History Main / RussianRoulette

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'' has a variant; six pistols, four unloaded, two loaded and Jack is ordered to shoot his love interest with them. He argues with Blackbeard over whether the game is FalseRoulette. When he's convinced that it's real, he takes another other option and jumps off a nearby cliff.

* An indie game on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} entitled "Russian Roulette: One Life" simulates playing the game against a virtual opponent, with the twist that AllDeathsFinal is taken very seriously: if you die, the game records your score on a gravestone and you can ''[[SingleAttemptGame never play it again]]''! As in the real-life game, you only get one death and it's for keeps.[[note]]There was a DownloadableContent option available that allowed players to attempt the game again for $5-- but only as a ghost, with their scores on a separate leaderboard from the main game.[[/note]]

* If [[GuideDangIt you don't know]] to [[spoiler:use [[ChekhovsGun the cell phone]]]] (as poor Marsh had to resort to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H10im8i-SMw in his playthrough]], although he thankfully managed to guess correctly), then saving [[spoiler:Nei Ichikawa]] in ''VideoGame/PeretEmHeruForThePrisoners'' boils down to this. Six "chambers", all but one of which are "loaded". To make matters worse, the "empty chamber" is randomly determined. [[LuckBasedMission Good luck]].

* ''Scoop Hunter Tamon'' (an obscure Ishigaki Yuuki one-shot manga) have this happening in the second chapter, when [[IntrepidReporter Kyosuke Tamon]] confronts his EvilFormerFriend, who instead of killing Tamon on the spot, decide to challenge him to a game of Russian Roulette for old time's sake. The stakes here are notably higher than most examples, starting with ten rounds - five which are blanks - chambered into a blank revolver, where Tamon and his ex-friend take turns pulling the trigger to their own temples. To make things even more confusing, one of the five blanks ''will'' let out a (harmless) loud bang, leading to a BaitAndSwitch where readers assumed Tamon shot himself on the ''first try''. [[spoiler:Somehow, Tamon survives the ordeal even when the Roulette is down to six bullets, five which are loaded - against all odds, he managed to grab the ''one'' empty shell out of six, winning the gamble]].

* Horror game ''[[https://mikeklubnika.itch.io/buckshot-roulette Buckshot Roulette]]'' is Russian Roulette played with a ''shotgun''. Every round, some of the shells are blanks, some are live, and the order is randomized as they're loaded. You can aim at yourself (if it's a blank, your opponent doesn't get a turn) or your opponent. After you win the first round, special items start being added (like beer, which lets you rack the shotgun and skip a shell, or handcuffs, which make your opponent skip their next turn).

* Horror game [[https://mikeklubnika.itch.io/buckshot-roulette Buckshot Roulette]] is Russian Roulette played with a ''shotgun''. Every round, some of the shells are blanks, some are live, and the order is randomized as they're loaded. You can aim at yourself (if it's a blank, your opponent doesn't get a turn) or your opponent. After you win the first round, special items start being added (like beer, which lets you rack the shotgun and skip a shell, or handcuffs, which make your opponent skip their next turn).

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': played with in the episode "Hedge Fund Homeboys", in which a group of drunk high schoolers liked ''pretending'' to play this, with a real revolver that didn't have any bullets loaded. Except one of them snuck a bullet into the right chamber, to kill another one and make it look like a tragic accident.

* In C. B. Gilford's "The Grisly Game" Alexis invites a very drunk Michael, Gerald and Lori to play it when he decides that their LoveTriangle is making their circus acts too deadly in an attempt to one-up each other. When they all live, they decide that they've sufficiently proved their courage and tone down their acts. Subverted when the ending reveals that the revolver, which was used to test the courage of Alexis and other men in his regiment, had the firing pin filed off long ago.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Skul The Hero Slayer}}'' you can find the Gambler skull with the ability Russian Roulette, when used you fire a gun at your head but because your a skeleton the bullet goes right through your skull and hits enemies on the other side

* Mentalist Creator/DerrenBrown (no, [[Creator/DanBrown not Dan]], Derren) famously played a game of Russian Roulette on live TV. Derren has since publicly confirmed that the gun was holding a blank round. He has also pointed out that by pressing the barrel right against his temple and firing point blank, he WAS still in danger of being extremely badly hurt or killed by the discharge -- that was ''exactly'' how actor Jon-Erik Hexum died, for example.

