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16[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/MotorCrush https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1597675_xl.jpg]]]]
17[[caption-width-right:350:For when you want the best view of your imminent death.]]
18
19->''The betrayer is enraged''
20->''His mask is broke, his crimson hauberk cloven''
21->''His brains they are arrayed amongst the ruins of the lies he's spoken''
22-->-- '''[[{{Music/Gwar}} GWAR]]''', ''Immortal Corruptor''
23
24In some media, particularly science fiction media, armored characters will often have large plates covering their face. This could be anything from a large bubble helmet used in a conventional space suit, to a thin strip-like visor running across their eyes. Sometimes writers and artists need to show combat damage on suited characters, and one of the most visible and effective means of communicating that to the audience is by means of smashing, cracking, or putting a hole through the faceplate on their armor, suit, or mask.
25
26This can be a very powerful image, as humans instinctively look to the face to gauge the state of another person's emotions, and even when that face is completely concealed behind a visor, the fact that the visor is damaged tends to communicate horrible damage quite quickly. This can also be a form of GoryDiscretionShot, as any damage severe enough to put a hole through a faceplate is likely to [[ChunkySalsaRule make a mess of the head it conceals]], but the actual blood and gore need not be directly shown. See also PrettyLittleHeadshots. On the other hand, if the damage caused uncovers the character's face but does not cause head injury, that can also be a way of communicating to the audience that though the character is not dead, they are in serious danger. Tearing away their protection and revealing their face in the process will "humanize" an armored character to the audience, with all attendant human vulnerabilities that implies.
27
28Note that though this trope seems most common to armored characters, it can apply to any character who conceals their face behind a mask. For example, a [[CoolMask masked]] SuperHero who gets their mask partially torn off in battle would count as this trope, though one who [[TheUnmasking deliberately takes the mask off]] would not.
29
30Often a type of ArmorPiercingAttack, this is a non-{{fanservice}} SubTrope of ClothingDamage, and SisterTrope to HatDamage if non-fatal. Can overlap with a DramaticUnmask if this is done to reveal a character's identity. May invoke OminousCrack where it's not fatal for added drama.
31
32!!'''As is often a {{Death Trope|s}}, Spoilers may be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''
33----
34!!Examples:
35[[foldercontrol]]
36
37[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
38* Happens in the fourth season of ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'' when Dan shatters [[BigBad Mag Mel]]'s mask in their fight, revealing his true identity of Emperor Barodius, the previous season's BigBad who'd been sealed away for his attempted destruction of his neighboring planet.
39* Very dramatically in the ''Anime/CodeGeass'' first SeasonFinale: [[spoiler: Suzaku shoots a bullet straight at Zero's forehead; the mask slowly cracks, falling into two pieces on the floor and finally revealing Lelouch's identity to both him and Kallen.]]
40* In ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', one of the most common and effective ways to show that a foe is to be feared is for them to break Hei's [[WhiteMaskOfDoom mask]].
41* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', when Matt is shot by Takada's bodyguards, his goggles are cracked.
42* '"Manga/{{Doraemon}}''
43** The remake of ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheBirthOfJapan'' have Doraemon and gang battling the masked villain, Gigazombie, whose mask later gets split vertically into two by a flung spear, revealing Gigazombie's true face to the heroes for the first time. [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse Turns out Gigazombie looks like an ordinary person under that sinister mask]].
44** ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheRobotKingdom'' have the villainous Dester having his helm split into half (in both anime and manga), leading to the UnroboticReveal that Dester's a human.
45* In ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'', Nakajo [[InvulnerableKnuckles punches]] the masked biker's helmet hard enough to smash it. This doesn't even knock him out.
46* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
47** In the metaseries, the sight of a shattering faceplate is usually, though not always, the signal that a pilot is now dead. At best, it's a sign of severe injury and possible major life change.
48** In ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' Episode 20, in the after-credits scene, this involves TheReveal of [[spoiler:Aila]] being the lady with the helmet to Reiji.
49* In ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'', during his rematch against Bondrewd, Reg bites down on Bondrewd's helmet, tearing away the metal plating covering his [[MagicalEye Magical Eye]].
50* Ryuga in ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'' gets his helmet smashed open in the last episode of the first season.
51* Haku from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. His mask cracks and falls off while he waits for Naruto to kill him.
