History Main / SelfDefenseRuse

Compare AdaptationalSelfDefense, when a character is depicted as having (or not having) good reason to kill someone across adaptations.

* Played with in ''Anime/SpeedGrapher'': Hibari Ginza is a RabidCop who loves to hurt criminals, and her personal CatchPhrase is to say "self-defense" as she shoots/punches/stabs them, [[ImplausibleDeniability even if there is no way in heck the circumstances would allow her to claim such a thing]] (like being in a room full of fellow cops). [[KarmaHoudini She still never ends up dealing with any consequences]] to said PoliceBrutality at any point of the series.

* Invoked in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye''. When Megatron renounces the Decepticon cause and is allowed to co-captain the ''Lost Light'' in its journey to find the [[ShroudedInMyth Knights of Cybertron]], a cabal of Autobots who're against his appointment get the unstable Whirl (who has a grudge against Megatron) to ambush him shortly after the ''Lost Light'' gets underway. They hope that Megatron will react violently to the assault, giving them a reason to either kill him or at least kick him off the ship, or even that Whirl will just straight up kill him (though there isn't much chance of that). To their disappointment, Megatron quickly defeats Whirl with only minimal force and releases him with a stern warning. [[note]] The conspirators try again later on by tricking [[TheIngenue Tailgate]] into triggering Megatron's worst PrimalFear BerserkButton. This attempt also fails. [[/note]]

** Joss pretended she was defending herself against the man who'd raped and murdered her friend/lover Crystal, though she actually lured him into attacking her deliberately, then had killed him. She realizes she's in trouble when the police see through it, but Myles arrives, recognizing her potential as a killer and makes it go away (helped by the fact the cops sympathize with it, laws aside).

* The ''Series/CSINewYork'' episode "Open and Shut" has a woman apparently killing a schizophrenic limo driver in self-defence after he murders her husband (after she had him fired for spouting conspiracy theories while driving him to the airport)[[note]]A GenderSwapped RippedFromTheHeadlines dramatization of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Winger the Mark Winger case]][[/note]]. In reality, she lured him to her hotel room with the possibility of helping him get his job back, having just murdered her husband and changed clothes. She serves as a foil (going so far as to give a NotSoDifferentRemark) to Stella, who had to kill her ex-boyfriend in (genuine) self defence in the previous season (and was feeling sympathetic to her situation before learning the truth).

** In ''Mr. Monk's Favorite Show'', a FormerChildStar receiving ominous threats turned out to have been sending them to herself, to make it look like somebody wanted her dead. This was all set-up for when she later met in private with a man who [[HeKnowsTooMuch knew too much about a fraudulent award of hers]], so she could silence him for good and make it look like she was defending herself from her murderous stalker.

* ''Series/SilentWitness'': In the episode "Redhill" following the progress of the team's investigation into a murder at [[HellholePrison Redhill Prison]] the [[WardensAreEvil crooked guard]] Daniel Kessler realises that gangster he's been smuggling drugs into the prison for is now a threat to him. Thus he goes to meet him with bringing a younger and more innocent guard with him, then slits the other guard's throat with a [[SinisterShiv shiv]], tosses it on the ground, and starts attacking the gangster with his baton forcing the man to grab the shiv to defend himself. He then bludgeons him to death, making it look like the gangster murdered the other guard and attacked him, forcing him to kill him in self-defence.

This is a trope that has the distinction of being done by both the heroes and villains. Expect MoralMyopia to kick in here. If the hero does this, it will usually be to an AssholeVictim and a form of CassandraTruth: the person was an abuser or an attacker, but they just weren't attacking the hero at that present moment. If a villain does this, it will be a way of getting away with murder and may be achieved because TheBadGuysAreCops or thanks to an AmoralAttorney. Frequently part of a WoundedGazelleGambit and/or a DeceasedFallGuyGambit, but doesn't have to be.

* ''Film/LoneStar'': Charlie Wade, [[BigotWithABadge a racist and corrupt sheriff]], did this routinely. Whenever he encountered a black or Mexican man with a gun, whether or not that man was committing a crime, he would point his own gun at the other man and order him to hand over his gun. As soon as the other man's hand touched the gun Wade would shoot him and claim self-defense.

->'''Orange''': Violence doesn't solve anything.\\
'''Hamburger''': You were the one shooting me with a gun!\\
'''Orange''': Self-defense.
-->--''WebAnimation/TheAnnoyingOrange''

* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': "The Lawn Chair" revolves around [[RippedFromTheHeadlines the fatal shooting of a black teen at the hands of a white police officer]]. The officer claims he shot the boy because he pulled a knife on him but Olivia's team discovers video evidence of him planting a knife on the boy after shooting him because he mistook the boy's phone for a weapon.

