History Main / OffWithHisHead

%%* Happens to Noh-A a lot in ''Manhwa/JackFrost''. [[NighInvulnerable Not that it matters.]]

** In "Death's Shadow", the first VictimOfTheWeek is decapitated by a single blow from an Indian sword.
** In "Midsomer Rhapsody" a motorcyclist is decapitated by a length of piano wire strung across the road at neck height.
** In "They Seek Him Here", the victims are beheaded with a prop guillotine on the set of a film adaptation of ''The Scarlet Pimpernel''.
** In "The Sword of Guillaume", the first two victims are beheaded with a medieval longsword.

* ''Film/BloodWidow'': At the party at Laurie and Hugh's house, the killer decapitates two party-goers simultaneously once the power comes back on.
** She also decapitates Robert Wilson in front of his wife.

** Actually took three chops: the first two to the sides of Doom's neck and the last one to the back of his neck as he knelt facing his worshippers. Not quite a Lizzie Borden, but good enough.

Any RidiculouslyHumanRobot (even one with a CranialProcessingUnit) or other decidedly inhuman being will probably be capable of [[LosingYourHead surviving decapitation]], and will do so at some point either for a joke or as a plot point. In less serious series, the body will even continue to walk around bumping into things like a chicken or a cockroach with its head cut off.

* Merlin does this several times in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' novels. Often with comments by observers on the fact that normal people aren't physically capable of cutting people's heads off with a single swing. Of course, Merlin is a [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot PICA]] with a battle steel katana, not a normal person.

** ''Film/AlienCovenant'': [[Characters/AlienCovenant Rosenthal]] is killed this way by a Neomorph.

** At the Battle of Azanulbizar, as relayed in a flashback; [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmSauronsEvilForces Azog the Pale Orc]] beheaded [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmDwarves Thrór]] and [[DecapitationPresentation held it up for all to see]], before throwing the head at Thorin's feet.

** ''Film/JurassicParkIII'': The ''Spinosaurus'' appears to bite [[Characters/JurassicParkIII Nash]]'s head off the second after its foot instantly crushes him to death.
** ''Film/JurassicWorld'': After flipping over and immobilizing an ''[[Characters/JurassicWorld Ankylosaur]]'', rather than attack her exposed underside, the ''Indominus Rex'' wraps her jaws around her head and bites. It's [[GoryDiscretionShot offscreen]], however.

** ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'': Uglúk chops off [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmSauronsEvilForces Snaga]]'s head when he won't stop trying to eat Merry and Pippin, and Aragorn decapitates an Orc in the Warg attack.

** ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'': Marcus Wright rips the [[Characters/TerminatorSalvation prototype T-800]]'s head off to defeat it.
** ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'': Kyle ends up killing the [[Characters/TerminatorGenisys T-800 sent to 1984]] by shooting its head off with the .50 caliber rifle.

** Contrary to popular beliefs about sunlight and stakes, beheading is the most conventional method of killing [[Characters/SupernaturalMonstersAndSupernaturalBeings vampires]].

** In "[[Recap/SupernaturalS05E05FallenIdol Fallen Idols]]", Sam kills [[Characters/SupernaturalGods Paris Hilton... er, we mean Leshii]] by chopping the head off with an iron axe specifically.

** In "[[Recap/SupernaturalS09E16BladeRunners Blade Runners]]", it's how Dean dispatches and kills [[Characters/SupernaturalMenOfLetters Cuthbert Sinclair]].

* Kratos is fond of ripping people's heads off in the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series. Among his kills in this fashion are Medusa from [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI I]], Helios from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', and Mimir from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' (though with Mimir at least he cuts his head off so quickly he barely has time to feel a scratch).

* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': The city state of Xylar operates under an odd custom where after five years each of their kings is publicly beheaded. At that point, his head is thrown into the crowd, with whoever catching this then becoming their next king. However, they have to suffer the same fate once their own five years are up. Jorian however escaped.

%% * A specialty for Music/{{GWAR}}

** Killer Bee and the Raikage together blow a Zetsu clone disguised as Kisame's head right off, [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction which compliments them]] [[LosingYourHead on its way down]].

* In ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[spoiler:Kurome's PeoplePuppet Natala finishes off the mortally wounded Chelsea this way before chopping the poor girl to pieces.]]
** At the end of the series, [[spoiler:the deposed emperor]] is guillotined.

** The second Titan that the Rogue Titan fights in Trost suffers this fate. Its head is punched clean off, and flies quite some distance away as well. Chapter 119 also features [[spoiler:Gabi decapitating Eren with an anti-Titan rifle shot to Eren's neck, with only super-lucky timing and the difference in time moving in the Paths saving his life.]]
** [[spoiler:This is why [[AttackItsWeakPoint going for the nape]] kills Titans -- it's where the heads and bodies of their "pilots" are located. Later on in the series, characters use this to rip people out of their Titans rather than killing them outright]].
** At the end of the manga, [[spoiler:this is Eren's final fate (as he has become the BigBad at this point after spending most of the manga as TheHero) when Mikasa enters his mouth during his battle with Armin in Colossal Titan form and separates his head from his spine]].

** During the Conviction Arc, Guts decapitates [[spoiler:a demon-possessed horse that tries to rape Farnese]] and [[spoiler:the possessed Great Goat Head]], as well as [[spoiler:one of Mozgus' disciples, the guy with the mancatcher and the PlagueDoctor mask]].

** [[spoiler:The murder of the ''first'' episode. Who would have thought of using the momentum of the roller coaster and a wire with hooks to make a gruesome decapitation?]]
** Also happens to [[spoiler:Chikako Ikeda]] in the ''Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case''. [[spoiler:And her killer not only beheads her but ''dismembers'' her corpse and carries her head around hidden in his clothes.]] For worse, in the manga, there is a panel [[spoiler:where ''the reader sees how the killer decapitates his victim in [[OneHitKill one single hit]]''.]]
** And it takes place again in Chapter 915 of the manga, [[spoiler:to some RedShirt from Nagano police]]. The way this takes place makes it even worse if that's even possible, thanks to [[spoiler:a noose tied up to the guy's neck and with its other end tied to a vehicle that goes off a cliff, ''taking the pleading victim with it and cutting off his head in its way down''.]] [[NightmareFuel/CaseClosed What the HELL?!]] [[spoiler:Then it's subverted: the "victim" ''was the killer'' and had used the headless corpse of the first person he killed (whom he strangled to death and '''then''' decapitated) and some props to go FakingTheDeath and get to his other targets.]]
* [[spoiler:Teresa]] from ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' is beheaded by [[spoiler:Priscilla the instant she Awakens]].

* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': This is the primary way to kill demons, though it only works when the Demon Slayers' special swords are used. Otherwise the demon will remain alive, and the severed head will still somehow control its body, as seen when [[KickChick Nezuko]] revealed her SuperStrength by kicking a demon's head right off, but it kept on fighting. [[spoiler:And several demons are able to resist even that, such as Upper-6 [[BrotherSisterTeam Daki and Gyutaro]], who due to their unique status as TwoBeingsOneBody, need to be decapitated together simultaneously; or Upper-3 Akaza and Upper-1 Kokushibo, who are able to keep going through sheer [[{{Determinator}} determination]] and likely could have regenerated their severed heads if they hadn't lost their wills to fight for personal reasons.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'': In the original manga, the OVA, and ''Amon'', [[spoiler:after it is revealed on TV that Akira is actually Devilman, Miki searches for her little brother and sees him fall from the second floor; she approaches him and sees it's his headless body, and a member of the angry mob has his severed head. Later, when Akira arrives too late, he sees Miki has not only been killed but ''dismembered'' by the mob, and ''her'' head is on a pike as well (alongside her other limbs, each one on its own pike). Akira goes berserk and tears the mob to bloody pieces (in the manga, he set them all on fire). A few moments later, Akira is seen [[AlasPoorYorick cradling her head in his arms]], having crossed the DespairEventHorizon for real]]. In fact, it's said that this scene inspired the one in the ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' manga [[spoiler:where Kamui does the same with Kotori's head]].

* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': This is the entire reason Celty Sturluson came to Ikebukuro in the first place. Being a dullahan, her head was never attached in the first place and she carried it around in her arms. However, after [[spoiler:Shingen used Saika to sever its connection to her]] she woke up missing her head and has been searching for it for the past twenty years. The head is repeatedly given away or stolen by various parties, though is in the possession of [[spoiler:Izaya Orihara]] for the majority of the show. Throughout the series, various men developed odd obsessions with it, such as Seiji and Seitarou's love for it, the artist's need to draw it and [[spoiler:Izaya's wish to create a gang war over it]]. In conclusion, [[spoiler:Shingen returns Celty's head to her, however, she attempts to leave to resume her duties as a dullahan. Fortunately, Shinra obtains Saika and once again severs Celty's head and it is given to Nebula]].

* Many deaths in ''Manga/ElfenLied'' caused by Diclonius, like in the cases of Kurama's secretary Kisaragi and [[spoiler:Kouta's father]]. Their vectors can pick off a person's head like picking fruit off a tree or crush them like nothing.

* In Chapter 51 of ''Manga/FutureDiary'', {{Y|andere}}uno [[spoiler:kills Akise this way]].

** [[spoiler:Kortopi]] has this done to him in Chapter 357 by [[spoiler:Hisoka]]. [[UndignifiedDeath On the toilet, of all things.]]
* Happens to Noh-A a lot in ''Manhwa/JackFrost''. [[NighInvulnerable Not that it matters.]]

* Turned upside-down by the finale of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'': [[spoiler:removing the Vajra Queen's head is presented as a ''nonlethal'' way of detaching Grace O'Connor from the main body. Due to BizarreAlienBiology, Vajra don't actually have any vital organs in their heads (their nervous system is decentralized, so they lack a "brain" as an organ). The Queen is not harmed by the loss of her head any more than the loss of one of her other limbs, and flies away with the rest of the Vajra once peace is restored.]]

** No one can forget the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', [[spoiler:where Char Aznable shoots Kycillia Zabi in the face with a rocket launcher. The missile straight-up decapitates her with enough force to knock her body out of her chair. ''Then'' [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill the warhead detonates with enough force to take out the entire bridge of her ship]].]]
** It also happens to [[spoiler:Tolle Koenig]] in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'', when [[spoiler:Athrun Zala tosses the ''shield'' of his Aegis Gundam at Tolle's Skygrasper, and it hits his cockpit. Not only does Tolle get his head chopped off, he gets ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe split in half]]'' even before the Skygrasper is blown to pieces.]] Thankfully, the death was very much instant, but... '''''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath OUCH.]]'''''
** Still better than getting it taken off by [[spoiler:a ''giant spinning tire'']] like [[spoiler:Uso's mom Mueller]] in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]''.

** [[spoiler:Killer Bee and the Raikage]] together blow [[spoiler:a Zetsu clone disguised as Kisame]]'s head right off, [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction which compliments them]] [[LosingYourHead on its way down]].

** During the Dressrosa arc, the first thing the Thunder Soldier (AKA [[spoiler:[[ShroudedInMyth Kyros]]]]) does the moment [[NoOntologicalInertia Sugar passes out and his body is restored]] is grab a sword, make a beeline for Doflamingo and cut his head off. [[spoiler:[[ActuallyADoombot Unfortunately, that was just a string clone]].]]
** During Act 3 of Wano, [[spoiler:[[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness 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]].

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[spoiler:Mami Tomoe]] is killed [[spoiler:in the penultimate timeline]] in episode 3 when [[spoiler:the witch Charlotte]] ''devours her head''.
** Also, [[spoiler:in that same timeline Sayaka Miki chops off the head of the witch Elsa Maria with her sword. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill And then she]] mutilates Elsa's corpse, as proof that poor Sayaka is ''this'' close to crossing the DespairEventHorizon.]]
** In the spin-off series, ''Manga/PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'', [[spoiler:Mirai Wakaba]] meets this same fate after refusing to fight a witch [[spoiler:that used to be Saki Asami, who Mirai loves]].
* Happens in ''Literature/ReZero'' when [[spoiler:Subaru returns to the massacred and frozen-over village as a giant monster emerges from the mansion and tells him to "Sleep, along with my daughter." before Subaru's head suddenly falls off of his neck. [[GroundhogDayLoop Subaru gets better]] (kind of) and we later learn that the monster is Puck, who will end the world and kill anyone who isn't Emilia if Emilia ever dies.]]

* In the ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' anime finale, [[spoiler:Makoto's head is taken by Kotonoha]] soon after [[spoiler:he gets knifed to death by Sekai. Kotonoha decides to display the head to Sekai before killing her to avenge Makoto]].
* In ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'', [[spoiler:Hendrickson, after transforming into a Grey Demon-Human Hybrid]], engages in battle with the Seven Deadly Sins (minus Escanor, who had yet to be found) and Liones' Holy Knights and summons an attack called Dark Snow, a shower of slow-moving orbs [[OneHitKill which cause instant death upon contact.]] [[TemptingFate When two knights remark that the attack, while impressive, is easy to avoid,]] [[spoiler:Hendrickson]] appears above them in mid-air upside down and rips their heads clean off in a single move.
* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', [[spoiler:Justin cuts off Tezca's head. This destroys his body, but Tezca moved his soul elsewhere and "lives" on. Rather fitting, since [[HumanWeapon Justin is a guillotine.]]]]

** [[spoiler:A girl named Asura is decapitated by a gunshot in the final movie, and the audience sees her head vaporize as the rest of her lifeless body is sent flying by the recoil. [[HarmfulToMinors She was the youngest member (around 4- to 5-years-old) of the cast on top of that]].]]
** Also, while [[spoiler:Kitty Kitten]] was fatally shot in the chest in the series itself, [[spoiler:she]] was decapitated in {{the movie}}s.

* This is one of the very, VERY few ways to kill a [[{{Immortality}} sen-nin]] in ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms''. Brutally proved by [[spoiler:Governor Gekkei]], who kills [[spoiler:King Chuutatsu of Hou]] this way [[KnightTemplar as punishment for his horrible reign]] ''and'' brings his head to his family. Then, he subjects [[spoiler:Chuutatsu's wife Kekai ''and'' the kirin Hourin]] to the same fate, also as punishment for their own deeds (or inaction). "[[spoiler:Royal Consort! Princess]]! Say goodbye to [[spoiler:your King]]!", indeed.''

* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'': This is how [[spoiler:[[TheKingslayer Askeladd kills King Sweyn]]]].

* ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'': This is how [[spoiler:Daisuke Saiki]] dies in the manga version. It was so gruesome that the TV series [[{{Bowdlerise}} censored it]].
** Earlier in the story, [[spoiler:Kotori Monou]] is first stabbed in the chest by [[spoiler:her {{Face Heel Turn}}ed brother Fuuma]] with a {{BFS}}, then her body is dismembered by cables turned into RazorFloss. [[spoiler:Kamui]] is seen [[AlasPoorYorick holding her head in his arms]]. Agaon, so gruesome that the TV series had to censor it -- she "only" got stabbed.
** While, barring a dream sequence involving [[spoiler:Kotori]], neither of these occurs in the film, [[spoiler:Fuuma]] suffers this courtesy of Kamui at the very end.
* ''Anime/XamdLostMemories'': [[spoiler:Fuurichi]] [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] by cutting ''his own'' head off.

