Line #61 Main/DefensiveFailure


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9	The armed victim has the killer in her gunsights and at her mercy (it's [[AlwaysFemale usually a woman]] in these situations), but the killer knows they have nothing to fear. The victim is either [[SwordOverHead unable or unwilling to use her weapon]] as the killer walks up to her and plucks the gun out of her hands, leaving her a tearful heap begging for her life. Often involves BreakThemByTalking. If she had captured him beforehand or otherwise cornered him but doesn't shoot, then it's a HannibalLecture.
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11	Compare YouWouldntShootMe, where the targeted character calls the gunman's bluff, and DistractAndDisarm, where the targeted character distracts the gunman in hopes of being able to snatch the gun. Can combine with ItWorksBetterWithBullets, where the unarmed character has no fear because he already knows the weapon is harmless.
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13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
19	* DoubleSubversion in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. Seras ''does'' fire her weapon at the vampiric priest - for all the good it does her. ''Then'' he disarms her.
20	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': Flay Allster gets her hands on a gun and points it at Rau le Creuset after being captured by ZAFT. Le Creuset isn't worried though, and proceeds to outline the reasons Flay won't shoot him: she's on a ZAFT ship, and if she shot him, she would immediately be arrested and likely killed for it, he is the closest thing to an ally she has aboard the ship, and she is obviously not a trained killer despite her uniform, so he doubts she has it in her to actually pull the trigger. He also off-handedly asks whether she even checked that the gun was loaded. Flay breaks down and the gun is taken from her without resistance.
21	* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': [[spoiler:Tenma]] has [[spoiler:Johan]] at gunpoint but hesitates. The latter calmly approaches the former in a way that suggests this trope... then [[spoiler:he just stands there, points at his own forehead, and ''[[DissonantSerenity smiles]]'']].
22	* Occurs in ''Manga/OnePiece'' when Usopp's childhood friend Kaya draws a flintlock from her cloak and points it at her traitorous butler, who is the main villain of the arc. The butler recounts seemingly happy memories with her, takes away the gun, and dismisses all of those times as "endured" and "humiliating".
23	* In ''Manga/{{Planetes}}'', Hachimaki is outraged upon finding [[spoiler:Hakim]] [[TheMole sabotaging the Von Braun mission]] and trains an [[GrapplingHookGun armor-piercing anchor gun]] on him. [[spoiler:Hakim]] is utterly unfazed; he knows Hachimaki won't shoot, as he "doesn't have the eyes of a killer." He then delivers a devastating BreakThemByTalking speech to Hachi, steadily walking towards him. The lecture climaxes as [[spoiler:Hakim]] walks past Hachi, who remains [[HeroicBSOD standing perfectly still]], and barely has time to scream at his betrayer's back before a bomb goes off.
24	* Subverted in the ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' anime. Misao and a minor character, a young boy whose brother is taken hostage during one of Shishio's schemes, are attempting to sneak into the villain hideout and capture a nearby [[{{Mooks}} guard]], with the boy holding him at swordpoint. The guard assumes it's a bluff and points out to the boy that [[YouWouldntShootMe it's harder to kill someone than an innocent would realize]]... rather severely underestimating just how desperate and angry the boy is. Misao barely manages to prevent him from killing the guard, who becomes [[OhCrap instantly cooperative]].
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
28	* Variant in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'': Tarzan doesn't fire the rifle because he can't figure out ''how'' to make it fire. At the end he ''does'' know how to fire it, but chooses not to so he won't [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim be like Clayton]].
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
32	* ''Film/EightMM'': Tom Welles has the director of a snuff film tied to a support bar in the building the film was made at, has his gun trained on him... but can't bring himself to fire, even as the director taunts him (to the point of ''licking the gun''). The hero then steps outside, [[spoiler:calls the mother of the snuff film's victim, and begs for permission to kill the man. He gets it. Five seconds later, he pistol-whips the director to death]].
33	* In ''Film/{{Bunnyman}}'', the final victim-to-be has the titular SerialKiller at gunpoint. For some unexplained reason, she turns the gun on herself.
34	* In ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'', Zeus is holding up the entire bad guy parade with a gun and does try to pull the trigger, only to get an ineffectual click. BigBad Simon Gruber then walks up to him, promptly explains that he forgot to turn the safety off, then shoots him in the leg and captures him.
35	* ''Film/TheHost2006'': The heroes are not afraid to shoot. They're just (mostly) shitty shots. Add to that one of the characters, a national bronze-medallist in archery, has a nasty habit of hesitating before taking a shot, and you know the monster has nothing to worry about. Hence why it charges the main characters at every available opportunity.
36	* A rare good-guy/good-guy example occurs in ''Film/IndependenceDay'', as Major Steven Hiller is climbing into a helicopter to go look for his girlfriend:
37	-->'''NCO:''' Hey, what the hell you doing? ''[draws pistol, points it at Hiller]'' Get out of there, sir.\
38	'''Hiller:''' Something I gotta do. I'm just gonna borrow it for a while.\
39	'''NCO:''' No you're not, sir.\
40	'''Hiller:''' You really gonna shoot me? ''[NCO hesitates, and then lowers the gun]''\
41	'''Hiller:''' Just tell 'em I hit you. ''[the (rather large) NCO looks insulted as Hiller takes off]''
42	* In ''Film/JackReacher'', the namesake protagonist is attacked by a pair of bumbling criminals inside a narrow bathroom and hallway. After dispatching them, a third criminal points a gun to his head. The protagonist calmly turns around and informs the criminal that he should shoot now. Naturally, the criminal is quickly disarmed immediately after.
43	* ''Film/LastActionHero'': Danny repeatedly has villains at his mercy but can't pull the trigger. Understandable, since he's a scared kid, and we wouldn't want him to become a killer anyway.
44	* Parodied in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'' when a character seizes up and -- rather than merely trembling -- begins to convulse in an exaggerated manner, wagging his pistol in every direction. Said character, by the way, is played by ''Creator/SamuelLJackson''.
45	* ''Film/TheRef'': Gus gets distracted, leading to the son of his two hostages grabbing his gun and demanding that Gus untie his parents or he'll shoot. However, Gus knows the kid's not a killer, and starts moving towards the kid. When the phone rings and momentarily distracts the son, Gus simply takes the gun back.
46	* Subverted in ''Film/TheRiverWild''. Gail has Wade at gunpoint but decides to spare him and fires the revolver's last bullet into the air, [[UngratefulBastard so he orders Terry to kill her family while he kills her]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that there were ''two'' bullets left, and she kills him with the last one.]]
47	* ''Film/TheRock'': Just after Goodspeed and Mason's Navy SEAL teammates are all drawn into a trap and killed, Goodspeed tries to stop Mason from leaving Alcatraz Island by pulling his pistol on him. Mason replies that Goodspeed doesn't have what it takes to kill him, and also remarking [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont "Besides, the safety's on"]], before grabbing the gun away.
48	* In ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'', Rolf becomes a Nazi soldier, but proves unable to kill Captain Von Trapp:
49	-->'''Captain Von Trapp:''' You'll never be one of them.
50	** Partially subverted, as this was probably intended as a (stern) compliment but provokes Rolf to call the other Nazis in the area.
51	%%* ''Film/TrueGrit''.
52	* In ''Film/{{Vibes}}'', when Nick has the BigBad held at bay with an M-16:
53	-->'''Dr. Steele:''' Have you even held a machine gun before?\
54	'''Nick:''' [[BlatantLies Sure, lots of times. I was captain of the Automatic Weapons Team in high school.]]\
55	'''Dr. Steele:''' ''[starts inching forward]'' Don't lie to me. You wouldn't know how to use that thing if you tried.\
56	''[Nick points the gun up and fires a few bursts into the air. Steele instantly jumps backwards to where he started]''\
57	'''Nick:''' Oh, I dunno. Seems pretty simple to me.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* Svidrigailov and Dounia in ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment''. Dounia has a defensive failure in front of Svidrigailov while Svidrigailov attempts to disarm her, laughing at her and taunting her to kill him. She doesn't, of course.
62	* In ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', eccentric inventor Leonard of Quirm has captured [[spoiler:Sgt. Colon and Corporal Nobby]] using a firework missile and a rifle mechanism he invented. He then stops, hands the pieces of his weapon to his captives and ''proceeds to redesign it on the spot.'' The two ex-captives simply fire the incredibly inaccurate weapon.
63	* Oddly featured in ''Literature/{{Nation}}'' when Daphne points a gun at Mau. She seems so scared of it that he tries to take it from her to relieve her concern. She does actually fire it, but fortunately the powder had got wet, and he thought she was giving him a tool for lighting fires with. So easily could have been PoorCommunicationKills.
64	* A small but memorable scene in one issue of ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' has Pyon Arzachena, perpetually down on his luck interstellar prospector, threaten the [[HeelFaceTurn former]] [[BigBad galactic conqueror]] Hotrenor-Taak with his own weapon because he suspects the latter of being merely an impostor whom he wants to unmask. Turns into a NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont moment when Hotrenor-Taak calmly walks over and retrieves his gun -- which only works when held by its owner.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68	* Occurs in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' pilot "[[Recap/AngelS01E01CityOf City of]]", except the gun wouldn't have stopped the vampiric villain... not that the victim knows that.
69	* Attempted and [[AvertedTrope miserably failed]] in ''Series/Daredevil2015'': James Wesley takes Karen prisoner and tries to intimidate her into saying false things about Fisk. He thinks she'll be no different from any of the other times he's intimidated an underling on Fisk's payroll, which is proven wrong when she manages to grab his gun and aims it right at him. Wesley acts unperturbed and tries to bluff her that the gun's not loaded, but Karen (who was taught by her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend in Vermont how to fire a gun, and even shot him in self-defense of her brother) calls his bluff by emptying the gun into him.
70	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
71	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol The Happiness Patrol]]", the Doctor completely breaks two guards by saying "Do it, then. Look me in the eye. Pull the trigger. End my life." This is such a memetic Seventh Doctor scene that in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'', Benny jokes that his epitaph will be "When I ''said'' 'Look me in the eye and pull that trigger...'"
72	** Inverted in one episode. The Doctor is holding a man at gunpoint. He, being the Doctor, handles it differently when the man starts getting nervous...
73	--->'''Doctor:''' Like I was ever going to shoot. ''[throws him the gun]'' So, you were saying?\
74	'''Man:''' But... I've got your gun?\
75	'''Doctor:''' Okay, so shoot me. You were saying?\
76	'''Man:''' Well, uh... can I put this down?\
77	'''Doctor:''' If you want, just hurry up.
78	** In another episode, a scared kid genius has the Doctor at gunpoint. The Doctor just sighs and simply takes the gun barrel, complaining about humans and guns.
79	** {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in another episode. Martha has an enemy at gunpoint who says she doesn't have the nerve to fire -- she replies that nervous people with guns are not a safe combination, and asks him if he wants to risk it.
80	** Played straight in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia Utopia]]" when Chantho won't shoot Professor Yana even though it's pretty clear at that point that he's [[spoiler:become the Master]].
81	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter The Doctor's Daughter]]", the Doctor makes a point that even if he has the villain at gunpoint, he would never shoot.
82	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E9ColdBlood Cold Blood]]", Amy threatens Restac with a gun to release the hostages. The Silurian immediately grabs the gun from her.
83	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011CSTheDoctorTheWidowAndTheWardrobe The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe]]", the titular widow manages to trick a group of soldiers and turn a gun on them. TheLeader tells her that he doesn't believe she'll shoot. [[MamaBear Then she informs them that her children are missing]]. He takes her much more seriously after that.
84	* Wendy Patrakas falls victim to this in ''Series/Drive2007''. She's assigned to shoot Ivy to stay in the race. However, street smart Ivy easily disarms the Ohio housewife. After seeing what Ivy's capable of, Wendy tells her "I think maybe I should've shot you."
85	* Crichton's love interest Aeryn in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' falls victim to this. Scorpius holds Crichton hostage. Then Aeryn confidently walks in with a pulse rifle. Crichton laughs and tells her to shoot Scorpius. She then hesitates, and Scorpius calmly shoots her instead.
86	* Played with ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Kate is in a bank during an armed robbery. After a skirmish, she ends up holding a gun on the ringleader, but the safety is on. As the other hostages call out to shoot the bad guy, she yells, "I don't know how to use a gun!" The bad guy takes the gun back and drags her into another room, ostensibly to beat her up. That's when we learn that [[spoiler:Kate ''masterminded'' the bank robbery, is playing the inside woman, and most definitely knows how to use a gun]].
87	* In ''Series/TheSchoolNurseFiles'', Eun young points her pistol at Mckenzie, but he snatches it from her hand and pokes her with it.
88	* In an early episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'', Samantha Carter has an ex-lover at gunpoint as he has been suffering delusions of grandeur. He even tells her to shoot him, but she still cannot.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Video Games]]
92	* Happens in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' when Meche threatens Domino with a Sprouter.
93	* Happens a couple of times in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series:
94	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Meryl points her rifle at Snake, and Snake taunts her about not being able to pull the trigger. Snake even points out that [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont she hadn't even taken the safety off]].
95	** Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', Ocelot points his revolver at Naked Snake. Snake responds by calmly stating, "You don't have what it takes to kill me." An enraged Ocelot pulls the trigger, only to discover that Snake was speaking literally, and his gun is empty. Whoops. There are implications that Ocelot [[MagnificentBastard intended for this to happen all along]]. [[spoiler:It's hard to maintain an image of being a Russian soldier if you refuse to shoot an American spy, after all. Emptying your weapon beforehand is a nice [[TakeAThirdOption third option]].]]
96	* ''VideoGame/{{Outlaws}}'': When he was a young boy, the hero was in this situation, holding the gun, trying to save his father, but failed. At the end of the game, he is one staring down the barrel, but is saved by his daughter.
97	* A version appears in ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'', where Drake points a gun at Sully, Drake's father figure, whom Drake had recently seen gunned down and killed, reappears and looking unharmed. Sully plucks the gun out of Drake's hand, and flicks him on the nose, telling him never to do it again.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Webcomics]]
101	* A friendly-on-friendly version happens in an early chapter of ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'' when Grey meets Rick [=MacFarlane=], the latter of whom had just parachuted to safety after his and Alex's SpaceFighter was shot down. Rick pulls a gun on Grey but it's abundantly clear to the latter that the former is a NonActionGuy who's never actually had to use his gun in combat before. Grey easily disarms him, then gives the gun back handle-first to prove he's not an enemy.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Real Life]]
105	* Reportedly happened when Fidel Castro's lover, Marita Lorenz, tried to assassinate him.
106	* The possible reality of this trope is why all decent mandatory gun safety courses will emphatically point out that if one has drawn the gun and taken aim, they ''must'' immediately use it to shoot the aggressor(s) until they fall down. On such a gun safety test, mentioning that one would consider using the gun as a threat is grounds for immediate failure.
107	** To elaborate a bit further, [[http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/get_attacked.htm#challenge DO NOT BLUFF]] with a weapon. A person who is used to killing people (i.e. most violent criminals) will kill you right then and there if you pull out a weapon and don't attack immediately. Unlike you, they have ''no'' resistance to killing. This is where Hollywood sort of gets it right and sort of gets it wrong--a lot of people get killed by waving around a gun they're not prepared to use, but the killer rarely bothers to disarm, taunt, or otherwise interact with the victim before murdering him.
108	** Also, depending on your jurisdiction, it may be legal to ''shoot'' someone in self-defense, while at the same time being illegal to ''brandish'' a weapon, which is to say, displaying it openly or threateningly. Which means, [[RightHandVersusLeftHand due to an odd intersection of laws]], someone who draws a gun in self-defense and does ''not'' shoot can get in more legal trouble than someone who ''does'' shoot. Of course, firearms laws vary from place to place, in the case of the US, they vary wildly between individual states, so [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope become familiar with your local laws and act accordingly.]]
109	** A related aspect of this is the general rule that you just ''don’t'' point the gun at something unless you intend and are willing to fire. Not just because of this trope, but to prevent any IJustShotMarvinInTheFace situations. Even if you’re only trying to bluff someone, there’s still a chance [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns your gun could go off on accident for any number of reasons]], leaving you with an unwanted dead body.
110	** On the other hand, ''attempting'' this trope is not necessarily a good idea either. Most guns can be fired ''very'' fast and easily, so if you’re even slightly wrong about someone’s willingness to shoot, you’re probably going to get killed if you try to charge them or snatch the gun away. They may even shoot you by accident, as previously noted. And you can’t always tell if a gun is loaded just by looking at it, which leads to yet another firearm safety rule; assume ''every'' gun is loaded and treat it accordingly, even if you unloaded it yourself.
111	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DefensiveFailure