Line #49 Main/RetiredGunfighter


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15	->''"I was good. I was ''real'' good. I was so good that once a day someone would ride into town to make me prove it. And every day I'd start my drinking a few minutes earlier. Until one morning, a guy who asked me to prove it turned out to be 16 years old. I left him there on his face, right there in front of the saloon. I left him there bleeding to death with my bullet in him."''
16	-->-- ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E3MrDentonOnDoomsday Mr. Denton on Doomsday]]"
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18	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes page.
19
20	A version of RetiredBadass common in the {{Western}} genre. This fellow used to be TheGunslinger, but has decided to settle down and hang up his guns. This can be because he's gotten older and slower, but more often it's because he's either gotten married and wants to live to raise a family or his conscience bothers him about the people he's killed. Thus he can be considerably younger than the average Retired Badass.
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22	The classic plotline for a Retired Gunfighter is for a YoungGun or TheGunfighterWannabe to try to force him out of retirement for one last gunfight so they can make a reputation. Alternatively, an old enemy or a surviving relative of an old enemy arrives to seek {{Revenge}}.
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24	Frequently, a retired gunslinger will have changed his name or otherwise obscured his identity in order to avoid his reputation. If he hasn't managed to find a new place to stay, he may be TheDrifter.
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26	A special case is when somebody who is already established in the town turns out to actually be a Retired Gunfighter, in this case he comes as a complete surprise to the villain- might be used as a supporter of TheHero or a mentor to the YoungGun. He can also simply be a surprise hero, masquerading as a MeekTownsman until the villain shows up. Often his family and friends are surprised as they didn't know he was a gunfighter. If a major hero is pointedly identified as never carrying a gun, don't be surprised if he turns out to be a Retired Gunfighter. He may also be another variation of OldMaster.
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28	----
29	!!Examples:
30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33	* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', a bunch of Ganmen bandits raided a school after the end of the war. Only problem is that the teacher, "Miss Yomoko," was originally [[spoiler: Yoko, humankind's greatest sniper]]. Asskicking ensued.
34	* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Vash tried to pull this one between the manga series, until his former allies and enemies found him, the townspeople didn't even realize it was him.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ComicBook/{{Deadshot}} briefly considered retiring when he found out about his daughter.
39	* ComicBook/JonahHex has become one of these in his DeadlyDistantFinale (set in 1904) that appeared in the ''Jonah Hex Spectacular'' one-shot.
40	* The Saint of Killers from ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' was this for a while - he hung up his guns and got married. Then she got sick during the winter, and a band of thugs got in his way, preventing him from returning with medicine in time. Then he picked up his guns again to get revenge on the thugs... and things went downhill from there. [[{{Hell}} Really far down]].
41	* The Coyote Kid from ''ComicBook/WelcomeToTranquility'' was a murderous psychopath driven by the spirits of wind, fire, blood and death until he fell in love. The Kid settled down and started a family, which kept the spirits away until the day zombies "farmed" and ate his family and made him watch.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Fan Works]]
45	* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/48275413/chapters/121748245 World is Small Behind the Bars]]'': Years after the events of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Hol Horse had long since retired from using his Stand Emperor and his time as a hired gun, casually accepting his imprisonment in Green Dolphin Street Prison. That was until he hears that [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Johngalli A., a former servant of Dio, was killed allegedly trying to escape witness a girl named Jolyne Kujo]], pulling him back in action.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
49	* Wylie Burp from ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail: Fievel Goes West'' is this. He's an old, washed-up drunkard when Fievel meets him, but he offers to [[PassingTheTorch train Tiger and teach him all he knows]].
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
53	* Parodied in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' (1974), with the Waco Kid.
54	-->'''Waco Kid:''' Well, it got so that every piss-ant prairie punk who thought he could shoot a gun would ride into town to try out the Waco Kid. I must have killed more men than Creator/CecilBDeMille. It got pretty gritty. I started to hear the word "draw" in my sleep. Then one day I was just walking down the street and I heard a voice behind me say "Reach for it, mister!" I spun around. And there I was face to face...with a 6-year-old kid! Well, I just threw my guns down and walked away. The little bastard shot me in the ass! So I limped to the nearest saloon, crawled inside a whiskey bottle and I've been there ever since.
55	* Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen in ''Film/CatBallou'': a once legendary gunfighter who is now a washed-up drunk.
56	* Lorn Warfield is this at the start of ''Film/DayOfTheEvilGun''. Learning his wife and children have been taken by the Apaches forces him to strap on his guns once more.
57	* ''Film/DisturbingThePeace'': After accidentally wounding his partner during a hostage situation and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, Texas Ranger Jim Dillon moves to the small town of Horse Cave, Kentucky, where he works as an unarmed police officer assisted by Deputy Matt. However, when Diablo and his [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] [[TakingOverTheTown take over the town]], he is forced to strap on a gun again and confront them.
