History Main / PercussivePrevention

* In the classic Sun-Eater storyline in ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'', Ferro Lad knocks out Superboy and takes the bomb into the heart of the monster in a HeroicSacrifice, knowing that the red sun radiation from the Sun-Eater would have rendered Superboy vulnerable to the bomb.

* When the sheriff of Laastekist lets Frank out of his cell to fight the criminals infesting his town during the ''Comicbook/SuicideRun'' event, Frank knocks him out so he won't be in the line of fire.

* In the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI-set ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon "Dumb Patrol", Porky Pig is selected for a dangerous air mission, but WesternAnimation/BugsBunny drops a brick on his head.

* In ''Film/{{Sunset}}'', Wyatt Earp knocks punches a drunk Michael Alperin the in the face and knocks him out to prevent him from climbing out of the car when they are trying to spirit him away from the crime scene. Later, Tom Mix diver=s into the marina to save a drowning Arthur. Arthur can't swim and is panicking, so Mix knocks him out with a crank handle so he can tow him to safety.

* In the 2016 remake of ''Film/{Grease}'', Danny deliberately hits Kenickie in the head with a car door so he can take his place in the drag race. He did this accidentally in the original movie.

** Dave and Rose get to arguing about which of them will [[HeroicSacrifice undertake a suicide mission involving a giant bomb]]. Rose eventually beans Dave with her magic yarn ball to make him fall asleep, so she can go on the mission alone.
** Happens again when Kanaya knocks out Karkat shortly before the epic [[FinalBattle final showdown]] with the villians. This is done mostly to keep him out of the way, as he is apparently needed for an important mission later down the road.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Vimes does this in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' at one point to stop [[TimeTravel his younger self]] from getting himself killed.
** In ''Discworld/WinterSmith'', Tiffany's father is prevented from throwing himself into a bonfire by bystanders, who'd been watching him in case [[spoiler:the fuel ran out, as he thought it would mean both his daughter and her patient would freeze.]]

* ''Literature/{{Deathstalker}}: Captain John Silence insists he's going down with his ship, and there's nothing Investigator Frost can say to change his mind. She agrees, then knocks him out with one punch.

* Happened to Manga/{{Naruto}} in the second movie.

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Kakyoin shoots Polnareff with an Emerald Splash to knock him out of the way of Hol Horse's bullet. It happens again much later on: [[spoiler:when Vanilla Ice is about to ambush the party of Avdol, Polnareff, and Iggy, Avdol smacks the latter two out of the way [[HeroicSacrifice at the cost of his own life.]]]]

** ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Metal Gear Solid 2]]'': Even MissionControl suggests that you knock E.E out and drag her in order to get past some scary bugs on the floor.
** In ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Metal Gear Solid 3]]'' punching out Eva and dragging her is the best way to keep her from doing something stupid that might attract enemy guards. Also saves on food since her stamina doesn't go down while asleep.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

%%* Hawkgirl to Hawkman in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield "Battlefield]"]: TheBrigadier one-punches the Seventh Doctor and faces the Destroyer on his own.

Bob is about to do something that Charlie considers stupid -- attempting a HeroicSacrifice, becoming TheBait, or otherwise putting himself in danger. Charlie could try to reason with Bob and persuade him not to go, but he takes a much faster and more direct option.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* On ''Series/TheXFiles'', Scully shoots Mulder into his shoulder to keep him from killing Krycek. And as he {{lampshades}}, he's lucky she has ImprobableAimingSkills because he comes out none the worse for wear.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
** In "Obsession", Ensign Garrovick tries to knock out Captain Kirk with a [[TapOnTheHead judo chop]] so he can be the one to lure the vampire cloud to the antimatter bomb.
** "The Empath": [=McCoy=] knocks out Kirk and Spock with InstantSedation drug injections so he will be the one to be taken and tortured by the Vians.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** In the episode "Once More Unto the Breach", when Worf prepares a suicide mission to protect the crew of a Klingon ship from the Dominion, Kor knocks him out and does the HeroicSacrifice.
** In "The Die is Cast" Odo does this to Garak when Garak refuses to leave his (evil) old mentor behind on an exploding ship.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': Episode "''Film/PumaMan''" has the inscrutable Aztec hero knock out the DesignatedHero so that Aztec can go on a suicide mission alone.
-->'''Crow T. Robot:''' Yes! The Aztec speaks for all of us!

** In the 4th season episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky The Poison Sky]]", the Doctor's going to go and destroy the Sontaran ship, and [[spoiler: Luke Rattigan quickly gets his own teleporter working, teleports up, knocks the Doctor back into the teleporter and destroys the ship himself.]]
** The original series' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]", when The Doctor and Rogin, a space technician, need to decide who stays and gets killed when the rocket they're working on blasts off.
--->'''Rogin:''' You don't want trouble with the Space Technician's Union, Doctor! ''[Thump]'' That's my job!
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]", the Brigadier one-punches the Seventh Doctor and faces the Destroyer on his own.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy applies some PercussivePrevention to her watcher, Giles, on more than one occasion.
** The original was in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E12ProphecyGirl Prophecy Girl]]", wherein after Buffy has her [[spoiler:TenMinuteRetirement over her prophesied death and the associated [[HesBack She's Back]] moment]], Giles tells her ''he'' is going to [[spoiler:face the Master]] in her stead, and "there's nothing you can say that can change my mind." Buffy replies that she knows, and then roundhouse punches him. Thud.
** Later, Giles' "unfortunate tendency to get knocked on the head" by friends and foes alike becomes a bit of a RunningGag.
* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS01E09Hero Hero]]", [[spoiler:Doyle]] punches Angel off a high platform to take his place in a HeroicSacrifice.

* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'', [[spoiler:Charlie]] knocks out [[spoiler:Desmond]] when he tries to take his place swimming to the [[spoiler:underwater Dharma station]].

* Most everybody in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Do they have a trauma ward in that hospital?

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** An ''accidental'' example: Tyrion Lannister, a man with dwarfism and no experience at combat, is about to personally take part in a battle on his father Tywin's orders. Thankfully (though embarrassingly), one of the charging warriors under his command accidentally [[TapOnTheHead whacks him upside the head]] with his hammer, rendering him unconscious for the remainder of the battle.
** Played straight when Sandor Clegane does this to Arya when she tries to get [[spoiler:to her family just as they're being massacred by the Freys and Boltons]].
--->'''Clegane:''' It's too late. ''[[[TapOnTheHead Bam!]]]''
* One episode of ''Series/FallingSkies'' saw the Espheni put out a bounty on Tom Mason's head, with the rest of the 2nd Mass being threatened with harsh retaliation is they refused to hand him over. [[ChronicHeroSyndrome He was all prepared to turn himself in]]... [[spoiler:and then Tector clocked him and took his spot.]]
* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode Dimension Jump, [[TheAce Ace Rimmer]] does this to Kryten to stop him going out in heavy rain to fix the ship. (Kryten isn't waterproof and hence would be damaged)
* ''Series/BabylonFive''. In the episode ''A Voice In The Wilderness'', Babylon 5 is at risk of being destroyed by the planet below [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing itself to pieces.]] Sinclair asks Garibaldi to make sure that [[TheLancer Ivanova]] makes it onto an escape ship, even if Garibaldi has to knock her out and bodily toss her in. Fortunately this proves unnecessary.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

Bob is about to do something that Dave considers stupid -- attempting a HeroicSacrifice, becoming TheBait, or otherwise putting himself in danger. Dave could try to reason with Bob and persuade him not to go, but he takes a much faster and more direct option.

Nine times out of ten, this will [[TapOnTheHead put Bob out like a light]], but even when it doesn't it still subdues him long enough for Dave to [[MoreHeroThanThou take his place]] or forcibly remove him from danger. Bob may be cursing and raging (or even attempting to return the punch), but Dave will brush him off and insist that he only [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what he had to do]].

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy knocks out Mayor Boodle when the old man tries to challenge Buggy the Clown. Later Luffy violently forces Johnny and Yosaku down to stop interfering during Zoro [[CurbStompBattle one-sided duel]] with Mihawk. Much later in the Dressrosa he knocks out Bellamy effectively saving him from Domflamingo.

* In VideoGame/SengokuBasara at one point Masamune gets injured during the fight with [[spoiler: Nobunaga.]] He faints while riding away on his horse (don't ask) and his [[UndyingLoyalty faithful retainer]], Kojuro, gets him to safety. But when some of Masamune's men gets kidnapped, Masamune wakes up at the worst possible time and overhears the news. He insists on rescuing his men despite his weakened state, while Kojuro attempts to stop him. The two battle a bit, then Kojuro takes advantage of Masamune's still sensitive wound and knocks his lord out with a blade hilt to the head. One of the men who had managed to escape the kidnapping (and whom delivered the news) yells at Kojuro, asking him why he did that. [[TheStoic Kojuro]] doesn't respond, but it's clear by the look in his eyes that his actions were done out of a deep love and sense of duty towards Masamune. Kojuro then borrows Masamune's swords, promising to rescue the kidnapped men himself.

** Happens again when Kanaya knocks out Karkat shortly before the epic final showdown with the villians. This is done mostly to keep him out of the way, as he is apparently needed for an important mission later down the road.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'' has a magic-based variant. While SharingABody with Lalli, Emil becomes extremely vulnerable to a type of CompellingVoice that Lalli can resist, but not override if someone else falls victim to it. Lalli's preferred method to keep Emil from getting lured into deadly traps by the voice is to instead use magic to either give him a headache so crippling that his body can't move or outright drag his mind into the dream/spirit realm (which causes his body physical body to outright collapse).

** "Forest of the Dead": River Song knocks out the Doctor to prevent him from sacrificing himself, and takes his place instead.
** In the 4th season episode "The Poison Sky", the Doctor's going to go and destroy the Sontaran ship, and [[spoiler: Luke Rattigan quickly gets his own teleporter working, teleports up, knocks the Doctor back into the teleporter and destroys the ship himself.]]
** The original series' episode "The Ark in Space", when The Doctor and Rogin, a space technician, need to decide who stays and gets killed when the rocket they're working on blasts off.

** In "Battlefield", the Brigadier one-punches the Seventh Doctor and faces the Destroyer on his own.

** The original was in the first-season finale, wherein after Buffy has her [[spoiler:TenMinuteRetirement over her prophesied death and the associated [[HesBack She's Back]] moment]], Giles tells her ''he'' is going to [[spoiler:face the Master]] in her stead, and "there's nothing you can say that can change my mind." Buffy replies that she knows, and then roundhouse punches him. Thud.
** Later, Giles's "unfortunate tendency to get knocked on the head" by friends and foes alike becomes a bit of a RunningGag.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'', [[spoiler:Doyle]] punches Angel off a high platform to take his place in a HeroicSacrifice.

** In the main series, Hyuuga Hiashi's twin brother Hizashi knocks him out with a punch to the solar plexus in order to take his place as a human sacrifice.

* ''Franchise/MetalGear''