History Main / TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** In "Die Hippie, Die", the mayor of South Park shoots herself in the head in a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, only to simply reappear with a bandaged head later on near the end of the episode.
** Similarly, in ''[[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'', Bill Gates gets shot in the face by the military general, only to reappear with a bandage over the bullet hole in "The Entity". This ''might'' have something to do with [[ResetButton Kenny's wish]] at the end of the former, but it's not clear.
** Similarly, in "Night of the Living Homeless", an unnamed scientist is DrivenToSuicide only for his repeated self-inflicted gunshots to fail to quickly kill him, inverting SuicideIsPainless.

May be defied with a DoubleTap or MultipleGunshotDeath. [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Then again, maybe not.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* [[spoiler:Muhammad Avdol]] from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' was seemingly killed when shot in the head by Hol Horse and his [[FightingSpirit stand]] Emperor, TakingTheBullet to save Polnareff. He returns later to save Polnareff again, revealing that it was OnlyAFleshWound as he jerked his head back before the bullet broke through his skull.

* VideoGame/MaxPayne is shot in the head [[spoiler:by Vladimir]] in [[VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne the second game]] but survives. Also, Mona Sax takes a bullet to the head in [[VideoGame/MaxPayne1 the original game]]. Both cases are {{lampshade|Hanging}}d several times in ''[=MP2=]''. Both times it seems that the bullet just grazed them. Mona, though, is vague about how she survived; the game, however, is not. Essentially pure luck. She was shot in the head, and while the bullet didn't kill her at that time, it remained lodged in her head.

* in ''VideoGame/SilentScope'', headshots are almost always one-hit kills on bosses, with the few exceptions being those wearing faceplates and helmets. The RecurringBoss Cobra, however, comes back in ''Silent Scope 2'' and ''3'' even though he was potentially killed with a headshot in the previous game. The first game especially can have him shrug off a headshot in the highway battle, as he'll get right back up and hijack a truck for the [[SequentialBoss second stage of the battle.]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'', Mordecai's [[NoSocialSkills lack of social skills]] and [[TheSociopath empathy]] may be because of a brain injury. Bobby shared a rumor with Ivy that "some long-ago incident left a little bit of lead rattling around [Mordecai's] cranium, and carved him that wonky streak."

* ''Film/{{Cage}}'' begins with a Vietnam war flashback where the two US Army protagonists (played by Creator/RebBrown and Creator/LouFerrigno) flees from North Vietnamese insurgents. Lou's character tries saving Scott's, only to be shot in the cranium and falling into a coma - cue a TimeSkip to when the war is over, with Scott trying to make an honest living as a bar owner while taking care of his mentally-disabled friend Lou, who works as the bouncer.

* The Courier in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is shot in the head at close range, ''twice'', and buried in a shallow grave at the very beginning of the game. Naturally, being the PlayerCharacter, they get better, though some quick work on the part of an escort robot and the local doctor, along with being the Fallout universe, could affect the outcome. Amusingly, if the player sets their character's intelligence stat to 1, Doc Mitchell will profusely apologize as he feels it was his fault for doing a shoddy job. With charisma stat at 1, he'll muse that the cause "must be frontal lobe damage". In an example of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, the would-be assassin's signature weapon is ''just that weak'' -- it does 80 damage with two headshots to someone without armor, which indeed wouldn't be enough to kill you even if you had the worst HP possible.

** In a similar vein, Sale[[note]]pronounced "SAH-lay"[[/note]] in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' winds up in a sidearm duel with Team Bucciarati's ranger, Guido Mista. He demonstrates his combat competency by using his Stand, Kraft Work, to freeze a bullet Mista puts into his head; he doesn't quite kick the bucket because it didn't go too far into his brain. Unfortunately for him, Mista's ImprobableAimingSkills by virtue of his own Stand, Sex Pistols, enable him to put a second bullet right behind the first one, pushing the latter in deeper and doing Sale in at last.

* This trope is surprisingly common with victims of penetrating head trauma in modern emergency rooms. With [[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878875017307672 studies]] finding a survival rate of 62% for adults and 32% for children.

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Just Rewards". When Angel gets attacked by a BattleButler wielding two butcher's knives, he picks up a fancy spoon and throws it so hard it gets impaled through the Butler's skull. However, the butler doesn't die, he just reaches for the spoon, pulls it out of his head... and ''then'' he dies.

