History Main / TouchOfDeath

* Death in ''Film/LastActionHero'' can kill with a touch (complete with a tinkly "ding!" sound effect for extra [[LampshadeHanging Lampshadiness]]).

* In ''Series/{{Tracker}}'', a fugitive named Tev has the ability to do this to the alien EnergyBeings, although it takes a lot longer in humans.

A subtrope of the OneHitKill. Not to be confused with video game CollisionDamage, which is often given this name. See also FingerPokeOfDoom, MakeThemRot, PsychicSurgery, and PoisonousPerson. If a character with this ability is paired with [[HealingHands the opposite ability]], see LifeDeathJuxtaposition.

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':
** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
*** The assassin "Mr. Blank" is somehow able to kill a man by prodding his forearm. This supposedly creates an air embolism that kills the target a few seconds later.
*** Damien Darhk, the BigBad of Season 4, uses his magic to kill by draining the victim's lifeforce at a touch of his hand.
** ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
*** Combined with ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice, the Reverse-Flash and Zoom both kill their victims by vibrating their hands through them.
*** In "Untouchable", the VillainOfTheWeek Clive Yorken can decay his victims into a into a zombified ash-like corpse with just a touch of hand.

* ''Series/Arrowverse'':

** ''Series/TheFlash2014'': In "Untouchable", the VillainOfTheWeek Clive Yorken can decay his victims into a into a zombified ash-like corpse with just a touch of hand.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
** The assassin "Mr. Blank" is somehow able to kill a man by prodding his forearm. This supposedly creates an air embolism that kills the target a few seconds later.
** Damien Darhk, the BigBad of Season 4, uses his magic to kill by draining the victim's lifeforce at a touch of his hand.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': This is Phantom Limb's superpower, aside from having [[FlightStrengthHeart invisible limbs]]. He can apparently actually can control this power, as observed when he's able to shake Brock Samson's hand with non-lethal effects. When activating this ability, the veins in his invisible limbs spark and give off a green-red light.

* The ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS01E17Reaper Reaper]]" features a man who reduces anybody (including a dog and some vegetables) who he touches to dust. It's suggested that he may be able to turn it off but [[PowerIncontinence finds it difficult to do so]] -- in any case, he doesn't seem to be overly distraught by this, and goes around "mercy-killing" people whose suffering he considers to be too great. When he touches Clark Kent, even ''[[NighInvulnerability Clark]]'' screams in pain before knocking him away. When he's finally convinced that his mission is wrong and goes into MyGodWhatHaveIDone mode, he puts his hands together, turning to dust himself, which [[FridgeLogic raises a few questions]] about how he was able to change his clothes and do other stuff that involves touching his own skin.

* On the opposite end of real-life touch of death, there is the "precordial thump", which is essentially a desparation move when a [[MagicalDefibrillator defibrillator]] isn't imminently available. It is done by placing a sharp strike to the center of the chest. It's the same mechanism as ''commotio cordis'', but in reverse. It's usually only attempted once, and only when cardiac arrest is directly witnessed.

* In the climactic battle of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood'', TheHero Jonathan Joestar and the BigBad Dio Brando '''both''' have a Touch of Death of sorts. Jonathan Joestar is a Ripple user who has the power to channel energy that has the same properties as sunlight, making his touch lethal to vampires like Dio Brando. Dio Brando otoh has figured out how to instantly drain heat from anything he touches, freezing it. Jonathan thus has to figure out a way to get past Dio's Touch of Death so that he can inflict his ''own'' Touch of Death on Dio. Jonathan ultimately resorts to ''setting his own gloved fist on fire'' to negate Dio's freezing ability in order to land one good Ripple-infused punch on Dio.

** Bart claims to have learned the Touch of Death in a karate class he had actually skipped out on. He then repeatedly threatens Lisa with it to force her to do minor chores. (It's really just the "rock on" sign that he copied from a video game -- \m/, or rather \n/, as the characters all have FourFingeredHands.)

** Another less direct example is Daimon's Rift Vortex and Abyssal Vortex. Its area of effect starts pulling everyone inside first, and anybody can escape it, but if anybody inside this area is out of stamina or doesn't get far enough in time, they be pulled inside fast and killed instantly, also ignoring GameplayAllyImmortality.

* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' has many bosses that use this as their initial attack. This lead to a rather humorous habit of bringing sacrificial halflings, rangers, et cetera.

* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': This isn't a literal example, but when Russia goes to visit Italy and Romano, he tries to be as sweet as possible, and goes as far as putting his hand on Italy's shoulder. Rissia being a CuteAndPsycho PsychopathicManchild, this causes them both to freak out, and Romano's next line could be the {{Trope Namer|s}} (at least, in the English dub).

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* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': The martial art of Hokuto Shinken specializes in killing techniques targeting one or more of the 108 Keiraku Hikou points on the human body, with often ''very'' messy results for the poor bastard on the receiving end.
-->''"[[CharacterCatchphrase You are already dead.]]"''

* Matsuri's InherentGift in ''Manga/{{Sola}}'' is the ability to rapidly decay anything she touches (if she chooses). Takashi freezes in place when she grabs hold of his arm during one of their battles.
* Scar's body destruction technique in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. It's explained as being incomplete alchemy — alchemy is in three parts, analysis, disintegration, and reintegration; Scar stops at the second step. Edward does the same while fighting the Slasher Brothers.

* The title character of ''Manga/{{Arago}}'' picked up this ability from a supernatural SerialKiller, but has failed to find a way to turn it off. So far, he's not angsting much about it, since it helps him fight other monsters, but it's a bit inconvenient, to say the least. (It's [[MakeThemRot decay-based]] and works on anything organic, though it's slow-acting enough that he's been on the wrong end of a slap with only minimal damage to the slapper's hand.)

** Baccarat from ''Anime/OnePieceFilmGold'' is another unorthodox example. Her Luck-Luck Fruit powers let her manipulate the luck of those she physically touches, giving people bad luck or stealing good luck for herself. Being left with nothing but bad luck can be fatal, however, as a group of henchmen she robs of their luck are quickly crushed under a collapsing pillar.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': If Hei can touch you (either directly or indirectly with a conductive material), he can electrocute you to death.
** November 11 as well, where Hei can essentially fry people he can turn them into popsicles — he can instantly flash-freeze anything he makes contact with.
* This isn't a literal example, but if you watch ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', you know that [[CuteAndPsycho Russia]] [[PsychopathicManchild is not]] [[StepfordSmiler to be]] [[SlasherSmile angered.]] [[MadnessMantra EVER.]] All of the countries know this. So when he goes to visit [[{{Keet}} Italy]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Romano]], he tries to be as sweet as possible, and goes as far as putting his hand on Italy's shoulder. This causes them both to freak out, and Romano's next line could be the TropeNamer. (At least, in the English dub.)
--> '''Romano:''' Touch of death!
* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Accelerator can use his vector control to [[CruelAndUnusualDeath reverse a person's bloodflow or bioelectricity]] just by touching them if he wants to (with the obvious exception of touching Touma's [[AntiMagic right hand]].
* BlackMage Zeref from ''Manga/FairyTail'' has this as his main magic, but he can't really control it, [[spoiler:which is why he isolated himself for several centuries]].
* Frieza tried to do this to Gohan in ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', giving him a lightning-quick punch to the chest that stopped his heart. Quick thinking by Piccolo, using a kiai blast to Gohan's chest to restart his heart, saved his life. (See "Real Life" examples for a likely explanation.)
* Beerus in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', being a god of destruction, is naturally capable of this. [[spoiler:This is how he destroys the present version of Zamasu before he can enact his evil plan.]]
* The titular mecha in ''Anime/AquarionLogos'' does this to who or whatever comes into contact with it, even entire concepts of reality are not safe from it.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Tomura Shigaraki's quirk, "Decay", allows him to cause whatever he touches to disintegrate and crumble to dust. When used on a human being, the results are very painful and [[BodyHorror very unpleasant]]. [[spoiler: Thanks to the events of the Meta Liberation Army arc, Shigaraki can now do this at range, turning him into a PersonOfMassDestruction]].
** Kai Chisaki's quirk, "Overhaul", lets him disassemble and reassemble anything at will with a touch. When dealing with his enemies, he tends to stop at the first step, effectively turning anyone touched into a smear on the wall.
** Eri's quirk, "Rewind", allows her to rewind anyone she comes in contact with to their previous state when activated, such as [[spoiler:undoing Kai's fusions with his subordinates, or restoring Izuku Midoriya's damage when using One For All, Full Cowling 100%]]. However, it also has the potential to rewind people to before they were even born, erasing them from existence. It was revealed in a flashback that [[spoiler:her father suffered this fate and, because she had no control of her quirk yet, Midoriya would have been erased too if not for Shouta Aizawa's "Erasure" quirk shutting down hers]].
* Inverted in ''Manga/HotarubiNoMoriE''. Gin is under a curse that would cause him to fade away if he were to come into contact with another human.
* In the climatic battle of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood'', TheHero Jonathan Joestar and the BigBad Dio Brando '''both''' have a Touch Of Death of sorts. Jonathan Joestar is a Ripple user who has the power to channel energy that has the same properties as sunlight, making his touch lethal to vampires like Dio Brando. Dio Brando otoh has figured out how to instantly drain heat from anything he touches, freezing it. Jonathan thus has to figure out a way to get past Dio's Touch Of Death so that he can inflict his ''own'' Touch Of Death on Dio. Jonathan ultimately resorts to ''setting his own gloved fist on fire'' to negate Dio's freezing ability in order to land one good Ripple-infused punch on Dio.
* Played with in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Cologne teaches [[TheRival Ryoga]] a martial arts technique that disintegrates anything by lightly tapping it. Her method of teaching is [[TrainingFromHell hurling large boulders at Ryoga which he has to shatter before they smash into him]]. When Ranma learns of this training, he starts training his speed to make sure he doesn't get hit. In the end, it turns out to be a trick by Cologne. The technique she taught can only be used to shatter boulders, not people. She was actually [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower training Ryoga's resislience by smashing him with all those boulders]], while tricking Ranma into thinking he had to train his speed, rather than his strength, to counter it.

* Judge Death, the perennial enemy of ComicBook/JudgeDredd, is an evil zombie from a parallel universe, resembling a corpse in a Judge uniform. His touch causes instant death, which he accompanies with his catchphrase, "You cannot kill that which does not live!"

* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'', Black Velvet can cause people to instantly disintegrate to nothingness in a sudden flash of light.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', the Wuxi Finger Hold causes (neither the scene in question nor WordOfGod is entirely clear) the victim to explode with city-shaking force merely by flexing the pinky finger. Made even more awesome when Po uses it on Tai Lung and admits that he figured out how do to it on his own.