* In the final season of ''Series/TheShield'', Duck's arc revolves around Lloyd, a teenage boy who shot a classmate who was trying to rob him and then claims self-defense. Lloyd believes from the off that Lloyd is a sociopath who plotted the robbery with his classmate in order to set up the murder. He's unable to prove it, though.
* ''Series/SilentWitness'': In the episode "Redhill" following the progress of the team's investigation into a murder at [[HellholePrison Redhill Prison]] the crooked guard Daniel Kessler realises that gangster he's been smuggling drugs into the prison for is now a threat to him. Thus he goes to meet him with bringing a younger and more innocent guard with him, then slits the other guard's throat with a [[SinisterShiv shiv]], tosses it on the ground, and starts attacking the gangster with his baton forcing the man to grab the shiv to defend himself. He then bludgeons him to death, making it look like the gangster murdered the other guard and attacked him, forcing him to kill him in self-defence.

** Joss pretended she was defending herself against the man who'd raped and murdered her friend/lover Crystal, though she actually lured him into attacking her deliberately, then had killed him. She realizes she's in trouble when the police see through it, but Myles arrives, recognizing her potential as a killer and makes it go away (helped by the fact the cops sympathizes, laws aside).

* In ''Series/{{Bull}}'', Bull works on a trial where the defendant, Kara Clayton, claims she shot her husband in self-defense when he tried to stab her to death. In fact, she stabbed ''herself'' before shooting him. The trope remains only attempted, though, because Bull sees through her.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Downplayed, since no one dies. Kamoshida spreads rumors about Ryuji's home life in order to provoke the student into attacking him. When Ryuji does, Kamoshida retaliates with excessive force, breaking Ryuji's leg and using the incident to justify disbanding the track team, causing Ryuji's teammates to blame him. Kobayakawa turns a blind eye to Kamoshida's abuse of the students once again, as his status as an Olympic champion is good for the school's publicity.

* ''Series/SWAT2017'': When Jim Street was a child, his mother deliberately provoked his abusive father so she could kill him and claim self-defense. She ended up going to prison after Buck Spivey was able to get young Jim to tell the truth about what happened

'''Orange''': Self defense.

'''Orange''': [[BlatantLies Self defense.]]

* The entire [[ThePlan plan]] of ''Film/WildThings'' began when Kelly van Ryan accuses Sam of rape. Though he was in on it too. In a variant as revealed in TheStinger [[spoiler:Ray also pulled it off]]. Using the ''false'' self-defense excuse to cover his murder of Kelly.

* ''Film/Scream1996'':
** Billy and Stu's plan was to kill Sidney and her father, Neil, and claim that he had gone insane and killed everyone in a DeceasedFallGuyGambit. Presumably this relied on nobody being able to notice that Neil had been tied up in Stu's house for a day and that the murders were actually committed by two people.
** It's also implied briefly towards the end that this is Billy's ultimate plan. As he stabbed Stu too deep with the knife (which Stu notices), it's possible that Billy planned to survive and admit to killing Stu in order to make sure he went down for the murders that he and Billy committed together. This would have raised the issue of how Stu could kill so many people in so short a time, on the brink of being in two places at once.
* ''Film/Scream3'': Roman's final plan is to pin the Ghostface murders on Sidney and make it look like he killed her in self-defense.
* ''Film/Scream4'': Jill reveals that her plan was to claim she had killed Charlie and Trevor in self-defence. Only Charlie was actually Ghostface; he and Jill framed Trevor. All this in spite of the fact that Jill shot Trevor, who was tied up, in the dick before killing him. Played with, though, in that while Jill's plan didn't work, it mostly fell apart because she said too much to Gale, rather than there being anything noticeably wrong with her plan.

* ''Film/{{Scream}}'':

** It's also implied briefly towards the end that this is Billy's ultimate plan. As he stabbed Stu too deep with the knife (which Stu notices), it's possible that Billy planned to survive and admit to killing Stu in order to make sure he went down for the murders that he and Billy committed together.

* The {{Tagline}} for the ''Film/{{Enough}}'' is "Self defense isn't murder". When Slim decides she's tired of running from her abusive misogynistic husband, she breaks into his home, initiates a fight, and plants falsified items and letters that would help her claim that her murder of him was all in self-defense.

This is a trope that has the distinction of being done by both the heroes and villains. Expect MoralMyopia to kick in here. If the hero does this, it will usually be to an AssholeVictim and a form of CassandraTruth: the person was an abuser or an attacker, but they just weren't attacking the hero at that present moment. If a villain does this, it will be a way of getting away with murder, and may be achieved because TheBadGuysAreCops or thanks to an AmoralAttorney. Frequently part of a WoundedGazelleGambit and/or a DeceasedFallGuyGambit, but doesn't have to be.

* Invoked in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye''. When Megatron renounces the Decepticon cause and is allowed to co-captain the ''Lost Light'' in its journey to find the [[ShroudedInMyth Knights of Cybertron]], a cabal of Autobots who're against his appointment get the unstable Whirl (who has a grudge against Megatron) to ambush him shortly after the ''Lost Light'' gets underway. They hope that Megatron will react violently to the assault, giving them a reason to either kill him or at least kick him off the ship, or even that Whirl will just straight up kill him (though there isn't much chance of that). To their disappointment, Megatron quickly defeats Whirl with only minimal force, and releases him with a stern warning. [[note]] The conspirators try again later on by tricking [[TheIngenue Tailgate]] into triggering Megatron's worst PrimalFear BerserkButton. This attempt also fails. [[/note]]

* The {{Tagline}} for the ''Film/{{Enough}}'' is "Self defense isn't murder". When Slim decides she's tired of running from her abusive misogynistic husband, she breaks into his home, initiates a fight, and plants falsified items and letters that would help her claim that her murder of him was all in self defense.

* ''Film/IceStationZebra''. TheMole plans to invoke this trope, telling an American officer to beat him with a crowbar so he can be shot in 'self defense'. The officer is incredulous that he would go along with this plan, but the mole points out that [[DefiantToTheEnd he's the type to die fighting]]. Instead of reaching for the crowbar, the officer attacks him directly, eventually gaining the upper hand [[NiceJobBreakingItHero until he's shot dead by the hero]] under the assumption that ''he'' is TheMole.

* In ''Film/LAConfidential'', Bud White tracks down Sylvester Fitch, one of the men involved in the abduction and rape of Inez Soto. White enters Fitch's house and shoots him dead while he is sitting in his underwear, eating cereal and watching television. White then uses a second gun to fire a round into the door frame, and places the gun in Fitch's hand to make it look like White killed him in self-defence. Exley lampshades the implausibility of the plan:

* ''Film/{{Ransom}}'': As [[CorruptCop Jimmy Shaker's]] kidnapping scheme begins to fall apart, his accomplices Clark and Miles decide ScrewThisImOuttaHere, at which Jimmy pulls a masterful change in plans: he radios a possible kidnap situation to his station, shouts "Put down the gun!" at Clark (who, realizing they're being double-crossed, tries desperately to drive off), then shoots both of them before planting a gun in Miles's hand. Ironically, seconds later Shaker's girlfriend puts a bullet in his shoulder, and he's forced to kill her in self defense for real.

* DirtyCop Alonzo pulls this trope in ''Film/TrainingDay'' when he and his team of crooked cops kill his long-time drug-dealing friend Roger, and take his money. Alonzo plants a gun at the scene and shoots one of his men to make it seem like Roger's death was a case of self-defense in reporting, then splits the money between his men while leaving with the rest.

* Reconstructed in ''Literature/GoneGirl''. Amy falsely claims that Desi kidnapped and raped her, and that she stabbed him with a steak knife after it fell into her hands by accident. However, several people guess that this is not the case and point out the obvious flaws in Amy's story, while Amy herself has gone to meticulous and cold-blooded planning to make it look this way, such as repeatedly penetrating herself with a wine bottle to give herself convincing injuries.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "[[Recap/ColumboS04E02 Negative Reaction]]", a photographer played by Creator/DickVanDyke murdered his wife and made it look like a kidnapping gone bad. He then killed an ex-con and framed him for the kidnapping, claiming the ransom-exchange had gone bad and he had to kill the "kidnapper" in self-defense.
* ''Series/ColdCase'': The trope is played with in the episode "Justice", when the investigators look into the case of a JerkJock killed in 1982 and they discover that the man was a serial rapist so horrible that the many women he assaulted [[VigilanteMilitia banded together, got a gun, and confronted him with full intent to kill him in revenge.]] The women decided he was NotWorthKilling when he figuratively wet himself at seeing the gun, but he was confronted a minute after they left by the [[BigBrotherInstinct brother of one of the girls]], who shot the jock dead [[ISurrenderSuckers after he made clear he only acted scared for the girls to leave and he wasn't going to change his ways.]] The investigators find the jock as such a clear case of an AssholeVictim that they, right in the middle of the interrogation, coach the brother into how to claim it was self-defense [[LetOffByTheDetective so he will walk away clean.]]
* In the ''Series/CSINewYork'' episode "Open and Shut" has a woman apparently kill a schizophrenic limo driver in self defence after he murders her husband (after she had him fired for spouting conspiracy theories while driving him to the airport). In reality she lured him to her hotel room with the possibility of helping him get his job back, having just murdered her husband and changed clothes. She serves as a foil (going so far as to give a NotSoDifferentRemark) to Stella, who had to kill her ex-boyfriend in (genuine) self defence in the previous season (and was feeling sympathetic to her situation before learning the truth).

* ''Series/SilentWitness'': In the episode "Redhill" following the progress of the teams investigation into a murder at [[HellholePrison Redhill Prison]] the crooked guard Daniel Kessler realises that gangster he's been smuggling drugs into the prison for is now a threat to him. Thus he goes to meet him with brining a younger and more innocent guard with him, then slits the other guards throat with a [[SinisterShiv shiv]], tosses it on the ground and starts attacking the gangster with his baton forcing the man to grab the shiv to defend himself. He then bludgeons him to death, making it look like the gangster murdered the other guard and attacked him, forcing him him to kill him in self defence.

[[/folder]]

->'''Orange''': Violence doesn't solve anything.
->'''Hamburger''': You were the one shooting me with a gun!
->'''Orange''': [[BlatantLies Self defense.]]

-->'''Orange''': Violence doesn't solve anything.
-->'''Hamburger''': You were the one shooting me with a gun!
-->'''Orange''': [[BlatantLies Self defense.]]
--->''WebAnimation/TheAnnoyingOrange''