History Main / OneBulletLeft

[[TheHero The hero]] has stormed the enemy base. He has killed mooks, [[StuffBlowingUp blown stuff up,]] and [[CatchPhrase said witty one-liners.]] This is it: the final showdown of Hero vs. BigBad. Mr Villain holds the heroine close, threatening to kill the DamselInDistress. She cries out to her beloved hero. The hero gathers his resolve and checks his pistol's magazine. He only has one bullet left.

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel'''[[note]]after coming out on the losing end of this trope in France in 1914[[/note]]

* In ''Series/GetSmart'', there was this approximate exchange:
--> "Don't try to bluff, Max. Your finger is out of bullets"\\

** Another episode plays with this trope - all episode Max says that his contract expires at midnight and that he won't re-sign without more benefits. In the middle of a gunfight with a K.A.O.S agent on one side and Max and his boss on the other, Max stands up and lets the agent know that he's on strike. His boss then grudgingly agrees to Max's terms while Max and the agent talk about what benefits K.A.O.S. offers. After Max resigns, he tells the agent to go ahead and shoot him, and the agent's gun clicks. Max then disarms and detains the agent while his boss asks why Max let the agent try and shoot him. Max says that the agent fired six shots, but his boss only heard five shots. Max picks up the gun, pulls the trigger, and it fires - then Max sheepishly says, "Six."

See Also: BottomlessMagazines & CountingBullets. If there is ''more than one'' target for said bullet, both of them critical, that's under SadisticChoice or FriendOrIdolDecision. Not to be confused with [[LeaveBehindAPistol leaving someone a pistol with a single round remaining, and the implications thereof]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}''

* The opening cutscene of ''VideoGame/{{The Punisher|THQ}}'' video game starts out with Frank only having one shell left in his automatic shotgun, and a squad of bad guys blocking his way to the exit. Frank shoots one of the them, and stalks towards them, the goons being too terrified to act. He then [[HeyCatch throws his empty gun at one of them]] and uses a knife to kill several of them, taking one of their guns in the process.

* In ''VideoGame/SyphonFilterTheOmegaStrain'''s first bonus mission, Stone has a sniper rifle with only one bullet, and must kill enemies by [[NeckSnap snapping their necks]] until he finds the target.

* Subverted in ''Literature/{{The Lost World|1995}}'', where a character is told that she only has One Bullet Left. After she makes the impossible shot, she checks the rifle and finds that there are still more bullets--she was told there was one left to motivate her.

* ''[[LightNovel/ASimpleSurvey A Simple Monitoring]]'' has a death game in which each contestant receives a handgun with one bullet, with the last one standing being the winner. This forces them to use various tricks such as playing a recording of a gunshot to make the others think they've used their one bullet, pretending that an empty gun is still loaded, or [[spoiler:faking their own death by changing their one bullet into a blank.]]

* ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976''. Leigh notes that she has two bullets left in her revolver and suggests she use them to kill herself and Wilson. Wilson is determined to go down fighting, so tells her to shoot the first two gang members who break in "and after that [[ImprovisedWeapon get inventive]]." [[spoiler:When the police turn up to rescue the survivors (who have also run out of bullets) they're all holding makeshift clubs while Leigh is [[PistolWhipping holding her revolver by the barrel]].]] Bishop meanwhile has three bullets left to [[ShootTheFuelTank explode an acetylene tank]] they've set up as a BoobyTrap, but the corridor he's firing down is filled with smoke from the gang throwing {{molotov cocktail}}s.

* DoubleSubversion in the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Homefront". Artemis is the last remaining member of the team standing, has one arrow left in her quiver, and needs to make a million-to-one shot. She takes the shot, misses, and runs away to come up with a new plan. Inevitably, when she's ready to try the new plan she's only found one replacement arrow, giving her one shot. It works.

* ''Manga/Golgo13''. Duke Togo teams up with another hitman to take down a CIA chemical warfare lab. As they're about to leave, the other hitman reports in and gets a contract to kill Duke Togo. He says he's been CountingBullets and knows they've both got one left and it becomes a test of endurance -- they're both even in skill, so who will make the first move? [[spoiler:Golgo noticed that there was a third weapon - a knife - on the beach they were dueling on, so his move was calculated to get him close enough to use that after both parties wasted their shot.]]

* In ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'', Victorique, of all people, ends up with a single bullet left in a gun; though she needs it not to kill someone, but to [[spoiler:disable the bomb her train is heading towards]]. Halfway-subverted, though, because both she and Kujo know that there's absolutely no chance of the shot missing. In fact, she may have [[InvokedTrope wasted the rest of the bullets on purpose]]...

[[KarmaHoudini And did exactly what they said.]]

* An InvokedTrope in ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead''. Creator/RussellCrowe's character, preacher and ex-outlaw Cort, is always given only one bullet before each gunfight... so he won't try to shoot his way out of town and escape.

[[TheHero The hero]] has stormed the enemy base. He has killed mooks, [[StuffBlowingUp blown stuff up,]] and [[CatchPhrase said witty one-liners.]] This is it: the final showdown. Hero vs. BigBad. Mr Villain says, "It's too late! The files have already been transferred!" as he holds the heroine close, threatening to kill the DamselInDistress. She cries out to her beloved hero. The hero gathers his resolve and checks his pistol's magazine. He only has one bullet left.

This trope is named after the uncanny attempt at drama of giving the hero only a single chance to win the battle, i.e. one bullet left. You can be sure of it, you can count on it, you could bet money on it if anyone would actually take that bet. That shot is going to hit its target. It may have been actually suspenseful at some point, but by now [[DiscreditedTrope everyone has seen this one done and done again]].

[[TheHero The hero]] has entered the enemy base. He has killed mooks, [[StuffBlowingUp blown stuff up,]] and [[CatchPhrase said one liners.]] This is it. The final showdown. Hero vs. BigBad. Mr Villain says, "It's too late! The files have already been transferred!" as he holds the heroine close, threatening to kill the DamselInDistress. She cries out to her beloved hero. The hero gathers his resolves and checks his pistol's magazine. He only has one bullet left.

* ''Series/AdamTwelve'': Late in the series' first season, Reed has the lesson of the importance of following direct orders to the letter brought home to him when, during a stakeout of a warehouse burglary, he is asked to not shoot unless absolutely necessary or when told. When the whole standoff ends and the robbers are captured ... Reed's gun has just one bullet left. (The argument being that, any time it takes – however fast – for the officers to reload would give the suspected robbers the opening they need to shoot and kill the officers.)

* ''Film/{{Kate}} loads a single round into her pistol for the final confrontation. Not due to lack of ammo, but because [[YourDaysAreNumbered she's dying]], is too exhausted to do any more and knows she will only have one shot at this.

* Thoroughly {{justified}} in ''Film/TheCrossing''. Bad weather has forced the Continental Army to use bayonets rather than shooting because the powder's all wet, except for one soldier who sealed his musket--a weapon that has one shot anyway--with candle wax. He's the ''only guy in the army'' who can shoot, and [[spoiler:he uses the shot on Colonel Rall, mortally wounding him and ending the battle]].

* In ''Film/{{Freejack}}'': Descending in an elevator to escape the building, the hero and his girl knows they will face guards on the way out. He looks at his [[ViewerFriendlyInterface LED ammo counter]], sees it read "01", and remarks, "Think I can get them all to stand in a line?". Cut to a scene of the {{Mooks}} all lining up. [[SubvertedTrope But, at the last second]], the elevator is called to the BigBad's penthouse.

* In ''Film/TheFlightOfThePhoenix2004'', the protagonists have 5 cartridges to start the rebuilt plane's engine - the first three times it stalls, the fourth cartridge is expended to clean out the cylinders, and the last one, shockingly enough, works perfectly. (The [[Film/FlightOfThePhoenix1965 1965 version]] subverts this by having the engine start with the sixth cartridge of seven.)

* ''VideoGame/PointBlank'' does these with its infamous "sniping" challenges, where the player is given one shot to take down a small, moving target, such as a falling leaf or a tossed coin.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}''. Plutonian lights a magic candle that will turn him mortal as long as it burns, so he can have sex with Bette Noir. She secretly keeps the last of the wax, and after Plutonian goes rogue fashions it into a single bullet, the only thing that can kill him. However as she fires it, Qubit uses his technology to teleport the bullet into the head of their foe Orion, whom he considers a greater threat. Everyone's pissed off at Qubit for this, but it's later revealed that he used the same technology to retrieve the bullet after it exited Orion's head.

* ''Anime/GunxSword'' has an exaggerated example. Wendy's revolver, inherited from her brother, starts out with one bullet... and stays that way for [[UpToEleven the entire series]]. [[spoiler: Fittingly, she uses it on said brother in the finale]].

* Taken UpToEleven in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', with two full seasons of buildup. The heroes are hunting "the yellow-eyed demon" armed with six blessed bullets. By the time they catch up to the demon with the gun, they're down to one. [[spoiler:[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Dean doesn't miss.]]]]

* In the {{Pulp}} RolePlayingGame ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'', Ammo normally isn't tracked; the game just assumes you brought enough and lets you get on with the fun. But if you bought a certain ability, you can ''declare'' at any time that you have one bullet left- you'll be out of ammo after your next shot, but that last bullet gets huge bonuses.

* ''Manga/Golgo13''. Duke Togo teams up with another hitman to take down a CIA chemical warfare lab. As they're about to leave, the other hitman reports in and gets a contract to kill Duke Togo. He says he's been CountingBullets and knows they've both got one left and it becomes a test of endurance -- they're both even in skill, so who will make the first move?

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'' would not be complete as the {{Troperiffic}} romp that it is without this. It's invoked in a rather cool manner, too:

* ''Film/TheHost'', [[spoiler:where it is subverted. Turns out there were ''no'' bullets left, Gang-du just miscounted.]]