Overkill (term)
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Overkill is a slang term for the use of excessive force that seems to go farther than just achieving its goal. For example, trying to kill a duck with a rocket launcher would be overkill.
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Criminology
In Criminal profiling, overkill refers to the agressions done by an offender (specially a serial killer) to satisfy his fantasies, and that are not necessary to kill the victim. They are often carried post mortem.
Nuclear application
Overkill is especially used to refer to a destructive nuclear capacity exceeding the amount needed to destroy an enemy.
The term was probably coined in the 1940s and was in common use during cold war era, referring to the arms race between the USA and the USSR. Both nations possessed (and still possess) more than enough nuclear weapons to destroy one another—nuclear overkill.
General application
The term is often used in situations when a person spends a large amount of time or money on a task or component, when a lesser alternative would work just as well. For example, buying 7 mm thick, high quality audio cables to connect a computer to a pair of poor-quality speakers would be overkill.
Fictional applications
Movies
In a critical sense, overkill might be considered as a close relative of overacting and overdramatizing. For example, in most modern horror films, such as Friday the 13th, most of the killing is quickly clichéd, and is always an overkill. For instance, when someone has fallen three stories onto the pavement, it would be overkill to hack them up with a chainsaw; another example is to shoot someone in the head when they are already dead.
Video games
Overkill is a common feature in many video games. For example, in Valkyrie Profile, it is possible for Freya to perform an attack that does over one million damage after the enemy has been hit 99 times for one million damage already. This is unnecessary, as the enemy may only have a few thousand hit points. Overkill is even a term used in the battle system of Final Fantasy X: KOing an enemy with a very high-damage attack will display "Overkill" and give bonus rewards after battle. Additional examples in video games are common, including the effects of the Desert Eagle weapon in Counter-Strike, which provides an example of incorporating overkill effects in order to achieve weapon balancing.de:Overkill