History Main / PocketProtector

* ''ComicBook/JonSableFreelance'': One of the {{evil poacher}}s who killed Jon's family is saved from Jon's RoaringRampageOfRevenge by the AK-47 he was carrying at chest height. Jon's bullet hits the rifle and the impact is enough to knock the poacher out, leading Jon to assume he is dead.

* Ellen Brand's ''Supernatural'' series of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' fics mentions this in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3992650/1/Gift-of-the-Moon the fifth story]], where it's noted that the professional assassin and sniper Snake, AKA Jackal (who'd murdered the first Kaito Kid by sabotaging his stage equipment), had twice shot the second and current Kaito Kid. Both times, Kid survived - once from a well-hidden BulletproofVest, and once because of this trope, when the bullet struck a gem in the thief's pocket.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' uses the trope once in a while:
** [[spoiler:A mahjong tile in Takagi's breast pocket (taken as evidence) stops a bullet. Shiratori even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s how cliche it is. On the other hand, Takagi ''did'' get injured anyway (due to quite the blunt trauma force to the chest) and had to be hospitalized and operated on.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: once Conan almost gets stabbed in the gut by a suspect. He had an amulet with a piece of metal in his pocket (which he borrowed from Heiji), which stopped the knife. He still was in pain for a while and needed to rest up.]]
** And [[spoiler: Megure's NiceHat softens a blow to the head given to him with a metal pipe. It's not enough to avert the hospital trip, however.]]
** In one episode, a boy's life is saved because a knife hit a hat that he had inside his jacket. The hat had been a gift from his late mother and he always had it with him.
** In another case, a woman ([[spoiler:[[ActionGirl Sato]], while [[BodyDouble in a disguise]]]]) gets stabbed when she's wearing a FairytaleWeddingDress. The dress itself has a '''very''' thick corset so it stops the knife in itself.

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

-->'''Bender:''' Too bad he didn't have his ''own'' Bible.

** London's Imperial War Museum has a pile of dummies showing off different nationalities' uniforms during the two world wars. The British UsefulNotes/WorldWarI soldier showcases a pocket Bible ... with the bottom right quarter blown off and the rest drowned in blood...

** In a similar effect, there are accounts of [[https://aleteia.org/2019/07/16/this-priest-was-saved-from-a-bullet-by-wearing-his-brown-scapular/ priests saved by scapular]]

* Spoofed in ''ComicBook/{{Rat-Man}}'': when our hero was mistaken to have killed ComicBook/ThePunisher's aunt, Castle eventually shot him, but a Bible stopped the bullet to the heart... And given Castle emptied a Colt 1911's magazine into him, a Quran stopped the one to the spleen, ''[[Creator/KarlMarx Das Kapital]]'' the one to the stomach, a copy of ''Literature/TheBetrothed'' another, [[OverlyLongGag and so on]].

This trope is usually an example of either ChekhovsGun (if the object was introduced previously), DeusExMachina (if the object was not previously introduced), or both (if the object was introduced, but couldn't be expected to stop a bullet).

%%* Indy in ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'' is saved this way in the episode "Oganga".

* Used as the origin of the Marvel Noir-verse version of ''ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}}''. Unlike his mainline counterpart he's not really invulnerable, people just think he is because he survived being shot in the chest, which turned out to be the result of the bullets lodging in a flask he was carrying.

* In the ''Manga/RedRiver'' manga, Kail was saved from a fatal arrow strike, thanks to Yuri's letter to him being conveniently kept and shattered near his heart. This letter was a clay tablet, however, and he still had a nasty wound from it afterwards.

* ''WebVideo/{{Jreg}}'': [[spoiler: In Centricide 6, it's revealed that Conservative survived being shot twice by Nazi thanks to two books he had on him at the time. One was a copy of ''Literature/TheBible'', and the other was ''12 Rules for Life'' by Dr. Jordan Peterson.]]

* In [[http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=176 these]] [[http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=177 two]] ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' comics, a girl is saved from a bullet by her impromptu Batman chest insignia. Awesome, but unlikely.

* ''ComicBook/SinCity'' plays this straight in the yarn ''The Big Fat Kill''. Dwight is apparently killed by a shot to the heart, and we only realize he's alive when his attackers find the badge he'd lifted from a dead cop earlier...with the bullet lodged in it.

* During the Hawks arc of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', General Julius tries to have Griffith assassinated with a poisoned arrow, but the arrow is stopped by his Behelit, or as the Abridged of that show calls it, the "Portable Deus Ex Machina Generator", before it can reach his heart. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Behelits are supernatural instruments of fate that ''want'' to keep their owners alive until they can cross the DespairEventHorizon, and are likely MadeOfIndestructium to boot.

* The ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' anime/manga has a poison arrow aimed at Griffith's heart blocked by his Behelit, or as the Abridged of that show calls it, the "Portable Deus Ex Machina Generator". [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Behelits are supernatural instruments of fate that ''want'' to keep their owners alive until they can cross the DespairEventHorizon, and are likely MadeOfIndestructium to boot.

One commonly-used justification is that it's an attempted assassination; UsefulNotes/{{Silencers}} only work with subsonic rounds (any supersonic round makes a loud crack as it [[ShapedLikeItself breaks the sound barrier]]) meaning appropriate bullets can thus be rendered nonlethal by many everyday objects capable of fitting into a pocket.

This trope is usually an example of either ChekhovsGun (if the object was introduced previously), DeusExMachina (if the object was not previously introduced), or both (if the object was introduced, but couldn't be expected to stop a bullet.)

** [[spoiler:A mahjong tile in Takagi's breast pocket (taken as evidence) stops a bullet. Shiratori even {{lampshade}}s how cliche it is. OTOH, Takagi ''did'' get injured anyway (due to quite the blunt trauma force to the chest) and had to be hospitalized and operated on.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: once Conan almost gets stabbed in the gut by a suspect. He had an amulet with a piece of metal in his pocket (which he borrowed from Heiji), which stopped the knife. He still is in pain for a while and needed to rest up.]]

** In one episode, a boy's life is saved because a knife hit a hat that he had inside his jacket. The hat had been a gift from is late mother and he always had it with him.
** In another case, a woman ([[spoiler: [[ActionGirl Sato]], [[BodyDouble while in a disguise]]]]) gets stabbed when she's wearing a FairytaleWeddingDress. The dress itself has a '''very''' thick corset so it stops the knife in itself.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Goku survives Tao Pai Pai's Dodonpa to the chest because he had the [[MementoMacGuffin 4-Star Dragon Ball]] (Sixingqiu) under his shirt. Although, considering those are said to be indestructible, it makes sense.

* Also done in an episode of ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' when a boy is saved from a bullet by having a locket with a picture of his deceased mother hidden underneath his shirt. Made more poignant by the fact that this locket had been a point of strife between the boy and his brother, who had held a grudge against their mother for a certain misunderstanding. Adding to the EmotionalTorque is that the bullet causes the locket, which was stuck up to that point, to open, its contents clearing up the misunderstanding.

** In the movie ''[[Anime/DragonBallCurseOfTheBloodRubies Curse of the Blood Rubies]]'', Yamcha's history as a thief [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Za3hWHlC8s pays off]].

** In Part 4, happen to Kira (the BigBad). After Hayato Kawajiri uses the time loop caused by "Bites the Dust" to spill hot coffee on Kira, he puts his wrist watch inside of his shirt pocket instead of wearing it on his burned wrist. It saves his life when Hayato later tries to kill him with Stray Cat's air bullets. [[spoiler:In the end, this destroyed watch makes Kira realize that his final desperate attempt to use Bites the Dust failed and he got turned into a ghost, as it should have been restored had the time loop succeeded.]]

* * The Music/ElvisPresley film ''Film/FrankieAndJohnny'' has Elvis' Johnny survive being shot onstage by a NotSoFakePropWeapon when the bullet is lodged in the lucky cricket pendant Frankie had given him earlier.