History Main / AnArmAndALeg

# The character [[LifeOrLimbDecision deliberately removes the limb themselves]], occasionally under duress, occasionally for [[MunchausenSyndrome perceived gain]].

# The character [[LifeOrLimbDecision deliberately removes the limb themselves]], occasionally under duress, occasionally for perceived gain.

* Lieutenant Dan in ''ForrestGump''.

* In ''[[RatchetAndClank Ratchet: Deadlocked]]'', Al is hit with a blaster shot and has several parts replaced by cybernetics. The blaster only hit Al in the butt, yet he winds up with cybernetics in many random and seemingly unrelated places, leading some fans to suspect Al is just [[{{Robosexual}} a little too into robots]]. Perhaps he an an [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "interface port"]] installed for [[RoboShip Helga]]...

* In [[RatchetAndClank ''Ratchet: Deadlocked'']], Al is hit with a blaster shot and has several parts replaced by cybernetics. The blaster only hit Al in the butt, yet he winds up with cybernetics in many random and seemingly unrelated places, leading some fans to suspect Al is just [[{{Robosexual}} a little too into robots]]. Perhaps he an an [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "interface port"]] installed for [[RoboShip Helga]]...

* There's a psychological condition (oddly found nearly entirely in men) where the sufferer feels that the only way for them to be physically attractive is to have a limb removed. Standard hospital practice is to transfer anyone who requests a healthy limb be removed into psychotherapy. Unfortunately, more than a few such people have died of complications after having a BackAlleyDoctor take their limbs off...

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

** Type 2: Major Matoko Kusanagi loses an arm during a kidnapping attempt in the GhostInTheShell manga. Being a full body replacement cyborg it doesn't slow her down much, nor is it permanent. She gets half of her head blown off in Ghost in the Shell 1.5 to much the same effect. In Man Machine Complex she ''ejects'' an arm after it becomes infected by a computer virus.
** In the first movie she does a type one ''rips her own arms off'' trying to pry open a tank.
** In the first tv season she gets a type 2 when an armed suit shoots her, destroying her left side. After allies knock it down, she proceeds to cock and fire an antitank rifle into it over and over until the operator is begging for mercy. After all the times she's lost a limb, she gets to rage a bit.

* ''{{One Piece}}'', which has this by the buckets. The most prominent example is Shanks losing his arm after saving a drowning Luffy from a sea creature.

* UntilDeathDoUsPart: Mamoru's preferred method of disabling bad guys. Notable victims include [[spoiler:Edge Turus]], ''twice'', and a [[EverythingsWorseWithBears bear]].

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]

* {{Aquaman}}'s hand was eaten off by piranhas.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* ''StarWars'' has a [[LudicrousGibs large number]] of lost limbs, four of them belonging to [[VillainProtagonist someone named Anakin]]. There's a [[http://www.runleiarun.com/choppedoffhands/ website]] listing all of them, plot important or not.

* MadMax: Condolini's attempt to stop Jessie's fast moving car with a chain ended badly for him. Toecutter later claims retribution for Condolini's missing hand as partial justification for attacking her, though they're really just doing it ForTheEvulz.

[[AC:{{Folklore}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]

* Used in the HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy to underscore the importance of keeping all receipts when traveling.

[[AC:TabletopRolePlayingGames]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

* In {{Dead Space}}, the game is literally begging you to cut off the necromorphs' limbs to effectively deal with them.

* One character from ''CliveBarkersJericho'' is missing an arm.
* Bao-Dur from KnightsOfTheOldRepublic has a mechanical left arm due to wounds he received at Malachor V. Because the game is set 4000 years before the Skywalkers [[spoiler: it restricts him from wearing Jedi robes]].

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[[AC:{{WebOriginal}}]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* It's implied that [[GalaxyRangers Zachary Foxx's]] bionics had to be installed due to injuries he received in the pilot episode. He takes a couple of direct blaster hits to his left side.

[[AC:RealLife]]

* There's a psychological condition (oddly found nearly entirely in men) where the sufferer feels that the only way for them to be physically attractive is to have a limb removed. Standard hospital practice is to transfer anyone who requests a healthy limb be removed into psychotherapy. Unfortunately, more than a few such people have died of complications after having a BackAlleyDoctor take their limbs off...

* Mentioned ([[NightmareFuel but not shown, thank God]]) in ApocalypseNow.

** When ''VanityFair'' magazine asked Lucas about this, he replied: "[[RealityEnsues That's what happens when you play with swords.]]"

* Four Type 3 amputations in quick succession for the The Black Knight in MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail, the TropeNamer for OnlyAFleshWound.

** Toady's attempt to catch the razor boomerang in the TheRoadWarrior [[{{Fingore}} ended badly for him as well.]]

* The ''TheXFiles'' had a village of Russian work camp escapees where they amputated everyone's left forearm to remove alien tracking devices implanted by the GovernmentConspiracy. Mulder managed to get away unscathed; Krychek wasn't quite so lucky.

* ''StarWars'' has a [[LudicrousGibs large number]] of lost limbs, 4 of them belonging to [[VillainProtagonist someone named Anakin]]. There's a [[http://www.runleiarun.com/choppedoffhands/ website]] listing all of them, plot important or not.

** When Vanity Fair asked Lucas about this, he replied: "[[RealityEnsues That's what happens when you play with swords.]]"

* ''StarWars'' has a [[LudicrousGibs large number]] of lost limbs, [[VillainProtagonist 4 of them belonging to someone named Anakin]]. Someone went and dedicated a whole [[http://www.runleiarun.com/choppedoffhands/ website]] to this trend!

* ''{{Roots}}'' - The front half of Kunta Kinte's foot was chopped off with an axe to prevent him from running away (again).
** Well, he ''was'' given the choice of that or being castrated.

* ''StarWars'' has a [[LudicrousGibs large number]] of lost limbs, [[VillainProtagonist 4 of them belonging to someone named Anakin]].

* 1. The character [[LifeOrLimbDecision deliberately removes the limb themselves]], occasionally under duress, occasionally for perceived gain.
* 2. The loss is accidental, or occurs during battle.
* 3. Another person/entity deliberately rips, cuts or otherwise separates the limb from the owner. It may happen in battle, but it's not a type 3 unless the limb/s were specifically targeted, not, say, an arm caught by a horizontal slash.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gas_4790.jpg
[[caption-width:383:[[BlatantLies It's only a small fee.]]]]

* [[FullmetalAlchemist has had all three types among multiple characters, the better to show off the universe's automail ArtificialLimbs. Edward Elric, the main character accidentally lost his left leg and then deliberately sacrificed his right arm to bring back his brother's soul, so he got a type 1 and 2. [[spoiler: Lan Fan]] hacks off her own arm and attaches it to a stray dog to throw off Bradley's scent. Those are the two biggest characters we see it happen to, but several more have it as part of their back story.

* {{Negima}}: Negi gets an arm cut off while fighting Kagetarou and gets it reattached later. Later on, a flashback reveals that Jack Rakan, got ''both'' his arms cut off when Ala Rubra fought the Lifemaker. Even later, [[spoiler: both his legs and arms are erased from existence by Fate's RealityWarper powers. He uses his artifact to summon Armor legs and arms and [[{{Determinator}} keeps fighting]].]]

* [[MemeticBadass Aron Ralston]] is a well-known recent Real Life type 1 example; his arm became trapped under a boulder while hiking, and [[Squick he wound up cutting it off]] when it became clear that [[LifeOrLimbDecision his choice]] [[SadisticChoice was between self-amputation and death by dehydration]].

->--'''Drake [=McHugh=]''', ''Kings Row''

* 1. The character [[LifeOrLimbDecision deliberately cuts off the limb]], occasionally under duress, occasionally for perceived gain.
* 2. The loss is accidental, or lost in the course of battle
* 3. Another person/entity deliberately rips, cuts or otherwise separates the limb from the owner.

Note that this trope only applies when limb loss is deliberately used to advance the plot. It does not apply to preexisting conditions or incidental carnage amongst background characters.

* [[FullmetalAlchemist Edward Elric]] accidentally lost his leg and then deliberately sacrificed his arm to bring back his brother, making his a rare case of ''both'' Type 1 and 2, though not in chronological order.
** Later on, [[spoiler: Lan Fan hacks off her own arm and attaches it to a stray dog to throw off Bradley's scent.]]
** There's actually an awful lot of limb loss in FullmetalAlchemist, though mostly you just see [[ArtificialLimbs the aftermath.]]
** Around the time [[spoiler:one of the chimeras]] lost a limb, some of the fans started theorizing that [[AuthorAppeal Arakawa has an amputee fetish]].

* Since no one dies in ''{{Bleach}}'', this is a popular method to show that someone is badly damaged.

** More recently, Soifon asked her lieutenant to chop her arm off when it got infected by Barragan's Super Death Powers.
*** The good guys lose a total of 5 arms in that battle.
** Also the gate guard the group encountered when they first went to the Soul Society got his arm lopped off by Gin (and healed by Orihime).
** When Ichigo first met the Arrancar Yammy Riyalgo he chopped off his arm. It was later reattached by an Arrancar surgeon in Las Noches.
** One example that plays this trope straight but inverts the above examples is when Orihime is being held prisoner by Loly and Menoly. Grimmjow enters and comments on how the room isn't being guarded properly. Loly is offended, but Grimmjow brushes her off (which sends her flying across the room). She starts panicking about being in trouble with Aizen. Grimmjow stomps on her, saying she is an idiot for thinking Aizen cares about her at all. He then rips off her leg. Orihime later heals her.
** Basically the author loves this trope. Ulquiorra got his arm ripped off by Demon Ichigo. Aizen chopping Komamura's arm off.
** Ulquiorra does just that a few moments prior to Uryuu, in chapter 362.

* ''TheAnimatrix'' -- ''The Second Renaissance Part II'': a gigantic battle robot rips open a mecha to get at the human inside. Metal tentacles coil around his limbs and then rip them away. The short scene is effective and intense.

* Several examples from the work of Shirow Masamune, usually to show just how badass his cyborg heroines are:
** Type 2: Major Matoko Kusanagi loses an arm during a kidnapping attempt in the original GhostInTheShell. Being a full body replacement cyborg it doesn't slow her down much, nor is it permanent. She gets half of her head blown off in Ghost in the Shell 1.5 to much the same effect. In the anime it's a type one when the Major ''rips her own arms off'' trying to pry open a tank. PlotInducedStupidity justified by RuleOfCool at its best.
** Type 1 Matoko again, this time in Man Machine Complex. In this case she ''ejects'' an arm after it becomes infected by a computer virus.
** Type 2 again in ''{{Dominion}}'': gynoid Anna Puma gets her arm burned off at the shoulder by the tank police and then objects to Leona characterizing her as a "mechanical love doll" based on the mechanical wreckage that's left.

* Need we not forget ''{{One Piece}}'', which has this by the buckets. The most prominent example being Shanks losing his arm after saving a drowning Luffy from a sea creature.
** Another well-known example being Zeff, although there are two different versions of this. In the anime, he rescues the young Sanji from drowning by cutting off his own foot, which had become entangled in pieces of the wrecked ships. In the manga, with the two now being ship-wrecked on a small island, he supposedly splits their remaining rations in half. However, it is later revealed he gave everything to Sanji, and instead ate his own leg to survive.

* ''StarWars'' loves this trope: off the top of my head I remember [[LudicrousGibs 8 lost hands]], [[VillainProtagonist 3 of them belonging to someone named Anakin]]. Also Luke and Tenel Ka of the StarWarsExpandedUniverse.

*** Do ArtificialLimbs count? Because we have [[TheHero one guy]] who lost his hand (it was replaced), [[TragicHero one]] who lost half his arm (also replaced), [[TheStarscream one]] who lost two hands ([[OffWithHisHead and his head]]) and the aforementioned TragicHero who lost [[LudicrousGibs the other arm and both legs at the knee]]. ([[IGotBetter He got better.]]) [[OverlyLongGag Then we have a guy who got chopped in half - does that count?]] Oh, and at one point [[SamuelLJackson a black dude]] lost a hand too. [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Those are just among the major characters, thankfully]].

* Four Type 3 amputations in quick succession for the The Black Knight in MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail, played for laughs.
** Of course it's played for laughs! That scene is the TropeNamer for OnlyAFleshWound.

** Toady's attempt to catch the razor boomarang in the TheRoadWarrior [[{{Fingore}} ended badly for him as well.]]

* The Tin Man from ''TheWizardOfOz'' was based off of the Civil War amputees Baum saw growing up.

* [[MemeticBadass Aron Ralston]] is a well-known recent Real Life example; his arm became trapped under a boulder while hiking, and [[Squick he wound up cutting it off]] when it became clear that [[LifeOrLimbDecision his choice]] [[SadisticChoice was between self-amputation and death by dehydration]].

** Toady's attempt to catch the razor boomarang in the TheRoadWarrior [[FingGore ended badly for him as well.]]

* Daniel Jackson lost his leg to frostbite in ''StargateContinuum''.

** Toady's attempt to catch the razor boomarang in the TheRoadWarrior [[Fingore ended badly for him as well.]]

** Toady's attempt to catch the razor boomarang in the TheRoadWarrior ended badly for him as well.

* The ''TheXFiles'' had a village of Russian work camp escapees where they amputated everyone's left forearm to remove alien tracking devices implanted by the GovernmentConspiracy. Mulder managed to get away unscathed (they knew he wasn't an escapee); Krychek wasn't quite so lucky.