History Main / BackwardsFiringGun

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Lair of the Libertines", one VictimOfTheWeek is killed when the killer removes the safety catch from his pistol. This causes the firing pin to shoot out backwards when he fires the pistol, hitting him between the eyes.

* One of the many {{MacGuffin}}s in ''Film/BulletTrain'' is a booby-trapped gun rigged by [[AmbitionIsEvil the Prince]], in hopes of using it against [[spoiler:[[ArchnemesisDad her father]],]] [[BigBad the White Death]], to {{exploit|edTrope}}ing his habit of [[InvokedTrope killing people who've wronged him]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with their own weapons]]. [[spoiler:Her initial gambit doesn't go as planned, but he eventually kills himself with it in the end of the film, while aiming it at somebody completely different.]]

* One of the many {{MacGuffin}}s in ''Film/BulletTrain'' is a booby-trapped gun rigged by [[AmbitionIsEvil the Prince]], in hopes of using it against [[spoiler:[[ArchnemesisDad her father]],]] [[BigBad the White Death]], in hopes of {{exploit|edTrope}}ing his habit of [[InvokedTrope killing people who've wronged him]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with their own weapons]]. [[spoiler:Her initial gambit doesn't go as planned, but he eventually kills himself with it in the end of the film, while aiming it at somebody completely different.]]

** "WesternAnimation/PreHystericalHare" has a Prehistoric Bugs do this with the ''first'' gun, right after inventing the thing, no less. After showing Elmer how to use it and loading it, he then switches the stock around right before Elmer tries to shoot him with it.

** Another cartoon has a Prehistoric Bugs do this with the ''first'' gun, right after inventing the thing, no less. After showing Elmer how to use it and loading it, he then switches the stock around right before Elmer tries to shoot him with it.

* An alternate ending for ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' has John [=McClane=] threatening Simon Gruber with a Chinese rocket launcher with the sights removed, making it impossible to tell which direction it would fire. He gave it to Gruber and allowed him to chose which way to point it in a variation of RusianRoulette. [[spoiler:Gruber ultimately points the rocket launcher the wrong way.]]

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* One of the many {{MacGuffin}}s in ''Film/BulletTrain'' is a booby-trapped gun rigged by [[GenderBlenderName the Prince]], in hopes of using it against [[spoiler:[[ArchnemesisDad her father]],]] [[BigBad the White Death]], in hopes of {{exploit|edTrope}}ing his habit of [[InvokedTrope killing people who've wronged him]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with their own weapons]]. [[spoiler:Her initial gambit doesn't go as planned, but he eventually kills himself with it in the end of the film, while aiming it at somebody completely different.]]

This is a comedy weapon trope (although there are dramatic examples) featuring a gun designed or modified to fire backwards, tricking the person who uses it into shooting themselves. A common version seen in cartoons is to bend the barrel back into a "U" shape. Note that this trope may still come into play even if the person who might fire the gun would have to be really stupid not to notice the modification.

->''"They say that in the army''\\
''The guns are mighty fine''\\
''But when you pull the trigger''\\
''The bullets fly behind!"''

* On ''Series/{{Class}}'', the displacement gun is an alien weapon that fires both forwards ''and'' backwards, thus killing its wielder as well as its target. It was intentionally designed as a [[TakingYouWithMe suicide weapon]], as it's intended exclusively for use against Shadow-Kin: otherworldly entities that exist inside other beings' shadows, hence can only be killed if the opponent whose shadow they are inhabiting is simultaneously annihilated.