* Creator/GustavKlimt had a take on the apocryphal story of Judith beheading Holofernes. In ''Art/JudithAndTheHeadOf Holofernes'', Judith is proud and beautiful while Holofernes's head is cut off by the painting's borders, almost an afterthought.

* In the ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Season 8'' comic "Wolves at the Gate, Part 4", [[spoiler:this is how Dawn kills her mechanical double]].

** In "The Shadow of the Giustiziere" the titular villain, a terrorist convinced the police was actually working with Diabolik to cover their own incompetence, staged a number of bombings and threatened to continue until Diabolik was arrested and executed with the same guillotine that was supposed to be used the first time - and when the police faked the execution with a puppet and a properly rigged copy to stop the Giustiziere long enough to track them down they saw through it and staged another bombing. [[spoiler:The executioner of Clerville's jail, fearing to behead someone who had been graced before he could be warned, had modified his machine so it would take two pulls of the rope to activate it, and the only ones to know were the executioner, who when given Diabolik to behead quickly pulled the rope twice just as Ginko realized there had been a switch, his two assistants, [[UnwittingPawn that Eva had duped into helping her with the switch]], and the wife of one of the assistants, who had convinced her husband to accept a bribe from Eva and let her meet with Diabolik, allowing her to pull off the switch]]. Discovering why the Giustiziere had requested that specific machine allowed both Diabolik and the police to identify them.

* In the ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' tie-in ''ComicBook/MrsDeadpoolAndTheHowlingCommandos'' [[spoiler:Marcus]] gets his head chopped off by [[spoiler:Dracula]] with one clean sword-swing.

* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': In Chapter 7, [[spoiler:[[{{Robeast}} Zeruel]] beheads [[HumongousMecha Unit 00]] with a single blow of its arm-whips.]]

* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': When [[spoiler:[[CoolPlane Unit 04]]]] crashed, [[spoiler:[[OriginalCharacter Jessika]]]] got decapitated in the explosion.

--> [[spoiler:'''Louise:''' Alex, be a dear and remove Lord Mott's head from his shoulders.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheImmortalGame'': This is how Twilight [[spoiler:kills BigBad Titan, after depowered him from mighty PhysicalGod alicorn to a mere mortal]].

* The pirate captain in the ''Fanfic/GoldenAge'' series has [[spoiler:the pirate ringleader]] killed this way for disobeying orders. He then has the head thrown into the kids' cell.
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', Silver Spoon's father was brainwashed by Discord into trying to do this to her. Discord's defeat saved her, but the experience still left the poor filly traumatized for awhile. In Dark World, where [[TheBadGuyWins Discord won]] and that ''wasn't'' the case, she was killed this way [[spoiler:though she was brought BackFromTheDead by Queen Libra]].

* In ''Fanfic/RealMenDontMakeSandwiches'', Krillin observes that Vegeta seems to have [[RunningGag made this into a habit]]. Doesn't stop the prince from [[spoiler:literally knocking one poor jerk's head off during their ill-fated night out]].

* In ''Fanfic/DeadManSwitch'', [[spoiler:Ron Stoppable gets beheaded in Lorwardia]], which [[HumanWeapon sets off a weapon]] to destroy the Lorwardian Star System as revenge for beheading Kim and forcing Earth to send them 15 teenage girls each year to be beheaded as a "tribute". [[spoiler:But it turns out to be [[AllJustADream just Kim's nightmare]].]]

* Another non-sword example occurs in ''[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-21319/ShayneT+Smallville+Glory.htm Smallville Glory]]'', which sees [[spoiler:Glory literally tear off Lana's head after Lana tried to control her with her own meteor power]].

* In ''WebAnimation/ToBelong'', [[spoiler:Cinderella]] was Charming's loyal maid who helped him escape after he [[spoiler:kills his fiancee Belle and his brother John]]. Charming's sister [[spoiler:Pocahontas]] has her killed for treason.

** In ''Surprise Guest'', How [[spoiler:a Mukrezar]] dies, KilledMidSentence:
--->[[spoiler:Mukrezar]] smirked "Just as I planned, you--" That was as far as he got before the Avatar’s two-handed sword cut off his words, along with his head.

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': [[spoiler:The Grand Fisher]] dies when Applejack, Sunset, and Rainbow Dash destroy his head with a CombinationAttack. He's still standing after that so they think he's still alive, but he did indeed die.

* ''Fanfic/QueenOfShadows'': This is how Kamisori kills [[spoiler:Rosuto]] during the Battle of Tobe, using his razor-clawed hands in place of a sword.

* ''Fanfic/ReMyHostageNotYours'': During the climatic battle, [[spoiler: Zim ultimately kills the Valkian Queen by ripping her head off with his bare hands.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'': Poor [[spoiler:Felicity]] is given this treatment by the killer.

* ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'': [[spoiler:The stoner loses control of Barry in his house and trips on a few things]], which leads to an ornamental axe slicing his head off. Barry takes said head with him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', this almost happens to Tyler when Mei throws a dodgeball at him hard enough to create a sonic boom. Tyler screams, ducks and the ball instead gives him a CloseCallHaircut, hits a window and breaks a hole in it. If she had aimed a few inches lower she would have decapitated him .

* ''Film/TwentyFirstCenturySerialKiller'': When [[TheProtagonist Aaron]] can't bring himself to kill a woman in a car, [[spoiler:Charles]] drags her out of it, and then saws her head off.

* In ''Film/AccidentMan'', Mike decapitates [[spoiler:Atal Zim]] with a single stroke of Jane's katana after deciding he is not worth the far more elaborate demise he originally had planned.
* In ''Film/AliceInMurderland'', [[spoiler:Tiffany]] is murdered by being decapitated.

* In ''Film/ArtOfTheDead'', [[spoiler:Donna]] is decapitated during the battle between Dylan and Gina in the garage.
* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler:Thor kills Thanos this way at the start of the film, remarking that he went for the head this time]].
* In ''ComicBook/BadKidsGoToHell'', [[spoiler:Dr. Day]] is decapitated by the tomahawk on the sculpture of the Indian battling the serpent.

** [[spoiler:She also decapitates Robert Wilson in front of his wife.]]

* ''Film/Carved2018'': At the end of the film, we see [[spoiler:the severed head of the daughter of the family on the front porch, her face carved into a jack-o-lantern]].

* ''Film/TheColony2013'': [[spoiler:The cannibal leader]] is killed by [[spoiler:Sam]] chopping his head off. From the jaw upwards.
* Thulsa Doom does this to Conan's mom in ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' after the raid on his [[DoomedHometown home village]] that opens the movie. Conan himself returns the favor in the end, using two cuts in a "V" using [[spoiler:the remains of his father's sword]].

* ''Film/DeadtimeStoriesVolume1'': In ''Valley of the Shadow", [[spoiler:the entire expedition winds up beheaded with their heads mounted on sticks as a warning to other intruders]].

* ''Film/DogSoldiers'': When Joe sees [[spoiler:Terry in the barn]] slowly being eaten alive by a werewolf, the werewolf in question severs [[spoiler:Terry]]'s neck and throws the head at Joe.

** [[spoiler:His mother]] was also killed this way in [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 the original]].
** In ''Film/FreddyVsJason'', [[spoiler:Freddy]] gets his head chopped off using Jason's machete.

** ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'': This seems to be the only way to disable Gigan, and Godzilla weakens Monster X when the latter transforms into [[spoiler:Keizer Ghidorah]] by ripping off two of his heads.
** ''Film/Godzilla2014'': This is the female MUTO's fate after Godzilla [[spoiler:melts her neck from the inside out with his radioactive breath and the rest of her body falls away from her head]].
** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Ghidorah's left head [[MultipleHeadCase Kevin]] ([[ButtMonkey the poor bastard]]) gets brutally decapitated, courtesy of Godzilla during the underwater battle in Mexico. It even happens to him again in Boston when [[spoiler:Burning Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse]] disintegrates both the right and left heads to ash.
** ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': Two counts. First, Kong does this to one of the Warbats posthumously and drinks the blood out of its skull. Then, Kong ends [[spoiler:the Ghidorah-controlled Mechagodzilla by tearing off the head with his bare hands -- it seems Mike Dougherty wasn't entirely joking when he said decapitation is a RunningGag where Ghidorah's left head is concerned (in some form or another)]].

* The FinalBattle between Henry and [[BigBad Akan]] in ''Film/HardcoreHenry'' ends with [[spoiler:Henry ''ripping out his own eye socket'' and using it to decapitate Akan.]]

* ''Film/{{Hazmat}}'': Jacob cuts [[spoiler:Gary's]] head off, and then throws it in view of the camera so the others in the control room can see it.

* In ''Film/IdleHands'', [[spoiler:The Offspring's Dexter Holland]] gets decapitated.

* ''Film/JurassicPrey'': When Sparks finds [[spoiler:Beach]]'s body, he finds [[spoiler:his]] head's been bitten off.
** The dinosaur also bites the head off [[spoiler:Sparks]] and [[spoiler:Cutler's partner]].

** Variation in the end: [[spoiler:The Bride doesn't cut O-Ren's whole head off... but she ''scalps'' her by cutting off the top of it.]]

* In ''Film/MostLikelyToDie'', The Graduate murders [[spoiler:Bella]] by [[SlashedThroat slashing her throat]], then ripping her head off with his hands.

* In ''Film/MurdersInTheRueMorgue1971'', Marot murders [[spoiler:Cesar]] by beheading with an axe.

* ''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/OneNightInOctober'': After [[spoiler:Emma kills her stalker, she walks out of the room holding his severed bloody skull with still-attached hair in one hand, and his spine in the other]].

* ''Film/Rampage2018'': Near the end, [[spoiler:Ralph gets his head ''eaten'' by Lizzie]].
* Near the end of Akira Kurosawa's ''Film/{{Ran}}'', Kurogane decapitates [[spoiler:Lady Kaede]]. Much blood spatter ensues.

** [[spoiler:At the end, Laura kills the Redwood killer by chopping his head off.]]

* In ''Film/ShredderOrpheus'', [[spoiler:when Orpheus fails the rigged game show, the Furies decapitate him with a chainsaw as punishment.]]

** The first film has it happen to [[spoiler:Paul]] ''off-screen.''
** [[Film/SleepawayCampIIUnhappyCampers The second film]] has it happen to [[spoiler:Sean]].

* ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' features a starship version when Krall's [[ZergRush swarm attack]] [[spoiler:slices through the neck of the ''Enterprise'', separating the saucer from the stardrive section]].

** At least one of the PraetorianGuard gets beheaded by [[spoiler:Kylo Ren after they attack [[EnemyMine him and Rey]]]] in ''Film/TheLastJedi''.
* The movie ''Film/StreetTrash'' has an exceptionally bizarre decapitation during the climax. [[spoiler:The target's head is blown off by a fire extinguisher ''launched like a rocket'', and survives ''just'' long enough to look up a woman's skirt and leer approvingly.]]

** ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'': Marcus Wright rips the [[spoiler:[[Characters/TerminatorSalvation prototype T-800]]]]'s head off to defeat it.
** ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'': Kyle ends up killing the [[spoiler:[[Characters/TerminatorGenisys T-800 sent to 1984]]]] by shooting its head off with the .50 caliber rifle.

*** Optimus [[spoiler:doesn't just chop the Fallen's head off, he ''tears it off'']]. 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]].
** Optimus sure likes this, as evidenced in ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]'' by [[spoiler:Megatron]]'s head, lying some distance from his body with an axe lodged in it.
** In ''[[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction Age of Extinction]]'', Bumblebee finishes off [[spoiler:[[EvilKnockoff Stinger]]]] this way.
** In ''[[Film/TransformersTheLastKnight The Last Knight]]'', 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.

* ''Film/TheUndertaker'': At the end of the movie, [[BigBad Roscoe]] is revealed to have decapitated [[spoiler:Mandy]] when he holds up [[spoiler:her]] severed head.

* ''Film/{{Valentine}}'': After Dorothy's party, Kate finds the head of [[spoiler:Detective Vaughn]] floating in the fishpond.

* ''Film/TheWindmillMassacre'': The Miller kills [[spoiler:Douglas]] by looping a rope around his neck and then attaching one end to one of the windmill's vanes and holding on to the other. As the vane turns, the rope tightens till his head pops off.

* Partly done to the Blank version of [[spoiler:Oliver Chamberlian]] in ''Film/TheWorldsEnd''.
* ''Film/WrongTurn4BloodyBeginnings'':

** In ''Film/TheWolverine'': Logan uses one of the Silver Samurai's own swords against him, slicing the head off with it. [[spoiler:Unfortunately that doesn't stop it.]]
*** Yukio manages to snag Viper with a wire then ties it to an elevator, dragging her into it. [[spoiler:A rigging coming down the shaft tags her in the head as she's being pulled up and...yeah.]]
** Iceman by a Sentinel during the first battle of ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. [[spoiler:Two {{Cosmic Retcon}}s later, he's back alive.]]

* ''Literature/TheBarbarianAndTheSorceress'': This is how [[spoiler:Barnabus]] is killed.
* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'':

** In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', it's revealed that yetis can survive this (or, presumably, other causes of death, but this is the specific method used to demonstrate the ability) by, basically, SaveScumming. [[spoiler:Becomes a ChekhovsGun when Lu-Tze, in desperate gambit, uses it to survive Mr White beheading him. This made the Auditors shifted their attention to Unity long enough for Lu-Tze to {{Save Scum|ming}} back and kills Mr White with chocolate]].

* In ''Literature/GreyKnights'', Justicar Tancred finishes off [[spoiler:the fallen Saint Evisser reanimated]] by lopping his head off.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Nearly Headless Nick is decapitated, but his head stays attached to his body by some remaining flesh and remains that way in his ghostly form.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Neville chops off [[spoiler:Nagini's]] head with the sword of Gryffindor. After pulling it out of the flaming Sorting Hat.
* In Isabel Allende's "Literature/TheHouseOfSpirits", [[spoiler:Clara's mother Nívea]] has her head cut off when she and [[spoiler:her husband Severo]] perish in a crash car and a metal shard beheads her. Her head goes flying and isn't found until much, ''much'' later, [[spoiler:when Clara is about to give birth to Blanca: she gets a vision of said head and goes searching for it with Esteban and some servants.]]

* "Literature/LetsGetTogether": When Lynn shoots [[spoiler:Breckenridge]], he hits the neck, causing TheMole's head to roll around on the floor.
* This is a favorite kind of death in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', especially as the Steel Ministry loves to dual-wield obsidian axes. There are the mass executions in ''The Final Empire'', the first Steel Minister seen killed, and most brutally to the reader [[spoiler:Elend Venture, possibly intentionally on his part]] at the climax of ''The Hero of Ages''. Another memorable example is Elend killing [[spoiler:his former best friend Jastes]] this way, the first person he ever kills.
* In ''Literature/{{Mockingjay}}'', Finnick Odair [[spoiler:is killed by having his head bitten off by giant white lizard mutts]].
* ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'': This is how Rob [[spoiler:kills his first two people]]. He looks away from the second one, but that doesn't help his mental state much.

