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| 3 | %% This page's examples section is sorted alphabetically. It would be lovely if you'd maintain this, thanks. |
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| 6 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1561142432045120200 |
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| 9 | [[quoteright:300:[[Film/StarshipTroopers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carmen_starship_troopers.png]]]] |
| 10 | [[caption-width-right:300:"[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail I've had worse.]]"]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->''"Anyone who has been shot in the leg and tried to walk immediately afterward was not hired as the technical consultant on this movie."'' |
| 13 | -->-- '''Creator/RogerEbert''' on ''Gunmen'' (1994) |
| 14 | |
| 15 | On television, as well as in movies, there seems to be this general idea that if someone is shot in the [[HoldingYourShoulderMeansInjury shoulder]], or in the leg, then the worst that happens will be that the person will grimace and go on with what he was doing before he was shot. Getting shot in the leg may cause him to hobble around a bit, but no worse than a knee sprain. A "good guy" will sometimes shoot someone in the leg or shoulder, "just to stop him," and in television and movies, this is almost always nonlethal. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | In reality, there's no "safe" place to shoot a person, not even in a seemingly non-vital extremity like a leg or arm. Since the arm is a highly-developed and extremely important area of the body, it's supplied by plenty of absolutely ''huge'' blood vessels that go through the shoulder,[[note]]To name three of the biggest ones, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/subclavian_artery Subclavian artery]], which comes right off the aortic arch, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axillary_artery axillary artery]] and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachial_artery brachial artery]][[/note]] while the area also has lots of very delicate nerves and a very complex ball-and-socket joint that no surgeon on Earth can put back together once it's smashed to splinters by a bullet. Furthermore, a shot to the shoulder has a very high chance of causing arterial blood to spill into the lung, which would be fatal in most instances. The legs also contain large blood vessels; a shot that nicks the femoral artery will cause a fatal loss of blood in only a few minutes. And this is all assuming a "clean" through-and-through wound, disregarding the possibility of the bullet glancing off a bone or joint and deflecting or fragmenting into pieces, of which each can then hit something ''else'' more important inside. In short, there's no way for anyone, good or bad, to shoot someone and ''know'' that they will survive the wound. As they say, if you're shooting at all, you're shooting to kill. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | But this trope is so widespread that it's [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs caused people to assume]] that it's an [[RealityIsUnrealistic accurate reflection of reality]]. In truth, since there isn't any safe place to shoot at, police and soldiers usually aim for the center of mass (''i.e.'' the torso) simply to increase the odds of hitting the person in the first place. Trying to intentionally wing a target increases the odds that you'll ''miss entirely'' or end up hitting [[ShootTheHostage someone else]]. When dealing with dangerous criminals and where innocent lives are on the line, presumably, hitting the target, and ''only the target,'' should be top priority. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Insofar as this trope has any truth to it at all, it comes from the fact that the largest muscle pads on the human body — about the only type of tissue which can take a wound of impressive visual nastiness that isn't necessarily incapacitating or life-threatening — are in the thighs and the outside (''not'' the center) of the shoulder. The ''[[ShotInTheAss gluteus maximus]]'' will also suffice, but that particular target zone is often felt to [[{{AmusingInjuries}} lack dramatic gravitas]]. This is despite it being a relatively common wound among retired soldiers — because of its size, and because getting hit there is (''comparatively'') [[SurvivorshipBias less lethal]]. Hitting someone on the other side of their body, in the groin, on the other hand, pretty much guarantees they will bleed out very quickly (among other [[CripplingCastration potentially devastating results]] for people with the appropriate "equipment"). |
| 22 | |
| 23 | When the character insists on this, regardless of evidence to the contrary, he is saying ICanStillFight (which he does not, in fact, have to survive). |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Video Games are usually an exception. Draining a game target's HP is quasi-realistic enough to kill/destroy it even if all damage was to the legs or arms. In games with [[LudicrousGibs dismemberment]], taking off a limb may lead to instant death. Very few video games actually feature bleeding and those that do tend to be OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank. Surprisingly, a person suffering a [[AnArmAndALeg traumatic amputation]] in RealLife is often less likely to bleed out due to an autonomic muscle clamping response that closes major blood vessels. In these cases, a clean cut or puncture is actually more dangerous. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Do note that many of the examples below are subversions or outright aversions. A small part of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | See also MajorInjuryUnderreaction, HollywoodHealing, MadeOfIron, CriticalExistenceFailure, DidntNeedThoseAnyway, UnexplainedRecovery, BelatedInjuryRealization, ObviouslyNotFine, LodgedBladeRecycling, and TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain. Contrast with InstantDeathBullet. Particularly egregious examples would fall under the category of NoOneCouldSurviveThat. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | ---- |
| 32 | !!Examples: |
| 33 | [[index]] |
| 34 | * OnlyAFleshWound/AnimeAndManga |
| 35 | * OnlyAFleshWound/ComicBooks |
| 36 | * [[OnlyAFleshWound/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]] |
| 37 | * OnlyAFleshWound/{{Literature}} |
| 38 | * OnlyAFleshWound/LiveActionTV |
| 39 | * OnlyAFleshWound/VideoGames |
| 40 | * OnlyAFleshWound/RealLife |
| 41 | [[/index]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 46 | * During the Advertising/CompareTheMeerkat advert, "Battle of Fearlessness", Alexandr's grandfather is wounded and Sergei's grandfather holds him and screams to the sky. Alexandr's grandfather sits up and says: |
| 47 | --> "Quiet down! It's just a fur wound." |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Comedy]] |
| 51 | * Creator/EddieMurphy deconstructs this trope in a bit from his club days captured on his eponymous debut album. He tells the audience about having seen a friend get shot, and contrasts how it happens in the movies with all the standard clichés, ("I'll be OK ... go on without me") including the name of this trope with how it happened in real life: his friend screaming endlessly and yelling "Motherfucker, I've been shot!" |
| 52 | * In one of ventriloquist Creator/JeffDunham's concert films, "Spark of Insanity", Jeff points out that Achmed the Dead Terrorist is, as his name suggests, dead: |
| 53 | -->'''Achmed:''' No I'm not! I feel fine. |
| 54 | -->'''Jeff:''' But...you're all bone! |
| 55 | -->'''Achmed:''' It's a flesh wound. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 59 | * [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' fic ''Fanfic/ABrighterDark'' where even "light" hits are enough to effectively remove a character from play for long periods of time. [[SubvertedTrope Though less noticeable than other examples due to frequent timeskips.]] |
| 60 | * ''Fanfic/LightAndDarkTheAdventuresOfDarkYagami'' features a final battle in which [[spoiler:Soichiro Yagami and Watari, having been irradiated, set on fire and taken unholy amounts of punishment beforehand, continue to fight each other after having hacked each other's arms off]]. |
| 61 | -->[[spoiler:[[WorthyOpponent "YOU ARE THE WORTHIEST BLOODY BUGGER I HAVE EVER FIT"]] watari gasped booting soichiro in the gut.]]\ |
| 62 | [[spoiler:"Well you are WORTHIER!" soichiro ground back doing a headbutt right into watari's face.]] |
| 63 | * In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', the closest instances of a major injury that Kyril sustains are a punctured lung from a crossbow shot, and a sword wound to an arm and a leg from his duel with Vault. Both of them are received in the ''Liberation of Ansur [[StoryArc Arc]]''. Being a ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' hunter, it would not be surprising to see him shrug off said injuries without trouble. |
| 64 | * In a ''Film/JamesBond'' FanFilm ''[[WebVideo/DiamondsCut Property of a Lady]]'', one of the mooks is shot in the leg, interrogated (without the wound being bandaged or anything) and is then able to walk not 15 min. later. |
| 65 | * When Tails refuses to hand over Cosmo to him in Episode 73 of ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'', Tsali throws him to the floor and ''rips his heart and lungs out of his chest with his bare hands''. Tails responds by turning into [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Shroud Tails]], immediately regenerates his wounds, and [[CurbstompBattle retaliates in kind]]. |
| 66 | * Thoroughly averted in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' fic ''Fanfic/DownToAgincourt'', in which a minor bite from a brownie (the fairy kind, not the chocolate kind) gives [[spoiler:Dean]] a systemic infection that literally kills him twice and which he spends months recovering from. |
| 67 | * ''Fanfic/WarriorsOfTheWorldSoldiersOfFortune'' averts this trope when Valkron gets a blade in his left shoulder. His left arm is rendered completely useless for the remainder of the time, he can't fight, he's bleeding profusely and the only thing stopping him from falling unconscious from shock is adrenaline -- and even that was only for a while since he eventually passes out. |
| 68 | * ''WebVideo/NarutoTheAbridgedSeries'' spoofs this in the first episode where Iruka-sensei gets stabbed by a gigantic shuriken: |
| 69 | -->'''Iruka:''' Ow! That kind of stung.\ |
| 70 | '''Naruto:''' Didn't that hit your spine?\ |
| 71 | '''Iruka:''' Nope! It's [[InvokedTrope only a flesh wound]].\ |
| 72 | '''Naruto:''' But it's pretty deep in there.\ |
| 73 | '''Iruka:''' Eh. [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction I've had worse]]. |
| 74 | * In ''WebVideo/HeroHouse'', [[spoiler:Vegeta]] isn't quite as concerned about losing his hand as he should be. |
| 75 | * Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''Fanfic/WhyAndWere'' sees [[AmoralAfrikaner Assassin]] Johanna Smith-Rhodes having her left arm broken when a [[OurWerecreaturesAreDifferent leopard]] goes for her. [[note]]She is wearing an armoured sleeve; she escapes with a broken arm and a few toothmarks [[/note]]. After being patched up by an Igor, she goes back into battle with a splinted and plastered left arm. and ends up in a position where she has one silver-plated crossbow bolt and a direct line of sight on a wereleopard. Knowing the impact of firing a crossbow on a newly broken arm will not do it any good at all, she fires anyway... |
| 76 | [[/folder]] |
| 77 | |
| 78 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 79 | * ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'': |
| 80 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'', a totaled racecar insists that he can still race as he's being towed away. |
| 81 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'', Lightning [=McQueen=] crashes violently in the Los Angeles 500 as a result of [[HeroicRROD pushing himself too hard.]] But after a 4 months recovery in Radiator Springs, he appears to not have any lasting injuries and is not paranoid about the crash itself but more about what that crash could mean for his racing career. |
| 82 | * In the first ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'', Shrek is ShotInTheAss with an [[AnnoyingArrows arrow]]. After Fiona pulls it out, without any other first aid, he's fine. He didn't know it was even there until Fiona pointed it out. |
| 83 | * ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'': |
| 84 | ** Cloud getting stabbed in the shoulder by Sephiroth with no ill effects, and worse, a few minutes later, Yazoo ''shoots him in the back'', with the bullet coming right out of his chest. He doesn't even get healed or anything... |
| 85 | ** ''Advent Children Complete'' is even more guilty of this. [[spoiler: After Cloud gets stabbed in the shoulder by Sephiroth, He gets thrown into the air, stabbed around 7 times (through the arms, shoulders, chest, one stab going ''THROUGH his knee and continuing into his shoulder''). He then falls to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, pulls out [[EleventhHourSuperPower Omnislash]] and is apparently fine except for being exhausted and having a few cuts ....Until Yazoo fires at him.]] He gets a HEADSHOT and doesn't really care about it. His glasses are gone though... |
| 86 | * Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie,'' where Starscream kills Brawn by shooting him in the shoulder. |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 90 | * "Rocky Raccoon" by Music/TheBeatles: |
| 91 | -->''He said Rocky you met your match\ |
| 92 | ''And Rocky said, Doc it's only a scratch\ |
| 93 | And I'll be better\ |
| 94 | I'll be better Doc, as soon as I am able'' |
| 95 | * ''Music/TrappedInTheCloset'', Part 7 |
| 96 | -->''He says "Son, we gotta get you to a hospital and take a look at that wound."\ |
| 97 | Twan says "No, I'm okay. It's just my shoulder. All I need is a bathroom."'' |
| 98 | * "Trigger Happy" by Music/WeirdAlYankovic: |
| 99 | -->''Oh, I accidentally shot Daddy last night in the den\ |
| 100 | I mistook him in the dark for a drug-crazed Nazi again\ |
| 101 | Now why'd you have to get so mad?\ |
| 102 | It's just a lousy flesh wound, Dad\ |
| 103 | You know I'm trigger happy, trigger happy every day'' |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 107 | * ''Radio/BleakExpectations'': Protagonist Pip Bin gets stabbed in a sword-fight and insists it's just a flesh wound. A deep flesh-wound. In fact, so deep a flesh-wound that it's gone straight to some of his vital organs, "but a flesh-wound nonetheless!" He's fine shortly afterwards. |
| 108 | * In the Magician episode of ''Radio/AnotherCaseOfMiltonJones'', a rival magician shoots at our hero. Milton assures his girlfriend that he can catch the bullet... in his shoulder. "Ow", he adds. |
| 109 | [[/folder]] |
| 110 | |
| 111 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 112 | * Tying in with MadeOfIron, ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' often has characters shrug off wounds which, in real life, would be either severely debilitating or outright fatal. Jacob Starr is a good example of this, as he was able to take injury after injury yet just [[ImplacableMan keep on coming.]] |
| 113 | [[/folder]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 116 | * Averted in ''Aces And Eights''. There are damage charts detailing four possible damage types: Gunshot, Slashing, Piercing, and Bludgeoning, and effects of different levels of damage inflicted depending on the body part. Typically anything around 7 and higher results either in a broken bone, severe bleeding, or a permanent injury regardless of location. |
| 117 | * ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'''s (fairly absurd) Critical Damage tables avert this. It's about as easy to kill someone with a leg shot as one to the torso, and hitting ''anywhere'' can often cause blood loss (and resulting death...). |
| 118 | * Averted in ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}'', involving some of the usual ArtisticLicenseBiology. It's possible to damage the [[GroinAttack uterus]] ''on a male mook'' while avoiding everything else completely. |
