japanese Fighter Pilot [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabur%C5%8D_Sakai Saburo Sakai]] during the Pacific War suffered this while ''flying his Zero Fighter-Plane''. During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Sakai was leading an attack against the American-Controlled Airfield and tried to shoot down an American Dive-Bomber, but the enemy plane's rear gunner fired back, hitting Sakai in the head with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-06_Springfield .30 caliber MG bullet]]. The bullet severely injured his skull, temporarily paralyzed the left side of his body, and blinded him in one eye, and he began to descend into a freefall, but Sakai managed to stabilize his plane and fly back to base. The Return Flight took ''Nearly Five Hours over a distance of 1040km/640mi''. He was then sent back to Japan and had several cranial surgeries, where he recovered his eyesight & recovered from paralysis, and returned to service nearly two years later. After the war, Sakai lived a full life and died in his 80s.

In fiction, dismissing a BoomHeadshot as OnlyAFleshWound is exclusively the domain of a badass and shows just how much of a {{Determinator}} or MadeOfIron a character is. Sometimes the injury will be {{Handwave}}d as a lot less serious than it looked, and sometimes it will merely be implied that the character is just that tough.

May be defied with a DoubleTap or MultipleGunshotDeath.

'''This trope only applies to people who have [[BadassNormal no special powers]] other than the RuleOfCool.''' If they can [[HealingFactor regenerate]] or have [[NighInvulnerability some other]] [[ImmuneToBullets bullet-defying]] superpower, it belongs elsewhere.