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* Literature/SherlockHolmes:
** Averted in that Watson's old bullet wound, while survived (and rarely mentioned... and tending to migrate due to continuity error), still gives him pains.
** Involved in the heartwarming scene in "The Three Garridebs" in which Watson is slightly injured by a bullet, and a horrified Holmes has an uncharacteristically emotional outburst of relief that he's safe before informing the shooter that if Watson had died, Holmes would have straight-up killed him.
** Averted in that Watson's old bullet wound, while survived (and rarely mentioned... and tending to migrate due to continuity error), still gives him pains.
** Involved in the heartwarming scene in "The Three Garridebs" in which Watson is slightly injured by a bullet, and a horrified Holmes has an uncharacteristically emotional outburst of relief that he's safe before informing the shooter that if Watson had died, Holmes would have straight-up killed him.
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* ''Literature/HelenAndTroysEpicRoadQuest'': It takes [[TheGrimReaper Shoth]] gesturing to the various tree-branches sticking out of Peggy Bonebreaker's torso for her to realize that the wounds are fatal and that he had come to reap her, and even then she insists that she's had worse.
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* Discussed in the Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/PatriotGames''. Jack Ryan is shot in the shoulder and spends many weeks recovering. During his stay in the hospital, Ryan ponders how the heroes in fiction always seem to recover from a shoulder injury by the end of the show or novel or whatever.
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* Discussed in the Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/PatriotGames''. In the opening action, Jack Ryan is shot in the shoulder shoulder. The damage done by the bullet is described in some detail, and he spends many weeks recovering. During his stay in the hospital, Ryan ponders how the heroes in fiction always seem to recover from a shoulder injury by the end of the show or novel or whatever.
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* Lampshaded in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'', when Shizuo nonchalantly shows up on Shinra's doorstep with [[spoiler:a bullet in his side and leg]], Shinra is understandably confused as to how he manages to even walk with so much muscle damage to his leg. Shizuo simply shrugs and says "'Cause I can."
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-->But my immediate anecdote concerns Ranger co-founder co-founder Ted Shields, who was with some other Ranger on a fishing trip off the coast of Louisiana when he came down wrong on his ankle and broke it. Naturally he told everybody it was just a sprain. Guys always say it's "just a sprain," because this way they can avoid falling into the clutches of medical care. A guy could have one major limb lying on the ground a full ten feet from the rest of his body, and he'd claim it was "just a sprain." So, although Ted's ankle was painful and swelling rapidly and turning some nonstandard colors, Ted chose to remain on the boat and treat the injury himself.
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-->'There's no need,' said Vetinari, trying to [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction smile]] and [[ICanStillFight stand up]]. 'It's just a flesh-'\\
The leg collapsed under him.
The leg collapsed under him.
to:
The leg collapsed under him.''
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* The second book of ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'', ''The Girl Who Played With Fire'', had [[spoiler: Lisbeth Salander]] shot three times: in the leg, in the shoulder and in the head, then BuriedAlive. She manages to crawl her way out of the grave ''and'' hit [[spoiler: Zalachenko, who shot her]] with the axe twice before finally collapsing unconscious. She lives because the bullets were low-caliber, she was found soon afterwards [[spoiler: by Blomkvist, who taped over her wounds]] and she was operated on by one of the best surgeons in Sweden. However, it still takes her several months to recover, and the wound in the shoulder gets severely infected a week after the act.
to:
* The second book of ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'', the ''Literature/MillenniumSeries'', ''The Girl Who Played With with Fire'', had [[spoiler: Lisbeth has [[spoiler:Lisbeth Salander]] shot three times: in the leg, in the shoulder and in the head, then BuriedAlive. She manages to crawl her way out of the grave ''and'' hit [[spoiler: Zalachenko, who shot her]] with the axe twice before finally collapsing unconscious. She lives because the bullets were low-caliber, she was found soon afterwards [[spoiler: by Blomkvist, who taped over her wounds]] and she was operated on by one of the best surgeons in Sweden. However, it still takes her several months to recover, and the wound in the shoulder gets severely infected a week after the act.
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** AxeCrazy Mr Wonderful can slice off his arm mid conversation and can keep cracking wise until he dies of blood loss. [[spoiler: But then he just respawns.]]
to:
** AxeCrazy Mr Mr. Wonderful can slice off his arm mid conversation and can keep cracking wise until he dies of blood loss. [[spoiler: But then he just respawns.]] ]]
* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries'': In ''Rogue Protocol'', a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]]. Murderbot is not impressed (even though Murderbot can [[GoodThingYouCanHeal afford to give the line straight]]).
* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries'': In ''Rogue Protocol'', a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]]. Murderbot is not impressed (even though Murderbot can [[GoodThingYouCanHeal afford to give the line straight]]).
* Subverted in ''Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' by John Fox, Jr. [[spoiler:Rufe Tolliver is about to be taken to the gallows. His family had sworn Rufe would never hang, but security was so tight that they couldn't rescue him. He knew this and expected to be shot in the head by one of his kin acting as a sniper. The shooter missed and hit him in the shoulder instead. Rufe still died immediately.]]
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--->'''Ayatani Zweil''': Flesh wound? Flesh wound? They're all flesh wounds! No one ever says "Ooh look! I've just been shot in the bones, but it missed my flesh completely!"
*** [[MechaMooks Necrons]] do, with the exception of the [[BodyHorror Flayed Ones]]: rounds might not hit THEIR flesh, but they’ll still go through ''someone's'' dead flesh that they wear over the metal to intimidate their enemies.
*** [[MechaMooks Necrons]] do, with the exception of the [[BodyHorror Flayed Ones]]: rounds might not hit THEIR flesh, but they’ll still go through ''someone's'' dead flesh that they wear over the metal to intimidate their enemies.
to:
--->'''Ayatani Zweil''': Zweil:''' Flesh wound? Flesh wound? They're all flesh wounds! No one ever says "Ooh look! I've just been shot in the bones, but it missed my flesh completely!"
*** [[MechaMooks Necrons]] do, with the exception of the [[BodyHorror Flayed Ones]]: rounds might not hitTHEIR ''their'' flesh, but they’ll they'll still go through ''someone's'' dead flesh that they wear over the metal to intimidate their enemies.
*** [[MechaMooks Necrons]] do, with the exception of the [[BodyHorror Flayed Ones]]: rounds might not hit
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* A lot in ''Literature/WarriorCats'', mainly because their way of life essentially revolves around fighting, and everytime a fight breaks out, everyone ends up bleeding from at least one gash. Justified because a cat's claws and teeth aren't nearly long enough to slice deeper than the flesh and muscle or cause major damage unless the injury becomes infected (and since these cats apparently have medical care, infection rates are low). Most injuries referred to in the series are relatively minor, and are true flesh wounds in every sense of the term.
to:
* A lot in ''Literature/WarriorCats'', mainly because their way of life essentially revolves around fighting, and everytime every time a fight breaks out, everyone ends up bleeding from at least one gash. Justified because a cat's claws and teeth aren't nearly long enough to slice deeper than the flesh and muscle or cause major damage unless the injury becomes infected (and since these cats apparently have medical care, infection rates are low). Most injuries referred to in the series are relatively minor, minor and are true flesh wounds in every sense of the term.
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* Subverted in ''Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' by John Fox, Jr. [[spoiler: Rufe Tolliver is about to be taken to the gallows. His family had sworn Rufe would never hang, but security was so tight that they couldn't rescue him. He knew this, and expected to be shot in the head by one of his kin acting as a sniper. The shooter missed and hit him in the shoulder instead. Rufe still died immediately.]].
* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries''. In ''Rogue Protocol'' a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it's doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]]. Murderbot is not impressed (even though Murderbot can [[GoodThingYouCanHeal afford to give the line straight]]).
* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries''. In ''Rogue Protocol'' a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it's doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]]. Murderbot is not impressed (even though Murderbot can [[GoodThingYouCanHeal afford to give the line straight]]).
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* ZigZagged in ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades''. Mages are explicitly stated to be tougher than {{Muggles}} and will survive things non-magic folk won't, but wounds you'd expect to be incapacitating usually still are: in volume 1 Oliver gets disemboweled by a garuda and can only limp to cover to apply [[HealingHands healing magic]]. Furthermore, while healing magic can usually save them from anything that isn't immediately lethal, volume 4 explains that such spells are CastFromLifespan for the recipient. That having been said, at one point during the TournamentArc Nanao Hibiya, who normally wields her katana two-handed, has one of her arms disabled by magic to simulate the loss of it from an incoming spell. She barely breaks stride in adjusting her fighting style to compensate, much to the opposing teams' chagrin.