* ''Film/IronMonkey'''s Hin-Hung, Imperial Legate Officer, renegade Shaolin monk and all-around BigBad of the movie, wields the "King Kong Palm," which allows him to deliver "the Buddha's Hit," which leaves a handprint embedded on the victim and poisons the blood.

* In ''Film/TheMenWhoStareAtGoats'', a move fitting this description supposedly killed China's greatest martial artist - eighteen years after the fact. Lyn believes himself to be affected by this. Presumably the story is based on the "quivering palm" theory of the death of Creator/BruceLee. (Short version: a martial arts master, angry over Lee revealing martial arts sequences in his films, killed him with a slow-acting deathblow.)

* ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'': Both Thorne in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' and Abraxas in ''VideoGame/TronEvolution'' could kill Programs with a touch, or corrupt them into viral drones, unleashing a virtual ZombieApocalypse in both cases. With Thorne, it was an accident, since his handlers uploaded him without the safeties and quickly lost control of him. With Abraxas, it was a deliberate FalseFlagOperation on the part of Clu, who corrupted the Iso Jalen into Abraxas to make Programs believe the Isos were ''all'' capable of doing this and about to destroy the Programs...[[Film/TronLegacy which is how he got the majority of support behind his coup.]]
* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'': When Flag, Peacemaker, and Bloodsport are captured by three guards, Bloodsport tells the guards about the supposed "touch of death." The guard has, in fact, heard of it, and admits it's possible to kill a man in one blow, but [[TemptingFate no one can do it reliably]].
-->'''Colonel:''' Of course it's possible to kill a man with a single blow. But it's a matter of chance, [[TemptingFate and cannot be wielded with certainty.]]\\

'''Bloodsport:''' ''[[BadassBoast Amateurs.]]''\\

* The infamous ''Avada Kedavra'' Killing Curse in Literature/HarryPotter kills (almost) anything the instant it strikes. It also utterly obliterates objects. It takes some powerful magic and intent to make it work properly however.
* In the novel ''Literature/ForeverAfter'', ''hingu'' master Gar Quithnick can inflict all sorts of instant or conditional death or paralysis with a touch (in addition to conventional martial arts). The highest technique of his art is a touch that will kill an opponent when he experiences a moment that defines his life. After using it on a deposed tyrannical despot, Gar informs him that he can live a long life of modesty and humility, or go back to his old ways and die.
* In ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'' there's an elven clan called the layne who can kill with their touch. [[spoiler:Seven-year-old Virra is one of them.]] Other elves treat them with attitudes varying from "I don't want to have them nearby." to "Well, they can't help it." Customarily, layne work as assassins. With the killing touch comes an uncanny knowledge of the whereabouts and status of life or death of their target.
* In the Creator/LarryNiven ''Literature/KnownSpace'' short story "Death By Ecstasy" the detective hero uses his "imaginary arm", a form of short-range telekinesis, to stop the BigBad's heart by reaching inside his body and ''squeezing''.

* In the ''Literature/WildCards'' universe, there is a literal example and the slightly different "deadly stare" power of the ace Demise, who can kill by locking eyes with a person for few seconds.
* Employed in the first book of the Martial Arts series ''Literature/JasonStriker'' by Creator/PiersAnthony.
* Sau'ilahk of ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheNobleDead'' is capable of killing humans with a single touch. (Dwarves are somewhat hardier, as he learns to his consternation).
* In the second book of ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'', ''Playing With Fire'', the villain, Baron Vengeous, has a power that quite fits this: If he looks at people and has the will to, he can make "The body forget everything it ever learned about holding together", in short: explode
** The fifth book, ''Mortal Coil'', has the Russian assassin Tesseract, who has a rare ability called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bonebreaker]]. With it Tesseract can fatally shatter bones with the lightest of touches, but apparently it only works if he's touching the victim with his fingertips.
* In ''Literature/TheAdversaryCycle'' 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.
* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' (by Creator/CharlesStross): In ''The Fuller Memorandum'', the Nyarlathotep cultists' bungled summoning leaves Bob with the necromantic abilities of an [[EldritchAbomination Eater of Souls]] including the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin clearly labelled one]]. It takes some time for him to [[PowerIncontinence learn enough control to be able to touch someone without killing them.]]
* In the ''Literature/ParadoxTrilogy'', the Stoneclaw virus grants this power to its host. When it is active, her hands turn a sooty black color, and anyone she touches dies.
* In the novella "Literature/ShadowsForSilenceInTheForestsOfHell" by Creator/BrandonSanderson, the shades will wither any flesh that touches them. Applying silver to the area, or forcing silver dust down the victim's throat can reverse the damage, but only within a brief time.
* In ''Literature/WingsOfFire'', Peril has the power to fatally burn dragons just by touching them.
* In ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'', the Vidona faction gain a unique "deathtouch" ability from the [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic High Calendar]], which reduces the victim to a translucent sheet of diagrams, numbers, and traced bones and blood vessels. It's usually used for ritual HumanSacrifice and summary executions; misuse is punishable by death, which is small comfort to the victims.
* ''Literature/SanoIchiro'' has the concept of killing by pressure point first appear in ''The Assassin's Touch'', when said assassin uses it to kill members of the Shogun's court. After Hirata protects Sano from injury during the events of the book and is permanently lamed as a result, he goes on a several book quest looking for the secrets of the death touch himself to compensate for being slowed by his injury.
* In ''Literature/DarkShores'' the Seventh god grants its chosen (or the corrupted, as most people call them) the ability to steal another person's life force through touch, which also makes them very hard to kill (as they manage to accumulate hundreds of years of life through this).
* ''Literature/PerryRhodan'': In the German SF series, Mutant Irmina Kotschistowa can screw around with any biological process, so she can do that too, and has - in emergencies. She's a good mutie who prefers to save lives with her powers, though.
* Shurf Lonli-Lokli from ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'' wields a pair of gloves (made from the hands of two mages he killed), with the left one in particular embodying this trope, as it does not simply kill anything it touches, but disintegrates it into a handful of silvery ash. Shurf only survives wearing it thanks to powerful runic enchantments covering his entire body, and he ''still'' needs to wear an additional pair of thick gloves covered in the same runes in order to protect those around him from getting accidentally disinterated.
* In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, there's a [[AllAsiansKnowMartialArts Japanese martial artist]] named Samurai who Fate requires for something. Since he already knows the touch of instant death, he requires that he be taught the way to kill someone by touching them and then having them die in agony a week later as their organs fail. He also tried to rape Fate as soon as he saw her approaching him, because he thought the only reason a woman would ever seek out a man is because she wants to get raped by him. [[SarcasmMode Clearly the kind of person you'd trust with such power]].