52** Later on, Obito's orange mask gets destroyed during his fight with Konan, and Naruto shatters his white mask during the war, revealing that he wasn't Madara, but in fact, Obito.
53* ''Manga/PumpkinScissors'':
54** [[ActionGirl Alice]] is buying time for Randel by taking on an entire division of Claymores (masked, heavily-armoured shock troopers). The captain mocks her because she's getting tired; her response is to hack right through the metal faceplate of the captain with her [[{{BFS}} double-bladed cavalry sword]], then slash through his body armour.
55** The same episode has another example near the end. [[spoiler: As the body of [[TragicVillain Hans]] of the [[KillItWithFire 908th High-Temperature Troop]] is being carted away, we see the faceplate of his [[ImmuneToBullets flame and bullet resistant armour]] cracked wide open. As he can no longer survive outside his suit, this example is even more appropriate than most.]]
56* Happens in ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' several times, but it is rarely if ever meant to be a GoryDiscretionShot, given how graphic deaths are in the series.
57* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', a sign that Vash is genuinely pissed is that he aims to kill, hitting the eye portion of Monev's transparent faceplate and cracking it, though Monev survives the shot.
58* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', Zone's mask cracks after receiving a direct attack and part of it soon breaks off, revealing that he has the same face as Yusei.
59[[/folder]]
60
61[[folder:Comic Books]]
62* Comicbook/{{Galactus}}'s CoolHelmet is occasionally cracked during battles, though this can happen with opponents who are much weaker than he is, like [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. On one occasion, ComicBook/{{Thanos}} was able to [[ClothingDamage blow off most of his armor]] revealing a [[HumanAlien human-looking form]] beneath his armor, though this is [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm just what the human mind perceives]].
63* During the conclusion of ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'', ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} shatters [[BigBad Ocean Master]]'s [[MaskOfPower crown]] in two. Afterwards, Ocean Master [[spoiler:relinquishes the title of king of Atlantis to him]].
64* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'', Optimus Prime's famous faceplate was melted away when he was consumed in the explosion of Unicron's destruction. In the Transformers Generation 2 continuation, his faceplate was punched clean off by the berserk Jhiaxus.
65** In the GrandFinale of [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW the original IDW comics timeline]], this was inverted: his faceplate was all that was left of him after his death. Coincidentally, on that occasion, he was also consumed by the destruction of Unicron. During his funeral, Windblade placed the faceplate on his (empty) coffin.
66* In ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'', the titular foursome have to wear helmets on their journey into the N-Zone due to the dimension's atmosphere being lethal to humans. When Reed and Ben encounter Nihil, he springs a trap that shatters their faceplates. [[RubberMan Reed]] spreads his hand over his helmet to keep it sealed shut. Ben isn't so lucky, but fortunately, it turns out that he ''can'' breathe in the N-Zone's atmosphere. Though in Ben's words: "This air tastes like crap."
67* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}: ComicBook/TheContest'' ComicBook/{{Artemis}} breaks the faceplate on the helmet of one of Julianna Sazia's musclebound cyborg henchmen during her first outing as a hero.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Fan Works]]
71* In the ''Dornian Heresy'' (an AlternateContinuity of the [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 ''Horus Heresy'']]), Sanguinius came into the care of the Baalite mutants who called themselves the Changed. With Sanguinius's help, the Changed defeated the Faceless Ones and piled their smashed rad-suit helmets at the base of Angel Falls.
72* In ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'', Littlepip deals with a troublesome Enclave soldier by putting a large crack in her PoweredArmor faceplate and hurling her into a vat of mutagenic chemicals. The results are [[TransformationHorror not ]] [[NauseaFuel pretty.]]
73* During the FinalBattle of ''Fanfic/{{Marionettes}}'', Trixie manages to shatter half the visor of [[BigBad Masquerade's]] [[PoweredArmor Puppeteer Armor's helmet]] at the same time Masquerade shatters one of Trixie's (who turned out to [[RoboticReveal be an android]]) eye lenses to reveal the optic underneath. This is more of an issue for Masquerade, as with her helmet damaged she has to block more attacks than she otherwise would.
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
77* Invoked. In ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheMovie'', Cobra Commander's plate falls off in front of Roadblock, [[spoiler:after he was blinded]].
78[[/folder]]
79
80[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
81* In ''Film/ThreeHundred'', the Persian Immortals wear chromed masks into battle. One gets unmasked by a blow to the face. What's underneath is even uglier, matching the rest of Xerxes' army of freaks and horrors.
82* ''Film/AdAstra''.
83** During the Moon buggy chase, the [[MauveShirt lieutenant commanding Roy's escort]] is KilledMidSentence by a BoomHeadshot smashing in his faceplate.
84** While investigating a space station laboratory, an astronaut is attacked by an [[ManiacMonkeys escaped lab monkey]] who [[CruelAndUnusualDeath smashes in his helmet and chews off his nose]]. Another astronaut desperately tries to cover the massive hole with duct tape, but he's dead by the time they get him back to his own spacecraft.
85* In the original ''Film/{{Alien}}'', the first thing the face-hugger form goes for is the helmet, secreting acid to melt through the faceplate to [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong impregnate the host within]]...
86* In ''Film/{{Automata}}'' the Automaton Pilgram 7000 series and up have built-in faceplate-like masks that are often graffitied, shot at, broken, or [[TheSingularity when fully sapient simply removed]].
87* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': Towards the end of the fight between Batman and Superman, the helmet of Batman's PoweredArmor gets broken enough to partially expose Batman's face, and the [[GlowingEyesOfDoom white eyes]] and voice changer don't work well anymore. Along with the rest of the armor, the broken helmet is seen again in ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' as a ContinuityNod.
88* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'':
89** During their first fight, Bane beats Batman so brutally that his cowl cracks.
90** In their second fight, Batman invokes this against Bane, hitting him so hard that his mask breaks - which messes with the constant flow of painkilling gas Bane needs to ignore the pain from his injuries.
91* ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'': the foot soldiers of the evil emotion supressing regime of Libria all wear motorcycle helmets during fights, many times their deaths are signalled by the [[BloodlessCarnage glass front of the helmet shattering]] either from gun fire or by pistol whipping.
92* In ''Film/{{Gravity}}'', Shariff's death is confirmed not only by the large hole in the visor of his helmet but by the hole in the back of the helmet and straight through the head in between.
93* In ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'', this happens to the hero after getting a [[UseYourHead headbutt]] from another astronaut.
94* In ''Film/IronMan3'', Pepper finds and picks up an Iron Man helmet, which has been cracked in half and slightly burned.
95* Several examples in ''Film/TheLastDaysOnMars'' (2013). PatientZero staggers back to the expedition base, [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat somehow surviving a fall that should have killed him or punctured his spacesuit]]. As he's dragged out of the airlock, a crewman takes off his helmet and we're shown the hole in the faceplate just before the FacialHorror of his desiccated features is revealed, and he attacks the crewman as an enraged alien fungus-infected zombie. Later a ZombieInfectee pulls off her space helmet to stop a colleague from rescuing her. He tries to put the helmet back on but sees the faceplate has been smashed. Later he comes across a member of the relief team dead in his spacesuit, after hearing their SoundOnlyDeath. The final version is when the SoleSurvivor has to headbutt another infected victim, [[TheEndOrIsIt raising the possibility that he also might become infected]].
96* During their clash in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Finn damages Captain Phasma's helmet, enabling viewers to see one of her clear blue eyes for the first (and possibly last) time.
97* As in Literature below, ''Film/TheMartian'' has this happen to Mark Watney, forcing him to carry out a hasty emergency repair. Fortunately he has a [[DuctTapeForEverything roll of duct tape on his belt]].
98* At the end of the ActionPrologue in ''Film/PacificRim'', Reliegh stumbles out of a collapsed Gypsy Danger with the faceplate over his helmet reduced to a few broken pieces around the edges and the right shoulder of his suit torn off, showing what he just went through.
99* ''Film/MaskedAvengers'' have the leaders of the Masked Gang constantly wearing their masks, much like their namesake. A MauveShirt hero managed to confront three of the leaders, and slice their masks into half revealing their identities, one at a time. But then the third of the leader whose mask he splits apart turns out to be one of his allies, the unexpected reveal stunning him long enough to be mortally wounded by an ambush. He survives long enough to reveal the truth behind the Mask Gang to his allies later on.
100* In ''Film/TheRaid,'' one [[RedShirt early non-essential character]] gets shot clean through the faceplate on his riot helmet. Doubles as Eye Scream, at that.
101* Used in ''Film/RoboCop1987'', where his visor gets smashed open by [=ED209=], allowing the audience to see the fear and surprise on his face during a close-up.
102* Happens in ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' at least twice. Spidey's mask gets ripped when he's on the receiving end of a beatdown.
103* The movie poster for ''Film/{{Sputnik}}'' shows the protagonist holding the bloodstained and shattered helmet of a cosmonaut. Turns out [[OrificeInvasion something got inside the man who was wearing it]].
104* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', Picard takes a blow to the head while wearing a Starfleet space suit, causing the visor to crack. Fortunately for him, it still holds.
105* During the space jump in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', Kirk takes a winging glance to the face from a small piece of debris. It produces a hairline fracture on his faceplate which begins to expand into a spiderweb of cracks as the air pressure in his suit pushes the faceplate outward. It holds and does not shatter completely, but it does disable his HeadsUpDisplay which he needs to navigate the debris field.
106* During the intense forest battle in ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'', Megatron shatters Optimus Prime's iconic faceplate by kicking him in the face. Soon after, Prime has to spit damaged pieces of it out of his mouth. Later, when he is upgraded with Jetfire's parts, Optimus's faceplate is repaired.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Literature]]
110* Frequently appears in the ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'':
111** In the ''Legend of the Jade Phoenix'' trilogy, Aidan only won his Bloodname when a lucky shot from his autocannon cracked the canopy on his gloating enemy's HumongousMecha, [[ExplosiveDecompression which shattered and burst outwards on the airless moon]].
112** In the finale to the second ''Saga Of The Gray Death Legion'' novel, Grayson Carlyle is forced to jettison his mech's armored canopy and fight off a lance of enemy mechs. By the end of the fight, he's suffering from second-degree burns and corneal damage from the searing light of his mech's twin {{Lightning Gun}}s.
113* In the Creator/RayBradbury story ''Kaleidoscope'', several astronauts are thrown into space with no hope of rescue. One of them starts screaming hysterically, and rather than listen to this over the suit radio for the rest of his short life, the protagonist smashes the man's faceplate.
114* In ''Literature/TheMartian'', [[spoiler:after the seal around one of the Hab airlocks rips and the pressure blasts the airlock out, with Mark inside it,]] Mark has the faceplate of his helmet shattered. He is trapped in a pressured environment with a slow leak and needs to {{MacGyver|ing}} a way to seal it before he can go anywhere. [[spoiler: He ends up cutting the left arm off his suit, tucking that arm against his chest, sealing the hole where the arm was, then using part of the suit's arm as an emergency patch, using the camera on the other arm to see.]]
115* [[https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-1-Red-Space-David-Wellington/dp/031649674X Shown on the cover]] for the space horror novel ''Paradise-1'', by Creator/DavidWellington.
116* ''Literature/SpacedOut2016'': When [[TheProtagonist Dash]] sees Lily Sjoberg's space helmet [[spoiler:on the floor of the old Moon Base Alpha operations pod]], he notes a crack zig-zagging across the visor.
117** [[spoiler:Dash's mom also notes a hairline fracture on her space helmet's visor while out on the lunar surface. This was because Cesar Marquez and the Sjoberg twins were using them as football helmets one night, and damaged them.]]
118[[/folder]]
119
120[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
121* ''Series/DoctorWho''. After the ActionPrologue of [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor "The Power of the Doctor"]], Dan gets back on the TARDIS, takes off his space helmet and sees a hole smashed in the faceplate. Realising how close he came to dying, he decides to return to his ordinary life on Earth rather than continue adventuring with the Doctor and Yaz.
122* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''
123** A CatapultNightmare has Crichton dying this way in "Dream a Little Dream".
124** In "The Flax", Crichton and Aeryn are trapped in a damaged transport pod and the only way to fix it is to depressurize briefly. They have suits but the visor on Crichton's helmet is cracked so he won't be able to fix the environmental controls. Instead he tells Aeryn how to make the repairs and how to perform [[CPRCleanPRettyReliable CPR]] to revive him once she's sealed the pod.
125* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
126** In ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'', Tachibana (Garren)'s helmet is broken when he faces off against the Peacock Undead.
127** In ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', [[Series/KamenRiderKuuga Yuusuke]], wearing the [[Series/KamenRiderAgito G3-X armor]], is attacked by one of the Lords and part of the faceplate is damaged in the process.
128** In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', [[spoiler: Mitsuzane blows off half of Takatora's faceplate at the end of their duel.]]