* In the ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' segment "Master E-Raced," the victim is a former Nazi member who got shot in the head but survived. However, 50 years later, while trying to get some milk out of the refrigerator, the former Nazi accidentally hits his head on the freezer door, causing the bullet, which was lodged near an important blood vessel, to dislodge and cut said blood vessel causing internal hemorrhaging in his brain and death.

* ''Film/DoctorStrange'': In his second scene, the titular character successfully removes a bullet from the brain of a patient who'd been written off as brain dead, thus highlighting his skills as a supreme surgeon.

* VideoGame/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 {{lampshade|Hanging}}d several times in ''[=MP2=]''. Both times it seems that the bullet just grazed them. Mona, though, is vague about how she survived; the game, however, is not. Essentially pure luck. She was shot in the head, and while the bullet didn't kill her at that time, it remained lodged in her head.

* The orc Captains in ''Videogame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' can be shot in the face multiple times with Talion's bow, and, despite their death being confirmed, can appear again to make your life miserable. Only decapitating them will permanently rid you of them.

* Accelerator of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex.'' Ordinarily, his [[StoryBreakerPower ridiculous powers]] would have redirected the bullet, but he was very occupied with using them in other ways at the time. He survives thanks to the actions of an elite doctor, but suffers severe brain damage: he cannot speak, walk, or use his powers without assistance.

* In the finale of the 2003 anime of ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'', [[spoiler:Roy Mustang]] is shot in the face by Lt. Col. Archer. He appears to be dead but is later seen recovering at home with a brand new eyepatch.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Zaeed Massani]] survived a point-blank headshot armoured only with ThePowerOfHate.

In real life, 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.

* In ''Manga/{{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) skilled enough to have a chance at it. [[spoiler:At the very end of the series, he's shot in the head ''once more,'' possibly without even losing consciousness, and again survives thanks to Tenma.]] Though Johan [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may be]] [[AntiChrist technically]] breaking the "no supernatural powers" rule.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''
** ComicBook/TheJoker was shot in the head by an unhinged police officer dressed as Franchise/{{Batman}}. While he had to go through some physical therapy, the event just switched him to a different brand of crazy.

* One ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'' story arc ended with ComicBook/TheKingpin being shot at point-blank range by Echo, in revenge for killing her father. The last page of the story reveals that he lived through it, but has been rendered temporarily blind. In general, the Kingpin often has the benefits of {{Kevlard}}.

* ''Comicbook/TheSavageDragon'' once had to share his body with a human detective as a result of a story far too long to explain here. The detective was shot in the head by a criminal, resulting in the Dragon [[HulkingOut taking over the body]] and [[HealingFactor healing]] the hole through the head. While this was the sort of thing Dragon could survive due to his powers, they were not so sure about his friend. Fortunately, he pulled through.

--> '''Hardhead:''' ''*{{Beat}}.*'' "OW!"
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Hypnota was accidentally shot in the head by their sister Serva while practicing for their stage show. While they survived their personality was drastically altered and they became a villain.
* ''ComicBook/YoungLiars'' features a main character who survived a bullet to the brain; as a result of the brain damage, she suffered an extensive change in her personality including increased aggression, lack of social restraint, and inappropriate sexual behavior. [[http://www.politedissent.com/archives/1943 And according to one doctor, it's a fairly realistic treatment of what could result from such a wound]] (other than the suggestion that the bullet will eventually drop and damage the brain stem -- but that's [[ShownTheirWork correctly noted to be fatal if it happens]]).

* Disturbingly violent bank robber Mickey from ''Film/CockneysVsZombies'' survived a shrapnel wound to the brain while fighting for the U.K. in the Middle East. His injury left him with an alarming scar encircling a third of his scalp, a metal plate in his head, and a complete lack of the inhibitory neural circuitry which had previously stopped him from being a "soddin' nutter".
* In ''Excessive Force II: Force on Force'', Harly survives a bullet to the head from her ex-boyfriend (like 10 seconds after they had sex) after she refuses to become a dirty cop like him. She's been hunting him ever since, although she has to take pills to avoid terrible headaches and dizziness. [[spoiler:She repays him in kind at the end, although he doesn't survive.]]

* In The ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure Of The Dancing Men", Hilton Cubitt has been shot through the heart and died instantly, while his wife supposedly shot herself through the brain, but fully recovered in several months. Or so Watson was told.

