History Main / DramaticGuncock

** There was another one in Tech Noir. Right before he attempts to shoot Sarah Connor, the Terminator cocks the pistol.

* 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.]]

* 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 cocking her pistol…with her teeth.

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

* In ''Film/AFistfulOfDynamite'' John Mallory issues one of these [[spoiler: before blowing away his former friend-turned-informant Sean Nolan]] with a shotgun.

* Used in ''Film/PhoneBooth'' with the twist of the gun (a sniper rifle) being a good deal away from the protagonist and the sound being delivered by telephone. He then goes on to [[DiscussedTrope discuss this trope]], its apparent flaw, and its psychological justification. He also perpetrates the mistake of cocking his gun twice without firing a round in between (presumably ejecting a live round). Considering the intent was to [[spoiler: scare the protagonist straight]], ejecting a live round is entirely justifiable.

* ''Film/PulpFiction'' features a dramatic shotgun cock once [[spoiler: Butch breaks Marsellus out of the Mason-Dixon pawn shop]], immediately before [[spoiler:the latter unloads on his rapist with the ultimate GroinAttack]].

* In ''Literature/TheRoad'' by [[NoNameGiven The father]] invokes this when [[spoiler: a bandit/bloocult holds his son hostage.]] It's specifically stated he knows he doesn't need to, as his revolver is double action, but he tries to use it for intimidation.

* Seems like Fiona does this with a shotgun every other week on ''Series/BurnNotice''. Jesse also does it, thumbing back the hammer on his pistol before [[spoiler: not shooting Fiona in the face]] in "Blind Spot".

* Happens several times in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE46AlmostGotIm Almost Got 'Im]]", Batman [[spoiler: disguised as Killer Croc]] signals the ambush and a bar full of police officers all cock their guns and point them at the villains. What follows is a ten-second-long pan shot of officers cocking everything from automatics and revolvers to shotguns and Thompson [=SMGs=].

* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'': Done with EnergyWeapons in the climax. Having reached the BigBad, the team [[PowerWalk 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.

** Handguns have three typical variations: Single-Action, Double-Action, and Double-Action Only. Single-action requires the hammer be pulled down with each shot; simply pulling the trigger will not do anything useful as there's no mechanism for the trigger to pull the hammer back.[[note]]If you've ever watched an old Western and wondered what a shooter's off-hand was doing waving around the back of his gun, this is why; he was "fanning the hammer", which is necessary to get rapid fire out of a single-action revolver.[[/note]] For double-action handguns, while the hammer can be pulled back manually, it doesn't need to be: instead, pulling the trigger will set the hammer into place automatically. Double-action-only works the same as double-action, except the hammer can't be pulled back to act in single-action mode, so there's no dramatic gun cock option available unless you deliberately leave the chamber empty. Revolvers and some older automatic pistols may have single-action triggers,[[note]]the automatics are built so the slide pushes the hammer back after every shot in the process of ejecting the fired cartridge[[/note]] but more modern automatic handguns are almost invariably double-action or double-action-only, the latter usually being striker-fired rather than having a visible hammer.
* Similarly, militaries doing guard or security work use an escalation of force that begins with verbal warnings and escalates, step by step, into finally using lethal force (shooting the enemy). The idea is to use the most minimal force possible to defuse the conflict. One of the final steps before actually shooting the enemy is cocking the weapon and chambering a round: this is done to tell the enemy, with absolutely zero uncertainty, that soldier is willing and able to use lethal force if the enemy doesn't back down. Typically the enemy gets one final warning in the form of a warning shot before they're taken down (contrary to what's seen in movies, soldiers ''really'' don't want to shoot people unless there is absolutely no alternative). This is done in spite of the weapon already having a round chambered in the first place[[note]]Soldiers need to be able to swiftly forego escalation of force and immediately use lethal force, as is allowed if circumstances permit[[/note]]: it has such a psychological effect that actually hearing the weapon rack a round is extremely effective at making people back down.
** This is one reason why law enforcement officers and elite police units, who are always supposed to use the aforementioned protocol when dealing with criminals, like pump-action shotguns despite their reduced firing rate: because racking a shotgun is loud, spectacular, and makes all but the most cold-blooded and drugged up thugs tremble at their feet.

** [[http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?172056-Asking-an-Officer-quot-What-Happened-quot&p=2908418&viewfull=1#post2908418 Another officer did this]] when a driver refused to turn his car around while approaching a bridge with a suicidal individual.

* One reason the [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter noble shotgun]] is an attractive choice for home defense is the loud, terrifying, and instantly recognizable sound of the pump action at work. Only an extremely stupid home invader (or maybe a cold-blooded one on lots of cocaine) would stick around after hearing the distinctive [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tz0UYno7BA K-CHK CHK sound,]] meaning the owner of the shotgun may not have to actually fire the thing in the first place.
** There are [[https://youtu.be/Yv-0OQ8KSkM?t=135 other schools of thought,]] though. Giving away your position, and information about what you are armed with, can be... suboptimal in a situation where survival may depend on surprise. (It's still a step up from using a WeaponForIntimidation with no ammunition in it.)

** In one case the move was actually realistic: Detective Logan was "questioning" a suspect in the murder of his partner and threatened the man by holding his S&W Model 36 revolver to the suspect's head. The Model 36 has an external hammer and can be cocked manually, and Logan did exactly that in order to increase the threat's impact.

* Detectives in the ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' franchise have been carrying Glock pistols and cocking them since the original series' 1995-96 season. As noted above, these pistols have no external hammer, making the Dramatic Gun Cock impossible. The early-season detectives - Greevey, Cerreta, Briscoe, Logan - carried double-action revolvers and often cocked them as well.

* In a MexicanStandoff in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', everyone's guns makes a "CHAKAT!" noise when they point them at each other, [[JustifiedTrope because]] the guns have a "MexicanStandoff" setting. As the standoff gets increasingly absurd, one character's [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and another character's ''[[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger fingers]]'' make the same sound for no apparent reason.

* ''ComicBook/{{SWORD}}'': The conflict between dramatic necessity and the practicalities of technology is beautifully lampshaded in the Comicbook/XMen spin-off.
-->'''Abigail Brand:''' Okay, this is a ludicrously high-tech gun so it doesn't have anything which makes a handily intimidating noise. So imagine a '''cllllick''' at this point.

* Parodied in ''[[VideoGame/LEGOAdaptationGame Lego Lord of the Rings]]'' where Gimli cocks his ''axe'', which causes a shotgun cocking sound effect to play.

* As the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/idiotswithguns Idiots with Guns]] [[Website/{{Reddit}} Subreddit]] shows, many, ''many'' people who have more money than sense and a pistol to spare have wrecked something in their house because they decided to rack their gun (thus chambering a round) to look 'cool', then accidentally pull the trigger, shooting a bullet through an unfortunate object, wall or ceiling in the vicinity.

* Invoked in ''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.

-->"Hand over the goods, Secret Box Bandit! And prepare for the most unpleasant {{pillow fight}} of your life! (cocks his '''pillow''')

* ''Film/{{Predator}}''. Blain does this after letting [[ICallHerVera "Old Painless"]] out of the bag, by cranking the [[GatlingGood multi-barrels]] left and right (this is pure RuleOfCool—in reality, doing this would most likely fire off any rounds that were already chambered).

* The very last shot of ''Film/AQuietPlace'' is Evelyn doing this with a shotgun, as a BringIt moment regarding the aliens about to enter their house.

* In Tony Scott's ''Film/{{Domino}}'', a dramatic conversation between Ed and Choco results in Choco cocking his revolver not once, but TWICE, despite the tension level never dropping to a point where the gun is ever, well, un-cocked. Some revolvers have an intermediate hammer position between fully down and fully cocked (hence "going off half-cocked"); it could be that Choco's revolver is one of those, or it could just be dramatic license.

[[quoteright:306:[[ComicBook/ThePunisher https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cec1b7ef40dba713cb2810d3a102acf1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:306:Something fun, I bet.]]