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Vulcan's Glory'' a Human/Vulcan hybrid named Daniel Reed used a Vulcan martial arts technique called Lan-dovna to murder two members of the USS ''Enterprise'' crew. A method of strangling someone with a single hand, ''Lan-dovna'' was developed in Vulcan's violent past before the time of Surak. In the 23rd century Lan-dovna was still taught to many Vulcan schoolchildren.[[note]]In the ''Voyager'' episode ''Meld'' Tuvok may have used a Lan-dovna hold to strangle a holographic recreation of Neelix that Tuvok created in an attempt to bring his emotions under control after a mind meld with a serial killer.[[/note]]

** The Diviner is a piece of ImportedAlienPhlebotinum that kills any human who touches it [[spoiler: unless they are a potential Inhuman]].
** In the episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E2HeavyIsTheHead "Heavy is the Head"]], Carl Creel, a superhuman with the ability to [[ElementalShapeshifter turn into any material he touches]], touches the Diviner and gains the same Touch of Death ability, although touching it also screws with his powers, meaning he can't [[PowerIncontinence turn it off]].
** In the episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E3MakingFriendsAndInfluencingPeople "Making Friends and Influencing People"]], the VillainOfTheWeek, Donnie Gill, is AnIcePerson capable of freezing anyone to death simply by touching them.
* An interesting variant in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'', where the wielder of said power, [[spoiler: Zoe Benson]], has no control over her ability, and it seems to activate on its own immediately after sexual intercourse. The effects seemed to be intense internal hemorrhage all throughout the body, causing blood to escape from the eyes, mouth, ears, nose, and possibly other places.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' had an episode with a martial artist who killed the victim of the week with a single blow to the back of the neck.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth "New Earth"]]: The clones created by the Sisters of Plenitude as test subjects are infected with every known disease in the galaxy, all of which are infectious. One touch can kill in minutes. The Doctor then inverts the trope by curing several of them and sending them out to cure the rest by touching them.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]]: The [[WickedWitch Carrionite]] known as [[MeaningfulName Doomfinger]] displays the ability to stop the heart with a single touch... and she ''really'' seems to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything enjoy]] [[OrgasmicCombat doing]] [[TheImmodestOrgasm so]].
* ''Series/IronFist2017'': In "The City's Not for Burning", the Triad boss Hai-Qing Yang returns Davos' money and says he's backing out of their deal. Davos [[DeadlyHug embraces him in front of his bodyguards]] while palliating his neck to give him a stroke, causing him to keel over right after Davos has left the room. While the Triads aren't suspicious, Danny Rand realizes who's responsible the moment he sees the bruises on the victim's neck, as there's only two people in the world (Danny and Davos) who know the technique.

* In the ''Series/Space1999'' episode "Force Of Life", a Moonbase Alpha crewman is infected with a form of alien energy which causes him to absorb energy from other life-forms. Consequently, anybody he touches freezes to death instantly.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''

** At the end of season two, when all of Azazel's children meet up, they start comparing their powers: super strength, mind control, etc. Then one woman tells Sam to stop angsting about his death visions and says that when she touches people, their hearts stop. This included her girlfriend, apparently.
** Demonstrated by the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Fourth Horsemen]], [[TheGrimReaper Death]] himself during his spectacular [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg0kQHIMx9M&feature=related introduction.]] Also, when Dean becomes Death for a day, he kills people simply by touching them.

* In ''Series/{{Tracker}}'', a fugitive named Tev had the ability to do this to the alien EnergyBeings, although it took a lot longer in humans.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* Slightly more balanced is the Enlightened (read: fancy-pants martial artist) ability in ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'', the aptly-named Poison Palm. Hucksters have a similar ability. Sykers have a number of variations on this trick, but the one that actually requires touch is called "heartstopper." Then again, Sykers are SuperSoldier {{Ninja}} [[RecycledINSPACE In The Future]]. (Yeah. Dey gots baggage.)
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Several instances, but practically anything with the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Instant Death]] rule that causes an unsaved wound kills the target immediately, unless they have [[MadeOfIron Eternal Warrior]] rule, which explicitly makes them immune. Normally Instant Death is invoked by the ChunkySalsaRule, but certain artifacts, weapons, or a handful of exceptionally deadly units have Instant Death by default. The most common are the "Force" weapons are weapons forged for psykers, who can channel their psychic power into these weapons and cause enormous physical and psychic damage with a solid hit.

