History Main / MurphysBullet

Related to DiabolusExMachina, for those times when sudden, unanticipated tragedy strikes. Contrast NearMisses, when the drama comes from the heroes almost getting shot. OppositeTrope of ATeamFiring, in which nobody gets hit by bullets, no matter how much gunfire is exchanged.

Related to DiabolusExMachina, for those times when sudden, unanticipated tragedy strikes. Contrast NearMisses.

Related to DiabolusExMachina, for those times when sudden, unanticipated tragedy strikes.

* ''Film/ElDorado'': Creator/JohnWayne' "a gun for a man who can't shoot," which turns out to be a sawed-off shotgun. Later, John Wayne is the only man in their band hit in the final fight. The doctor finds shotgun shrapnel in the wound and wants to know who would bring a gun like that to a fight like that.

* In an episode from Season 2 of ''Series/TheWire'', two drug gangs squabble over territory. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W92U5hopg2o At first it seems laughable]], like the gang version of a WimpFight, as the two sides obviously have little to no experience with guns, and most don't even come close to hitting each other due to the fact that they're often firing without properly aiming or even looking at their target. [[MoodWhiplash The mood changes quickly]] when a mother in a nearby building finds her nine year old son dead in his room from a stray bullet.

* ''Film/Devotion2022'': Jesse Brown's F4U Corsair is not brought down by the [=MiG-15=] fighter jet that he leads on a CanyonChase, nor by Chinese antiaircraft fire, but by a random potshot from a nameless Chinese infantryman that punches a hole in his oil pan. [[spoiler:He's injured in the crash and succumbs before he can be rescued.]]

* ''Film/ElDorado'': Creator/JohnWayne "a gun for a man who can't shoot," which turns out to be a sawed-off shotgun. Later, John Wayne is the only man in their band hit in the final fight. The doctor finds shotgun shrapnel in the wound and wants to know who would bring a gun like that to a fight like that.

* ''Film/FlightOfTheIntruder'': After Grafton and Morg use sophisticated electronic countermeasures to throw off radar-guided anti-aircraft.

Most of the time, such a coincidence requires BizarreAndImprobableBallistics (when projectiles are likelier to bounce off than to go in a straight trajectory) or PinballProjectile (when the ricochet more than once) to be pulled out. A common cause is that the villain is trying for MoreDakka. Compare and contrast BulletHolesAndRevelations, which is a suspenseful moment of someone being injured in a fight, but the viewer not knowing who it was. Contrast ExactlyWhatIAimedAt, where the bullets seemed to miss but didn't. SubTrope of FinaglesLaw --the general tendency in media for things to go wrong for purely entertainment-oriented reasons. Compare AccidentalAimingSkills, when a character hits the target they weren't aiming for. Related to DiabolusExMachina, for those times when sudden, unanticipated tragedy strikes.

* ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'': {{Invoked}} in [[Recap/AirwolfS1E1ShadowOfTheHawke "Shadow of the Hawke"]]. The BigBad Dr. Moffett positions his helicopter to the exact spot where it'd be vulnerable to a Golden BB, counting that, because of FinaglesLaw, it won't miss.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E19SeeingRed "Seeing Red"]], [[spoiler:Tara [=McClay=]]] is killed by a random bullet that was fired in the air by [[spoiler:Warren]]. It occurs immediately after [[spoiler:Willow has made things right with Tara]], making this a very clear-cut case of TheRuleOfDrama in action. Although [[spoiler:Warren]] does manage to hit [[spoiler:Buffy]], his target, as well. For some fans, this tastes too much like a DiabolusExMachina.[[labelnote:Explanation]]The bullet is shown to have shattered a window and there's no way, given Warren's height, Tara's height, and the height of the window from the ground, that a bullet could have traveled that path unless it was a Roger Rabbit bullet that took a sharp turn in midair. And an extra sharp turn after killing Tara in order to avoid also killing Willow who is standing directly in line but on the opposite side of her[[/labelnote]]

** In [[Recap/OneThousandWaysToDieSeason3 "#178: Dead Fella"]], two hitmen try to kill a mafioso who has betrayed the group, but the reinforced glass from the car deflects all of the shots... and one of these shots kills the hitman who shot it.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E11Rivals "Rivals"]] has a nonlethal version. Bashir and O'Brien are playing a game of futuristic racquetball. The latter is established early in the episode as a spectacularly unlucky player spoiler:due to the unrevealed {{Phlebotinum}} of the Week messing with probability. When the weird probability-altering device begins evening things out (reversing all the bad luck into good and vice versa), no matter where he or anyone else throws the ball it will always come back to his hand.

* ''Film/{{Sleepwalkers}}'': The film has a hilarious editing failure where a policeman is trying to shoot a woman but shoots the vase next to her and breaks it - and then he shoots and breaks the same vase again.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In one episode, there's a MacGuffin that gives you incredible luck as long as you hold it, but if you lose it, your luck gets progressively worse until it kills you. Sam has already lost it, and it is now in Dean's possession. Being GenreSavvy, the rival takes advantage of this trope, assured that any bullet she aims at Dean will instead hit Sam. [[RuleOfFunny It works.]]

* ''Series/TheWestWing'': A gang of white supremacists attempts to shoot Charlie because they dislike his dating the President's daughter. They miss him entirely but succeed in shooting the President and Josh. As you might expect, the Secret Service takes a dim view of this. Justified, however; the shooters were firing at the presidential motorcade from a high-rise building using handguns, which are notoriously unreliable at a distance if you're trying to hit a specific target.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': A nonlethal version appears in an episode. Bashir and O'Brien are playing a game of futuristic racquetball. O'Brien is established early in the episode as a spectacularly unlucky player (due to the unrevealed {{Phlebotinum}} of the Week messing with probability), but when the weird probability-altering device begins evening things out (reversing all the bad luck into good and vice versa), no matter where he or anyone else throws the ball it will always come back to his hand.

** In “Shooting Booth,” a ditzy girl manages to hit Matt in the same spot on his hand three times with a BB gun. Subverted, as it is strongly implied that she did it on purpose to get back at Matt for scamming her son.

* ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'': In one case, a drunken redneck shoots into the air and kills an InnocentBystander who was ''a mile away''. In another two hitmen try to kill a mafioso who has betrayed the group, but the reinforced glass from the car deflects all of the shots... and one of these shots kills the hitman who shot it.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': A nonlethal version appears in an episode when Bashir and O'Brien are playing a game of futuristic racquetball. O'Brien is established early in the episode as a spectacularly unlucky player (due to the unrevealed Phlebotinum of the Week messing with probability), but when the weird probability-altering device begins evening things out (reversing all the bad luck into good and vice versa), no matter where he or anyone else throws the ball it will always come back to his hand.

Most of the time, such a coincidence requires BizarreAndImprobableBallistics (when projectiles are likelier to bounce off than to go in a straight trajectory) or PinballProjectile (when the ricochet more than once) to be pulled out. A common cause is that the villain is trying for MoreDakka. Compare and contrast BulletHolesAndRevelations, which is a suspenseful moment of someone being injured in a fight, but the viewer not knowing who it was. Contrast ExactlyWhatIAimedAt, where the bullets seemed to miss but didn't. SubTrope of FinaglesLaw --the general tendency in media for things to go wrong for purely entertainment-oriented reasons. Related to DiabolusExMachina, when suddenly, unanticipated tragedy strikes.