History ChekhovsGun / Literature

* Quite literal use in 'Silver Skull' in ''Radio/TheShadow'' series of pulps, when a gun The Shadow gives to a companion gets smuggled past captors and across the USA, only to be handed back to the Shadow at the climax when his own brace runs empty.

%%* In ''Literature/{{Rage}}'', written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, the lock pocketed by the lead character.

** All the girls know how to open a bullet and swallow the gunpowder if the Tox (an infectious disease and the gets unbearable. [[spoiler:Late in the book Headmistress tries to poison the bottled water with gunpowder, and [[LaserGuidedKarma Hetty forces her to drink one in retribution.]]]]
** When Hetty's sealed-up eye is described, she often mentions she can feel something growing behind it. [[spoiler: The final moments of the book have her realize the Tox is a parasite that's been living inside all of them, meaning she was likely feeling it moving inside her.]]

** Arguably, the One Ring is an example of this trope in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' itself. It starts out as an ordinary ring that Bilbo happens to find on the ground, only for him to discover that it happens to be a magic ring that can turn him invisible and pave the way for him to get into adventuring. Not bad!

** THE ONE RING. It is just this random magical ring that Bilbo wins from Gollum in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', but in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' it's revealed that it's the most dangerous artifact in existence, and crucial for the return of [[BigBad Sauron]], driving the entire plot.
** The One Ring is actually a retroactive Chekhov's Gun. ''The Hobbit'' was not written with ''The Lord of the Rings'' in mind, and the meeting between Bilbo and Gollum was rewritten for later editions after the release of Lord of the Rings in order to retcon the ring to fit this trope.

* ''Literature/SisterhoodSeries'' by Creator/FernMichaels: Early on in the series, there is a teddy bear called Willie, who belonged to Barbara Rutledge. Barbara's ghost mentions Willie more than once, then eventually it is forgotten. However, at the end of ''Home Free'', Barbara's ghost tells her mother that she is going to give Willie to Jack Emery and Nikki Quinn's child! Gold shields, which give anyone (usually hand-picked {{FBI agent}}s) who possesses them carte blanche and s/he can answer only to the president, are brought up a lot early on. Later on, they are not even mentioned. However, the book ''Home Free'' has president Martine Connor set up an organization that will be composed of the Vigilantes, and there are 14 gold shields, one given out to each member of the organization! ''Hide And Seek'' has Mitch Riley, assistant director in the FBI and a JEdgarHoover wannabe, keeping loads of files on supposedly everyone. Between his wife and the Vigilantes, his files get snatched from him and put somewhere where they'll never see the light of day. However, ''Deja Vu'' has the Vigilantes needing to look through those files on Henry "Hank" Jellicoe. It turns out that Mitch not only has files on Henry, but there are at least 6 boxes worth of files on Jellicoe!

** In ''Literature/SmallGods'', the opening paragraphs discuss eagles picking up tortoises and dropping them to crack their shells, and says something to the effect of a tortoise possibly taking advantage of this someday. Close to the end of the book Om, a god trapped in turtle form, gets an eagle to drop him on Vorbis' head (by [[GroinAttack threatening the eagle's sexual organs]]), killing Vorbis, and causing the crowd that's watching to become believers of Om.
*** Granted, it's a ArtisticLicenseBiology (eagle gonads are internal), but it's still funny.
*** This takes place in a world where you can inherit scars from your parents and powers from your ADOPTED grandfather. All science on Discworld takes a backseat to the RuleOfFunny.
*** Not just the rule of funny, but the fact that the Discworld runs on Narrative Imperative and the story itself displays the power of mass belief. If the people in the area believe eagles have external gonads and the story being played out requires it, eagles (or ''this'' eagle anyway) will have them.

** Used straight in ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'' where Rincewind rescues a small green frog from the ocean that ends up saving his life.

*** Where he throws a paragraph in describing the awesome nature of [[spoiler:[[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Sue]], the near-complete ''TyrannosaurusRex'' skeleton at the Field Museum.]] Seems fairly innocuous, since... well, it ''is'' cool. [[spoiler:He later [[RaisingTheSteaks raises her from the dead]] in the single most awesomely overblown moment in the entire series]]. I doubt anyone saw ''that'' coming on their first reading of the book.

* ''Literature/LivInTheFuture'': While in a morgue, Liv presses the elevator call button on impulse, which Alix criticizes her for since they aren’t going to the place the receptionist thinks they are. A portal appears shortly afterward and a monster comes through it; the elevator arriving allows them to escape from the monster.

* Similarly to Bond, at the beginning of Anthony Horowitz's ''Literature/AlexRider'' books and the film version of ''Literature/{{Stormbreaker}}'', Alex is given a set of gadgets -- all of which will be used. In fact, most spy films involving gadgets do this, as if the equivalent of Q has the ability to see into the future.