* In "The Girl Who Was Death", a zany [[{{Pastiche}} spy-spoof]] episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' (original), Number 6 modifies some rifles so they'll fire backwards before some guards arrive and attempt to shoot him with them. He also modifies German "potato-masher" grenades so the charges are in the handles instead of the heads.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "The Inquisitor", Kryten and Lister steal the Inquisitor's gauntlet and Kryten reprograms it. When the Inquisitor reacquires it and fires it at Lister, it fires backwards and removes the Inquisitor from history.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. In "Worst Case Scenario" Seska has programmed the holodeck to become a DeadlyGame involving the Voyager crew; when Holodeck-Janeway fires her compression phaser rifle at Seska, it [[DeathIsCheap disintegrates Janeway]]. Later Seska forces Tuvok to PutDownYourGunAndStepAway, but the same thing happens to her as Tuvok sabotaged his rifle before handing it over.

Despite the trope title, other projectile weapons, such as a crossbow or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwacha hwacha]], may be examples of this trope.

* One of these shows up in ''Film/TheAmerican'' when [[spoiler: George Cloony's character intentionally designs one for an assassin. Why would he do this? Simple: He figured out that the assassin would use the gun to kill him.]]

* An alternate ending for ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' has John [=McClane=] threatening Simon Gruber with a Chinese rocket launcher with the sights removed, allowing Gruber to point the rocket whichever way he liked. [[spoiler: Gruber ultimately points the rocket launcher the wrong way.]]

* ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'': The final trap in the [[spoiler: original version of the]] Farm Trap sequence is a shotgun that was rigged to fire in reverse. One of the last two survivors grabs it, assuming that killing the other survivor is the only way out of the trap, and is killed when the trigger is pulled. [[spoiler: This also destroys the key that would have let both survivors escape, which was hidden inside the shotgun shell.]]

** In the episode "Assie Come Home" when making a delivery Leela has Bender bend the barrels of all the guns leading to all the gang members killing themselves.

** The US UsefulNotes/NavySeals are among the only members of the US military to use a 9mm pistol that ''isn't'' the Beretta M9, partly because of a combination of defects that caused the same sort of issue as the Ross rifle above -- poorly heat-treated slides and incorrectly forged locking blocks in early batches were giving out five times earlier than they should have, and this was made worse when a bad batch of horrifically overcharged ammunition was thrown into the mix. In any case, whether you had a weakened slide that broke in half or a cracked locking block shattering to pieces, or if a faulty cartridge exploded, the slide (or half of a slide) would fly off and hit the SEAL firing it in the face during training. As the quote went, "you ain't a SEAL until you've eaten Italian steel".
*** Beretta eventually fixed the problem with the M9 (hence the model now called "[=M9A1=]", the "A1" bit meaning it went through an alteration) and the only reason the [=SEALs=] encountered the problem was because they train in a month more on side-arms than most regular servicemen do in their entire careers. [[NeverLiveItDown However, the damage was already done to Beretta's reputation]].
* In UsefulNotes/WorldWarI there were attempts made to mount large caliber cannons onto the flimsy biplanes of the day to shoot down zeppelins, and one method used to mitigate the substantial recoil was to simply weld a second cannon facing backwards to the back of the forward firing cannon, and firing both guns at the same time, the rear one loaded with chain or other such material to cancel out the recoil of the forward firing gun. This wasn't very successful against high-flying zeppelins, but U-boats became the primary victims of recoilless artillery, especially when patrolling flying boats equipped with Davis Guns could simply point the guns straight down and hit the submarines before they could dive!
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle Recoilless rifles]] were adopted after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI to combat tanks. Instead of the weapon itself taking the hit from the cartridge being fired, a lot of the gas is vented from the back. The same principle is used by rocket launchers like the bazooka and RPG-7. Because the blast isn't contained, the weapon itself is much lighter, allowing small vehicles and individual soldiers to carry a weapon that can penetrate tank armor. The backwards firing part comes in when you consider that those same gasses that aren't stopped by the weapon and kill anybody some feet behind it, this also prevents them from being fired indoors, nearby walls would bounce the gasses back to the shooter.

