History Main / HeadDesk

* A decidedly non-comedic instance can be found in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'''s' [[BedlamHouse Comstock House]], where inmates may weakly bounce their heads, encased in [[UncannyValley masks of the Founding Fathers]], off of surfaces in an attempt to ease their torment.

* A frequent occurrence in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' FanFiction. It has been rationalized that the use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu ("Kage Bunshin no Jutsu") [[{{Fanon}} can defeat a Kage's greatest enemy: paperwork]]. When someone (usually Naruto) points this out to the Third Hokage (or any Kage for that matter), the common reaction is for him to bash his head on his desk repeatedly while muttering "stupid" every single time, usually because he's known that jutsu for ''decades'' and never realized that he could use it for paperwork.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fanfic ''FanFic/{{Insontis}}'', Spock wants to "impact his cranium with the nearest solid object" from the stress of dealing with the de-aged Kirk.

* Miss Piggy does this to her office desk in ''Film/TheMuppets''.

* ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoV'':

** He's also hit his head on his keyboard [[DespairEventHorizon in despair]] on [[https://youtu.be/KGLmgvEsuW8 two]] [[https://youtu.be/7UnKLOWDNpY occasions]] when bringing up "[[Recap/RenandStimpyAPC1x02RenSeeksHelp Ren Seeks Help]]".

Compare and contrast with FaceFault, FacePalm, FacePlant, and WallSlump (the non-violent variant, to say the least). Also contrast with the more serious PunchAWall. Not to be confused with [[WallBangHer a different kind of "wall bang"]].

* Before they meet Anya, Dimitri and Vlad are holding an audition for girls to play ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}''. One prospect is a [[WhiteDwarfStarlet middle-aged woman]] who says in a sultry voice, "Granmama! It's me, Ana-''STASIA!''" Their reaction is a combination of this and FacePalm.

** When Bear!Elinor discovers that the berries she got were nightshade berries and the water was full of worms, she drops her head on the makeshift table, causing it to go flying.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* This is a RunningGag on ''WebVideo/BroniesReact'' for [=AnimatedJames=], starting with the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'' review. In the "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E9SliceOfLife Slice of Life]]" video, James again takes note of doing it... "not too hard this time". And then he writes "BANG HEAD ON TABLE REALLY REALLY HARD" when he notices the FreezeFrameBonus MediumShiftGag.

* WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck does it at the beginning of the Creator/CarlBarks story ''ComicBook/TheGoldenHelmet'', because his nephews are so slow at catching up on his urgent plans. First, he asks them to gather winter clothes, and they just ask why they need them in midsummer. Then he explains that they are going to Labrador. Cue this dialogue:

* ''LightNovel/InTheLandOfLeadale'': Cayna does this when the innkeeper unknowingly reminds her about an old moniker of hers.

* ''Fanfic/ProjectFreelancerPhaseOneGenesis'' features [[DrJerk Dr. Killian's]] reaction when he's told that [[Machinima/RedVsBlue the Director]] is bringing in more agents after a dangerous mission:

%%* Creator/SylvesterStallone's character does this in ''Film/{{Oscar}}''.

%%* Creator/SylvesterStallone's character does this in ''Theatre/{{Oscar}}''.

* In ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', when given the idea that Mikoto could contract the stripper lady disease, Kuroko [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4YIs4gcQ8U does this]]. It tends to be her default response to stresses of any nature. Given Kuroko's... fondness for Mikoto it may also be a case of trying to (ahem) head off StupidSexyFlanders.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'': One of the triplets drops his head on the dinner table while listening to Fergus retell his encounter with Mor'du. It would seem that the king is more impressed with the story than his sons are.
When Bear!Elinor discovers that the berries she got were nightshade berries and the water was full of worms, she drops her head on the makeshift table, causing it to go flying.

* A decidedly noncomedic instance can be found in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'''s' [[BedlamHouse Comstock House]], where inmates may weakly bounce their heads, encased in [[UncannyValley masks of the Founding Fathers]], off of surfaces in an attempt to ease their torment.

*** Gumshoe pulls a wall bang (off screen) in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations Trials and Tribulations]]'' when Phoenix and Maya tell him that Maggey hates him for betraying her.

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'':
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'':
*** Manfred von Karma does this in one game, while [[spoiler:ranting about how Edgeworth and his father gave him a scar on his shoulder and a penalty on his record, respectively, and vowing to bury Edgeworth with his own hands]].
*** Gumshoe pulls a wall bang (off screen) in ''Trials and Tribulations'' when Phoenix and Maya tell him that Maggey hates him for betraying her.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WebVideo/WhatTheFuckIsWrongWithYou'': Nash takes this to an extreme during the pre-recorded episode "This Is All Your Fault (The Return!)"; he goes out to his garden shed, busts out the power tools, and ''[[UpToEleven builds a section of wall]]'' specifically for him to bash his head against in protest of the stupid.

--->'''Sweetie Belle:''' Yeah, I just sold your scooter and bought some cheap knockoffs at the store.\\

** "[[Trivia/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E24UncommonBond Uncommon Bond]]": Starlight Glimmer again, while Sunburst and Twilight are gushing over the antiques they've bought after a lengthy stay at the shop, during which Starlight was bored out of her skull.

* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5353683/10/The-Girl-Who-Loved The Girl Who Loved]]'', one of the Sailor Scouts makes a suggestive remark involving Harry and Sailor Pluto, and he tries to beat the resulting images out of his head with the aid of a nearby table, which breaks partway through and has to be magically repaired.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11898648/6/Harry-Potter-and-the-Rune-Stone-Path Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path]]'', Professor Babbling bangs her head on a table after hearing that Ron decided to fly his father's car to Hogwarts.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7832676/3/Petunia-s-Boys Petunia's Boys]]'', Lucius bangs his head on a table after realizing that there are so many Muggles that it would take the entire world's magical population several centuries to kill them all off.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4081016/2/The-Poker-Game The Poker Game]]'', Harry bangs his head on a table every time a new girl is added to his UnwantedHarem.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7665632/25/Potter-s-Protector Potter's Protector]]'', Harry bangs his head on a table after his name comes out of the Goblet of Fire.

* In ''Surprise!'', after a buxom St. Mungo's receptionist tries to get Harry to autograph her chest, he floos back to Grimmauld Place and bangs his head on a table.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10399961/14/Time-Turned-Back Time Turned Back]]'', Harry bangs his head on a desk after discovering that magic has declared him the new Heir of Slytherin.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10301885/5/Two-Halves-Of-A-Whole Two Halves Of A Whole]]'', Harry bangs his head on a table when Andromeda tells him that her and her daughter Nymphadora's reinstatement into the Black family means that he not only has to give Remus and Nymphadora permission to marry but determine the dowry as well.
* In ''Fanfic/WhenInDoubtObliviate'', during an argument with Remus about why Wormtail was made Secret Keeper instead of him, Sirius bangs his head against the wall of his room in St. Mungo's.

* During another crazy situation at ''Series/FawltyTowers'', Basil Fawlty's wife Sybil expresses disbelief at what's happened and Basil snaps that he doesn't believe it either so maybe it's all just a dream and then bangs his head repeatedly on his desk and since it's not a dream he resumes what he's doing to try and solve this latest calamity.

* ''WesternAnimation/FetchWithRuffRuffman''': Right before Ruff meets Blossom in "Ruff Ruffman Breaks the Mold", Ruff does this for a split second when he accidentally sends a letter (intended for the Mold Maker) to every newspaper in America. As a result, the Board of Health plans to shut down his show.

%%* The PlayerCharacter in ''VisualNovel/{{Planets}}'' indulges in this with a brick wall, and ends up bleeding. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample; why are they doing it?)

* In one of the rare instances where Creator/LewisLovhaug is on camera for ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers'' is during the video for ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', with footage of his banging his head against a wall used to vent his feelings of Dax's [[WhatAnIdiot idiocy at not stopping Miratrix]] and later [[WTHCastingAgency his reaction to Alpha 6]] not being voiced by Alpha 5's voice actor Creator/RichardStevenHorvitz or even 6's earlier voice actresses Caterina Lucciani or Creator/WendeeLee.

* Miss Piggy does this to her office desk in ''Film/TheMuppets''.
-->'''Miss Piggy:''' I can't ''believe'' I fell for [[TotemPoleTrench Muppet Man]]!

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' character Don Music, a frustrated composer, has a habit of slamming his forehead on the keys of his piano. Which is why you don't see him on ''Sesame Street'' anymore.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In ''Webcomic/TehGladiators'', this is OnlySaneMan Gorrok's second favorite method (behind FacePalm) of expressing his disgust/despair with his companions' idiotic antics.

** In [[http://notalwaysright.com/their-mind-is-blank-cheque/60196 "Their Mind Is Blank (Cheque),"]] the narrator does this when the person they're assisting reveals that they thought cheques were like cards and that the customer who paid with it would be charged twice.
** And the end of [[http://notalwaysright.com/a-sweet-resolution/35826 "A Sweet Resolution,"]] where it's revealed that the "static" the person calling tech support needed help with was actually just them opening a candy wrapper.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E12TopDuck Top Duck]]", Launchpad is upset over crashing during an air show and begins banging his head on his plane, [[WellDoneSonGuy stopping only to lament his mother and father seeing him do it]]. Then Louie adds that his sister also saw it. Launchpad goes back to head-banging and Dewey gives Louie a DopeSlap.

* In ''Fanfic/MyDreamIsYours'', Jamie sets up a card table in an attempt to teach Ohlm what a KnockKnockJoke is by setting up a scenario where someone is coming for a visit, knocks on the door, and the two people need to answer the door and let the visitor in. Ohlm asks why the people taking residence in the home can't just look through the peephole, and Jamie begins throwing her head against the table repeatedly.

* In ''Fanfic/MyDreamIsYours'', Jamie sets up a card table in an attempt to teach Ohlm what a KnockKnockJoke is by setting up a scenario where someone is coming for a visit, knocks on the door, and the two people need to answer the door and let the visitor in. Ohlm asks why the people taking residence in the home can't just look through the peephole, and Jamie begins throwing her head against the desk repeatedly.