Headshot

For "headshot" in photography, see portrait or mug shot.

The term headshot is a video game term indicating that an opponent or teammate has been hit in the head with a projectile — usually a bullet. In use by the early 1990s in videogame circles the term was used to great effect by Epic Games' Unreal Tournament. The term "headshot" was thrust into popular gaming culture in 2004 with the phrase "BOOM, HEADSHOT!" An episode from the Pure Pwnage series depicts the usage of the term "BOOM, HEADSHOT!" by a pro gamer named FPS_Doug, who shouts it out after scoring headshots against his opponents. The term has spread into the gaming scene as a whole. Some players repeating the line as a tribute to FPS_Doug. In general though it is a celebratory cheer at a plan gone well.

In the context of military jargon and video games, a headshot signifies a shot of particular skill; the head is one of the smallest targets on the body to hit (and most critical to body functions), and therefore one of the most difficult to shoot. Many first-person shooters such as Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament reward players for headshots on this basis. Headshots do more than the normal accepted value for damage. Rarely, players will score a long streak of headshots, either through a phenomenal display of skill or through luck. One of the higher displays of skill is in attaining multiple headshots with a sniper rifle, since the difficulty of tracking a fast-moving target through a scope (making the relative motion of the target even faster) and scoring a headshot requires much finesse. In either case, the extraordinary feat is often attributed to cheating. This in turn originates from programs or modified game files (such as an aimbot) that permit players to instantly score headshots upon seeing a target. Additionally, some weapons in games are dubbed as "headshot machines" due to their recoil pattern having the innate effect of rising the point of impact up towards the head after a burst of fire. Gamers who exclusively use sniper rifles to attain the headshot are derisively known as "(weapon name) whores" such as "AWP Whore" in Counter-Strike: Source.

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