* Justified in ''[[Literature/OutOfTheDark Into the Light]]'' since [[spoiler:the people in question are vampires and their bodies consist of nanites that can't be harmed by something as pitiful as bullets]].

* ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'': [[spoiler:[[OlderSidekick Akira Date/the first Kamen Rider Birth]] was shot in the head while acting as a field doctor during a civil war. While he survived, the bullet is slowly pushing itself further into his skull. Date's initial motivation is to raise enough money to pay for the operation.]]

** Similarly, in ''[[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut Bigger, Longer And Uncut]]'', Bill Gates gets shot in the face by the military general, only to reappear with a bandage over the bullet hole in "The Entity". This ''might'' have something to do with [[ResetButton Kenny's wish]] at the end of the former, but it's not clear.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ParadisePD'', Gina Jabowski took a bullet to the brain when she was just 10 years old. She survived, but the brain damage left her with no self-control and a thirst for violence.

* [[http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/04/marine-headshot-sniper-survive-040511w/ This Marine]] managed to survive an Afghan sniper's attempt to [[BoomHeadshot shoot him in the head]], the Kevlar helmet deflecting the bullet just enough that it didn't go straight into his brain. It ''was'', however, mere millimeters away from hitting his spinal column and opening several major arteries.
* There is a story that has appeared online a couple of times, about a man who gets out of bed one morning and heads down to his kitchen to commit suicide. He holds a revolver to the side of his head (a lower caliber type, like a .32) and fires. When his wife comes down a little while later, she finds him at the table eating cereal, with a hole through his head and no recollection of the event.
** A variation of this is that his ''wife'' is the one who shot him, while he was sleeping to which he assumed she had merely ''elbowed him'' in the head instead. Come the next morning, the man wakes up with a ''massive'' headache, and decides to go to the doctor for fear of it being a stroke. The doctor, sensing something off, orders an X-ray, and finds the source of the headache: a .357 bullet lodged in his cranium.

* Russian [[FourStarBadass field marshal Kutuzov]] survived a ''[[HandCannon musket ball]]'' in one of his early Turkish campaigns when he was just a ColonelBadass. The bullet pierced his head temple-to-cheek, glancing his brain, and the wound was initially thought to be fatal. Surprisingly, he completely recovered with nothing worse to wear than splitting headaches after he used his right eye, injured by a bullet, for more than a couple of minutes. Because of this, he had to wear an {{eyepatch|OfPower}} that led to the popular myth about him being one-eyed. And then, probably just to finally prove that he was {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le, he was injured a second time ''in the same place'' [[MadeOfIndestructium with the same result]].

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai]] was targeted by the Taliban for advocating women's education. The bullet damaged the left side of her brain, following the interior of her skull before lodging in her shoulder near her spine. She recovered from her injuries and continues to fiercely campaign against terror and for women's rights.
** The gunshot injury, in fact, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain arguably launched her to international prominence.]]

* [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has an article on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_gunshot_suicide multiple gunshot suicides]], reporting one case in which ''four'' shots to the head were required to finish the job.

* In ''Film/{{Traffic}}'', an assassin discusses why he prefers bombs: "I don't really like guns. You shoot someone in the head three times and some ''pinche'' doctor will keep them alive."

* Manga ''Heads'' by Motoro Mase has the protagonist Jun-ichi get shot in the head, but he manages to survive thanks to a revolutionary partial brain transplant operation. However, the memories of the other person's original brain begin to take him over.

* ''Series/ThePunisher2017'' has Special Agent Dinah Madani surviving a shot in the head or at least the skull, something which [[OneManArmy Frank Castle]] himself is impressed about. Of course Frank himself survived such a wound as shown in ''Series/Daredevil2015'', waking up from a coma after he caught a bullet during the gangland crossfire that killed his family. His iconic chest skull insignia is even based on the X-Ray of his head injury.

* ''Series/ThePunisher2017'' has Dinah Madani surviving a shot in the head or at least the skull, something which [[OneManArmy Frank Castle]] himself is impressed about.

* ''Series/KnightRider'': Police detective Michael Long takes a .32 pistol shot to the head after a sting operation goes sideways. He needs [[MagicPlasticSurgery extensive facial reconstruction]] but comes away with no apparent brain injury thanks to [[TheHardHat a surgical steel plate in his skull]] from a previous injury.