Line #59 Main/TheManTheyCouldntHang


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11	[[caption-width-right:267:[[Music/TheTragicallyHip Aryan twang optional.]]]]
12
13	->''"He's got a strange way o' holdin' his neck, stiff-like an' twisted, like he bin hanged, on'y the hangin' didn't take."''
14	-->-- '''Mule Jesse''', ''Series/KungFu1972'', "The Nature of Evil"
15
16	A character who has survived [[HangingAround a hanging]]. They will frequently sport a scarred or deformed neck as a result. This may just indicate that he is a [[{{Determinator}} real hard case]] and [[RasputinianDeath too tough to kill easily]], or it may be used to show what a [[MysteriousPast bad life he has led]] and to explain his hatred of the world. A BungledSuicide may also be involved.
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18	If he survived [[RuleOfThree three attempts]], a sporting (or superstitious) executioner [[FailedExecutionNoSentence may have let him go]]. Probably because it's best to keep on the good side of a badass like that.
19
20	ShootTheRope may be used to explain their survival.
21
22	----
23	!!Examples:
24
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* In ''Anime/CrossAnge'', when Ange is sentenced to a hanging, because they want her to suffer, they drop her from a height short enough that her neck doesn't break, and watch her choke. She survives long enough for Tusk to rescue her.
29	* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
30	** Devil Rebirth. He had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment because Villainy Prison didn't have anything, including rope, capable of killing him, and they tried no fewer than ''thirteen times'' to execute him, none of them taking. He later meets [[YouAreAlreadyDead Death By Kenshiro]], but survives just long enough to take Jackal, the scumbag who lied to him to get him to fight Kenshiro, with him.
31	** The spinoff ''Ten no Haoh'' revealed that Uighur used to be a prisoner of Cassandra who survived five death sentences. He fought Raoh, who ended up making Uighur the new warden of Cassandra because of his ambition and strength.
32	* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has Angelo, who was to be [[SerialKiller hanged for his crimes]] survived the punishment, most likely due to his recently awakened Stand.
33	* Bando from ''Manga/KenganAshura'' is a criminal on death row for raiding {{Yakuza}} offices and killing at least 17 of them. He has been hanged ''45'' times over the course of 25 years and has survived all of them. This is because of his [[spoiler:extremely flexible joints, which prevents his neck from breaking when he is dropped.]]
34	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Kaido, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. They tried hanging him; the rope just broke. They tried again with ''chains''; they also broke. They tried to guillotine him; that ''also'' broke as soon as it hit his neck. He's survived 40 execution attempts so far, simply because he's that indestructible. It's reached the point he attempts suicide ''for fun'' (and also [[DeathSeeker to figure out if anything can so much as scratch him]]).
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Played with. The supernatural hero the Hanged Man is a spectre with a burlap sack on his head and the remnants of a hangman's noose around his neck, and is implied to be the victim of a hanging several centuries ago. Whether or not he currently counts as alive is another matter. [[spoiler:It turns out the implication's at least partially true - while the Hanged Man's true nature remains a mystery, he needs a willing host to serve as his physical body, and seeks out a new host if his current body's destroyed. On at least one occasion, his host was a criminal being hanged who accepted the Hanged Man's offer of redemption.]]
39	* The Creator/ECComics story "Jury Duty!" (''Crime [=SuspenStories=]'' #6) is centered around a man whose "neck was broken, but the spinal cord wasn't severed!" And using the fact that he was declared legally dead as an odd sort of diplomatic immunity to murder the jurors. His downfall came when the remaining jurors realized that since he was legally dead, [[spoiler:it's not a crime to bury him.]]
40	* In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', [[spoiler: when Harley Quinn tries to point out to Joker]] that a girl always has a secret or two, he gets a noose made of chains around her neck and starts pulling, saying that she should "hang" around and tell him a few secrets. She survives this.
41	* ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier'': John Henry survived his attempted lynching and [[RoaringRampageofRevenge went after the lynch mob who killed his family]].
42	* ''ComicBook/{{Ironwood}}'' opens with Dave Dragavon hanging upside down from a tree with a rock tied around his neck. He has been like this for three days. Upon being released, he treats the whole incident as no more than a minor inconvenience (aside from [[RipVanTinkle a burning need to pee]]).
43	* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': In "Le Juge", Judge Roy Bean, survived because his would-be executioners used a faulty rope he himself sold them. It did however leave him with a chronic neck injury that prevents him from turning his head.
44	* ''ComicBook/TheMadHatter'': The titular hero narrowly survives some criminals trying to hang him in his first appearance.
45	* ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'' once crashed on Earth and a group of alien-hating villagers decided the best way to kill him was by hanging. Three days passed before they realized he was still alive, [[spoiler: after every person who wronged him met KarmicDeath]].
