History Main / DodgeTheBullet

[[caption-width-right:[[Film/TheMatrix Backwards leaning and arm-flailing]] not required.]]

** As does Cassandra Cain -- ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} II -- (pictured). [[TykeBomb Born to be the ultimate assassin/bodyguard]], her father raised her in a bunker under special conditions that deprived her of any form of spoken or written language so she could learn to read body language and movement like a book. Using this ability, Cass can see where the gunman would point the gun and when they'd pull the trigger so she could step out of the way before they fire. Or in several cases, step out of the way ''after'' they've fired. To the point of drawing the bullets hanging in the air as she steps around them.

* [[FooFu Fudge Fu]], for ''UsefulNotes/{{Fudge}}'', allows people to deflect lasers. This is with lasers that actually travel at the speed of light. And all they need is a little mirror, or even something along the lines of a very shiny spoon. Although it is intended to mimic crazy kung-fu movie action, and has more than a few other things which are just as ridiculous. Such as being able to walk across rapidly moving water.

* Done in ''Manga/CaseClosed'' TheMovie 13, The Raven Chaser. [[spoiler:Ran Mouri dodges a bullet fired by Irish when he's standing right in front of her.]]
* Some of the better fighters in ''Manga/{{Change 123}}'' can pull this off, [[ShownTheirWork with lots of effort spent explaining how it actually works]]. You don't have to dodge the bullet, you just have to make the guy with the gun miss.

* Jet Li's character in ''Film/LethalWeapon4'' does not seem to fear guns and in one scene dodges a bullet fired at him in the back unawares.

* Cole uses hyper speed to do this in ''{{Series/Tracker}}'' and then gets back in place behind the bullet track so he can still fall into the water and make the human who shot at him believe that the guy he’s impersonating is dead. It was Mel’s old boyfriend who got on the wrong side of TheMafia and got located by the guys trying to kill him.

* An early demonstration of Star Platinum's powers in the third part of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is when Jotaro points a gun at his head and pulls the trigger. Star Platinum catches the bullet right after it leaves the barrel.

*** Mantis can predict a bullet's trajectory by reading his opponent's mind, and dodge out of the way. can do the same, but by reading minds instead of muscles. There's also the possibility that the Mantis you're shooting at is just a mental illusion, and the real one has simply stopped your brain from seeing him.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'':
** Vamp can predict a bullet's trajectory by watching his opponents' muscles, and dodge out of the way.
** Mantis can do the same, but by reading minds instead of muscles. There's also the possibility that the Mantis you're shooting at is just a mental illusion, and the real one has simply stopped your brain from seeing him.
** Grey Fox also has a form of this in his ability to deflect bullets with his sword, thanks to impossibly-fast reflexes.
** Fortune ''doesn't even dodge''. She just stands there and the bullets miss her. In other words, her power is to ''[[InvokedTrope cause]]'' [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy Stormtrooper Marksmanship]]. [[spoiler: this is mostly thanks to [[DeflectorShields a device]] the Patriots secretly gave her, capable of deflecting bullets and making explosives inert. However, when a salvo of missiles is fired against her and the heroes, she makes the missiles steer away with no apparent reason, before dying from a previous wound]].
** After Raiden TookALevelInBadass, he learned to deflect bullets with his sword as well. With the Scene expansion for Metal Gear Online, players lucky enough to use Raiden can do the same by holding his sword at the ready. [[GameBreaker It deflects all bullets incoming from the front]].

** Also, the GRU soldiers during the Ocelot duel. Go ahead, [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter try using the shotgun]]. Or [[BottomlessMagazines the]] [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon Patriot]]. It won't get you anywhere.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* Franchise/SpiderMan can dodge bullets due to his spider-sense. According to Marvel's published data, Spider-Man's reflexes are fast enough to dodge single-shot gunfire, he only needs his spider-sense to dodge [[MoreDakka full-auto weapons]] fire.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'', ''ComicBook/PowerGirl''... often ''invert'' this: they're fast enough to deliberately place their own invulnerable bodies ''in the path'' of bullets, to protect whatever's behind them.

* Wesley Gibson and his father from ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}''. In the opening scene Gibson Sr. dodges sniper fire. Wesley is not usually seen being shot at, and it's possible he simply kills opponents before they can fire. In one exception, he deflects the bullet with a knife. Even then, Wesley was surprised that the deflection actually ''worked.''
* Franchise/WonderWoman regularly deflects bullets and any kind of energy weapon with her bracelets. The bracelets are ImmuneToBullets, but moving her arms to block the bullets definitely counts as dodging. Justified by being "[[SuperSpeed faster than Mercury]]" since her [[ComicBook/SensationComics earliest]] [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 appearances]].

** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': The Augments dodge disruptor beams when seizing the Klingon Bird of Prey thanks to their [[{{Ubermensch}} genetically-enhanced reflexes]].

* Cris Johnson in ''Film/{{Next}}'' can see two minutes into the future and play out various scenarios in order to pick the best outcome. At one point in the movie, he finds himself up against a terrorist with a fully loaded gun. From our perspective, we get to see him split off in various directions in an attempt to dodge all the bullets complete with each [[SaveScumming false choice getting shot and disappearing]] until only one is left standing, the one outcome where he successfully dodged all the bullets.

Sometimes this skill is imparted by a background in GunFu, GunKata,[[note]]dodging ''lines of fire'' before the shot[[/note]] ImplausibleFencingPowers, or SuperReflexes. Maybe the enemy was PointDefenseless? For maximum coolness, show off the dodging in BulletTime. See also CouldHaveBeenMessy. MoreDakka may be employed to attempt to overcome this. Compare DeadlyDodging. Also compare BulletCatch, which is even cooler, and CatchAndReturn, which takes this to its logical extreme. Contrast BulletDodgesYou. When you upgrade from bullets to missiles, HighSpeedMissileDodge is the result.

* {{Averted|Trope}} and busted by the ''Series/MythBusters''. While it is theoretically possible to dodge a .338 Lapua round in as close as 500 yards, it is not practical nor likely to happen with military grade rounds in a combat scenario. You can't see the muzzle flash from that far away, and the bullet will reach you before the sound of the shot.

* Most modern-era small arms fire bullets somewhere between 1000 and 3000 feet per second (300 to 900 meters per second), and the vast majority of shootings are done at ranges under 10 yards. For all intents and purposes, when someone is shooting at you, they've either missed or hit by the time their finger pulls the trigger.

This accomplishes [[CouldHaveBeenMessy the same goal]] as [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy Stormtrooper Marksmanship]], but in the opposite way: The hero wins despite being outgunned, not because his enemies are terrible shots, but because he's [[RuleOfCool just that good]]. Oddly, despite being able to dodge bullets, when the fight [[GoodOldFisticuffs turns to fisticuffs]] the hero usually becomes much less able to dodge the much slower punches.

* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'':
** The default rules avert this trope: firearms ignore characters' Defense scores, assuming that a normal human can't react fast enough to make a difference against someone pulling a trigger.
** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', vampires' power of Celerity grants SuperSpeed and a Defense bonus that does apply against bullets, on the basis that it makes them too unnaturally fast to target.
** Some of the shielding spells in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' function in this way, depending on the type of magic. Fate-based shields make the caster just too lucky to hit, Time and Space distort their position just enough to avoid strikes, and Death and Forces slow bullets down enough to dodge.
** In second edition ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' werewolves can apply their defense against firearms as long as they're in one of their hybrid forms.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Aberrant}}'', Novas with at least two MegaDexterity can make Dodge rolls against gunfire even without cover. (Those with four MegaDexterity can make Block rolls to [[BulletCatch catch]] them.)