| 119 | * ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' has an optional "Only a Flesh Wound" rule to deliberately invoke this trope in less-gritty games. |
| 120 | * Damage charts in ''The Riddle of Steel'' are quite brutal; even glancing blows have the ability to knock out the target, and lower levels of damage still have the ability of tearing a muscle or breaking a bone. All damage dealt also causes the recipient to lose dice in their dice pools, effectively weakening their combat proficiency and further increasing the risk of injury or death. |
| 121 | * ''Witch Hunter: The Invisible World'' has the "It's Just a Scratch" talent, which allows the user to ignore the penalties from Light and Medium wounds. |
| 122 | * Averted in ''Cyberpunk''. Much damage to an extremity will leave it useless, with the extra bonus of a saving throw to survive the shock. Besides this, damage is treated the same way as if you were hit on the torso (not in the head.) |
| 123 | * This is the effect of Storms' Practical Magic in ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful''. A Princess of Storms can invert wound penalties into bonuses, meaning that she will actually get ''stronger'' when severely injured. In addition, invoking this magic means that the Princess will not have to roll to avoid falling unconscious when her health track is filled with Bashing damage, though she ''does'' start bleeding out if her health track is filled with Lethal damage. |
| 124 | * In ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'', the titular Prometheans don't suffer any wound penalties, don't have to roll to avoid falling unconscious when their health track is filled with bashing damage, and don't start bleeding out when their health track is filled with lethal damage. In effect, you can fill a Promethean with bullets or stab it half a dozen times, and until you get to the point where you're chopping off limbs or blasting large chunks of the Promethean's body away it will still be as dangerous as ever. |
| 125 | [[/folder]] |
| 126 | |
| 127 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 128 | * Invoked but ultimately deconstructed in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. [[spoiler:Mercutio]] is wounded in his duel with Tybalt, who flies the scene, and fires off a string of [[GallowsHumor darkly humorous]] {{pun|geonMaster}}s, assuring his friends that it is "a scratch," yet "'Twill serve." He dies of the wound several lines later. |
| 129 | -->'''Mercutio:''' Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a ''grave'' man. |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 133 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': Zig-zagged throughout the whole franchise. It's about a 50/50 on whether getting shot in, say, the shoulder (as has happened multiple times) either just leaves you in a lot of pain or causes you to bleed out. Ultimately, PlotArmor is the deciding factor on whether flesh wounds actually are just flesh wounds. |
| 134 | ** In the bonus fifth case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', the prosecution deals what seems to be a crushing blow to the defense's case, after which Ema will quip, "It's merely a flesh wound!" Naturally, it gets better. Later, after another seemingly crippling point is made, she says it again, with Phoenix replying: "You just said that!" |
| 135 | ** Semi-averted around the end of the fourth case in the first game, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Manfred von Karma]] was shot in the shoulder some time ago, and was still able to [[spoiler:shoot Gregory Edgeworth. However, he had to take a few months time of vacation to let the wound heal over the bullet since he didn't undergo surgery in order to not become implicated in the murder.]] |
| 136 | ** A more literal example can be seen with Franziska von Karma in the final case of ''Justice for All''. During the case she's [[spoiler: shot in the shoulder. After several hours in the hospital she seems completely fine, and is even swinging around her signature whip as if nothing had ever happened.]] In [[Anime/AceAttorney2016 the anime]], though, she's [[spoiler:out of commission the whole day, and has her arm in a sling when she shows up in court for a BigDamnHeroes moment the next day.]] |
| 137 | ** This trope is subverted in case three of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', in which the victim Romein [=LeTouse=] is shot in his right shoulder, yet he dies of blood loss hours later. |
| 138 | ** At the end of the final case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', [[spoiler: after [[TheSpook the phantom]] is caught, he's shot by a sniper rifle before he can reveal his identity to the court, yet the sniper hit him in a "non-vital area" and the phantom was rushed to the hospital quick enough to survive.]] |
| 139 | * Played with in ''VisualNovel/CafeEnchante'', Rindo gets stabbed by icicles created by Kariya during an emotional breakdown. Rindo pretends he is not badly injured to not further alarm Kariya and Kotone, but the regulars usually see through his act quickly and shoo him back to bed to recover. |
| 140 | * Averted in ''VisualNovel/{{Ever17}}''. We're used to injuries to the legs and arms not being very serious, so when Tsugumi gets stabbed in the leg by a falling pole you might not think it's that serious. However, it's noted that it ought to require months of hospitalization before she can walk again and she nearly dies of blood loss. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal The fact that]] ''[[HealingFactor Tsugumi]]'' [[{{Immortality}} is the one hit is kind of important.]] |