46	* The ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' villain Torque is a grotesque variation of this. His neck was broken when Blockbuster twisted his head 180 degrees, but he survived with a cybernetic neck brace and a backwards head.
47	* ''ComicBook/{{Sturmtruppen}}'': Played with in a strip featuring a man too tall to be hanged by normal means, much to the soldiers' dismay.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
51	* One strip in ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' depicted a wax museum for cowboys. One of the attractions was "The Unhangable Rustler", depicting a man happily taunting his would-be executioners while his neck was caught in the noose.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Fan Works]]
55	* In ''Fanfic/PastSins'' When [[spoiler:Nyx sees [[ParentalSubstitute Twilight]]]] about to be executed she [[spoiler:saves her with her FlashStep powers]].
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
59	* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', Marty [=McFly=] survives Buford Tannen and his gang attempting to hang him because Doc Brown shoots out the rope. Like Creator/BrendanFraser mentioned above, Creator/MichaelJFox really got hanged during one take when his hand slipped, before resuscitated by a crewmember.
60	* ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs''. Played with in "Near Algodones" where TheNameless cowboy is about to be hung for robbery when injuns attack and kill the lynch party. They leave him strung up for a laugh, but he's found by a cattle rustler and freed, only to be hung for the rustler's crime which he had nothing to do with.
61	* In ''Film/BendOfTheRiver'', '''Creator/JamesStewart''', of all people, is one of these. References are made throughout the film to his past as a "border raider" during the Missouri-Kansas violence before UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. At the end of the movie he's revealed to have somehow survived a hanging, with an ugly scar on his neck as the proof.
62	* ''Film/DeathByHanging'': This MindScrew of a movie starts getting weird at the point where the prison staff, conducting an execution, put the noose around the victim and drop him through the trapdoor--and he simply does not die. The staff are left at a loss, unable to figure out what to do as the prisoner's heart continues to beat even as he swings from the rope.
63	* In ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'', Morgana, Mordred, and their minions capture Sir Percival and hang him from a tree where several other knights have already been hanged. Percival hangs from the tree for several hours in agony until his rope is accidentally cut by a hanged knight's spurs.
64	* ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'':
65	** After the FinalGirl Chris manages to knock Jason out in ''Film/FridayThe13thPartIII'', she tries to kill him by putting a noose around his neck and dropping him from the barn's second floor. This doesn't work, and she has to give him the axe.
66	** In ''Film/JasonX'', it is mentioned how officials tried to execute Jason multiple times, which includes a hanging, before settling for cryogenic imprisonment.
67	* {{Exaggerated\|Trope}} in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', where the {{Bandito}} Tuco survives being hanged at least three times thanks to Blondie's [[ImprobableAimingSkills ability]] to ShootTheRope.
68	* In ''Film/{{Gunless}}'', The Montana Kid survived a hanging by Cutter's {{Bounty Hunter}}s when the branch they tried to hang him from snapped.
69	* Freddie attempts to dispose of Michael Myers by hanging him in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection''. Needless to say, it doesn't work. Michael acts as though being ''thrown out of a window'' and hanged was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
70	* In ''Film/TheHandsOfOrlac'', Vasseur claims to have survived being guillotined, and has the scar on his neck to prove it. [[spoiler:It's fake.]]
71	* Creator/ClintEastwood's character in the movie ''Film/HangEmHigh'', an innocent victim of vigilante justice who seeks revenge on those who strung him up and left him for dead.
72	* Attempted by Yankee Jim in ''Film/TheHauntingOfWhaleyHouse'', as he did in real life. However, his method of doing so just guaranteed a slow death by strangulation instead of a quick one by his neck breaking.
73	* In ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Tony has been hanged several times, most likely for the various crimes he's committed (including dealings with the mob and selling children's organs on the black market). He survives through a trick in which he swallows a small metal flute, which prevents his throat from being crushed. He ultimately dies when Parnassus swaps the flute with a fake, breakable one.]]
74	* Lieutenant Aldo Raine in ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' has an unexplained rope scar around his neck, suggesting that this trope is somewhere in his backstory. In the part of the country he's from, at the time this movie takes place, [[DisproportionateRetribution didn't take a whole lot]].
75	* In the 1974 Italian movie ''Film/LastDaysOfMussolini'', the Italian dictator has been captured by the partisans who are lynching fascists. A female partisan guarding Mussolini wordlessly pulls down her scarf to reveal a hanging scar.
76	* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', Machete gets hanged by a racist sheriff near the beginning. To the sheriff's amazement, other than being unable to free himself, Machete is unaffected. Machete gives him a DeathGlare until he is released.
77	* The eponymous villain in ''Film/{{Madman}}'' survived being hanged by angry villagers who tried to punish him for killing his family, and now carries the noose as his secondary weapon.
78	* At the very end of ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven2016'' it is revealed that [[spoiler:Chisolm has a scar around the base of his neck from where a group of Confederate renegades tried to hang him on Bogue's orders, back in Kansas.]]
79	* Creator/BorisKarloff starred as Dr. Henryk Savaard, who is executed but brought back to life in a 1939 Creator/ColumbiaPictures thriller titled (you guessed it), ''Film/TheManTheyCouldNotHang.'' Although in this movie, [[spoiler: he really does die, and is brought back to life with science... he had it all planned out ahead of time though.]]
80	* Richard O'Connell is hanged in ''Film/{{The Mummy\|1999}}''. His neck is strong enough that it doesn't break, and Evelyn negotiates his release before he strangles to death. Creator/BrendanFraser himself fits this trope. He was ''actually being hanged'' in that scene due to a prop failure.
81	* In ''Film/NightCreatures'', [[spoiler: Peter Cushing's kindly vicar is actually a retired pirate thought to have been hanged, complete with scar. It's implied that his right-hand man, Mr. Mipps, was the hangman and made sure he was in no real danger.]]
82	* In Creator/CaryGrant vehicle ''Film/PeopleWillTalk'' this is Mr. Shunderson's backstory. Dr. Praetorius saved his life, after he had been successfully hanged and slabbed. In a horror movie this would have implications, but this is a comedy... still, Mr. Shunderson does come off as fairly unearthly.
83	* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'':
84	** He doesn't have a scar, but Captain Jack Sparrow fits this trope by the end of ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl''. Will throws his sword into the scaffolding just as the hangman pulls the lever, and Jack lands on it perfectly, balancing there until the rope is cut.
85	** Carina Smyth also survives a hanging early in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTales''. Henry catches her out of the air below the gallows and holds her high enough that the rope doesn't pull taut, having to stay there until his allies defeat the British soldiers and remove the noose.
86	* In ''Film/ThePitAndThePendulum1991'', TortureTechnician Medoza survived being crucified, and has the holes in his hands to prove it.
87	* Played ''completely'' [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]] in ''Film/TheRidiculousSix''. To provide a distraction, Li’l Pete intentionally rallies up an angry mob. When they release the weights to hang him, he begins sputtering and choking... only to immediately start laughing and say he’s fine, he was just joking. After a few swinging-back-and-forth tricks, the crowd begins to get upset that they aren’t seeing an execution, and draw guns on him. Immediately, the rope is cut by a thrown knife by the gang, and they drag him behind a speeding carriage ''by his noose...'' and he’s ''still fine.'' Apparently, while growing up on the farm it was his job to pull the plow with his own throat, so he “always had a strong neck”.
88	* Lord Blackwood in ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' lives through hanging [[spoiler: the first time]]. [[spoiler: Though it turns out that he didn't survive through any sort of toughness or special powers, but because his execution was staged; a hook hidden in the noose and a torso rig diverted the weight of his body away from his neck and onto the torso brace. A few feigned twitches and a drug-induced death-like coma completed the illusion]].
89	* Detective Hartigan in ''Film/SinCity'' gets hung by Roark Jr, [[spoiler: but managed to hold his neck stiff to avoid it being broken and rocks back and forth to break the support he is being hung from]].
90	* Ygor from ''Film/SonOfFrankenstein'' and ''Film/TheGhostOfFrankenstein'', the character who gave his name to TheIgor, was hanged for his part in [[GraveRobbing providing bodies for Dr. Frankenstein]]. He received his trademark broken neck in the process and was pronounced dead from the ordeal, but didn't actually die. This doesn't stop him from saying he had died.
91	* ''Film/TheSuspect'': The silliest moment in the movie has Ji the secret agent hanged by the North Koreans, who helpfully walk away right after dropping him through a trap door. His hands are tied behind his back, but he manages to rotate his arms backwards 180 degrees to grab the rope and pull himself up.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Literature]]
95	* In one of the war novels by Creator/SvenHassel, Porta tells the story of a sailor who can't be hanged because he virtually has no neck. In the end the hangman goes insane with frustration and demonstrates that his rope works perfectly on himself. The authorities decide to kill the condemned by other means, but fortunately he escapes. Admittedly Porta has a fondness for tall tales, so it's not certain if any of this is true.
96	* The protagonist of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's short story "Loss Of Breath" loses his breath and essentially becomes a [[RevenantZombie sentient, intelligent zombie]] sans the appearance of one. Plenty of antics ensue including being sentenced to death by hanging. Having discovered that he is unable to die albeit still able to feel pain, he decides to fool the audience by faking convulsions and playing dead.
97	* Half Cocked Jack of Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/TheBaroqueCycle'' [[spoiler: survives a hanging by being pulled down by an angry mob. Although the experience did leave him with a wicked crick in the neck.]]
