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[[caption-width-right:349:[[{{Pun}} A chilling display of his cold heart.]]]]
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->''"I will freeze you from within... until '''all that remains is an ICY HUSK!'''"''
-->-- '''The Lich King''', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''

While [[KillItWithFire fire is the traditional means]] of destroying evil, sometimes cold works just as well. This can range from liquid nitrogen to just luring your opponent into a very cold place. Attacking people in this way almost always results in an [[OneHitKill instant kill]] through immediate cessation of bodily function, although in real life it would still take time to induce hypothermia or stop the heart.

Likely to be used by AnIcePerson. May involve a FreezeRay, LiterallyShatteredLives, IceBreaker, DepletedPhlebotinumShells, or being LockedInAFreezer. See also KillItWithWater and KillItWithFire. Not always related to ImpossiblyCoolWeapon. For the non-lethal version of this trope, see HarmlessFreezing. Anyone wearing AnIceSuit is likely to try to Kill It With Ice.

Likely to appear in video games that use ElementalRockPaperScissors.

----
!!Example subpages:
[[index]]
* KillItWithIce/VideoGames
[[/index]]

!!Other examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Yacoym pilots the Frozen Elysium, a Martian Kataphrakt that literally saps the heat within 1 full kilometer around it. Anything that ventures into the area of effect will literally freeze, whether Kataphrakts or ordnance.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Captain [[ChildProdigy Hitsugaya]] possesses the strongest ice/snow type [[EmpathicWeapon zanpakutou]] in [[SpiritWorld Soul Society]]. As long as there is moisture around, he can create ice attacks. His powers range from creating ice clones of himself to distract enemies to transforming the weather for miles around into an ice-making weapon that kills anything that touches the falling snow.
** Rukia possesses an ice/snow-type zanpakutou that lowers the temperature of her own body. Anything that comes into contact with her body or sword is immediately reduced to the same temperature, transforming to ice. She is capable of reaching Absolute Zero and bringing her enemies down to that temperature as well. Her special techniques [[spoiler:and especially her Bankai]] serve to increase the power's range, allowing her to "touch" and thereby freeze enemies without having to get close enough to make physical contact.
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': Sakura incapacitates the Watery card by tricking her into entering a walk-in freezer, then locking the door, waiting a bit, and capturing her became a simple matter.
* ''Anime/CrossAnge'': While smaller, less powerful [[OurDragonsAreDifferent DRAGONs]] are easily killed by the normal weapons of the [[HumongousMecha Paramails]] (and sole Ragnamail, Villkiss), higher-level [=DRAGONs=] must be dispatched via "Freezing Bullets", which are close-range blasts that snap-freeze the reptilian monsters from within and cause sharp crystals of ice to burst out of them.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' has November 11, an interesting case: he can freeze virtually any liquid, but there has to be a readily available source of said liquid first, like a pool of water, and can't simply summon ice out of nowhere. He also has to make contact with said liquid, and can't use his powers from range.
* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Goku manages to beat a rubbery monster named Buyon by causing the cold air outside to freeze him, and he breaks him afterwards.
* The most powerful Ice Magic in ''Manga/FairyTail'', Iced Shell, can trap its target in a (mostly) unbreakable block of ice that will eventually kill it since freezing is not [[HarmlessFreezing harmless]]. The downside is that the caster's own body ''becomes'' the ice. Silver, the Ice [[DemonSlaying Devil Slayer]] and one of the Nine Gates of Tartaros, wields an extremely powerful form of Ice magic that is especially effective against [[spoiler:his fellow]] demons. [[spoiler:And when Gray, his son, gets that very same magic, he shows off said effectiveness by [[CurbStompBattle curbstomping]] a demon that gave Natsu a hard time and taking down the DragonInChief of Tartaros]].
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it turns out a Briggs winter is even capable of incapacitating [[spoiler:a homunculus]]. From ''Brotherhood'', there's [[AnIcePerson Isaac]] [[MakingASplash the Freezer]]. He's actually capable of [[KillItWithWater killing people with water in any number of ways]], including flash-frying them with steam and creating blades of high-pressure water, but ice is apparently his favorite and it's what he uses for his ultimate technique.
* As a ''yuki-onna'', Yukime from ''Manga/HellTeacherNube'' can use her powers to do this. In fact, she attempts to do that to Nube in her first intervention -- but then she commits the mistake of [[WouldhurtAChild targetting his students]] when they tried to stop her, making Nube go BadassTeacher on her. She sees the error of her ways and releases them. [[spoiler:For massive and cruel irony, ''Yukime'' ends up on the receiving end thanks to Ippon Datana. When she refuses to follow his orders, he freezes her in place and ''stabs her all over with icicles'', which finally kills her. (She's BackFromTheDead later, but not before ''again'' trying to kill Nube with ice only to be stopped with ThePowerofLove.)]]