| 141 | * Subverted in ''VisualNovel/{{Hakuouki}}'': Chizuru learns that Sannan was injured in battle while away on a mission, and is relieved when she hears that it was only his left arm that was injured. The other captains of the Shinsengumi, however, see nothing to be relieved about, and explain to Chizuru that the injury is more than enough to end Sannan's career as a swordsman. |
| 142 | * Played for laughs in ''VisualNovel/KokoroNoDokiDokiSenpai'' when Emo burns half of his face off while straightening his hair. Despite this, he's able to drive himself calmly to a hospital and get his face restored completely in what couldn't be more than an hour. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 146 | * ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': |
| 147 | ** In the first season, Sarge receives a bullet wound to the head, and is resuscitated with standard CPR. Later in the early second season, Caboose's toe is shot off and is rendered fine after being rubbed with some aloe-vera. In season 3, we come across a group of 'capture the flag' players, who get up after a trumpet is played, even after being shot point-blank with a sniper rifle. Even later, it is practice for the Red team to shoot Private Grif before enacting any plans. Regardless, it seems no injury is sufficient to render someone in the series dead indefinitely. |
| 148 | ** In most cases, this is just RuleOfFunny, although sometimes it's played a little more seriously. During ''Reconstruction'', Caboose shoots Agent South Dakota. After a few minutes of battle, they approach her. She says she can't walk on her own but appears to be perfectly capable of standing (though that's partly due to the limitations of machinima). |
| 149 | * The ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' episode that sees [[Franchise/MortalKombat Shao Kahn]] fight [[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma]], the former shrugs off the latter punching a hole into his chest like Liu Kang did in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''. [[spoiler:Only unlike in ''9'', where he needed Quan Chi to speed his healing up and was still staggering when he got back to his throne room, the episode applies AdaptationalBadass and Shao's up on his feet, ready to resume the fight, and kills Akuma within moments of the wound's infliction.]] |
| 150 | [[/folder]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 153 | * ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' |
| 154 | ** [[InvokedTrope Forcibly played straight]]. Doc is shot multiple times, passes out, and nearly(?) dies of blood loss. He refuses to die by arguing with the GrimReaper that none of his wounds are fatal and missed all his vital organs (and then immediately drags himself back to the clinic for stitches and a quick blood transfusion). When Death mentions his arteries, the good Doctor responds by ripping off his head and batting it away with his body. |
| 155 | --->'''Doctor [=McNinja=]:''' [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/4p41/ They're... All... Just...]] '''[[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/4p42/ FLESH WOUNDS!]]''' |
| 156 | ** Meanwhile, ActionHero parody Franz Rayner's special skill that makes him unkillable is basically invoking this every time: he can move his organs around at will inside his body so that he never takes a hit anywhere important (unless it's his AchillesHeel, situated in an arbitrary part of his body). |
| 157 | * ''Webcomic/BeyondTheEnd'': After Mortis's encounter with the shroud, he's clutching an injured shoulder, not letting the full extent of the injury be seen. Given the effects shrouds had on other characters, it's most likely a lot worse than he lets on. Still, he gets up and heads back to Hell. |
| 158 | * ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'': |
| 159 | ** Taken to extremes with Nate at one point - since he's a Yellow Devil who can shapeshift at will, even being [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/040208c splattered all over the walls]] is just a flesh wound to him. |
| 160 | ** Averted [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/040304c here]], where the Helmeted Author tries to claim that a huge chunk of [[HardLight physical energy]] through his gut is just a flesh wound, as he's already visibly pale from blood loss and ''immediately'' keels over afterwards. [[spoiler:He gets better a few strips later when Nate removes his helmet and releases his true form.]] |
| 161 | * ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}''. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d near the ending when it was revealed that Gordon Frohman survived a ''ton'' of abuse and injury -- up to and including zombification via a headcrab -- because [[spoiler:he was inadvertently using a cheat code that prevented his health from going below one. After he again-inadvertently turns the code off because [[InherentlyFunnyWords "Buddha" is fun to say]], he properly bleeds out and dies from all the wounds sustained from being thrown from the top of the exploding Citadel and then getting hit in the face with his also-falling shovel. Amusingly, an unofficial sequel set during ''Episode One'' then has him brought back by automatically reloading a checkpoint from just before he turned off Buddha mode]]. |