98	* The Hanged Man from ''Literature/TheBlackCompany''. Survived due to being an incredibly powerful wizard.
99	* Pangloss from ''Literature/{{Candide}}'', who survived hanging by the Inqusition. [[CrapsackWorld It's not sure it was for the better]].
100	* Ned in Creator/JohnMasefield's ''Dead Ned'' / ''Live and Kicking Ned'' is hanged until nearly dead towards the end of the first novel, but - as the title of the sequel indicates - he survives.
101	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s [[ConMan Moist von Lipwig]] is a subversion - Vetinari deliberately has him publicly hanged "to within half an inch of his life" to fake his death so that he can keep Moist on as a BoxedCrook.
102	** In ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', the Real Life concept of a sentence being reduced if a hanging is failed is parodied. If the gallows malfunctions in a Fourecksian execution, they let the prisoner go back inside so he doesn't have to stand around in the sun while they fix it. If it takes long enough, they'll even give the prisoner lunch while he's waiting.
103	* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': Juliette, from the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''The Adventuress of Henrietta Street'', is an unusually young example; [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior she's only thirteen]]. It's implied she'd [[BungledSuicide attempted]] to hang [[DrivenToSuicide herself]], but not only did she not do it properly, [[InterruptedSuicide the Doctor showed up to rescue her]].
104	* ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'': The head of the ThievesGuild in ''Dragons of Summer Flame'' is a man named Lynched Geoffrey (or just Lynch), so called because he ''was'' lynched and lived to tell about it (just don't ask to see his neck if you value life or limb). Also subverted later in the same book- he antagonizes the EvilOverlord in a misguided attempt to get an alliance, and the response is two words- "Hang him." This hanging goes rather well- after all, Lynch already had practice!
105	* Lloyd Shepherd's ''The English Monster; Or, the Melancholy Transactions of William Ablass'' opens with the title character, hanged for piracy and murder, wondering why another man is carrying on a DeadPersonConversation with him. The rest of the novel explains why Ablass is apparently immortal.
106	* Arenadd from the ''Fallen Moon'' series counts. Granted, he ''was'' killed, but he did come back to life. While his mortal enemy was standing over his body glad for his death.
107	* Sheriff Jon Highfather from ''Literature/TheGolgothaSeries'' was hanged three times at the end of the Civil war, none of which worked. He believes that neither that nor anything else can kill him as it's not his time yet.
108	* Thomas of Hookton from ''Literature/TheGrailQuest'' novels.
109	* You can hang a ''Literature/{{Hoka}}'', but it won't hurt him (they have unusually strong neck muscles), and he'll consider it all part of whatever fiction is currently being lived out.
110	* Kullervo in ''Literature/TheKalevala'' was The Man They Couldn't Hang. [[RasputinianDeath Or drown. Or burn alive.]]
111	* Tal from ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'' discovers his immortality this way. He tries more extreme methods, but still isn't able to die.
112	* And, as Skeeve learned in the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' series by Robert Asprin, never try to [[spoiler: hang a Pervect by the neck.]] They've tried to [[spoiler: hang Skeeve too, but being a wizard, he just levitated]]. Aahz is a wizard as well, [[spoiler: but he was depowered at the time, so he survived because Pervects have extremely strong neck muscles]].
113	* The young adult novel ''Literature/NewesOfTheDead'', based on a real account of a young woman sentenced to death for killing her child (it was stillborn, but they assumed she did it) who survived.
114	* In Jean Zimmerman's ''The Orphanmaster'', the female protagonist's servant, Antony Angola, survived hanging because no rope was strong enough to hold him.
115	* Roger in the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series.
116	* The BigBad in ''Literature/{{Portlandtown}}'' is an outlaw known only as The Hanged Man. He survived being hanged because the lynch mob didn't include anyone who knew how to do it right and he got away before the actual law could take him into custody again.
117	* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': Reynard has this reputation due to [[spoiler: a double being hanged in his place.]]
118	* ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle'':
119	** In the Tsuranuanni Empire, any man possessing magic is automatically and immediately enrolled into the elite WizardingSchool regardless of prior circumstances. In one instance, a condemned criminal was about to be hanged and his powers awoke at the instant the stool was kicked away, so he just hovered in midair.
120	** A mock hanging is part of the recruitment of the Silver Eagles. Afterwards, the condemned criminals are told that if they cause any trouble during their service as a BoxedCrook, they'll be taken back to the gallows, and this time the guards will tie the other end of the noose to the scaffold before opening the trap door.
121	* The thoroughly nasty Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill from Bernard Cornwell's ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'' novels. Obadiah Hakeswill survived a hanging, and claimed that this meant that God had chosen him to be spared and therefore he couldn't be killed. The firing squad proved him wrong on that count later on, though.
122	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' one of Beric Dondarrion's numerous rumored deaths is being hanged. As it turns out, he was, and died. He just came back after.
