History Main / KillItWithWater

** Most of the monsters and bosses in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' are vulnerable to Mario's water sprays. Curiously, Yoshis in this game also seem to hate deep water, despite not displaying any aversion anywhere else in the franchise.
** Certain ghosts in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' can only be sucked up if you spray them with water first. Or, alternatively, just drench them until they fade away.

* Characters that have a weakness to water in''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' will gradualy take damage if they enter any bodies of water.

* The Shikigami in ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' are mentioned to be weak against water since it causes them to lose the empowering link they have with their masters. Chen gets a double whammy in this weakness since [[CatGirl she's also a cat]], [[CatsHateWater so she's always weak against water]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' villain [[PsychoElectro Megavolt]] will short-circuit if splashed with water. Large amounts of liquid (such as Liquidator, a pure water being) effectively knock him out.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ninjago'' the easiest way to kill a ghost ([[TakesOneToKillOne short of being a ghost yourself]] or finding [[KryptoniteFactor Deepstone]] is to splash water onto their spiritual bodies since water sorta acts like their intangible forms

** According to those involved in the later TV series, only the sea-salt mixture of SEAWATER had this effect. Saltwater using ordinary table salt either had a much reduced or no effect.

* In WesternAnimation/Ninjago the easiest way to kill a ghost ([[TakesOneToKillOne short of being a ghost yourself]] or finding [[KryptoniteFactor Deepstone]] is to splash water onto their spiritual bodies since water sorta acts like their intangible forms

-->-- '''Lulu casting Waterga''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''

* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "Specimen: Unknown", an alien plant arrives on Earth. It spreads like wildfire and sprays toxic gas into the air. When it starts to rain, everybody panics and thinks they are doomed, but instead of making the plants grow faster, the rain makes them wilt and die.

* In the episode [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheXFilesS06E13AguaMala "Agua Mala"]] of ''Series/TheXFiles'', the MonsterOfTheWeek is a monster in sea-water, and it turns out [[spoiler: fresh (unsalted) water kills it.]]

** ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'': During the second phase of the Lava Piranha boss fight where their bodies are on fire, Sushie's water attacks will put him and his Lava Buds out of commission for a few turns.

* Certain ghosts in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' can only be sucked up if you spray them with water first. Or, alternatively, just drench them until they fade away.
** In ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'', [[BlobMonster Gooigi]] melts if he gets wet.
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', the AlienKudzu planted by the Shroobs is completely eradicated by an absurdly specific type of water: baby's tears. Good thing the Mario Brothers have been spending the whole game adventuring with [[MyFutureSelfAndMe their infant selves]]!

* Most of the monsters and bosses in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' are vulnerable to Mario's water sprays. Curiously, Yoshis in this game also seem to hate deep water, despite not displaying any aversion anywhere else in the franchise.

* Used in ''Manga/CaseClosed'', specifically in the case known as [[spoiler:Billionaire Birthday Blues]]. [[spoiler:Years ago, the RichBitch Reika and her UpperClassTwit boyfriend Nikaidou saved themselves from a storm that crashed their boat via basically leaving the RichBitch's childhood friend Yaeko, who had come to help them, to drown in the sea. The guy who was in love with poor Yaeko, Ichieda, decided to take revenge... via murdering the two and using water as his "WeaponOfChoice". In the present he strangles and drowns Nikaido, then he kidnaps Reika and puts her inside a makeshift DrowningPit that he built in a ''deep'' Japanese bathtub, BoundAndGagged so she cannot escape. (As a bonus he drugs Ran and forcibly puts her head inside a water full sink so he can give himself an alibi... which only manages to [[ItsPersonal ROYALLY PISS CONAN OFF]] and give him the first clues needed to take Ichieda down.]]

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', there are many mentions of Tywin Lannister's [[KillEmAll infamous slaughter]] of House Reyne, but it was never told how it was done. Then ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'' gave us the story and it turned out to be a version of this trope. House Reyne, having already suffered one defeat by the Lannisters, fled to a [[ElaborateUndergroundBase series of mines]], hoping that the Lannisters wouldn't want to suffer the huge casualties that would be needed to storm the place, and that the Reynes could negotiate a way out. Instead, Tywin Lannister simply had all entrances and exits to the mines sealed and diverted a local river so that it flowed into the mines, drowning every single man, woman, and child inside. [[NightmareFuel Not something to think about before going to sleep]].

[[caption-width-right:300: H2Owned.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:[[JustForPun H2Owned]].]]

