History Main / DecapitationStrike

** The fate of a good chunk of the 2010 Polish government shows what damage the absence of a "Designated Survivor" programme can cause; On a state visit to Katyn Forest (for what exactly, see below), the Tupolev 154 carrying (quoth Website/TheOtherWiki) "the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria, the former President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, the chief of the Polish General Staff and other senior Polish military officers, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Polish Government officials, 18 members of the Polish Parliament [and] senior members of the Polish clergy" crashed with no survivors. While it was ruled an accident, UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories naturally abound.

* Tried unsuccessfully in ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}'', as detailed in the RealLife section. Colonel von Stauffenberg, in collusion with several other German officers and politicians, stashes a bomb in the Wolfsschanze, the Nazi German military headquarters, during a 1944 meeting headed by Hitler. Though some generals and officers are killed, Hitler himself survives, and promptly orders his Schutzstaffel to arrest and execute the conspirators.

* Narrowly averted during the 20 July Coup attempt, in which Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, in collusion with several other German officers and politicians, stashed a bomb in the Wolfsschanze, the Nazi German military headquarters, during a 1944 meeting headed by Hitler. Though some generals and officers were killed, Hitler himself survived, and promptly ordered his Schutzstaffel to arrest and execute the conspirators.

* How Rob in ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' [[spoiler:kills his first two people.]] He looks away from the second one, but that doesn't help his mental state much.

* In ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'', this was perpetuated by the Sons of Jacob against the United States government in a FalseFlagAttack. The president, most of the cabinet and line of succession, as well as the entirety of Congress and the Supreme Court were all killed, with the Sons of Jacob using the subsequent power vacuum to sieze control and transform the US into the theocratic and highly religiously strict Republic of Gilead.

* Narrowly averted during the 20 July Coup attempt, in which Colonel von Stauffenberg, in collusion with several other German officers and politicians, stashed a bomb in the Wolfsschanze, the Nazi German military headquarters, during a 1944 meeting headed by Hitler. Though some generals and officers were killed, Hitler himself survived, and promptly ordered his Schutzstaffel to arrest and execute the conspirators.

** The fate of a good chunk of the 2010 Polish government shows what damage the absence of a "Designated Survivor" programme can cause; On a state visit to Katyn Forest (for what exactly, see below), the Tupolev 154 carrying (quoth Wiki/TheOtherWiki) "the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria, the former President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, the chief of the Polish General Staff and other senior Polish military officers, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Polish Government officials, 18 members of the Polish Parliament [and] senior members of the Polish clergy" crashed with no survivors. While it was ruled an accident, UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories naturally abound.

* {{Discussed}} in ''Film/WarGames''. This is the reason why WOPR cannot be "unplugged" to resolve the problem. [[DeadMansSwitch A power loss would be interpreted as a decapitation strike and would launch immediately]]. Many real-world nuclear powers do have safety measures in place that will launch if there is no positive signal from Command.

* ''Fanfic/{{Embers}}'': An established tactic for the Fire Nation against the Earth Kingdom is killing off their commanders, due to the inflexibility of Earth Kingdom command structure. Iroh demonstrates on General Gang.

* In the ActionPrologue of ''Film/RichardIII'', the title character is shown leading a squad of commandoes to attack the mansion being used as a field headquarters by King Henry and his son, [[BigEntrance starting with them smashing through the wall]] [[SettingUpgrade with a tank]].

* Princess Olga of Kiev was a repeat offender.

* {{Discussed}} in ''Film/WarGames''. This is the reason why WOPR cannot be "unplugged" to resolve the problem. A power loss would be interpreted as a decapitation strike and would launch immediately. Many real-world nuclear powers do have safety measures in place that will launch if there is no positive signal from Command.

* ''Film/WarGames'': When [[AIIsACrapshoot Joshua]] is trying to figure out the code to launch America's nuclear missiles itself, General Beringer asks [[CutTheJuice why they can't just unplug WOPR]], to which [=McKittrick=] explains that [[DeadMansSwitch the WOPR system would interpret a shutdown as the destruction of NORAD]] (since they are at [[DefconFive Defcon 1]]), and would carry out its last instructions, i.e., launching all missiles at the Soviet Union.

* Used correctly by the author of ''Fanfic/ContactAtKobol'', in which a DecapitationStrike is treated as a shock and awe tactic to force a surrender. [[spoiler:By the end of the war, the Tau'ri are actively avoiding performing this, as the Colonial government is such a wreck that removing the top government officials would simply cause the total collapse of Colonial society, a situation that would be ''far'' messier to deal with than surrender]].

* Used correctly by the author of ''Fanfic/ContactAtKobol'', in which a DecapitationStrike is treated as a shock and awe tactic to force a surrender. [[spoiler:By the end of the war, the Tau'ri are actively avoiding performing this, as the Colonial government is such a wreck that removing the top government officials would simply cause the total collapse of Colonial society, a situation that would be 'far' messier to deal with than surrender]].

* In ''A Memory of Light, the last book of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':

*** The Separatist Council gets a visit from the Emperor's [[TheDragon right-hand man]], who wordlessly locks them in the war room, and then massacres them. Nute Gunray's "... but we have been loyal!" reveals that to TheChessmaster, pawns are expendable.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'': The Soviet campaign opens with a strike force landing on near Washington DC and destroying the Pentagon to send the US military into disarray. While they come pretty close in the Allied campaign as well, they're pushed back by the player.

* In ''Series/{{Jericho}}'', the President is addressing a joint session of Congress when the Nuclear attack that kicks off the story happens. A succession crisis ensues and results in a DividedStatesOfAmerica.

* ''Fanfic/Embers'': An established tactic for the Fire Nation against the Earth Kingdom, due to the inflexibility of Earth Kingdom command structure. Iroh demonstrates on General Gang.