History Main / DefensiveFailure

* One of the few tropes played straight in ''Film/LastActionHero'', when Danny repeatedly has villains at his mercy but can't pull the trigger. Understandable, since he's a scared kid, and we wouldn't want him to become a killer anyway.

The armed victim has the killer in her gunsights and at her mercy (it's [[AlwaysFemale usually a woman]] in these situations), but the killer knows they have nothing to fear. The victim is either [[SwordOverHead unable or unwilling to use her weapon]] as the killer walks up to her and plucks the gun out of her hands, leaving her a tearful heap begging for her life. Often involves a BreakingSpeech. If she had captured him beforehand or otherwise cornered him but doesn't shoot, then it's a HannibalLecture.

[[folder: Film ]]
* ''Film/EightMM'': Tom Welles has the director of a snuff film tied to a support bar in the building the film was made at, has his gun trained on him... but can't bring himself to fire, even as the director taunts him (to the point of ''licking the gun''). The hero then steps outside, [[spoiler:calls the mother of the snuff film's victim, and begs for permission to kill the man. He gets it. Five seconds later, he pistol-whips the director to death.]]
* One of the few tropes played straight in ''Film/LastActionHero'', when Danny repeatedly has villains at his mercy but can't pull the trigger. Understandable, since he's a scared kid, and we wouldn't want him to become a killer anyway.
* Variant in Disney's version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'': Tarzan doesn't fire the rifle because he can't figure out ''how'' to make it fire. At the end he ''does'' know how to fire it, but chooses not to so he won't [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim be like Clayton]].

* ''Film/TheRock'': Just after Goodspeed and Mason's Navy SEAL teammates are all drawn into a trap and killed, Goodspeed tries to stop Mason from leaving Alcatraz Island by pulling his pistol on him. Mason replies that Goodspeed doesn't have what it takes to kill him, and also remarking [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont "Besides, the safety's on"]], before grabbing the gun away.

-->'''NCO:''' Hey, what the hell you doing? ''(Draws pistol, points it at Hiller)'' Get out of there, sir.
-->'''Hiller:''' Something I gotta do. I'm just gonna borrow it for a while.
-->'''NCO:''' No you're not, sir.'
-->'''Hiller:''' You really gonna shoot me? (NCO hesitates, and then lowers the gun.)
-->'''Hiller:''' Just tell 'em I hit you. ''(the [rather large] NCO looks insulted as Hiller takes off.)''

* Parodied in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'', where a character seizes up and -- rather than merely trembling -- begins to convulse in an exaggerated manner, wagging his pistol in every direction. Said character, by the way, is played by ''Creator/SamuelLJackson''.
* ''Film/TheRef''. Creator/DenisLeary gets distracted, leading to the son of his two hostages grabbing his gun and demanding that Leary untie his parents or he'll shoot. However, Denis knows the kid's not a killer, and starts moving towards the kid. When the phone rings and momentarily distracts the son, Leary simply takes the gun back.
* ''Film/{{Vibes}}''. Nick (Creator/JeffGoldblum) has the BigBad held at bay with an M-16.
-->'''Dr. Steele''': Have you even held a machine gun before?
-->'''Nick''': [[BlatantLies Sure, lots of times. I was captain of the Automatic Weapons Team in high school.]]
-->'''Dr. Steele''' ''(starts inching forward)'': Don't lie to me. You wouldn't know how to use that thing if you tried.
-->''(Nick points the gun up and fires a few bursts into the air. Steele instantly jumps backwards to where he started.)''
-->'''Nick''': Oh, I dunno. Seems pretty simple to me.

