History Main / PocketProtector

They got a [[Literature/TheBible Bible]] in there? [[Doorstopper It'll stop the bullet.]] Ditto for cellphones, and especially lockets; if it contains photographs of beloved ones, expect a large modifier (positive or negative, depending upon the scene) to the attack.

Oh no! Our Hero just got shot! There's a hole in their shirt right over their heart... but what's this? They have something in their pocket? It stopped the bullet! They are saved!

They got a [[Literature/TheBible Bible]] in there? It'll stop the bullet. Ditto for cellphones, and especially lockets; if it contains photographs of beloved ones, expect a large modifier (positive or negative, depending upon the scene) to the attack.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Homie the Clown"

* Literature/TheBible version happens ''again'' in Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Literature/{{Temple|MatthewReilly}}''. {{Justified|Trope}} in that the shot was from a flintlock.

* [[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/30/florida_robbery/ A Florida gas station clerk escaped serious injury during an attempted robbery when his HTC smartphone took a bullet from a fleeing perp's pistol.]]

* Literature/TheBible version happens ''again'' in Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Literature/{{Temple}}''. {{Justified|Trope}} in that the shot was from a flintlock.

* In ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'', Film/JamesBond is saved from an assassin's knife by a wad of cash he had earlier won off the BigBad Kamal Khan.
--> '''Bond:''' Thank God for hard currency!

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline'': In Sword Art Online and games developed from its engine, some things are coded as "Immortal Objects", meaning they can't be destroyed. One such item is the "Satellite Scan Terminal" in Gun Gale Online's Bullet of Bullet and Squad Jam tournaments. At least until [[spoiler: [=LLENN=]]] survives a full clip to the heart because she had her Scan Terminal in her breast pocket. [[ObviousRulePatch In the next game, the Scan Terminal is no longer an Immortal Object]].

** In ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman The Return of Bruce Wayne]]'', an amnesiac Bruce Wayne wakes up in hospital; his life apparently having been saved by Mordecai Wayne's journal he was carrying in his pocket.

* In a non-pocket variant, Bob on ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' gets chomped on the shoulder by a walker, making both the audience and his companions think he's done for. Lucky for him, closer inspection reveals it'd bit him directly on top of a thick gauze bandage he'd been wearing over a previous injury, so its teeth didn't penetrate.

* In ''Videogame/Yakuza4'', in the finale, [[spoiler:the defeated Munakata, in an angry fit after understanding Date's newspaper will ruin him, picks up Arai's weapon from the ground and shoots Akiyama in the chest. Akiyama falls down with all the drama necessary to the scene, and after a few seconds, pats his chest pocket, finding the bullet completely lodged inside a stack of dozens of yen bills. Money saves lives indeed.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/gotham one comic]] of ''WebComic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'', [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne's]] parents survive the mugging that would have killed them when the bullets hit their cigarette cases. [[ForWantOfANail Bruce never becomes Batman as a result]], and he spends his adult years depressed and believing his life is pointless.

* Danish Prime Minister and [[AwesomeMcCoolname Jacob Brønning Scavenius Estrup]] infamously had an assasin try to shoot him dead [[https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.B.S._Estrup#/media/Fil:Attentatet_mod_Estrup_1885.jpg October 25th of 1885]], where one of his coat buttons deflected a revolver shot and then [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the gun jammed on the third shot after the second misesd and hit the door behind Estrup]]. Estrup was infamously quoted asking the gunman "What, are you shooting at me?"[[note]]"Hvad, skyder De paa mig?" in Danish[[/note]], went on ahead to the party he was going to, told the story to the other partygoers and was celebrated when he went home intoxicated three hours later.

* In Creator/TheAsylum's ''Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes'', Holmes is saved from Miss Ivory's bullet by his tobacco case. This is a {{call back}} to Thorpe's early comment that Sherlock's tobacco habit would be deleterious to his health.

* ''Series/ColonelMarchOfScotlandYard'': In "Death in the Dressing Room", the killer throws a Javanese throwing dagger at Mrch, but the blade is blocked by the hardback book March is holding.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. In "The Ark in Space", the Doctor is repairing something on the Nerva space station and puts a metal object in his famous roomy pockets. This serves as a ChekhovsGun for "The Sontaran Experiment" (which follows directly on from this episode) when the bit of metal stops the Doctor from being killed by the Sontaran's RayGun.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] the pocket protectors stereotypically worn by {{Nerd}}s. Nor to be confused with [[Literature/{{Protector}} Pak Protectors]].

* ''Film/TrickRTreat'': When Sam tries to stab Me. Kreeg with a sharpened lollipop, the lollipop impales a candy bar that had fallen on his chest. Sam takes this as an offering and leaves Kreeg alive.

* Walter narrowly escapes death in ''Series/NineteenFortyOne'' when a bullet strikes the locket he carries in his pocket.

* Danish Prime Minister and BadassMustache haver [[AwesomeMcCoolname Jacob Brønning Scavenius Estrup]] infamously had an assasin try to shoot him dead [[https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.B.S._Estrup#/media/Fil:Attentatet_mod_Estrup_1885.jpg October 25th of 1885]], where one of his coat buttons deflected a revolver shot and then [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the gun jammed on the third shot after the second misesd and hit the door behind Estrup]]. Estrup was infamously quoted asking the gunman "What, are you shooting at me?"[[note]]"Hvad, skyder De paa mig?" in Danish[[/note]], went on ahead to the party he was going to, told the story to the other partygoers and was celebrated when he went home intoxicated three hours later.

* The ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series had the [[AttackReflector Franklin Badge]] which would deflect, respectively, a certain instant-kill attack and all lightning attacks just by having it in your inventory. In the [[VideoGame/{{MOTHER1}} first]] [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} two]] games, it took up an inventory slot of the character you chose to equip it to, while, in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', it's classified as a key item, and is always equipped to Lucas once you acquire it. The badge returned in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. When worn, it deflects projectiles for a set period of time.

** 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 part 3 Jotaro survived a storm of knives thrown at him by Dio during a [[TimeStandsStill timestop]] because of his [[NiceHat hat]] and several copies of Shonen Jump he had stuffed in his jacket (the fact his stand was able to move for 1 second during the timestop and deflect half of the knives helped, but he still would have died were it not for the hat and magazines).

* ''Manga/{{Spriggan}}''. [[ChekhovsGun Yu shows Rie the message plate]] left as a warning to future generations by AdvancedAncientHumans, saying it's MadeOfIndestructium. Later he's slashed with an [[{{Hihiirokane Hihiirokane saber]] wielded by Moroha, who's surprised because NoOneCouldSurviveThat It's implied this trope happened because Yu then uses the plate to block Moroha's sword directly.

* ''Anime/{{Spriggan}}''. [[ChekhovsGun Yu shows the Rei the message plate]] left as a warning to future generations by an AdvancedAncientHumans, saying it's MadeOfIndestructium. Later he's slashed with an AbsurdlySharpBlade wielded by Moroha, who's surprised because NoOneCouldSurviveThat It's implied this trope happened because Yu then uses the plate to block Moroha's sword directly.

* ''Anime/{{Spriggan}}''. Yu shows the Rei the message plate left as a warning to future generations by an AdvancedAncientHumans, saying it's MadeOfIndestructium. Later he's slashed with an AbsurdlySharpBlade wielded by Moroha, who's surprised because NoOneCouldSurviveThat. It's implied this trope happened because Yu then uses the plate to block Moroha's sword directly.

* ''Anime/{{Spriggan}}''. Yu shows the Rei the message plate left as a warning to future generations by an AdvancedAncientHumans, saying it's MadeOfIndestructium. Later he's slashed with an AbsurdlySharpBlade wielded by Moroha, who's surprised because NoOneCouldSurviveThat. It's implied this trope happened because Yu then uses the plate to block Moroha's sword directly.

* A bag of gold coins takes a bullet for Tetsuro early in ''Anime/GalaxyExpress999''.