History Main / VorpalPillow

* In the opening of ''Film/BlownAway'', Creator/TommyLeeJone's character murders his cellmate by shoving a pillow over his face to muffle his cries as he repeatedly shanks him to death.

Fiction, especially in visual media, has a hard time conveying the idea of deadly force. While BoomHeadshot is a pretty clear indication that Bob isn't getting up again, RuleOfPerception means that a character without obvious lethal injuries may not seem 'dead' to the audience. This is why suffocation and strangulation -- the amount of time it takes to kill someone by cutting off her oxygen and the chance she can be revived afterward -- are treated so inconsistently. A minor character might die in seconds but another can be choked until they go limp and (especially if they're a major character) wake up perfectly fine. Bob may fall into water, [[HollywoodDrowning thrash and splash for a bit]], and then go under for good, while Alice can lie at the bottom of a pool for an hour and still be revived by a KissOfLife.

* ''Music/TheyMightBeGiants'': "2082" is a song about a guy who travels into the distant future, only to find himself still alive over a thousand years in the future, leading to him putting his future self out of his misery.

Named after the fatal vorpal sword in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, although, admittedly, the pillow variety rarely goes snicker-snack.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' one of Roland Daggett's men attempts to do this to Lucius Fox to keep him from spilling the shady practices he knows about the company. Luckily, Batman was waiting for this to happen and manages to get the drop on him. Unfortunately, Clayface has been waiting there as well, as he's looking to [[KillAndReplace bump the mook off so he can impersonate him]] and get in close to Daggett in revenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': In "Daletech", Dale believes Cotton is going insane and decides to "mercy kill" him by suffocating him with a throw pillow. He mentions ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', saying to to Cotton: "you're Creator/JackNicholson" before attempting to smother him. Cotton however fights him off and him smelling a distinctive hair product on the pillow leads him to solving the mystery of a series of home invasions happening at the Hill house.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' short "The Perfect Dream", when Goofy calls a sleep-deprived Mickey in the middle of the night, Mickey actually smothers the phone with a pillow and Goofy reacts to it.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', [[Franchise/ToyStory Woody]] does this to Buzz when he's effectively lobotomized as a result of Andy using him as a bong.

** In the episode which parodied the life of Henry VIII, Henry (played by Homer) is killed very hastily and very cleanly this way by Margerine of Aragon (Marge).
** Homer also does this to Kodos in a Treehouse of Horror episode.
** An assassin Mr Burns hires attempts this on Abe. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome happens instead

* In the Creator/JessFranco film ''Film/SheKilledInEcstasy'', Mrs. Johnson uses this method to dispatch one of her victims after [[DeathBySex seducing her]]. More plausible than most examples, as the weapon she uses is an inflatable plastic cushion rather than a standard porous fabric pillow.

* The ''Literature/ClassicSingaporeHorrorStories'' short "Paint it Black" has the GoldDigger, Jessica, who married an old Indian billionaire and strategically arranged for the billionaire's first two wives murdered. With the billionaire about to die of heartbreak from his family being ruined, Jessica decide to hasten the process by getting rid of him personally. Said murder happens in a lavish bedroom full of satin pillows and silk blankets, though the writer Damien Sin leaves the details to the readers' imagination.

--->'''Thumbelina, about a dead bird:''' I should cover him up.
--->'''Kevin, as Thumbelina:''' Mr. Digger, that is. With a pillow. While he sleeps.

--->"You know that I can like, breathe through the pillow right?"

* ''Fanfic/ADragonsRoar'': This is how Aerys is killed at the start of the CivilWar, Rhaella smothering him after sex (with Rhaegar's explicit blessing).

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Woody]] does this to Buzz when he's effectively lobotomized as a result of Andy using him as a bong.

* ''Series/TheTruthSeekers'': {{Exaggerated|Trope}} with one murderer who smothered two young children while committing a different crime. Investigators think he used a couch cushion, but it's revealed that he did it accidentally by hugging their faces to his body for a few seconds.