* In ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' Zeus (another Creator/SamuelLJackson character) is holding up the entire bad guy parade with a gun and does try to pull the trigger, only to get an ineffectual click. BigBad Simon Gruber then walks up to him, promptly explains that he forgot to turn the safety off, then shoots him in the leg and captures him.
* In ''{{Film/Bunnyman}}'', the final victim-to-be has the titular [[SlasherMovie serial killer]] at gunpoint. For some unexplained reason, she turns the gun on herself.
* In ''Film/JackReacher'', the namesake protagonist is attacked by a pair of bumbling criminals inside a narrow bathroom and hallway. After dispatching them, a third criminal points a gun to his head. The protagonist calmly turns around and informs the criminal that he should shoot now. Naturally, the criminal is quickly disarmed immediately after.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheRiverWild''. Gail has Wade at gunpoint but decides to spare him and fires the revolver's last bullet into the air, [[UngratefulBastard so he orders Terry to kill her family while he kills her]]. [[spoiler: Turns out, there were ''two'' bullets left, and she kills him with the last one.]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', eccentric inventor Leonard of Quirm has captured [[spoiler: Sgt. Colon and Corporal Nobby]] using a firework missile and a rifle mechanism he invented. He then stops, hands the pieces of his weapon to his captives and ''proceeds to redesign it on the spot.'' The two ex-captives simply fire the incredibly inaccurate weapon. HilarityEnsues.
* Oddly featured in ''Literature/{{Nation}}'' where Daphne points a gun at Mau. She seems so scared of it that he tries to take it from her to relieve her concern. She does actually fire it, but fortunately the powder had got wet, and he thought she was giving him a tool for lighting fires with. So easily could have been PoorCommunicationKills.
* Svidrigailov and Dounia in ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'' by Creator/FyodorDostoevsky. Dounia has a defensive failure in front of Svidrigailov while Svidrigailov attempts to disarm her, laughing at her and taunting her to kill him. She doesn't, of course.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* Occurs in the pilot of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', except the gun wouldn't have stopped the vampiric villain. Not that the victim knows that.
* In an early episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'' Samantha Carter has an ex-lover at gunpoint as he has been suffering delusions of grandeur. He even tells her to shoot him but she still cannot.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in an episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'' - Martha has an enemy at gunpoint who says she doesn't have the nerve to fire - she replies that nervous people with guns are not a safe combination, and asks him if he wants to risk it.
** And reversed in an earlier episode. The Doctor is holding a man at gunpoint. He, being the Doctor, handles it differently when the man starts getting nervous...
--->'''Doctor''': Like I was ever going to shoot ''[throws him the gun]''. So you were saying?
--->'''Man''': But...I've got your gun?
--->'''Doctor''': Okay, so shoot me. You were saying?
--->'''Man''': Well, uh...can I put this down?
--->'''Doctor''': If you want, just hurry up.
** But played straight in "Utopia" when Chantho won't shoot Professor Yana even though it's pretty clear at that point that he's [[spoiler:become The Master.]]
** In "The Doctor's Daughter" Ten makes a point that even if he has the villain at gunpoint, he never would shoot.
** In " a scared kid genius has the Doctor at gunpoint. The Doctor just sighs and simply takes the gun barrel, complaining about humans and guns.
** In ''Cold Blood'', Amy threatens Restac with a gun to release the hostages. The Silurian immediately grabs the gun from her.
** "The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe". The titular widow manages to trick a group of soldiers and turn a gun on them. TheLeader tells her that he doesn't believe she'll shoot. [[MamaBear Then she informs them that her children are missing]]. He takes her much more seriously after that.
** In "The Happiness Patrol", the Doctor completely breaks two guards by saying "Do it then. Look me in the eye. Pull the trigger. End my life." This is such a memetic Seventh Doctor scene that in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'', Benny jokes that his epitaph will be "When I ''said'' 'Look me in the eye and pull that trigger...'"

* Wendy Patrakas falls victim to this on ''Series/Drive2007''. She's assigned to shoot Ivy to stay in the race. However, street smart Ivy easily disarms the Ohio housewife. After seeing what Ivy's capable of, Wendy tells her "I think maybe I should've shot you."
* Crichton's {{Love Interest|s}} in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' falls victim to this. Scorpius holds Crichton hostage. Then the {{Love Interest|s}} confidently walks in with a pulse rifle. Crichton laughs and tells her to shoot Scorpius. She then hesitates, and Scorpius calmly shoots her instead.
* Attempted and [[AvertedTrope miserably failed]] in ''Series/Daredevil2015'': James Wesley takes Karen prisoner and tries to intimidate her into saying false things about Fisk. He thinks she'll be no different from any of the other times he's intimidated an underling on Fisk's payroll, which is proven wrong when she manages to grab his gun and aims it right at him. Wesley acts unperturbed and tries to bluff her that the gun's not loaded, but Karen (who was taught by her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend in Vermont how to fire a gun, and even shot him in self-defense of her brother) calls his bluff by emptying the gun into him.

