History ChekhovsGun / Literature

** The hobbits first acquire elven daggers in the Barrow-Downs during Book 1, a relatively unimportant plot point until Book 5 when [[spoiler: Merry stabs the Lord of the Nazgul behind the knee, weakening him for the final kill by Eowyn]]. This is made possible only by the fact that [[spoiler: Merry's blade was specifically designed for combat against the enemies in Angmar, under the rule of this very foe, the Witch-King of Angmar]].
*** The Nazgul were not invincible and did not require sepcial weapons to harm them, so Merry's sword does not fall under this trope. The Witch-King of Angmar had a prophecy about him stating that he would not be slain by a mortal man. This potentially made Eowyn an example of [=~Chekhov's Gunman~=], although even that is debatable given that she was a fairly major character all along. Since the prophecy did not cover mere flesh wounds, Merry himself does not even count as a second Gunman.

* LarryNiven might just have pulled off the longest delay between the appearance of Chekhov's Gun and it's firing in the history of modern literature within the boundaries of his ''KnownSpace'' universe. In his 1966 short story ''At The Core'', Niven introduces the Quantum II hyperdrive, which is capable of moving a starship a light year in 1.2 seconds (as opposed to the Quantum I hyperdrive, which moves at a mere 3 days to the lightyear). In Niven's 2006 novel ''{{Ringworld}}'s Children'', the Quantum II hyperdrive is used for it's ultimate purpose: to unilaterally end the Fringe War by removing the Ringworld from Known Space entirely. Thirty-eight years from mention to ultimate use just has to be some sort of record...

* In the ''WarriorCats'' novel ''Sign Of The Moon'', a reflection of the moon [[MeaningfulName Half-Moon]] sees actually indicates that [[spoiler: she must become leader of The Ancients.]]

* Like all of [[BrandonSanderson Brandon Sanderson's]] works, ''TheStormlightArchive'' makes heavy use of this. Most noticeable in the DistantPrologue.

* In the ''SkulduggeryPleasant'' novel, the main character's (a skeleton) head is a fake: his real skull was stolen by goblins. This is mentioned as trivia at the time, but becomes important when [[spoiler: they need a part of him to bring him back from another dimension at the end of the third book.]]

* Discussed and lampshaded at length before being [[spoiler: played straight]] in HarukiMurakami's ''1Q84''.

* Early in the third ''MercyThompson'' book, Adam installs a state-of-the-art security system in Mercy's garage without her permission. The footage of [[spoiler:Mercy being raped and beating her rapist to death]] comes into play at the end.

* Happens often enough in the ''HarryPotter'' series that fans used to obsess over seemingly every little detail in the books in an often fruitless attempt to figure out what would happen in the coming book or books... but only a few picked up on Dumbledore's put-outer, i.e. Deluminator, introduced at the very beginning of book one, which became of importance in the seventh and final book, a sort of long-term Chekhov's Gun that was apparently too subtle and too weirdly-used for the fandom to easily notice. Of course, it's pointedly reintroduced towards the beginning of the book, making it suddenly a whole lot less subtle and a more traditional Chekhov's Gun, but veiling its importance for that long, in hindsight, is impressive given we're talking about roughly a few ''million'' obsessive fans here.
** One object and action regarding said object is also mentioned in the first book, and built upon in significance in the subsequent books; the Vanishing Cabinet.

** For most of the third book, Sirius Black is presented as the main villain. In the very first chapter of the very first book, it was noted that Sirius helped get Harry to safety. (He lent Hagrid his flying motorbike.)
*** This is mentioned in the tavern scene in the third book. Hagrid had an upset rant about how he should've suspect something was wrong when that happened, and believed Sirius gave it away so he wouldn't be noticed while on the run - a flying motorcycle stands out pretty well.

** Several times for Peter Pettigrew. He posed for the first two and a half books as Ron's harmless rat, and turned out to be the responsible for betraying Harry's parents to Voldemort. Both Pettigrew's severed finger and the rat's missing one are mentioned in the third book. Then at the end of that book Harry spares his life: now Peter ows him a life debt. In book 4 Peter receives a silver hand to replace the one he severed as a sacrifice to resurrect Voldemort. Finally, in book 7, he hesitated in killing Harry because of the life debt, and his silver hand choked him to death.

*** In the first chapter of book 4, Voldemort tells Pettigrew that he will soon be of use, assisting him in a task that many of his followers would [[{{Foreshadowing}} cut off their right hands for]]... my mother gave me a strange look when I lol'd.
**** He also warned him (kinda) about the hand: "May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail."