* The [[CatsAreMean hovercat]] from ''Machinima/WaterHuman'' seems unstoppable, until the protagonist uses his [[MakingASplash water powers]] on it. Then it panics and flees. Because [[DontExplainTheJoke cats hate water]].

* In ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', {{Sandworm}}s are poisoned by water in large amounts. And when killed thus they vomit a toxin that the Fremen Reverend Mothers use to unlock their GeneticMemory and then convert into a drug used in orgies. [[spoiler: The God-Emperor Leto, in his millenary form of human-sandworm hybrid, has this weak point. The idea can be seen as hilarious as compared to the Wicked Witch of ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', in the following point. Leto himself shows this weak point to a girl that will be his future killer.]]

* The Inklings and Octolings from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' dissolve if they touch water.

** In the Nuka-World DLC of ''Videogame/{{Fallout 4}}'', Overboss Colter's power armor is hooked up to the power system of a bumper car arena, which somehow makes it completely impervious to damage. However, before the fight his [[TheStarscream second-in-command]] leaves you a water gun that will short out his armor, thus temporarily disabling his invincibility.

* The Shikigami in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' are mentioned to be weak against water since it causes them to lose the empowering link they have with their masters. Chen gets a double whammy in this weakness since [[CatGirl she's also a cat]], [[CatsHateWater so she's always weak against water]].
** The Scarlet sisters, being vampires, are weak against running water. In fact, the backstory of the Extra Stage in ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' had [[SquishyWizard Patchoulli]] casting a rain spell to prevent [[PersonOfMassDestruction Flandre]] from leaving the mansion.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':

* Aqualad in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' has the ability to manipulate water into an assortment of weapons.

* The Endermen in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' take damage from water, including rain. An easy way to kill an Enderman fast is to use a Water Bucket on it.
** After the 1.9 update, Endermen have gotten around this weakness with ArtificialBrilliance, any Endermen exposed to water or rain will immediately teleport away.

* The Squirt gag track in ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' is essentially this, considering that the Cogs are robots. The squirt gags include a squirting flower, a glass of water, a squirt gun, a seltzer bottle, a water hose, a storm cloud, and a geyser. [[note]]Corporate Clash also has the Water Balloon.[[/note]]

* During the 2019 Hong Kong protests against China's attempts to control the city, numerous viral videos were made showing protesters responding to police attempts to use tear gas against them by pouring bottled water on the canisters or sticking them in buckets of water. Both ways turned out to be highly effective means of rendering the canisters harmless and the practice has since become popular for demonstrators worldwide.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' games, [[TrickArrow Water Arrows]] kill Fire Elementals and can disable the steam-powered Mechanist robots [[AttackItsWeakPoint if aimed at the rear vent]]. Less obviously, they can temporarily incapacitate zombies. Not very effective, but leads to an ingenious trick -- if you manage to lure zombies to a pool, even a shallow one, they will quickly collapse and stay underwater, thus saving you on the precious holy water that dispatches the undead permanently.

* In the third ''WesternAnimation/BarbieFairytopia'' movie, one of the guardian fairies' apprentices, the fairy Sunburst's powers are weakened by water. When [[BigBad Laverna]] captures her and takes her place, Sunburst is left trapped inside an underwater bubble until Elina rescues her.

* Flint Marko, Marvel Comics' Sandman, has the ability to convert his body to sand, granting him vast superhuman strength, durability and shape-changing abilities, making him one of the most feared and dangerous career criminals in the Marvel Universe. But douse him with a sufficient amount of water, and he dissipates into nothing, or at the very least, an ineffectual wimp.
** Somewhat subverted when said water is the villain Hydro-Man. When merged, the two become a rampaging, mud-based monster of limited intelligence. Because both can increase size by absorbing their composite elements, the monster can reach Kaiju levels of destructive potential. Fortunately, neither villain particularly likes this form and the two will go to lengths to avoid physical contact.
* By all rights, Max Dillon, the villain Electro, by virtue of his vast control of electricity, should have taken over a country or at least killed a superhero or two in the course of his long tenure. But he's invariably handed his ass, often by foes he should have defeated handily, just because water makes Electro its bitch.

* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' there is a race of mechanical parasites called the scraplets that have this weakness. It takes most of the issues they're in for the transformers to realise that the legendary chemical they're vulnerable to is something that's really common on Earth.

* In an episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'', young villain Downpour tries this... [[EpicFail on]] [[TooDumbToLive Aquaman]]. Aquaman himself weaponizes this trope in a non-lethal manner to defeat Wonder Woman in ** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' by dragging her underwater until she ends up passing out.