This trope is under discussion
in the Trope Repair Shop.
Being in the middle of a heavy gunfire exchange is, by force, pretty dramatic. Scenes like these are suspenseful because of what could happen to the heroes—i.e., getting hit by a stray projectile. As a result, peak tension is achieved when the bullet barely misses the character. Lucky bastards.
The ways in which the characters dodge vary a lot but there are some common scenarios:
- One goodie will shove another down to the ground, as the bullets whizz along a line where their chests would be if they were standing up.
- Fired from a helicopter, the bullets land just in front and just behind their prone form.
- The goodies are in the middle of two lines of cannon fire (especially common with the Standard Hollywood Strafing Procedure).
- The goodies run, the bullets hit just behind them.
Of course, a near miss can also mean that the character gets hit but not in a vital organ, so they live but are probably one finger or ear short.
Compare Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy (mooks are lousy shots when trying to hit the heroes). Sub-Trope of A-Team Firing (nobody gets hit by bullets, no matter how much gunfire is exchanged). Contrast Murphy's Bullet, because if stray bullets are to hit someone it's always an important character.
Super-Trope of Close-Call Haircut (a part of somebody's hair gets cut off during a struggle, usually by a bullet), Hat Damage (when the character's headgear gets hit to show how close the projectile was to being lethal), and Hero-Tracking Failure (the hero is always one step ahead of villain's gunfire.).
See also Could Have Been Messy (a risky situation that ought to have gotten more people injured or killed).
Examples:
Anime & Manga
- Fairy Tail: Most of Sniper Drake's shots end up as this courtesy of Wendy's quick reflexes allowing her to Dodge the Bullet. He eventually takes out Sagittarius after a couple of Shoot the Bullet exchanges, though.
- Negima! Magister Negi Magi: Anyone using time-warping bullets suddenly becomes an awful shot if they are facing a stronger character. Every time it seems the latter will get hit, they dodge just so.
Films — Animation
- The Rescuers: Madame Medusa, the Big Bad and resident lousy shot, produces this effect whenever she draws her pistol. The bullets ricochet so much or are simply so misaimed in the first place, that the closest she has gotten to hit the good guys is when she inflicted some hat damage on Bernard.
Films — Live-Action
- Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!: Played for Laughs. The Mole is trying to kill Mason Dixon as he slowly strolls down the sidewalk and ends up shooting everyone on the street except the guy he was aiming at.
- Batman (1989): Inverted. Batman (in the Batwing) strafes the Joker who just stands in the middle of the street with his arms out, taunting him. Batman opens fire with everything he's got, but he just shoots the ground on either side. Even the missiles miss. Joker then fires one shot from his long-barreled revolver and Down Goes the Batwing!
- Fame: Chris learns that the prince he's traded places with is the target of an assassination plot when a bullet almost hits him while he's just minding his business.
- Heathers: In the final confrontation between Veronica and J.D., the latter swings toward the trigger bomb after subduing the former. Veronica then picks up J.D.'s gun and aims it at him. She shoots at blank point and whether through an innate desire of not killing him or her inexperience with weaponry, all she does is blow his finger off.
- Support Your Local Sheriff: James Garner runs down a typical western wooden sidewalk while a dozen gunmen blast away from him from across the street. Every one of the dozens of bullets hits the wooden boards of the sidewalk just behind him.
Literature
- Harry Potter:
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Harry blows his stack of luck potion among his friends prior to the climatic final fight, who would be dead five times over without it. Ginny remarks afterward that both spells and debris just seemed to miss them.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Since it's an aerial fight, the Battle of the Seven Potters is riddled with spells flying over or under the character's heads. Harry spends a good deal of it using the sidecar as a cover from all the spellfire. George loses an ear to a misaimed cutting curse.
- Nation: In the Duel to the Death between Mau & First Mate Cox, the former dives for cover in a lagoon. The bullets fired from the latter's gun are dramatically slowed down upon hitting the water, making them mostly harmless. Despite this, Mau loses an ear in the course of this scene.
- MacGyver (1985):
- The opening sequence has a shot (from "The Golden Triangle") of MacGyver ducking for cover as twin lines of gunfire from a helicopter pass either side of him.
- "The Enemy Within": There's a good example of bullets kicking up dust always just behind the running hero.
- Stargate SG-1: Goa'uld Deathgliders' gunfire misses just so that the rebound energy sends the characters flying but doesn't actually hit them. One has to wonder where the shrapnel goes, though.
- Xena: Warrior Princess: In "Livia" and "Eve", Xena uselessly but dramatically catches daggers out of midair that seem to have been aimed somewhere over her shoulders.
- Fights in Tight Spaces: The Near Miss card stuns the first enemy in your line of fire and then hits whoever's behind them.
- Team Fortress 2: A Scout under the effects of Bonk! Atomic Punch will dodge every attack until the drink wears off. Also, when an enemy shoots at you and narrowly misses, you can hear the bullet/flare/dart whiz by you.
Visual Novels
- Lucky Dog 1: Gian is pretty good at avoiding bullets by complete accident. On the third day of the escape period, Gian accidentally slips on the muddy ground and pushes Bernardo down as he falls forward...and then a bullet flies right where their heads were if they hadn't been been knocked down. A similar incident occurs in Luchino's route.
- Batman: The Animated Series: Whenever a mook firs a machine gun at Bats (a semi-frequent occurrence), he dodges to the side, while bullets ricocheted off the place where he's just been standing. The ground where he's just been standing, even if the mook was on the same level, and at close range.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: In "Holocron Heist", Obi-Wan grabs Anakin and pulls him away from a walker just before a droid fighter crashes into it. Anakin remarks how close it was.
