History Main / TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain

* Lucy is shot in the head at the beginning of ''ElfenLied'', giving her a case of EasyAmnesia. The fact that she was shot with a high-power SniperRifle is alleviated by the circumstance that she was wearing a heavy helmet at the time.

* The Bride survives a CoupDeGrace in ''KillBill'', though it does at least put her into a coma for a while.

* In ''{{Fables}}'' [[spoiler: Snow White]] survives a headshot because [[spoiler: a Fable whose story is sufficiently popular among the mundanes can't die.]]

In real life, in relatively rare cases people actually ''have'' survived a bullet in the brain, though it usually comes down to luck rather then skill.

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

* The Courier in ''FalloutNewVegas'' is shot in the head at close range and buried in a shallow grave at the very beginning of the game. Naturally, being the PlayerCharacter, they [[IGotBetter get better]]

** [[FateWorseThanDeath Arguably.]]

* There are also tales of people surviving brain impalement via other means (such as a steel bar).

In fiction, survivng a bullet to the head is nearly exclusively the domain of a {{Badass}} and shows just how much of a {{Determinator}} he is. Sometimes the injury will be {{Handwaved}} as a lot less serious than it looked, and sometimes it will merely be implied that the character is just that tough.

In real life, in relatively rare cases people actually ''have'' survived a bullet in the brain.

* Accelerator of ''ToAruMajutsuNoIndex.''

* In ''{{Monster}}'', Johan Liebert is shot in the head at the beginning of the series. He survives, but only because elite neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzo Tenma operates on him. The series does point out how hard it is to safely remove a bullet to the skull though, and points out that Dr. Tenma is the only one in the entire hospital (an enormous complex) who can do it.

* Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head during a shooting spree at a rally, and survived.

* [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Wolverine]] survives after being shot in the head at least two times in the [[{{Film/XMen}} live-action]] ''[[{{Film/XMen}} X-Men]]'' [[{{Film/XMen}} movies]]. Justified in that he's NighInvulnerable. When this happens in ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', though, he's shot with an Adamantium bullet, which is the same material his metal skeleton is made out of, and this means the shot is strong enough to at least cause IdentityAmnesia.

* MaxPayne is shot in the head [[spoiler:by Vladimir]] in the second game but survives. Also, Mona Sax takes a bullet to the head in the original game. Both cases are {{Lampshaded}} several times in ''[=MP2=]''.

* Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head during John Hinckley's assassination attempt on RonaldReagan. He survived and became an advocate of [[AmericanGunPolitics gun control]]; the "Brady Bill", instituting background checks on gun purchases, was named after him.

* Press Secretary James Brady. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

* The Courier in FalloutNewVegas is shot in the head at close range and buried in a shallow grave at the very beginning of the game. Naturally, being the PlayerCharacter, they [[IGotBetter get better]]

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* In ''FreakAngels'', [[spoiler:Luke]] gets shot in the head. His subsequent revival combines {{Squick}} and CrowningMomentOfFunny.

* If the newly-found Meiji Government actually bothered to check the corpse of the assassin they shot in the head and ''then set on fire'', they wouldn't have to deal with supreme SocialDarwinist warlord [[RuroniKenshin Shishio Makoto]] ten years later.

* In ''FightClub'', the narrator uses a bullet in the head as a way to get rid of [[spoiler: his alter ego, Tyler]]. It works.

* Renard in ''TheWorldIsNotEnough'' not only survived a bullet in the brain but actually gained a superpower: he can't feel pain. Admittedly it is [[BlessedWithSuck slowly killing him]] but still, pretty cool.

99% of the time shooting someone in the [[BoomHeadshot head]] is [[InstantDeathBullet going to kill them]]. 1% of the the time it will just make them mad.

In fiction survivng a bullet to the head is nearly exclusively the domain of a {{Badass}} and shows just how much of a {{Determinator}} they are. Sometimes the injury will be {{Handwaved}} as a lot less serious than it looked, sometimes it will merely be implied that the character is just that tough.

Note: This trope only applies to people who have [[BadassNormal no powers]] other than the RuleOfCool. If they can regenerate or have some other bullet defying superpower it belongs elsewhere.

* In ''{{My-Otome}}'' [[spoiler: Sergay]] is shot in the head. He survives with little more than EasyAmnesia.

* The Bride survives a CoupDeGrace in ''KillBill'', though it does at least put her in a coma for a while.

* [[{{Comicbook/XMen}} Wolverine]] survives after being shot in the head at least two times in the [[{{Film/XMen}} live-action]] ''[[{{Film/XMen}} X-Men]]'' [[{{Film/XMen}} movies]]. Justified in that he's NighInvulnerable. When this happens in ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', though, he's shot with an Adamantium bullet, which is the same material his metal skeleton is made out of, and this means the shot is strong enough to at least cause IdentityAmnesia.
* In FightClub, the narrator uses a bullet in the head as a way to get rid of [[spoiler: his alter-ego, Tyler.]] It works.

MaxPayne is shot in the head [[spoiler:by Vladimir]] in the second game but survives. Also, Mona Sax takes a bullet to the head in the original game. Both cases are {{Lampshaded}} several times in ''[=MP2=]''.

* In 1978, a young woman named Leslie Worther, working as a cashier at an isolated 7-11 in one of the more rural areas of Orange County, Florida, was shot in the back of the head twice (and stabbed in the abdomen once) during a robbery. After the robbers left her store, she called the police for help. Then she sat down and waited for nearly ten minutes for help to arrive. She survived her wounds and is still alive today. OnlyInFlorida.
* Chumbawamba have a song about the RealLife "El Fusilado" who survived an entire firing squad's worth of bullets to the chest ''and'' a CoupDeGrace to the head. In later life, he toured with the ''Ripley's Believe It or Not'' show.