Line #80 Main/SupernaturalSuffocation


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7	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supernaturalsuffocation.png]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:350:You think freedom is something you can give or take on a whim. But to your people, freedom is something just as essential as... ''air''. And without it, there is no life. There is only... '''''darkness.''''' [[note]]Screencaps from defunct [=AvatarSpirit=].net via Wayback Machine.[[/note]]]]
9
10	->''"You breathe when I allow it. The air in your lungs obeys my every whim. You would be wise to do the same."''
11	-->-- '''Storm''', ''ComicBook/XMen'', "Worlds Apart, Part 1"
12
13	Suffocation isn't usually an especially fast or efficient method of killing someone -- a typical human can last for several minutes before succumbing to oxygen deprivation and will likely attempt to free themselves all the while, growing more aggressive and desperate as their air runs out. As such, suffocation is usually only a useful combat option in very situational circumstances. Some characters, however, possess skills that render this kind of kills a much more viable murder or combat method, most often by allowing them to supernaturally cause someone to no longer be able to breathe.
14
15	Supernatural suffocation appears foremost as an application of ElementalPowers. It is often associated with [[MakingASplash water control]], especially when it comes with true hydrokinesis -- if you can move water with your mind, and the other person can't, there's little stopping you from covering their mouth and nostrils with water or making the liquid flow directly into their lungs. Trapping someone in a giant orb of water is a particularly common variation. After that, all you need to do is sit down and wait for your foe to run out of oxygen. Similarly, [[BlowYouAway air powers]] can lend themselves to this -- if you can move air from place to place, for instance, you might also be able to empty out a foe's lungs.
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17	Rarer versions make use of other substances, such as by burying someone in a non-porous solid matter. Someone with the PowerOfTheVoid might also be able to create hard vacuums around targets. A DeadlyForceField can block breathing, or at least limit someone to a very small air supply. This may also manifest as a form of PsychicPowers, typically by having a telepath [[YourMindMakesItReal convince you that you can't breathe]] or an angry spirit that died of drowning or suffocation causing the living to experience their own torturous death.
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19	Drowning and suffocation are not fun ways to go. They're miserable, slow, and terrifying, and as a result, these powers are mainly the territory of villains and otherwise evil figures. In cases where this is just one application of a broader power set, the villains are typically going to be the ones to come up with or to want to use this specific application. When this is specific, self-standing power, it's going be very rare for a hero to turn up whose superpower is just to fill people's lungs with water or suck them dry of air.
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21	Compare and contrast PsychicStrangle, accomplished by telekinetically squeezing the trachea and/or carotid artery, as opposed to forcing something unbreathable to either plug or invade the airways.
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23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': A pair of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Bount]] twins in the anime arc use their water-based dolls to create masses of water around the target's head to drown them.
30	* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': April's contractor ability is water manipulation. In the first season, her role is essentially to provide the ElementalBaggage for her partner November 11, who can freeze water. However, in the second season, she gets her chance to shine, first by her powers being [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman uniquely suited]] to take down a Contractor, and then almost killing the first season's protagonist by enveloping his head in water. Unfortunately for her, her MakingASplash abilities don't really cut the mustard against his ShockAndAwe ability...
31	* ''Anime/DigimonFusion'': Splashmon, one of the generals of the villainous Bagra Army, can use a Bead Drown attack that consists of it concentrating moisture out of the air to form a sphere of water around his opponent's head.
32	* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
33	** Juvia Lockser, who can use her own body into powerful water, has a magic spell that allows her to trap opponents in an orb of water that cuts off their oxygen supply.
34	** The Etherious Demon Torafuzar weaponizes this with his Curse Tenchi Kaimei, creating a massive wave of black water that he floods his surroundings with. One of the side effects of this arrangement is that the lack of oxygen makes it difficult for the target to fight a literal SharkMan who can move freely through the water. And even on the off-chance they don't suffocate, the poisonous nature of the water Torafuzar is immune to will kill them anyways from exposure if they stay in longer than five minutes. The only way Gajeel is able to save his friends is to take Torafuzar down before its too late. [[spoiler:When the Spriggan 12 member Bloodman attempts to repeat this with the very same curse, Levy who barely survived this technique counters by creating a hole in the ground with her [[WordsCanBreakMyBones magic]] to drain the water away.]]