* ''TabletopGame/FengShui'' doesn't have many fu powers that might qualify as a "Touch of Death" (even Lightning Fist, on a path that includes "Dim Mak" which only ignores armor, mainly does damage that bypasses Toughness), but the prime contender for the title would be Storm of the Tiger, the ultimate technique of the Path of the Healthy Tiger, which you can only get by mastering both the healing and the vengeful paths of the style, and which allows you to spend as much Chi as you want on a barehanded strike that you have just made and do twice that amount of Chi in extra damage.
** Ming I's Arm of Darkness. The name should say it all.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', being the game it is, has a myriad of ways to do this. One of the more painful is the sorcery spell Blood of Boiling Oil; Essence swirls around your hands and coats them red, and the first person you touch has their blood turn to... well, you know. 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 kick people's heads off with a sufficiently impressive stunt.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'': The Pressure Pointer skill that the Martial Artist vocation learns is a pure example of this.
** There's also the Poison Needle, available since ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'', that can get a one-hit kill if it critically hits (it's extremely weak otherwise). The Poison Needle's effect actually makes it the safest way to kill Bomb or Crag type enemies. Simply hand it over to a Jester (huge crit range), then have the rest of your party just sit back and have a staring contest with the little bastards till the needle procs.
* ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'', mainly the Dark Arisen DLC has no other than Death itself as an enemy, and it only has one attack, and it's always an instakill. It doesn't matter how [[UnblockableAttack you try to block it]], if you are on the radius of it's attack the moment it does it, you WILL die, no exceptions. To make things worse, it can teleport and constantly harass you, and it's the only enemy in the game that completely ignores your [[NonPlayerCompanion pawns]]' GameplayAllyImmortality the moment they are touched by the attack, and pawns [[SuicidalOverconfidence being]] [[ArtificialStupidity pawns]], they will often stay on it's area of effect enough time to fall asleep and get instantly killed a moment after.
** Another less direct example would be Daimon's Rift Vortex and Abyssal Vortex , it's area of effect starts pulling everyone inside first and anybody can escape it, but if anybody inside this area is out of stamina or doesn't get far enough in time, they get pulled inside fast and get killed instantly, also ignoring GameplayAllyImmortality.
** DownplayedTrope with the Dragonkin, all of them have a powerful roar that can instantly kill all pawns, but it doesn't ignore GameplayAllyImmortality, so the player can still revive them on the spot.

* [[spoiler:Gaia]] from ''VideoGame/Grandia1'' is capable of absorbing any living being's life force and consequently [[TakenForGranite petrifying]] them with nothing but its presence. The worst part? [[spoiler:Gaia is a humongous plant/insect [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abomination]] that spreads like wildfire.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'' adopts the aforementioned ''Magic: The Gathering''[='=]s deathtouch as "poisonous". Any character (a minion, a hero with a weapon etc) with poisonous can instantly kill any minion with any amount of damage.
* If you choose to pursue the difficult GoldenEnding in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'', you'll end up visiting the Lord of the Dead in the underworld in an effort to revive some lost souls. He, bemused by your presence, suggests that you kiss his hand to receive an instant and painless death. If you do so, or wait around long enough for him to get bored and reach out to touch you, you'll be rendered DeaderThanDead and get a NonStandardGameOver.

** Powerful wizards can learn the ''finger of death'' skill (which is what the wand shoots). Anything without resistance is instantly obliterated (including the Wizard of Yendor). Oh, and did I mention it's a ray spell, meaning it can hit multiple targets at once?

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', monks have a skill called Touch of Death that originally instantly killed an enemy if it had less health than the monk (though you can't use it on other players for [[CompetitiveBalance obvious reasons)]]. Two expansions later it was [[{{Nerf}} nerfed]] to only deal 50% of the user's maximum health in damage after an 8 second delay, though the "target must have less health" restriction was lifted as well. Since the skill isn't actually guaranteed to kill the target anymore, the name could be considered an ArtifactTitle. Has of Shadow Lands Touch of Death uses its original rules.

* Feng Wei of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' practices the particularly brutal (and fictional) God Fist Kenpo style, with one of his unblockable attacks invoking the Dim Mak directly, both by name (''Death Palm'') and method (being what amounts to a highly ritualized short palm thrust that takes away a massive amount of your health bar).
* In ''VideoGame/{{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 God.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has [[CuteGhostGirl Yuyuko Saigyouji]], whose InformedAbility is to, plain and simple, cause anyone not immortal to die.
* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', [[{{Mummy}} Amumu]] causes all living things he touches to wither, his [[https://youtu.be/0AvWV6Mk374 music video]] portrays his condition very well.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vgjPTy3jnA "Death" spell]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' is this. Instead of just randomly killing off the targeted opponent as in other ''Final Fantasies'', "Death" in ''[=FFXV=]'' is an ability gained from the [[MementoMacGuffin Ring of the Lucii]] that has the target's life force slowly drained by said ring, shown by them slowly getting more and more emaciated before they burst into nothingness.
* [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]] in ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' get a touch of death as a basic ability, which grows progressively more lethal the more death magic and Lich powers they learn. It can be enhanced even further to damage anyone who tries to attack the Lich up close.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'':
** Acquiring the Charge Beam allows Samus to damage weak enemies by spin jumping into them while the beam is charged.
** Colliding into most enemies while using the Speed Booster/Shinespark in any capacity will kill them.
** The Screw Attack does nothing but this, and when combined with the Space Jump basically makes Samus death incarnate without firing a single shot.

