History Main / JustinTime

* Exaggerated in ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'', where Ethan manages to defuse three nuclear bombs that would kill billions with less than one second left on the detonation timer. Lampshaded:
-->'''Benji:''' How close were we?\\

* In the ''Series/{{Masterpiece}}'' edition of ''Literature/LesMiserables'', Valjean and Cosette escape from Javert and his squad by climbing over the wall of a convent. The camera angle shows Cosette being pulled to safety just as Javert and company come around the corner.

* Son Goku manages this a few times in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Most notably in the Namek arc when he is Just In Time to save Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta from the Ginyu Special Taskforce; and when he later does the same thing when he saves Vegeta from getting killed by Frieza (in an attempt to ScrewDestiny when King Kai {{foreshadow|ing}}s Vegeta's demise at the hands of Frieza); however, after Vegeta tells the villain about Goku, Frieza becomes annoyed and kills the Saiyan prince anyway, fulfilling the prophecy. Also in the Saiyan arc when he saves Gohan and Krillin from Nappa, although in that case [[YouAreTooLate he was too late]] to save his other comrades.

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

* Spoofed in the "His Code Name Was The Fox" series of strips in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'': Roger's Marty Stu self-insert has less than a fraction of a second left to disarm a bomb, yet still correctly decides which of the ''186'' wires to cut.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** An unique subversion happens in ''Film/SawIV''. Rigg reaches the room where Eric's trapped right when the timer is at one, only to find out that he was supposed to get there in ''over'' 90 minutes, and since he got there before the timer reached zero, Eric getts killed.
** In ''Film/SawVI'', William reaches his final just as the timer is at 1. The true game begins here.

'''Some varieties:'''

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''
** Unique subversion in ''Film/SawIV''. Rigg reaches Detective Matthews right when the timer is at 1, [[spoiler:only to find out that he was supposed to get there in OVER 90 minutes, and since he got there before the timer reached zero Eric Matthews was killed.]]
** In ''Film/SawVI'', William reaches the end of his tests just as the timer is at 1. [[spoiler:The true game begins here.]]

--> '''Ed:''' Stop waiting so you can make a grand entrance, Colonel!

* ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'': [[spoiler: Ian]] finds [[spoiler:Jeremy]] just in time when he is DrivenToSuicide and tries to drown himself. Considering how much water [[spoiler:Jeremy]] swallowed, it looks like he barely made it.

--> "He [Hugo] would shoot her before the eyes of the American sentries of their lines three hundred yards away!... As the Hun raised his automatic, two mud-bespattered, glitter-eyed beings, Uncle Same and Bill, fell upon him, a snarling dog and a roaring man, a man crying, 'My bare hands for you!'"

--> “And didn't we make it back with only like ten seconds to spare?!”
* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', upon the monsters' encircling and ambush of Celestia's forces in the Battle of the Everfree Fields, [[spoiler: [[TheCavalry the long awaited pegasi reinforcements from the west arrive just in time to save them.]]]]

** Unique subversion in ''Film/SawIV''. Rigg reaches Detective Matthews right when the timer is at 1, [[spoiler: only to find out that he was supposed to get there in OVER 90 minutes, and since he got there before the timer reached zero Eric Matthews was killed.]]
** In ''Film/SawVI'', William reaches the end of his tests just as the timer is at 1. [[spoiler: The true game begins here.]]

* Averted in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. While the crew of the ''Defiant'' looks like they'll be able to [[spoiler: save a stranded Federation officer they've been in contact with]] it turns out they were too late. Worse, they were [[spoiler: several ''years'' too late]] because unbeknownst to either side, the messages they were sending were [[spoiler: being time-warped by the planet's atmosphere]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'''s Animated Short "Honour and Glory", two German soldiers are [[spoiler: just about to get mowed down by an army of sentry-mode Bastions when Reinhardt bursts out of the wall next to them and deploys his barrier, saving them. A few seconds later, Reinhardt's barrier breaks due to the amount of bullets, but a friendly airstrike decimates the omnic forces as Rein covers his comrades with his body.]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'': In the 1980s revival premiere, "A Little Peace and Quiet", a woman who finds an amulet that can stop time uses her gift selfishly; unable to control her chaotic household/bratty children/henpecking husband/rude neighbors, she stops time to regain her senses. The backstory – rapidly deteriorating tensions between the Untied States and the Soviet Union – marches to the forefront at the end of the story, when the USSR unleashes a large-scale nuclear attack on the United States. Just a split second before her neighborhood is swallowed up in a nuclear blast, the woman manages to freeze time (with the words, "Shut up!"). This leaves the woman forever in a state of frozen time, living alone in what is thought to represent the last instant before the explosion and resulting blast envelopes her hometown. (Indeed, in the distance, a large fireball – presumably growing – is seen; that explosion could be heard in the final second before the woman manages to freeze time.)

** Avalon activates in Shirou's soul just in time to save him from being destroyed from the inside out. Then it sends [[spoiler:Shirou to Arturia and activates its barrier function just in time to save Saber from the explosion of power from the Beam-O-War between her sword and Mordred's.

* In Overwatch's Animated Short "Honour and Glory", two German soldiers are [[spoiler: just about to get mowed down by an army of sentry-mode Bastions when Reinhardt bursts out of the wall next to them and deploys his barrier, saving them. A few seconds later, Reinhardt's barrier breaks due to the amount of bullets, but a friendly airstrike decimates the omnic forces as Rein covers his comrades with his body.]]

No relation to the eponymous time-traveller, Justin Time (which is just a pun on the term).

* Done in episode 13 of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Judai duels a monkey named [[FunWithAcronyms SAL]] to save one of Asuka's friends, and tells the scientist to promise that he'll set SAL free when he's done. In the end, Judai wins, [[ILied but the scientist refuses to let SAL go.]] Just when all hope is lost, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Daitokuji-sensei sics Pharaoh on the scientist's men and gives all of them a warning.]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'', ComicBook/JimmyOlsen saves a boy who was seconds away from getting squashed by a car.
* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/AMindSwitchInTime'', a tower crane accidentally drops one steel girder, but Superboy catches it right before it crushes one woman and her daughter.
* ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam'': When Black Adam -disguised as Captain Marvel- is bringing the Daily Planet down, Superman swiftly swoops in takes two co-workers -who were about to be crushed by chunks of crumbling ceiling- away.

* ''Pinball/DungeonsAndDragons'' has a feature called the "Magic Save", which (if the player presses a button fast enough) raises a block to deflect a draining ball back to the flippers.

* Son Goku manages this a few times in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Most notably in the Namek arc when he is Just In Time to save Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta from the Ginyu Special Taskforce; and when he later does the same thing when he saves Vegeta from getting killed by Frieza (in an attempt to ScrewDestiny when King Kai {{foreshadow|ing}}s Vegeta's demise at the hands of Frieza); however, after Vegeta tells the villain about Goku, Frieza becomes annoyed and kills the Saiyan prince anyway, fulfilling the prophecy. Also in the Saiyan arc when he saves Gohan and Krillin from Nappa, although in that case [[YouAreTooLate He Was Too Late]] to save his other comrades.

* In ''Anime/PokemonArceusAndTheJewelOfLife'', Arceus uses Flamethrower at Ash and the gang and their new friends but Giratina appears and takes the flames for them. Good thing it's not very effective.

* In ''ComicBook/BatgirlYearOne'', Commissioner Gordon tries to make Killer Moth lay down his gun when the latter crashes a charity party. Instead, Killer Moth shoots at him, but ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} shoves her father out of the way in the nick of time.

* ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'': [[spoiler: Ian]] finds [[spoiler: Jeremy]] just in time when he is DrivenToSuicide and tries to drown himself. Considering how much water [[spoiler: Jeremy]] swallowed, it looks like he barely made it.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': [[spoiler:Rorschach and Nite Owl II arrive "just in time" to challenge Ozymandias. However after he finished his [[EvilGloating monologue explaining his plan]], he also reveals that the only reason he was explaining his plan was because [[YouAreTooLate he had already gone through with it about half-an-hour ago]].]]

* In ''The Gold at the Starbow's End'' by Frederik Pohl, the beings of of Alpha-Aleph arrive on Earth just in time to save it. Note though, that a big chunk of the problem was their fault: They were ticked at being potentially-lethally snookered by the President of the United States (not the whole government, just the President) and a couple of scientists, so they fired a ray from deep space that hit [[DisproportionateRetribution all]] radioactive sources on Earth, changing them from shedding radiation to shedding ''heat''. Hello, [[UpToElven global warming]].

If you're looking for animated television series seen on Creator/PBSKidsSprout or [[Creator/DisneyChannel Disney Junior]] depending on where you live, [[WesternAnimation/JustinTime go here]].

** Several cases in the ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightTrilogy'' have everything seem lost, only for a casebreaking piece of evidence to appear at just the last moment. A particularly extreme example occurs in the first game. [[spoiler:The judge ''declares a Guilty verdict'' and starts to go through the normal game over sequence before being interrupted at the last second.]]

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': [[spoiler:Rorschach and Nite Owl II arrive "just in time" to challenge Ozymandias; but it turns out he knew they were coming and [[YouAreTooLate set his plans irreversibly in motion]].]]