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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"A master of the Dim-Mak can poke an enemy in a certain spot and they die. It originated in ancient China when early man still had prominent off-switches located around the body, much like a modern lamp. Back then, you could kill a guy by selling him the wrong sized hat."''
|'''[[Seanbaby]]''', ''[[Cracked.com]]''}}
A particularly subtle type of [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]], the
▲A particularly subtle type of [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]], the [[Touch of Death]] allows its practitioner to instantly kill their opponent with extremely minimal force. This can be accomplished either with one touch [[Pressure Point|at a specific point]], or a series of precisely calculated strikes.
The victim often survives for a few moments, allowing for the drama quotient to be raised either by quiet resignation or desperate denial, sometimes while the killer [[To the Pain|describes in exacting detail]] what the technique is doing to the victim.
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For the non-lethal version that renders an opponent simply immobile, see [[The Paralyzer]].
A subtrope of the [[One-Hit Kill]]. Not to be confused with video game [[Collision Damage]], which is often given this name. See also [[Finger
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
▲== Anime ==
* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'': The martial art of Hokuto Shinken specializes in this, with often ''very'' messy results for the poor bastard on the receiving end.
{{quote|
* ''[[Naruto]]'':
** The Hyuuga Clan specializes in the "gentle fist" technique. By attacking chakra points, they can screw with your internal organs.
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* ''[[Bleach]]'': Soifon's released zanpakuto creates a butterfly print on the body of whoever it hits. When the attack hits the same spot a second time, that person <s>is instantly killed</s> dies after a time period sufficient [[Oh Crap|for them to realize their predicament]]. What makes this ability even scarier is that {{spoiler|the second strike does not need to share the same ''entry'' point as the first one; it only needs to share the same ''surface'' of the first strike's wound itself}}. She demonstrates this by {{spoiler|impaling Ggio Vega twice, once from the front and once from the back, both times striking the same area in his lung ''inside'' his body}}.
* Matsuri's [[Inherent Gift]] in ''[[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 ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** While Kimblee makes long-range explosions by disrupting molecules in the air, in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* The title character of ''[[
* ''[[One Piece]]'': Crocodile from One Piece arguably has this ability. His touch doesn't cause ''instant'' death, but he can dehydrate you pretty quickly.
* ''[[Darker
* This isn't a literal example, but if you watch ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', you know that [[Cute and Psycho|Russia]] [[Psychopathic Manchild|is not]] [[Stepford Smiler|to be]] [[Slasher Smile|angered.]] [[Madness Mantra|EVER.]] All of the countries know this. So when he goes to visit [[Keet|Italy]] and [[Jerk
{{quote|
* ''[[
== Comic Books ==
* Laurel Darkhaven of ''[[Rising Stars]]'' 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.
* Rogue from [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] is normally [[Blessed
{{quote|
* There was also Wither from ''[[New Mutants]],'' whose power was ''literally decaying'' any living (or once-living) thing he came into contact with. He eventually left the institute and fell in love with the Goblyn Queen, who was immortal and couldn't be affected by his power.
** Actually, he fell in love with Selene from the Hellfire Club.
* Carrion, from [[Spider
* An early issue of [[Grant Morrison
* The Touch Of Death is common in the [[Marvel Universe]]. Besides Rogue and Wither, there's Selene the former Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, a mutant with a life draining touch who has lived for millenia thanks to her powers, during which she also became a powerful sorceress. One of her followers, Lois London aka [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Mortis]], constantly emits a disruptive energy field that can induce heart attacks in living creatures. [[X
* ''[[Alpha Flight]]'' villain Deadly Ernest was an example of both this and [[
* In ''[[Batman]]'', the third Clayface, Preston Payne, received the power of melting human flesh into protoplasm with his bare touch. Preston is reluctant to use this ability, but he's wracked with horrible pains and headaches, and his touch momentarily allows him to transfer the sickness to another person. It's been mentioned that he's now on medication to reduce this pain, so any time he feels he ''needs'' to relieve his suffering is psychosomatic.
* In ''[[Green Lantern]]'', 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.
== Film ==
* ''[[Kill Bill]]'': Pai Mei's legendary Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, which is used by {{spoiler|the Bride on Bill himself}}.
* Eponymous in ''[[Kiss of the Dragon]]'', where Jet Li is able to do this by delicately applying a needle to the base of the skull, such that when he removes it, all of the victim's blood will travel to his head and not come out, resulting in an agonizing death as he bleeds out of every orifice in his head.
* Death in ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' can kill with a touch (complete with a tinkly "ding!" sound effect for extra [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshadiness]]).
* ''[[Iron Monkey]]'''s Hin-Hung, Imperial Legate Officer, renegade Shaolin monk and all-around [[Big Bad]] 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 ''[[The Men Who Stare
== Literature ==
* In the novel ''[[
▲* In the novel ''[[Literature/Forever After|Forever After]]'', ''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 the [[Larry Niven]] short story ''Death By Ecstasy'' the detective hero uses his "imaginary arm", a form of short-range telekinesis, to stop the [[Big Bad]]'s heart by reaching inside his body and ''squeezing''.
* In his books, [[Robert Rankin]] frequently references a supposed martial art called "Dimac", with which one can maim and disfigure opponents with a mere fingertip's pressure.
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* Employed in the first book of the Martial Arts series ''Jason Striker'' by [[Piers Anthony]].
* Sau'ilahk of ''[[The Saga of the Noble Dead]]'' is capable of killing humans with a single touch. (Dwarves are somewhat hardier, as he learns to his consternation).
* In the second book of ''[[
** The fifth book, ''Mortal Coil'', has the Russian assassin Tesseract, who has a rare ability called [[Exactly What It Says
== Live Action TV ==▼
* In the ''[[
* In the ''[[
* ''[[Star Trek]]'':
** 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).
** Played straight in the episode with the holographic assassin-babe that imploded people's cellular structure with a touch. If she says "I am for you", ''run!''
* ''[[The Middleman]]'''s not so [[Old Master]] Sensei Ping has the Wu-Han Thumb of Death.
* ''[[
* ''[[
** 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.
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'':
** 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.
** Also, demonstrated by the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Fourth Horsemen]], [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] himself during his [[Crowning Music of Awesome|spectacular]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg0kQHIMx9M&feature=related introduction.]
* In ''[[Tracker]]'', a fugitive named Tev had the ability to do this to the alien [[Energy Beings]], although it took a lot longer in humans.
{{quote|
* [[CSI: NY]] had an episode with a martial artist who killed the victim of the week with a single blow to the back of the neck.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''
** Earlier versions have a few spells that do this (such as Slay Living, the evil reverse of the 5th-level Raise Dead for clerics), as well as the Quivering Palm ability of the Monk, which allowed the monk to simply will the death of the target for some time afterward. The downside is you can only use it once per week. Thanks a lot, Wizards!
** Although Monks in 4th edition have no instant
** A demilich, which is basically a [[The Undead|lich]] [[The Same but More|only more so]], can ''trap a living creature's soul'' if they fail a saving throw. What's more, unless it's defeated less than twenty-four hours afterward, the demilich will ''devour'' it, rendering the unfortunate victim [[Deader Than Dead]]. And it can trap up to eight souls per day. [[Total Party Kill|Have fun.]]
** There is an Epic Level spell in 3rd edition called Memento Mori. You think that you want someone dead. They die. Nothing else to it. They call it Epic Level magic for a reason.
* Slightly more balanced is the Enlightened (read: fancy-pants martial artist) ability in ''[[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 [[Badass]] [[Super Soldier]] [[Ninja]] [[Recycled in Space|In The Future]]. (Yeah. Dey gots baggage.)
* ''[[Warhammer
* ''[[
* ''[[
** In a play-by-post game this troper played, the main villain (our own master, but we didn't find out about that till the end) used Storm of the Tiger in a way similar to Hin-Hung from ''Iron Monkey'', complete with hand-print left on the victim. He used this technique to kill all but two of the PCs, one of them (this troper's character) being killed with an axe-kick, and the other being one of only three characters to survive the final showdown.
** Ming I's Arm of Darkness. The name should say it all.
* ''[[Magic:
** There's also a magic card called [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3883 Touch of Death]. Unfortunately it's a waste of a good name, as the card isn't any good, and is incredibly unlikely to actually kill anything.
** Let's not forget the [[Awesome but Impractical]] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=106427 Phage the Untouchable].
* ''[[
** You can also punch off souls, hurl opponents into a temporary orbit, summon a demon to hurl them into a permanent orbit, dismember them, and even kick people's heads off with a sufficiently impressive stunt.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Pokémon]]'': Horn Drill, Fissure, Guillotine and Sheer Cold games (30% Acc, but opponent faints instantly if hit).
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Nethack]]'':
** The Touch of Death as a spell used by high-level spell casting monsters, and a more potent version by [[The Grim Reaper|Death himself]]. Unlike the other versions, this one is unlikely to kill a well-prepared adventurer.
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** Powerful wizards can learn the ''finger of death'' skill (which is what the wand shoots). Anything without resistance is instantly obliterated (including <s>the Wizard of Yendor</s> [[Fan Nickname|Rodney]]). Oh, and did I mention it's a ray spell, meaning it can hit multiple targets at once?
* Shiki's [[Evil Eye]] in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' allows him to see points of death on the bodies of living beings. Simply poking such point with any sharp pointy object (like a kitchen knife or a sharpened pencil) will not only instantly kill said living being but also terminate its reincarnation cycle and any other metaphysical life functions it may possess.
* In ''[[
* Touch of death is a spell used by "Guardians of Blizzard" in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the NPCs serve as a [[Border Patrol]] for areas players aren't supposed to enter, these have disappeared since Cataclysm unlocked any areas that a player could get to that they previously weren't supposed to.
* Any game that uses the [[Super Star]] power up, which makes your character invincible and uses [[Collision Damage]] to instantly kill enemies by just touching them.
==
* ''[[Kid Radd]]'': This is how [[Collision Damage]] 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
* In ''[[How I Killed Your Master]]'', Master Fei tells young Liu Wong that his father's style, aptly named "The Divine Fist of the Unconquerable Sky," used what we can presume are
▲* ''[[Kid Radd]]'': This is how [[Collision Damage]] 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.)
{{quote|
▲* In ''[[How I Killed Your Master]]'', Master Fei tells young Liu Wong that his father's style, aptly named "The Divine Fist of the Unconquerable Sky," used what we can presume are [[Touch of Death|Touches Of Death]] and [[The Paralyzer|Paralazyer]] attacks.
▲{{quote| '''Master Fei''': "All he would say of his style was, 'I don't know what it's like to hit a man twice."}}
* [[Twilight Lady]] 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.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: The
▲* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'': The ninja Kyodai Ken discovers this and promptly decides to turn it against our hero. However, the always [[Crazy Prepared]] Batman wears padded armor over the deadly spot (which Batman figured out by looking at which spot hat been hit the most on Kyodai Ken's training dummy) in order to convince the villain that it doesn't work.
▲* ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** 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/)
** Played straight in a Halloween Special 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. At one point Homer abused his
* ''[[
** Tai Lung is able to paralyze anyone with his nerve strikes, but his method was crude and amateurish compared to Master Oogway who is fast and skilled enough to strike with a complex ''pattern of nerve strikes'' and do it in [[Bullet Time]]! Also subverted in that one of Po's advantages is that his body fat protects his nerves so well that nerve striking is useless on him.
** There's also the Wuxi Finger Grip, which (apparently; neither the scene in question nor [[Word of God]] is entirely clear) causes the victim to explode with city-shaking force merely by flexing the pinky finger.
* Death from ''[[
* In ''[[
* Timmy Turner's Mom in [[The Fairly
{{quote|
** Which was then [[Played for Laughs]] as his Dad says "Hey Dinkleburg. Why don't you come over here and give my wife a congratulatory hand touch?"
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'': This is Phantom Limb's super power, aside from having [[Flight, Strength, Heart|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.
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Whateley Universe|Whateley Academy]]'': Two people have this as an explicit power, in addition to the many lethal abilities most of the student body possesses. Tennyo has a "Death Blow" that gradually [[Deader Than Dead|obliterates you from existence]] and Gotterdammerung can [[Disintegrator Ray|unmake matter]] at a [[Up to Eleven|sub-subatomic]] level.
== Real Life ==
* While not as easy as it is in fiction, a strike to the front or back of the neck can kill a person with much less force than anywhere else on the body.
* Halfway between the above and below examples, a precise strike to the carotid artery can stimulate the vagus nerve, drop the heart rate and blood pressure of the victim and cause immediate unconsciousness. The touch of death part comes from the very real chance of dislodging a cholesterol plaque and causing a stroke.
* It's also theoretically possible to kill someone with a ''very'' precisely timed blow to the heart during the T-wave (the refractory period), initiating ventricular fibrillation, and effectively stopping the heart in what is known as ''commotio cordis''. The level of precision this would require (not to mention the knowledge of the human body) makes it extremely difficult to do deliberately
** There have, however, been documented freak cases of children dropping dead from cardiac arrest after being struck in the chest, particularly with a baseball or other sports instrument. Children are particularly susceptible to commotio cordis due to the lack of development in the rib cage. This can also be triggered by lightning strikes.
* While not so much "minimal force", it's possible to kill in one strike via striking the throat as mentioned above, collapsing it, or by driving the nose into someone's brain with an upward strike.
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[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]
[[Category:
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