Don't worry, she's thick-skulled.
There are many times in a fight when a character must use their head to attack their enemies via headbutts. However, the head can also be used defensively to block attacks. Since the forehead is the hardest bone of the skull, characters use it to block attacks rather than taking them to the head.
This technique is mostly shown around characters who have strong bodies and skulls. It may also highlight their guts, bloodlust, and battle-loving nature by employing such a move with high risk and reward. As a result, the characters must have a Hard Head to be able to pull off this move with confidence. It can also be used if a character has a Cool Helmet or an armor that covers the head. If a person has Super-Toughness then this overlaps with Shooting Superman since their power protects everything including the head.
Don't Try This at Home, as neither heads nor skulls are usually strong enough to provide safe or effective protection for warding off personal attacks. Doing so can result in concussions or worse.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Baki the Grappler has characters blocking attacks with their heads to show that they are Made of Iron and to highlight their Blood Knight nature and martial skill.
- Doppo Orochi blocks a punch with his forehead to teach one of his students a fighting lesson.
- During his fight with Olivia, Nomi No Sukune 2, uses his forehead to block a punch from Oliva, shattering his fist.
- Beelzebub has Hidetora Tojo blocking a dropkick from Oga with his forehead during their first fight. Given that Oga has defeated many characters with a single casual blow, this shows how Tojo is one of the few characters who have the same strength and resilience as Oga.
- The Face Block from Captain Tsubasa is a Signature Move of Ryo Ishizaki and commonly used by other characters. As the name implies, the user will block a soccer ball with their face when they are incapable of headbutting it. It's a downplayed trope as the user takes damage from the ball, as such it takes a lot of courage and willingness to take one for the team to pull off.
- Vegeta has been adding this technique in Dragon Ball Super in some of his fights (Cabba and Broly) showing his headstrong fighting style.
- Charon from Fire Force has an Ignition ability that converts kinetic energy into thermal energy, which gives him some degree of Nigh-Invulnerability to absorb the blows of his opponents. During his fight with Shinra, he takes a kick to the face from him, casually commenting on the power of the blow, before retaliating.
- Averted in Fist of the North Star when Kenshiro uses his Ganzan Ryozan Ha, which is a karate chop to the forehead so powerful that it dents the head of the enemy. Ironically, this is one of the least violent techniques of Hokuto No Ken since it's one of the few techniques that don't make the opponent's head or body explode.
- The titular character from Hajime no Ippo blocks Miyata's counter with his head during their second spar, allowing Ippo to land a powerful punch. According to his trainer, Miyata cannot use his full power if he cannot extend his arm during punching, so Ippo blocked it in mid-blow.
- This is how Hinomaru from Hinomaru Zumou shows his Made of Iron credentials. Yuma, the school bully, challenged Hinomaru by letting him hit him for ten minutes without the latter fighting back. Since Hinomaru took a Training from Hell where he slammed his head on a wooden pole, his Hard Head damages Yuma's fists. At that point, Hinomaru defeats Yuma by headbutting him out of the sumo ring.
- The titular character of Inuyasha blocks a punch when fighting Sesshomaru in their third duel. Since Sesshomaru punched him during their second fight, Inuyasha countered by using his forehead to block it rather than give Sesshomaru the satisfaction of punching him in the face.
- Yoroizuka Saw Paing from Kengan Ashura is known for his Hard Head developed from his Lethwei training. Not only does he use it for powerful headbutts, but he can hurt his opponent's fists thanks to his skull being as tough as a helmet. A flashback even shows him as a five-year old letting a grown man hit him in the face with a sledgehammer to make his head tougher.
- My Hero Academia:
- Mount Lady, to protect the flying Midoriya and his Class A while they rescue Bakugo from the League of Villains members that were shot by Magne's Quirk, grows into her giant form and has the League of Villains crash into her forehead to prevent them from reaching the UA students. Subverted as Mount Lady was knocked out from the blow, though she considers the sacrifice Worth It to protect the young ones.
