History Main / BulletproofHumanShield

** In ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies'', Metallo shoots Superman with a kryptonite bullet and knocks Batman out with a blow to the head and buries the two alive. Batman comes to and blows himself and Superman out of the ground with his utility belt plastique, using Superman as a ''literal'' bulletproof human (er, alien) shield (along with the fact his batsuit is fully armored and fireproof).

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/DarthVaderDarkLordOfTheSith''. A family team of bounty hunters ambush a man they've been told is a Jedi fugitive in a crowded bar. Unfortunately it's ''Darth Vader'' as they discover when he starts force-throwing InnocentBystanders in the path of their fire.
* The obscure Creator/HowardChaykin comic ''ComicBook/PowerAndGlory'' featured a government agent with severe neurosis. He was a CorporateSponsoredSuperhero that looked good for the public while the agent was the real BadassNormal that was secretly taking down the bad guys. One image from that series involved the agent using the superhero in this fashion as seen on [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ruiGEWLNkms/TNMHHrIYJmI/AAAAAAAADxI/E8vpyo_StII/s1600/power+%26+glory+IMG_0005.jpg this cover.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Punisher}}'':

* In ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel2015'', Darth Vader uses the Force to turn two Stormtroopers into his human shields.
* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra''

* ''Franchise/XMen'':

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'': When Fox confronts General Scales in the treasure room of the CloudRunner Fortress, the latter picks up one of his soldiers to protect himself from Fox's fire.

* ''{{VideoGame/Yakuza}}'' features a truly absurd example, in which the torso of a hapless waiter is sufficient to protect Kiryu when a [[TriadsAndTongs triad]] {{mook|s}} opens fire with an assault rifle from a couple meters away. The scene was left untouched in the [[VideoGameRemake remake]], as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_GimrcIt5A here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BlueEyeSamurai''. In "A Fixed Number of Paths", Mizu and Taigen are pinned down in a gully by archers and Taigen catches an arrow in the leg, so he tells Mizu to do this trope so at least one of them will get to safety. [[BigDamnHeroes Then Ringo turns up on a horse]] using the GiantMook he poisoned as this trope, and they ride to safety letting him soak up all the arrows. Surprisingly, the mook [[MadeOfIron actually survives]] being a HumanPincushion, to kidnap Taigen and take on Mizu in a later episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/BlueEyeSamurai''. In "A Fixed Number of Paths", Mizu and Taigen are pinned down in a gully by archers and Taigen catches an arrow in the leg, so he tells Mizu to do this trope so at least one of them will get to safety. [[BigDamnHeroes Then Ringo turns up on a horse]] using the GiantMook he poisoned as this trope, and they ride to safety letting him soak up all the arrows. Surprisingly, the mook actually survives being a HumanPincushion.

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/Bio#hock2'' lets players have fun with this: basically kill a splicer or big daddy, use telekinesis to lift body and you have an instant human shield, and when you're close enough, just toss that body at the attacker to hurt or kill them.

* ''Film/{{Total Recall|1990}}'' (1990): Douglas Quaid is attacked by goons while on an escalator and an innocent bystander catches a bullet while next to him. Douglas grabs the man and uses him as a shield. He even spins the dead man around to block ''more'' gunfire from the other direction.

* Spoofed in ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'', where Austin uses Robin Swallows (one of Dr. Evil's agents) as a shield against a thrown knife, submachine gunfire, ''a bazooka round'', and breaking his fall from a five-story building. Though [[spoiler:she's actually a robot assassin]].

* ''Film/GrampsIsInTheResistance'': [[LesCollaborateurs Adolfo Ramirez]], DirtyCoward he is, uses one of his own men as a human shield against gunfire from Super-Resistant and other freedom fighters during the shoot-out at club ''Le Marquis''.

** In ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'', [[BigGuy Batou]] casually stops high velocity, very penetrative shots from an SMG using a silent, nameless civilian appearing onscreen for about one second, which is the only screen time of the civilian during the entire franchise. The shots could be interchangeable with shots that passed through a police car door. By the way, the protagonists are all cops.

* ''Film/BruteForce1947'': After learning that the guards know about the GreatEscape, Joe works out who TheStoolPigeon is and ties him to the front of the mine cart to absorb bullets as they charge the machine gun.

* Happens in ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'' during the first fight scene, when Sherlock spots a mook coming towards him with a revolver and uses some fancy martial arts technique to maneuver the mook he is currently fighting into taking the bullet for him.

* ''Film/TotalRecall1990'': Douglas Quaid is attacked by goons while on an escalator and an innocent bystander catches a bullet while next to him. Douglas grabs the man and uses him as a shield. He even spins the dead man around to block ''more'' gunfire from the other direction.

* ''Webcomic/TheHandbookOfHeroes'' comic [[https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/point-man "Point Man"]] has the party use Fighter as a shield to block enemy arrows, as he has the highest HP.

* Similar, in the defense of "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov%27s_House Pavlov's House]]" in the siege on Stalingrad during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the Soviet troops holding the house, by the final weeks of the battle, would routinely have to run out after a German attack to kick over the piles of corpses, lest the German troops in the ''next'' attack be able to use them as protection. It's actually a trope in and of itself: any party in a prolonged war has claimed that sort of thing, among them all combatants in [=WWI=] and [=WWII=], forces on both sides in the American Civil war, etc.

* A primary tactic of the ape in ''VideoGame/ApeOut''; it can even force a hostage to fire at the other humans and then [[GrievousHarmWithABody throw their body]] to kill some more.

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'' lets players have fun with this: basically kill a splicer or big daddy, use telekinesis to lift body and you have an instant human shield, and when you're close enough, just toss that body at the attacker to hurt or kill them.

** Played ridiculously straight during the final act of Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]". Wealthy 16½-year-old Heather Preston has been taken hostage by her [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous bodyguard, McNeely]], and strapped into an old broken electric chair and placed in front of a shotgun set to go off and kill her [[RaceAgainstTheClock within]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin six hours]], not to mention [=McNeely=] plans to [[MurderDotCom broadcast his crime over the internet]]. Walker finds [=McNeely's=] hideout, beats him up, [[spoiler: and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard drags him in front of the gun just in time to protect Heather and make him take the blast]]. Of a ''shotgun''. True to form, only [=McNeely=] is killed, when in real life, the shot probably would have gone through him, Walker, and poor Heather.]]

[[caption-width-right:300: Congratulations! You have been promoted from {{Mook}} to HumanShield!]]

ActionHero Bob is sneaking into the villain's secret base when he's suddenly spotted! As the enemies open fire with their automatic weapons, Bob grabs the nearest {{mook}} and lets him take the shots instead. While the hapless henchman soaks up the bullets and twitches like a marionette with tangled cords, Bob drags him along and heads for safety.

Fictional works love this trope, giving the hapless {{mook|s}} the stopping power of twelve inches of reinforced concrete. It's popular with [[AntiHero anti-heroes]], as it serves to show off the hero's cold-blooded resourcefulness. It's also a trope used by a {{Jerkass}} TechnicalPacifist; they aren't supposed to kill people, so they grab the nearest enemy and let their opponents take out a few for them. "I didn't kill anybody," says the blood-covered pacifist, after dragging numerous enemies into the paths of other people's bullets.

* Lampshaded in the ''Series/HumanTarget'' episode "Victoria", when Guerrero uses a startled [[{{mooks}} mook]] as a human shield against a sniper on a nearby roof. When the EMT they're protecting at the time manages to drag the mook in for inspection, he comments that the bullets passed straight through the mook's bulletproof vest and that Guerrero's lucky they didn't hit him as well.

** Employed by Gokai Red with the help of a nearby {{Mook}}.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': In "Asylum" Root uses a Samaritan {{mook}} this way when Martine shoots at her. It's possibly he's wearing a bulletproof vest however, and all her shots are to his chest.

* ''{{VideoGame/Yakuza}}'' features a truly absurd example, in which the torso of a hapless waiter is sufficient to protect Kiryu when a [[TriadsAndTongs triad]] {{mook}} opens fire with an assault rifle from a couple meters away. The scene was left untouched in the [[VideoGameRemake remake]], as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_GimrcIt5A here]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'': On [[http://www.terra-comic.com/wordpress/archives/1120 page 243]] a {{mook}} grabs the corpse of one Alex already shot and killed and uses him to block her fire while he returns it. This set off a brief bout of WildMassGuessing in the comments. Eventually, Holly put her foot down and pointed out that Alex never actually shot the human shield because the mook holding it was quicker on the trigger; therefore whether her rifle fire would or would not penetrate was a moot point.

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': Bulkhead does this with several [[{{mook}} Vehicons]] when he attacks the Nemesis in "Darkness Rising".

** Played ridiculously straight in Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]". A young woman has been taken hostage by her [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous bodyguard]], strapped into an old broken electric chair and placed in front of a shotgun set to go off [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within six hours]], not to mention the traitor plans to [[MurderDotCom broadcast his crime over the internet]]. Walker finds the villain's hideout, beats him up, [[spoiler: and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard drags him in front of the gun just in time to protect the girl and make the bad guy take the blast.]] Of a ''shotgun''. True to form, only the bad guy is killed, when in real life, the shot probably would have gone through him, Walker, and the poor girl.]]

** Played ridiculously straight in Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]". A young woman has been taken hostage by her [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous bodyguard]], strapped into a chair and placed in front of a shotgun set to go off [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within six hours]], not to mention the traitor plans to [[MurderDotCom broadcast his crime over the internet]]. Walker finds the villain's hideout, beats him up, [[spoiler: and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard drags him in front of the gun just in time to protect the girl and make the bad guy take the blast.]] Of a ''shotgun''. True to form, only the bad guy is killed, when in real life, the shot probably would have gone through him, Walker, and the poor girl.]]