History Main / ImpaledPalm

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* In {{Santuary}}, Hojo Akira must prove his resolve to join the Yakusa. He does this by stabbing his own hand through and through with a knife, without hesitation. He sweats a little bit from the effort, and thinks 'it hurts so much I could cry.' But Hoja's expression does not change throughout the ordeal. His mentor, Mr. Tokai, notes later that no-one else has ever shown him the guts Hoja demonstrated.

* ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth has Batman impaling his hand on a peice of glass. The origonal script called for it to be merely scratched but the art depicted the glass going right through his hand.

* In {{Rebuild of Evangelion}} Shinji's hands are pierced by Sahaqiel's anthropomorphic thing. Later, he's seen wearing bandages on his hands. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Given that it's Eva...]]

** This is not the first time Naruto has stabbed himself; at the beginning of the Zabuza arc, he is poisoned by a cut on his hand. Rather than compromise the mission, he stabs himself in the palm to bleed out the poison.

* In batman, Ra's Al Ghul came back from the dead after his body was destroyed. His first attempt was into the body of a martial artist action star, who had poisoned his own body to foil Ra's plans. Ra's took control of the body, but it was dying and numb of feeling. To demonstrate this, Ra's stabs his own hand, and continues to talk to his daughter Talia while
his eye is visible staring out the clean, bloodless hole in his palm.

** Played by PeterJackson!

* In the film ''StarshipTroopers'', the main characters are in basic training, learning how to throw knives. One cadet asks Sergeant Zim why throwing knives is important in an age when pressing a button can unleash nuclear weapons with far more power. Zim orders him to lay his hand against a wall, and throws a knife through his palm, pinning it. He explains (while the cadet moans painfully in the background) that by disabling a hand, you can prevent that button from being pressed. Note that advanced medical science allows Sergeant Zim to put his cadets through serious abuse for training purposes. On the very first day, he breaks a cadet's arm during a demonstration.
** Note that this differs massively from the book, where the answer is about not going overkill; after all, when you want a planet, you probably want it to still be inhabitable when you get it...

* Anytime someone wants to make a Stigmata reference. Or a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic a Jesus Christ reference]].

* Er... {{Jesus}}.
** However, many scholars believe that Jesus' hands were nailed to the cross not through the palms, but instead through the wrists.
*** We do this largely because we're bored and everything important has already been said before.

* Electra in the ''{{Daredevil}}'' movie with her own knife.

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[[quoteright:350:[[{{Naruto}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naruto_impaled_palm_344.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Screw practicality, I want to be dramatic! (Even though that's the back of my hand, not my palm...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Screw practicality, I want to be dramatic!]]

* Constable Angel in ''HotFuzz'' is stabbed in the palm by Santa Claus.
** Played by PeterJackson!
* Eric Draven in ''TheCrow'' first demonstrates his regenerating powers by getting shot through the middle of the palm of his hand.
* Roy Batty in ''BladeRunner'' keeps himself alive for a few crucial moments longer by driving a nail into his own palm.
* Er... {{Jesus}}.
** However, many scholars believe that Jesus' hands were nailed to the cross not through the palms, but instead through the wrists.
*** We do this largely because we're bored and everything important has already been said before.
* Tom Hanks' character in ''CastAway'' does this to himself, which leads to the creation of [[CompanionCube Wilson.]]
* In ''TheButterflyEffect'', the main character does this ''to himself'', to get stigmata-like scars on his hands as a little kid, as a part of a complex plan to get his religious present-day cellmate to believe him. (TimeTravel is involved.)
* In ''{{Eraser}}'', the heroes take cover from a shuriken bomb under the door of a tipped-over refrigerator. Holding it above their heads, ArnoldSchwarzenegger's character gets one right through the center of his palm and yanks it straight off.
* In ''GirlGenius'', Von Pin [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040903 does this purposely]] to catch Bang's sword.
* Will Scarlet (Christian Slater) in the film ''RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' has his hand pierced by Robin's arrow.
* When [[EnemyWithin the Other Bakura]] challenges Yugi and friends to a Tabletop RPG where their souls are literally at stake and he's gleefully playing the role of KillerGameMaster, the ''real'' Bakura manages to take back control of his hand and sabotage a roll that would have otherwise resulted in a TotalPartyKill. Unfortunately for him, the Other Bakura prevents him from meddling further by impaling said hand on one of the game board's towers.
* In ''ResidentEvil4'', Leon does this to one of the villains by throwing his knife. Leon gets it back, since one of said villain's bodyguards [[PressXToNotDie throws it back at him]].
* Electra in the ''{{Daredevil}}'' movie with her own knife.
* General Armstrong does this to a hapless official in ''FullMetalAlchemist: Brotherhood''. And as it turns out, [[{{Badass}} that isn't the only thing she impales...]]
* In the manga of ''KareKano'', Arima impales his own palm after [[spoiler: raping Yukino]]. Luckily, his dad is a doctor.
* In one episode of ''{{Angel}}'', Holtz does this to a new recruit as a test of loyalty.
** Angel also saved somebody from being killed by an arrow by catching it through his palm in "War Zone".
* Many of these are MachoMasochism.
* The title character of ''The Pawnbroker'' does this to himself at the end of the movie.
* The heroine of the movie ''Nikita'' snaps and does this to a policeman with a pencil.
** She actually stabs it into the ''back'' of his hand, which paradoxically looks as though it would hurt more.
* In one episode of ''CityHunter'', Ryo Saeba fires his gun through his own hand to slow the bullet so he can shoot the bad guy without harming an innocent bystander.
* Anytime someone wants to make a Stigmata reference. Or a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic a Jesus Christ reference]].
* ''FromDuskTillDawn'': QuentinTarantino's character gets a bullet through his palm. In one scene, he looks through it at his brother.
* Happens to Ducky in ''{{NCIS}}''. He's a little miffed as a doctor but since he specializes in forensics, he says he will be fine.
* Dolph Lundgren's character in ''JohnnyMnemonic'' does this to Jane, specifically because he has a Christ complex.
* In both the first anime and manga/second anime of ''FullmetalAlchemist'', Roy Mustang is stabbed through his palm, damaging the design on his gloves, and impeding him from using his powers. In the latter, he was also pinned in a CrucifiedHeroShot and used as a human sacrifice, so it's probably deliberate symbolism.
* Sometimes used to [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic resemble stigmata]].
* ''{{Preacher}}'': Bad guy drives a knife all the way through her hand. ''Into a car dashboard''. [[ActionGirl Tulip]] eventually gathers the strength to ''pull it off by herself'' (excruciating pain included) in order to get free and save her boyfriend.
* ''Blood Simple'': Abby nails someone's hand to a windowsill with a steak knife.
* ''The General'': Martin Cahill believes one of his associates betrayed him, so he has someone nail his hands to a pool table.
* In an episode of ''{{Durarara}}'', Seiji stabs Shizuo through the hand with a pen. He concludes that he'd better buy some band-aids before pulling it out. Or superglue.
* Used to great effect in remake of ''TheCrazies''. The victim even manages to kill his attacker, while the knife is * still* impaling his hand.
* Fighting creatures in the ''{{Redwall}}'' series suffer from this a lot, frequently instead of having a weapon go through more vital areas because the author wants to keep them around or make them suffer. A common variation is having their paws pinned to objects by arrows going clear through.
* Bullseye gets a taste of his medicine and then some, when {{Daredevil}} [[{{Gorn}} pushes his hands into the path of a]] [[BulletTime bullet]]. While fighting in a church. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic There is no symbolism or anything.]]
* In the classic Chinese novel ''ThreeKingdoms'', a captain of a besieged city is hurling taunts along with his troops down at Sun Ce's army, leaning on a wooden beam with one hand and making rude gestures with the other. Recently recruited Taishi Ci turns to Sun Ce and says 'Watch this.' before taking his bow and firing a shot that pins the captain's hand to the beam from fifty yards away.
* {{Naruto}} does this in a Shinji-esque "I musn't run away" deal. He is under the influence of a mind-altering ''Genjutsu'' at the time. Inflicting pain by stabbing himself allows him to break the illusion.

* In the film ''StarshipTroopers'', the main characters are in basic training, learning how to throw knives. One cadet asks Sergeant Zim why throwing knives is important in an age when pressing a button can unleash nuclear weapons with far more power. Zim orders him to lay his hand against a wall, and throws a knife through his palm, pinning it. He explains (while the cadet moans painfully in the background) that by disabling a hand, you can prevent that button from being pressed. Note that advanced medical science allows Sergeant Zim to put his cadets through serious abuse for training purposes. On the very first day, he breaks a cadet's arm during a demonstration.
** Note that this differs massively from the book, where the answer is about not going overkill; after all, when you want a planet, you probably want it to still be inhabitable when you get it...
* Two examples from StephenKing:
** In ''{{Thinner}}'', the main character is shot through the hand by a gypsy girl with a slingshot. The resultant hole is later drained into a pie in order to pass on his curse.
** In ''TheDarkHalf'', Thad stabs himself through the hand with a pencil [[ItMakesSenseInContext while possessed by the spirit of his own dead pseudonym]].
* In one of the ''{{Hellraiser}}'' movies, Pinhead pulls two nails from his head and shoves them through the palms of his hands, deliberately mocking the resultant crucifixion imagery to freak out Kristy.
* In ''ReturnOfTheLivingDead 3'', Julie shoves a shard of glass into her hand to drown out the pain of her HorrorHunger.
* Despite all known imagery of the Crucifix, likely averted in actual crucifixions. Driving the nails through the palms into the wood would achieve little, as the weight of the person would cause them to tear free. Therefore, the nails would be driven between the bones of the forearm near the wrist.
* In ''[[{{Nanoha}} Magical Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' manga, Cypha of Hückebein activates her powerful React mode by plunging a dagger into her left palm (so that it enters her wrist -- ouch). However, thanks to her crazy HealingFactor, she doesn't even wince.
* [[RunningGag Also, did we mention stigmata?]]
* Solozzo did this to Luca Brasi in the movie version of ''TheGodfather'' to prevent him reaching for his gun. This is, of course, pure RuleOfScary: in the book Solozzo simply held Brasi's arm.
* In ''{{Elfquest}}'', Shuna willingly subjects herself to this trope when Strongbow is falling to his death from a cliff. With nothing but bare stone for him to aim a cord-trailing arrow at, she extends her hand and allows him to shoot it through her palm, after which other elves can pull the archer to safety.
* In ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', Carrot deliberately sticks his hand in the path of a villain's silver-tipped crossbow bolt to shield Angua, a werewolf for whom even a superficial wound would've been toxic.
** Also used in ''Discworld/TheTruth'', when William's hand gets impaled by The Spike during the struggle with Mr. Pin. [[spoiler: This backfires on Pin when William frantically smacks at his attacker, and "spikes" him in the neck!]]
* In "Rizzoli & Isles" Rizzoli bears the scars from being stabbed through both her palms by a serial killer.
* In the fourth DresdenFiles novel, Harry gets a letter opener driven through his hand by the Winter Queen. Here it definitely demonstrates the stabber's badassery, not the victim's.

* Played for laughs in ''{{Scrubs}}'' : Dr. Cox' brother-in-law is introduced after he's nailed a piece of wood to his hand with a nail gun. He doesn't seem to care too much about it (because he's been shot full of painkillers). JD, however, immediately faints.
* In the film ''TotalEclipse'', which is based on the [[MasochismTango dysfunctional relationship]] between poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud stabs Verlaine's palm with a knife. Verlaine later returns the favor with a bullet.

* The titular protagonist of El Mariachi is shot through the hand by his lover's vengeful ex, preventing him from ever playing guitar again. [[spoiler: El Mariachi responds by shooting the man through the chest]].
* During the infamous "Hundred Man Killer" fight in {{Berserk}}, Guts catches a crossbow bolt in his palm to prevent it from hitting him in a more vital area. He kills the archer, breaks the bolt and continues to fight one-handed.

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* The manga and the anime "Season 0" of ''[=~Yu-Gi-Oh~=]'' has Yami Bakura do this to sort-of-his-own-hand: The real owner of his body pulled off a sort of EvilHand, although, because a good guy did it to a bad guy, without the evil part. So Yami impaled his hand on the roof of a tower of a TabletopGame board. Hmm... is that still badass, or just {{geek}}y?

* The manga and the anime "Season 0" of ''YuGiOh'' has Yami Bakura do this to sort-of-his-own-hand: The real owner of his body pulled off a sort of EvilHand, although, because a good guy did it to a bad guy, without the evil part. So Yami impaled his hand on the roof of a tower of a TabletopGame board. Hmm... is that still badass, or just {{geek}}y?

* Played for laughs in [[''Scrubs'']] : Dr. Cox' brother-in-law is introduced after he's nailed a piece of wood to his hand with a nail gun. He doesn't seem to care too much about it (because he's been shot full of painkillers). JD, however, immediately faints.

* Bullseye gets a taste of his medicine and then some, when {{Daredevil}} [[{{Gorn}} pushes his hands into the path of a]] [[BulletTime bullet]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic There is no symbolism or anything.]]