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* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries''. In ''Rogue Protocol'' a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it's doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]].
to:
* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries''. In ''Rogue Protocol'' a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it's doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]]. Murderbot is not impressed (even though Murderbot can [[GoodThingYouCanHeal afford to give the line straight]]).
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* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries''. In ''Rogue Protocol'' a RobotBuddy uses the line (even though it's doesn't have any fleshy parts) after [[FingerMuzzle losing a hand]].
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* Downplayed in ''[[Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture The War with Lilliputians]]'' when Rat is shot in the shoulder with a blaster. It does make him scream with pain and revert to his true form, but he remains functional enough to walk and talk almost normally and even changes shape once again pretty soon. He also refuses medical aid, saying his wounds heal quickly.
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* Downplayed in ''[[Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture The War with Lilliputians]]'' ''Literature/TheWarWithLilliputians'' when Rat is shot in the shoulder with a blaster. It does make him scream with pain and revert to his true form, but he remains functional enough to walk and talk almost normally and even changes shape once again pretty soon. He also refuses medical aid, saying his wounds heal quickly.
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* Subverted in ''Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' by John Fox, Jr. [spoiler: Rufe Tolliver is about to be taken to the gallows. His family had sworn Rufe would never hang, but security was so tight that they couldn't rescue him. He knew this, and expected to be shot in the head by one of his kin acting as a sniper. The shooter missed and hit him in the shoulder instead. Rufe still died immediately.]].
to:
* Subverted in ''Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' by John Fox, Jr. [spoiler: [[spoiler: Rufe Tolliver is about to be taken to the gallows. His family had sworn Rufe would never hang, but security was so tight that they couldn't rescue him. He knew this, and expected to be shot in the head by one of his kin acting as a sniper. The shooter missed and hit him in the shoulder instead. Rufe still died immediately.]].
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* Subverted in ''Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' by John Fox, Jr. [spoiler: Rufe Tolliver is about to be taken to the gallows. His family had sworn Rufe would never hang, but security was so tight that they couldn't rescue him. He knew this, and expected to be shot in the head by one of his kin acting as a sniper. The shooter missed and hit him in the shoulder instead. Rufe still died immediately.]].
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* Downplayed in ''[[Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture The War with Lilliputians]]'' when Rat is shot in the shoulder with a blaster. It does make him scream with pain and revert to his true form, but he remains functional enough to walk and talk almost normally and even changes shape once again pretty soon. He also refuses medical aid, saying his wounds heal quickly.
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* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel "Men at Arms", [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]] attempts to {{invoke|d Trope}} this trope when he is shot in the leg. He [[SubvertedTrope fails]].
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* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel "Men at Arms", ''Literature/MenAtArms'', [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]] attempts to {{invoke|d Trope}} this trope when he is shot in the leg. He [[SubvertedTrope fails]].
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* Averted in ''[[Literature/FelseInvestigates The Knocker on Death's Door]]'' by Creator/EllisPeters. One character is shot through the shoulder in the final showdown with the murderer. He is rushed to hospital, and one of the surgeons spends most of the night getting the bullet "out of the wreckage of his left shoulder". He's expected to be in hospital (and later, physical therapy) for months afterward, but to make at least an 80 percent recovery eventually.
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* Subverted in ''A World Gone Mad''. After Griffin's partner is able to continue fighting normally for more than half an hour after being shot a couple times in the arm and once in the leg (with an assault rifle), Griffin walks up behind him and ''empties his pistol into the back of the guy's head'' [[spoiler: as his failure to respond negatively to bullets suggests that he's not human]]. Then again, the author hedges his bets with regards to this trope since it's never clearly indicated whether Griffin was right, and one of the major plot points is that his [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Jack Bauer methods]] occasionally results in false positives.
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* Subverted in ''A World Gone Mad''.''Literature/AWorldGoneMad''. After Griffin's partner is able to continue fighting normally for more than half an hour after being shot a couple times in the arm and once in the leg (with an assault rifle), Griffin walks up behind him and ''empties his pistol into the back of the guy's head'' [[spoiler: as his failure to respond negatively to bullets suggests that he's not human]]. Then again, the author hedges his bets with regards to this trope since it's never clearly indicated whether Griffin was right, and one of the major plot points is that his [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Jack Bauer methods]] occasionally results in false positives.
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* In the Chris Ryan novel ''The Increment'', assassinations are disguised by "clipping" one of the assassins' calf to make it appear that the suspect fired back and resisted.
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* In the Chris Ryan Creator/ChrisRyan novel ''The Increment'', assassinations are disguised by "clipping" one of the assassins' calf to make it appear that the suspect fired back and resisted.
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[[OnlyAFleshWound Flesh wounds]] in literature.
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* In one of the ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' books, Ginger Hepplethwaite is shot through the thigh but still manages to outrun his pursuers for over a mile, before collapsing [[HoYay into the arms of his chum and mentor Biggles]] with blood loss. [[note]]read about thigh wounds elsewhere on this page[[/note]]
* Subverted in David Benioff's ''City of Thieves'', in which [[spoiler: a potentially humorous injury ends up causing the death of a major character. The handsome Russian soldier, Kolya, is shot in the buttocks by friendly fire. At first the situation seems mildly funny ("You know how much shit I'm going to get from my battalion? Shot in the ass by fucking amateurs straight off the assembly line!"), and Kolya tries to downplay the injury, but this seriousness sets in when it's clear just how much blood he's losing. As Kolya says, just before he dies: "not quite the way I pictured it."]]
* ''Creator/DaveBarry's Guide To Guys'' has this anecdote about the co-founder of the World Famous Lawn Rangers Precision Lawnmower Drill Team of Arcola, Illinois and his manly attitude toward serious personal injury:
-->But my immediate anecdote concerns Ranger co-founder co-founder Ted Shields, who was with some other Ranger on a fishing trip off the coast of Louisiana when he came down wrong on his ankle and broke it. Naturally he told everybody it was just a sprain. Guys always say it's "just a sprain," because this way they can avoid falling into the clutches of medical care. A guy could have one major limb lying on the ground a full ten feet from the rest of his body, and he'd claim it was "just a sprain." So, although Ted's ankle was painful and swelling rapidly and turning some nonstandard colors, Ted chose to remain on the boat and treat the injury himself.
* Zigzagged in ''{{Literature/Deathstalker}}''. The Masked Gladiator [[spoiler:(Finlay Campbell)]] kills a genetically-engineered flying humanoid creature, which was carrying him high above the Arena to drop him on a flagpole, by stabbing the creature through his own belly. In his Gladiator persona, he shrugs the wound off, claims the head of his kill, and strides confidently back to his quarters beneath the Arena. Then he nearly collapses before his assistant [[spoiler: and illicit girlfriend]] get him into his regeneration machine.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel "Men at Arms", [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]] attempts to {{invoke|d Trope}} this trope when he is shot in the leg. He [[SubvertedTrope fails]].
-->'There's no need,' said Vetinari, trying to [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction smile]] and [[ICanStillFight stand up]]. 'It's just a flesh-'\\
The leg collapsed under him.
** Subverted further in that future books have Vetinari walking with a cane. Although it's heavily implied he's faking it.
** Played straight with Carrot in the same scene, who [[TakingTheBullet jumped in front of a bullet]] for him, got shot in the shoulder, and is barely slowed down at all. Maybe different rules apply to [[TheHero Carrot]].
* This trope shows up in, of all places, Creator/GeorgetteHeyer's classic regency romance ''Literature/TheGrandSophy''. Sophy's friend is worried that her cousin might challenge him to a duel, so Sophy shoots him in the arm, then bandages him up. It's only a flesh wound, and blood poisoning isn't even mentioned.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': Subverted in ''The Subtle Knife'', in which a character ''tries'' to inflict a non-fatal leg injury on his enemy only to nick an artery and end up killing him anyway.
* In the Chris Ryan novel ''The Increment'', assassinations are disguised by "clipping" one of the assassins' calf to make it appear that the suspect fired back and resisted.
* In Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronDaughter'', the nurse orders Puck to let her stitch his wound, and he tries this. She gives no quarter.
* Y in ''Literature/{{Jam}}'' gets shot multiple times (including the head) with a sniper rifle but stays alive until he’s made sure that idiot who filled him with bullets is dead too.
* In Zane Grey's novel ''The Last Trail'', Jonathan Zane gets shot in the shoulder and passes out, but is soon up and about. Blood loss doesn't seem to be a problem.
* The second book of ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'', ''The Girl Who Played With Fire'', had [[spoiler: Lisbeth Salander]] shot three times: in the leg, in the shoulder and in the head, then BuriedAlive. She manages to crawl her way out of the grave ''and'' hit [[spoiler: Zalachenko, who shot her]] with the axe twice before finally collapsing unconscious. She lives because the bullets were low-caliber, she was found soon afterwards [[spoiler: by Blomkvist, who taped over her wounds]] and she was operated on by one of the best surgeons in Sweden. However, it still takes her several months to recover, and the wound in the shoulder gets severely infected a week after the act.
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', after von Horn shoots Bulan, and he collapses, Sing nevertheless assures Virginia that it's just a flesh wound -- and he's right.
* Jim, Meryl and Thaddeus in ''Literature/{{Mogworld}}'' aren’t bothered in the slightest by stab wounds, missing limbs or broken bones. Which is perfectly understandable since they’re undead.
** AxeCrazy Mr Wonderful can slice off his arm mid conversation and can keep cracking wise until he dies of blood loss. [[spoiler: But then he just respawns.]]
* Discussed in the Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/PatriotGames''. Jack Ryan is shot in the shoulder and spends many weeks recovering. During his stay in the hospital, Ryan ponders how the heroes in fiction always seem to recover from a shoulder injury by the end of the show or novel or whatever.
* Nelson [=DeMille=]'s "Plum Island", wherein the antagonist is slashed through the abdomen, allowing his guts to spill out. This gives the protagonist enough time to pull some of the guts, place them on the antagonist's face and quip "Your guts." Later on we find out that the antagonist survived and is on trial. Nelson [=DeMille=] fails to understand things such as blood loss, infection (as this happens in a dark, underground, abandoned barrack near a disease research facility), the excruciating pain that would have caused the antagonist to pass out immediately.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the [[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing]] novel ''Isard's Revenge'', Corran Horn is grazed by a blastershot from behind him. Though only a graze, it has enough force to ragdoll him to the floor and make his body seriously unhappy with the current state of affairs. Even as he berates himself for carelessness, he mentally insults the guy that had plenty of time to aim a proper shot at his back and very nearly missed him entirely.
* Subverted in the novel ''Tandia'' by Bryce Courtenay. One of the protagonists, Pee Kay is shot in the shoulder and is able to put the arm in a sling and stop the bleeding and seems to be okay. [[spoiler: However when he tries to climb up a mountain side to escape the shooter, the wounds begin to bleed again profusely and the pain becomes so unbearable that he collapses and soon after dies from blood loss.]]
* ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'s'' injuries tend to be treated this way. Notably in ''The Return of Tarzan'' he takes two shots to the shoulder and side during a duel and just stands there.
* In ''Literature/TheTenetsOfFutilism'', Sasha recovers rather quickly from having her arms and stomach cut open, though she does feel pain in those areas for the remainder of the novel.
* ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'':
** Some injuries are {{handwave}}d away by claiming that they closed very quickly due to the weapon used. Since all the protagonists like to put on a MadeOfIron persona, they still occur to shrug off stab wounds to in-universe spectators.
** A particularly ridiculous case is when D'Artagnan firstly lightly wounds an opponent in the duel three times in unspecified spots, then ''rams the sword into his belly. '' All the opponent does is close his eyes, and D’Artagnan proceeds to tie his unconscious body up and leaves him expecting him to survive, and he does!
* Lampshaded in ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' by C.S. Lewis: Orual sticks a dagger clean through her own arm to {{blackmail}} her sister and does not suffer permanent harm--but gives us an aside in her narration saying that if she had known then what she knows now about the inside of an arm, she might not have dared to do it, implying that she was extremely lucky.
* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': In ''Mastiff'', the third ''Literature/BekaCooper'' book. After many, many books where the protagonists are forced to spend a realistic time recovering, Beka cheerfully throws off concussions, broken bones, and [[spoiler: ''torture.'']] (At least partially {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that their party now contains a highly skilled mage who knows [[HealingHands healing magic]], admittedly.)
* Played bizarrely in ''Literature/TyrannosaurCanyon'', when a character is shot ''in the head'' and comes away just fine. The bullet skimmed his skull and may have caused a concussion, but that's it.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** Inverted in ''[[Literature/HorusHeresy False Gods]]'' where Horus isn't dying from being impaled through his chest on a piece of crashed starship, but rather from a comparatively minor stab wound to his shoulder that his superhuman healing factor should have handled independently. [[spoiler:The shoulder wound came from an anathame, so it's supernaturally resisting said healing factor]].
** Creator/DanAbnett supplies a nice quote on the topic in the Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''His Last Command'':
--->'''Ayatani Zweil''': Flesh wound? Flesh wound? They're all flesh wounds! No one ever says "Ooh look! I've just been shot in the bones, but it missed my flesh completely!"
*** [[MechaMooks Necrons]] do, with the exception of the [[BodyHorror Flayed Ones]]: rounds might not hit THEIR flesh, but they’ll still go through ''someone's'' dead flesh that they wear over the metal to intimidate their enemies.
** Partially justified in some ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' books: most people don't bleed to death from a shot in a "non-lethal" area because the heat of the laser almost immediately cauterises the wound.
* A lot in ''Literature/WarriorCats'', mainly because their way of life essentially revolves around fighting, and everytime a fight breaks out, everyone ends up bleeding from at least one gash. Justified because a cat's claws and teeth aren't nearly long enough to slice deeper than the flesh and muscle or cause major damage unless the injury becomes infected (and since these cats apparently have medical care, infection rates are low). Most injuries referred to in the series are relatively minor, and are true flesh wounds in every sense of the term.
* Subverted in ''A World Gone Mad''. After Griffin's partner is able to continue fighting normally for more than half an hour after being shot a couple times in the arm and once in the leg (with an assault rifle), Griffin walks up behind him and ''empties his pistol into the back of the guy's head'' [[spoiler: as his failure to respond negatively to bullets suggests that he's not human]]. Then again, the author hedges his bets with regards to this trope since it's never clearly indicated whether Griffin was right, and one of the major plot points is that his [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Jack Bauer methods]] occasionally results in false positives.
* In Creator/KeithLaumer's ''Literature/WorldsOfTheImperium'', the alternate-world "Toth Convention" for duelists has the object of not killing the opponent, but inflicting painful (and humiliating) wounds. The hero subverts this by dropping his gun and punching the opponent out.
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[[OnlyAFleshWound Flesh wounds]] in literature.
----
* In one of the ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' books, Ginger Hepplethwaite is shot through the thigh but still manages to outrun his pursuers for over a mile, before collapsing [[HoYay into the arms of his chum and mentor Biggles]] with blood loss. [[note]]read about thigh wounds elsewhere on this page[[/note]]
* Subverted in David Benioff's ''City of Thieves'', in which [[spoiler: a potentially humorous injury ends up causing the death of a major character. The handsome Russian soldier, Kolya, is shot in the buttocks by friendly fire. At first the situation seems mildly funny ("You know how much shit I'm going to get from my battalion? Shot in the ass by fucking amateurs straight off the assembly line!"), and Kolya tries to downplay the injury, but this seriousness sets in when it's clear just how much blood he's losing. As Kolya says, just before he dies: "not quite the way I pictured it."]]
* ''Creator/DaveBarry's Guide To Guys'' has this anecdote about the co-founder of the World Famous Lawn Rangers Precision Lawnmower Drill Team of Arcola, Illinois and his manly attitude toward serious personal injury:
-->But my immediate anecdote concerns Ranger co-founder co-founder Ted Shields, who was with some other Ranger on a fishing trip off the coast of Louisiana when he came down wrong on his ankle and broke it. Naturally he told everybody it was just a sprain. Guys always say it's "just a sprain," because this way they can avoid falling into the clutches of medical care. A guy could have one major limb lying on the ground a full ten feet from the rest of his body, and he'd claim it was "just a sprain." So, although Ted's ankle was painful and swelling rapidly and turning some nonstandard colors, Ted chose to remain on the boat and treat the injury himself.
* Zigzagged in ''{{Literature/Deathstalker}}''. The Masked Gladiator [[spoiler:(Finlay Campbell)]] kills a genetically-engineered flying humanoid creature, which was carrying him high above the Arena to drop him on a flagpole, by stabbing the creature through his own belly. In his Gladiator persona, he shrugs the wound off, claims the head of his kill, and strides confidently back to his quarters beneath the Arena. Then he nearly collapses before his assistant [[spoiler: and illicit girlfriend]] get him into his regeneration machine.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel "Men at Arms", [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]] attempts to {{invoke|d Trope}} this trope when he is shot in the leg. He [[SubvertedTrope fails]].
-->'There's no need,' said Vetinari, trying to [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction smile]] and [[ICanStillFight stand up]]. 'It's just a flesh-'\\
The leg collapsed under him.
** Subverted further in that future books have Vetinari walking with a cane. Although it's heavily implied he's faking it.
** Played straight with Carrot in the same scene, who [[TakingTheBullet jumped in front of a bullet]] for him, got shot in the shoulder, and is barely slowed down at all. Maybe different rules apply to [[TheHero Carrot]].
* This trope shows up in, of all places, Creator/GeorgetteHeyer's classic regency romance ''Literature/TheGrandSophy''. Sophy's friend is worried that her cousin might challenge him to a duel, so Sophy shoots him in the arm, then bandages him up. It's only a flesh wound, and blood poisoning isn't even mentioned.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': Subverted in ''The Subtle Knife'', in which a character ''tries'' to inflict a non-fatal leg injury on his enemy only to nick an artery and end up killing him anyway.
* In the Chris Ryan novel ''The Increment'', assassinations are disguised by "clipping" one of the assassins' calf to make it appear that the suspect fired back and resisted.
* In Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronDaughter'', the nurse orders Puck to let her stitch his wound, and he tries this. She gives no quarter.
* Y in ''Literature/{{Jam}}'' gets shot multiple times (including the head) with a sniper rifle but stays alive until he’s made sure that idiot who filled him with bullets is dead too.
* In Zane Grey's novel ''The Last Trail'', Jonathan Zane gets shot in the shoulder and passes out, but is soon up and about. Blood loss doesn't seem to be a problem.
* The second book of ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'', ''The Girl Who Played With Fire'', had [[spoiler: Lisbeth Salander]] shot three times: in the leg, in the shoulder and in the head, then BuriedAlive. She manages to crawl her way out of the grave ''and'' hit [[spoiler: Zalachenko, who shot her]] with the axe twice before finally collapsing unconscious. She lives because the bullets were low-caliber, she was found soon afterwards [[spoiler: by Blomkvist, who taped over her wounds]] and she was operated on by one of the best surgeons in Sweden. However, it still takes her several months to recover, and the wound in the shoulder gets severely infected a week after the act.
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', after von Horn shoots Bulan, and he collapses, Sing nevertheless assures Virginia that it's just a flesh wound -- and he's right.
* Jim, Meryl and Thaddeus in ''Literature/{{Mogworld}}'' aren’t bothered in the slightest by stab wounds, missing limbs or broken bones. Which is perfectly understandable since they’re undead.
** AxeCrazy Mr Wonderful can slice off his arm mid conversation and can keep cracking wise until he dies of blood loss. [[spoiler: But then he just respawns.]]
* Discussed in the Creator/TomClancy novel ''Literature/PatriotGames''. Jack Ryan is shot in the shoulder and spends many weeks recovering. During his stay in the hospital, Ryan ponders how the heroes in fiction always seem to recover from a shoulder injury by the end of the show or novel or whatever.
* Nelson [=DeMille=]'s "Plum Island", wherein the antagonist is slashed through the abdomen, allowing his guts to spill out. This gives the protagonist enough time to pull some of the guts, place them on the antagonist's face and quip "Your guts." Later on we find out that the antagonist survived and is on trial. Nelson [=DeMille=] fails to understand things such as blood loss, infection (as this happens in a dark, underground, abandoned barrack near a disease research facility), the excruciating pain that would have caused the antagonist to pass out immediately.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the [[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing]] novel ''Isard's Revenge'', Corran Horn is grazed by a blastershot from behind him. Though only a graze, it has enough force to ragdoll him to the floor and make his body seriously unhappy with the current state of affairs. Even as he berates himself for carelessness, he mentally insults the guy that had plenty of time to aim a proper shot at his back and very nearly missed him entirely.
* Subverted in the novel ''Tandia'' by Bryce Courtenay. One of the protagonists, Pee Kay is shot in the shoulder and is able to put the arm in a sling and stop the bleeding and seems to be okay. [[spoiler: However when he tries to climb up a mountain side to escape the shooter, the wounds begin to bleed again profusely and the pain becomes so unbearable that he collapses and soon after dies from blood loss.]]
* ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'s'' injuries tend to be treated this way. Notably in ''The Return of Tarzan'' he takes two shots to the shoulder and side during a duel and just stands there.
* In ''Literature/TheTenetsOfFutilism'', Sasha recovers rather quickly from having her arms and stomach cut open, though she does feel pain in those areas for the remainder of the novel.
* ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'':
** Some injuries are {{handwave}}d away by claiming that they closed very quickly due to the weapon used. Since all the protagonists like to put on a MadeOfIron persona, they still occur to shrug off stab wounds to in-universe spectators.
** A particularly ridiculous case is when D'Artagnan firstly lightly wounds an opponent in the duel three times in unspecified spots, then ''rams the sword into his belly. '' All the opponent does is close his eyes, and D’Artagnan proceeds to tie his unconscious body up and leaves him expecting him to survive, and he does!
* Lampshaded in ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' by C.S. Lewis: Orual sticks a dagger clean through her own arm to {{blackmail}} her sister and does not suffer permanent harm--but gives us an aside in her narration saying that if she had known then what she knows now about the inside of an arm, she might not have dared to do it, implying that she was extremely lucky.
* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': In ''Mastiff'', the third ''Literature/BekaCooper'' book. After many, many books where the protagonists are forced to spend a realistic time recovering, Beka cheerfully throws off concussions, broken bones, and [[spoiler: ''torture.'']] (At least partially {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that their party now contains a highly skilled mage who knows [[HealingHands healing magic]], admittedly.)
* Played bizarrely in ''Literature/TyrannosaurCanyon'', when a character is shot ''in the head'' and comes away just fine. The bullet skimmed his skull and may have caused a concussion, but that's it.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** Inverted in ''[[Literature/HorusHeresy False Gods]]'' where Horus isn't dying from being impaled through his chest on a piece of crashed starship, but rather from a comparatively minor stab wound to his shoulder that his superhuman healing factor should have handled independently. [[spoiler:The shoulder wound came from an anathame, so it's supernaturally resisting said healing factor]].
** Creator/DanAbnett supplies a nice quote on the topic in the Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''His Last Command'':
--->'''Ayatani Zweil''': Flesh wound? Flesh wound? They're all flesh wounds! No one ever says "Ooh look! I've just been shot in the bones, but it missed my flesh completely!"
*** [[MechaMooks Necrons]] do, with the exception of the [[BodyHorror Flayed Ones]]: rounds might not hit THEIR flesh, but they’ll still go through ''someone's'' dead flesh that they wear over the metal to intimidate their enemies.
** Partially justified in some ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' books: most people don't bleed to death from a shot in a "non-lethal" area because the heat of the laser almost immediately cauterises the wound.
* A lot in ''Literature/WarriorCats'', mainly because their way of life essentially revolves around fighting, and everytime a fight breaks out, everyone ends up bleeding from at least one gash. Justified because a cat's claws and teeth aren't nearly long enough to slice deeper than the flesh and muscle or cause major damage unless the injury becomes infected (and since these cats apparently have medical care, infection rates are low). Most injuries referred to in the series are relatively minor, and are true flesh wounds in every sense of the term.
* Subverted in ''A World Gone Mad''. After Griffin's partner is able to continue fighting normally for more than half an hour after being shot a couple times in the arm and once in the leg (with an assault rifle), Griffin walks up behind him and ''empties his pistol into the back of the guy's head'' [[spoiler: as his failure to respond negatively to bullets suggests that he's not human]]. Then again, the author hedges his bets with regards to this trope since it's never clearly indicated whether Griffin was right, and one of the major plot points is that his [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Jack Bauer methods]] occasionally results in false positives.
* In Creator/KeithLaumer's ''Literature/WorldsOfTheImperium'', the alternate-world "Toth Convention" for duelists has the object of not killing the opponent, but inflicting painful (and humiliating) wounds. The hero subverts this by dropping his gun and punching the opponent out.
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