* ''Webcomic/KidRadd'': This is how CollisionDamage is portrayed (and what it's called!). Those with it cannot control it, and must avoid touching normal people. (It seems that those with it can touch each other without harm--at least, [[{{Sidekick}} Bogey]] can touch other members of his species.)

-->'''Master Fei''': "All he would say of his style was, 'I don't know what it's like to hit a man twice."
* Webcomic/TwilightLady has this as her signature killing technique. It took years to master, but if the target has committed murder of any kind, she can just use her martial arts to poke them to death - or stand still and watch them grope her. Which is why it's surprising when a female muscle demon slaver IS COMPLETELY IMMUNE.
* Two-Faced has the Frozenclaws, a group of cats who can kill (if they want to) with one touch of their white paws. Each time they kill a cat, the white marking grows. This is unfortunate, because if the white completely covers their body, they die coughing up blood.
* The first chapter of ''Webcomic/BitsFair'' featured a character who severely injured Ida's dad by [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150906190525/http://bitsfair.com/comic/1-033-38/ touching him with his palm]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Plume}}'', apparently touching Corrick's skin can cause death, as he warns Vesper of it.
* Parodied by ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'', where the instructor in a ninja academy finally reveals where the magic spot on a person's body which will kill them if touched... and it's inside the human heart, deep inside the body instead on the skin, making the information both obvious and useless. The pupils angrily demand their money back, but the instructor, being a ninja, [[StealthHiBye has already left without notice.]]

* SCP-049 from both Website/SCPFoundation and ''VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach'' is a medieval-style PlagueDoctor that seemingly believes most human beings are infected with ThePlague, with the unfortunate ability to [[DeadlyDoctor kill anyone he goes near by touching them with his hands.]] He then, utilizing strange surgery, turns his victims into [[PlagueZombie zombies.]] This is made much, '''much''' creepier when [[HumanoidAbomination you read that his clothing is a part of his body.]] In contrast, [[AffablyEvil he's extremely polite and generally compliant]] whenever he's being put back into containment, or whenever someone speaks with him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** 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/ - or rather \n/, as [[FourFingeredHands this is the Simpsons]])
** Played straight in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E1TreehouseOfHorrorXIV Treehouse Of Horror XIV]] when Homer accidentally killed Death to save Bart. Homer tried on Death's cloak for fun and was conscripted by {{God}} to take Death's place. Homer uses the Touch of Death to kill Jasper and an unnamed hobo; at one point he abuses the supernatural power to get better seats at a baseball game ''by killing everybody in the way''. Bart asks him if ''all'' of them were supposed to die, but Homer just shrugs it off.
** In the CouchGag of [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E1TreehouseOfHorrorVII Treehouse of Horror VII]], the Simpson family find Death waiting for them on the sofa. They all drop dead when he touches them, after which Death puts his feet up on their corpses to watch TV.

* 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 with a Touch of Death after Carl refuses to buy any gutters.
* Timmy Turner's Mom in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' can never grow anything in her garden, because she believes she is cursed and most forms of produce tend to shrivel up when she touches it.
-->*bawling* "EVERYTHING I TOUCH '''DIEEEEES!'''
** Which was then PlayedForLaughs as his Dad says "Hey Dinkleburg. Why don't you come over here and give my wife a congratulatory hand touch?"
** In one episode where Mr. Turner started a farm, it showed he's just as bad, even with the land being magically enchanted to grow.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': This is Phantom Limb's super power, aside from having [[FlightStrengthHeart invisible limbs]]. Apparently he actually can control this power, unlike Marvel Comics' Rogue, as observed when he was able to shake Brock Samson's hand with non-lethal effects. When activating this ability, the veins in his invisible limbs spark and give off a green-red light.
* In the Season 3 finale of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E10TheRickchurianMortydate The Rickchurian Mortydate]]", one of the president's men are ordered to arrest Rick. Rick warns the young man that if he touches him, he'll die. True to his word the poor bodyguard drops instantly dead without a sound or a flash. Rick thinks this a very good deterrent.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'' has a series of martial arts moves called the Seven Steps To The Sun. The seventh step, a way to kill anyone with seven blows, is considered too dangerous to be taught to anyone but the most worthy.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode titled, well, "[[Recap/SouthParkS1E6Death Death]]", when the Grim Reaper appears in person it's briefly established, "You'll die if he touches you!" (In a mixed-up retelling of the scene in "[[Recap/SouthParkS2E7CityOnTheEdgeOfForever "City on the Edge of Forever]]", this does not prevent [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny]] from grabbing Death by the finger and slamming him back and forth against the ground and it's recognized that "Kenny... killed... death.")

* ''LetsPlay/WitchCraftSMP'': An acquired ability of Necromantic Witches is to inflict this on their targets, though it is slow-acting and gradual as opposed to instant.