123	* ''Literature/TheTideLords'' quartet starts off with Cayal, one of the titular immortals, who has become a DeathSeeker, getting hanged. He's annoyed, because he was hoping he'd get beheaded, but the headsman was on vacation, and getting hanged is ''painful'', since he has to wait for the crushed throat to heal. And he gets thrown right back in jail after surviving, as the authorities, who no longer believe in Tide Lords, can't understand how and think he's crazy.
124	* The potential for this situation becomes a problem in ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'' after Mae Tuck [[spoiler:kills The Man In The Yellow Suit in self-defense to prevent him from obtaining the {{Immortality}} spring. Mae is sentenced to be hanged, but because the Tucks drank from that spring their secret will get blown open if the attempted execution goes through and she doesn't die on the noose. They have to break her out of jail and run away, waiting decades to let the incident be forgotten about before they can return.]]
125	* In the {{novelization}} of the 2004 movie ''Film/VanHelsing'', [[Characters/VanHelsing Igor]] reveals he was previously hanged by villagers, showing off an old noose scar.
126	* Mat in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series has a scarred neck from a survived hanging (because a friend cut him down in time), which he carefully conceals. Mat's hanging from the tree of life is another part of his intentional similarity to the Norse god Odin.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
130	* ''Series/AgentCarter'': When it looks like Peggy and Jarvis are going to be tried and found guilty of treason Peggy implies she survived a hanging once, [[NoodleIncident but provides no further context]].
131	-->'''Peggy:''' Have you ever been hanged, Mr. Jarvis?\
132	'''Jarvis:''' [[DeadpanSnarker I can't say that I have, no.]]\
133	'''Peggy:''' It is quite unpleasant!
134	* An ''Series/{{Angel}}'' flashback episode dealt with Angel attempting to get rid of a demon in the Hyperion (the hotel he now owns) that manipulates people's emotions causing them to kill each other. Unfortunately, the angry hotel guests target him and hang him from the chandelier. Vampires cannot die this way, and Angel plays dead. After they leave the lobby, he nonchalantly frees himself one-handedly and gives a big fuck you to the guests, telling the demon he can have them.
135	* ''Series/BigMouth2022'': The three NR Forum prisoners give Changho [[SarcasmMode a warm welcome]] by suspending him by a noose with a chair under his feet. They don't plan on killing him but they came close to it.
136	* ''Series/Charmed1998'' had the sisters go back in time to the Salem Witch Trials, where they're quickly identified as witches and hanged. Fortunately for them, one of the witch hunters was an ally and managed to secure the ropes in a way that acted as a safety harness, so they just had to play dead and wait until the others had left.
137	* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Empress of Mars", it is revealed that Colonel Godsacre was hanged for cowardice but survived. His villainous second-in-command Captain Catchpole rips his collar open to reveal the scar from the rope.
138	* PlayedForLaughs (and a healthy dose of BreakingTheFourthWall) with Ralph Filthy in one episode of ''Series/FilthyRichAndCatflap''.
139	* A mob tried to hang Nick in a ''Series/ForeverKnight'' flashback. Since he’s a vampire, it’s not particularly effective.
140	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': {{Zigzagged}} with Beric Dondarrion, who actually died but was resurrected later.
141	* An immortal was hanged in ''{{Series/Highlander}}'' twice.
142	** Duncan in “Innocent Man” during the American Civil War. A confederate immortal comes back to dig him up and give him some clothes post-revival
143	** Kanis from “Leader of the Pack”. Duncan begged the queen he was a kept man of to behead Kanis but she refused, had him hanged, and buried him in a shallow grave, an immortal’s favorite kind. He’s back much later wanting Duncan’s head.
144	%%* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' ditto with one or two immortals...'Leader of The Pack' for one ep.
145	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''. After [[TheTeamBenefactor Frank]] loses all his money in a ponzi scheme, he tries to hang himself in the bar. The only problem is, because his neck is too thick, he only hangs there without so much as choking. According to Dee, he'd already been hanging for a while and could probably keep going for hours.
146	* UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper has this attribute when he appears on ''Series/KolchakTheNightStalker''. Electrocution works pretty well, however.
147	%%* The killer in the ''Series/KungFu1972'' episode, mentioned above.
148	* Charlie, on ''Series/{{Lost}}'', managed to (barely) survive a hanging, but that might have been the cause of [[spoiler:his demise in Season 3.]]
149	* In ''Series/{{Moonlight}}'' it's shown that the French Revolutionaries figured out the aristocracy were vampires when they tried hanging one, and failed. Hence the guillotine and the fire (instead of burning, it ashes vampires).
150	* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' has this as a key element of an episode as the detectives are trying to figure out how a convict survived his hanging and then escaped. The hangman is an expert who used detailed anatomical charts and precise calculations to make sure nothing like that ever happened. [[spoiler:The condemned man was innocent and the hangman knew exactly how to sabotage things so an innocent man would not be hanged on his watch again.]]