129** Chihiro's Amazon Neo helmet is broken by gunfire in the finale of ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'', [[spoiler: revealing his true monstrous Amazon form underneath.]]
130** In the penultimate episode of ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'', [[spoiler:Gentoku Himuro/Kamen Rider Rogue's helmet is broken while fighting the BigBad Evolt. He doesn't survive much longer afterwards.]]
131** In the last episode of ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'', [[spoiler:Geiz's helmet is broken after receiving the final blow that would kill Sougo to save his life, then untransforms and tells him to turn into Oma Zi-O and dies in the process.]]
132* Played for laughs in ''[[Series/Loki2021 Loki]] Season Two'', when Mobius finds the suit he's about to wear to go outside to a temporal loom that will spaghettify him at the smallest leak, ''has a crack in the helmet.''
133-> '''Mobius:''' Is this thing cracked?!
134-> '''OB:''' ''slaps duct tape on it'' You'll be fine.
135* In the finale of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'', Obi-Wan manages to cut Vader's helmet open with his lightsaber during their duel, revealing half of his ravaged face. It also causes Vader's voice modulator to malfunction, which allows Obi-Wan to hear the voice of Anakin Skywalker once again.
136* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
137** Psycho Pink of ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' gets her helmet cracked, but you don't get to see through it. The same cracked helmet prop is reused [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy a season later]], when she (barely) survives the combined finishing moves of the Space and Galaxy Rangers, and seeks payback.
138** ''[[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Lost Galaxy]]'' - During the final battle with Trakeena, Leo uses his SuperMode armor to grab her and fires at point-blank range. At first, his teammates aren't sure he survived, but he staggers out of the rubble with half his visor blown off and gives an epic thumbs up.
139** ''[[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Lightspeed Rescue]]'' - This is how Captain Mitchell finds out who the new Titanium Ranger really is. [[spoiler:It's his son.]]
140*** Happens to Carter in the finale, to an extent -- his helmet gets knocked off and we see the visor shattered when the helmet landed.
141** ''[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Time Force]]'' - This is how Wes's father finds out that his son is a Ranger.
142*** This was a shot-for-shot remake of a scene from ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger''. Including the fact that you could only a small part of his face, and the dad was a ''good'' ten yards away or more.
143** ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Ninja Steel]]'' - In the extended version of "Dimensions In Danger", Tommy and his robot EvilKnockoff have a brief MirrorMatch in their Dino Thunder suits. When Tommy's visor gets broken, he starts using his ''other'' powersets.
144** ''[[Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers Beast Morphers]]'' - Devon gets his visor shattered by Tubatron's sound wave after said robot is upgraded with a Fury Cell; This incident leads to Grid Battleforce developing their own Fury Cell tech.
145* In ''Breakaway'', the pilot episode of ''Series/Space1999'', astronaut Nordstrom flips out on the Moon's surface, is zapped by a laser barrier, and is thrown to the ground, cracking the faceplate of his helmet on an inconvenient rock. He survives it, but it doesn't really get any better for him.
146* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noyvWimptWI Here's]] a montage.
147** Happens to Black Condor in ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman''.
148** In ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'': Tatsuya's visor breaks after he blocks a shot aimed at the City Guardians, revealing his identity to his father.
149** Happens at least once in ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' (to Blue).
150** In the ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' movie, Hikaru / Sungel gets shot point-blank, shattering his faceplate. Instead of his face, we see pure light underneath before he changes into his Heavenly Saint form.
151*** A curious variation takes place in the final battle against N Ma; Kai manifests his helmet without the faceplate.
152** ''[[Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger Gekiranger]]'': Jan gets a hole punched in his visor during his final fight with Rio.
153** ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'': In Mission 14, Hiromu and Ryuuji both get smashed visors. This shows how strong the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Metaroids]] are getting... the episode happens to be the debut of the [[SixthRanger 4th and 5th rangers]]. It also happens to Ryuuji in mission 46. It happens to all three main Rangers in the finale.
154* In a rather strange inversion, ''Series/UltramanZ'' [[spoiler:has [[HybridMonster Destrudos]], transformed from [[HumongousMecha Ultroid Zero]], whose head breaks in half after the robot absorbs seven kaiju DNA to complete its mutation into the said monstrosity. The right part of Ultroid Zero's head half hangs onto several spikes on its right shoulder, where as the left one hangs on the head]].
155[[/folder]]
156
157[[folder:Video Games]]
158* The mask of Yasha, which symbolizes his allegiance to the Seven Deities in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', takes more and more damage throughout the game, at one point being removed when he joins Asura in opposing his bosses, before finally shattering completely when Yasha finally dies in Episode 21.
159* Two instances in ''Videogame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'':
160** During the Deathstroke boss battle, Batman punches Deathstroke's face plate so hard that it flies off his face completely.
161** After beating Firefly, Batman punches out one of the eyepieces in Firefly's helmet, revealing part of his burnt-up face.
162* In ''VideoGame/BattleZone1998'', the first NSDF Europa mission ends with a shot of a [[DirtyCommunists Cosmo Colonist Army]] trooper with his helmet shattered, his face [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath bloating out and freezing simultaneously]] in the vacuum. In ''Battlezone II: Combat Commander'', mission failure with the ISDF results in a shot of your character's head exploding out through the LatexSpaceSuit's faceplate while the rest of their body melts.
163* In ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'', Bayonetta's recurring adversary, the Masked Lumen, gets his mask partially broken by Loki via a surprise attack, revealing his right eye which Bayonetta recognizes as the Right Eye of The World, which previously belonged to Father Balder, the BigBad of [[VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} the first game]]. [[spoiler:In their climatic fight, he removes his mask entirely, and reveals himself to be young Balder.]]
164* In the Macintosh FMV shooting gallery game ''VideoGame/BloodBath'', the screen cracks when you get hit, and displays a blood splatter when you are killed.
165* This happens to [[BlackKnight Alternis Dim]] after his defeat in ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault.''
166* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', one mission requires you to wear an NBC suit during a chemical attack. You're still fighting, though, and as you take damage, your faceshield will crack. While your health will regenerate normally, [[RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth your faceshield won't]], meaning that if you take too much damage in the entire sequence, you'll die from exposure to the chemical agent.
167** Also briefly appears ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'', in first person, when Price's Juggernaut suit is damaged by helicopter rockets in the final mission.
168** ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII Black Ops II]]'' also briefly uses this in the final level, where the player and his team are dropping into the area by way of some form of jetpack with helmets/rebreathers as missiles explode in the air along your path; flying through the explosions damages you and causes minor cracks to appear at the edges of your vision, though not enough to actually break it if you get killed on the way down.
169* In ''Videogame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun'' the Nod campaign starts with a pan shot to a fallen Nod trooper, whose helmet is blown open. Unlike most other instances of this trope, if you look closely you can see the remains of the guy's face (it ain't pretty). This is intentionally juxtaposed with Nod Propaganda being broadcast over the trooper's transmitter, which leads into the actual intro.
170* In ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' while infiltrating the TYM headquarters in Hengsha, [[PlayerCharacter Jensen]] comes across a TYM employee who just got caught in an industrial accident. He is trapped in a room full of toxic gas, and something smacked him across the head and broke the clear visor of his HazmatSuit. He has a secondary rebreather beneath that, but it is clearly not as effective without the suit's seal, and the man is running out of time.
171* The bad ending of ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' if you run out of time on the sixth stage.
172* In ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR]] 2: Project Origin'', the screen cracks when Becket dies, representing his CoolShades that [[DiegeticInterface give him his HUD]] being broken.
173* ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'': Tankman's defeat icon has his visor shattered.
174* Happens to Cpt. Mitchell in one of ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter2'''s later missions, also [[InterfaceScrew wrecking your HUD]].
175* In the finale of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV: A Realm Reborn'', Yda's faceplate is cracked, showing one of her eyes, as she and Papalymo cover the other Scions' escape.
176* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
177** A few examples in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'':
178*** [[PlayerCharacter Noble Six]]'s helmet is shown as a DeadHatShot InMediasRes during the opening cutscene, half buried in the dirt, [[{{Foreshadowing}} lying alone and abandoned on a charred battlefield]].
179*** [[spoiler:[[InterfaceScrew Seen from first person]] when Noble Six is making a LastStand against the Covenant, and we learn why the helmet was discarded as shown in the opening.]]
180** In the teaser for ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', Master Chief's visor is cracked. He sports the look in-game [[spoiler:after Locke kicks him in the face]].
181* Used on the cover of ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}''. [[CoversAlwaysLie Not that it ever actually happens in the game]].
182* Meta Knight from the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series normally falls victim to this after you defeat him in his boss fight. It also reveals that his real face is [[spoiler: a lot like Kirby's]]. He normally flees after you see it.
183* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure'', during the Final Chapter of ''Azure'', the Special Support Section has to fight against [[WorldsBestWarrior Arianrhod]], the Seventh Anguis of Ouroboros. Doing enough damage to her destroys her helmet to the point her stats increase and she'll likely wipe the party with her [[LimitBreak S-Craft]] soon after. She considers it an honor that the SSS survived long enough to break her helmet. If you defeat her, she considers them to be {{Worthy Opponent}}s who can survive everything else to come after her.
184* In ''VideoGame/LuminousAvengerIX'', the end of final fight with [[TheDragon Blade]] has him shattering his own helmet after [[spoiler:seeing the picture in Kohaku's pendant that Copen dropped during the fight]], revealing his face [[spoiler:and showing [[SamusIsAGirl he's a she]]]]. This is due to Blade [[spoiler:finally overcoming her brainwashing from Sumeragi after seeing her little sister and her helmet apparently containing whatever tech they were using to keep her under control.]]
185* During the "Bring Down the Sky" mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', a survivor of the attack mentions that the Batarian terrorists killed engineers working vacuum by smashing their faceplates.
186* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' uses the broken face plate during the very first mission. It happens almost immediately to the PlayerCharacter, though they quickly repair the damage with their omnitool. Later...the effects of a completely shattered face plate are a little harder to overcome.
187* In ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'', the final boss [[GodhoodSeeker Master Albert]] wears a full helmet with the front covered in opaque dark-blue glass that only shows his GlowingEyesOfDoom. Defeating him shows in the following cutscene Grey/Ashe manages to shatter the glass, revealing the fatally wounded Albert's face as he spitefully condemns them [[DefeatEqualsExplosion before he explodes]].
188* In ''VideoGame/Metro2033'' and ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'', this is a gameplay mechanic similar to the ''Black Ops'' example above when you go above ground: your gas mask will start to crack and break as you take damage while wearing it. As it gets closer to breaking, it becomes less effective, and when it has a hole punched in it, it's done for and you have to find another in less than thirty seconds.
189* The GameOver screen in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''.
190** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' Samus comes across the leader of a group of Federation Marines on planet Aether. His faceplate is broken, so you know he's dead.
191* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the BigBad Shriek's [[HornsOfVillainy horned skull headgear]] gets broken when Seir fends her off near the end of the story.
192* The Bulldozer units in ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' can have its faceplate broken when shot at enough times, allowing you to do massive damage afterwards. in ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' and ''VideoGame/PAYDAY3'', Bulldozers have two layers of faceplates, with the unit's face being exposed upon both being broken.
193* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' - the mask of Peter's new, armored suit gets cracked about halfway through the final boss battle. [[spoiler:Peter briefly tries to hide his face, only for Octavius to reveal he already knows it's him.]]
194* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', a scene near the end of the game shows the aftermath of a battle, with many broken and imobile suits of Terran power armor strewn across the ground. One prominent shot shows a large hole shot through the characteristic domed visor.
195** A news report in ''[[VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'' symbolizes a report on [[spoiler: Jim Raynor's faked]] execution with a shot of his suit with a bullet through the faceplate.
196* Used in first person in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando''. The leader of Delta Squad will get [[InterfaceScrew cracks and chips on his visor when taking damage]], which will be quickly repaired as the helmet's systems re-surface the visor.
197* ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal: Head On'' has Miranda Watts, whose driver's helmet is broken enough to reveal one of the her eyes. By the time of her ending, it's gone through enough damage to reveal her entire face. It serves to give her an IdenticalTwinIDTag from her sister from the second game, who wore a pristine helmet, [[BackupTwin and whose gameplay role she takes in this one]].
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200[[folder:Web Animation]]
201* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'''': Revelation''
202** Near the end of the season, [[spoiler:the Meta manages to drive a spiked A.I. containment unit into Tex's visor, smashing a large round hole into the front of it and absorbing her into the unit.]] [[note]]Rooster Teeth supposedly intended for this iconic image to be used on the DVD cover until they discovered the trope was also being used in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', which was being released at nearly the same time. They decided to change it to avoid seeming like they were ripping off the idea.[[/note]]
203** It shows up again after York's injury in the sparring match in season 9, where he loses vision in one eye and gains some [[GoodScarsEvilScars serious scars]].
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206[[folder:Webcomics]]
207* [[spoiler: Mistress Butterfly]] of ''Webcomic/Collar6'' cements her status as a BigBad by shattering the cyclops-like faceplate of a [[TheWorfEffect supposedly powerful]] member of the association called a Judicatrix.
208* [[http://supernormalstep.com/?p=83 May]] from ''Webcomic/SupernormalStep''.
209* This happens to Noisemaster in ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'' after his attack on Nautilus is unexpectedly blocked. It also marks the end of his silly DJ persona [[spoiler:as his KillSat is fully charged and counts down to fire on the Melody Kingdom]].
210* In ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'', the state of Dave's eyeglasses symbolizes the state of his sanity. For most of the comic's run, his glasses are intact but represented as opaque. Towards the end when Dave finally realizes the great secret responsible for much of his life's path, his glasses are suddenly represented as clear, showing that he can see clearly now. And then [[ShatteredSanity one of the lenses cracks]], as a not-so-subtle way to show that [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Dave is half-cracked]].
211* ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' has a situation where a North Korean superhero raids a research faculty in the USA intending to steal a superweapon. The American general tells him, smugly and unwisely, that his platoon of SuperSoldiers are wearing power armour and protection that makes them invulnerable to superpowers. The supervillain Colonel Glass then smiles wickedly and points out that his name is Colonel Glass. What do you think my superpower is? He then notes the soldiers are wearing vision-enhancing lenses in their faceplates. which from the point of view of a supervillain who can manipulate glass and turn it into, say, razor-sharp shards propelled with some force, is rather convenient. He then proceeds to blind each soldier in one eye. Because he's feeling merciful.
212* Moontear in ''Webcomic/StarMares'' usually wears polarized lenses that completely cover her eyes while in space. They get conveniently blown away when she has to have her eyes visible for a reaction shot.
213* An early page of ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'' has resident FriendlySniper Grey O'Shea save one of his unit by putting a round through the faceplate of an [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Azatoth]] soldier.
214* ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper'': This happens to Brook twice. First is when Scarlet shoots him in the head in order to break his mask. The second is during their second fight when she manages to punch him and actually hurt him a little.
215[[/folder]]
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217[[folder:Western Animation]]
218* When T'Chaka (the previous ComicBook/BlackPanther) is killed by Man-Ape in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', his mask falls to the ground and symbolically shatters.
219* In ''WesternAnimation/{{BIONICLE}} 2: Legends of Metru Nui'', Jaller's mask is damaged during the Great Rescue. Vakama promptly gives Jaller [[TragicKeepsake Lhikan's mask]].
220* On Episode 7 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', police chief Lin Beifong beats an Equalist MiniMecha by [[ExtraOreDinary metalbending her cables]] [[BladeBelowTheShoulder into punching daggers]] and smashing through the faceplate, attacking the operator.
221* A scene of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' sees General Grievous grasping a clone trooper's head with his clawed foot and smashing him against a wall so hard that his helmet shatters and his jaw is visible. [[BloodlessCarnage There's no blood]], but it's reasonable to assume that the trooper is down for good.
222* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII "Twilight of the Apprentice"]], [[spoiler:Ahsoka manages to take Darth Vader by surprise and damage his mask, revealing his right eye, and the deformed face of Anakin Skywalker to her.]]
223* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
224** During Optimus's death sequence in ''Anime/TransformersArmada'', his faceplate cracks apart up close before he crumbles into dust.
225** Later, in ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', Optimus Prime's mouthplate is shattered again during the final battle, although he remains alive, victorious. Galvatron is the one who dies this time.
226** In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', [[TheBlank Soundwave]] gets slashed across his faceplate by Wheeljack, shortly before Wheeljack headbutts him hard enough to badly crack it. However, Soundwave [[FeelNoPain shows pretty much no reaction to the damage]] and manages to narrowly win their battle.
227* In the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz takes on Emperor Belos, the most powerful witch on the isles. At first, it's all she can do just to stay alive, while he's [[JustToyingWithThem not even trying]] - until he lets his guard down and she chips off part of his mask with a surprise attack. This convinces him to get to [[DealWithTheDevil the point of their meeting]], with an added warning that he'll stop being so friendly if she does that again.
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