*** Lady Shiva has learned a number of martial arts techniques designed to kill in a single blow, but she considers most of them to have fairly easy counters. Her favorite and signature move is called the Leopard Blow, which DependingOnTheWriter either so thoroughly disrupts the victim's heartbeat that it kills them instantly or is her putting her hand through the victim's skull via their face. Batman, Tim Drake and ComicBook/RichardDragon (who is the only other known user of the technique) can tell she's around instantly when coming across victims of this technique.

*** Rogue is normally BlessedWithSuck, but during some issues, her sucky power was overloaded into the ''"you touch her, you'll die"'' category.

-->-- '''Creator/{{Seanbaby}}''', ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', '[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-real-survival-guides-for-wildly-improbable-situations/ " 4 Real Survival Guides for Wildly Improbable Situations"]]

-->-- '''Creator/{{Seanbaby}}''', ''[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-real-survival-guides-for-wildly-improbable-situations/ Cracked.com]]''

-->[[CatchPhrase You are already dead.]]

* Laurel Darkhaven of ''ComicBook/RisingStars'' is dismayed at first that she can only use her telekinesis to manipulate small objects. Until she realizes that includes the carotid artery. She becomes an assassin for the government.
* ComicBook/{{Rogue}} from Comicbook/XMen is normally BlessedWithSuck, but during some issues her sucky power was overloaded into the ''"you touch her, you'll die"'' category.
--> ''[[ComicBook/MiniMarvels "Rogue has cooties!"]]''
* In ''[[ComicBook/Marvel2099 X-Men 2099]]'', team leader Xi'an Chi Xan has one hand that kills anything he touches and another that heals.
* Carrion, from [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spider-Man's rogue gallery]] is a virus variety of undead, with a death touch.
** Another Spider-Man villain with touch of death is [[MeaningfulName Styx]], who got his powers from a cancer experiment done by his associate [[PunnyName Stone]]. He needs to kill in order to survive, can kill almost anything living and can disintegrate organic matter. He almost killed Venom Symbiote with his touch in one of his first fights.
* An early issue of [[Creator/GrantMorrison Grant Morrison's]] Comicbook/AnimalMan featured the tragic "Red Mask" who'd always wanted to fly. In the 50's he touched a [[MagicMeteor glowing meteor]] hoping it would give him powers; it did but the power was a literal death touch, any person or animal he touched would die. He feels he has no choice but to become a villain, something he's not very successful at. Animal Man runs into him in the midst of a last hurrah, attacking San Diego with lowtech robots he'd won in a poker game. Now elderly, overweight and dying of cancer he throws himself off a building and Animal Man is too late to save him.
* The Touch Of Death is common in the MarvelUniverse. Besides Rogue, Xi'an Chi Xan, Carrion and Styx, there's Selene, the former Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, a mutant with a life draining touch who has lived for millennia thanks to her powers, during which she also became a powerful sorceress. One of her followers, Lois London aka [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mortis]], constantly emits a disruptive energy field that can induce heart attacks in living creatures. ComicBook/XForce member Joshua Foley aka Elixir can use his bio-manipulation abilities to kill people (pretty horribly too). Dark Young Avengers member Melter can, well, melt anything with a touch, and much like Wither, accidentally killed his parents this way. (And to top off the list, we have Hela. Kinda cheating since she is a Death Goddess.)
* ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'' villain Deadly Ernest was an example of both this and ThePunishment: as a soldier in UsefulNotes/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.
* In ComicBook/{{Venom}}'s 2017 BatFamilyCrossover event ''ComicBook/{{Venomverse}}'', we have the creatures known as the Poisons. Like the Xenophages before them, they prey on symbiotes. Essentially, they are to Venom what Venom is to normal people. In their natural state, if you're wearing a symbiote, they can kill you just by touching you. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the loose sequel ''ComicBook/{{Venomized}}'', where the Poisons die themselves if they so much as poke Anti-Venom.
* In ''Franchise/{{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.
* ''ComicBook/RedRobin'' villain Vitoria can kill through brief skin contact with a victim which causes them to be poisoned with a paralytic neurotoxin that acts like and possibly is a very concentrated version of a Brazilian wandering spider's venom.
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': The Daughters of Acheron are a pair of League of Assassins members who can kill with a touch. Only one of them has the control needed to use their corrosive ability without killing the target, and that still leaves Tim badly injured and unconscious despite her using it through his armored uniform.
* In ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'', a member of the Sinestro Corps, Murr the Melting Man, was an alien scientist mutated in a lab accident into a shambling, mindless being who can melt anything he touches. His teammates make a note to keep their forcefields up when he's around.
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Wally West learned a death touch technique in one mid-80s annual that was never, ever referenced again.
* In issue #398 of ''ComicBook/AdventureComics'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is made to believe she gained a power that means she kills everything she touches. In reality, an alien was trying to trick her into leaving Earth; but she quickly figured out his ruse.
* The most iconic power of the ''ComicBook/ManThing'' is his ability to secrete a psycho-reactive HollywoodAcid when aggravated, which causes those covered in it to burst into flames if they get scared.
* ComicBook/LadyShiva has learned a number of martial arts techniques designed to kill in a single blow but she considers most of them to have fairly easy counters, her favorite and signature move is called the Leopard Blow which DependingOnTheWriter either so thoroughly disrupts the victim's heartbeat that it kills them instantly or is her putting her hand through the victim's skull via their face. ComicBook/{{Batman}}, Tim Drake and ComicBook/RichardDragon (who is the only other known user of the technique) can tell she's around instantly when coming across victims of this technique.
* Judge Death, the perennial enemy of ComicBook/JudgeDredd, is an evil zombie from a parallel universe, resembling a corpse in a Judge uniform. His touch causes instant death, which he accompanies with his catch-phrase, "You cannot kill that which does not live!"

