History Main / FakeArmDisarm

* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': Reynard loses his BladeBelowTheShoulder during the climax of ''Defender of the Crown''. [spoiler: It's shattered by the same person who lopped off his hand.]

Frequently [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as realistic prostheses are usually weaker than the body parts they replace and detachable, making them easy to lose. Also, the strength of an ArtificialLimb could make a character be more reckless with it and a [[ArmCannon weaponized]] [[BladeBelowTheShoulder prosthesis]] would be an obvious target for enemies.

* In the webcomic ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'', Lothar Hex has a bionic arm, legs and eye. His arm is ripped off by Blasphemy at one point, and he chops off his bionic limbs later when they are possessed by a Fernex demon.

Frequently [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as realistic prostheses are usually weaker than the body parts they replace and detachable, making them easy to lose. Also, the strength of an ArtificialLimb could make a character be more reckless with it and a [[ArmCannon weaponized prosthesis]] would be an obvious target for enemies.

* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'', Edward’s arm is destroyed or heavily damaged on five separate occasions. It is destroyed by Scar; it malfunctions while Ed fights Lust and Envy due to a missing screw from Winry’s rushed repairs; it is damaged and used as bait during his fight with Lan Fan; it is unable to function in the North due to the cold; and it is destroyed by Father, aka the [[spoiler:Dwarf in the Flask]].

[[quoteright:320:[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_547758-fullmetal_alchemist___05___large_17_2613.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:320:Scar shows us how it's done.]]

* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'' comic DeffSkwadron, Killboy has had to replace his limbs 35 times after [[CaptainCrash crashing]] after each of his 35 missions.

** In ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'', when [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Anakin fights with Dooku in a dining room on Naboo as Palpatine looks on]], at one point, Dooku sends several pieces of silverware and cutlery flying at him. Two forks end up lodged in his mechanical hand with the force, which he promptly removes with an audible electrical sound.

** In ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'', when [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Anakin fights with Dooku in a dining room on Naboo as Palpatine looks on]], at one point, Dooku sends several pieces of silverware and cutlery flying at him. Two forks end up lodged in his mechanical hand, which he promptly removes with an audible electrical sound.

* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'' comic, Deff Skwadron’s Killboy has had to replace his limbs 35 times after [[CaptainCrash crashing]] after each of his 35 missions.

In ''StarWarsCloneWars'', Anakin infiltrates a Sepratist compound on Nelvaan that has been performing [[BodyHorror horrifying experiments]] on the native population. First he was specifically chosen by the Nelvaanian shaman because he had a fake hand. Then the people who had been corrupted by the experiments tasked him to destroy the facility. Anakin does this by sticking his artificial hand in an energy sphere and stealing a critical component, but loses his robot hand in the process. The Nelvaanians see Anakin's mechanical stump as a symbol of their own freedom and respond by tearing off the [[ArmCannon arm cannons]] that the Sepratists placed on them and cheer Anakin triumphantly.

This character has an ArtificialLimb, ElectronicEye or other prosthesis, and while he's not a full {{Cyborg}}--the rest of him is just squishy human flesh--what he does have is far stronger, more durable and just plain better than his former body part. There's only one problem: it keeps getting wrecked. Enemies shoot like there's a bullseye on it, falling rocks gravitate towards it and it falls off at the drop of a hat like the character is some SteamPunk leper. Meanwhile, his natural appendages never suffer more than flesh wounds, despite being made of far less hardy stuff.

[[quoteright:320:[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_547758-fullmetal_alchemist___05___large_17_2613.jpg]][[caption-width-right:320:Scar shows us how it's done.]]

[[quoteright:320:[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_547758-fullmetal_alchemist___05___large_17_2613.jpg]][[caption-width-right:320:Scar shows us how it's done.]]

** Motoko sneaks behind an assassin named Fem and breaks off the shotgun built into her arm while [[TalkingIsAFreeAction she monologues about the evils of capitalism]].
** When Togusa grabbed the arm of the CrazyPrepared Russian spy Cruzkowa while she was running away, it came off and had to be thrown away before the bomb inside it exploded.

* In the film ''Film/LicenceToKill'', JamesBond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter gets his prosthetic arm and leg ripped off by sharks, unnoticed by the bad guys that tossed him into the shark tank.

On the other hand, the character can also [[InvokedTrope Invoke]] the trope in order to protect his less replaceable limbs by leaving the prosthesis behind as a decoy while the character escapes.

On the other hand, the character can also [[InvokedTrope Invoke]] the trope in order to protect his less replaceable limbs, like leaving the prosthesis behind as a decoy while the character escapes.

Compare to the bloodier AnArmAndALeg.

* Inverted in Manga/Berserk, as Gut’s metal arm is far hardier than his flesh-and-blood one, and [[MadeOfIron neither takes any lasting damage]] (on one occasion his real arm is pierced by a moth-monster’s rostrum, but is stopped by his metal arm).
* In FullmetalAlchemist, Edward’s arm is destroyed or heavily damaged on five separate occasions. It is destroyed by Scar; it malfunctions while Ed fights Lust and Envy due to a missing screw from Winry’s rushed repairs; it is damaged and used as bait during his fight with Lan Fan; it is unable to function in the North due to the cold; and it is destroyed by Father, aka the [[spoiler: Dwarf in the Flask]].
* GhostInTheShell:StandAloneComplex provides a few examples:

* Invoked by Herr Starr in {{Preacher}}. When cornered by an ex-Spetnatz, he holds his prosthetic leg out (the real one was eaten by Texan cannibals) as if readying for a kick. The guy contemptuously grabs it before it pops off, leaving him staring at it just long enough for Starr to shoot him.

* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in IRobot, where [[spoiler: Spooner’s]] robotic arm doesn’t get hurt aside from superficial damage to its artificial “flesh.”
* In the film Film/LicenceToKill, Bond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter gets his prosthetic arm and leg ripped off by sharks without the bad guys that tossed him into the shark tank noticing.

[[folder:Series]]
* {{Angel}} smashes Lindsey’s prosthetic hand after a fight, telling him to be thankful he only broke the fake one.
* ArrestedDevelopment gives us J. Walter Weatherman, a one-armed man who [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this trope when he gets involved in George Sr.’s plans to teach his kids a lesson by having his fake arm torn off in order to demonstrate what happens as a result of yelling and fighting.
* On {{Friends}}, Chandler accidentally throws the prosthetic leg of a woman he is dating into a fireplace when he thinks it is a log.
* One of the people on Earl’s list in MyNameIsEarl is a woman with a prosthetic leg that Earl destroyed. She appears chasing Earl, hopping on her one good leg, as a RunningGag throughout the series.

* In the webcomic Webcomic/ExterminatusNow, Lothar Hex has a bionic arm, legs and eye. His arm is ripped off by Blasphemy at one point, and he chops off his bionic limbs later when they are possessed by a Fernex demon.

* In TheSimpsons episode “Who Shot Mr. Burns, Part II,” Smithers remembers shooting Jasper while drunk. After noting that nobody reported the shooting, the police check on Jasper and discover that Smithers shot him in his wooden leg: Jasper never even noticed.
* In RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles, Lt. Raczak’s prosthetic arm is torn off several times and is once dipped in acid.
* In TreasurePlanet, Jim stabs and impairs Silver’s mechanical leg. Silver is next seen using his mechanical arm as a crutch in a nod to the 1950 version of TreasureIsland.
* In the Warhammer40K comic, Deff Skwadron’s Killboy has had to replace his limbs 35 times after [[CaptainCrash crashing]] after each of his 35 missions.

* One-legged wrestler Zack Gowen made his Wrestling/WWE debut as a fan who a {{Heel}} wrestler pulled into the ring and tried to give a leglock to: his leg came off!
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