35	* ''Manga/HoshinEngi'': One of the enemies that Taikobo faces has a paope that controls water, which he uses to create a permanent, inescapable water bubble just large enough to engulf his head. Furthermore, said water is seawater, so Taikobo can't even try to escape by drinking it... which is why he uses a special peach to turn the seawater into saké so that he can safely gulp it down and remove the sphere.
36	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
37	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'': In the OVA, N'Doul's Stand, Geb, mixes itself with water from a canteen, then forms a bubble around Polnareff's head, almost drowning him despite Jotaro's attempts to punch the water away with Star Platinum. Fortunately, Avdol uses Magician's Red to evaporate most of the water before Polnareff suffocates.
38	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'': The minor antagonist Thunder [=McQueen=] is a severely suicidal man whose Stand, Highway to Hell, copies any injury he inflicts upon himself onto another person. When he tries to drown himself, the Stand turns into a liquid blob that wraps itself around Ermes' nose and mouth, suffocating her until she manages to stop him from drowning.
39	* ''Manga/{{MAR}}'': Snow faces off against a {{Gonk}} looking girl named Emokis in the fifth round of the War Games. In the last few moments, she pulls out a new ARM named Undine, who controls water and covers Emokis body in a bubble of it. Snow tries to get her to surrender, but Emokis [[HonorBeforeReason is too prideful and nearly drowns due to her stubbornness]]. Luckily for her, Undine deactivates the power after Emokis loses consciousness, knowing that Snow didn't want to kill her, giving Snow the win.
40	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
41	** Utakata's bubble-based fighting style includes the Drowning Bubble Technique, where he traps an opponent's head in a large bubble and waits for them to drown.
42	** Suigetsu, who can [[ElementalShapeshifter turn himself into water]] at will, will sometimes gather parts of his liquefied self around an opponent's head to asphyxiate them.
43	** Kisame Hoshigaki has a technique called "Water Prison Shark Dance Technique" that traps himself and his opponent(s) in a huge sphere or dome of water while he [[FusionDance fuses with his sword]]. One of the side effects of this arrangement is that the lack of oxygen makes it difficult for the target to fight a literal SharkMan as they attempt to futilely escape the large body of water.
44	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': One application of Caesar Clown's "Gas Gas" Devil Fruit power is to deprive everyone else around him of oxygen, suffocating them.
45	* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Udo Jin-e captures Kaoru to lure Kenshin out and paralyzes her with a glance from his HypnoticGaze, gloating that she only has a few minutes before she asphyxiates and Kenshin's only chance of saving her is to break his ThouShaltNotKill oath. He very nearly does until Kaoru manages to break out of the spell by [[{{Determinator}} sheer willpower]].
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Comic Books]]
49	* ''ComicBook/TheOutsidersDCComics'': New Wave, who was the leader of the villain team the Masters of Disaster, can turn her entire body into water and drown her opponents.
50	* ''ComicBook/PS238'': Poly Mer has used her RubberMan powers to suffocate someone by allowing herself to be inhaled.
51	* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Monsoon uses her water manipulation powers to drown people, and nearly drowns Tim by trapping him in water in a Bludhaven alley. If Tim hadn't been accompanied by members of ComicBook/{{Shadowpact}} at the time he'd have died with no way to defend himself.
52	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Hydro-Man, an ElementalShapeshifter supervillain who can turn himself into water, has this as his preferred combat technique. During a battle, he typically turns parts of himself into water with which to fill his foes' respiratory tracts or simply fills the room they're in with, well, himself until they drown.
53	* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Storm has [[WeatherManipulation all-encompassing control of weather]]. On occasion, she's put her control of air pressure to use to deny her opponents their breath.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Fan Works]]
57	* ''Webcomic/DestinyIntertwined'': Particularly powerful Wind dragons can suck the air directly out of a restrained target's lungs.
58	* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Keepers, who all have control of their dungeons' environments, can, with enough magic, teleport in or create water to fill a room. Ami's only thought of doing so once, when faced with an unstoppable enemy, but didn't carry it out because she assumed him to be immune to drowning.
59	* ''Fanfic/SoulEaterTroubledSouls'': Submerging people under huge amounts of high-pressure water is the one ways Cancer Lucrenian knows how to kill people with water.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
63	* ''Film/BlackWidow2021'' has a sci-fi variant. Through her research into mind control, Melina Vostokoff has gained complete control over her test subjects' brains, and can compel them to stop breathing altogether. She brings a pig to near-death (eleven seconds away from total suffocation) as part of her demonstration, to her surrogate daughters' discomfort. Fortunately, we don't see this used on a person, though the Black Widows can be forced to commit suicide.
64	* Another sci-fi version in ''Film/Bloodshot2020''. KT has an artificial respirator in her clavicle that filters out toxic inhalants and enables her to breathe underwater. In one scene when she refuses to obey an order, her BadBoss remotely shuts down her respirator to [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse remind her that her life is in his hands]].
65	* ''Film/TheDarkTower2017'': The [[BigBad Man in Black]] often kills people by using his CompellingVoice to order them to stop breathing. They drop on the spot, but the command obviously takes some time to finish them off.
66	* ''Film/TheLastAirbender'': Admiral Zhao meets his end when a trio of [[MakingASplash waterbenders]] simply walk up to him, encase him in a large bubble of water until he drowns, and drop his lifeless body to the ground.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheRedKing'': Dagbert Endless and his father possess the Endownment of "Drowning", either through more traditional [[MakingASplash water manipulation]] to flood a place or filling the air with a thick salty atmosphere which makes victims struggle to breathe.
71	* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In book 2 (''Blood and Honor''), this is how King Malcom was murdered -- [[spoiler:his daughter Gabrielle]] used air magic to draw the breath from his lungs.
72	* ''Literature/HauntingChristmasTales'': In the short story "Jingle Bells", young Anna, following a tapping at her bedroom window, briefly suffers unaccountable suffocation. It seems to be [[spoiler:a phantom reiteration of her baby brother Andrew's cot death]].
73	* ''Literature/JohnBarringtonCowles'': An unaddressed curiosity is that Kate Northcott's former fiances all drowned. William Prescott certainly dies from drowning, Archibald Reeves's [[DrowningMySorrows insanity-induced alcoholism]] is a major factor in his body giving up, and John Barrington Cowles's death is a toss-up between the fall off a cliff and drowning in the waves below. This recurrence has an equal chance of being Kate's MO, of being a manifestation of her true nature's influence, or of being all mere coincidence.
74	* ''Literature/TheKingstonCycle'' has two examples in ''Stormsong'':
75	** The villain is revealed to have committed murder by using SympatheticMagic to force the victim to stop breathing. Grace [[spoiler:wins the victim's father's cooperation, [[EnemyMine despite their enmity]],]] by pointing out how [[CruelAndUnusualDeath hideously slow and cruel]] a death it was.
76	--->'''Grace:''' It took three minutes... three minutes where she was terrified. Three minutes where she saw her death coming and couldn't do anything to stop it.
77	** When they confront each other, Grace turns the tables by fine-tuning her WeatherManipulation power to suck the air out of the villain's lungs, briefly staggering them.
78	* ''Literature/LazyDungeonMaster'': Keima's favorite technique for killing powerful monsters in Dungeon Battles is to create a horde of small creatures and control some of them to climb up the monster's body and jump into its throat.
79	* ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'': Early in his magic training, Kvothe {{Sympathetic\|Magic}}ally binds the air in his lungs to the air around him, hoping for SuperBreath. However, Sympathy runs on EquivalentExchange, so he starts to suffocate because his lungs can't shift the greater mass of air; he almost dies before he can break the spell.
80	* "Literature/TheSpider1908": Clarimonde's method of killing her victims once they're her puppets is to have them hang themselves and die from suffocation. During their death struggles, she crawls into their mouths for undisclosed purposes, although it's hinted she gets her nourishment from them during this moment.
81	* In "The Staff in the Stone" by Creator/GarthNix, an infamous spell in {{Wizard Duel}}s is the Asphyxiation of Lygar, which conjures an impenetrable globe that seeks out and constricts the target's head, either suffocating them or crushing their skull -- in either case, substantially impeding their own spellcasting.
82	* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': In "Dorms of Our Lives", Tidestriker, who can control water, spits a mouthful of water in Derek's face and causes it to stay there, creating a mask of water plugging his nose and mouth.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
86	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
87	** The "Keller Machine" from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil The Mind of Evil]]" is supposedly an experimental treatment designed to [[HeelFaceBrainwashing cure criminals of their malignant tendencies]]. As the Doctor discovers to his horror, it's in fact an extremely dangerous alien mind parasite that feeds on the negative impulses in the brain and can kill people by making them [[IKnowWhatYouFear physically experience their worst fears]]. Early in the storyline, it kills a scientist who fears water by making him experience drowning at sea while he's on dry land.
88	** The witches in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode The Shakespeare Code]]" plunge a VoodooDoll with the victim's hair sample attached into a barrel of water, causing the poor victim to spew water from his mouth and start drowning. The witches then finish him off with a needle to the voodoo doll's heart.
89	* ''Series/TheLostRoom'': When the canteen is opened, a person in its vicinity becomes unable to breathe.
90	* ''Series/{{Misfits}}'': One episode has a [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain of the week]] with the power of "lactokinesis", or [[SingleSubstanceManipulation control of dairy products]]. One of the things [[LethalHarmlessPowers he does]] is to manipulate cheese in people's digestive systems to choke them to death.
91	* ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland'': This is how Jafar kills his father in the finale, since he'd survived his father's attempt to drown ''him'' in a barrel of water when he was younger.
92	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': As the nature of a vengeful spirit's death impacts their powers in unlife, spirits who drowned or whose death was connected to water may possess the ability to drown living people. Sam and Dean have faced several examples during their career:
93	** "[[Recap/SupernaturalS01E03DeadInTheWater Dead in the Water]]" features the spirit of Peter Sweeny, who drowns people by literally possessing the black lake water he died in and forcibly traveling into people's lungs or using the water to hold them under. He goes after the families of the two men who accidentally drowned him as a boy.
94	** "[[Recap/SupernaturalS03E06RedSkyAtMorning Red Sky at Morning]]" features the ghost of a sailor who appears every thirty-seven years to go after those who killed members of their own family (he was hanged by his own brother for attempting mutiny) and executes his victims by making them drown on dry land.
95	** At the end of "[[Recap/SupernaturalS07E14PluckyPennywhistlesMagicMenagerie Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie]]", Dean defeats Howard, who is killing people by bringing their worst fears to life, by using the same spell to summon the spirit of Howard's younger brother who drowned under his watch whilst they were both children. The angry ghost kills his brother by making him experience his own death.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
99	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
100	** Linnorms are evil dragons who can lay powerful death curses on their killers, and some aquatic linnorms have curses that make their slayers very susceptible to drowning.
101	*** A fjord linnorm's death curse causes its killer to lose any ability to breathe underwater, to become unable to use magical aid to do so and to hold its breath for any length of time and without intense nausea.
102	*** Gare and shoal linnorms' curses cause any liquid their targets to drink to pour directly into their lungs, potentially drowning them on dry land.
103	** The BreathWeapon of a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent void dragon]] drives the air out of its targets' lungs and causes them to suffocate for several rounds.
104	** Nereids are aquatic [[TheFairFolk fey]] who can fill a victim's lungs with water at a touch, preferably a KissOfDeath. If their victims fail their saving throw, they [[SuperDrowningSkills fall unconscious in one turn]] and die in three.
105	** Kurobozu are undead monks who [[AbstractEater feed on people's breath]], non-lethally suffocating their victims and exposing them to a MysticalPlague.
106	** [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Yurei]] can cause a victim within fifty feet to suffocate for up to three combat rounds, which can knock them unconscious or kill them at worst. To add insult to injury, when they regain their breath, they cough up something nauseating like a tangle of wet hair.
107	** Sarglagons, also known as drowning devils, are aquatic fiends that can cause their enemies' lungs to spontaneously fill with water.
108	** The ''Suffocation'' spell renders a target unable to breathe for up to three combat rounds, which knocks them unconscious with one failed saving throw and kills them with three. The much more powerful ''Mass Suffocation'' affects more targets and lasts substantially longer.
109	** The Kineticist class has a power called Suffocate, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. The specific method depends on the Kineticist's element of choice -- [[MakingASplash water-users]] drown the victim, [[BlowYouAway air-users]] evacuate their lungs, and [[MindOverMatter aether-users]] do a [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]]-style [[PsychicStrangle Force Choke]].
110	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'':
111	** One spell in the [[CastingAShadow Lore of Shadow]] conjures up TendrilsOfDarkness to strangle the target for as long as the spellcaster concentrates, first forcing them to try to resist the effect every turn, then starting to deal progressively greater damage after they succumb.
112	** One of the miracles granted by the sea god Manann, "Drowned Man's Face" from ''Tome of Salvation'' and the 4th edition core book, magically fills a target's lungs with seawater.
113	** One of the potential effects of a catastrophic MagicMisfire is that the spellcaster is unable to breathe for one to ten minutes.
114	* ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'': Although Shantar is generally associated with creating and crafting, she is still the Celestine of Neptune and her most powerful Gift allows Garou to drown their victims on dry land.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Toys]]
118	* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'':
119	** The Kaukau Nuva, the [[MaskPower Mask]] of [[ArtificialGill Underwater Breathing]], can do this by sharing its power with others in the vicinity before withdrawing the power, but the Toa consider this immoral to do.
120	** Gali Nuva briefly did this against Hakann during their initial battle on Voya Nui by encasing his head in a water sphere. Hakann [[OhCrap briefly and noticeably panicked]] as his lungs filled with water before he reminded himself that he had defeated and killed other Toa of Water in the past and [[EyeBeams used his heat vision to evaporate the water sphere]].
121	** It's possible to do this with the Vacuum power, which was noticeably weaponized by Makuta to defeat [[TimeMaster Voporak]] since no amount of elapsed time will create air where there is none and even an ImplacableMan like Voporak needs to breathe.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Video Games]]
125	* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosEternalWingsAndTheLostOcean'': Xelha's Level 8 finisher, Seal of Water, is described as surrounding the target with water, causing death by suffocation. As a result, it has a 100% chance of causing a OneHitKill against enemies who aren't resistant to instant death.
126	* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The "Suffocating" status eilment is [[StatusInflictionAttack inflicted]] by specialized {{Necromancer}} and [[BlowYouAway Aerotheurge]] spells and can be countered by an Aerotheurge ProtectiveCharm. It's a NonIndicativeName; the status destroys the target's Magic Armor over time but causes no direct harm.
127	* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': The Crystal Rod weapon has an unleash ability called Drown, which forces a bunch of water spheres into the target and has a chance of instakilling them.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
131	* ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'': The Urashima Woman's cause of death was drowning, and so as a spirit she's gained some control over water. In particular, she can make her victims feel like they're drowning even without water present.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Webcomics]]
135	* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': [[PunchClockVillain Anadyne]]'s signature magical trick is to condense atmospheric moisture over someone's face and [[http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch06/ch06_68.html hold it]] there until they suffocate. It's not only cruel but slow and inefficient compared to other magic -- her one known victim needs to be immobilized by someone else and still gets rescued before she can kill him.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Websites]]
139	* ''Website/{{Mortasheen}}'': Stingg, an entity whose powers revolve around the production and delivery of a seemingly endless variety of poisons, includes in her repertoire a toxin whose effects simply cause the victim's lungs to rapidly fill with fluid.
140	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1812 SCP-1812]] is Earth's second moon and appears to simply not exist to people that haven't had it pointed out to them. Those aware of it, however, will perceive its pronounced tidal effects upon the ocean and have been known for drowning in seawater that isn't there to anyone else; most coastal cities are a death sentence to people in the know, who will drown in absolutely nothing in the middle of the street.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Web Videos]]
144	* ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'': In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtODX-055g8 REAL DEATH NOTE!]]", Ian gets ahold of an actual Manga/DeathNote that causes people to strangle themselves to death when he writes their name down in it.
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Western Animation]]
148	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': In "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS3E10LongLiveTheQueen Long Live the Queen]]", the season 3 BigBad Zaheer weaponizes airbending in a far more {{lethal\|HarmlessPowers}} way than we've ever seen and [[AscendedFridgeHorror only postulated in fandom before]]: he executes [[AssholeVictim the Earth Queen]] by drawing all the air from her lungs and letting her suffocate.
149	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Lapis Lazuli, who has [[MakingASplash hydrokinetic abilities]], nearly drowns Steven and Connie by trapping their heads inside giant blobs of water.
150	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': Aqualad tries to down Speedy using his [[MakingASplash hydrokinesis]] during their round in the "Tournament of Heroes".
151	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SupernaturalSuffocation