rdfs:comment
| - If you're dealing with any sword-oriented media, whether it be fantasy, medieval, kung fu, or something else, and it's more violent than a PG-13 rating, chances are, someone is going to get his head chopped off (and it may not even need the R rating if you're dealing with nonhuman enemies). One of the most common methods of execution back in the medieval era next to hanging, decapitation is usually one of the surest ways to ensure someone is Deader Than Dead barring some very potent magic or divine intervention. Examples of Off with His Head include:
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abstract
| - If you're dealing with any sword-oriented media, whether it be fantasy, medieval, kung fu, or something else, and it's more violent than a PG-13 rating, chances are, someone is going to get his head chopped off (and it may not even need the R rating if you're dealing with nonhuman enemies). One of the most common methods of execution back in the medieval era next to hanging, decapitation is usually one of the surest ways to ensure someone is Deader Than Dead barring some very potent magic or divine intervention. Any Ridiculously Human Robot or other decidedly inhuman being will probably be capable of surviving decapitation, and will do so at some point either for a joke or as a plot point. In less serious series, the body will even continue to walk around bumping into things. It is nearly always depicted as being surprisingly easy to do, even in one blow to a moving target. While Anne Boleyn did get beheaded with one stroke, most pre-guillotine beheadings took at least three strokes (plus, Boleyn's executioner was -- by request -- a professional swordsman who would know how to cleanly behead someone). This trope is named after the line Off with his head; — so much for Buckingham from Colley Cibber's adaptation of Richard III. The trope was also famously used by the Queen of Hearts in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. See also Your Head Asplode for a much gorier version of this trope and Boom! Headshot! when it comes to firearms. Also see Alas, Poor Yorick, and Decapitation Presentation. When cutting of the head is the only way to kill something, it's Decapitation Required. Examples of Off with His Head include:
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