* ''Literature/APoisonDarkAndDrowning'': Queen Mab kills [[spoiler:Whitechurch]] by cutting [[spoiler:his]] head off with a sword.

-->[[spoiler:And when they took away the thing that Peggy was fondling in her lap she said they mustn’t. She said they had to let her keep his head because she loved the man.]]
** Notably averted in the French film adaptation, ''Le Seines de Glace'' (''Icy Breasts'').

** The first book, ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'', has the rather shocking end of the road for [[spoiler:Ned Stark]], firmly planting the AnyoneCanDie aspect of the series. Also, the fate of several lesser characters declared traitors by the crown, including some poor, innocent dwarfs.

* Creator/CharlesDeLint's novel ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Svaha-Charles-Lint/dp/0312876505/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234305187&sr=8-1 Svaha]]'' has at least two scenes where characters [[spoiler:(one of them the BigBad)]] get decapitated in fairly gory detail.
* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': The expansive novel takes place during The War of the Roses, so there's many beheadings, with more than one major character meeting his end this way. Early on, a young Francis Lovell witnesses an execution and becomes sick. He's consoled and then befriended by a young Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': This turns out to be one of the only ways someone can be killed ''permanently'' as otherwise magical resurrection could be done. [[spoiler:Sam kills Mizzamir in this manner near the end.]]

* During the final episode of ''Series/TwentyFour: Live Another Day'', [[spoiler:Jack decapitates [[BigBad Cheng Zhi]] in revenge for Audrey's death]].

* In ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'', this is the postmortem fate of [[spoiler:Ethel, Salty, the curator of the American Morbidity Museum, and several of Twisty's victims.]]

* ''Series/ColdSquad'': In "Jane Klosky", the squad reopen the case of a nurse who was beaten to death with a strap and decapitated. When they discover another cold case of a nurse who was partially decapitated, they worry they might be dealing with an undiscovered SerialKiller. [[spoiler:They're not, but only because someone else killed the killer before he could claim a third victim.]]

*** "Blood Moon": At the end of a [[Literature/{{Twilight}} "vampire and werewolf" convention]], one of the attendees masquerading as a vampire is beheaded the night after its festivities end.

*** "High Octane": Young adults perform dangerous automobile stunts in a beach parking lot at the start of the episode. One driver is sitting on the roof of his car as he uses his feet to maneuver the steering wheel when an electrical wire (connected to a string of lights) cuts clean through his neck at 40 miles per hour. [[spoiler:It turns out that a saboteur installed a device in his car that could remotely control the its hydraulics, then activated it as the car approached the wire.]]

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' has a particularly gruesome version of this. [[spoiler:John Walker uses Captain America's shield to decapitate an unarmed Flag-Smasher in front of Sam, Bucky Karli and a number of horrified civilians.]]
* ''Series/FatherBrown'': "The Resurrectionists" starts with a young man on a motorcycle being decapitated by a low hanging branch. [[spoiler:However, this turns out to be a case of FakingTheDead.]]
* In ''Series/FromDuskTillDawn'', this is how [[spoiler:Carlos]] deals with some people that are trying to steal from him, followed by DecapitationPresentation.

** Ned Stark has an enormous greatsword made of [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Valyrian steel]] called Ice that he uses for executions, and he does so in the first episode, taking a deserter's head off in a single stroke. Towards the end of the first series, [[spoiler:he is beheaded with his own sword when Joffrey instructs Ilyn Payne to 'bring me his head']].
** In Season 2, Theon Greyjoy, [[spoiler:after proclaiming himself Lord of Winterfell]], tries to execute [[spoiler:Ser Rodrik Cassel]] using an ordinary sword and [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath makes a complete mess of it]], [[DeconstructedTrope hacking and kicking madly until the head finally comes off]]. This contrasts with Ned's clean single stroke and Ned's own execution.

** It's implied that Brienne decapitates [[spoiler:Stannis]] judging by the movement of her arms.

** [[spoiler:Missandei]] is captured by Cersei, who has Gregor cut her head off when [[spoiler:Dany]] refuses to surrender.

* So many heads rolled in the miniseries ''Henry VIII'' (2003) that it practically became a RunningGag. The King plays a particularly nasty joke on Cromwell: the executioner [[spoiler:has never taken off anyone's head before. The results are not pretty]].

* ''Series/JonathanCreek'': A sabotaged chainsaw leads to decapitation in [[spoiler:"The Clue of the Savant's Thumb"]]. This leads to an elaborate cover-up in which a body seems to vanish from a locked room.
* ''Series/LukeCage2016'': The Stylers' ''modus operandi'' in Season 2 is to cut off the heads of their enemy's associates then send the heads to the boss as messages.
** In the first episode, Bushmaster kills Nigel Garrison, leader of the Brooklyn Yardies, then decapitates him posthumously and presents the head in a briefcase full of cash that he gives to Shades.

*** Can hair gel detonate in an oxygen-rich environment (such as a jet's cockpit) and [[YourHeadAsplode cause the pilot's head to explode]]? [[spoiler:Busted. It might start a small fire, but hardly anything more dangerous than that will happen.]]
*** Can a ceiling fan running at full speed decapitate someone? [[spoiler:Busted. Standard household wooden blades, industrial metal blades, and lawnmower blades were tested. The wooden blades would only result in a sore throat; the industrial and lawnmower blades were able to puncture the neck, but couldn't detach the head from the neck.]]
*** Taken from ''[[Film/LethalWeapon Lethal Weapon 2]]'': Can a surfboard both penetrate through a windshield at 40 miles (64 km) per hour and immediately decapitate the driver of an oncoming vehicle in one fell swoop? [[spoiler:Busted. Regardless of speed, all the surfboards used in this test simply deflected off the windshield.]]
*** If a tire on an eighteen-wheeler explodes, can the rubbery shrapnel decapitate a motorcyclist? [[spoiler:Confirmed. If the tire tread it flying at least 40 miles (64 km) an hour, not only could it tear a motorcyclist's head off if connects, [[FromBadToWorse it could also decapitate anyone riding in a car with its windows rolled up]].]]
*** Can a sheet of glass flying in a tornado decapitate someone? [[spoiler:Confirmed quite easily, in fact, at speeds as low as 70 miles (119 km) per hour.]] Speaking of flying guillotines...
*** Could "flying guillotines" (tethered "hat" weapons that can decapitate someone and return the head back to its thrower in a bucket) have existed as viable weapons? [[spoiler:Plausible. If they actually were used, they were likely to have been used in situations for a stealthy assassination; live-combat usage would have been impractical due to accuracy issues when thrown.]]
*** Is DelayedCausality (the possibility of a severed head temporarily staying in place before falling off) possible? [[spoiler:Busted. Both a watermelon and a prop zombie head were used as targets for a rocket-propelled guillotine. Once the blade sliced through them, the upper halves of each fell to the floor almost immediately.]]

** [[spoiler:Yavalla]] is decapitated by Talon, but she still regenerates afterward.

* Unsurprisingly as it's the same story, ''Series/TheTudors'' has this frequently as well, the scene of many a moving last speech beforehand. Though in this one the nasty joke against Cromwell is not by the king but several councillors. [[spoiler:Eventually a nearby guard rushes in to take off his head, after over half a dozen less than accurate attempts by the inebriated headsman]].