* In ''Manga/HoshinEngi'', [[DiscOneFinalBoss Chou Komei]] unleashes his OneWingedAngel form: a colossal, ever-expanding lily flower. While the heroes try to [[KillItWithFire burn him]], he counters by pointing out that he can spread his seeds and regenerate at a faster rate, so [[TheSmartGuy Taikoubou]] decides to take advantage of his LogicalWeakness as a plant and blasts him with a hurricane of icy air from the mesosphere, freezing Chou Komei to death. Later, one of the Juttenkun tries to kill Taikoubou, Supuu, and Fugen with his ice-manipulating Paopei, to no avail.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** Dio Brando had the vampiric ability to lower his own body temperature to the point where any flesh he touches freezes solid. He used this ability to protect himself from his weakness to the [[ThePowerOfTheSun Hamon]] technique by freezing his enemies when they made contact with him to stop the Hamon from traveling. He demonstrated this quite effectively by mangling Will A. Zeppeli's arm and effectively taking him out of the fight. Later he showed even more powerful applications...such as freezing Dire's entire body before shattering him like glass.
** [[FeatheredFiend Pet Shop]] is a hawk with the [[FightingSpirit Stand]] Horus, allowing him to create cold and ice. The first time he uses this ability on screen, he kills a man by dropping an icicle the size of a car on him. During his SuperPersistentPredator chase of Iggy, he is also seen rapidly creating icicles and firing them like makeshift missiles.
** The appropriately named Ghiaccio (GratuitousItalian for "ice") has the Stand White Album, which takes the form of a bodysuit with ice skates and allows Ghiaccio to rapidly lower the temperature of the air around him. HarmlessFreezing is very much ''not'' in effect. When pushed into a corner, he reveals a sub ability, White Album Gently Weeps, which according to him, lowers the temperature of the air around him to near-absolute zero temperatures, creating ice crystals that float in the air around him and are able to deflect bullets.
* Done several times by Todoroki from Class 1-A's ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', but no one (hopefully) has died from them.
** The first time was Class 1-A's first Battle Training. He froze the whole building, constraining Hagakure's and Ojiro's feet. This is quickly averted with Todoroki reheating the place with his fire.
** The second time around was portrayed differently. Unlike the aforementioned situation where he just simply immobilized his classmates, he was freezing some actual thugs of the League of Villains. He quickly froze them though, not releasing them and until they told him their schemes.
** The Sports Festival preliminary fight between Todoroki and Sero ended in a matter of seconds after Todoroki froze Sero with his Heaven Piercing Ice Wall.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** Evangeline A.K. [=McDowell=], when she can actually use her magic, specializes in dark and ice spells. Her most powerful spell shown, Kosmike Katastrophe (translates roughly as ''End of the World''), freezes a massive demon, then shatters it with a snap of her fingers. The spell breaks the second law of thermodynamics to freeze a 150-square-foot area in absolute zero temperatures. She also has a smaller-scale ice spell that's supposed to freeze the target for a few years, but Asuna manages to break out of it quickly enough due to her magic nullification ability.
** Evangeline's latest spell, Endless White Nine Heavens, is an original ice-lightning spell made specifically to combat constructs, and locks on to an enemy and continually freezes them and their surroundings solid while leaving them conscious, so they can [[ColdBloodedTorture suffer for all eternity.]]
** In the magic system of ''Negima'', ice spells are considered higher-level than fire spells of roughly equivalent power, because ice spells violate more of the laws of physics.
* Being AnIcePerson, Admiral Aokiji in ''Manga/OnePiece'' can freeze someone solid, then kill them by shattering their frozen body. Even barring that, they can still die if thawed improperly.
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', this is how Black wins his Gym Battle against Drayden despite not having any Ice-types on his team. [[spoiler:Black has his Braviary destroy the doors to the building where the battle is taking place, letting the blizzard outside seep in and slow down Drayden's Druddigon, which gives Braviary the upper hand.]]
* ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'': Him is weakened by cold because, as a demon, he's all about hellfire and brimstone.
* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', Sailor Mercury eventually learns ice-based attacks.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has Cygnus Hyoga, his master the Crystal Saint (only appears in the anime), the ''latter's'' master Aquarius Camus (Hyoga's direct master in the manga), and [[spoiler:Hyoga's RivalTurnedEvil Kracken Isaac]]. All of their attacks are ice-themed.
* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'':
** There are a variety of ice-based magic spells, ranging from the "weak enough to use on yourself as air conditioning" to the "instant kill if used on a human". The strongest such attack is Dynast Breath, which freezes the target within ice. The ice then shatters, and the victim with it.
** The fourth movie has Lina defeat a dragon with a shield capable of stopping a Dragon Slave by casting minor ice spells. Straight up. Resulting in the clouds freezing and dropping on his head. When he moves his shield upwards to block the giant hailstones, she blasts him with a Dragon Slave from the side.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In an ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' graphic novel by Creator/WilliamGibson (his unused script for the third ''Alien'' movie), a character realizes that he's been infected by the Xenomorph pathogen and is able to [[LockedInAFreezer get to a freezer and lock himself inside]]. They find his frozen corpse later, morphed halfway into an alien form.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
** The standard method employed by Mr. Freeze (sometimes non-lethally but often with deadly effect).
** Downplayed in the ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/TheAttackOfTheAnnihilator'': the titular villain is defeated and depowered when he is encased in solid ice by ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s freezing breath.
* ''ComicBook/FirestormDCComics'': While it doesn't actually kill her, this is one method for defeating [[AnIcePerson Killer Frost]]. Unlike most ice characters, she freezes things by absorbing the heat from them instead of the usual inexplicable 'cold ray,' and ''she must do so to stay warm.'' Encasing her in ice cuts off her power supply, and should rightfully be ''more'' dangerous to her than to a civilian. Of course, it's often [[HarmlessFreezing not even dangerous to civilians]].
