History Main / NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', [[BadassGrandpa Galuf]] gets put down to '''0 HP''' by Ex-Death but stands his ground and keeps fighting anyways. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, as soon as the battle is over, he keels over and [[DeaderThanDead dies for real.]]]]

->"A package courier found shot in the head near Goodsprings has reportedly regained consciousness, and has made a full recovery. Now ''that'' is a delivery service you can count on."

* Done to an over-the-top extent in one of Mark E Rodgers's ''SamuraiCat'' books, ''Samurai Cat Goes to the Movies''. The protagonist, samurai Miaowara Tomokato, ends up shot nearly to pieces by his enemies. The bullets are said to pass through the several places in his heart and brain where a bullet could pass through harmlessly. He (and his sidekick) are, if memory serves, 'millimetres more accurate' in their return fire.

* In a cutscene in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' where Sephiroth stabs Cloud with his extremely long sword, whereupon Cloud pulls himself down the blade until he has enough leverage to shake Sephiroth off.

There is also Xander, who survived being smacked around with a hammer that injures dieties.
* On the first episode of ''{{Deadwood}}'', a prostitute named Trixie shoots a customer in the head. The Doctor is summoned, and observes in fascination as the customer continues to babble half-coherently despite the bullet going straight through his head (demonstrated after he dies by sticking a metal probe straight through the wound channel.) The customer does die after some minutes, but even the Doctor seemed to think he should be dead, or at least not babbling.

* ''Manga/SailorMoon'' loves this troupe, the fact that any of the girls survive til the end is an absolute miracle (In fairness, more than a few times they do actually die and get revived with the show's McGuffin). However there are some times they should die but don't. Doesn't even slow them down really. Most notable in the climax of Season Three when the title character jumps into the equivalent of an atomic bomb, and still comes out alive)

* In ''NoMoreHeroes'', quoted above, several characters survive impalement and massive blood loss before deciding its time to die. Against the sixth ranked assassin in the first game, Travis steps on three land mines and has three grenades thrown at him before the fight even starts. One boss in the first game refuses to die until Travis admits defeat, even though his sword is currently sticking through her chest. She finally collapses and bleeds out over him the second he says she has won.

* In ''NoMoreHeroes'', quoted above, several characters survive impalement and massive blood loss before deciding its time to die. One boss in the first game refuses to die until she's won.

**** It's implied that he had Leeroy helping out.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}. Seriously, the man just WILL NOT DIE. He's been shot, stabbed, blown up and hammered with enough physical trauma to kill any normal man. In the comics the most recent instance would be when he was stabbed about eight or nine times by a member of the court of owls, pitched off a building, and trapped in an isolated maze for god knows how long. He was a little squirrelly afterwards, but He Got Better. Not really a comic reference, but watch the two promo videos for DC Universe Online that shows him take a missile to the face, and return in the second one as one of the three remaining super heroes on earth. Ironically, it lends Lex Luthor's cockroach analogy slightly wrong...

* Edgar Freemantle and Wiseman in Creator/StephenKing's ''DumaKey'' both fit the example, and this condition is what opens them up to the key's... let's say environmental hazards.

* In the ''Film/VForVendetta'' film at the end the titular character takes numerous [[spoiler:rounds from several fully automatic or large calibre weapons, and is still able to kill every one of his attackers before they are able to reload. He does die a short time after, and was shown to have been wearing a chest plate which would have slowed down (but not stopped) the bullets]], but it still pushes beyond normal human capability. [[spoiler: It's implied that his genetic augmentations made this possible.]]

* {{Batman}}. Seriously, the man just WILL NOT DIE. He's been shot, stabbed, blown up and hammered with enough physical trauma to kill any normal man. In the comics the most recent instance would be when he was stabbed about eight or nine times by a member of the court of owls, pitched off a building, and trapped in an isolated maze for god knows how long. He was a little squirrelly afterwards, but He Got Better. Not really a comic reference, but watch the two promo videos for DC Universe Online that shows him take a missile to the face, and return in the second one as one of the three remaining super heroes on earth. Ironically, it lends Lex Luthor's cockroach analogy slightly wrong...

* Sonny Barger(of Hell's Angels fame)'s autobiography tells of a biker nicknamed "Zorro" who was shot several times (I don't remember, and don't have the book on hand ,either seven or nine) with a .45 during what is described as a "friendly altercation'" Not only did he survive, but went on to have rings tatooed around the bulletholes, one of which notably inscribed with the words ".45 don't mean shit."