58	* In ''Film/{{Forsaken}}'', John Henry Clayton desperately wants to leave that life behind, but circumstances keep dragging him back in.
59	* In ''Film/GangOfRoses'', Rachel hung up her guns when she [[HeelFaithTurn found religion]]. She straps then back on when her sister is murdered.
60	* In ''Film/GodsGun'', Lewis has hung up his guns and become a farmer in Mexico by film's start. However, he takes up gunslinging one more time to avenge his brother's murder.
61	* Gregory Peck as Jimmy Ringo in ''Film/TheGunfighter'', who is looking to hang up his guns and be with the woman he loves, but finds {{Young Gun}}s waiting for him round every corner.
62	* ''Film/HighNoon'' has Will Kane attempting to hang up his guns to marry his Quaker bride.
63	* Captain Oren Hayes and his retired Texas Rangers in ''Film/OnceUponATexasTrain''.
64	* Charlie, the main hero of ''Film/OpenRange'' is a veteran of the Civil War, specifically an elite raiding party, who afterwards became a hired gun, the experience of both of which have left him [[ShellShockedVeteran shell shocked]]. But in the present day of the film, he has retired and spent the last ten years in the relative peaceful and nomadic life on the cattle trails. But unfortunately, that doesn't last forever...
65	* Creator/ClintEastwood in ''Film/PaleRider.'' Yes, his guns were in storage while he acted as a priest, but that might have been more of a vacation than a retirement. The whole movie is meant to play him up as supernatural, not merely human. WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic.
66	* Cort in ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'', who used to be part of Herod's gang before undergoing a HeelFaithTurn.
67	* ''Film/{{Shane}}'': A weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.
68	* Creator/JohnWayne's last film, ''Film/TheShootist'' is about J.B. Books; a dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.
69	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Both Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi and Yoda in ''Film/ANewHope'' and ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', and Luke Skywalker himself becomes one by ''Film/TheLastJedi''.
70	* Japanese western ''Film/SukiyakiWesternDjango'' has Ruriko, the village's local store owner and all-round [[CoolOldLady cool old lady]]. She is really the legendary (and [[TheDreaded dreaded]]) Bloody Benten, a [[RetiredBadass retired gunfighter]] and [[LadyOfWar warlord]] that terrorized the west in her glory days.
71	-->'''Ringo:''' ''(on the Bloody Benten)'' "When this doubly talented goddess used to play music she would hold her instruments in both hands. But when she was on the warpath she held weapons...in ''eight'' hands! [...] And everything in her way got stained red! They dubbed her...Bloody Benten!"
72	* Wyatt Earp in ''Film/{{Sunset\|1988}}'', who is now acting as a technical adviser on a movie about his own life.
73	* ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'', a 1993 Western movie, starts with Wyatt Earp, a well-known peace officer, settling down in the town of Tombstone. He refuses to get into any trouble saying he's retired, even if he's not above stopping some roughhousing in his view. Of course, things soon get messy as [[spoiler:the leader of a local gang accidentally kills the town marshal, so Wyatt's two brothers take his place. As one of them is maimed by criminals, and another is killed, this [[ItsPersonal gets personal]], so Wyatt confronts the outlaws]].
74	* Eastwood as Will Munny, in ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'', along with [[Creator/MorganFreeman Ned Logan]], who reluctantly take on OneLastJob alongside TheGunfighterWannabe [[TheTropeKid The Schofield Kid]].
75	* [[spoiler:Ronald]] in ''Film/TheWarriorsWay'' turns out to be the surprise version (although not so much of a surprise to anyone who saw [[CoversAlwaysSpoil the cover of the DVD]]).
76	[[/folder]]
77
78	[[folder:Literature]]
79	* Lu Tze in Thief of Time of the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series fits this trope in many ways, though it is suggested that his reluctance to take on his mission of training Lobsang Ludd is actually feigned, and he becomes eager to embark when [[spoiler:he realizes he has a second chance to destroy the world ending clock.]] In any case, he has pretty much resigned himself to being The Sweeper, even though his true name is legendary and would command massive respect from the school's pupils.
80	* ''Literature/TheHalfMadeWorld'': John Creedmoor begins the book as one of these, with the added wrinkle that his [[CapitalLettersAreMagic Gun]], Marmion, is a magical EvilWeapon (one of many) and technically his boss. Previously a famous outlaw, he “retired” to wander the West after the last mission Marmion sent him on ended so badly it soured him on working for the Gun ever again. Surprisingly, it let him live peacefully for years, only to pull him back in for OneLastJob. Creedmoor is torn between how much he dislikes being an Agent of the Gun and how much he enjoys the power and freedom it grants him.
81	* Kilkenny, in several books by Creator/LouisLAmour, is TheDrifter because he wants to retire, but people won't let him once they find out who he is.
82	* In ''Literature/{{Portlandtown}}'', The Marshal laid down his gun after he shot the Hanged Man, and has lived ten years in peace. When trouble comes to his family, though, he picks it up again.
83	* Atticus of ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'', who was an excellent shot, but hating killing things and wouldn't even touch a gun. He does have to use one to kill a rabid dog, however.
84	* Creator/MikeResnick's ''Literature/{{Widowmaker}}'' trilogy used this one InSpace.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88	* JD Smith from ''Series/TheDakotas''.
89	* ''Series/DeadMansGun'':
90	** In "The Bounty Hunter", after obtaining the Dead Man's Gun, storekeeper Raymond Jakes visits retired BountyHunter Mr. Otis, who retired after being shot InTheBack, for advice on becoming a bounty hunter. Unfortunately, the advice that Otis gives in not what Jakes wants to hear.
91	** In "The Resurrection of Joe Wheeler", a town drunk must return to his former life as a legendary gunslinger to save his town from a group of outlaws...with a little help from the Dead Man's Gun.
92	* Tom Jace in the ''Series/FrontierCircus'' episode "The Shaggy Kings". Tired of {{The Gunfighter Wannabe}}s calling him out, he retired after he nearly died from a bullet in the back from one of them. He still carries his gun as a reminder of his vow to never use it again. He lives under the name Michael Smith till the father of the last man he killed comes hunting for him.
93	* The title character in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode [[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E3MrDentonOnDoomsday "Mr. Denton on Doomsday"]].
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Music]]
97	* The Music/JohnnyCash song "The Last Gunfighter Ballad" (on the album of the same name).
98	** Originally by Guy Clark
99	* In "The Ballad of Bill Thaxton" by Marty Robbins the title character is a former Texas Ranger who is still formidable as an experienced gun fighter named Sundown learns the hard way. Bonus points for the reason Sundown's usual tactic doesn't work.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
103	* A storyline in the newspaper comic 'ComicStrip/{{'Latigo}}'' concerns an ex-gunman who goes straight after four years in prison, and becomes the preacher in the town of Rimfire. It originally ran in 1981.
104	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide:'' one strip invokes this trope on a guy who defeats a table tennis champion.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Video Games]]
108	* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' has a retired gunslinger in one sidequest who [[HeelFaithTurn found religion]] and cut off his index and middle fingers to make sure he can never use a gun again.
109	* Reverend Ray [=McCall=] from ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarez'', until he picks up his guns again to hunt down the murderer of his family. ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezBoundInBlood'' shows Ray's transformation from Confederate soldier to outlaw gunfighter and the tragic events that push him to box up his guns and turn to God.
110	** In ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger'' the protagonist Silas Greaves has been searching for Bob Bryant for years but the trail run cold when Bob retired from crime and became [[spoiler: Ben the bartender]]. Some of the outlaws Silas fights during the game end up retiring after facing him. Frank James gives himself up for trial. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid go to Bolivia, are presumed killed in the BolivianArmyEnding and don't come out of retirement until 1910.
111	* Landon Ricketts from ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' fits this archetype for the most part, although he still functions as an unofficial lawkeeper protecting the folks of Chuparosa.
112	** John Marston himself, to an extent. Well....at least he tries to be.
113	* A sidequest in ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2'' has Arthur Morgan track down various retired gunslingers in order to get a picture and an interview for a writer penning a book about former gunslinger Jim "Boy" Callahan. Unfortunately for him most of them tend to be unstable/hostile individuals and usually force him into a duel that leads to their deaths. The one exception is Black Belle, a female outlaw who after Arthur helps out in fighting off bounty hunters complies with his requests.
114	* In ''Videogame/WeirdWest'' Jane West was once a renowned bounty hunter who eventually buried her old gear and settled down with her family to become a homesteader's wife. The game begins with a bandit gang killing her son and kidnapping her husband, forcing her to dig up her old gear to rescue him.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Western Animation]]
118	* Parodied by ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' in "Mr Tux". Private is a retired mini-golf ace, and has to deal with a challenger who comes looking to beat the best. (Comes complete with the classic back-story speech.)
119	* Also parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "Dodgeball City", where Gus was known as El Diablo, the fastest dodgeball in the west, before he accidentally hit a little kid and swore never to play again. He returns to single-handedly defeat Lawson and the entire team of fifth graders then retires again.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Slugterra}}'': In "Mario Bravado", Eli has to search out retired slug slinger Mario Bravado as the only one who can teach him how to make an impossible shot necessary to rescue Pronto.
121	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RetiredGunfighter