151	* Part of Bob Rebadow's backstory in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. He was originally sent to Oswald State Penitentiary in the 1960's to be executed in the electric chair for murder, but the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965 coincidentally caused a power surge right at the moment when his executioner threw the switch, and he survived. Even ''more'' luckily, the death penalty was abolished in New York State while he was in Oz's medical unit recovering from injuries sustained during the botched execution.
152	* Krane, the eponymous villain of the ''Series/QueenOfSwords'' episode "The Hanged Man". His neck is permanently cricked at a strange angle as a result of the attempt.
153	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has a man survive being hanged for killing one of the men who raped and murdered his wife because [[ThePhoenix he's a phoenix]]. [[spoiler:Dean kills him with the Colt in a ShowdownAtHighNoon.]]
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Music]]
157	* The Fairport Convention's ConceptAlbum ''Babbacombe'' is based on the life of RealLife example John "Babbacombe" Lee.
158	-->They stand me in a corner with my hands and feet still tied\
159	A warder holds onto the noose, the trapdoor opens wide\
160	Is it magic or coincidence that keeps me on the brink?\
161	It seems to work without me, "Will it kill me now?" I think\
162	...\
163	My life was spared that morning 'cos it wasn't theirs to take\
164	Three's the most the law requires a man to feel the stake.
165	* The title character in [[Music/TheMarsVolta The Mars Volta's]] song Frances The Mute.
166	--> ''He tied a rope around her legs\
167	And let her hang for seven days''
168	* Some versions of the story ''Music/StaggerLee'' have the titular villain getting hanged, but "his neck refused to crack".
169	* Celtic rock band Music/TheMenTheyCouldntHang take their name from this trope, with the added bonus of sounding very anti-establishment.
170	* Referenced in the lyrics of The Tragically Hip's song ''Bobcaygeon''[[note]]The lyrics are not specifically referring to people that were hung and survived, but rather people that could not be punished for free speech. It's based on an incident that happened in Toronto where the RCMP (checkboard floors refers to their hats) was called in to keep order when a neo-Nazi group was conducting a rally. The rally was mostly peaceful, though incendiary, until the neo-Nazis actually started speaking, sparking riots. The RCMP wasn't able to prevent the speakers from holding their rally, and therefore couldn't hang them[[/note]]:
171	-->''That night in Toronto with its checkerboard floors\
172	Riding on horseback and keeping order restored\
173	Till the men they couldn't hang\
174	Stepped to the mike and sang\
175	And their voices rang with that Aryan twang''
176	[[/folder]]
177
178	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
179	* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', Nosferatu elder Prudence Stone has this as part of her backstory. Having grown up in Puritan New England, her [[CloudCuckooLander odd behaviour]] ended up condemning her when the witchcraft trials rolled around; found guilty and sentenced to death, she was only saved thanks to her friendship with Osric, a Nosferatu pilgrim, who gave her a vial of his blood and instructions to drink it on the night prior to her execution. As a result, Prudence survived both the NeckSnap and the suffocation until nightfall, when Osric was able to rescue and Embrace her.
180	* Variation in ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': In a story on [[http://keith-baker.com/dm-mordain/ setting creator Keith Baker's blog]], Mordain the Fleshweaver - one of the setting's premier {{Mad Scientist}}s and {{Evilutionary Biologist}}s - managed to NoSell basically every form of execution ''except'' hanging through his incredible control over his own anatomy, shrugging off drowning, dismemberment and even [[KillItWithFire burning at the stake]], and later went on to shrug off being TakenForGranite and escape from a convoy taking him to [[TheAlcatraz Dreadhold]].
181	[[/folder]]
182
183	[[folder:Radio]]
184	* ''Radio/BleakExpectations'': Harry Biscuit survives being hanged, by dint of being incredibly overweight. He would have died, but since the judge who ordered the hanging was watching, and eating some cheese, and Harry manages to gain weight just by ''looking'' at cheese...
185	* On ''Radio/TheGoonShow'', Neddie Seagoon was sentenced to hang by a KangarooCourt but they were forced to relent on realizing he hadn't actually got a neck.
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:Video Games]]
189	* Silas Greaves from ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger'' is eventually revealed to be after the three outlaws who tried hanging him and his two older brothers. Since they hanged them on the same tree branch simultaneously, the branch broke off under their combined weight, so Silas survived--but his brothers didn't.
190	* In ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', Franky the Pitchfork is DrivenToSuicide by his heckling companions, the paint pot and the paintbrush, after failing to kick Conker's ass. When he decides to hang himself, he fails because he "does not appear to have a neck of any description", and remains stuck hanging from the barnyard ceiling until Conker cuts him down.
