History Main / KnifeOutline

* Appears in Disney's ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', when the hero tries throwing knives and nearly hits Phil:

* In ''Disney/TheRescuers Down Under'', one of [=McLeach=]'s attempts to break Cody is to deliberately make one of these around him.

* During the final battle from ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', shortly before [[OneWingedAngel he turns into]] [[ScaledUp a snake,]] [[BigBad Jafar]] actually sends a barrage of knives he created from his own magic at Aladdin while mocking him, [[HurricaneofPuns "Get the Point?!"]]
* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', [[AnIcePerson Elsa]] pins a guard to the wall with icicles.
* ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': in second movie Cruella throws knives around bounded painter [[spoiler: when he refused to paint on canvas that Cruella planned to make from dalmatian's leather]] and it ends like this trope.

* In GarryKilworth's ''The Silver Claw'', a knife-thrower is on the list of murder suspects. At the beginning of his act he does a Knife Outline on another suspect's arm. The victim reacts with anger and is booed offstage. The detective hero then observes the knifethrower during his act and sees that, when challenged to hit the centre of a playing card pinned to the wall, he simply outlines it and can't hit the centre, because "he has trained all his life to ''miss'' things, not to hit them."
* In JamesBarrie's ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' parody "The Adventure of the Two Collaborators," Watson describes how he and Holmes were relaxing one evening in Baker Street, and Holmes was amusing himself with a little revolver practice:

* Happens in the ShowWithinAShow “Somethin’s Cookin” in Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit, Roger is pinned to the wall by flying knives after popping out of an ironing board. A pairing knife parts his hair and a large meat cleaver hits the wall in between his legs bairly missing his crotch resulting in a GroinAttack near miss, which makes him gulp loudly.

* Happens in the ShowWithinAShow Somethin’s Cookin in Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit, Roger is pinned to the wall by flying knives after popping out of an ironing board. A pairing knife parts his hair and a large meat cleaver hits the wall in between his legs bairly missing his crotch resulting in a GroinAttack near miss, which makes him gulp loudly.

* Modern use, but inspired by classical cartoons, in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', this time with crotch near-miss.

* In ''Animie/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' lots of random things happen in the background during the Student Council meetings. One of them involves Touga randomly throwing knives at Miki who doesn't react even though forming of the knife outline depends on him switching positions in the last second. Notably, the outline also keeps shifting as he changes position. [[MindScrew It's probably deliberate.]]

* Subverted in the ''[[SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]'' adventure games from Telltale games. There is a bullet outline of Max in the office wall, except there is a bullet hole right where his brain is. Would explain a few things though.

Either by accident or design, a [[FlechetteStorm swarm of sharp objects]] (such as knives, [[RainOfArrows arrows]] or axes) are hurtling toward the character. They somehow pin the character to the wall without actually cutting the character (one by each side, arm, leg, etc.), with one final object disturbingly close to the head (or, in a lot of comedic cases and depending on the character's gender[[note]]it's almost always male[[/note]] and the maturity level/skill in GettingCrapPastTheRadar of the writers involved, the [[GroinAttack crotch]]). Sometimes, especially in animated versions, the character has to go through increasingly complex contortions to make sure they didn't get hit.

* When Roger from Creator/CordellBarker's short cartoon ''WesternAnimation/StrangeInvaders'' falls down the stairs, some sharp objects left over from Peanut's cannibalizing everything tumble with him, and penetrate the floor around Roger's supine form, leaving him battered but uncut. Then comes the bowling ball. ''Crunch.''

** This is Mai's specialty, in part to not kill (this being a Nickelodeon cartoon and all), and in part for the challenge.

*** Which really makes you wonder why since they captured him so easily that was the only episode they showed up in.

* Not at all played for laughs in ''{{Carrie}}'' with [[spoiler:her mother]]'s knife crucifixion.

** This is Mai's specialty, in part to not kill, and in part for the challenge.
** The Yuu Yan archers also pin Aang this way. They were ordered to capture him alive and are snipers ''par excellence'' in their world. According to General Zhao the archers are "capable of pinning a fly to a tree from 100 yards away, without killing it."

* Mario, the [[KnifeThrowingAct circus knife thrower]], creates as a knife outline around the killer when his identity is exposed in the climax of ''Film/CircusOfFear''..

* Variant subversion: In a cutscene of the John Woo game ''{{Stranglehold}}'', the main character, Inspector Tequila, ends up in an unexpected shootout in a teahouse with a band of vicious gangsters, one of whom takes cover behind an overturned wooden table. Tequila fires a series of shots through the table, creating an outline of the gangster, then pauses... and just as the gangster realizes he wasn't actually hurt and is about to leave, Tequila puts a final bullet into the middle of the outline and through his heart.

* Subverted in Shadow's Cinekill in ''EternalChampions: Challenge From The Dark Side''. The Dark Champion does this with shuriken... but he's aiming for her body. The first four hit her hands and ankles, the fifth one hits her chest, and then he throws one last one. It's a headshot.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In "Hell Bent", Rassilon orders the Doctor's immediate execution by FiringSquad. But some of the soldiers are FireForgedFriends of the Doctor, and to the rest he's TheDreaded, so they [[DoNotTauntCthulhu fire around the Doctor instead]], leaving an outline of scorch marks on the wall behind him.
-->'''Rassilon:''' You missed. All of you, every single one of you; how is that possible? What is it? IS THE FIRING SQUAD ''AFRAID OF THE UNARMED MAN?''

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In "Hell Bent", Rassilon orders the Doctor's immediate execution by FiringSquad. The soldiers have served in battle with the Doctor however, so they fire around him instead.

* This happens in ''TheAdventuresOfWillyBeamish''. If you are caught by the chef, they will throw a bunch of knives at you, resulting in this trope.

* Happens in an episode of ''TotallySpies!'', when the BigBad pins the girls' outfits to the wall with a nail gun. He must have had very good aim, considering the characters wear [[SpyCatsuit skintight catsuits.]]

* Practically Kuroko Shirai's whole fighting style in ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', being a teleporter and a member of the local law inforcement it's very likely she can go for leathality but doesn't because of her position.

* In the ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' episode "The Rivals of Painful Gulch", there is a FamilyFeud between two clans. The fact that all of them are very lousy marksmen is hilariously underlined by a bullet outline which has a form of a typical member of one of these clans.