To induce narrative tension in the viewers, withholding information about a setup's outcome is necessary. One of the most common ways to do this is by making people ''think'' something game-changing has happened just to reveal at the very last second it hasn't. Alternatively, the event is this close to taking place but is dodged every time. This is a Near Miss.

Chances are, this will be used for [[RuleOfDrama dramatic effect]]; you thought the character was run over by a car but, oh, the smoke clears and it becomes evident the character jumped to the side at the right moment. [[RuleOfFunny Comedic cases]], however, aren't uncommon at all, with the punchline often being the ridiculous way in which the character managed to miss the event.

Of course, a near-miss can also mean that the event did happen, just not in enough of a plot-changing way. For instance, the long-awaited WillTheyOrWontThey couple is about to kiss but then the girl backpedals and only kisses her love interest's cheek. Or the bullet hits the character, just not in a vital organ or anything that could spell instant death.

Looks like a broad concept? Well, it is; that's why it has a myriad of [[SubTrope sub-tropes]]:

[[index]]
* ATeamFiring: Nobody gets hit by bullets, no matter how much gunfire is exchanged.
* AlmostKiss: Two characters are about to kiss before suddenly being interrupted by something.
* AmusinglyAwfulAim: A character's woeful accuracy is PlayedForLaughs.
* ByWallThatIsHoley: A wall falls on you, but doesn't hurt you because you pass through a hole or window on it.
* CloseCallHaircut: A part of somebody's hair gets cut off during a struggle, usually by a bullet.
* DivingSave: Jumping and plowing someone out of the way to save their life.
* HatDamage: The character's headgear gets hit to show how close the projectile is to being lethal.
* HeroTrackingFailure: The hero is always one step ahead of the villain's gunfire.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: {{Mooks}} are lousy shots when trying to hit the heroes.
* KnifeOutline: Dodging sharp projectiles one by one while being unable to move away from the wall.
* MissedHimByThatMuch: Two characters just barely miss running into each other.
* NearMissGroinAttack: A subversion of GroinAttack is PlayedForLaughs.
* SmokeShield: An attack's aftereffects obscure whether the target was hit, expect it to emerge unscathed somehow.
* StandardHollywoodStrafingProcedure: The goodies are in the middle of two lines of cannon fire.
[[/index]]

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