| 162 | * This was BLU Engineer's reaction [[spoiler:when the new RED Spy cut his hand off]] in ''Webcomic/CuantaVida''. |
| 163 | -->'''BLU Engineer:''' Relax, kid. I'm not gonna die.\ |
| 164 | '''BLU Scout:''' Jesus Christ, dude! [[spoiler:Your hand!]]\ |
| 165 | '''BLU Engineer:''' [[spoiler:I'll [[ArtificialLimbs build a new one]].]] |
| 166 | * ''Webcomic/DemonseedRedux'': Dee is cut from behind by Rhoda's raven-griffon. When Chica kills it, Dee says she's fine by quoting the trope. Though on top of being pregnant, it eventually takes a toll on her. |
| 167 | * Averted in ''Webcomic/GetMedieval'': Asher suffers a shoulder wound and is reduced to talking status for a while. |
| 168 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' has a rather... ''extreme'' example. |
| 169 | -->'''Gil:''' Seven broken ribs. Severe fracture, right leg. Fractured clavicle. Some crush injuries, but the kidneys appear unharmed. First and second-degree burns on upper back and lower legs, third-degree on the lower back. Four broken fingers, three broken toes, sprained and bruised muscles throughout — major and minor lacerations, and a concussion.\ |
| 170 | '''Klaus:''' I've had worse. |
| 171 | ** [[AllThereInTheManual It hasn't been explicitly stated in-comic]], but [[spoiler:Klaus was evidently stitched together from the remains of three brothers who were killed in a lab accident. So... ''he's not lying'']]. |
| 172 | ** Dimo the Jagermonster tries to shrug off his arm injury (referred to by the other Jägers as “rhino-hiding”, so they are obviously familiar with this sort of thing) and eventually loses the arm. |
| 173 | * ''Webcomic/HowToBeAWerewolf'': After being bitten by a werewolf and having to tear the werewolf off leaving a large bloody wound in his side Vincent tells Malaya he's fine and gets back up to rejoin her on his own, though shortly after he ends up on his knees when the adrenaline wears off. |
| 174 | * Averted in ''Webcomic/ItsWalky'': Jason is shot in the arm trying to help Sal escape prison. The wound becomes infected (since caring for a bullet wound isn't like caring for a shallow cut) and gets steadily worse until he can be convinced to see a doctor. |
| 175 | * In the ''Little Worlds'' comic named [[http://www.rockpapercynic.com/littleworlds/index.php?date=2010-01-05 "Breaking In"]], Derby incredulously asks Eightball, "Aren't you supposed to be SHOT?" to which Eightball replies, "It didn't take." Apparently, a bullet wound ''ain't no thang.'' [[http://www.rockpapercynic.com/littleworlds/index.php?date=2009-11-04 Earlier in the chapter]], Eightball refers to the wound as a "rather inconvenient bullet." |
| 176 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' often has characters getting [[WithCatlikeTread SNEAK ATTACK]] run through with swords and being okay to keep fighting. Or frozen into blocks of ice like the rogue guild's leader. Very dependent on [[NominalImportance having a name.]] The characters aren't supposed to represent real animal physiology; their health and wellbeing is based on the hitpoint system used in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. |
| 177 | * This happens to Set in ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline''. Tekno [[spoiler:tries to murder him, by ''bashing his head in'' with a metal bar, and a few issues later he comes back and says that she didn't hit [[FridgeLogic any major organs]]]]. He lacks any scars too. |
| 178 | * ''Webcomic/SoulSymphony'': John fractures his arm in battle, preventing him from playing basketball for the rest of the season. He says the injury is "totally worth it." |
| 179 | * ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': Sigrun ''tries'' to pull this off after a troll bites her in the arm badly enough to require stitches. Unfortunately for her, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs during a critical battle when the pain from the bite wounds leaves her unable to keep a grip on her dagger, and she's promptly slammed in the stomach by an attacking troll. |
| 180 | * ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' [[http://hellsing.comicgenesis.com/d/20080411.html subverts it]]; in spite of her bravado, the character is knocked down in the very next strip. |
| 181 | * In ''Webcomic/YokokasQuest'', Mao's right wrist gets bitten by a [[MixAndMatchCritter snake-centipede]], though it's not clear how deep it pierced his flesh. He continues using that hand [[PlayingWithFire to throw]] {{fireballs}} and [[TheBait Kalliv]] without difficulty later in that same fight. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 185 | %%* [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Tajiri_san/0af4c36bfabcc5f80639393b5386b348.jpg This baby.]] |
| 186 | * Discussed in [[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3089/is-a-bullet-wound-in-the-shoulder-as-harmless-the-movies-make-it-seem this]] Straight Dope article. |
| 187 | * In ''Literature/VoidDomain'', many injuries that would be serious for humans in RealLife are rendered far more harmless thanks to the existence of potions. Demons don't need to bother with potions, their enhanced regeneration abilities render the loss of limbs as literal flesh wounds. |
| 188 | [[/folder]] |
| 189 | |
| 190 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 191 | * Terrence of ''WebVideo/KateModern'' gets shot in the shoulder in "Answers". The pain causes him to pass out almost instantly, but he's up and about, and apparently unimpaired, a couple of days later. [[spoiler:He ''is'' [[MadeOfIron a former Shadow]], though.]] |
| 192 | * Halfway through the ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' between Romeo & Juliet vs. Bonnie & Clyde, Bonnie shoots Juliet in the stomach. She got up a few seconds later, happily singing that "[her] flesh was merely grazed". |
| 193 | * Parodied in WebVideo/CalebCity's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9szTeD494M ANY anime MC that gets determined.]] The villain gets increasingly concerned as the hero gets up from an escalating series of severe injuries, with the hero merely attributing it to his [[{{Determinator}} determination]]. [[spoiler:This culminates in the villain ''completely disintegrating'' the hero with his ultimate attack, only for the hero to stand up like nothing happened a second later. The villain walks away in exasperation afterwards.]] |
| 194 | --> Nooo! Like literally, your bones cannot physically be holding you up right now; they were ''dust'' a second ago! |
| 195 | [[/folder]] |
| 196 | |
| 197 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 198 | * Averted in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight'' segment ''Field Test''. A bullet gets deflected off of Batman's new forcefield and into a gang member. What does he do? He rushes the guy at top speed to the ER and upon getting there says he has a gunshot victim with severe bleeding from the left shoulder. |
| 199 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': In the episode "Traction", Bats tries to play off the wounds he suffered from the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown he got from Bane as this. Alfred doesn't buy it. |
| 200 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' during a shootout with some Islamic convenience store owners, a police officer gets shot with a shotgun. Ed Wuncler III and the officer then begin quoting ''Holy Grail'', with Ed grieving while the officer insists his bulletproof vest saved him. Then he gets riddled with ''more'' bullets. He survives that too. |
| 201 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 202 | ** The episode "Believe it or Not, Joe's Walking on Air" features Joe being shot several times in various parts of his body while his wife attempts to re-cripple him. All he ever does is scream or yell "DAMN IT!!" before asking for the gun so he can properly shoot himself. |
| 203 | ** Subverted in the later episode "Joe's Revenge", in which Joe shoots a criminal in the legs and then says he's going to arrest him. He looks away for a minute and when he turns back, the guy has bled out. "Must've shot a femoral artery." Oops. |
| 204 | * Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': |
| 205 | ** The Robot Mafia guns down a fellow robot in cold blood. The robot then gets up, and the Donbot tells him that's a warning. (Robots can't bleed to death.) |
| 206 | ** Also, one episode has Fry get infected with worms that increase his intelligence, among many other benefits -- the first of which, much faster healing, is demonstrated when he comes into Zoidberg's office with a lead pipe shoved through his stomach: |
| 207 | --->'''Zoidberg:''' Well, if it isn't the hypochondriac. What is it this time?\ |
| 208 | '''Fry:''' Well, my lead pipe hurts a little.\ |
| 209 | '''Zoidberg:''' That's normal. Next patient! |
| 210 | ** Zoidberg may be basing this on his own species' physiology, which, if "Roswell That Ends Well" is any indication, has several redundant organs. As he is being vivisected by scientists at Area 51, he chummily tells them (referring to his heart), "Take, I've got four of them." |
| 211 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': |
| 212 | ** The episode "Deadly Force" is famous (infamous) for treating gunshot wounds in a mature and reasonable manner. The bullet wound that nearly kills a major character is very graphically described to have been to the collar bone, ricocheting off the bone, spiraling through her right lung and nicking the heart muscle. She's furthermore shown undergoing extensive surgery at hospital for the wound and is later seen on crutches as she recovers. |
| 213 | ** Other episodes of ''Gargoyles'' avert this trope while playing it straight. Though the heroes only have to put up with wounds until the sun rises, anything more serious than a graze tends to leave them incapacitated for the rest of the night. It's also implied in the comics, and in "Hunter's Moon," that really nasty wounds will leave them weaker than usual for a time even though they're technically healed. |
| 214 | * In ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'', Major Bludd [[spoiler:has his right arm bitten off by an alligator in a swamp, only to calmly walk out of the river holding his stump]], pausing only long enough to look back and say, "Hope ya choke on it!" |
| 215 | * WesternAnimation/HeckleAndJeckle infringe on Powerful Pierre's lumber yard in "Log Rollers." Heckle smack talks at Pierre, who punches him in the face. Subverted as after claiming he didn't feel it, Heckle goes catatonic and collapses on his back unconscious. |
| 216 | * The outcome of the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon, "He Was Her Man". Based on the murder ballad, Frankie and Johnny, about a girl named Frankie, who is abused by her husband, Johnny, who then leaves her for another woman. When she runs into him later, [[TheDogBitesBack she pulls out a gun and shoots him.]] Unlike the murder ballad, as she [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone mourns over him when he collapses,]] he gets back up and says, "Aw, you just grazed me." She then hits him over the head, knocking him out. |