* In the 1966 film ''Film/TheSilencers'' (part of the MattHelm series starring Music/DeanMartin, a parody of the spy genre), a guard got hold of one of these guns, not knowing it was a trick gun, and pointed it at a woman - as she stoically awaited her fate (she didn't know what it was either). The guard pulled the trigger, shot himself, looked kind of puzzled, and shot himself ''again''. She took the gun and fled. When she was later confronted by another guard, she pointed it at her own chest. The guard, thinking she was about to commit suicide, said "You don't have to do that." She replied "I must" and pulled the trigger, killing him.

* Happened in ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' episode "The B-Team", a skit that spoofed ''Series/TheATeam''. Murdock chooses to make use of an outdoor latrine just when B.A fires an [=M72=] LAW at the villains; B.A. is holding the rocket launcher the wrong way round and blows up the latrine instead. Murdock staggers out [[{{Fartillery}} thinking it was something he ate]].

* ''Series/TheGoodies''. In the movies episode, Graham Garden is making TheWestern. He kicks open a door holding revolvers GunsAkimbo, only for the [[TheDoorSlamsYou door to slam back in his face]]. When he opens the door again, both barrels are bent upwards, causing debris to rain down from the ceiling when he fires.

* Happened in ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' episode "The B-Team", a skit that spoofed ''Series/TheATeam''. Murdock chooses to make use of an outdoor latrine just when B.A fires a LAAWS rocket at the villains; B.A. is holding the rocket launcher the wrong way round and blows up the latrine instead. Murdock staggers out [[{{Fartillery}} thinking it was something he ate]].

* Happened in ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' episode "The B-Team", a skit that spoofed ''Series/TheATeam''.

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E5FugitiveOfTheJudoon Fugitive of the Judoon]]", the Doctor wields one of these which is then taken by the villain, who unwittingly shoots themselves with it.

* ''VideoGame/CobraTriangle'': One of the two forms of the top of the Fire power-up chain fires one bullet from the fore, one from the aft, and one each starboard and port.

** In ''WesternAnimation/LupinIIITheItalianAdventure'', [[spoiler:the [[AssholeVictim Head of MI6]] is killed this way near the end of the series when Leonardo Da Vinci tampers with his gun. What makes this worse is that he ''saw'' what Da Vinci was doing, and still tried to use the gun on him anyway, prompting [[TooDumbToLive death by stupidity]]]].

* ''FanFic/BoyWithAScar'': In Chapter 29, when Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday make it to Laboon's stomach, they're much more nauseous and dizzy than in canon. Luffy notices this trope in effect when they aim their bazookas, but doesn't say it until after they fire, accidentally blasting the steel door behind them rather than the stomach's ceiling. It doesn't kill them. But it sends them flying into the stomach acid.

** In another season 2 episode, "[[Recap/TheWildWildWestS2E28TheNightOfTheBogusBandits The Night of the Bogus Bandits]]", Miguelito Loveless hands James West such a pistol, but he sees through the ruse.
*** Said gun pulls a {{Chekhov|sGun}} at the end of the episode, when Loveless pulls a gun on a hostage, only for West to remind him that there were two identical-looking guns in the bag, only one of which shot forwards.

* The classic TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons module ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'' has a super-science pistol that relies on a player to interpret it being held like a normal gun (something the ''characters'' should never have seen before) to apply this effect. It doesn't actually fire backwards - it's designed to fire at what it's aimed at, it's just designed to fool the ''player'' using meta-game knowledge instead of figuring out the correct way to hold it.

** The rocket launcher also fires backward, though it doesn't hit the player die to the silos sitting on the player's shoulder.

* In ''Film/BallisticEcksVsSever'' the big bad tricks a lackey into killing himself by giving him a backwards firing pistol. More of a loyalty test with a built in punishment, since he was told to shoot himself with it.

* ''Film/FromBeijingWithLove'' has which the assassin picked up from the table and use it as an assassination attempt, but only to hit herself in the arm. After explaining that it's a backwards-firing gun, she tries but hits herself again - it's called the "nicked gun" which fires backwards then forwards. Also note that the silencer works regardless of which direction it fires.