Basic Trope: A character is shot in the brain and survives with little or no effects on his vitality.
- Straight: Alex is shot in the head at close range. It was just a scratch and he's merely slightly injured.
- Exaggerated: Alex is shot several times in his head but he survives it. He is not even brought to the hospital, and he continues on his quest for justice.
- Downplayed: Alex is shot in the head. He survives, but it puts him into a coma, and when he awakes, he's paralyzed and lost the ability to speak.
- Justified: A combination of low velocity and impact angle resulted in the bullet failing to penetrate the skull, resulting in a concussion but not death.
- Inverted: Alex is shot in the head. His whole body explodes.
- Subverted: Alex, a prominent character, is shot in the head at half of the movie. He's brought to the hospital and doctors are hopeful, but he dies almost immediately.
- Double Subverted: Alex, The Hero, is shot in the head. He's brought to the hospital and doctors are hopeful, but he's put into a coma. Doctors then think there are very small chances he will ever wake up. But he does wake up soon, and continues with his quest immediately.
- Parodied: Alex gets half his head shot off by a bullet, and shrugs it off like nothing happened.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Alex is shot in the head at close range and he dies instantly.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "How could you possibly survive that?" — "It's just a scratch. I am a hero, I cannot die so soon."
- Invoked: Alex lives in a setting where anyone with the money can become a Hollywood Cyborg. Early on, he gets implanted with a sub-dermal armor.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: The one who fired the headshot did it again to be sure.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Have you noticed that some characters are so badass that they seem to survive having their brains shot out?"
- Played For Laughs: Alex gets shot in the head. The bullet bounces off his head back to sender.
- Implied: Alex being shot at close range was never shown, but he has his head bandaged. The audience concludes that the villain must have shot him in the head.
- Deconstructed: While Alex survived the bullet, said bullet causes permanent brain damage, potentially either crippling him or causing a permanent shift in his personality.
Back to 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain
