History Main / OffWithHisHead

* In ''Film/TheMummy1999'', Rick O'Connell decapitates a mummy, and it falls "dead" after the head spins for a bit. Then he decapitates another, and it starts juggling with the head, only falling "dead" after Rick hits the head [[PaintingTheMedium towards the camera]].

* ''Film/NobodySleepsInTheWoodsTonight'': Ms. Iza [[spoiler:stays behind to take on one of the twins to try and get Daniel's cellphone]. Some time later, [[spoiler:her head is thrown out of the basement entrance under the front steps of the house]].

* ''{{Film/Transformers}}'':
** Optimus Prime dispatches Bonecrusher by stabbing him through the neck and wrenching his head from his body.

** ''Revenge of the Fallen'', where [[spoiler:Optimus doesn't just chop the Fallen's head off, he ''tears it off'']]. And it's not a nice, clean cut either. [[spoiler:He only rips his face off, and you can see the Fallen vomiting up his equivalent of blood as he dies.]] BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.
** Optimus also [[spoiler:rips Grindor's head in two]]
** Jetfire finishes off [[spoiler:Mixmaster]] this way. After [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisecting him.]]

** In the [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction 4th film]], Bumblebee finishes off [[spoiler:[[EvilKnockoff Stinger]]]] this way.
** ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'': Optimus kills [[spoiler:all five Infernocons in one fell swoop]] by decapitating them after they [[spoiler:separate from Infernocus, asking them did they forget who he is when they dare charge at him]]. [[spoiler:Onslaught]] is decapitated by Drift, who remarks "His fat head!" [[spoiler:Mohawk]] finds his comrade's head before the same fate befalls him too when Bumblebee shoots him, and later Nitro Zeus as well.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': The only way to dispose of vampires is to decapitate them and burn their bodies. While this happens sparingly in the books (Bella, the narrator, tends to black out or run away when faced with danger), the films have no such limitations. Every single film has at least one character getting decapitated, reaching its culmination in Alice's vision of the Cullen vs. Volturi battle in ''Breaking Dawn - Part 2'', where dozens of vampires, including some of the good guys, are shown decapitated onscreen.

* In ''Film/WarCraft2016'':

* In ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' at least two soldiers are decapitated by the Hopper bugs.

** "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E6LikeAngelsPutInHellByGod Like Angels Put in Hell by God]]": Lestat rips the head off of a train conductor and plays with it like it's a ventriloquist dummy.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* ComicBook/LadyShiva slices [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Aquaman}} Ocean Master]]]]'s head off with a sword in ''[[WesternAnimation/YoungJusticeRevivalSeries Young Justice: Outsiders]]'' in order to stop him from killing the Justice League's families (an act which for [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge obvious reasons]] is considered by the Light to be the "[[GodzillaThreshold nuclear option]]").

* Kratos is fond of ripping people's heads off in the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series. Among his kills in this fashion are [[spoiler:Medusa]] from [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI I]], [[spoiler:Helios]] from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', and [[spoiler:Mimir]] from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''.

* Kratos is fond of ripping people's heads off in the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series. Among his kills in this fashion are [[spoiler:Medusa]] from [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI I]], [[spoiler:Helios]] from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''. and [[spoiler:Mimir]] from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''.

* ''Film/ThirdSaturdayInOctoberPartV'': Jack Harding kills PJ's father by simply yanking his head right off his body while still wearing his football helmet.

** Ramjet is killed this way in ''[[ComicBookAdaptation Reign of Starscream]]'' #5. Right after mocking the Autobot he was trying to kill for "not using his head", he's beheaded by Crosshairs. Can anyone say "irony"?
** "'''[[MemeticMutation GIVE ME YOUR FACE.]]'''"
** The above quote comes from ''Revenge of the Fallen'', where [[spoiler:Optimus doesn't just chop the Fallen's head off, he ''tears it off'']]. And it's not a nice, clean cut either. [[spoiler:He only rips his face off, and you can see the Fallen vomiting up his equivalent of blood as he dies.]] BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.

*** Honestly just about every death is this in the 2nd and 3rd films. After having two characters that were "killed" by battle damage but later restored to life, destroying heads seems to be Transformers movieverse shorthand for "dead for real." (Mind you, in other versions, LosingYourHead is something that's easily remedied.)

* ''{{Film/Transformers}}'': Optimus Prime dispatches Bonecrusher by stabbing him through the neck and wrenching his head from his body.

** The above quote comes from ''Revenge of the Fallen'', where [[spoiler:Optimus doesn't just chop the Fallen's head off, he ''tears it off'']]. And it's not a nice, clean cut either. [[spoiler:He only rips his face off, and you can see the Fallen vomiting up his equivalent of blood as he dies.]] Geez. BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.
** Optimus also [[spoiler:rips Grindor's head in two. '''''Oww'''''.]]
** Jetfire finishes off [[spoiler:Mixmaster]] this way. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill After]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisecting him.]]

* In ''Series/ScreamTVSeries'', the first kill is of a boy named Tyler getting his head chopped off. We don't see the deed, but we ''do'' see the severed head get tossed into his girlfriend Nina's hot tub.

* ''Webcomic/AxeCop'' [[CatchPhrase will chop your head off]]!

* Vorpal weapons from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' have this as their primary power, activating upon rolling a natural 20 on a [=D20=] and then confirming the CriticalHit. Downplayed in 5[[superscript:th]] Edition, where creatures with Legendary Actions take lots of extra damage but are protected from decapitation by what's effectively PlotArmor.

* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}''. The title characters of ''Buffy'' and ''Angel'' occasionally decapitate their enemies--mostly vampires or demons.

** During Act 3 of Wano, [[spoiler:Kaido decapitates Orochi after he objects to his "New Onigashima" plan. Orochi survives, however, [[{{orochi}} having lost just one of his "eight" heads]]. Shortly after, Orochi encounters the Akazaya Nine who cut off his heads before a fight even begins. He survives yet again but is down to one head afterward, which gets sliced off by Denjiro who arrives to save Hiyori from Orochi's attempted TakingYouWithMe gambit]].

* ''Literature/SwansBraidAndOtherTalesOfTerizan'': Swan beheaded the bandits whom she tracked down with her band. Later she also wants to behead Councilor Saladaz after discovering he aided them. He is beheaded with two other Councilors for this later.

* A possible consequence coming from flying kites with strings that are made of thread covered in liquid glue and pulverized glass. This is intended to cut rival kites' strings in flying competences, but these 'covered' threads (known as "hilo curado" in Chile and "cendol" in Brazil) are [[RazorFloss dangerous enough to slit throats and straight up decapitate people.]]

* Medieval martyrologies cite decapitation as a standard method of execution carried out by the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire Romans]] towards captured early UsefulNotes/{{Christian|ity}}s. Examples: Saint John the Baptist (who was actually beheaded in orders of Herod rather than the Romans themselves), Saint Paul of Tarsus, Saint Agnes of Rome, Saint Philomena, etc. Supposedly, since Paul actually held Roman citizenship, he couldn't be crucified by the Roman authorities: beheading was seen as quick mercy for condemned Romans compared to a slow, painful, degrading death by crucifixion.

* In ''Film/{{Napoleon}}'', this is the favoured method of execution by the revolutionaries -- preferably via guillotine -- and a few of them suffer this fate themselves. This was, of course, the case in RealLife as well.

* Music/{{Skinless}}'s " video for [[https://youtu.be/XLETMkD2Q9U Skull Session]]" features the band themselves suffering this fate at the hands of an enraged neighbor named Hippie Jim, who loads them one by one into a homemade guillotine and drops the blade on them. Weep not for them, they were {{Asshole Victim}}s through and through, refusing to listen to Jim's complaints about their endless, overloud rehearsals (lead vocalist Sherwood Webber even went out of his way to flip Jim off and scream back at him on one occasion). There's also the part where their headless bodies and severed heads alike [[BackFromTheDead reanimate]] and start another practice session, causing Jim to [[DrivenToSuicide load himself into the guillotine and drop the blade one last time]].