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Captain Cold has an ice gun capable of creating fields of absolute zero. Like the Kosmike Katastrophe spell by Evangeline from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' this works by violating the second law of thermodynamics.
* ''ComicBook/JLA1997'': One issue shows freezing as one of the few effective ways of hurting ComicBook/PlasticMan. Since he is apparently immortal, actually killing him is out of the question.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'': Robotnik uses this to destroy [[MadeOfIndestructium Brutus]] spraying him with liquid nitrogen.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': A common tactic for defeating the Lizard involves luring him into a freezing area such as a fridge car. Being cold-blooded, he will slow down and eventually lose consciousness.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheUntoldStoryOfArgoCity'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} stops an alien invasion by freezing their liquid bodies solid.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
* "Literature/TheFrostTheSunAndTheWind": The Frost threatens to turn the traveler into an ice block in retaliation for his slight, but the Wind points out that the Frost cannot freeze anybody if he doesn't blow.
* In "Literature/{{Morozko}}", Father Frost freezes the old woman's daughter to death when she makes the mistake of insulting him repeatedly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BadPress'': Starscream gets startled by Megatron yelling at him and accidentally drops the human he was experimenting on into a vat of liquid nitrogen, flash-freezing the test subject.
* Examples from Fanfic/{{the Calvinverse}}:
** This is the true weakness of the larger Shadowfax in ''Fanfic/RetroChill'', which Socrates exploits with a fridge.
** In ''Fanfic/ThePezDispenserAndTheReignOfTerror'', the PEZ 6,000,000 can shoot both ice [[PlayingWithFire and fire]].
* The [[BlobMonster glufferflork's]] cause of death in ''Fanfic/DividedRainbow''.
* ''Fanfic/FantasyOfUtterRidiculousness:'' Megas's flaming sword can be turned into an ice sword when Coop turns on the air conditioner. Fittingly, it's powered by a Mega Slush.
* In ''Fanfic/AMinorVariation'', weather captain "Hurricane" Fluttershy incapacitates Gilda the griffon by luring her high enough that her wingfeathers freeze up. She even quotes ''Film/IronMan1'': "How'd you solve the icing problem?"
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', [[spoiler:ice is one of the only things Draconequi like Discord cannot affect with their powers.]] Ice is created by taking away heat and their magic doesn't work on something born from the absence of something.
* ''Fanfic/TheSecretReturnOfAlexMack'': Cold is the only strategy that seems to work against the Downingtown Blob, although it only paralyses the blob, rather than killing it.
* Mercury does this very thoroughly when she faces [[spoiler:Zoicite]] in ''Fanfic/WhiteDevilOfTheMoon''. [[spoiler:First she locks him inside a large razor-edged fractal ice sculpture, then while he's trying to get out, she drops a car-sized hailstone on his head.]] The narration devotes an entire paragraph describing ''exactly'' how deadly ice can be.
-->Ice wasn't a very visually impressive weapon. It didn't have the obviously destructive power of [[KillItWithFire fire]] or [[ShockAndAwe lightning]]. But that didn't make it harmless. Regular patterns of freezing and thawing could eventually tear apart even the finest construction. A broken piece of ice could cut like a knife. And the destruction caused by a hailstorm could be just as devastating as a wildfire in its own way, damaging buildings and vehicles, ruining crops in some cases even knocking down trees. If the stones were large enough or coming down heavily enough, they could even kill.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Animated]]
* In ''Animation/TheSnowQueen2012'', the Snow Queen kills her victims this way.
* Mister Big in ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' uses a pool of ice water to execute those that have displeased him; either they die of hypothermia and exposure, or they drown. He never kills anyone onscreen but almost "iced" Nick and Judy when they were caught breaking into his property.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'':
** ''Film/Alien3'': Ripley and the others lure the alien into a lead smelting plant, first super-heating it (with lead) and then suddenly cooling it with water sprays. This causes the creature to shatter as glass would under such conditions (but unfortunately not lead).
** ''Film/AlienResurrection'': Liquid nitrogen sprays are set up to control the aliens in their cells. Unfortunately, one alien is [[ItCanThink clever enough]] to deduce the connection between the sprays and the BigRedButton, which serves to [[LiterallyShatteredLives bite the ass]] of a security mook.
* ''Film/AlienCargo'': The HatePlague is successfully counteracted by exposure to subzero temperatures.
* ''Film/ArcticBlast'' postulates that a solar eclipse could cause a hole in the ozone layer that would then allow the cold of outer space to leak into the Earth's atmosphere, creating a creeping "ice fog" that winds up flash-freezing most of Australia. Any number of iced Aussies are shown during the film.
* In ''Film/{{Bats}}'', the plan for destroying the bats involves using an industrial coolant to drop the temperature in the mine till they start to hibernate and then freeze to death.
* ''Film/TheBlob1958'' ends with the eponymous alien monster being parachuted into the Arctic, as cold is the only way to stop it from spreading. Earlier, it had been immobilized with carbon dioxide fire extinguishers.
* In ''Film/TheBlob1988'', the blob is shown to be completely immune to bullets, explosives, and even fire, but is strongly repelled by the cold, and is defeated when it is flash-frozen in an explosion of liquid nitrogen.
* ''Film/DemolitionMan'': Simon Phoenix suffers this fate at the end of the movie, before having his head kicked off.
* ''Film/TheDevilsMessenger'': In "The Girl in the Glacier", Dr. Seastrom knocks Dr. Olsen [[DeathByFallingOver to the floor and possibly kills him]] during an argument in the cold room. He then makes sure of the job by opening a pipe and dousing Olsen in freezing liquid.
* ''Film/FantasticFour2005''. Von Doom tries to immobilize Reed with supercold temperatures while saying something along the lines of: "Remember Chem 101? What happens when rubber freezes?"
* ''Film/TheFifthElement'': Zorg's demonstration of his latest {{BFG}} includes "the grand finale: the all-new Ice Cube System" as one of its options, though it only gets used on a test dummy.
* ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'': At the end of the movie, Destoroyah is killed by being frozen alive, causing him to crash to the ground and [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatter into a billion tiny pieces]].
* ''Film/GodzillaAgainstMechagodzilla'': Kiryu (read: Mechagodzilla) is armed with a powerful chest-mounted FreezeRay called the Absolute Zero cannon as its ultimate weapon. When it finally manages to hit Godzilla however, [[SubvertedTrope it fails to kill him]], although it does leave a huge scar and sends him packing.
* ''Film/{{Goldeneye}}'': A vat of liquid nitrogen is how [[spoiler:Boris Grishenko]] meets his end. So much for being invincible.
* ''Film/HarbingerDown'': Lacking any flamethrowers to take on ''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]]''-like creature, the crew of the crabbing trawler ''Harbinger'' have to hunt the creature with the liquid nitrogen they use to freeze their catch. [[spoiler:The movie ends with the FinalGirl ramming the ''Harbinger'' into a nearby iceberg, burying the monster under an avalanche of ice.]]
* ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'': The ''T2'' scene was spoofed in a scene where Saddam Hussein and his pet dog are frozen by a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher and then shattered, reforming into a hybrid dog-dictator.
* ''Film/JasonX'': Villains too can use this trope, as seen when Jason sticks Adrienne's face in liquid nitrogen and then smashes it on the counter. Jason had years earlier been immobilized (but, of course, not killed) by being lured into a [[HumanPopsicle cryogenic chamber]].
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/IronMan1'': Tony Stark uses his [[PoweredArmor suit's]] greater resistance to icing up at high altitudes to immobilize Iron Monger.
--->"How'd you solve the icing problem?"
** The [[AnIcePerson Frost Giants]] in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' use a combination of this and blades shaped out of ice to kill their enemies. This is also how [[spoiler:Loki immobilizes Heimdall]] towards the end of the film, although he breaks himself out of it shortly thereafter and rejoins the fight.
* ''Film/{{Mindhunters}}'' (2004): In the first trap set by the SerialKiller, Christian Slater's feet get blasted with liquid nitrogen; his ankles then shatter and he falls to the ground and crumbles.
* ''Film/MissPeregrinesHomeForPeculiarChildren'': [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle, [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic Olive]] is [[DeathByIrony frozen to death]] by a hollowgast. Thanks to Enoch's ability to [[BackFromTheDead raise the dead]] though, it doesn't stick]].
* ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'': Liu Kang kills Sub-Zero (who is known for his ice powers) this way in the movie. He uses a bucket of water that goes through Sub-Zero's ice shield and becomes an ice spike that impales him [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice with extreme prejudice]], pins him to a wall, and then freezes him solid. Then, in ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'', when Sub-Zero's heroic younger brother shows up, he freezes Smoke and saves Liu Kang. To cement that Smoke dies, the robot then [[DefeatEqualsExplosion explodes]].
* ''Film/PhantasmII'' shows that cold is one of the few forces known to have any effect against the Tall Man.
* In ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', Scooby takes down the Tar Monster by freezing him with... a fire extinguisher... then propelling the canister to smash it to pieces.
* ''Film/TheShining'': Jack gets lost in the hedge maze and freezes.
* ''Film/TheSilence2019'': The movie's monsters, the vesps, can't bear the cold -- people above the Arctic Circle or high in the mountains are spared from their ravages due to this, as the intense cold kills any vesp swarms heading too far north or too high up.
* ''Film/{{Sinister}} 2'': The family in the "Christmas Morning" reel are bound and gagged, then are buried up to their necks in snow to die of hypothermia. With one last [[{{Pun}} chilling shot]] of the mother who looks at the camera and breathes out her last before it ends.
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'':
** The shapeshifting T-1000 is apparently destroyed when a truckload of liquid nitrogen ruptures, restricting its ability to shapeshift or even move. Arnie then [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatters the T-1000]] to pieces [[CoupDeGrace with a bullet]]. Unfortunately this occurs in a smelting plant whose heat melts the T-1000 so it can [[PullingThemselvesTogether reassemble again.]]
** The novelization of the movie says that while the freezing of the T-1000 did not harm it, it mucked up its artificial intelligence (due to superconductivity) making it possible to defeat it in the end. This is also implied in the director's cut of the movie, which shows the T-1000 lurching around the plant exhibiting difficulty in controlling its shapeshifting -- for instance, when it touches a railing, its hand takes on the appearance of the railing, apparently without it meaning to do so.
* ''Film/TheThing1982'': Regarded as a (literal?) FridgeLogic moment for the otherwise classic ending. If either of the two survivors is the shapeshifting alien, [[TheEndOrIsIt what good would it do to freeze to death]], as the alien had already shown it could survive millennia this way.
* ''Film/{{Timecop}}'': One of the mooks gets blasted with liquid nitro, whereupon Jean Claude Van Damme kicks and shatters his arm, and he falls off a ledge to his death.
* ''Film/Titanic1997'': In both the film and RealLife, this is how most of the 1,500+ deaths of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' occurred. They died in -3°C seawater after the ship sank (sometimes the water flooded them inside the ship before it completely sank), which Jack Dawson equates to being hit with a thousand knives over your body. [[spoiler:This claims Jack's life as well, along with Chief Officer Henry Wilde, whose whistle Rose uses to escape their fate.]]
* ''Film/{{Transformers|2007}}'': While not necessarily killed by the ice, in the live-action movie Megatron was frozen for decades after crashing into the North Pole. He was kept frozen while hidden in the Hoover Dam. When [[spoiler:Bumblebee]] was captured, they kept him immobilized with blasts of carbon dioxide.
* In ''Film/UniversalSoldierTheReturn'', Van Damme freezes the BigBad with liquid nitrogen, then shatters his body with one kick.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Folklore]]
* In one old ghost story, a ghost that dripped water all over its victims and made them miserable was defeated by being lured into an ice house. The cold froze the ghost's water and turned it into an icy statue.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Variation in ''Literature/CatsCradle'' with the isotope ice-9, which raises the freezing point of water to the point where it will instantly freeze any amount of water (or any living being containing water) regardless of temperature. [[spoiler: Then a flake of it gets [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt dropped into the ocean...]] ]]
* In ''Literature/CompanionsCodex'' the white dragon Aurbangras attacks [[spoiler:Afafrenfere]] with his ice breath-weapon, but misses and hits [[spoiler:Tos'un]] instead, instantly killing him by freezing him in place on the slope of a mountain.
* They're already dead, but in Dante's ''Inferno'' (part of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''), the lowest circle of hell has traitors distorted and frozen in ice for all eternity. This is the same level that Brutus, Cassius, and Judas reside on, but with the added bonus of having their feet chewed on by Satan.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': The more powerful Winter [[TheFairFolk Fae]] can do this. Wizards can do it too; Harry first used ice by using his ''fire'' spell to draw heat from a puddle, freezing it and causing his pursuer to slip. [[spoiler:Later he becomes the Winter Knight, and can use more traditional ice attacks, like freezing someone solid.]]
* ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' (''The Investiture of the Gods''), at one point wise Duke Ji Chang is asked to divine the future of King Zhou's duo of corrupted chancellors and, much to his own surprise, predicts that they'll perish in ice, a notion which they both mock as no one in the empire has ever suffered such a death. It proves real several years later (InUniverse), where they both freeze to death when Jiang Ziya summons a heavenly blizzard to trap the invading army in ice and snow. Much later in the story, one of the Ten Heavenly Kings showcases the Frozen Ice Formation, a magic trap that uses ice to freeze whoever enters the area and then smash them to a pulp using giant masses of ice as cudgels.
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'':
** The result of getting hit by Hyperborean breath. Percy uses this to his advantage.
** Khione, the goddess of snow, is fond of doing this.
* ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'': In ''Icerigger'', set on a sub-zero [[SingleBiomePlanet Ice World]], some native religious fanatics invert the BurnTheWitch trope by attempting to execute some captives with ice. They tie them up and set them into empty vats, then pour water over them a few gallons at a time. The water freezes in the frigid ambient temperature, encasing its victims layer by layer in ice.
* In Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's short novel ''Literature/TheIceDragon'', the titular ice dragon has icy breath that will freeze anyone and anything in its path, and it can freeze anything it touches. By the end of the story, the ice dragon faces off against three fire dragons. [[spoiler:The ice dragon kills all three of them.]]
* Liquid Nitrogen Grenades make an appearance in Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Literature/IceStation'', but don't cause the instant freezing usually seen with this trope. Instead, people exposed to them freeze from the outside in.
* The Literature/LeftBehind series has a somewhat different version of this trope: Enigma Babylon One World Faith leader Peter Mathews was killed by sharp feathers made from an ice sculpture of him.
* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Jaghut]] way to get rid of enemies, back when they still cared to, was to call down an ice age to starve them. Or to simply freeze them and walk away.
* In ''Literature/TheMoomins'', the Lady of the Cold, introduced in ''Moominland Midwinter'', is said to be able to instantly kill anyone with a single gaze, which leaves the victim frozen solid. She is shown doing this to a squirrel. However, the ending turns this into an AmbiguousSituation, as once spring rolls around, Moomintroll encounters a similar-looking squirrel and is left wondering if it might be the same squirrel, who somehow survived being frozen and was revived once he thawed out. The 90's anime series dials this down by making it explicit that it's HarmlessFreezing.
* The first deathtrap in ''Literature/{{Ripper}}'' is a loaded crossbow aimed at someone in the dining room, its stock propped on top of an ice cube. As the ice melts, its stock settles onto the shelf and depresses the firing lever by its own weight.
* In ''Literature/TheShadowOfKyoshi'', Kyoshi [[spoiler:kills [[JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope Yun]] by freezing his lungs and heart with Waterbending while he's delivering a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
-->'''Catelyn Stark:''' ''Ice can kill as dead as fire.''
* Creator/JackLondon's classic short story "Literature/ToBuildAFire" tells of a rather foolish and unsympathetic gold miner in Yukon Territory who goes off on a journey alone and winds up freezing to death after he falls into water and is unable to build a fire to warm himself.
