History Main / SlainInTheirSleep

* In ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise'', Zuko mentions multiple attempts of assassination on his night sleep.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' Suyin attempted to assassinate Kuvira in her sleep. Unlucky for her it was a trap. Kuvira had seen this coming and used a stunt-double. Suyin and her gang end up captured.

* In the film version of ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' James Bond's girlfriend Aki is murdered in her sleep by mistake (they were aiming for Bond). An assassin sneaks into the rafters of their bedroom and lowers a string, then puts a drop of poison on the string to drip down into Bond's mouth; but Bond and Aki both turn over, so Aki's mouth is where the string is.

* In Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', the second victim was Mrs. Ethel Rogers, who died in her sleep from an overdose of chloral hydrate.

* An early episode of ''Anime/GundamWing'' has Wufei attack a military academy during a nighttime raid, blowing up the barracks while most of the cadets were asleep. This incenses the remaining crew on the base, considering it a dirty tactic. Ironically, Wufei is one of the most honorable people in the series, but he considered his mission more important than his honor.

* Myth/NorseMythology: "Reginsmál" in the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'' specifies that when Fafnir murdered his father Hreidmar because of Andvari's gold, he did so by stabbing him in his sleep.

** Theatre/{{Hamlet}} has a king killed in his sleep by having poison poured in his ear instead.

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** Averted by the hobbits in Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'', who had stopped at the Golden Perch Inn and had gone to their rooms for the night. Some Ringwraiths appeared and gained access to the hobbits' room, where they began stabbing at their beds. Fortunately, Strider had forewarned the hobbits about this; the Wraiths were killing wads of rags and straw.

People are very vulnerable creatures when they're asleep. Their defenses are down, they usually feel like they're in a safe place. Thus when someone is killed in their sleep, it's portrayed as someone being killed when they're at their most defenseless. Doing so is often the modus operendi of the DirtyCoward, who would be afraid to kill someone when they can fight back. It can also be used as ParanoiaFuel, as everyone has to sleep at some point, thus everyone (even the viewer) is vulnerable at some point. Often subverted by the killer stabbing a SleepingDummy.

This trope is often combined with VorpalPillow (since it needs the target to be immobile with their face exposed). This may also be done by a DreamWeaver in cases where YourMindMakesItReal or the person's dream experiences in some way influences the body. This is also one of most frequent uses of AnimalAssassin, as getting an animal to attack an active moving person is just plain difficult.

** ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' murders King Duncan in his sleep with a dagger (after getting his guards drunk so he can blame them for it).
** ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' has a king killed in his sleep by having poison poured in his ear instead.

** ''Literature/{{DeathOnTheNile}}'' has the victim shot through the head while asleep.

** And in ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'' Literature/HerculePoirot'' drugs [[ManipulativeBastard Stephen Norton]] with the sleeping pills in his hot chocolate, then carries him to his room in disguise, sets him on his bed, and fatally shoots him in his sleep so that he may never manipulate any more people into killing each other again.

* The ''[[{{Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet}} Nightmare On Elm Street]]'' series has this "Cause of Death" for Freddy Kruger's victims.

** At the end of the movie the {{Hero}} Alex does the same thing to the BigBad to end his threat.

* In Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', the second victim was Mrs. Ethel Rogers, who died in her sleep from an overdose of chloral hydrate.

* ''Literature/LordOfTheRings''

* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', attacks made against unconscious targets [[AlwaysAccurateAttack always accurate]], and hit with maximum solidity. In an exception to the [[AIRoulette relative randomness]] of AI attacks, they will always aim for the head when attacking someone that's out cold. [[ArtificialStupidity Even if the target has a good enough helmet on]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/{{JusticeLeagueS2E5And6OnlyADream}} Only a Dream]]", [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr.]] [[DreamWeaver Destiny]] kills his wife in her dreams and then attempts to murder the League. This is shown to be very brutal, as he essentially tortures her in her sleep until her body can't take the strain.

* PlayedForLaughs in several Discworld books where "soon we shall all be murdered in our beds" is used to identify the speaker as [[HumansAreBastards a petty, xenophobic and narrow-minded citizen]] ([[RacistGrandma since it usually involves]] [[UnfortunateImplications foreigners to Ankh-Morpork]]). In {{Discworld/Jingo}}, a very old lady uses the variant "when Klatchians will be ravishing us in our beds", to which Carrot of all people responds "[[ErectionRejection those Klatchians are mighty brave]]".

* [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Can be invoked by the player themselves]] in many RolePlayingGames. If a player is rather overleveled and puts an enemy to sleep, they could easily bypass the "wake up when hit" rule by one-shotting them.

* [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Can be invoked by the player themselves]] in many RolePlayingGames.

* Defied by [[EldritchAbomination the Reapers]] of ''Franchise/MassEffect''. It's theorized by several parties that the Reapers hibernate in the Dark Space between the Milky Way and other galaxies. They choose this location because there's little chance of being stumbled upon by other species and destroyed while in their most vulnerable state.

* In ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'', it's mentioned that the dueling rules permit PKs even in safe zones; one thoroughly vicious trick is to manipulate a sleeping player into agreeing to a duel via the in-game interface and then murdering them with impunity.

* In AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise, Zuko mentions multiple attempts of assassination on his night sleep.

* The [[{{Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet}} Nightmare On Elm Street]] series has this "Cause of Death" for Freddy Kruger's victims.

* It's mentioned in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' that this was a common method of player-killing in SAO; ordinarily players had to agree to any PlayerVsPlayer fights, but [=PKers=] would sneak up on someone who was sleeping, challenge them to a duel to the death, then lift the other player's hand to push the menu button to accept the challenge.

* JimSteinman's "Love And Death And An American Guitar" has the narrator boast of killing his parents in their sleep (under the influence of the Guitar).
* TheDoors' "The End" has the same theme: James Morrison raps on sneaking into his siblings' and parents bedrooms and...

* An early episode of ''Anime/GundamWing'' has Wufei attack a military academy during a nighttime raid, blowing up the barracks while most of the cadets were asleep. This incenses the remaining crew on the base, considering it a dirty tactic. Ironically, Wufei is one of the most honorable people in the series, but he considered his mission more important than his honor.

This trope is often combined with VorpalPillow (since it needs the target to be immobile with their face exposed). This may also be done by a DreamWeaver in cases where YourMindMakesItReal or the persons dream experiences in some way influences the body. This is also one of most frequent uses of AnimalAssassin, as getting an animal to attack an active moving person is just plain difficult.

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Subtrope of KickThemWhileTheyAreDown. Compare SittingDuck and SickbedSlaying (another way of offing someone when they can't fight back).