[[quoteright:349:[[ComicBook/IronMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warmachine350medium.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:349:[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Well... That's gonna leave a mark.]][[note]][[NotEnoughToBury Or not.]][[/note]]]]-]

->'''''Maxim #37:''' There is no "overkill". There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload."''
-->-- ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', "The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries"

There are some opponents you want to defeat. There are some opponents you want to kill. Then there are the opponents whom you're not satisfied with until you've [[BackStab stabbed them in the back]], [[BoomHeadshot shot them in the head]], [[StuffBlowingUp blown them up]], [[AttackAnimal unleashed the hounds on them]], [[HighVoltageDeath electrocuted them]], [[FinishingStomp jumped up and down on them]], and then [[RasputinianDeath shoot the remains into space on a rocket full of time bombs]] [[HurlItIntoTheSun heading towards the sun]].

This trope comes in three categories (with some overlap): the killer either [[ComedicSociopathy loves violence for its own sake]], [[ItsPersonal really, really HATES whoever they're doing this to]], or (usually due to fighting TheJuggernaut or an ImplacableMan) knows that ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure whoever they're doing this to ''won't'' be coming back. There Is No Kill Like Overkill may be played for comedy or for drama. If the former, another character may [[LampshadeHanging remark]] [[CaptainObvious "I think he's dead already"]] near the end of the process.

May be employed successfully: see NoOneCouldSurviveThat. Unfortunately often leads to NeverFoundTheBody, thus setting up OnlyMostlyDead or UnexplainedRecovery. JokerImmunity means even overkill is useless, but even ''that'' is better than a NoSell.

It is sometimes justified if the opponent can come back FromASingleCell, or if resurrection is possible in the setting but requires the body to be mostly intact (in which case enough overkill to demolish the corpse serves the useful function of rendering the target DeaderThanDead).

Much, much more common in fiction (especially of the 'revenge fantasy' type) than in RealLife violence. To a strategist, overkill is AwesomeButImpractical because the ''risk'' of enemy survival is vastly outweighed by the ''certainty'' that you're spending a fortune in time, material, and (usually) manpower to ensure the enemy's death. The weaker and less numerous the target, the more wasteful overkill is.

For common ways to overkill, see BeamSpam, WaveMotionGun, MegatonPunch, GatlingGood, BoomHeadshot, YourHeadAsplode, GrenadeSpam, MultipleGunshotDeath, MacrossMissileMassacre, NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, StuffBlowingUp, HomeRunHitter, MoreDakka, MultiDirectionalBarrage, {{BFS}}, {{BFG}}, RapidFireFisticuffs, PummelingTheCorpse, and/or NukeEm. Said methods are almost always more overkill with a CriticalHit.

For situations in which the overkill destroys the whole point of the combat, see PyrrhicVictory.

Compare ChunkySalsaRule, CriticalExistenceFailure, DeaderThanDead, DisproportionateRetribution, RasputinianDeath, RefugeInAudacity, SurplusDamageBonus, and VideoGameCrueltyPotential.

Contrast CherryTapping and OnceIsNotEnough. Characters who don't have enough overkill at their disposal just might resort to crossing the GodzillaThreshold instead. If it's an animal, it's often a BlackComedyPetDeath.

'''This is occasionally related to a major character's death, so ''beware of unmarked spoilers!'''''

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!!Example subpages:

[[index]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/AnimeAndManga
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/ComicBooks
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/FanWorks
* [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/{{Literature}}
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/LiveActionTV
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/ProfessionalWrestling
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/TabletopGames
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/VideoGames
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/{{Webcomics}}
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/WebOriginal
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/WesternAnimation
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill/RealLife
[[/index]]

!!Other examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'': At urging, Gru enters the girls he adopted at a shooting gallery, and discovers the main target actually can't be knocked down with the guns provided. Regardless of how much he actually cared about the girls at this point, Gru clearly isn't happy that he got cheated, so his solution? He has a go, and uses a ray gun to level the ''whole stand''. The man who cheated them decides it's in his best interest to give Gru the prize after that.
* Yzma's initial plan to kill Kuzco in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' is to turn him into a flea, a harmless little flea, then put him inside a box, put that box inside another box, mail it to herself, and then smash it with a hammer. The plan was rejected in favor of immediate poisoning to save on postage.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', Ratigan tries to dispose of Basil with an overkill-tastic DeathTrap including a mousetrap, a crossbow, an axe, a gun (given that the characters are mice, it's more like a ''cannon''), and a falling anvil, noting that he couldn't decide which method would be best... so he used them all. Of course, Basil is able to use the various parts of the trap against each other and escape.
* ''WesternAnimation/IsleOfDogs'': While eating sushi, Professor Watanabe suspects that something's wrong with a bit of the sushi (it's got poison laced on the top) and takes a very small lick of it. The poison kills him almost immediately, having been said to stop the heart of a ''whale''.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'': If getting [[HoistByHisOwnPetard crushed by his own cannon]] didn't do Lord Shen in, then said cannon subsequently ''blowing him to bits'' when it explodes more than likely did the trick.
* ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge'': Scorpion has spent the entire movie thinking that Sub-Zero and the Lin Kuei slaughtered his clan and his family, and sought nothing but bloody retribution. It's only after he kills Sub-Zero that he learns [[MisplacedRetribution the massacre was orchestrated by Quan Chi]], after which he makes a beeline for him and challenges him to a fight as Shang Tsung's palace begins to crumble. After a brutal fight, Scorpion seizes an opening to deliver [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown the mother of all beatdowns]] on Quan Chi, before summarily breaking his ribs, [[AnArmAndALeg ripping his arms off]], piercing his torso with his kunai ([[XRayOfPain through the spine]], even), dragging his ass closer ("[[YouWillNotEvadeMe GET OVER HERE!]]"), grabbing his throat, ''[[OffWithHisHead ripping his head off]]'' and finishing him off by incinerating his mutilated corpse with {{hellfire}} ("Toasty!"), before tossing Quan Chi's head and spine over the burning remains. ExtremeMeleeRevenge? Yes. Did Quan Chi deserve every second of it? ''[[AssholeVictim Oh, yes]].''
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', the villain Shan Yu charges his entire army against what is about 30 or 40 soldiers. Naturally, the ConservationOfNinjutsu wasn't on his side, largely because the titular character [[KillItWithIce deliberately sets off an avalanche to swallow up the entire army]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': In the opening, Mabel uses a shotgun against ''rats''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'': When Oscar wages (and loses) the $ 5,000 he needed to pay a debt he owes Sykes, Sykes tells Ernie and Bernie to find the deepest hole in the ocean, dig it deeper, and ''then'' bury Oscar there.
* In the first ever animated Disney film, ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', the evil queen is struck by lightning (well, really it strikes the cliff she's standing on). She [[DisneyVillainDeath falls over the cliff]], and the boulder rolls off after her. What's left of her is presumably scavenged by vultures afterwards.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinballs]]
* In Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/NoGoodGofers'', the "Cart Attack" round features the player attacking two pesky gofers with a ''missile'' launched from a golf cart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* In the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Star War'', Kip opts to fire at [[spoiler: Palpatine]] with his gun set to ion cannon mode, which Alan points out is designed for attacking ''starships''. [[spoiler: He manages to destroy him, and most of the castle he was in, and anything past that for a few miles.]]
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Podcast/AVeryFatalMurder'', which investigates the death of Hayley Price, who was "shot, stabbed, drowned, strangled, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking given a haircut]]."
* ''Podcast/SickSadWorld'': It’s noted how much energy it takes to stab a person once, and one killer decided to stab a victim ninety-four times.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* From ''Film/SisterAct'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hd0yzfL6U4 this song.]] To put it in comparison, the man singing killed a mole (aka a spy) by a single gunshot (which his girl saw). For that former mistress, he wants to '''drill, shoot, stab, drown, disembowel,''' or "give her skull a big dent with a blunt instrument." [[LyricalDissonance All while dancing to disco/jazz and having his henchmen sing backup.]]
* ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}'' has "Then he ran into my knife. He ran into my knife ten times."
* In ''[[Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical A Very Potter Senior Year]]'', Voldemort has a particularly gruesome sendoff, though it's PlayedForLaughs. It's made even funnier by the fact that Voldemort mimes the whole thing:
-->'''Narrator:''' Harry lifts up the Sword Gryffindor and stabs the diary. Blood begins to spurt from the diary as Voldemort convulses. Voldemort's chest explodes, a blinding white light shines out. Pieces of Voldemort's body begin to break off as he desperately wails. His face flies away, revealing a grotesque screaming skull. Soon all his skin ignites into flames. His burning skeleton crumbles into a mess of gore and green goo. JOE WALKER DIES!!!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/NCHProductions'' uses this twice in "[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise MHRise]] Shots: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwgxjtrfzAk Magnamalo, Wizard of Malice]]":
** The eponymous monster gets rushed by a hunter riding a Mizutsune, an angry Rathian, a hunter [[ActionBomb with a Blastoad]], and a hunter juiced up by Spiribirds all at once, causing a [[DefeatEqualsExplosion tremendous explosion.]]
** In the outtakes, the Magnamalo is toppled by its own "booger fire" after a Great Sword Hunter uses his Wirebug to remove it; Magnamalo is then pummeled by the mounted Mizutsune, the angry Rathian, and three other Hunters while the Palamutes dance in front of it.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue: Reconstruction'':
** After he's already killed [[spoiler:Agent South]], Agent Washington goes on to dispose of the body by shooting at it, incinerating it, and detonating a bunch of exploding crates next to it. This is apparently standard procedure... Not to mention that Wash ''really'' hated her for shooting him and leaving him for dead.
** In order to explain away not having an Agent Florida, Councilor [[spoiler:blows up the entire physical state of Florida.]] Yeah.
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'':
** In [=VRcade=], Cody defeats his (headless) Darkness counterpart by smashing a potion of HollywoodAcid into the hole in his neck, followed by a harpoon. Then he tricks a baby White Killer Eel to slither into the hole in Darkness Cody's neck, which causes him to dissolve.
** In the same episode, Dave defeats his Darkness counterpart by pushing him through a grate until all of his body parts are severed.
* In WebAnimation/{{Confinement}}: The Foundation general implies that their original Plan A for clearing up the 2200 situation was "TrojanHorse with a nuke".
* In ''WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeriesKpts4tv'' [[spoiler: Matt]] gets [[MoreDakka shot up, hit by a barrage of missiles]], and [[NukeEm NUKED.]]
* In the last episode of ''WebAnimation/{{Astartes}}'', the veteran Retributors kill the Inquisitorial agent when it looks like he's getting possessed by the alien orbs he's been interacting with. They do this by punching his head off and perforating the remains with a bolter.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Cordovin's reaction to Teams RWBY and JNR stealing an airship to get into Atlas (and Maria mocking her authority over the radio) is to pilot a HumongousMecha against them with the intent of displaying her superiority to both the protagonists and all of Argus, unleashing a WaveMotionGun capable of blowing up mountains in an attempt to shoot them out of the sky. This bites her in the ass when the fear and negativity stirred up in town by her attack ends up attracting a [[KrakenAndLeviathan Leviathan Grimm]] to the city.
[[/folder]]
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