* Cold-gas weapons (both [[FreezeRay spray projectors]] and rocket warheads) are used in ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr'', though the hero doesn't find them as [[KillItWithFire reliable as flamethrowers]].
* In ''The Bio of a Space Tyrant'' series by Creator/PiersAnthony, there's an assassination attempt on the eponymous Tyrant. As no weapons are allowed in his pretense, the conspirators break off icicles that have formed on the windows and use them as improvised daggers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* One demon in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS01E12Expecting Expecting]]" is taken down with liquid nitrogen.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
** A bitchy hotel maven falls onto the bent stem of a liquid nitrogen tank, which injects her chest with the frigid fluid and literally freezes her heart solid.
** Another victim gets stabbed to death with an icicle.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks "Planet of the Daleks"]], the centre of the planet Spiridon is filled with [[HollywoodScience ice instead of lava]]; thus an "ice-flow" is used to destroy the Dalek army.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 "42"]]: Captain [=McDonnell=] kills the sun-possessed Ashton by shoving him in the stasis pod and setting it to -273°C, otherwise known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/en/wiki/Absolute_zero absolute zero]], the coldest temperature it's possible to physically reach. The Doctor later attempts to do this to himself when ''he'' gets possessed, but another possessed individual shuts off the pod's power before it gets cold enough.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]]: The antagonist is a member of the Stenza species, whose body temperature is naturally so cold they can kill humans via lethal freezer burns merely on skin contact.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
** Leonard Snart/Captain Cold wields the [[FreezeRay Cold Gun]]. Much like his comics counterpart, it can fire blasts of absolute zero.
** [[AnIcePerson Killer Frost]], introduced in Season 2 as the [[AlternateSelf Earth-2]] counterpart of Caitlin Snow, is a metahuman with the power to freeze things. Later in Season 3, due to a CosmicRetcon, the main Caitlin Snow also turns into Killer Frost and gains ice-based powers, explained by her absorbing the heat of whatever she is targeting.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': Tracy. Later adds [[spoiler:MakingASplash (drowning people in enclosed spaces)]] to her arsenal.
* A victim of the week on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' is killed by liquid nitrogen.
* The fourth and final season of ''Series/TheOutpost'' has Talon and her allies fighting the Masters, god-like beings who are nearly impossible to kill. In the series finale, Talon is able to send the Masters into another dimension, a place so bitterly cold that they turn into ice statues within moments.
* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' has a fungus monster that can only be killed by subzero temperatures. Connor nearly dies after trapping himself in a freezer with it. The same goes for Jenny too.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' has an episode in its 8th season where Anubis, a half-{{Energy Being|s}}, is possessing people. He can't be killed but can't act without possessing a body. What choice is left for the SGC? "Let him escape", but redirect the stargate to an ice planet and freeze the body he's currently possessing. Unfortunately, he does later manage to get off that planet somehow and start taking new hosts.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the pilot episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint Encounter at Farpoint]]", Q immobilizes a RedShirt by freezing him after he draws a phaser; he doesn't die, but it's implied that he might have without immediate medical attention. Also, Security Chief/first season regular Tasha Yar, but Q agrees to restore her when Picard protests.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E23Displaced Displaced]]", when Voyager's crew is trapped in a prison with different environments for different species, Tom and B'Elanna dispose of two Nyrian mooks (from a very warm planet) by luring them into a subzero habitat. Later Captain Janeway beams the rest of the Nyrians there and threatens to keep them there until her ship is returned.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E18InAMirrorDarkly In a Mirror, Darkly]]", Mirror Phlox tortures a Tholian by reducing the temperature in its cell. When it drops low enough, the poor Tholian [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatters]]. Unusual in that Tholians [[ExtremophileLifeforms normally live in a superheated environment]], and the cell was still well above normal for most folks.
* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'': As a result of battles between ''Enterprise'' and the Gorn, Starfleet develops new weapons designed to kill reptiloids, including liquid nitrogen grenades.
* An aquatic MonsterOfTheWeek on ''[[Series/{{Tremors}} Tremors: The Series]]'' was killed by dumping dry ice into the aquaduct it was submerged in. Unusual in that the heroes ''could'' have shot it or blown it up quite easily, but needed to keep its carcass intact to avoid contaminating the area with the mixmaster in its tissues.
* ''Series/TrueDetective'': in "[[Recap/TrueDetectiveS4E06Part6 Part 6]]", DeathSeeker [[spoiler:Raymond Clark]] begs to be killed or to be allowed to kill himself. He does the deed by walking outside in the middle of a blizzard; shortly afterwards, he is found frozen to death and half-buried by the snow.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': It's revealed that the alien virus can be rendered harmless by lowering the temperature of its environment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
* ''Literature/TheBible'':
** In the Literature/BookOfExodus, one of God's ten plagues that He releases on Egypt is a plague of hail. The Egyptians who were wise to heed Moses' warnings brought their servants and livestock in for safety, while those who ignored the warning left their servants and livestock outside and suffered having to lose them in the pounding hail.
** In the Literature/BookOfRevelation, 100-pound hailstones are dropped from the sky on the people during the seventh Bowl Judgment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombiesPinball'' has the Snowpea, which turns your pinball into an ice ball to attack zombies with.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* The ''Jade Regent'' Campaign from Podcast/{{RPGMP3}} features a character called Skygni, who's a [[UpliftedAnimal magically Awakened]] frost-breathing Winter Wolf. He swore a [[MagicallyBindingContract Blood Oath]] (under duress) to [[TokenEvilTeammate not eat people]]. Not the ones travelling with the heroes' caravan, anyway.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In many editions ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', as well as spinoff ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', fire-associated creatures (like fire elementals, fire giants, or red dragons) tend to be especially vulnerable to cold damage. [[SubvertedTrope This can't be relied on all the time]], though, as many of these creatures are smart enough to be aware of their weakness, and will use their resources to acquire some method of resisting cold damage.
* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''' [[OddJobGods god of rot]] Moander has a penchant for controlling slaves via parasitic vines. Since they were of tropical variety any area spell cold enough to harm a victim was overkill for them. Later Moander itself [[spoiler:got a piece of paraelemental ice delivered and force-fed]].
* In ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', cold is a [[DamageTyping damage type]].
** [[AnIcePerson Absolute Zero]], an Expy of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Mister Freeze]] (except he's on the side of good) specializes in both this and KillItWithFire. He also has a way to give himself ElementalAbsorption to Cold damage.
** [[VigilanteMan Expatriette]] can load Liquid Nitrogen Rounds in any of her [[WalkingArmory many]] guns. Guns loaded with such rounds deal Cold damage instead of Projectile damage and inflict a damage debuff to any enemy hit by said rounds.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' Double Adventure "The Chamax Plague/Horde", the title alien monsters are defeated by luring them into an icy snowfield and with a cold-generation field, respectively.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
** This was the weakness of the Morbuzakh, [[WhenTreesAttack sentient vines with dreams of city-wide conquest]], that were [[StarterVillain the first major threat]] faced by the Toa in the Metru Nui Saga. Its strengths and weaknesses are based on temperature, dwelling in the city's Great Furnace to be strengthened by the heat and to protect itself from the cold. Later on, the Toa met the Karzahni, sentient moss-tree and the FlawedPrototype of the Morbuzakh that they figured had the same weakness...[[SubvertedTrope only for it to laugh and casually shatter the ice covering]]. As it turns out, the Karzahni was also the SuperPrototype that completely lacked the temperature issues. [[BigBad Makuta]] added that weakness to the Morbuzakh to make it more controllable than its [[OmnicidalManiac city-wide destroyer]] "brother".
** In one serial taking place in an AlternateUniverse, [[spoiler:Kopaka and Onua kill Ahkmou by having Kopaka freeze him and Onua [[LiterallyShatteredLives smash him to pieces with his claws]].]] This was also how Vakama defeated the manifestation of his power: by using his power of fire to absorb all the heat in the area, effectively freezing it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', Dr. Mosely/Zeta attempts to kill the protagonist and his friends with an artificially caused avalanche, since they know too much about her and her experiments.
* In ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta'' [[spoiler:the [[StarfishAlien titular]] [[EldritchAbomination character]]]] is killed by spilling liquid nitrogen on her and then having a huge part of her frozen body blown off with a shotgun.
-->''"That's minus 197 degrees, [[spoiler:you fucking monster]]! How's it feel? Cold? Hot? Not so tough now are you!?"''
[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Web Original]]
%%* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': The best way to defeat [[MegaMicrobes Cell]] is to freeze him, then shatter him!
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Red Mage of ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has a tendency to throw around ice spells. His most epic is easily using Ice-9 to [[spoiler:freeze the Fiend of Fire into a BagOfHolding]].
* ''Webcomic/ChampionsOfFaraus'': Flamel's main magic attacks are shards of ice shot from his wand.
* Stonewater the orc in ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' can conjure ice to use as a weapon; it is just as effective as holy magic against demons (which is to say, very) because the orcs believe ice to be sacred.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', Sil'lice is one of the most skilled Ice Sorcerers, let alone sorcerers in general, in the setting. As she fights, the battleground is coated and covered in layers of frost and her opponents begin to suffer first frostbite, then begin to ''freeze'' solid. This is used for some disturbing {{Fingore}} when one of her opponents blocks her sword blow, only to have her fingers ''snap off'' from the impact.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': When Colette kills all of Beausoleil's bodies for his betrayal and murder of her father she ends [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170616 one with freezing.]]
* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': A series of {{flashback}}s show that Kokoro's mother Mitsuki and her family were all killed in a breach by a monster that used dangerously low temperatures as its mode of attack. Mitsuki's father was fully encased in ice and frozen solid; her mother was frozen from the waist down and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled through the chest]] with a chunk of ice; and Mitsuki herself was partially frozen and suffered fatal [[MindRape contact wounds]] while staying behind [[HeroicSacrifice to protect the infant Kokoro]]. Mitsuki's childhood friend Mingxing was the first to respond to the breach, and in the fight that ensued, [[AnArmAndALeg her right arm was frozen and broken clean off]] before she managed to take the monster down.
* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': The demon Lazuli uses ice magic to summon sharp, pointy icicles. They are very fatal and rather messy.
%%* ''Webcomic/SnowByNight'': Old Man Winter, to every bird he sees.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', a bonus pop-up noted Katara only covers the face of firebenders when she freezes people. This is presumably because others can't survive.
