History UsefulNotes / SimoHayha

* He has a song dedicated to him on the Music/{{Sabaton}} album ''Coat Of Arms'', appropriately titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5CaQ37VYvw White Death]]".

** Oh, yeah. All those kills? Done without a scope, [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy for good reason]][[note]]To clarify, the light that reflected off the scope gave away the positions of those who used them.[[/note]] Little wonder he went scopeless, aye? . Before the war, his home was full of marksmanship trophies. Also, check his entry on OneHitPolykill

[[note]]To clarify, the light that reflected off the scope gave away the positions of those who used them.[[/note]] Little wonder he went scopeless, aye?

** Oh, yeah. All those kills? Done without a scope, [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy for good reason]]. Before the war, his home was full of marksmanship trophies. Also, check his entry on OneHitPolykill

* ViolationOfCommonSense: it's naturally harder to get headshots without a scope. however, the scope could glint and could very easily betray your location, which is why simo didn't use one.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: You might think it'd be hard to get headshots without a scope. It is. Simo Häyhä noticed that, due to light reflection, his enemy ''got'' headshot because of the scope [[note]]To clarify, the light that reflected off the scope gave away the positions of those who used them.[[/note]] Little wonder he went scopeless, aye?

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: You might think it'd be hard to get headshots without a scope. It is. Simo Hayha noticed that, due to light reflection, his enemy ''got'' headshot because of the scope [[note]]To clarify, the light that reflected off the scope gave away the positions of those who used them.[[/note]] Little wonder he went scopeless, aye?

* FinnsWithFearsomeForests: TropeCodifier. Whenever someone thinks of this trope in the future, Simo Hayha is the guy they'll picture.

* RealityIsUnrealistic[=/=]FreakierThanFiction: There is no fictional character who can follow his achievement without using some sort of supernatural power.

** He is, as of now, ''the soldier with single highest'' '''''confirmed''''' ''body count in history.'' And he did that with highly limited equipment.

* {{Determinator}}: See NoOneCouldSurviveThat.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Conscripted, decided to spend months defending his homeland, gets shot in the face. He survives the war and lived happily till the age of 96. [[RonTheDeathEater Death knew better than to come after him before he was Goddamned good and ready]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Conscripted, decided to spend months defending his homeland, gets shot in the face. He survives the war and lived happily till the age of 96.

** He even held the record for longest range kill (over 800 yards) until CarlosHathcock beat it in Vietnam, using an 8x scope mounted to an M2 Browning. Again, Simo's record was set without a scope, surrounded by blinding snow, with blowing ice cold wind in his face, so his record is still damn impressive.

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Shot in the jaw with an exploding bullet. Got back up and shot the guy who did it. Walked back to camp. '''Badass.'''

* BoomHeadshot: Dished them out in considerable numbers. Took one as well, and then ''killed the soldier who did it.''

** He was put into a 2-week coma after taking an exploding bullet to the face. The day he woke up, the war ended. Coincidence? You decide.

The Russian forces were absolutely terrified of Häyhä, nicknaming him [[RedBaron The White Death]]. They attempted numerous times to kill him, from sending teams of countersnipers after him ([[AssassinOutclassin none came back alive]]) to [[TheresNoKillLikeOverKill artillery bombing any place they thought he was hiding]]. Needless to say, each of these attempts was met with failure, and Simo continued to utterly stomp any enemy who came within his sights. Eventually, the Russians had a stroke of luck when one sniper, after Simo had wiped out the whole team, managed to ''shoot him through the jaw with an exploding bullet'', blowing half of his cheek away. Incredibly, Simo managed to pick up his gun and kill the sniper, and walked back to his nearest unit, where he was sent to the hospital, whereupon he slipped into a coma. A ceasefire was ordered, and [[AsleepForDays eleven days later, on the day Simo awoke]], the Russian army withdrew. While almost certainly a coincidence, it was nonetheless an incredible one. With the Winter War over, Simo [[CallToAgriculture returned to farming]], where he spent the majority of his life breeding dogs and hunting moose. When asked if he regretted killing so many people, all Simo had to say was: [[ThinkNothingOfIt "I did what I was told to as well as I could"]]. He passed away in 2002, aged 96.

* OneManArmy: Over 700 hundred Russian soldiers (admittedly, many were probably also conscripted) vs one Finnish conscript; the conscript wins.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: You might think it'd be hard to get headshots without a scope. It is. Simo Hayha noticed that, due to light reflection, his enemy GOT headshot because of the scope [[note]] To clarify, the light that reflected off the scope gave away the positions of those who used them.[[/note]] Little wonder he went scopeless, aye?

Using his extensive knowledge of the surrounding forest as well as a knack for camouflage (He dressed in all white and even kept snow in his mouth so as to mask his breathing and avoid giving away his position), [[OneManArmy he racked up an incredible 704-742 confirmed kills estimate (542 by rifle, and around 200 by submachine gun)]]. All the more impressive was that he did all of this ''without a scope or a spotter''. He instead used the trusty iron-sights on the rifle, as he noticed that using a scope presented a target due to the glint off the lens (when asked later in life how he had become such an incredible shot, Simo answered simply: "Practice. And clear days.").[[note]]In forested terrain, where battles are fought at shorter ranges, a trained marksman can easily hit a target as large as a man without a scope. Long range hits like they happen in modern Afghan or Iraqi Wars are a different story.[[/note]]

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: You might think it'd be hard to get headshots without a scope. It is. Simo Hayha noticed that, due to light reflection, his enemy GOT headshot because of the scope. Little wonder he went scopeless, aye?

** He even held the record for longest range kill (over 800 yards) until CarlosHathcock beat it in Vietnam, using an 8x scope mounted to an M2 Browning.

* PintSizedPowerhouse: Was only 5'3.

''[[caption-width-right:250: [[Music/{{Sabaton}} "You're in the bullet's way! The White Death's prey! Say goodbye!"]]]]''

[[caption-width-right:250: ''"[[Music/{{Sabaton}} You're in the bullet's way! The White Death's prey! Say goodbye!]]]]"''

* OneManArmy: Over 700 hundred Russian soldiers vs one Finnish conscript; the conscript wins.

* He has a song dedicated to him on the {{Sabaton}} album Coat Of Arms, appropriately titled "White Death".

Put simply, Simo Häyhä was ''the'' deadliest soldier in existence.[[note]]The only other possible contender, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, had a plane.[[/note]]

The Russian forces were absolutely terrified of Häyhä, nicknaming him [[RedBaron The White Death]]. They attempted numerous times to kill him, from sending teams of countersnipers after him ([[AssassinOutclassin none came back alive]]) to [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat artillery bombing any place they thought he was hiding]]. Needless to say, each of these attempts was met with failure, and Simo continued to utterly stomp any enemy who came within his sights. Eventually, the Russians had a stroke of luck when one sniper, after Simo had pretty much wiped out the whole team, managed to ''shoot him through the jaw with an exploding bullet'', blowing half of his cheek away. Incredibly, Simo managed to pick up his gun and kill the sniper, and walked back to his nearest unit, where he was sent to the hospital, whereupon he slipped into a coma. A ceasefire was ordered, and [[AsleepForDays eleven days later, on the day Simo awoke]], the Russian army withdrew. While almost certainly a coincidence, it was nonetheless an incredible one. With the Winter War over, Simo [[CallToAgriculture returned to farming]], where he spent the majority of his life breeding dogs and hunting moose. When asked if he regretted killing so many people, all Simo had to say was: [[IDidWhatIHadToDo "I did what I was told to as well as I could"]]. He passed away in 2002, aged 96.

Many people consider him to be one of the ultimate examples of a {{Badass}} in real life, having racked up more confirmed kills than any other sniper ''in history''. However, in real life he was by all accounts a very humble man who only considered his actions to have been doing duty by his country. No matter what, "The White Death" will always be remembered as the greatest sniper in human history.

** Was put into a 2-week coma after taking an exploding bullet to the face. The day he woke up, the war ended. Coincidence? You decide.

* ColdSniper: If we are being strictly literal...