* King Arthur in ''{{Excalibur}}'' does likewise [[spoiler: although pulling himself farther down the spear to slay the spearman, his ''son,'' Mordred.]]

* Lampshaded several times in ''HarryPotter''. His nickname is The Boy Who Lived, after all. Everyone just thinks that "normally, he would be dead" part.

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', where after being absolutely riddled with bullets and brought to the point of death, he proceeds to argue with TheGrimReaper that every single bullet missed his vital organs, and are therefore [[OnlyAFleshWound only... flresh wounds!]]. To add to the effect, he survives by [[spoiler:kicking TheGrimReaper's ass... tag-team style..."tagging" with ''himself'' (his Ninja side and his Doctor side).]]

* The TropeNamer is the short "Den" from ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal''. The hero is teleported to a savage land and turned from a wimp into a musclebound hero. While rescuing a gorgeous woman from death (as one does), he swims an enormously long time underwater without breathing, and quotes the trope title in voiceover in disbelief.

* On January 8th, 2011; Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head by a deranged attempted assassin. Unfortunately, six other people, including a nine-year-old child and a federal judge, were killed in the attempt, but Congresswoman Giffords survived. She returned to office on August 1st, 2011, to be met with a standing ovation, though she retired shortly thereafter due to complications from her injuries, including difficulty forming sentences because part of the brain responsible was damaged by the bullet and partial paralysis.

* On January 8th, 2011; Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head by a deranged attempted assassin. Unfortunately, six other people, including a nine-year-old child and a federal judge, were killed in the attempt, but Congresswoman Giffords survived. She has no memory loss and returned to office on August 1st, 2011, to be met with a standing ovation, though she retired shortly thereafter due to complications from her injuries.
** Interestingly, while a lot of people view such events as miraculous, guns are nowhere near universally fatal; studies have shown that 80% of people shot with guns live to tell the tale and, shockingly, only 40% of headshots are fatal - meaning more people survive being shot in the head than don't.
** To qualify the above, those statistics are true of Handguns, which are much less lethal than rifles in 90% of cases (This is due to handguns usually being much less powerful and due to other factors which require more time and text to explain than what is appropriate here.) Those numbers also apply to people who can and do receive prompt medical attention after the injury. The leading cause of death from gun shot wounds is blood loss, which is one of the first things any Doctor will attend to when treating a wounded patient.

* In the Tamora Pierce novel ''WildMagic'', the harpy/Stormwing Zhaneh Bitterclaws is shot through the eye. She pulls the arrow out, glares with her remaining eye at the protagonist, and flies off, swearing vengeance. Though, to be fair, Immortals are hardier than humans unless the wound is particularly lethal. Hence the name.

* Inigo Montoya in ''ThePrincessBride'' takes a sword through the gut, gets HeroicSecondWind and kills his enemy. What's less credible is that an hour or so later he seems to have got all better.
* Spotted Horse in ''TheQuickAndTheDead'' even boasts that he "cannot be killed by a bullet." [[spoiler:He survives the first shot (to the body) in his fight with Cort, but Cort gets him right through the temple with the reload. A prone Spotted Horse briefly raises his gun hand, then dies for good.]]

* The narrator of FightClub [[spoiler: shoots himself in the mouth]], but insists he's fine.

Note that NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow applies only to things that would have killed a normal character even by Hollywood rules. If it is "merely" something like severe bleeding from the shoulder or leg, that is OnlyAFleshWound. Surprisingly, this is actually a case of TruthInTelevision. There are many real life examples of people who had things rammed through their chests and heads and still lived due to the foreign material miraculously missing vital organs. This means there is a fine line between this and mere {{aversion}} of InstantDeathBullet. However, it is far more common in fiction than in RealLife and all of them were left incapacitated or unable to move, so DontTryThisAtHome.

* In the ''VForVendetta'' film at the end the titular character takes numerous [[spoiler:rounds from several fully automatic or large calibre weapons, and is still able to kill every one of his attackers before they are able to reload. He does die a short time after, and was shown to have been wearing a chest plate which would have slowed down (but not stopped) the bullets]], but it still pushes beyond normal human capability. [[spoiler: It's implied that his genetic augmentations made this possible.]]