* In the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Small Magic'', this is how Maggie defeats [[spoiler:the cockatrice]].
** In ''Bloody Mooney'', [[spoiler:Mooney tears the head of one of the government agents clean off]].

* In ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'', Laud the Slaad kills [[spoiler:Ferdinand]] in this way.

[[folder:Radio]]
* Averted in ''Radio/HowGreenWasMyCactus'' -- when the prime minister of Cactus Island (Australia) particularly annoys her, Queen Bessie of Buckinghuge Palace is disappointed that she does not have the same powers as previous monarchs.
--> "Phillip, do I still have the power to behead people? Lock them in the tower, perhaps? Punch in the face would do."
* Averted in ''Radio/CabinPressure'' when the {{bratty|HalfPint}} [[AChildShallLeadThem child ruler]] King Maxie of Lichtenstein is constantly threatening to behead his schoolmates, despite his sister Princess Theresa telling him he doesn't actually have the right to do that.
[[/folder]]

** Subverted in ''Theatre/TheMikado'', wherein the Lord High Executioner only accepted the post to keep his own head and cannot bring himself to kill anyone else. [[spoiler:He claims to have beheaded Nanki-Poo, but produces him alive when it transpires that Nanki-Poo was the heir apparent, and Ko-Ko now faces the Mikado's wrath.]]

* Happens frequently when using the knife on card guards, in ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice''. The Queen does this to [[spoiler:Cheshire]] late in the game.
* In version 3, the ''VideoGame/AoOni'' kills [[spoiler:Takuro]] by biting off their head. This also effectively demonstrates to Hiroshi and the others that contrary to their suspicions, the monster is ''very real''.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', [[spoiler:[[FinalBoss Gehrman]] does this to you with a SinisterScythe if you choose to give up instead of fight him. Funnily enough, considering the setting and the fact it doesn't technically kill you for real, it's the happiest ending the game has for your character.]]

* In the Japanese Playstation versions of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'', [[spoiler:Fou-lu decapitates the acting emperor Soniel with the very sword Soniel had just tried to run him through with]]. It's not graphically depicted, though, but shown in silhouette.

** In the manga adaptation of ''Breath of Fire IV'', this is actually a particularly important moment for Fou-lu: [[spoiler:instead of using the sword he was stabbed with, [[MundaneMadeAwesome he generates an energy sword and lops Soniel's head clean off]] ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome while still having a sword that eats souls sticking out of his midsection]]''.]]

** This is also how the Warden [[spoiler:executes Loghain Mac Tir, should you decide to kill him (if Alistair doesn't do it first)]].

* [[spoiler:Eldigan]] is executed this way in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''. In the Oosawa manga adaptation, [[spoiler:King Chagall then [[FingerInTheMail sends his severed head to Eldigan's friends Sigurd and Quan and his sister Raquesis to taunt them]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'', [[BigBad Khotun Khan]] prefers this method of killing his victims, as his EstablishingCharacterMoment has him set a revered samurai on fire before beheading him with his massive polearm. [[spoiler:He also does this to Taka, Yuna's brother, while [[TheHero Jin]] is ForcedToWatch. It is only fitting, therefore, that Khotun goes down the same way: he is swiftly decapitated himself in the final battle, courtesy of Jin.]]

* 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'' (though with [[spoiler:Mimir]] at least he cuts his head off so quickly he barely has time to feel a scratch).
* The attract screen of the Japanese arcade version of ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' features a scene of Ax-Battler [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7FCST3zbNc lopping off an enemy's head]], with [[CameraBlood some blood splashing onto the screen]].

* Ajna in ''VideoGame/{{Indivisible}}'', [[RevengeBeforeReason hungry for revenge]] for [[DoomedHometown her village]], swears to do this to [[StarterVillain Ravannavar]] after their first meeting. [[spoiler:She makes good on her promise when they next meet, decapitating him in a cutscene. [[OneWingedAngel It doesn't help]].]]

* ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'': This is the fate that befalls [[spoiler:Kraven the Hunter, who gets his head bit off by Venom.]]

** The ending of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' has Raiden present Shinnok's severed head to [[spoiler:new Netherrealm rulers Liu Kang and Kitana]]. The intro to ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' shows how that happened: after repeatedly subjecting the fallen Elder God to ElectricTorture, Raiden manifests a blade made of electricity from his fist and uses it to decapitate Shinnok.

* ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'': Chris Walker is [[TheBrute big and strong]] enough to rip a grown man's head off his body. ''Barehanded''. If he catches you, he will grab you by the neck and rip your body out from underneath it in one fell swoop. Unlike death caused by most other inmates, it's quick and efficient, reflecting his military background [[spoiler:and his [[WellIntentionedExtremist non-malicious intentions]]: he's just trying to contain the Walrider as best he can]].
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Fusions are now done by putting the Personas in bags and executing them via guillotines to fuse a new one. In the event of a Fusion Accident when the guillotines jam, Caroline and Justine pull out chainsaws instead. [[spoiler:After realising who they really are, they order Joker to prepare the guillotines to execute ''them'' as a Fusion, which creates their true form as Lavenza.]]

* Alex Mercer from ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' only consumes the head of Hunters and Leader Hunters, as opposed to eating the whole body for human(-sized target)s. He also decapitates [[spoiler:the Supreme Hunter]] with the Blade.

* Invoked in many of the later ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' games. One fatality ([[spoiler:Basara Kubikiri]]'s) involves the opponent being dragged down to hell in a portal, flayed, and their head thrown back to the battlefield with a satisfying thud.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wet}}'' features two major decapitations in-story. The first decapitation happens to [[spoiler:Trevor Ackers upon Rubi's arrival with him in the hospital after taking him out of Hong Kong, beheaded by [[TheDragon Tarantula]] on orders from who Rubi (and he) initially believes is the man's own father, William Ackers, but who turns out to be an Asian-based drug lord by the name of Rupert Pelham with aspirations of operating globally]]. The second decapitation is [[spoiler:delivered by Rubi herself upon Pelham as her final vengeance at the very end of the game]].

* ''VisualNovel/Case03TrueCannibalBoy'': The original Cannibal Boy has a reputation for cleanly cutting off their victims' heads and eating the body. They inflict this fate on [[spoiler:Sally, resulting in Marty reviving Sally's head as a zombie]]. The Hillpolly library notes that the second Cannibal Boy did the same thing, only they used their teeth to separate the head and body.
* This is how [[spoiler:Seiko]] dies in ''VisualNovel/CorpseParty: Book of Shadows''. [[spoiler:Ayumi's sister Hinoe also dies this way after pulling a BigDamnHeroes to save Ayumi and Naomi]].
* Beheading is one of the more well-known forms of punishment in ''VisualNovel/LadyInMystery''. However, the most well-known example in the game comes during the end of [[spoiler:Yurin's route, where she beheads several people that she deems responsible for the death of her lover...[[DrivenToSuicide including herself]]]].

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', beheading is indicated to be the favored method of execution in the Kingdom of Khura'in -- and due to the Defense Culpability Act, the same fate will befall a defense attorney (especially Phoenix!) if they fail to prove the innocence of the accused. In the final trial, [[spoiler:once she takes over as prosecutor and discards any pretense of benevolence, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Ga'ran]] proves particularly fond of threatening to behead her enemies.]]
* This was the fate of [[spoiler:Ishida]] in ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}''.
* [[spoiler:Jean Jack Gibson]] was killed like this in ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}''.

