History Main / PinballProjectile

* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' the detachable [[RingsOfDeath blade ring]] of the [[BladeOnAStick Kinjakan]] is ''meant'' to be used like this. When Ranma steals it from the Phoenix people and tries to use it acts like a HyperDestructiveBouncingBall, and a Phoenix woman tells him that it takes years of training to use the weapon properly. Then Ranma immediately uses it a ''second'' time, the ring bounces exactly where he wants it to go, and Ranma gives a smug smirk.

In addition, for metal projectiles like bullets, each deflection further deforms the projectile. This alters the aerodynamics of the projectile, and the angle of future deflections. All of this combined means that one or two deflections is theoretically possible for someone with absurd levels of skill, and if a [[FormulaicMagic geometry wiz]] with plenty of time and an extremely steady hand pulled the trigger a three-or-four-bounce lethal shot may be plausible, depending on how extreme the curve is [[note]]a right angle or bouncing around an obstruction: maybe plausible. Full 180? Not happening.[[/note]]. After more ricochets than that, a bullet's flight path can be considered essentially random, and it probably won't have enough energy left to be lethal.

* The Hollywood image of intentionally hitting a target by deflecting a bullet off of dozens of randomly angled surfaces after mere seconds of observation with a random firearm is generally deemed impossible, as ballistic projectiles lose energy when ricocheting (the same way a bouncing ball never goes as high as its first bounce) and eventually will drop to non-lethal speed before ultimately succumbing to air resistance and gravity. With each deflection, the spin of a projectile is also altered; this can have varying effects depending on how and by how much the spin changes and the type of projectile. This is not entirely unpredictable -- for instance, professional pool players often use backspin and sidespin to control how balls deflect and the curve of their path by striking them at the proper angle -- but it is extremely difficult to learn even in this example.

* ''VideoGame/NuclearThrone'': Shell-using weapons fire projectiles that bounce off walls. The Shotgun Shoulders mutation increases the range and speed at which they bounce. The "Pop" weapons, though bullet-users, fire projectiles in the same manner, and are similarly affected by Shotgun Shoulders. The [[DeadlyDisc Disc Gun's]] sawblades also bounce off of walls.

* Justified in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS2E9EclipseLake Eclipse Lake]]", where the AntiMagic properties of [[GiantCorpseWorld the Titan's]] veins cause projectile spells to continuously bounce off of them until they hit something that isn't resistant or run out of energy.

* The Nomad pistol in ''VideoGame/JourneyToTheSavagePlanet'' can be upgraded to have this as its level II ChargeAttack. It bounces among clusters of enemies until they all die or it hits a wall or floor, or flies off into the sky. At the highest level, it also explodes when it hits the final enemy in a mob.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield. Due to its unique construction and ''lots'' of practice, for the most part -- others who have stepped into the role, like John Walker, never really got the hang of it like the original did.
* ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} of the Comicbook/XMen has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to cause his optic blasts to ricochet or reflect off of objects in a trajectory to his liking. He's reflected a single blast off of over a dozen objects before. How the objects [[AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe aren't simply destroyed from the force]] is never explained, but it's one of his niftiest tricks. Predicting ricochets is an intuitive secondary power of his, which means that [[MundaneUtility he can't be beaten at pool]].

* An unintended spoof version is a minicomic by Creator/SergioAragones of ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' taking on ComicBook/{{Superman}}: All shots ricochet "harmlessly" off him... but he should have thought about the fact that they'd ricochet somewhere where people are standing.
* ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} has done this with his eskrima sticks, having one hit a couple mooks then return to him, even though they're not meant to be thrown in the first place.

* ComicBook/WonderWoman has been known to do this with her tiara, which at least has the justification of being able to defy physics because [[AWizardDidIt of being magical]].

* In ''Film/AlienResurrection'', when Christie is held at point range, he puts his hands up as if surrendering, only to just shoot the roof. After bouncing two times on the roof, the bullet hits the guy that was behind him and holding a rifle, going through his helmet with ease, and killing him. Strangely, later, [[spoiler:he can't hit a Xenomorph that's running ''straight at him''. He should've tried to bounce it off something.]]

* This is ''Film/HappyGilmore'''s specialty after being trained to use it to his advantage. In his final match against Shooter, a lookout tower gets in the way of the final hole thanks to a flunkie Shooter hired to ruin Happy's shot. Instead of putting around it and going into sudden death, Happy studies the structure and decides to beat Shooter then and there by hitting the ball so that it ricochets and hits a chute where it rolls perfectly into the hole.

* [[Characters/MCUCaptainAmerica Captain America]] does this in his movies in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse with his shield. Somehow, it looks even more improbable in live action. Also, given that the film explains away the unique properties of the shield by saying that it absorbs and deadens vibrations, should be even more impossible to ricochet than a regular disc. And never make any sounds on impact. [[HollywoodScience But whatever, it works.]] Lampshaded by [[Characters/MCUSpiderMan Spider-Man]] in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': "That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all, does it?"

* ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': An accidental example when [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2945 Sidney reactivates]] her DeflectorShield just as an alien monster fires on a building close to her and a piece of shrapnel grazes her cheek. Problem is, the fast-moving shrapnel is still inside the shield when it erects, ricocheting inside the barrier until it hits Sydney in the gut.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "The Mask of Matches Malone!", [[Characters/BatmanHuntress Huntress]] (who is [[UnwillingSuspension dangling from a crane]] and being lowered into a SharkPool), fires her crossbow and ricochets her bolt off several objects so it rips the gag off ComicBook/BlackCanary's mouth.

* {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short ''WesternAnimation/WildAndWoollyHare''. After explaining to Yosemite Sam how his next shot is going to bounce off about half the town's buildings before coming back into the room and part Sam's hair right down the middle, Bugs fires. It does ''exactly'' what he said it would, including splitting Sam's hat in half during the parting of his hair.

* The Francisca, a medieval throwing axe, was actually designed to allow it to be used in this manner. The hatchet-like weapon features an long, thin, extremely heavy head, and a relatively short handle. When thrown properly, this odd design caused the axe to tumble and bounce upon impact, allowing them to strike foes carrying heavy shields from below or behind after bouncing off of other shields or the ground.

* ''{{Series/Daredevil}}'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. His team's coach decided to pull him out so that the other team members could still play. Benjamin pleaded to continue pitching, but he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the coach. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and struck the back of the coach's skull.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' has this as the overlooked special ability of the "Power Weapon" category of firearms. With a Ballistic Coprocessor hand cyberware piece, ricochet angles will be automatically calculated, and will aim-snap to targets, even when firing from the hip. Building up an intuition of "simple geometry" as the trope image caption entails can enable a player to ricochet easily and frequently on the fly, most commonly with a simple bounce off the ground. A modification for eye cyberware, the Trajectory Generator, can display ricochet trajectories for these weapons when aiming down sights for more complex ricochet shots, or serve as "training wheels" for building up the angle-eyeballing intuition.

** Daredevil himself can do it with his billy club on occasion. Most JustForFun/{{egregious}}ly in one of Creator/KevinSmith's issues, where Daredevil throws it through a glass window where, instead of shattering the window completely, it just leaves a small hole, approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Then it bounces around, knocking out the {{mooks}} and returning through the ''exact same hole''.

* Hanzo from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' used to be able fire a special projectile, the "Scatter Arrow". Upon hitting an obstacle, the arrow split into bouncing projectiles, which was useful for taking down enemies in a large area. ''[[GameBreaker Too useful]]'', which is why it was eventually removed and reworked into "Storm Arrow", which just lets him [[{{Multishot}} fire multiple arrows in a quick burst]], [[DifficultButAwesome making the lethality based off of player skill rather than geometry]]. He still retains the ability in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'', however.

** Robin pulls this off by shooting an arrow that had gone off course with another arrow, correcting the trajectory of the first arrow and sending it straight into the bullseye, Robin Hooding the one that was already in there.

* ''Series/Daredevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. His team's coach decided to pull him out so that the other team members could still play. Benjamin pleaded to continue pitching, but he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the coach. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and struck the back of the coach's skull.

* ''Series/DareDevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. His team's coach decided to pull him out so that the other team members could still play. Benjamin pleaded to continue pitching, but he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the coach. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and struck the back of the coach's skull.

* ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} of the Comicbook/XMen has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to cause his optic blasts to ricochet or reflect off of objects in a trajectory to his liking. He's reflected a single blast off of over a dozen objects before. How the objects [[AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe aren't simply destroyed from the force]] is never explained, but it's one of his niftiest tricks. Predicting ricochets is an intuitive secondary power of his.

* ComicBook/WonderWoman has been known to do this with her tiara.

* ''Series/DareDevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. His team's coach decided to pull him out so that the other team members could still play. Benjamin pleaded to continue pitching, but he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the coach. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and struck the back of the coach's skull.
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* ''Series/DareDevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. The referee decided to pull him out so that the other kids could still play. Benjamin pleaded to continue pitching, but he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the ref. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and struck the back of the referee's skull.

* ''Series/DareDevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. The referee pulled him out so that the other kids could still play. Despite Benjamin's pleas to continue pitching, he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the ref. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and struck the back of the referee's skull.

* ''Series/DareDevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. The referee pulled him out so that the other kids could still play. Despite Benjamin's pleas to continue pitching, he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the ref. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and hit the back of the referee's skull.

* ''Series/DareDevil'': As a kid, Benjamin Poindexter was a skilled pitcher in little league baseball. He was so skilled that he almost pitched a perfect game. The referee pulled him out so that the other kids could still play. Despite Benjamin's pleas to continue pitching, he was still pulled out of the game. Sad and enraged, young Ben decided to kill the ref. He did it by throwing a baseball that ricocheted off a pole and hit the back of the referee's skull.