| 217 | ** Daffy Duck, in "Quack Shot" after an explosion and collision with a ledge side, brushes off casually and says it's "nothing serious apart from a few broken bones and a slight concussion." |
| 218 | * Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/MoonbeamCity'', with the four main characters, a mobster, and the piano player, '''''all''''' being shot in the left shoulder. The piano player's shoulder shot results in Dazzle losing his grip on a window ledge and falling [[spoiler:from the Space Needle-like revolving restaurant]], but he is saved from [[spoiler:falling to his death]] by the piano player's [[spoiler:flock of trained doves]]. The four main characters receive medals for their shoulder wounds. |
| 219 | * Averted in the Season Two finale of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel.'' While drunk, Clay accidentally shoots his son Orel in the leg. He is able to stop the bleeding by taking off a piece of Orel's shirt and tying it to his leg. Afterwards, he has to wear a cast over his leg. In the series finale, the cast is finally removed, but Orel walks with a limp for the rest of his life. |
| 220 | * On ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', Skipper's wing is badly broken after a fall but insists that he's fine and that his flipper is bent like that because he's double-jointed. And he keeps insisting it even as he's in obvious pain while playing volleyball. And arm wrestling. And practicing hi-fiving. |
| 221 | * Averted in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''. [[spoiler: Mr. Poopy Butthole]] still has trouble walking even months after getting shot in the chest/abdomen by [[spoiler: Beth]]. |
| 222 | * [[LampshadeHanging Pointed out]] and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome averted]] in ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', when the Nerd [[AllJustADream dreams]] that he is in various Creator/TheCW shows, starting with ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': |
| 223 | -->'''Arrow:''' We need to take out those guards if we're going to rescue Felicity!\ |
| 224 | '''Nerd:''' Cool, so, is this Season 1 where you kill every mother[[SoundEffectBleep ***]]er with a pulse, or Season 2 and 3 where you just give people crippling injuries that will make every day of the rest of their lives a hell on earth?\ |
| 225 | '''Arrow:''' I'm not a killer. I know that now.\ |
| 226 | '''Nerd:''' Got it, injuries, hell on earth, et cetera.\ |
| 227 | ''[Nerd proceeds to accidentally [[EyeScream shoot the first two in the eye]]; cue third guard finally taking the "non-lethal" arrow to the leg]''\ |
| 228 | '''Nerd:''' ''Yes!'' Consider him incapacitated!\ |
| 229 | '''Guard:''' ''[starts bleeding profusely]'' [[OwMyBodyPart Oh my God! My femoral artery!]] ''(falls down and immediately dies)'' |
| 230 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 231 | ** Spoofed when Homer gets a job at the Kwik-E-Mart and Apu tells him that "in this job, you WILL get shot. Here's a tip: try to take it in the shoulder." |
| 232 | ** Apu himself is a walking parody/example of this trope. He's been shot seemingly dozens of times over the course of his convenience store career yet has suffered no permanent effects. In one ep, he is shot yet again, and poetically muses, "Ah, the searing kiss of hot lead! How I've missed you! Wait... I think I'm dying." However, he does survive since the bullet ricocheted on another bullet that was lodged there in a previous robbery. |
| 233 | ** Apu has numerous scars from his bullet wounds. He actually pulls up his shirt to show them off in one episode, complaining that the Springfield police need more funding so he won't get shot so much on the job. |
| 234 | ** Homer spoofs it again when he gets himself into a duel with a Southern gentleman. When he's shot in the arm he starts screaming like a stuck pig but promptly forgets all about it when pie enters the conversation. |
| 235 | * Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' where a single bullet to TheSmartGuy's thigh sends him to the hospital in agony to [[AnAesop teach the audience a lesson]]. |
| 236 | -->'''Richie:''' The doc said I was lucky. If the bullet had hit [[FridgeHorror a little higher...]]\ |
| 237 | '''Virgil:''' Don't even ''talk'' about it.\ |
| 238 | '''Richie:''' Yeah. Anyway... maybe everybody's [[AnAesop learned a lesson]] from all this. |
| 239 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': |
| 240 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': When Bumblebee is damaged by a [[KillerRabbit Scraplet]], Ratchet says it's [[ShoutOut Only a Mesh Wound]]. |
| 241 | ** Also in the episode ''Dark Awakening'' of [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Generation 1]]: |
| 242 | -->''(Arcee has just been shot)''\ |
| 243 | '''Daniel:''' Arcee!\ |
| 244 | '''Arcee:''' I'm fine, Daniel. It's only an exostructure wound. |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | ---- |
| 248 | -->''"[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Oh, runnin' away eh? COME BACK 'ERE YOU YELLOW BASTARDS! I'LL BITE YOUR LEGS OFF!]]"'' |
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