History Main / TouchOfDeath

* Shiki's EvilEye in ''{{Tsukihime}}'' allows him to see points of death. Simply poking such point with any sharp pointy object (like a kitchen knife or a sharpened pencil) will not only instantly kill said thing but also terminate its reincarnation cycle and any other metaphysical life functions it may possess. And this power is ''not'' limited only to living things, incidentally: he can "kill" non-living things as well. He once cured a person of poisoning by "killing" the poison.

[[quoteright:290:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/38278_1m_hand_of_death_8056.jpeg]]

* There was also Wither from ''NewMutants,'' whose power was ''literally decaying'' any living (or once-living) thing he came into contact with. He eventually left the institute and fell in love with Selene, who was immortal and couldn't be affected by his power.

* In ''{{Batman}}'', the third Clayface, Preston Payne, received the power of melting human flesh into protoplasm with his bare touch. Preston is reluctant to use this ability, but he's wracked with horrible pains and headaches, and his touch momentarily allows him to transfer the sickness to another person. It's been mentioned that he's now on medication to reduce this pain, so any time he feels he ''needs'' to relieve his suffering is psychosomatic.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'' the Boggans' weapons can deteriorate anything they touch. Mandrake's staff is much more potent, able to fell an entire tree with one swing.

** A demilich, which is basically a [[TheUndead lich]] only more so, can ''trap a living creature's soul'' if they fail a saving throw. What's more, unless it's defeated less than twenty-four hours afterward, the demilich will ''devour'' it, rendering the unfortunate victim DeaderThanDead. And it can trap up to eight souls per day. [[TotalPartyKill Have fun.]]

** Let's not forget the AwesomeButImpractical [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=106427 Phage the Untouchable]].

You can also punch off souls, hurl opponents into a temporary orbit, summon a demon to hurl them into a permanent orbit, dismember them, and even kick people's heads off with a sufficiently impressive stunt.

* In ''Scribblenauts'', if you create Death, the game makes a small Grim Reaper which has this power and can kill anything with a touch, including Death and even God.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'', there's one-shot character Dan from Grim Reaper Gutters, who won't leave until he makes a sale! He kills Carl [[ButtMonkey (of course)]] with a TouchOfDeath after Carl refuses to buy any gutters.

* It's also theoretically possible to kill someone with a ''very'' precisely timed blow to the heart during the T-wave (the refractory period), initiating ventricular fibrillation, and effectively stopping the heart in what is known as ''commotio cordis''. The level of precision this would require (not to mention the knowledge of the human body) makes it extremely difficult to do deliberately.

* ''AlphaFlight'' villain Deadly Ernest was an example of both this and ThePunishment: as a soldier in WorldWarI, he was killed in battle, but rejected Death when she came for him. As a result, he was cursed to kill every living thing he touched. He ended up using the power to set himself up as a crime boss.

* Shiki's EvilEye in ''{{Tsukihime}}'' allows him to see points of death on the bodies of living beings. Simply poking such point with any sharp pointy object (like a kitchen knife or a sharpened pencil) will not only instantly kill said living being but also terminate its reincarnation cycle and any other metaphysical life functions it may possess.

* In the AdversaryCycle book ''The Touch'', the Dat-tay-vao, a healing power, also works in reverse if someone gets in the way of the person with the power, and kills them with one touch.

* BlackMage [[Manga/FairyTail Zeref]] has this as his main magic, but he can't really control it, [[spoiler:that's why he isolated himself for several centuries]].

** This happened because the writers were realising quite how ridiculous and annoying the League of Superpets had become, and it was an easy way to have them all StuffedIntoTheFridge.

** This happened because the writers were realising quite how ridiculous and annoying the League of Superpets had become, and it was an easy way to have them all StuffedIntoAFridge.

* In issue #398 of [[Supergirl]], Supergirl briefly gains a power that means she kills everything she touches.

** In one episode where Mr. Turner started a farm, it showed he's just as bad.

* BlackMage Zeref has this as his main magic, but he can't really control it, [[spoiler:that's why he isolated himself for several centuries]].

** [[LightIsNotGood Angels]] have a specific form of killing touch, it burns out the victims' eyes and liquefied their organs. Works on humans, monsters, and demons.

** Also, demonstrated by the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Fourth Horsemen]], [[TheGrimReaper Death]] himself during his spectacular [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg0kQHIMx9M&feature=related introduction.]]
** When Dean becomes Death for a day, he reaps people simply by touching them.

** D&D really loves these kinds of abilities. Many "save or die" effects exist in the game. To name a few: Flesh to Stone, Disintegrate (you MIGHT survive, but probably not), Power Word: Kill, Implosion (one target PER ROUND), the special Cleric power for the Death Domain (I believe it's even called Touch of Death), the Vorpal weapon enchantment (decapitates on a failed save), to name a few. There are also numerous Psionic variants which are even more brutal. Some of these are not guaranteed to kill you instantly (even if you fail the save), but you have to be [[MadeofIron really durable]] to survive them.

** Bart claimed to learn the Touch of Death in a karate class he had actually skipped out on. Which he then repeatedly threatened Lisa with to force her to do minor chores. (And was really just the "rock on" sign that he copied from a video game. \m/)

** This is commonly referred to as a "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_punch Rabbit Punch]]", and as such is ''highly'' illegal in professional fighting sports.