* ''ComicBook/JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse'': This continuity's version of Deathstroke has the power to instantly kill whoever he touches. He's ultimately defeated when the Flash tricks him into [[HoistByHisOwnPetard using his own power on himself]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The ninja Kyodai Ken discovers the Way of the Fang technique and promptly decides to turn it against our hero. However, the always CrazyPrepared Batman wears armor to protect the exact spot Kyodai needs to hit. (Batman figured out the spot the Way of the Fang targets by looking at which spot had been hit the most on Kyodai's training dummy.) The plan worked and Kyodai was convinced that the technique doesn't work.
** Kyodai Ken is apparently killed after their fight, leaving Batman as the only person in the world who knows the Touch of Death, as well as the only person who would never use that knowledge or teach it to anyone else.

--> "Note to self, do NOT go to the bathroom".

* In the Season 3 Finale of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' one of the president's men are ordered to arrest Rick. Rick warns the young man that if he touches him, he'll die. True to his word the poor bodyguard drops instantly dead without a sound or a flash. Rick thinks this a very good deterrent.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode titled, well, [[Recap/SouthParkS1E6Death "Death"]], when the Grim Reaper appears in person it's briefly established, "You'll die if he touches you!" (In a mixed-up retelling of the scene in [[Recap/SouthParkS2E7CityOnTheEdgeOfForever "City On The Edge Of Forever"]] this does not prevent [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny]] from grabbing Death by the finger and slamming him back and forth against the ground and it's recognized that "Kenny... killed... death.")

** While Kimblee makes long-range explosions by disrupting molecules in the air, in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], he instead can turn anyone he touches [[WhyAmITicking into a living explosive]].

* ''ComicBook/JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse'': This continuity's version of Deathstroke has the power to instantly kill whoever he touches. He's ultimately defeated when the Flash tricks him into [[HoistByHisOwnPetard using his own power on himself]].

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Horn Drill, Fissure, Guillotine, and Sheer Cold (30% Accuracy, but opponent faints instantly if hit).

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' has the Diviner, a piece of ImportedAlienPhlebotinum that kills any human who touches it [[spoiler: unless they are a potential Inhuman]].
** In the episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E2HeavyIsTheHead "Heavy is the Head"]], Carl Creel, a superhuman with the ability to [[ElementalShapeshifter turn into any material he touches]] touches the Diviner and gains the same Touch of Death ability, although touching it also screws with his powers, meaning he can't [[PowerIncontinence turn it off]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The season two episodes "Surprise" and "Innocence" have the Scoobies dealing with the Judge, a NighInvulnerable demon whose mere touch can incinerate any being with "humanity", or more specifically the capacity for emotions. Only truly evil and depraved beings, such as Angelus, can survive the process.

* ''Series/IronFist2017''. In "The City's Not For Burning", the Triad boss Hai-Qing Yang returns Davos' money and says he's backing out of their deal. Davos [[DeadlyHug embraces him in front of his bodyguards]] while palliating his neck to give him a stroke, causing him to keel over right after Davos has left the room. While the Triads aren't suspicious, Danny Rand realises who's responsible the moment he sees the bruises on the victim's neck, as there's only two people in the world (Danny and Davos) who know the technique.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': In #901, Crow gives himself the touch of death and kills Mike. Tom gives himself footsteps.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': "Reaper" featured a man who reduced anybody (including a dog and some vegetables) who made skin contact with him to dust. He [[PowerIncontinence couldn't turn it off]], but didn't seem to be overly distraught by this, and went around "mercy-killing" people whose suffering he considered to be too great. When he touched Clark Kent, even ''[[NighInvulnerable Clark]]'' screamed in pain before knocking him away. When he was finally convinced that his mission was wrong and went into WhatHaveIDone mode, he put his hands together, turning to dust himself, which [[FridgeLogic raises a few questions]] about how he was able to change his clothes and do other stuff that involves touching his own skin.
** Only one hand had this power, because he'd been wearing a Kryptonite bracelet on that wrist when he died. Also, it's suggested that he may have been able to turn it off but found it difficult to do so.

** Subverted in "The Enterprise Incident". Spock supposedly uses the famed Vulcan Death Grip to kill Kirk. Later on, we learn that no such thing exists, and Spock actually hit the captain with a Vulcan Nerve Pinch (which in itself is a milder version of this, capable of dropping almost anyone into unconsciousness in a matter of seconds).
** Although the Death Grip does not exist, it is revealed in the episode ''Journey to Babel'' that there is a Vulcan instant-kill technique known as ''tal-shaya'', which appears to be a semi-ritual NeckSnap. Historically it was used for the execution of criminals, but Spock's father is suspected of having used it to murder someone.
** Played straight with Losira in "That Which Survives", who imploded people's cellular structure with a touch. If she says "I am for you", ''run!''

* ''Series/Charmed1998'': Darklighters, being the evil counterparts to Whitelighters, have this ability as opposed to whitelighters HealingHands.
* ''Series/TheOutpost'': This is the power that the Black Kinj gives its host, allowing them the ability to kill any living thing they make physical contact with. The downside is that [[PowerIncontinence they have no control of it]], rendering them incapable of being around other people without killing them.