History Main / YourHeadASplode

* Happens at times in ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. The most iconic example is Yamagata, who gets offed like this by Tetsuo. More like LudicrousGibs considering what happened to his body.

* Referenced in ''InBruges'', when Harry is offered dum-dum bullets, "the bullets that make the head explode", and takes them like someone on a diet would accept chocolate cake: "I know I ''shouldn't''... but I will." Even professional hitmen can't resist the awesome of Your Head A Splode, apparently. [[spoiler:But they really should.]]

* The Cheat has a number of head-a-sploding moments in ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', though they just leave him with the cartoon-explosion look. It was, in fact, Vector Strong Bad who [[TropeNamer coined]] the term "Your Head A Splode," as well as a few other [[BlindIdiotTranslation poorly translated]] phrases on the subject.

* ''MrWelch'' has been specifically told that he cannot make anyone's head asplode no matter how well he does on an [[TabletopRPG IQ roll]].

* Happens in ''[[VideoGame/Elvira Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerburus]]'' when you defeat a witch. (One of her eyes survives, and it can be used as an ingredient for a spell.)

* In ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Belloq meets this fate (which is arguably less cool than Toht's melting face). The censors deemed the scene too gory, and it is partially censored with a pillar of flame.
** Happens again in ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', where Irina Spalko has flames coming out of her eye sockets as a result of absorbing too much information from the [[spoiler:extra-dimensional beings]].

* In his book ''Brain Droppings'', GeorgeCarlin wondered about the possibility of a world where the ''only'' cause of death was people's heads exploding, totally without warning.
-->'''Carlin:''' You know what? I bet people would get used to it.

[[folder:Card Games]]
* OlderThanRadio: The British card game ''[[http://www.wopc.co.uk/games/jaques-illustrated-proverbs.html Illustrated Proverbs]]'', circa 1885, has this trope on the first card for "They love too much who die for love." (Possibly also AteHisGun.)
[[/folder]]

* Zeus ate his lover Metis, knowing her child would be a threat to him. Unfortunately she was already pregnant. The child grew to term inside Zeus' head, giving Zeus terrible headaches. The blacksmith to the Gods, Hephaestus, evntually had to shatter Zeus' head with his sledgehammer to allow the child to be born - Athena (goddess of wisdom) eventually was born from the temporarily shattered skull, emerging full-grown and clad in armour wielding a spear.

* There's a [[http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/chess.asp persistent rumor]] of a Russian guy whose head literally exploded during a chess tournament. According to the legend, he had some type of electrical imbalance in his brain, which [[FridgeLogic must have]] somehow boiled his cranial liquids, causing pressure to build up inside his skull, exploding his head "as if someone had put a bomb in his cranium". (In terms of "head exploding like a watermelon with a firecracker in it," that would be impossible. There is no electrical configuration possible in a brain to be able to generate enough force to rupture the skull. Aneurysms, weak areas in your brain's circulation, can rupture under increased blood pressure, which is entirely possible in a stressful situation, and this can be instantly or near instantly fatal, but nothing in in your brain can blow your head up.)

* In the third game, and head shot to Unitologist soldiers, even ones with weapons that would normally cause their heads to fall off, will make it explode( This applies to explosive weapons, though it's unclear how instantly severing their body parts with one single explosion would cause their head to disappear other than a logical head shot with an explosive.

* There's a [[http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/chess.asp persistent rumor]] of a Russian guy whose head literally exploded during a chess tournament. According to the legend, he had some type of electrical imbalance in his brain, which [[FridgeLogic must have]] somehow boiled his cranial liquids, causing pressure to build up inside his skull, exploding his head "as if someone had put a bomb in his cranium". This seems unlikely but [[RealityIsUnrealistic stranger stuff happens]].
** In terms of "head exploding like a watermelon with a firecracker in it," that would be a negative. There is no electrical configuration possible in a brain to be able to generate enough force to rupture the skull. Aneurysms, weak areas in your brain's circulation, can rupture under increased blood pressure, which is entirely possible in a stressful situation, and this can be instantly or near instantly fatal, but nothing in in your brain can blow your head up.

* A particularly awesome [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSW2pPlZF-M head asplosion]] occurs in ''Deadly Friend'' when a cybernetically resurrected Kristy Swanson kills the obnoxious old lady neighbor with a thrown basketball.

* ''TheQuickAndTheDead''. KeithDavid's head doesn't ''exactly'' asplode, but what's left can't be structurally sound.

** Then again, non-metaphorically, when [[spoiler:the king golem's head is smashed to pieces, with countless shreds of paper containing the king golem's Words flying out]].

* In ''TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', JackBlack blows someones mind in his dream with ThePowerOfRock.

* In ''VideoGame/AlienVsPredator'' (any of the PC games or the newish console game), alien's heads tend to explode if you aim for them. Their bodies are kind of fragile and chitinous, so this is somewhat more believable.

* ''FistOfTheNorthStar'': Pretty much the fate of any bad guy who messes with Kenshiro. [[YouAreAlreadyDead They are already dead.]] Also, [[FatBastard Mr. Heart's]] finisher. "HIDEBU!!!"

** VideoGame/MassEffect3 headshots can now explode the heads of organic enemies. In multiplayer, krogan and batarian characters can do the same thing with headbutts / punches.

* This trope is taken UpToEleven with Andross in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''. For those who don't know Andross is basically [[CognizantLimbs a giant ape head with a pair of floating hands]]. When he is defeated the end of the game his head gets vaporized in a massive explosion comparable to when the Death Star blew up in ''StarWars''. Fox and Falco even have to OutrunTheFireball generated by his heads explosion with their spaceships.

* After you defeat the pepper grinder-wielding Dutchess in ''AmericanMcGeesAlice'', she has a sneezing fit, causing her head to explode.
** In AliceMadnessReturns, this happens to the White Rabbit within five minutes of starting the game. Seriously.
* In the Battle of The ''Amerigo'' cutscene in ''StarCraft'', one of the marines' heads explodes when a Zerg claw gets put through his face. There's also the opening cutscene, when the Protoss attack that salvage ship. Their beam vaporizes the ship from one end to the other, and somehow explodes the head of the guy on the bridge before his body just for good measure.

* This is how Dmitri dies in VideoGame/SpaceApe.

** Fun fact: Those cheering children is from VivaPinata.
** This is its effect in ''{{Halo 3}}''. The skull also appears in ''{{Halo 2}}'', where its effect is slightly different. There is no confetti or children - the enemy just blows up exactly like a plasma grenade. Also, the effect works on any enemy with a head, not just Grunts.

* Featured in numerous fatalities across the ''MortalKombat'' franchise. The very first exploding head, in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat 1'', was courtesy of Raiden, although in the savagely {{Bowdlerized}} SNES version it reduced the enemy to ashes instead.
* ''FistOfTheNorthStar'', [[MadeOfPlasticine when an enemy is punched]]. Apparently a [[FistOfTheNorthStar faithfully adapted trait of the anime]].
* ''JaggedAlliance 2''. If you manage to shoot somebody in the head in just the right way, their head will explode and their body will fall on the ground, [[HighPressureBlood blood squirting out of the neck]]. In fact, if you're lucky, you can save your game just before such moment and replay it over and over.
* In ''DeadRising'', break a jar containing a Queen bug in the vicinity of zombies, and their heads asplode.

* In AlienVsPredator (any of the PC games or the newish console game), alien's heads tend to explode if you aim for them. Their bodies are kind of fragile and chitinous, so this is somewhat more believable.

* In the original ''Film/LostBoys'' the vampire gang member Dwayne is killed when he's shot in the head with a holy water tipped arrow by Michael, it causes him to go flying into an amplifier which electrocutes him and causes his head to explode.

[[caption-width-right:293:[[CurseCutShort HOLY SH--]]]]

->"''Hey! You were [[Film/{{Scanners}} scanning]] me, weren't you? You were trying to make my head explode, you freaked-out maniac!''"
-->-- '''TV's Frank''', ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''

* In the ''Manga/DragonBall Z'' Majin Buu saga, Babidi made the head of any {{Muggle|s}} that annoyed him explode without warning. It wasn't too gory, though. Ironically, he dies when Buu ''punches'' his head off. Of course, this was edited for the televised dub.

* A heartwarming DefusingTheTykebomb situation in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' is interrupted by this; the BigBad anticipated that it might happen, so installed a tiny bomb in his weapon's skull.