* In the Italian series ''Gomorra'', Gino is sent to persuade TheMafiya to accept a 50/50 split of the drug business they previously controlled. Their boss unloads half the bullets from a revolver and tells him to play--if he survives, they have a deal. He's told to fire when they turn the light on, a possible reference to ''Film/ThirteenTzameti''. Gino does, and survives.

* In C. B. Gilford's "The Grisly Game" Alexis invites a very drunk Michael, Gerald and Lori to play it when he decides that their LoveTriangle is making their circus acts too deadly in an attempt to one-up each other. After they all live, they decide that they've sufficiently proved their courage and tone down their acts. Subverted when the narration reveals that the revolver, which was used to test the courage of Alexis and other officers in his regiment, had the firing pin filed off long ago.

* In ''WesternAnimation/LuckyLukeBalladOfTheDaltons'', a retired poker cheater who has become a preacher is on the Dalton brothers' killing list. He insists on ending his life with a last game, which turns to be the Russian roulette, and shoots himself in the head. [[spoiler:Of course, being a compulsive cheater, he loaded the gun with a blank]].

* ''Scoop Hunter Tamon'' (an obscure Ishigaki Yuuki one-shot manga) have this happening in the second chapter, when [[IntrepidReporter Kyosuke Tamon]] confronts his EvilFormerFriend, who instead of killing Tamon on the spot, decide to challenge him to a game of Russian Roulette for old time's sake. The stakes here are notably higher than most examples, starting with ten rounds - five which are blanks - chambered into a blank revolver, where Tamon and his ex-friend take turns pulling the trigger to their own temples. To make things even more confusing, one of the five blanks ''will'' let out a (harmless) loud bang, leading to a BaitAndSwitch where readers assumed Tamon shot himself on the ''first try''. [[spoiler:Somehow, Tamon survives the ordeal even when the Roulette is down to six bullets, five which are loaded - he managed to grab the ''one'' empty shell out of six, winning the gamble]].

* ''[[Literature/TalesOfTheKettyJay Retribution Falls]]'' opens with the interrogation version, as a smuggler tries to force Frey to give up the ignition code for the ''Ketty Jay'' by putting a gun to Crake's head. Frey refuses to fold, so the smuggler resorts to other methods, but he forgets to reload the pistol so [[OhCrap it clicks on an empty chamber when he really needs to kill Crake in a hurry]] a short time later.

** The French call this version "[[AcceptableTargets Belgian]] roulette."

* In ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay'', Il Duce combines this with MexicanStandoff and uses it as an interrogation technique. Earlier, the [=MacManus=] brothers use this to determine whether or not to let a bad guy go.

* A variant - where you point at a target, 'not at yourself' - is sometimes used by firearms instructors to train people out of flinching as they pull the trigger, which tends to do bad things to your aim.

* In the animated ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' movie ''WesternAnimation/LaBalladeDesDalton'', a retired poker cheater who has become a preacher is on the Dalton's killing list. He insists on ending his life with a last game, which turns to be the Russian roulette, and shoots himself in the head. [[spoiler:Of course, being a compulsive cheater, he loaded the gun with a blank]].

* In 1954 R&B singer [[http://raresoul.com/archives/723 Johnny Ace]] shot himself playing Russian Roulette backstage between sets of a Christmas Eve show in Houston. He died in the hospital on Christmas Day.

* There exists a story (an urban legend, perhaps?) about a gay variant of the game: ten guys show up to an orgy; one is HIV-positive.

* An indie game on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} entitled "Russian Roulette: One Life" simulates playing the game against a virtual opponent, with the twist that AllDeathsFinal is taken very seriously: if you die, the game records your score on a gravestone and you can ''never play it again''! As in the real-life game, you only get one death and it's for keeps.[[note]]There was a DownloadableContent option available that allowed players to attempt the game again for $5-- but only as a ghost, with their scores on a separate leaderboard from the main game.[[/note]]

* Portrayals of the game differ as to whether the cylinder is spun after each trigger pull. If it is, the game can continue indefinitely with a 1 in 6 chance of hitting the loaded chamber each time. If not, there are a maximum of 5 chances to not die, the odds increasing by one with every pull of the trigger, assuming the cylinder has 6 chambers and the ammunition round isn't a dud.