** Kubitarou's modus operandi is collecting heads. She doesn't discriminate and collects them from toys, plushies, [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals animals]], and humans. [[spoiler:Maruhashi]] is decapitated by Kubitarou and their body is found with toys stuffed into their open neck. Depending on the ending, this fate can also befall [[spoiler:Seiji or Kaoru; Seiji is possessed and then decapitated by Kubitarou, while Kaoru is beheaded while talking to Akira over the phone.]]
** The Killer Peach's victims are all decapitated by the katana in her possession. [[spoiler:This is her way of getting revenge for them cutting her own head off while she was a human and investigating their corruption]].
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': Screw you, [[spoiler:[[SmugSnake Furudo Erika]]. As "the great detective" in a complicated murder mystery, she cheerfully lopped off the heads of multiple people. Why? To make sure they were dead, of course!]]
--> [[spoiler:[[MoralEventHorizon "I dashed all over the mansion, visited all the 'crime' scenes, and...completely severed their heads. All five people I killed......were very much alive and faithfully playing dead until the moment I killed them]]."]]

** Later in Volume 9 when Team RWBY are [[TrappedInAnotherWorld trapped in the Ever After]], they meet the [[RoyalBrat Red Prince]] who is shown to enjoy doing this for amusement. [[spoiler:Team RWBY see this firsthand when he is shown displeased with Penny's weapon since it is green and has the two toy soldiers that claimed to bring it themselves beheaded as a result. He later attempts to do this to Team RWBY themselves before being talked out of this by the Curious Cat.]]

* In ''Webcomic/AsteroidQuest'', it is a testament to the durability of [[HumanoidAliens neumono]] that this is not immediately fatal for them. They do still require immediate medical attention to survive it, however, and [[spoiler:Rokoa]] is killed this way [[OffingTheOffspring by her mother]] during a false memory sequence.

* ''Webcomic/BoundAdventures'': Duchess Isobel's nephew eventually decides to stage a coup and overthrow his aunt. As it turns out, [[spoiler:he succeeds, and Isobel is beheaded]].
* Happens to [[Webcomic/CiemWebcomicSeries Candi Levens]], ''twice'', both times on a block, and with a single ax stroke. [[spoiler:(Though the first time was an illusion.)]] Also happens to all three of her sisters, although Erin was already dead ''beforehand''. Marina meets an identical fate to Candi. Miriam, however, gets the guillotine. Thankfully, [[spoiler:all three die only in the epilogue.]]
* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan''.

* In the ''Webcomic/DraconiaChronicles'' webcomic, this is how [[spoiler:Gaia]] is killed.

** When Vole is sent to get the leader of the Knights of Jove war-stompers who were the first group to attack Mechanicsburg, he comes back with just [[spoiler:Selnikov]]'s head.
** [[spoiler:Otilia]]'s body ends up horrifically damaged and decapitated, but she was in another body at the time.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', this was how [[spoiler:the Black King, the White King, the Draconian Dignitary (by Dave), the Aimless Renegade, and the Hegemonic Brute (twice)]] were killed.
** And now, [[spoiler:Dirk pulled this off on himself as part of a brilliant example of the very rare [[ThanatosGambit Thanatos]] [[XanatosSpeedChess Speed]] [[BatmanGambit Gambit]].]]
*** Also, three mooks (well technically two mooks, due to time-related shenanigans) were beheaded by Spades Slick in the Midnight Crew intermission. And Hearts Boxcars did it to another mook as well, specifically [[IAmAHumanitarian he ''ate'' the mook's head.]].
** One of the final updates has a triple decapitation happen to [[spoiler:[[OtherMeAnnoysMe Spades Slick, Jack English]] [[KillUsBoth and Dirk]] [[TheyKilledKennyAgain again.]]]]
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The master swordswoman Meti wrote in her BigBookOfWar that decapitation by more than one blow was severely impolite. [[RightWayWrongWayPair Her two students]] eventually ended up learning that lesson in completely opposite ways: [[spoiler:When Incubus moved on Maya, he had two of his men hold her down and made over nine attempts at severing her head, failing completely and simply leaving her with half a windpipe and severe throat scarring. Maya returned the favour after the Discordance by cleanly decapitating Incubus with a single strike of the Maybe Sword, but as the latter had become a DimensionLord with mastery of [[UseYourHead Head of John]] his headless body simply trashed her half-dead [[GoodThingYouCanHeal and Incubus reattached his head]].]]

* [[spoiler:Sonic the Hedgehog]] dies this way by the hands of the Troll King in ''WebComic/TailsGetsTrolled''.
* In ''Webcomic/Trevor2020'', [[spoiler:Dr. Stern]] gets a good portion of his cranium sliced off by [[spoiler:Trevor]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'', [[spoiler:Stockyard]] [[http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch10/ch10_100.html is gruesomely decapitated by a razor-wire noose.]] This is also an IronicDeath, as he is fixated on noose imagery -- his father was hung, he ties his hair into the shape of nooses, and he plasters noose iconography all over his brothel. He had also killed someone in a similar manner (with a wire garrote) shortly before.

* Lyle Krinkor from ''Literature/ThePiratesCoveredInFur'' beheads [[spoiler:Pryllic]] after he fails to beat Michum and Tully in combat.

* ''WebVideo/MindMyGap'': The fate of any Langemanne, as well as their only fear.
* In the final episode of WebVideo/ThereWillBeBrawl, [[spoiler:Ganondorf]] infamously meets his end this way thanks to [[spoiler:Kirby, who used Meta-Knight's sword to lop his head off after the big [[TheReveal reveal]] on who the murderous butchers (Ness and Lucas) were.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': How [[spoiler:Bushido Brown]] meets his end.

* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': In "[[Recap/FinalSpaceS3E11TheDeadSpeak The Dead Speak]]", [[spoiler:this is how the Lord Commander, after achieving his OneWingedAngel form, kills [[BigGood Bolo]] after first [[BladeBelowTheShoulder turning his hand into a blade]] and impaling him.]]

** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E15ShadesOfReason Shades of Reason]]": [[spoiler:Darth Maul]] executes [[spoiler:Pre Vizsla]] in this fashion after the latter loses their duel for authority.

** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E11Shattered Shattered]]": [[spoiler:Maul]], in perhaps the most brutal combat scene in the entire series, shows that ''lightsabers are completely unnecessary'' when you have sharp metal plates and the Force for removing clone trooper heads.

* In either homage to the comic book example, the Shredder in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' gets this treatment after the turtles storm his headquarters. [[spoiler:He lives, because it's a robot suit]].
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' [[spoiler:also homages the comics by having Leonardo decapitate the Super Shredder in the Season 4 finale "Owari"]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': In "Crossfire", Megatron decapitates Airachnid's Insecticon, and it's implied that Airachnid might have done this to [[spoiler:Breakdown]] (his head is found lying well away from his body with an expression of terror on his face).
* ComicBook/LadyShiva slices [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/{{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]]").

* ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': Jenna's SmugSnake slave Miauler puts fabricated letters in Leon’s room as a FrameUp for treason, on the orders of Frampton. Later, once Leon has absolved himself and is getting on his father Balcus' CoolAirship, he's asked what being arrested was about. Being the ReasonableAuthorityFigure that he is, Balcus tells his daughter Jenna to go up into the ships cabin so she won't see, and promptly beheads Miauler.

* ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimOtomeGamesAreToughForUsToo'': After Frampton tells the Saintess that YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness, and he can have her replaced, she has Frampton's vassals expose evidence of his treason, resulting in a LaughingMad Julius beheading Frampton in a PublicExecution, to try and win back the Saitess' lost favor.

* ''ComicBook/Calico2020'': In issue #1, when [[TheProtagonist Calico]] goes after a family who shot and killed a lioness in the Serengheti, the first thing he does is show the parents their teenage daughter's severed head (she also took part in the hunt).

