History Main / TearOffYourFace

*** This is a parallel to Spidey's imperfect clone, Kaine, whose spider-powers are amplified and twisted; back in the '90s comics, before his HeelFaceTurn in modern times, Kaine uses his gripping power to burn his handprint into his murder victims' faces, leaving scars from the crisscross patterns of the lines of his hand (the so-called "Mark of Kaine").

--> '''Vos''': Wear my faaace.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': ComicBook/BlackAdam did this to Father Time in the ''World War III'' miniseries, at the same time as he cracked a joke about Americans always trying to "save face".

** In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1999'', Peter once ripped part of ComicBook/NormanOsborn's face off when he stuck to it with his [[WallCrawl stickum' powers]] during ''American Son''. Not how Creator/StanLee imagined it being used, but awesome regardless.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': In ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'', the Death-Seed resurrected (and completely insane) Sentry did this, in excruciating detail - even ripping away everything bar his eyes and brain and continuing to communicate telepathically - while giving Thor a BreakingSpeech and a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Since the Sentry's powers include de facto immortality and a HealingFactor that makes things like being disintegrated mere passing inconveniences, this is not entirely surprising.

*** Chapter 4: Kyril rips a {{mook}}'s [[EyeScream eyes]] and [[TongueTrauma tongue]] out with his bare hand, destroying the face in the process.

*** Chapter 11: Kyril [[PistolWhipping slams the butt of his pistol]] into a {{mook}}'s face, with enough strength to utterly shatter it.
*** Chapter 20: Sanakan caves a {{mook}}'s face inwards by punching him in the face with her [[PowerFist metal bracer]].
*** Chapter 34: Kyril shatters a {{mutant}}'s face via a punch while giving an order to Bergen.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

* ''WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}}'' Joel discovers a ''horrifying'' instance of this on the game over screen of a Russian bootleg ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'' Genesis game.

** In Chapter 14, he rips off a Saber's visor along with his face before [[YourHeadAxplode popping it like a zit]] and stealing the M2 Browning to kill off the Sabers in the I-Expo district.

* At least one surviving victim of an attack by a pet chimpanzee (Charla Nash) had her face torn off. She's had a facial transplant since.
* Many, many anatomy textbooks have diagrams of the skinless human face at the beginnings of their chapters on skeletal muscles. Some even use such illustrations as cover art.
* One man had his face shredded when his rider mower overturned. Others have had their face ripped off when their hair got caught in machinery.
%%* Many victims of bear attacks, such as Dan Bigley.
%%* Rudy Eugene did this to homeless man Ronald Poppo while on a drug trip, before being shot to death by the police.

* ''ComicBook/{{Transformers}}'':

* The music video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHwlNdvVJlk "Mono"]], created by the WebOriginal/CatGhost crew and premiered in Candy Bowl 2017: [[spoiler:shows a cat girl whom has an unrequited crush with a rabbit girl, [[NotGoodWithRejection not handling her silent refusals very well]]. Eventually [[FlayedAlive skinning the latter alive]] and then [[GenuineHumanHide wearing their face]].]]

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' features a particularly brutal version. [[spoiler: Seras Victoria finishes off Zorin Blitz by grinding her face against a wall until all that's left is a mass of blood and bone.]]

* ''ComicBook/BatmanVampire'': Joker's vampire henchman [[TheDragon Mr. Creach]] rips a gangster's face with his ''fangs''.
* A [[spoiler: Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan]] does this to [[spoiler: The Specter]] during the climax of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''.
* The Female from ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' has a tendency for maiming, delimbing and mutilating her enemies/victims. At one point, she walks into a room for a hit early on and while we don't witness it directly, the face of one of the criminals inside splatters against the window. We do get to witness her do this in a fight against a low tier superhero team, where she rips the face off clean off a rather pretty superheroine without actually killing her.
** She is not the only source of this in the comic however. [[spoiler:During the Russia Arc, a Russian ally's worker is sent on an errand and the protagonists end up receiving their pizza order with his sliced off face plastered across said pie. Also lets not forget what happened to the President during the final arc...]]
* The cliffhanger to #1 of ''ComicBook/New52'' ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' is the Dollmaker freeing the Joker from Arkham ... and leaving the Joker's face pinned to the wall. This sets up ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily''; an event that happened issues later. [[spoiler: ''ComicBook/BatmanEndgame'' had the Joker with his face again and revealed he had a {{healing factor}}.]]
* There was a ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' story that featured a demon that ripped the face off an angel and now wears it as a mask. It would make [[DealWithTheDevil deals]] for fame and fortune.
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''ComicBook/{{Joker}}'' - instead of the face, an unfortunate bartender is stripped of everything but.

* It's normal for ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'s pal Mazikeen to be missing half her face, just don't try to "fix" it.
* ComicBook/MoonKnight infamously cut Bushman's face off, even ''wearing'' it once!

** Peter once ripped part of ComicBook/NormanOsborn's face off when he stuck to it with his [[WallCrawl stickum' powers]] during ''American Son''. Not how Creator/StanLee imagined it being used, but awesome regardless.

* The ''[[Creator/ECComics Tales from the Crypt]]'' story [[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/290943.html "Only Skin Deep"]] (later adapted for [[Series/TalesFromTheCrypt the TV version]]) features a man who elopes with a woman he met at Mardi Gras, who refuses to remove her mask and insists on consummating the marriage in the dark. He gets curious and tries to remove it, and...well, it's listed as an example here, isn't it?
* Overlord does this near the end of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' - since this came out after ''Revenge of the Fallen'', cue fandom yelling the page quote.
* Vos from ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' is a bizarre inversion-- he removes ''his own'' face, which is actually more like a mask lined with numerous spikes, drills, and other painful implements, and forces it over someone else's face as a means of torture.

* Optimus Prime does this to Ultra Magnus in ''ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass.'' Before you're too horrified by that mental image, note that this is a MirrorUniverse where the Autobots are the bad guys and Optimus Prime is an evil, megalomaniacal dick--one who could put the Megatron of our universe to shame when it comes to ''really'' being cruel.
* ComicBook/{{Ultimate|Marvel}} ComicBook/RedSkull did this and gained his red face after killing over 200 men ''at 17'' in order to reject his father [[spoiler:ComicBook/CaptainAmerica]].
* In ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'', the Death-Seed resurrected (and completely insane) Sentry did this, in excruciating detail - even ripping away everything bar his eyes and brain and continuing to communicate telepathically - while giving Thor a BreakingSpeech and a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Since the Sentry's powers include de facto immortality and a HealingFactor that makes things like being disintegrated mere passing inconveniences, this is not entirely surprising.
* ComicBook/BlackAdam did this to Father Time in the ''ComicBook/WorldWarIII'' miniseries, at the same time as he cracked a joke about Americans always trying to "save face".

* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', [[spoiler: Furiosa kills [[BigBad Immortan Joe]] by hooking his mask to a harpoon and onto the wheels of his car, gruesomely ripping his face off in the process.]]

* ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', Hannibal Lecter. [[spoiler: He does this to a guard and [[FaceStealer wears his face]] as part of his legendary escape.]] In the {{backstory}} to ''Hannibal'', he talked Mason Verger into cutting his own face off. Admittedly Verger was high at the time.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', [[spoiler: Murphy]] slices the front of a Red Court noble's skull off with one of the Swords of the Cross. Not as horrific as some examples, as the vampire in question was wearing a mask, so the actual face is fully covered as it falls to the ground.

** Like in the book series, finally has enough of [[spoiler: Mason Verger]], gets him high, and compels him to cut off his face and feed it to dogs.
** [[spoiler: Verger]] intends to have his doctor Cordell Doemling cut off Will Graham's face and attach it to his own head. [[spoiler: Hannibal turns the tables on him here, too.]]

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Peter once ripped part of ComicBook/NormanOsborn's face off when he stuck to it with his [[WallCrawl stickum' powers]] during ''American Son''. Not how Creator/StanLee imagined it being used, but awesome regardless.

* In ''Film/BirdsOfPrey'', [[BigBad Roman Sionis]] has his henchman [[AxCrazy Victor Zsasz]] peel off the face of a fellow crime boss who refuses to work with him (and then does it to his wife and daughter). Sionis also threatens to remove [[VillainProtagonist Harley's]] face and pickle it.
* In ''Film/{{Braindead}}'' (aka ''Dead Alive''), one of the victims of the zombie outbreak has his face torn completely off.

* Common and horrible tactic used by many drug cartels, especially in Mexico. The face is cut off, sometimes while a victim is still alive as a punishment and as a scare tactic. The victim can live for quite a while afterwards. A specific example is the video "Funky Town". Viewer discretion is very much advised.
* A facial degloving injury can result in something like this, ''especially'' if it's severe. A degloving injury is when the upper layers of skin and tissue are ripped off of the lower ones or even off of the bone. You should '''NOT''' look up "facial degloving", even if you think you have a strong stomach.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' featured a clown with a tear-away face.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the climax of the first episode, Lestat de Lioncourt's SuperSpeed punch through a priest's head results in a large, empty hole where the latter's face used to be.

There are few sights more gruesome than that of a human face with all the skin removed. Something about the absence of eyelids, lips, and the nose] combined with the [[{{Gorn}} rather bloody results]] makes this an extremely powerful image. Sometimes, a character will have their face completely destroyed, while other times, their face will be cut off and preserved. The one who does the cutting may end up [[FaceStealer wearing the face for themselves]]. Note that simply damaging the face isn't enough -- to qualify, the entire face must be removed, leaving only some combination of muscle, teeth, blood, bone, and (usually) {{eyes|AreUnbreakable}}. In a more cartoony version, it's probable that only the skull will be left behind the face. Despite having just been deprived of lips, the victim's ability to talk will be rarely impeded.

* In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', [[DeathBySex Tina]] rips off Freddy's face as she struggles with him. But he allowed that to happen to scare her even further.

* In ''Series/TheBoys2019'' Kimiko does this to a Russian gangster as part of an InternalHomage to her first appearance in the [[ComicBook/TheBoys original comic]].

* A MonsterOfTheWeek in ''Series/TheXFiles'' conducts a ritual that will allow him to change his face by [[HumanSacrifice killing hospital patients as sacrifice]]. In the end, he cuts his face with a scalpel and rips it off, revealing the new one underneath it. Mulder later finds the old one lying on the floor.

There are few sights more gruesome than that of a human face with all the skin removed. Something about the [[UncannyValley absence of eyelids, lips, and the nose]] combined with the [[{{Gorn}} rather bloody results]] makes this an extremely powerful image. Sometimes, a character will have their face completely destroyed, while other times, their face will be cut off and preserved. The one who does the cutting may end up [[FaceStealer wearing the face for themselves]]. Note that simply damaging the face isn't enough -- to qualify, the entire face must be removed, leaving only some combination of muscle, teeth, blood, bone, and (usually) {{eyes|AreUnbreakable}}. In a more cartoony version, it's probable that only the skull will be left behind the face. Despite having just been deprived of lips, the victim's ability to talk will be rarely impeded.

* Music/LouReed's video for "No Money Down" is a head and shoulders shot of an animatronic Lou singing - already UncannyValley creepy, then halfway through "he" starts pulling his face off down to his ''robotic skull''.

* The Creator/JunjiIto story ''Flesh Colored Horror'' has [[spoiler:Chikara's mother rip Maya's face off (in the process, revealing she a wears a skin suit like her), in a desperate attempt to save herself after Chikara dissolves her skin suit]].
** This also happens in the story "Layers of Fear", where [[spoiler: the mother does this to ''herself'', thinking the curse afflicting her family would make her young again by doing this.]]

*** Chapter 10: Kyril rams his Saw Cleaver into a {{mook}}'s face, ruining it beyond recognition with a SickeningCrunch.

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'':

* Many victims of bear attacks, such as Dan Bigley.
* Rudy Eugene did this to homeless man Ronald Poppo while on a drug trip, before being shot to death by the police.

* A facial degloving injury can result in something like this, ''especially'' if it's severe. A degloving injury is when the upper layers of skin and tissue are ripped off of the lower ones or even off of the bone. This troper is going to tell you right now that you should '''NOT''' look up "facial degloving", even if you think you have a strong stomach.

*** Chapter 20: Sanakan caves a {{mook}}'s face inwards by punching him the face with her [[PowerFist metal bracer]].