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* Happens a couple of times in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series
** In the first game Meryl points her rifle at Snake, and Snake taunts her about not being able to pull the trigger. Snake even points out that [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont she hadn't even taken the safety off.]]
** Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', Ocelot points his revolver at Naked Snake. Snake responds by calmly stating, "You don't have what it takes to kill me." An enraged Ocelot pulls the trigger, only to discover that Snake was speaking literally, and his gun is empty. Whoops. There are implications that Ocelot [[MagnificentBastard intended for this to happen all along.]] [[spoiler:It's hard to maintain an image of being a Russian soldier if you refuse to shoot an American spy, after all. Emptying your weapon beforehand is a nice [[TakeAThirdOption third option.]]]]
* Creator/LucasArts FPS ''VideoGame/{{Outlaws}}''. When he was a young boy, the hero was in this situation, holding the gun, trying to save his father, but failed. At the end of the game, he is one staring down the barrel, but is saved by his daughter.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* Occurs in ''Manga/OnePiece'', where Usopp's childhood friend Kaya draws a flintlock from her cloak and points it at her traitorous butler, who is the main villain of the arc. The butler recounts seemingly happy memories with her, takes away the gun, and dismisses all of those times as "endured" and "humiliating".

* In ''Anime/{{Planetes}}'', Hachimaki is outrage at finding [[spoiler:Hakim]] [[TheMole sabotaging the Von Braun mission]], and trains an [[GrapplingHookGun armor-piercing anchor gun]] on him. [[spoiler:Hakim]] is utterly unfazed; he knows Hachimaki won't shoot, as he "doesn't have the eyes of a killer." He then delivers a devastating BreakingSpeech at Hachi, steadily walking towards him. The lecture climaxes as [[spoiler:Hakim]] walks past Hachi, who remains [[HeroicBSOD standing perfectly still]], and barely has time to scream at his betrayer's back before a bomb goes off.
* In ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': [[spoiler:Tenma]] has [[spoiler:Johan]] at gunpoint, but hesitates. The latter calmly approaches the former in a way that suggests this trope... then [[spoiler:he just stands there, points at his own forehead, and ''[[DissonantSerenity smiles]]'']].
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': Flay Allster gets her hands on a gun and points it at Rau le Creuset after being captured by ZAFT. Le Creuset isn't worried though, and proceeds to outline the reasons Flay won't shoot him: she's on a ZAFT ship and if she shot him she would immediately be arrested and likely killed for it, he is the closest thing to an ally she has aboard the ship, and she is obviously not a trained killer despite her uniform so he doubts she has it in her to actually pull the trigger. He also off-handedly asks whether she even checked that the gun was loaded. Flay breaks down and the gun is taken from her without resistance.
* Subverted in the ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' anime. Misao and a minor character, a young boy who's brother is taken hostage during one of Shishio's schemes, are attempting to sneak into the villain hideout and capture a nearby [[{{Mook|s}} guard]], with the boy holding him at swordpoint. The guard assumes it's a bluff and points out to the boy that [[YouWouldntShootMe it's harder to kill someone than an innocent would realize]]...rather severely underestimating just how desperate and angry the boy is. Misao barely manages to prevent him from killing the guard, who becomes [[OhCrap instantly cooperative]].

** In another episode, a scared kid genius has the Doctor at gunpoint. The Doctor just sighs and simply takes the gun barrel, complaining about humans and guns.
%% ** Happens to Amy Pond in ''Cold Blood''.

** In "The Happiness Patrol", the Doctor completely breaks two guards by saying "Do it then. Look me in the eye. Pull the trigger. End my life." This is such a memetic Seventh Doctor scene that in ''Literature/DoctorWhoTheNewAdventures'', Benny jokes that his epitaph will be "When I ''said'' 'Look me in the eye and pull that trigger...'"

** And played straight in the Doctor's Daughter where Ten makes a point that even if he has the villain at gunpoint, he never would shoot.

** Happens to Amy Pond in ''Cold Blood''.

Compare YouWouldntShootMe, where the targeted character calls the gunman's bluff, and DistractAndDisarm, where the targeted character distracts the gunman in hopes of being able to snatch the gun.

* In ''{{Film/Bunnyman}}'', the final victim-to-be has the titular [[SlasherMovie serial killer]] at gunpoint. [[WhatAnIdiot For some unexplained reason, she turns the gun on herself]].

* ''Film/TheHost'': The heroes are not afraid to shoot. They're just (mostly) shitty shots. Add to that one of the characters, a national bronze-medallist in archery, has a nasty habit of hesitating before taking a shot, and you know the monster has nothing to worry about. Hence why it charges the main characters at every available opportunity.

Compare YouWouldntShootMe.

* Wendy Patrakas falls victim to this on ''Series/{{Drive}}''. She's assigned to shoot Ivy to stay in the race. However, street smart Ivy easily disarms the Ohio housewife. After seeing what Ivy's capable of, Wendy tells her "I think maybe I should've shot you."

** Partially subverted, as this provokes Rolf to call the other Nazis in the area.

-->'''NCO:''' ''Hey, what the hell you doing?'' (Draws pistol, points it at Hiller) ''Get out of there, sir.''
-->'''Hiller:''' ''Something I gotta do. I'm just gonna borrow it for a while.''
-->'''NCO:''' ''No you're not, sir.''
-->'''Hiller:''' ''You really gonna shoot me?'' (NCO hesitates, and then lowers the gun.)
-->'''Hiller:''' ''Just tell 'em I hit you.'' (the [rather large] NCO looks insulted as Hiller takes off.)

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', eccentric inventor Leonard of Quirm has captured [[spoiler: Sgt. Colon and Corporal Nobby]] using a firework missile and a rifle mechanism he invented. He then stops, hands the pieces of his weapon to his captives and ''proceeds to redesign it on the spot.'' The two ex-captives simply fire the incredibly inaccurate weapon. HilarityEnsues.

* Variant in Disney's version of ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'': Tarzan doesn't fire the rifle because he can't figure out ''how'' to make it fire. At the end he ''does'' know how to fire it, but chooses not to so he won't [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim be like Clayton]].

* ''Film/EightMM'': TheProtagonist has the director of a snuff film tied to a support bar in the building the film was made at, has his gun trained on him... but can't bring himself to fire, even as the director taunts him (to the point of ''licking the gun''). The hero then steps outside, [[spoiler:calls the mother of the snuff film's victim, and begs for permission to kill the man. He gets it. Five seconds later, he pistol-whips the director to death.]]

* Attempted and [[AvertedTrope miserably failed]] in ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Wesley’s attempt to interrogate Karen goes wrong when she manages to grab his gun and aims it right at him. Wesley acts unperturbed and gloats that the gun isn’t really loaded because he wouldn’t take such a risk, as well as that Karen doesn’t have the guts to shoot him. [[spoiler:[[BullyingADragon It is loaded and she does shoot him]]. [[NoKillLikeOverkill Many times over]]. Wesley’s [[OhCrap reaction]] when Karen shoots him the first time is ''priceless''.]]

The armed victim has the killer in her gunsights and at her mercy (it's [[AlwaysFemale usually a woman]] in these situations), but the killer knows they have nothing to fear. The victim is either unable or unwilling to use her weapon as the killer walks up to her and plucks the gun out of her hands, leaving her a tearful heap begging for her life. Often involves a BreakingSpeech. If she had captured him beforehand or otherwise cornered him but doesn't shoot, then it's a HannibalLecture.

* Averted in ''Film/WolfCreek''. [[spoiler:However, it doesn't kill the villain: the rifle bullet passes through his neck and somehow he doesn't bleed to death.]]

* Spectacularly averted by the recent case of one [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8279929.stm Rukhsana Kauser in Kashmir.]] When six heavily-armed men burst into her home and began beating her parents, Rukhsana and her brother attacked the men with axes; Rukhsana stunned the bandits' leader, snatched his AK from him, shot him ''twelve times'', then she and her brother drove off his surviving accomplices after a protracted firefight.

* In ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' Zeus (another Creator/SamuelLJackson character) is holding up the entire bad guy parade with a gun, at which point Simon Gruber walks up to him, promptly explains that Creator/SamuelLJackson of all people forgot to turn the safety off, then shoots him in the leg and captures him.

* Happens a couple of times in the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series