* ''[[ComicBook/{{Dreadstar}} Dreadstar Returns]]'' begins with Dreadstar defeating a tyrant [[{{Trumplica}} heavily based on Donald Trump]] named Plunndo Tram by decapitating him.

* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'' and ''ComicBook/Batgirl2000'' villain Lynx ends up decapitated mostly due to the incompetence of her own gang. Neither Tim Drake nor Cassandra Cain are happy about it despite how much trouble she gave them with her ability to avoid prison time.

* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', [[spoiler:Kortopi]] has this done to him in Chapter 357 by [[spoiler:Hisoka]]. [[UndignifiedDeath On the toilet, of all things.]]

* Lord DeVere is executed this way at the beginning of ''Film/TowerOfLondon''.

* In the ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Season 8'' comic "Wolves at the Gate, Part 4", [[spoiler:this is how Dawn kills her mechanical double]],
* ''ComicBook/Calico2020'': In Issue #1, when [[TheProtagonist Calico]] goes after a family who shot and killed a lioness in the Serengheti, the first thing he does is show the parents their teenage daughter's severed head (she also took part in the hunt).

** Gentileschi painted multiple versions of ''Judith Slaying Holofernes'', a portrayal of the apocryphal Biblical story of Judith and the Assyrian general Holofernes (scholars distinguish the two most famous ones with the years they were done and the cities in which they were painted — Naples, 1612-13 and Florence, 1620-21). These paintings show Judith and her maidservant Abra beheading Holofernes with a sword. Another painting, ''Judith and Her Maidservant'', shows the two women absconding with Holofernes' head in a basket.

---> [[spoiler:Mukrezar]] smirked “Just as I planned, you—” That was as far as he got before the Avatar’s two-handed sword cut off his words, along with his head.

---> Actions magically slowed, the dragon plummeted like a rock, unable to keep itself aloft. A moment before it struck the ground, the reaper blurred and leapt, swinging his scythe. The dragon's head separated from its neck before the giant body crashed, releasing a huge gout of hot blood. Rabixtrel landed on the corpse and screamed his triumph at the wavering soldiers.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

** The same death is spoofed in ''Film/MeetTheSpartans'' when Captain's son is decapitated, and his headless body gives a "peace out" gesture before it falls.

*** Referenced in the ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Season 8'' comic ''Wolves At The Gate, part four'' [[spoiler:as this is how Dawn kills her mechanical double.]]

* ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'': How Rob [[spoiler:kills his first two people]]. He looks away from the second one, but that doesn't help his mental state much.
* ''Literature/AShadowBrightAndBurning'': When On-Tez the Vulture Lady, one of the seven [[EldritchAbomination Ancients]] released into the world years ago, sends one of her ravens (a human {{Familiar}}) to UsefulNotes/{{London}}, one of its first attacks tears a man's head off.
* ''Literature/APoisonDarkAndDrowning'': Queen Mab kills [[spoiler:Whitechurch]] by cutting [[spoiler:his]] head off with a sword.

* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's novel ''Literature/{{Barrayar}}'', the heroine not only orders the decapitation of the enemy leader, but she also brings the head back to her base as evidence. In a ''shopping bag''. The woman has style.
-->''Good God, woman, where have you been?''\\
'''''Shopping.'''''

* ''Literature/CobaltBlue'', by Creator/MatthewReilly: The Fury of Russia loves doing this to those he's defeated...using his bare hands.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Beyond the Black River," Zogar Sag has his enemies decapitated so their heads can be offered on an altar.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Discworld}}'' book ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' it's revealed that yetis can survive this (or, presumably, other causes of death, but this is the specific method used to demonstrate the ability) by, basically, SaveScumming. [[spoiler:Becomes a ChekhovsGun when Lu-Tze, in desperate gambit, uses it to survive Mr White beheading him. This made the Auditors shifted their attention to Unity long enough for Lu-Tze to {{Save Scum|ming}} back and kills Mr White with chocolate]].

-->The wizards argued that you couldn't put a tax on knowledge. Vetinari said that yes you could, and it was two hundred dollars per capita. If per capita was a problem, ''de'' capita could be arranged.

* In ''Literature/TheExecutioner'' series by Don Pendleton, when TheMafia boss says, "Bring me his head" [[DemandingTheirHead he often means it literally]]. Bolan has to decapitate a man while posing as a [[ProfessionalKiller Black Ace]], whilst in another novel to stop the notorious OneManArmy from killing them all TheDragon hands over the heads of his Mafia bosses by floating them across a lake to Bolan in a boat.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''First & Only'', this is how the Inquisitor Heldane deals with the doctor who objects to his coming into the infirmary; it is told from the POV of the doctor, who sees his own boots and only then realizes that he lost his head.

** In ''Duty Calls'', Literature/CiaphasCain uses his {{chains|awGood}}word to decapitate a psyker cultist who was trying to assassinate him.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Finnick Odair. [[spoiler:He is killed by having his head bitten off by giant white lizard mutts in ''Mockingjay''.]]

* Done through guillotines (referred to as "loyalty enforcement facilitators") on the general populace to enforce the law of taking the "[[MarkOfTheBeast mark of loyalty]]" during the Tribulation in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' book series.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/LetsGetTogether": When Lynn shoots [[spoiler:Breckenridge]], he hits the neck, causing TheMole's head to roll around on the floor.
* Another favorite kind of death in Brandon Sanderson's ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'' series, especially as the Steel Ministry loves to dual-wield obsidian axes. There are the mass executions in ''The Final Empire'', the first Steel Minister seen killed, and most brutally to the reader [[spoiler:Elend Venture, possibly intentionally on his part]] at the climax of ''Hero of Ages''.
** Another memorable example is Elend killing [[spoiler:his former best friend Jastes]] this way, the first person he ever kills.
* In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/ThePaladin'', Shoka and Taizu are good enough with a sword to decapitate with seeming ease.

* In Roald Dahl's ''Literature/RevoltingRhymes'', the story of Cinderella has one of the ugly stepsisters replace the glass slipper with one of her own shoes, so [[TheGirlWhoFitsThisSlipper it naturally fits]]. Horrified at the thought of marrying someone so ugly and obnoxious, the Prince cuts the ugly stepsister's head off in one blow, then does the same to the other sister when she offers to try on the shoe. Cinderella, horrified that her "Prince Charming" [[PrinceCharmless chops people's heads off at the slightest provocation]], decides to wash her hands of the whole thing and gets the Fairy Godmother to set her up with a humble jam-maker instead.

* Somewhat subverted in Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/SnowCrash''. While Hiro does actually manage to decapitate someone with his katana, he muses to himself how difficult it is to actually kill someone in this manner, and considers himself lucky that he managed it rather than getting his sword lodged in his victim's vertebrae.

* In the first book of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the rather shocking end of the road for [[spoiler:Ned Stark]], firmly planting the AnyoneCanDie aspect of the series. Also, the fate of several lesser characters declared traitors by the crown, including some poor, innocent dwarfs.

* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' novel ''Literature/GreyKnights'', Justicar Tancred finishes off [[spoiler:the fallen Saint Evisser reanimated]] by lopping his head off.

* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Cordelia has Bothari execute the pretender Vordarian this way. She tops it off by showing the severed head to his generals in a combined awesome and funny display.

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', beheading is indicated to be the favored method of execution in the Kingdom of Khura'in — and due to the Defense Culpability Act, the same fate will befall a defense attorney (especially Phoenix!) if they fail to prove the innocence of the accused. In the final trial, [[spoiler:once she takes over as prosecutor and discards any pretense of benevolence, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Ga'ran]] proves particularly fond of threatening to behead her enemies.]]