* Terry apprehended the otherwise ''mostly'' untouchable Inque (mostly; being diluted with water is also bad for her.) this way in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''; when she invaded the Batcave, he used Mr. Freeze's gun, which Bruce had confiscated years ago.) Freezing her also was a useful TailorMadePrison for a while. It might have held her for good if the guy in charge of watching her [[TooDumbToLive didn't develop a weird crush.]] However, after repeated exposure, she figured out that compressing herself in a ball would keep most of her body active while only freezing the outside layer.
* Nonlethal variety: Batman was able to subdue Clayface this way in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. (However, the villain got the jump on him when he tried it a second time later in the episode.
* Tigatron of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' fame used a gun that was seen to instantly freeze other Transformers. And while he used it in only one battle, [[spoiler:Megatron's Transmetal 2 dragon form]] was capable of it as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'':
** Used to immobilise a super-villain made of liquid. It was ultimately only a temporary solution.
** In "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS1E48InLikeBlunt In Like Blunt]]", two SHUSH agents are discovered to have been murdered by being frozen in yogurt.
* [[spoiler: Trader Johann, after his FaceHeelTurn]] in ''[[WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk Dragons: Race for the King of Dragons]]'' episode "King of Dragons, Part 2", after being frozen by the icy breath of the female Bewilderbeast. In a ''disturbing'' inversion of HarmlessFreezing, he is killed instantly upon contact, his murderous grin forever frozen on his face.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' in the episode "Johnny vs Brainfreezer" has the Brainfreezer a disgruntled barista/university student who made a freeze ray from his coffee maker and Susan and Mary's blaster.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E8BrainInvaders "Brain Invaders"]], Ahsoka has to deal with a squad of clone troopers who were infected with [[PuppeteerParasite Geonosian brain worms]]. It transpires that the worms, being from a hot desert planet, have the LogicalWeakness of cold temperatures, so she ruptures her frigate's coolant system to incapacitate the troopers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The Swedish Empire in 1700, Napoleon in 1812, and Hitler during WWII all tried to invade Russia, and Russia kicked them all out the same way; by letting the really nasty Russian winters (sometimes called General Winter) drain their forces, then defeating them.
** Finland took advantage of this against the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-1940. The brutal winter that year caused great problems for the Soviet advance, helping the Finnish to resist effectively, despite being ridiculously outnumbered. They had to give up and surrender some territory in the spring though.
** Partial subversion; many historians now say that winter is not the worst time to campaign in the Arctic. Indeed apparently the Finns were praying for spring to bring them lots of good old-fashioned ''mud''.
** Only a partial subversion. When the first freezes of winter come in the far north it actually helps an army on the move when the mud freezes over; Hitler's Wehrmacht made better progress when the hard freeze came. However, when the temperature dropped to thirty below and the blizzards came, they suffered terribly.
** In the case of Napoleon's men, another reason they ended up dead of hypothermia might have been ''tin disease'', the transformation of white tin (Sn's main form at room temperature) to brittle grey tin (which eventually crumbles into powder) beginning at temperatures of 13.2 degrees Celsius. This transformation is slow at first, but drop the temperature to -30 degrees Celsius and below and the reaction should kick-start. Napoleon's men used tin buttons. The temperatures could have been that low in Russia. Go figure.
* David Hackett Fischer in ''Albion's Seed'' said that the Puritans unwittingly chose a very good spot to place their colony. While a New England winter is hard on humans, it actually does kill germs.
* Like its [[KillItWithWater liquid counterpart]], ice will tear up the landscape given time. No matter how hard the rock, even a little crack will doom it in the right climate. The extreme example of this are ice ages. Just for perspective, parts of northern Europe are still experiencing post-glacial rebound - as in, the land literally bouncing back up - from being weighed down by the last ice age, which ended ''12,000 years ago''.
* In many types of extermination in the real world, cold temperatures, or freezing, are used to kill pests. It can be ineffective, or take a long time. KillItWithFire, and cold temperatures, are used to kill bed bugs and other pests in some cases, other than poison, in which the house's temperature is lowered, or raised, substantially. This can take multiple attempts, such as the process being done every other day or so for a year. And if the problem persists, once again, another year. Putting anything that can't be treated with heat in the freezer is a tried and true method of getting rid of the leftovers of a head lice infestation too.
* As shown on ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'', one of the most effective ways to disarm a bomb is not to cut the wires, but to freeze it with liquid nitrogen. This stops the electrical components from functioning and is quite effective. ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' showed that if the bomb squad in ''Film/LethalWeapon2'' had used liquid nitrogen to freeze the bomb in Murtaugh's bathroom, the dive into the bathtub would have been unnecessary. They simply could have stood up and walked away.
* Cryosurgery. It can kill cancer cells in a considerably cleaner way. The extremely cool name is a bonus.
* Brinicles are descending columns of super-cold ice that sometimes extend downward from the pack ice in shallow polar waters. If they extend far enough to touch the sea bed, any invertebrates unlucky enough to be at or near the point of contact get frozen solid.
* Inverted [[note]]without becoming KillItWithFire or KillItWithWater[[/note]] with snow scorpionflies (also known as snow fleas), [[MeaningfulName insects specifically adapted to live in winter conditions]]... to the point that holding one in your hand will instantly kill it from the tiny increase in warmth. They eat mosses and bacteria adapted to live in the same low-temperature environments and pupate during ''warm'' weather instead of over the fall and winter.
[[/folder]]

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