- The Final Battle has All Might use a Powered Armor to fight All For One. During the fight, All Might punches All For One, who blocks it with his forehead. Since All For One absorbed plenty of Quirks to increase his defense and heal damage, this shows how arrogant All For One is regarding his victory.
- Naruto:
- The titular character protects Tsunade by blocking a punch with his forehead. Justified since all ninjas have a forehead protector, meaning that it acted as a shield against Kabuto's fist.
- Kabuto himself also uses his forehead protector to defend himself against some needles that Shizune spat at him.
- One Piece:
- An accidental case with Ichiji. Back during a childhood fight, Sanji punched Ichiji in the face. Since Ichiji has an exoskeleton, Sanji hurt his fist. This shows the difference in strength between Sanji, who was born normal, and the rest of his brothers who were born with enhancements.
- Ulti, one of Kaido's underlings, who specializes in headbutts, tries to use one on Luffy. Not to be intimidated, Luffy counters the attack by headbutting her back. Since both use Armament Haki, it creates a shockwave.
- After awakening his exoskeleton during Wano, Sanji blocks a punch from S-Shark by letting him punch him in the face to protect Nami from him, showing his new toughness. Brook even points out how cool Sanji was for doing that.
- It's not uncommon for Saitama from One-Punch Man to take a punch to the head and No-Sell it as part of his overpowered nature. However, this reflects Saitama's boredom as he doesn't bother reacting to the blows due to him not feeling threatened by them, even reacting with disappointment before defeating his foes in one blow.
- He actively does this against Drive Knight when the cyborg turns evil and uses data to copy Saitama's powers. The Caped Baldy just responds by blocking Drive Knight's punch with his forehead and then destroying him with one punch.
- Averted in Rurouni Kenshin in the fight between Sanosuke and Shikijō. Both of them have Super-Strength and are Made of Iron so their fight is a prolonged slugfest. Shikijō tries to use his Hard Head to give Sanosuke brain damage through repeated headbutts. Sanosuke defeats him by punching him in the forehead, causing his brain to shake and for him to lose consciousness.
- Averted in Slam Dunk since Hanamichi has a Hard Head and his Signature Move when fighting is a headbutt to the forehead that can put anyone out of commission.
- Subverted with Rukawa, Miyagi, and Akagi. All of them were head-butted by Hanamichi on his first interactions with them. While they are pained, they are capable of remaining standing, with Rukawa and Miyagi being ready to retaliate.
- Subverted by Hanamichi intentionally during the gym fight. He lets Mitsui hit him on the head so that he can have a justified reason to participate. Hanamichi lets Mitsui hit him on the head hard enough to bleed, but he still knocks out Mitsui with a Bitch Slap and then ends up defeating Tetsuo.
- Slayers Next: Subverted and Played for Laughs. Zelgadis nonchalantly tanks a cannonball to the forehead and keeps on coming, routing the villains. He then passes out thirty seconds later from a massive concussion.
- Exploited by Jin during the climactic fight of Tekken: Blood Vengeance against Kazuya and Heihachi. Since he's fought both of them in the past, Jin exploits his experience throughout the fight. At one point, he uses Heihachi as a Human Shield by making sure that Kazuya punches Heihachi on his Hard Head to damage his fist.
Comic Books
- DC × Sonic the Hedgehog: Happens in the Final Battle between Darkseid and Super Sonic when Darkseid grabs Super Sonic by the head and gives him a headbutt to the forehead. He has an Oh, Crap! face when he discovers that Super Sonic has Nigh-Invulnerability that prevents his attacks from hurting him.
- Invincible: Thragg shows why he's the Viltrumite equivalent of World's Strongest Man in many fights, displaying greater speed, power, and durability than any Viltrumite Invincible fights in the series. One of his moves is to block punches with his forehead, showing how his durability is above Mark and Nolan in his fights with them.
- Spider-Man: Hammerhead has an adamantium skull that allows him to deliver powerful headbutts. He also uses it to block punches from Spider-Man, hurting his fist in the process.
Films — Animation
- Subverted in Batman: Gotham Knight when Bruce and Cassandra are attacked by some delinquents in India. Both of them get hit on the forehead and bleed from the blows. Double subverted as neither Bruce and Cassandra is bothered due to having the ability to control pain thanks to spiritual training, allowing them to be unaffected by it. Cassandra is willing to take further abuse, willing to outlast her aggressors until they get bored. However, Bruce wanted to learn how to control pain so that he wouldn't be hindered when fighting as Batman. He gives his aggressors a Curb-Stomp Battle with an empty expression on his face to show his newfound control over his pain.
- The Jade Zombies used by Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3 are made of jade, making them very resilient to damage. Tigress, who is known for her incredible strength and high pain tolerance from punching ironwood trees since she started training, actually feels pain after punching a jade zombie in the face.
Films — Live-Action
- Jimmy Horn from Gladiator (1992) uses this technique against Tommy during their fight. He knows that the forehead is the hardest body and that using it to block punches will damage Tommy's fists.
- One scene from Gone in 60 Seconds has Sphinx fighting off Johnny B's goons to save Memphis. He displays a brutal fighting style to defeat all of them, which is seen when he blocks one guy's fist by headbutting it, breaking his hand
- In Goon, Doug breaks a hockey player's hand by blocking his punch with his forehead. This, along with the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown he gives to the hockey player, inspires a coach to hire him as a hockey player who specializes in brawling.
- As part of his self-imposed Training from Hell to develop a strong body for hockey, the titular character of Happy Gilmore goes to a baseball field and has a machine pitch balls at his body. He uses his forehead to block the pitches aimed at his head. Happy's golf trainer turns off the machine and calls out Happy for such ridiculous training, pointing out that Happy is meant to be a golf player rather than a hockey player.
- Jim Henry from Hard Times (1975) is a bare-knuckle boxing champion blessed with a Hard Head that he uses defensively. He lowers his skull when the opponent punches him so that their fingers will get injured upon impact.
- The Beast from Kung Fu Hustle casually takes two kicks from the Landlord and the Landlady twice. Due to being Made of Iron and having a Hard Head thanks to his Frog Style Kung Fu, he is unfazed. Downplayed since he lets them attack him twice to show how his durability to them rather than actively defending against their attacks.
- Parodied in Kung Pow! Enter the Fist during the fight between The Chosen One and Wimp Lo. The latter gets kicked in the face, but he believes that he used a technique that allows him to hurt his opponent's foot with his face.
Wimp Lo: Ha, face to foot style, how'd you like it?
- An accidental example in Power Rangers (2017) when Billy is confronted by a bully after he obtains his powers. The bully attempts to headbutt him, but Billy's body has enhanced durability, causing the bully to knock himself out when he headbutts Billy on the head.
- Iron Head from Shaolin Soccer specializes in a Kung Fu style that focuses on headbutts, resulting in him having a Hard Head that makes him impervious to damage. His abusive boss tends to break glass bottles on his head, but Iron Head is not even fazed by them.
Literature
- Waltharius: Walther, fighting against Gunther and Hagen simultaneously, wounds Gunther so badly that he falls to the ground. Walther is about to finish him off, but Hagen comes between and intercepts the blow with his own helmeted heat. The blow hits so hard that Walther's sword breaks, but the helmet holds. Though the poem mentions that the experience is painful for Hagen, he remains standing and able to fight, even though he should realistically have a concussion.
Live-Action TV
- In the Star Wars series The Acolyte, the primary antagonist and requisite mysterious masked Sith is unsurprisingly introduced wearing a helmet concealing his identity. It's also made of a rare material that can disrupt lightsabers, temporarily rendering them useless. As such, he utilizes the very effective and surprising tactic of headbutting enemy lightsabers, not only coming out no worse for the wear but also disabling his enemies' offense.
- Downplayed in The Adventures of Pete & Pete when Little Pete gives Endless Mike a headbutt to protect his brother. Though Endless Mike didn't defend himself, Little Pete is left stunned since he is still a kid while Endless Mike has a harder skull due to being older. Big Pete has to step in to prevent Endless Mike from beating up his little brother.
- One Piece (2023) has Luffy fighting Arlong at the Baratie, with the Fishman giving him his first defeat. During the fight, Luffy gives Arlong three punches with the third one hitting his head. Arlong is not affected, but he does acknowledge that Luffy is a good fighter. Downplayed since Arlong's head snaps back from Luffy's punch, showing that he didn't block the attack and just endured it.
Video Games
- Absolum: Karl's heavy attack is a massive headbutt, and all heavy attacks including his can Clash, which reflects projectiles and stops any and all melee attacks cold leaving the attacker stunned. The end result is Karl parrying blades, claws, giant pickaxes and eldritch magic (among many others) with his forehead and winning every time so long as your timing is right.
- Asura's Wrath has this happen at the end. During the Combat Breakdown in the Final Battle of the story, Chakravartin punches Asura in the face. Asura just bends his head down and injures his foe's fist.
- Elden Ring: Mad Pumpkin Heads wear ginormous pumpkin-shaped helmets made of bronze that effectively block all damage to their heads. They exploit this in combat by effectively shielding the rest of their unarmored body with their helmeted heads.
- MASK de Smith, the powerhouse of the Smiths from Killer7, demonstrates his toughness early in the game by headbutting a bullet out of the air without flinching. This demonstrates not only his superhuman toughness, but also his reflexes since he reacts fast enough he could dodge the bullet... but instead chooses to hit it.
- The heads of the prehistoric Shieldon and Bastiodon from Pokémon resemble massive shields (especially the latter), and they are a Stone Wall to contrast the other prehistoric Pokémon of their generation, Glass Cannon Cranidos and Rampardos.
- Arizona from Them's Fightin' Herds uses her Hard Head defensively to block attacks from her opponents.
- Trickcal: In an attempt at challenging Velvet to a one-on-one duel, Erpin goads the witch into attacking her head on with their battleaxe, and — rather unexpectedly — managed to block the direct attack with her own head without getting sliced through; this act being justified in the moment by Erpin using her own defensive magic, which is later revealed to actually be because, due to living beings in Elias being unable to die, any form of death is negated. The impressive moment doesn't last, as while Erpin survived, she ended up knocking herself out due to the heavy blunt vibrations from the hit.
- Kiryu from Like a Dragon has occasionally used this technique in certain games, which highlights his fighting spirit, headstrong personality, refusal to back down from any challenge, and combat experience.
- In Yakuza 3, he has a very even duel with Mine where both fighters equally pummel each other. Kiryu gets the upper hand by using his forehead to block a punch, hurting Mine's hand in the process. Kiryu then takes the opportunity to attack Mine while he is still reeling from the pain.
- He uses this technique again in Yakuza 6 against Iwami. Not only that, but it's mutual. Kiryu blocks Iwami's punch with his forehead and then tries to punch Iwami, who blocks the punch with his forehead.
- Again in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, when he faces Ichiban in a boss fight. The start animation has Ichiban trying to punch Kiryu in the face, but Kiryu just blocks it with his forehead. This is an indication of how Kiryu outmatched Ichiban as a fighter and how much Ichiban still has to learn to become a worthy successor to Kiryu.
Web Animation
- DEATH BATTLE!: In the beginning of the fight between Darkseid and Thanos, the Mad Titan tries to draw first blood by punching his opponent in the face, only for Darkseid to headbutt Thanos's fist before kneeing him in the face.
Webcomics
- Grrl Power:
- While the ARC-SWAT superheroes show off their powers at a press conference, Achilles demonstrates his invulnerability by head-butting a tank👁 Image
. Unfortunately, this display is much less visually impressive than zapping the tank or kicking it into the air like his teammates, so he gets a tepid response. - A variation occurs during the team's first superpowered battle, in which Achilles blocks Heavenly Sword's energy blade👁 Image
with his eyeball. This time, he gets the effect he wants when the villainess drops her sword in shock.
- While the ARC-SWAT superheroes show off their powers at a press conference, Achilles demonstrates his invulnerability by head-butting a tank👁 Image
- Summer Bellamy from RayFox proves her powers by having a large animal punch her on the head, which allows her to absorb the force of its blow to amplify her strength.
- Unsounded: When Knock shoots at Duane with her saw-shooter beneath the Nevergreen he nabs two of the projectiles with his hand and pymary while intentionally allowing the third to strike him in the forehead as he furiously tells her she's underestimating him. Then he blows up her saw-shooter.
- An accidental case happens at Zodiac during Taurus' fight with Nightmare. After spending many pages engaged in a Hopeless Boss Fight against a superior opponent, Taurus has an "Eureka!" Moment when she Nightmare hurts her fist punching Taurus on the forehead, complaining about the cow's hard head. Taurus then flies them to the sky and dives them headfirst to the ground, knocking out Nightmare, who didn't have the same thick skull that she did.
Web Video
- Epic Rap Battles of History: In "Chuck Norris vs. Abraham Lincoln", Abe scoffs at Chuck's own feats of strength with a Badass Boast.
Abe Lincoln: You block bullets with your beard? I catch them with my skull!
- The Nostalgia Critic:
- Devil Boner is able to block Benny's gunfire with his forehead because he has twenty metal plates installed there. The downside is that it prevents him from knowing what half of all words that begin with "S" mean.
- His review of Daredevil (2003) has a Deconstructive Parody of this. Elektra tries to block a gunshot from Bullseye with her head. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
Western Animation
- Averted in one episode of American Dad! where Stan turns into a horse and kicks Roger in the head for getting him in trouble with Francine. Roger is left with two hoof prints on his forehead and grudgingly tells Stan that he gets one of those.
Stan Smith: (after kicking Roger) Stop telling Francine on me!Roger Smith: (rubbing his head while glaring threateningly at Stan) You get one of those. You get one of those, Horse Stan.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: It happens accidentally when Sokka fights Ty Lee. She uses her pressure points to paralyze Sokka's arms and a leg. This causes Sokka to wobble and headbutt Ty Lee in mid-strike, hurting her hand in the process.
Sokka: (wobbling while trying to look tough) Good try but no!
- An episode of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera has El Tigre and Black Cuervo fight each other. During a fight, Black Cuervo flies at Manny to hit him with a headbutt, but El Tigre receives the blow with his head as the two exchange a Death Glare that highlights the intensity of their fight and their family rivalry.
- Zigzagged in one Family Guy episode where Peter and Meg try to prank Brian by pushing him into the pool. Meg gets behind Brian and is on her hands and knees while Peter runs to shove him. Brian moves at the last second, causing Peter to knee Meg in the forehead by accident. Needless to say, Meg ends with a terrible headache while Peter is forced to hop on one leg to rub his sore knee.
- Happens in one fight of Invincible Fight Girl when the titular character blocks a punch with her forehead while giving her rival a Grin of Audacity that borders on Slasher Smile.
- Hammerhead from The Spectacular Spider-Man shows that he can use his skull defensively during his fight with Silver Sable. She attempts a jumping punch, but he just bends his head to have her hit his metallic skull to injure her hand.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: Played for laughs in "The Algae's Always Greener", where after Plankton's latest scheme fails when he is fired into Mr. Krab's office by mistake instead of into a customer's Krabby Patty, Mr. Krabs hides under his desk as Plankton ricochets repeatedly off the office walls and begs Squidward to come in to use his Forehead of Doom to protect him.
Mr. Krabs: Squidward, where are you? Shield me with your forehead!
- Jasper from Steven Universe uses a Cool Helmet as a weapon, relying on powerful headbutts to fight, which fits her Ax-Crazy and Blood Knight mindset. The helmet is elongated on the forehead section, meaning that Jasper can block attacks with it.
Real Life
- Some martial artists are taught to intercept incoming punches with their foreheads. The forehead is the hardest part of the skull and a direct punch to it will very likely break the attacker's hand. However, it is important to note that this should always be considered a last resort; it should be done only if the incoming punch has already passed your guard. While the forehead is the least problematic part of the face to take a punch, it is still problematic for a variety of reasons. For example, even a slight cut on the forehead can cause significant bleeding, and as stated above, a concussion (or worse) is always a possibility. Don't Try This at Home indeed.