post #4489275

The removal of someone's head from their body through traumatic force, cutting the brain off from it's desperately needed supply of oxygenated blood. Barring unusual circumstances (such as being undead, or being an android with no need of blood) a character injured in this way will always lose consciousness within seconds and quickly die. Decapitation can be the result of an accident, or inflicted on an enemy in battle, but has also been used as a method of execution. When done intentionally, decapitation is usually accomplished by cutting through the neck with a blade. The head can be removed in a single strike, such as by sword or guillotine, while a crueler executioner might prolong their victim's suffering by slowly sawing off their head with a knife.

Regardless of method, a realistic decapitation is always a very bloody death, as it requires complete bisection of the neck, which has several major blood vessels running through it.

Not to be confused with

• detachable head – When a character's head can be easily removed without the character dying. Sometimes the head can even be replaced.
• disembodied head – When only the head is seen, but rest of the body is understood to still be attached.
• floating head – A character has a head that moves separately from their body.

Related tags

• chopping block - A piece of wood that provides a stable cutting surface, often used in decapitations.
• death - A character is rendered lifeless.
• execution - A character is put to death as punishment for some offense.
• fatal - Something happens to a character that will cause them to die.
• fatal wound - A character is wounded so badly that death is inevitable.
• gore - Images focusing on extreme violence inflicted upon a character.
• guillotine - A machine purpose-built for decapitation.
• killing - Images in which a character kills another character.
• severed head – A head that has been removed from the rest of the body by decapitation.
• headless – a body without its head.

See also

• disembowelment
• dismemberment
• torture
• slit throat