History Main / DramaticGuncock

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* On ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', Mac was on the receiving end. A rich guy tazed him, kidnapped him, blindfolded him and drove him to a bad part of town before doing it. He then drove off and left Mac. Naturally, Mac doesn't intimidate that easily.

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'': Done with EnergyWeapons in the climax. Having reached the BigBad, the team [[TeamPowerWalk confidently stride up to her seat of power]] and go through their proton packs' startup-sequence slowly and methodically, which includes ''two'' versions of the gun cock: the simultaneous, distinctive whine of the particle throwers as they're powered on, and the mechanical extension of the wands at their business end.
-->"Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!"

** Ordell is standing in the dark, standing uncomfortably close to the title character, when he hears the sound of a pistol being cocked.

-->'''Ordell:''' Is that what I think it is?
-->'''Jackie:''' What do you think it is?
-->'''Ordell:''' I think it's a [[FreudianThreat gun pressed up against my dick]].
-->'''Jackie:''' You thought right. Now take your hands off from around my throat, nigga.

** In ''Film/IronMan3'' a bystander stands behind the Extremis-powered woman fighting Tony Stark and proceeds to give away his position by pumping his shotgun, resulting in her turning around and grabbing it before he can shoot. She then immediately pumps it ''once more'' before firing at Stark.
** She at least has a better excuse than the bystander: She's ex-military. Military personnel are trained to check their weapons before using it in combat. She loses points on account that it's a shotgun, but it can be chalked down as a reflex from training.

* Taking it up a notch is [[https://twitter.com/luigi_yagami/status/1635392223025205249?s=46&t=1aIJqQzws3ZIBObm19hoRg this small animation on Twitter]] where our badass ActionGirl is racking the gun slide[[NowThatsUsingYourTeeth …with her teeth.]]

** Also, considering his predilection for [[MindScrew head games]] and [[RuleOfDrama melodramatics]], he might just have been playing a recording of a gun cocking to increase the tension.

** Justified in that the revolver is single-action and has to be cocked each time it's fired.

** That said, the original also gets bonus points for ClickHello:
-->'''Agent Brown:''' Only human.\\
'''Trinity:''' ''[cocks pistol]'' DodgeThis.\\
['''BLAM''']

** The interrogation aspect is inverted in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', where Mal is trying to talk down River in AxCrazy mode as she has a pistol pointed at his face.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' parodies this in "The Devil's Grip". When surprised by rustling while camping out, Gary picks up a roughly gun-shaped branch as a bluff. Sgt. Hatred is not impressed, and proceeds to enlist Gary's help in rescuing Dr. Venture.

'''Gary:''' Yeah, whatever, I just—so what.

** Sarah Connor does this several times in succession in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', blasting the T-1000 with a Remington 870 shotgun and interjecting each shot with a forceful, one-armed pump (her other arm was too injured to do it normally).
** The T-800 itself in the same film dramatically flip-cocks his shotgun, a lever-action Winchester Model 1887. Doing so with a factory production gun would result in broken fingers, as the handguard is too narrow--the shotgun in question was custom-altered for the movie, much like the shotgun from ''Series/TheRifleman''. He does this because it's [[RuleOfCool cool]], and to fire one-handed on the bike.
** In [[Film/TheTerminator the first film]], Reese does one after [[SawedOffShotGun sawing off the stock and barrel of his shotgun]]. He pumps the shotgun three times: Once when he cuts the barrel off, once when he wakes up from his dream, and once in Tech Noir before he starts blasting. It would seem that he pointlessly ejected two good shells, or he was walking around with it empty and was, ahem, pumping it for fun. Or he had the chamber empty for safety reasons. A good precaution if you have nightmares that make you rack the action of your shotgun.
** There was another one in Tech Noir. Right before he attempts to shoot Sarah Connor, the Terminator cocks the pistol. (Since his .45 is a "single-action automatic", meaning the hammer must be cocked in order to fire, this is justified.)

* ''Film/TheMask'': The record for most Dramatic Gun Cocks executed by a single character, in a single ''scene'', certainly belongs to The Mask, wherein the title character responds to the bad guy's show of force... with his own -- at least 28 weapons [[HyperspaceArsenal pulled from behind his back]].

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' has a rare post-slug use of this trope when Col. Phillips interrupts a HYDRA goon's attempt at their CatchPhrase:

-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiI91igl180 The Caller,]]''' ''Film/PhoneBooth''

Here comes the dramatic gun cock. The interrogator pulls back the hammer of the revolver or pistol, or racks the slide if the pistol has no hammer, [[ImpliedDeathThreat then resumes pointing the gun to the subject's head]]. Usually, this is enough to thoroughly spook the subject into full disclosure. A pump-action shotgun may also be used for this purpose, sometimes with a OneHandedShotgunPump, albeit it's overall not as popular as doing it with a handgun - even more rare is racking the bolt of a fully automatic weapon. A bolt-action rifle may have a character dramatically work the bolt. Sci-fi settings with [[RayGun guns that don't use bullets]] may substitute a charging capacitor's whine, or use a cocking sound [[RuleOfDrama anyways]].

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. FieryRedhead cyborg Petra pointedly cocks her submachine gun when someone makes a snide comment about her handler Sandro, [[MoreThanMindControl whom she is infatuated with]]. Afterwards Sandro warns her against doing this simply because she is angry.
* ''Anime/Metropolis2001'' has Atlas do this while he's responding to Pero's final question [[spoiler:before he kills him and begins his revolution]].

* ''Anime/OutlawStar'': Gene does this to Harry once.

[[folder:Films — Animated]]

-->'''Timon''': Don't anyone move! This thing's [[{{Fartillery}} loaded!]] I'll let you have it!\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Variation — the lever-action rifle in question is fired correctly, but both the camera and character pause considerably when chambering a new round.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* Invoked in ''[[Film/ThirteenTzameti 13 Tzameti]]'' (and the American remake ''13''). Players in a DeadlyGame of RussianRoulette stand in a circle with their guns pointed at the man in front of them. They cock the gun on command, then fire on another signal.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. Reese's BatmanGambit has failed. He takes a pump-action shotgun from a bag labeled "[[TimeForPlanB Plan B]]".

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. Despite various references to their automatic pistols being carried with "one up the spout", that doesn't stop our heroes racking back the slide in a suitably dramatic manner after drawing them.

-->"What happened to my booze? Did I black out and join AA?" ''(cocks gun)'' "Better unjoin it."

* In the final prologue mission in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', Khaled Al-Asad gets quite a badass one right before executing the Arabic president Al-Fulani on national TV.
-->'''Al-Asad''': ''(in Arabic, towards camera)'' This is how it begins. ''*Ka-Click, BLAM*''
** In ''Modern Warfare 2'' and ''3'', switching to a weapon's under-barrel shotgun attachment is always preceded with pumping it, even if it already has a shell loaded (or, hilariously, if it's empty). Only the player doing so can hear it, though. Likewise, picking up a new weapon for the first time results in your character pulling the handle or whatever back; switching back afterwards just brings it up normally. [[spoiler:Also done by General Shepherd at you during a period of ControllableHelplessness at the end of the second game.]]

* The beginning of ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' famously times its heavy metal music to end with the Doom Slayer pumping his combat shotgun.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Receiver}}'', where you have a different button for every part of your gun, including cocking the hammer and the slide. Pulling the slide with a bullet in the chamber makes your precious ammo fall to the ground.

** Miranda Keyes gets [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YUyLyfGWcc a great one]] in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''
-->'''Soldier:''' Ma'am, squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go?\\
'''Keyes:''' ''*Ka-Click*'' To war.

-->''"I believe that the sound of racking the pump of a shotgun is universally recognized as 'kiss your ass goodbye'."''

-->'''Coach:''' Barricade your homes...Avoid all contact with infected individuals...Wait for official instructions...*Laugh* Wait, my ass.\\
'''Eilis:''' Kill all sons-of-bitches. *Racks shotgun* That's my 'ficial instructions.
** In gameplay, switching to the pistol[[GunsAkimbo (s)]] in [[VideoGame/Left4Dead the first game]] causes the character to pull back the hammer(s). In the sequel, switching to ''any'' non-scoped firearm causes the character to pull back the slide or charging handle on the weapon in question.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne'', right before [[spoiler:Vlad kills Alfred Woden, and he and Max both fall through the floor]], Max finds a Desert Eagle and cocks it, even though it was being used moments ago.
** The [[VideoGame/MaxPayne3 third game]] gets worse. Not only does cutscene Max often rack the slides of guns he was firing moments before, but the animation is the same if he is holding a revolver... which doesn't work that way.

* Overplayed in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. In an attempt to find the location of the C4 bombs along the complex, Raiden interrogates Fat Man. As Fat Man pushes a remote, Raiden cocks his gun and demands an explanation. He does this at least twice more.
* Both justified and subverted in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'':
** The first time Major Ocelot racks the slide on his pistol during the Virtuous Mission (before he kills a KGB team), no bullet comes out of the ejector port which gives the idea that Ocelot doesn't chamber a bullet until he's going to shoot someone (presumably so he can avoid shooting himself while [[GunTwirling spinning it for a full minute]]).
** When he's about to shoot Naked Snake, Ocelot reloads and tries to rack the slide before he fires, an uncommon Middle Eastern technique used to ensure there is an unjammed bullet in the chamber. Since he is obviously trying it for the first time, the gun stovepipes on him. Snake later chastises him for trying a technique he had only heard about and never tried before in the middle of a fight.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', whenever Snake (or any other player) reloads a non-pistol gun, he uses the technique demonstrated by Ocelot in [=MGS3=], above, when he ejects the unspent round.
* This is a game mechanic in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. Using the Run-And-Shoot technique, Snake will hold his gun ready to fire while moving around (it's very useful during the battle with Ocelot, amongst other times). However, if he turns around 180 degrees, he does a cinematic-style dramatic gun cock, causing him to stop in his tracks a little (preventing it from being a total GameBreaker).
* In ''VideoGame/OddWorld'', Sligs are armed with shotgun looking devices that fire full-auto from BottomlessMagazines. That said, they have an animation which is three quick gun-cocks - thus, it appears that the ''only'' reason they have the bottom part of their weapon is so it can make cocking noises.

* Even though the Chicago Typewriter in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' has a {{Bottomless Magazine|s}} and infinite ammo, you can still reload and dramatically cock it for no purpose beyond evoking this trope for RuleOfCool.
* Leon Kennedy does this in the first chapter of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil 6'', while holding his custom handgun on his zombified friend. In an interesting bit of Showing Their Work, Leon's handgun doesn't actually have a hammer, but the [=VP70Z=] (one of the guns it's modeled on) has a notoriously stiff trigger pull, and Leon is actually setting the trigger (his finger can be seen tensing) as the last step he needs to take before firing.
-->'''Helena backs away from her zombified boss slowly, shaking her head in disbelief.'''\\
'''Leon, pointing his handgun at Adam, visibly horrified''': "Stay where you are." '''His finger tenses on the trigger, producing an audible click.'''\\
'''Adam lunges at Helena.'''\\
'''Leon''': ADAM!