191	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' has the 'loathsome' Dung Eater, an insane SerialKiller who spiritually defiles his victims, shown in the [[{{Introdump}} opening cinematic]] being publicly hanged. This ''did'' actually kill him, but he (like many others) was brought back as a [[TheUndead Tarnished]] in the wake of the Elden Ring shattering.
192	* The cancelled original iteration of ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', known as ''VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren'', was going to include a companion NPC called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Hanged Man"]]. You would have found him hanging by his neck from a tree, more annoyed at the predicament than anything. Having him in your party would have you quickly discover that the man is regarded as ''legendarily'' evil and badass, to the point that many people will either flee outright or attack on sight if you were with him.
193	** He eventually got RefittedForSequel in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. As the former [[TheDragon Dragon]] to the BigBad, Caesar, he was ''set on fire and thrown into the Grand Canyon'' in a truly epic example of YouHaveFailedMe. Rumor has it he didn't even scream on the way down. Naturally, his reputation as the ultimate ImplacableMan means there are ''still'' rumours that he's walking around somewhere - though Caesar's ban on speaking his name means he's generally known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Burned Man"]]. [[spoiler:He eventually shows up in the DLC expansion ''Honest Hearts'', where it's revealed that his survival drove him to return to his hometown and become a [[HeelFaithTurn born-again Christian]] (well, Mormon). Of course, he still has some [[GeneralRipper anger issues]] from his time as TheDragon...]]
194	* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'', Abby gets saved from being hanged by Yara and Lev.
195	* Sindy Gallows of ''Videogame/{{Lisa}}: The Joyful'' is initially found after being hanged and shot full of arrows by a band of cultists. After killing them, just as Buddy is about to walk away, he wakes up and tells you:
196	-->'''Sindy:''' Hey, kid. I didn't get on that list by being a Goddamn pussy.
197	* The character selection screen in ''[[Videogame/PathOfExile Path of Exile 2]]'' starts off like this: you're greeted with an execution of seven people and select one of them as your character. The executioner pulls the lever and they all get hanged, except for your player character, whose rope snaps. They flee from the execution by jumping off the wall and into the ocean.
198	* According to the sparse back-story for ''[[VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena Quake III]]'' character Cadaver "is a brutal murderer who couldn’t be executed, The electric chair, gallows, and gas chamber only made him meaner".
199	* Mr. Black's assistant Mr. Lynch in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRevolver'' survived being hanged. It shows, as he has a hard time keeping his neck straight during his pre-duel scene.
200	* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/RedNinjaEndOfHonor'', Kurenai, is hanged by her neck using ''iron wire'' with her hands tied behind her back, but her small stature combined with watching her father getting killed right in front of her gives her enough HeroicWillpower to survive.
201	[[/folder]]
202
203	[[folder:Webcomics]]
204	* From ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': you [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050513 can't hang Jaegermonsters.]] Da Boyz are introduced swinging in the breeze in Zumzum, where they've been hanging for two days. The only thing they're worried about is Jenka finding them.
205	-->'''Dimo:''' Hey! Vait a minute! Maybe ve gets lucky! Mebbe ve be ''dead'' by the time she gets here!\
206	'''Oggie:''' Ooh! Hadn't thought of ''that!''\
207	'''Maxim:''' Iz you crazy? Den ve ''really'' be in trouble!
208	* An odd example with Belkar in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' where a group of bandits try to hang him and he suffers no injury. Belkar points out that as a halfling, his anatomy is unsuitable for death by hanging (he doesn't weigh much and his head constitutes the majority of his mass). The worst he gets is a bit of wooziness from the blood rushing to his head when his weight evens out.
209	-->'''Belkar:''' You know, that's the problem with humans, always assuming that other races are the same as they are, so [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0165.html they assume the same methods of execution are valid.]]
210	* The unnamed prisoner in ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'''s multi-part strip "Sand". In addition to [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/10/27 not being killed by hanging,]] he also proves invulnerable to [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/07/17 fire ("feller don't burn right"), and bullets]].
211	* Played for laughs in ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'''s [[http://oglaf.com/fullthrottle/ "Full Throttle"]], which has the said hung man not even realize he's still hanging there as he attempts his escape. The executioners [[BlackComedy and even the next condemned]] tell him to hurry up and die so they can use the equipment again, and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm eventually just decide]] to [[FailedExecutionNoSentence ask for a pardon]].
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:Western Animation]]
215	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Scarecrow evokes this with his ''New Batman Adventures'' design, wearing a severed noose around his neck to imply he cannot be killed and to instill fear into his victims. It's even left ambiguous whether or not he truly is undead now and even [[WordOfGod Bruce Timm]] stated in an interview the writers weren't even sure if he was still human or not, with this design proving popular enough to carry over to his designs in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''.
216	* In the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'', Elfo's village chief attempts to hang him for sleeping with his daughter, but it turns out he doesn't have the body weight for it to be fatal. Apparently, the last elf they tried hanging died of old age.
217	* Overlaps with BungledSuicide in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Mom's the Word": Stewie tries to hang himself, but can't due to his lack of a neck and the football shape of his head.
218	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': Parodied in the episode "Out West", where Ren & Stimpy are hanged for horse-stealing. Ren just blows in the wind, and Stimpy [[NoNeckChump has no neck]].
219	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Groundskeeper Willie mentions in one episode that his father was hanged for stealing a pig, only for said father to turn up alive and well in a later episode. [[ExactWords Well, Willie never said the hanging killed him]]...
220	[[/folder]]
221
222	[[folder:Real Life]]
223	* Western legend Roy Bean was a RealLife case of this, making it TruthInTelevision.
224	* Also the eighteenth-century [[http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/pubguide/maggiedicksons.html Margaret Dickson,]] who was pardoned and ever after known as "Half-Hangit Maggie".
225	* Mary Webster, also known as "Half-Hanged Mary" is one of the more well-known cases. After being accused of witchcraft by Philip Smith during the Salem Witch Trials, some boys dragged her out of her house, hung her up until she was near dead, let her down, rolled her some time in the snow, and at last buried her in it and there left her, but against all odds, she survived. Margaret Atwood dedicated The Handmaid's Tale to her, as well as writing a poem dedicated to her.
226	* One tale tells of a [[{{Pirate}} buccaneer]] who was hanged, scared the crowd away by yelling at them, chewed through the rope, and escaped.
227	* In real life, on the other hand, most "hanging" sentences are more specifically enunciated as "hanged until dead". Even if being hanged doesn't snap the victim's neck, staying there for a while would almost definitely suffocate anyone. It's more slow and painful but it would get the job done. This is intended to ensure the demise of a would-be RulesLawyer.
228	* There was allegedly a time in America where surviving [[RuleOfThree three]] attempted executions of any kind was considered an act of God, and you were given a life sentence instead, if not ''set free.''
229	* The {{trope namer\|s}} is an example from Britain, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Babbacombe_Lee John "Babbacome" Lee.]] He was sentenced to hang for allegedly murdering his old employer in 1885. He is quoted as having said God would not allow him to be hanged; his words were to prove prophetic. All three times they tried to hang him, the trapdoor mechanism would inexplicably jam, even though it worked perfectly when he wasn't standing over it. An investigation revealed this was due to a misalignment with a mechanism. Given a life sentence instead, he was eventually released in 1907, when the Home Secretary was persuaded that the "evidence" against him was circumstantial and all-around rather shoddy.
230	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Samuel Joseph Samuel]] in Australia is the only other prisoner known to survive three attempts, and his sentence was commuted to life on the spot.
231	* In Imperial Russia one failed execution (e.g. due to gallows falling apart or guns misfiring) was enough to change the sentence to penal servitude or even release the convict. Only rarely, as with the Decembrists, the tsar ordered to repeat the hanging. Unofficially the tradition continued well into the Soviet times. Legend has it that the Decembrist leader made some wisecrack to the effect that the czarist regime was too incompetent even to pull off a simple hanging, and the Czar decided to prove him wrong.
232	* Stuntmen can prevent the noose from tightening with an invisible knot. This allows them to hang for a while and stay alive. This stunt is very dangerous as it's easy to snap the neck, the preferred method is a harness under the clothes and a fake noose on the neck.
233	* In 2013 an [[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/23/iranian-survived-execution-spared-justice-minister Iranian drug smuggler who had been sentenced to death]] was hanged, announced dead and was transferred to the morgue. A few hours later they saw that he was breathing. He made a full recovery and his sentence was reduced because the officials believed his sentence was ''[[OffOnATechnicality technically]]'' carried out.
234	* Will Purvis was sentenced to be hanged in 1894 for the murder of a man named Will Buckley, but survived when the noose came undone as the gallows' trapdoor opened. A further attempt was thwarted by threats of a riot and, days before a second scheduled hanging could occur, Purvis was broken out of jail. Eventually returning to prison for a life sentence and being released two years later, he was officially exonerated in 1917 by the deathbed confession of Joseph Beard, who had witnessed the actual killing (Beard himself was supposed to shoot Buckley's two companions, but had panicked and failed to do so).
235	* Anna Greene, an English domestic servant was sentenced to death for infanticide in 1650, though it's more likely that she had a miscarriage. Greene was hanged and after half an hour on the gallows, she was cut down and given to two physicians for dissection. When the physicians opened her coffin the next day, they discovered that she's still breathing and managed to revive her. Seeing her survival as a sign from God, the authorities pardoned her and she lived unitl 1659.
236
237	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheManTheyCouldntHang