History Main / OnlyAFleshWound

-->-- '''Creator/RogerEbert''' on ''Gunmen'' (1994)

[[quoteright:300:[[Film/StarshipTroopers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carmen_starship_troopers.png]]]]

Insofar as this trope has any truth to it at all, it comes from the fact that the largest muscle pads on the human body -- about the only type of tissue which can take a wound of impressive visual nastiness that isn't necessarily incapacitating or life-threatening -- are in the thighs and the outside (''not'' the center) of the shoulder. The ''[[ShotInTheAss gluteus maximus]]'' will also suffice, but that particular target zone is often felt to [[{{AmusingInjuries}} lack dramatic gravitas]]. This is despite it being a relatively common wound among retired soldiers -- because of its size, and because getting hit there is (''comparatively'') [[SurvivorshipBias less lethal]]. Hitting someone on the other side of their body, in the groin, on the other hand, pretty much guarantees they will bleed out very quickly.

** Meanwhile, ActionHero parody Franz Rayner's special skill that makes him unkillable is basically invoking this every time: he can move his organs around at will inside his body so that he never takes a hit anywhere important (unless it's his AchillesHeel, situation in an arbitrary part of his body).

* [[InvokedTrope Forcibly played straight]] in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''. Doc is shot multiple times, passes out, and nearly(?) dies of blood loss. He refuses to die by arguing with the GrimReaper that none of his wounds are fatal and missed all his vital organs (and then immediately drags himself back to the clinic for stitches and a quick blood transfusion). When Death mentions his arteries, the good Doctor responds by ripping off his head and batting it away with his body.

In reality, there's no "safe" place to shoot a person, not even in a seemingly non-vital extremity like a leg or arm. Since the arm is a highly-developed and extremely important area of the body, it's supplied by plenty of absolutely ''huge'' blood vessels that go through the shoulder,[[note]]To name three of the biggest ones, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subclavian_artery Subclavian artery]], which comes right off the aortic arch, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axillary_artery axillary artery]] and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachial_artery brachial artery]][[/note]] while the area also has lots of very delicate nerves and a very complex ball-and-socket joint that no surgeon on Earth can put back together once it's smashed to splinters by a bullet. Furthermore, a shot to the shoulder has a very high chance of causing arterial blood to spill into the lung, which would be fatal in most instances. The legs also contain large blood vessels; a shot that nicks the femoral artery will cause a fatal loss of blood in only a few minutes. And this is all assuming a "clean" through-and-through wound, disregarding the possibility of the bullet glancing off a bone or joint and deflecting or fragmenting into pieces, of which each can then hit something ''else'' more important inside. In short, there's no way for anyone, good or bad, to shoot someone and ''know'' that they will survive the wound. As they say, if you're shooting at all, you're shooting to kill.

In reality, there's no "safe" place to shoot a person, not even in a seemingly non-vital extremity like a leg or arm. There are ''huge'' blood vessels in a human being's shoulder as well as lots of very delicate nerves and a very complex ball-and-socket joint that no surgeon on Earth can put back together once it's smashed to splinters by a bullet. Furthermore, a shot to the shoulder has a very high chance of causing arterial blood to spill into the lung, which would be fatal in most instances. The legs also contain large blood vessels; a shot that nicks the femoral artery will cause a fatal loss of blood in only a few minutes. And this is all assuming a "clean" through-and-through wound, disregarding the possibility of the bullet glancing off a bone or joint and deflecting or fragmenting into pieces, of which each can then hit something ''else'' more important inside. In short, there's no way for anyone, good or bad, to shoot someone and ''know'' that they will survive the wound. As they say, if you're shooting at all, you're shooting to kill.

-->''Oh, runnin' away eh? COME BACK 'ERE YOU YELLOW BASTARDS! I'LL BITE YOUR LEGS OFF!''

* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', Shrek is ShotInTheAss with an [[AnnoyingArrows arrow]]. After Fiona pulls it out, without any other first aid, he's fine. He didn't know it was even there until Fiona pointed it out.

In reality, there's no "safe" place to shoot a person, not even in a seemingly non-vital extremity like a leg or arm. There are ''huge'' blood vessels in a human being's shoulder as well as lots of very delicate nerves and a very complex ball-and-socket joint that no surgeon on Earth can put back together once it's smashed by a bullet. Furthermore, a shot to the shoulder has a very high chance of causing arterial blood to spill into the lung, which would be fatal in most instances. The legs also contain large blood vessels; a shot that nicks the femoral artery will cause a fatal loss of blood in only a few minutes. And this is all assuming a "clean" through-and-through wound, disregarding the possibility of the bullet glancing off a bone or joint and deflecting or fragmenting into pieces, of which each can then hit something ''else'' more important inside. In short, there's no way for anyone, good or bad, to shoot someone and ''know'' that they will survive the wound. As they say, if you're shooting at all, you're shooting to kill.

Insofar as this trope has any truth to it at all, it comes from the fact that the largest muscle pads on the human body — about the only type of tissue which can take a wound of impressive visual nastiness that isn't necessarily incapacitating or life-threatening — are in the thighs and the outside (''not'' the center) of the shoulder. The ''[[ShotInTheAss gluteus maximus]]'' will also suffice, but that particular target zone is often felt to [[{{AmusingInjuries}} lack dramatic gravitas]]. This is despite it being a relatively common wound among retired soldiers — because of its size, and because getting hit there is (''comparatively'') less lethal. Hitting someone on the other side of their body, in the groin, on the other hand, pretty much guarantees they will bleed out very quickly.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie,'' where [[spoiler:Starscream shoots Brawl in the shoulder, killing him]].

** In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', a totaled racecar insists that he can still race as he's being towed away.
** Happens to Lightning [=McQueen=] in ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' when he crashes violently in the Los Angeles 500 as a result of [[HeroicRROD pushing himself too hard.]] But after a 4 months recovery in Radiator Springs, he appears to not have any lasting injuries and is not paranoid about the crash itself but more about what that crash could mean for his racing career.

* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', Shrek is shot in the ass with an [[AnnoyingArrows arrow]]. After Fiona pulls it out, without any other first aid, he's fine. He didn't know it was even there until Fiona pointed it out.

* ''Webcomic/HowToBeAWerewolf'': After being bitten by a werewolf and having to tear the werewolf off Vincent tells Malaya he's fine and gets back up, though shortly after he ends up on his knees when the adrenaline wears off.

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', the closest instance of a major injury that Kyril sustains in the original story is either a punctured lung from a crossbow shot, or a sword wound to an arm and a leg from his duel with Vault. Both of them are received in the Liberation of Ansur Arc. Being a ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' hunter, it would not be surprising to see him shrug off said injuries without trouble.