** In the first edition of ''The Goblet of Fire'' there is an error at the end: during the Priori Incantatem scene, the order of the murder victim ghosts coming out is wrong (because Harry's mother was killed after his father, she should have come out before he did, but the order was reversed). This led to wild amounts of speculation as whether this was some deeper foreshadowing into the events surrounding the death of Harry's parents... but Rowling later explained what happened: the American editor told her there was a "mistake" (which was actually the correct order) days prior to the release. Because he had spotted some such mistakes in the past, she switched the order without thinking about it. She noticed afterwards and it was fixed for the next printings as well as for the translations.

*** Another subversion: in book 4 Sirius gives Harry a penknife that can unlock any door and untie any knot. While in the bottom of the lake during the Second Task Harry notices that he could’ve used it, had he remembered to bring it. Then in book 5 he takes the penknife with him to the Ministry, only to end up ruined the only time he tries to use it to open the only locked door they find. The existance of the penknife also explains why Sirius slashed the Fat Lady's portrait in book 3: he was trying to "unlock" the entrance.
** The various Horcruxes tended to be [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]s more often than not. Figuring out who "RAB" was before the last book came out was easy, but remembering that there was a locket in the house of Black, not so much. And who would've remembered about the diadem hidden in the Room of Requirement?
*** "More often than not" is an understatement. In addition to the locket (mentioned in ''Order of the Phoenix'', destroyed in ''Deathly Hallows'') and the diadem (first mentioned in ''Half-Blood Prince''), there was the diary (destroyed in the same book it debuted, ''Chamber of Secrets'', but [[ChekhovsBoomerang became important again when the concept of Horcruxes was first introduced four books later]]), Nagini (debuted in ''Goblet of Fire'', and became a Horcrux shortly ''after'' her debut as Voldemort was going to make his last Horcrux when he killed the Potters, but never got around to it[[spoiler:(or so he thought)]]), [[spoiler:''Harry'' (we've known about the lightning-bolt scar since the very beginning, and his connection to Voldemort established when he first gets his wand, but the big hint that he is inherently "connected" to Voldemort comes in ''Order of the Phoenix'' when he starts getting the visions and becomes able to see through Voldemort's eyes--''and'', you'll remember, ''Nagini's'', again setting her up as containing another piece of Voldemort's soul)]], and even the ring, which was already a destroyed Horcrux when it debuted in ''Half-Blood Prince'', but turned out to also be [[spoiler:one of the three Deathly Hallows]]. Only the goblet of Hufflepuff appeared solely as a Horcrux.
*** Indeed, in ''Chamber of Secrets'' [[spoiler: Harry says [Voldemort] "put a bit of himself ... in ''me''"]], which was a very useful clue to the fact [[spoiler: Harry was a Horcrux]].

** There are so many important Chekhov's Guns in the series, in fact, that they can often cause ContinuityLockout in [[Film/HarryPotter the movies]]. I can't wait to see the plot-hole dancing in the Deathly Hallows movies with no prior nods to the mirror, Ravenclaw's diadem, [[spoiler: Dobby (outside of the second movie)]], or Aberforth.
*** Surprisingly, some of the movies set up Chekhov's Guns from the books and then ''don't'' fire them. An example is the Chocolate frog card of Dumbledore in the first one. In the book, Harry reads the card on the train but only later notices the reference to Nicholas Flamel, which leads Hermione to the book she had borrowed. In the movie, a scene that was deleted has Harry reading the card to Ron and Hermione, again leading to Hermione finding Flamel in her book.
** Then again, there's the Chekhov's Gun no one remembers, of the Bezoar, mentioned in passing at the start of the ''first'' book, and not used in ''any'' manner until the sixth. [[spoiler: Where it gets used to save Ron's life.]]
*** It possibly went unnoticed because it got a reminder in the book it was used in, which is what prompted Harry to seek out a bezoar to begin with; in the Prince's old potions text, next to an incredibly long and dry section about the various ways to cure a wide assortment of poisons (and presumably, made during a lecture about same), is written, dripping with bored weariness, "Just shove a bezoar down their throat."
*** Hermione even mentions that when Harry tries to argue that the Half-Blood Prince's notes helped him to remember how to cure Ron - she reminds Harry that if he had been paying attention to Snape that day in the first book, he still should have known. Of course one would think that remembering one lesson from five years ago would be a bit of a stretch, but then it is Hermione...
** How did we forget the snitch?! C'mon, people, pull it together!
*** That was the one thing I think several of us were astonished we never thought mattered. Given what Jo does, it seems obvious now that it's insanely significant, because why else would he catch it like that?

** That Wartcap Powder box, from about when the Locket was found. Sometime later, Warrington has a similar condition crop up all over his face. Makes sense, since the twins stole the box, though it was probably Lee who attacked Warrington with it.
** In fact, most of the little things end up being significant. Hermione's Ancient Runes class, for instance. It might be faster to mention what ''doesn't'' fall under this trope.
** Harry's eyes, loves. Harry's eyes.
*** Matter of fact, in the movies, the only student Alan Rickman ever looks in the eyes is Daniel Radcliffe.
** Pretty much half the book falls under this. Don't forget the tent the Weasley's had in the fourth book at the Quidditch Cup, that reappears in the seventh. And, the basilisk fangs. And the Room of Requirement, mentioned by Dumbledore, important in [=OotP=], and then vital in DH. We also have Dumbledore's glass that sends Dobby to help him. And, we have the invisibility cloack, which played a huge role later on. One could reread all the books, just to find all the things, I'm sure, we're missing.

** Yes, if Q is [[ChekhovsArmourer Chekhov's Armourer]] in fiction, then J.K. Rowling is [[ChekhovsArmourer Chekhov's Armourer]] in RealLife

* In ''1408'' (just the story, not the film) the lucky Hawaiian shirt becomes a textbook example of the trope.

* In {{1408}} (just the story, not the film) the lucky Hawaiian shirt becomes a textbook example of the trope.

* In Sharpe's Tiger, early on Sharpe mentions his lockpick. Never mentioned again until [[spoiler: he and Lawford are thrown in prison and need to get themselves and Colonel McCandless out.]]

* Zack Walker, the narrator of Linwood Barclay's novel ''Bad Move'', is obsessively concerned about potential dangers to his family. He hates when his teenage son and daughter leave their backpacks at the top of the stairs because someone could trip over them. Near the beginning of the book, he describes how he once tried to teach his kids a lesson by lying at the bottom of the stairs, pretending that he'd fallen over a backpack and gotten seriously injured. His son panicked and called 911; the paramedics weren't amused. Near the end of the book, a bad guy has broken into the house and is trying to kill Zack and his wife. [[spoiler: Their lives are saved when the bad guy trips over a backpack that was carelessly left at the top of the stairs, causing him to fall down the stairs and accidentally stab himself with his own knife in the process.]]

* Sherlock Holmes uses this trope in a lot of his work. A good example would be The Hound Of The Baskervilles. In this novella the character Mr. Jack Stapleton is perceived as a quiet and 'nice' person by the account of his profession (at the time when Holmes and Watston meet him for the first time). The profession being a botanist, this means that he should not be considered a suspect for the death of Sir Hugo Baskerville. [[spoiler: as we read on it was indeed Mr. Stapleton that caused the death of Sir Hugo.]]

* In ''[[DisneyFairies Four Clues For Rani]]'', Rani does some research in preparation for the next day's treasure hunt, and learns that the fairy greeting "Fly with you" was originally a much wordier phrase. The very last clue has a phrase that they have to say in order to win, but the clue got wet and only the first few words are legible. Rani realizes at the very last minute that those words are the same as the phrase she read the day before, and her team wins.

* Drizzt Do'Urden kills a drow warrior in ''[[LegacyOfTheDrowSeries The Legacy]]'', and takes the warrior's hand crossbow with sleeping-poison-tipped arrows. Later on, Drizzt fights Artemis Entreri, with the contest seeming to end when Entreri falls off a cliff. Turns out that Entreri had a magical item that allowed him to fly when activated, however, and he starts attacking Drizzt from the air. Drizzt pulls out the crossbow and shoots him. Ever try to fly while under the influence of drugs? [[DrugsAreBad Don't]]. It never ends well. Just ask Entreri.

** On the subject of Tolkien, ''TheSilmarillion'' introduces a Chekhov's gun in the chapter concerning the creation of dwarves by Aulë, where the Sheperds of the Trees (ents) are created by Aulë's spouse Yavanna to counter their harmful axes. Ents are never mentioned again throughout the book until [[spoiler: following the slaying of Thingol in Doriath by the dwarves of Belegost, the dwarves flee eastward to the mountains with the prized necklace of Thingol only to meet the Shepherds of the Trees who rise up and defeat them]].

* There's one that gets set up in the second ''Heralds of Valdemar'' book that doesn't become important until quite a few books later. In ''Arrow's Flight'', it is heavily implied, though not outright stated, that Gwena, Elspeth's Companion, is [[spoiler: Grove-born.]] In ''Winds of Fury'', it's revealed that, yes, Gwena ''is'' [[spoiler: Grove-born]] [[spoiler: and that it is because The Powers That Be felt that Elspeth would need a special Companion, since she's the first Herald Mage since Vanyel.]]

* The Schlegel family's sword in E. M. Forster's ''Howards End,'' which Charles Wilcox will eventually [[spoiler: use on Leonard Bast.]]

* Like all of [[BrandonSanderson Brandon Sanderson's]] works, ''TheStormlightArchive'' makes heavy use of this. Most noticeable in the DistantPrologue.