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  • The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: The Pesties quickly abandon Huxley when the cooperative Grouches show up to rescue Elmo.
  • In Alice in Wonderland (2010), the Cheshire Cat has this reaction when the card soldiers break up the mad tea party.
    Cheshire Cat: Goodbye! (disappears)
  • In April Showers, Jason bails on an interview when he realises that the TV network cares more about getting a good story than helping him find out who the dead girl he carried out of the school was.
  • In Austin Powers in Goldmember, Nigel Powers intimidates a nameless Mook by pointing out what happens to nameless Mooks in this kind of story. The Mook decides to lie down and play dead as the final confrontation looms.
  • The Autopsy of Jane Doe: At the first sign of supernatural goings on, Tommy tells his son and fellow coroner, "Let's get the fuck outta here," and they attempt to abandon their family morgue.
  • Avalanche Sharks:
    • When Wade and Madison warn the hot tub girls about the sharks, Jenna is the only one who takes them seriously enough to get out of the hot tub and try to flee the resort right before the next attack.
    • Carol wants to run for the parking lot rather than help Wade and Dale in the climax (to be fair, there isn't really anything she can do to help them). She keeps pausing due to Madison and Diana's moral appeals and/or the sharks making it hard to escape.
  • In Avatar, Trudy turned around and headed off after seeing the massacre of the Na'vi village at Hometree, including the children. She later made a Heel–Face Turn and rescued Jake.
  • Non-battle version in Barefoot in the Park. After Paul and Corie find Corie's mother in bed with their neighbor Victor, Corie reacts with horror. Instead of trying to comfort his wife, Paul decides that he has had enough craziness and leaves.
  • The Baker Street Dozen: In The Scarlet Claw, the butler of the first victim believes supernatural forces are behind the murders and declares his intent to leave town as soon as the next bus passes through.
  • Balibo: After nearly being gunned down by a helicopter while trekking to Balibo, Roger decides to abandon East Timor entirely and go back to Australia. He ultimately decides to stay to document the Indonesian invasion after discovering the village he had stayed in the previous night has been massacred by the TNI.
  • Batman
    • Tim Burton's Batman (1989). Batman has just finished wiping out several of the Joker's mooks. Bob, The Dragon to the Joker, appears holding a knife. When Batman makes a Bring It gesture to him (beckoning with his index finger), Bob drops the knife and runs away.
    • Towards the end of Batman Returns, as plan after plan is foiled by Batman and everything is collapsing around him, the Penguin looks around to realize that he doesn't have many mooks left, and the ones that are still there all seem to be quietly sneaking towards the exits. Moments later, he tries to get out of there himself, but Batman intercepts him.
  • Kaz does this in Beyond the Lights when Noni decides to leave Mexico with her mother and continue to release her album. He knows that nothing has changed and that Noni will soon be back to where she was (i.e. feeling like she's "suffocating in the middle of the street and no one can see me dying!"). Fortunately, the two ultimately end up back together after Noni finds the courage to stand up to Macy and her record label and seek treatment for her depression.
  • In The Big Lebowski, Dude does this when he tries to talk to Walter about how he can explain the failed dropoff of bogus ransom money to the titular antagonist and all Walter can think of is his refusal to bowl on Saturday so he can observe the Jewish rest day Shomer Shabbat.
    • The Big Lebowski also lampshades this humorously:
    The Dude: Ah, fuck it.
    The Big Lebowski: Oh, “fuck it!” Yes, that’s your answer. That’s your answer for everything! Tattoo it on your forehead!
  • Black Wake: When Dr. Jones' scrub gets violent, revealing he's been infected, Jones doesn't waste time and tries to leave the autopsy room. Shame the people on the other side won't let him leave.
  • The Reverend in Blazing Saddles tries to prevent Bart from getting lynched, but the townspeople quickly respond by blasting the Bible right out of his hand.
    Reverend: Son... you're on your own.
  • Blind Fury: After Nick kills over a dozen Mooks on his way to the Big Bad, the drug dealer and his bodyguard take off before he can reach them, telling MacReady to find another buyer in the unlikely event he survives. Sensing how angry MacReady is at their departure, the bodyguard is Genre Savvy enough to keep his gun out and not turn his back on MacReady and Slag in case they get any ideas about shooting their former partners out of frustration.
  • Blue Streak: During the opening heist scene, Tulley, the getaway driver, wastes no time taking off once Eddie falls off the roof and lands right next to his car.
  • Subverted in Braveheart at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The Scottish forces are outnumbered three to one by the English forces which scares some of the Scots enough to leave the field, which in turn prompts William Wallace to deliver his Dare to Be Badass speech that sparks new confidence amongst the Scots. Moments later he exploits the trope, as his battle plan is for the cavalry under the command of the nobles to pretend to flee after a volley or two from the English archers, but in reality the Scottish cavalry simply circles around the field of battle out of sight and performs a devastating flanking attack on the English.
  • In the Jake Gyllenhaal film Bubble Boy, this is Jimmy's reaction when Slim's bikers, the sideshow freaks, and the Bright & Shinies get into a brawl over him, where he grabs a cab he meant to take before they all showed up.
    Jimmy: Niagara Falls! And step on it!
  • In Cape Fear, Diane Taylor opts to leave town rather than testify against Cady.
  • Children of Men: The Dragon, Patric, attempts to flee at the climax, only to run right into the path of a stray bullet.
  • Chisum: Both Evans and Nodeen try to flee town in the climax, as Chisum and The Cavalry arrive. Only the latter man succeeds.
    Sheriff Nodeen: I resign. No more paydays around here.
  • The Chronicles of Riddick (2004): The Russian prison guards make a run for an escape ship once the necromongers show up, with Riddick, Kyra, and some other prisoners trying to race them to the vessel.
  • Count Yorga
    • In the first movie, when Michael comes across Hayes heavily bitten body who, with his dying breath, tells him where Donna is. Yorga's two vampire brides, one of whom is his former friend Erica, charge into the room to attack him. Michael stands his ground, swinging his stick at them as they try to close in to no avail. Eventually he raises his stake threateningly, Erica doesn't move, but her fellow bride snarls, turns and runs back the way they came in.
      • Later in the movie, Michael manages to kill Yorga and goes to collect Donna. They watch Yorga crumble to dust and turn to leave only to be confronted by Erica and the unnamed redheaded bride, who're still vampires despite their master being dead. Michael and Donna rush down the opposite end of a stairwell with the brides doubling back to meet them in the center. Michael however pulls out a cross to which Erica, who was near enough to attack, shrinks back and wheels behind her fellow bride as Michael forces the two back, with both cringing every time Michael thrust the cross at them. The redhead does manage to switch the positions once they're at the bottom of the stairwell, with both ultimately retreating into a nearby room, figuring their blood isn't worth dealing with a holy symbol.
    • In the second, two cops named Madden and O'Connor join Baldwin in searching Yorga's mansion for Cynthia. The two split from him to cover more ground, running right into Yorga's dozen numbered brides. They try to question them, but when the women wordlessly keep advancing on them they realize what a huge mistake they've made, back up and soon run for it. This becomes especially obvious when they meet up with Baldwin in a hallway and the brides suddenly appear from multiple doorway to continue the chase. The two cops open fire on the two front brides, only for them to hardly react to the bullets (since they're already dead after all) as they keep coming.
      O'Connor: What're we running for?
      Maddan: Cause we're scared!
  • In Dead Birds, Todd attempts to take a horse and leave the house once he finds out what went on there. Once he finds them dismembered and eviscerated, he makes a run for it through the field. Too bad he doesn't make it.
  • Doctor at Sea: After enduring Wendy's advances alongside having to take all of Dr. Thomas' dirty work, Dr. Sparrow quits his position and takes a new job at sea.
  • In Dogma, Loki and Bartleby have spent the entire movie to a certain point attempting to get to a church so they can get back to Heaven. However, as they do, Bartleby comes to realize that God's always favored the humans over the Angels and that they'll never be able to be fully forgiven for their menial transgressions. So, he decides to kill humanity to get back home. Loki recognizes the talk as a sign that Bartleby is going the way that Lucifer went and doesn't want any part of it, attempting to get back to Wisconsin, only for Bartleby to strongarm him into staying with him.
  • At the climax of Dracula: Dead and Loving It, the Count's Living Shadow clearly shouts "Uh Oh!" and runs away when Van Helsing and the others show up to kill Dracula.
  • In Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, the lich Klaxx flies off the moment Damodar's plan starts to go wrong. Of course, he only involved himself with it in the first place For the Evulz.
  • Eden Lake: Shortly after finding Cooper's body and witnessing Brett beat Harry to a dead pulp, Paige decides she's had enough and flees. Unfortunately, she runs into the path of the van Jenny's driving, and Jenny's feeling self-righteous.
  • The Elf: In the middle of the movie, Grandpa Fred decides to leave the family get-together, and he and his wife head to their car. One they're in, the elf kills them.
  • Emperor (2020): When Lt. Colonel Lee and his men put down John Brown's Rebellion, Shields flees on horseback rather than join the other remaining raiders in a doomed effort to fall back to the catacombs.
  • Event Horizon: Miller deadpans, "We're leaving" after seeing the Apocalyptic Log of the titular ship's crew gorily killing each other under the influence of hyperspace (which is a Scary Place heavily implied to be Hell). For the rest of the movie, Miller seeks to get himself and the rest of the crew the hell off the Event Horizon before turning the Lewis and Clark's weapons on it and putting it out of its misery. Too bad the ship's also a Genius Loci (again, influenced by hyperspace)... and it doesn't want them to leave.
  • The Fastest Gun Alive: Harold's accomplices, Wells and Swope, gradually grow alarmed about how much time is being diverted to set up a gunfight when there's a posse on their tail and run for it, with Swope waiting longer and leaving in a more stylish and dignified way than Wells. The posse still catches them.
  • Feeding Frenzy: When Jesse receives one too many lengthy diatribes on how much he sucks from Christine, he decides that he doesn't feel like saving her from the monster and goes home.
  • Forest Warrior: Thorne's lawyers and the loggers personally accompanying him flee when the police show up, with mixed results.
  • Frankenstein Created Woman: After his two companions are murdered, Johann decides that his best course of action is to flee the village and he boards the next coach out of town. Unfortunately for him, Christina has foreseen this and is waiting for him on board the coach.
  • Friday the 13th (2009):: Jenna and Clay see Jason carrying a dead body and narrowly avoid his attention. As Jason leaves, Jenna declares that they have to get out of there (although she cares about warning the others as well as preserving their own safety) after Clay suggests following Jason and brings Clay around to her point of view.
  • The Funhouse Massacre: When Gerardo sees that the Land Of Illusions Haunted House Attraction might be scarier than he can handle, he decides to go wait in the car.
  • Rhett Butler's last line in Gone with the Wind has at times been called the greatest movie line ever. At the end, he realizes that Scarlet is a horrible woman and he doesn't want anything to do with her and her messed up life.
    "Where shall I go? What shall I do?"
    "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
  • Ghost Note: When Xander informs Rodney that Eugene Burn is still alive and bricked up in Mallory's grandfather's workshop, he also informs him of his intent to break down the brick wall and free him. In response to this, Rodney decides to leave.
  • Ghosts of War: After being in the chateau for a few days, and being exposed to supernatural horrors in that time, most of the platoon have unanimously agreed they want to leave. They don't care if they get court marshalled for desertion, and state they'd rather die in a prison camp than in the house at the hands of angry spirits.
  • Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum: Late in the movie, Charlotte and Ji-Hyun decide they've had enough of possibly angering the ghosts in Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, and decide to head back to the tent Ha-Moon is monitoring them all from. They end up as the first victims of the ghosts.
  • The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery: When the police surround the bank, Willy panics and drives off leaving his partners inside the bank.
  • The Grudge: Allison flees back to her parents' home after being subjected to a series of hauntings in Japan. Unfortunately for her, the curse isn't confined to Japan.
  • Gun Fury: After being trapped in the Ghost Town, two of Slayton's gang decide to grab two of the saddlebags and make a run for it: straight into Johash's gun sights.
  • The Hangover:
    • Subverted when Alan tries running away when Phil Stu and Doug are being kidnapped by thugs. Only one of the henchmen catches up to him and captures him too.
    • Invoked when Chow locks Alan Stu and Phil in the basement of a Mexican villa, reactivates the alarm and snaps the necks of the guard dogs leaving them to their fate.
  • The Beatles pull this in A Hard Day's Night when their road manager Shake orders them to stay in their hotel room and answer their fan mail. (An unused line had John saying "When the swine's away, the piglets will play!")
  • Harry Potter
    • Bellatrix as soon as Dumbledore shows up in the Ministry in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is mostly due to circumstances changing; in the book Dumbledore brings the statues to life and one of them keeps Bellatrix trapped there.
    • After the Ministry attack, Fudge is said to have resigned in disgrace. This is in contrast to the books where he stays on for a fortnight, before he's unanimously sacked by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
    • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the Malfoys flee the instant Harry reveals himself to be alive. Since they've been prominent supporters of Voldemort and Narcissa had lied to Voldemort about Harry being dead, it's pretty obvious why they didn't want to stick around to see who won. Hell, half of the assembled Death Eaters teleport away when Harry "comes back to life". It's actually kind of impressive.
  • The Spanish movie Hasta la Lluvia ("Even the Rain") revolves around a film crew that goes to Bolivia to film a movie about Christopher Columbus, because it will be cheaper to make the movie down there. Unfortunately, they go during the Cochabumba water war, a series of civil uprisings that protested the government's decision to sell the exclusive rights to the country's water to a multinational. Because of the ensuing rioting, the majority of the cast and crew decides to get out while they still have a chance, and leave the director behind.
  • In Hellboy (2019), the moment Nimue regains her full power, a veritable army of dark creatures crawls from the shadows to witness their queen's return, followed by her whipping them into a frenzy with a hammy new-era-speech. Then Hellboy announces his presence by blasting half of Nimue's head off. Cue every single monster getting the hell outta Dodge instantly, leaving Nimue and Gruagach to fend for themselves.
  • In Hook:
    Pirate: Ain't you...
    Peter Pan: Peter Pan?
    Pirate: (immediately drops his sword and jumps out the window)
    • Also, "What about Smee? Smee's me... WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Well, Smee was ordered to "do something intelligent..."
  • Husk: When Brian refuses to leave without Natalie, Chris hot-wires the one working vehicle and drives off through the cornfield.
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:
    • When the three Russians who chase Indy into a nuclear testing zone realize where they are, they take off even as Indy tries to surrender to them so he can flee the blast radius. Their car ultimately fails to outrun the explosion.
    • One of the cemetery guards who attacks Indy and Mutt runs for it after Indy takes out his gun.
    • A thug Indy knocked out cold but didn't toss out of the vehicle early in the jeep chase wakes up as Spalko is trying to knock the jeep off the edge of a cliff. Rather than try to overpower Indy and Mac, the guy jumps out of the jeep, making a safe (albeit rough) landing before being left behind by the opposing parties.
  • In The Initiation, Beth gets sick of all of the crap Megan is piling on the pledges, and quits the sorority without undergoing the final initiation: an act which probably saves her life.
  • In The Innkeepers, Luke leaves Claire behind the moment he realizes that the ghost is real, though he later comes back.
  • In Time has Timekeeper Raymond Leon's partner, Jaeger, resigning from being a Timekeeper in the end of the film, leaving his gun on the way out.
    Female Timekeeper: What do we do, sir?
    Jaeger: Go home.
  • Into the Storm (2009): When Churchill proudly declares (to an uproar of applause) that Britain will fight no matter the cost, Halifax gets up and leaves the room quietly. Incidentally, this is his last scene in the movie.
  • In the first Jackass movie, in the sketch "The Burglars", Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera fall through the ceiling of an office building while dressed as burglars. The instant they land, one of the office workers gets out of his chair, runs out the door, and gets about five blocks away before someone finally tells him what happened.
  • Jack Reacher is confronted by five thugs outside a bar, but tells them that he only has to fight three of them, as the last two will take to their heels after seeing what Reacher can do. He's right, though he has to punch the last attacker a few times in the groin to encourage them to do so.
  • James Bond:
  • Jawbreaker: Looks like Courtney's taking the fall alone.
  • In John Wick, while infiltrating a night club John sneaks up to a guard at the front door and sticks him up. After exchanging some pleasantries and confirming that he is indeed "here on business", John encourages the guard to "take the night off", to which the guard removes his earpiece and thanks him for his mercy.
  • Johnny Reno: Somewhere after Yates' plan has evolved from lynching Joe Conners into emptying the town and murdering a U.S. Marshal, Tomkins decides this is too far gone for him and jumps on a horse and rides out of town. Unfortunately, he rides straight into the arms of a waiting Indian band.
  • Just One of the Guys: Played for Laughs. After Deborah and her ex-boyfriend Greg become prom queen and prom king, Deborah notes that traditionally, the two of them should dance together. However, as the head of the prom committee, she abolishes that tradition and quickly hurries away to dance with her date instead of Greg, to his frustration.
  • K2: Siren of the Himalayas: The climbers tell how some people, once they get to base camp and are faced with the towering mountains themselves, decide they want out right then and there.
  • Key Largo: The skipper of Rocco's yacht lifts anchor and flees due to the threat of the hurricane. He wisely doesn't return afterward because he knows that if he does, Rocco will kill him for running off.
  • Kick-Ass subverts this. A Mook facing the four foot tall whirlwind of destruction named Hit-Girl shouts a stronger version of the first two words. *beat* "I'm getting the bazooka!"
  • Kill Bill when the bride cuts off Sophie's arm in the house of Blue Leaves the staff and customers quickly evacuate
  • In King of Thieves, Carl gets cold feet after Brian walks away. When Terry tells him to decide if he is in or out, Carl decides he is out and runs away.
  • Kung Pow! Enter the Fist: "You go that way; I'll go home"
  • Life Blood: After Dan escapes from the gas station, he flags down Deputy Felix's cruiser and tells him what has happened. Felix is less than convinced (unsurprising since Dan is babbling about vampires), but tells Dan to get in and they'll go to the station and investigate. Dan yells no way and takes off running down the road. As a result, he becomes one of the few characters to survive the film.
  • The Turkish entrenched riflemen in The Lighthorsemen decide on this when they realize the charging Horsemen aren't going to stop.
  • Wiesler in The Lives of Others is opening letters in a basement of Stasi headquarters when the radio news announces the Berlin Wall has opened. Everyone in the room drops tools, gets up, and files out.
  • The battle sequences in The Lord of the Rings were animated using a system called MASSIVE, which equips each actor in large crowds with a very rudimentary AI. In early iterations of some scenes, soldiers on the outskirts of the battle appeared to think better of the attack and headed for the hills. Ascribed by many at the time to A.I. Is a Crapshoot, Word of God is that it was a simple programming bug.
  • Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau:
    • Rob Morrow found himself unable to bear the tension and hostility on set any longer, so he telephoned New Line Cinema chairman Rob Shaye in Hollywood and tearfully begged to be let go. Shaye agreed.
    • Fairuza Balk attempted to do this in protest at Richard Stanley's firing. She stormed off the set after a heated exchange with New Line executives and then had a production assistant drive her all the way from Cairns to Sydney — a distance of some 2,500 km — in a rented limousine. However, by her own account, Balk's agent then warned her in blunt terms that the studio would ruin her and that she would never work in films again if she broke her contract, so she was soon forced to return to the set.
  • In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the San Diego PD and Animal Control do this, coming around the corner in a fleet of vehicles reminiscent of the cavalry coming to save the day....riiight up until the T. rex shows up and roars at them. ALL of them turn around or go into reverse so fast you can HEAR the collective "Oh Hell No!" going through their heads.
  • After being shot in the leg the first time he dealt with Machete, a mook who sees him coming back hands him his gun, yells, "I quit!", and walks away. Machete allows him to leave peacefully.
  • Main Street Meats: When Neddy kills his second victim, the man she was with immediately runs off, prompting a chase scene.
  • A Man Called Sledge: A spirited game of cards breaks out between the men, but Sledge remains aloof. When Joyce tries to cheat, the old man kills him and the others are shocked when Sledge does not intervene. Disgusted, Beetle takes his remaining share and departs.
  • The Man Who Knew Too Little: During the climax, Wallace has the bomb and seems poised to either discover it or prematurely detonate it in full view of the conspirators and dozens of VIPs. Defense Minister Embleton hurriedly flees the ballroom, to the frustration of his coconspirators.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • In one of the outtakes of The Avengers, the scene is Bruce Banner regarding the Leviathan, calmly Hulking out, and pounding its face into the pavement. Instead, Mark Ruffalo turns to the other Avengers, cries "DUDES, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!", and girly-runs off into the distance, while everyone else cracks up.
    • In Iron Man 3 a random Mook, realizing he's the last one that Tony Stark has yet to shoot or incapacitate, says "Honestly, I hate working here, they are so weird", drops his gun, and scrams.
    • In Avengers: Age of Ultron, after Tony, Vision and Thor attack Ultron, followed by the Hulk punching him away, all the Ultron Sentries nearby decided it's in their best interest to just flee from the place.
    • Done by Skurge at the climax of Thor: Ragnarok, who hides amongst a crowd of refugees when a battle is clearly not going his side's way. Soon after, when the escape of the refugees is threatened, he has a change of heart and a full-fledged Heel–Face Turn, jumping back into the fray and pulling a Heroic Sacrifice.
    • During the chaotic final battle in Guardians of the Galaxy, villain Ronan's unenthusiastic accomplice Nebula decides she's had enough, steals a spacecraft and bails.
    • Captain Marvel: Ronan the Accuser sees Captain Marvel destroy all of his missiles, the fighters deployed to kill her, and one of the big ships. Then as she's prepared to attack Ronan's ship too, he orders a retreat but hopes to come back for her someday.
    • Avengers: Endgame: During the Heist, when part of the Avengers go to the Battle of New York they see Past Hulk smashing one Chitauri mook. Meanwhile, another Chitauri mook approaches Past Hulk with alien rifle armed and ready... and decides to back off.
    • Being the peaceful and conflict-avoiding man he usually is, Sandman in Spider-Man: No Way Home dissipates into sand and leaves Peter's apartment as soon as Green Goblin and Electro start wreaking havoc. The same goes for the Lizard, who after insulting Peter and throwing him into his apartment storey, refuses to elaborate and bails. Finally, Doctor Octopus performs this after being blasted out of the apartment by Electro, so this might be justified as tactical retreat.
  • Near the end of Masters of the Universe, when He-Man's allies have broken into Skeletor's fortress and He-Man and Skeletor are having their Final Battle, Evil-Lynn and what's left of the Quirky Miniboss Squad sneak out the back. May also count as Evil-Lynn being The Starscream.
  • In The Matrix, after Neo takes out Smith, Agents Brown and Jones look at each other for a moment and wordlessly agree to bolt.
  • Meet The Browns: Joe pretends to be a fragile man so the police would leave him alone, as he's the passenger and they were after the driver... you got it after the car chase. Once he's out of the range, Joe drops the oxygen tank and cane before making a run for it while Madea is left dealing with the cop.
  • In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, both Mordant and Goldar bail on Ivan Ooze at different points; Mordant isn't present after the activation of the Ecto-Morphicon Titans and Goldar flies off, saying "I'm out of here!", when Ivan fuses with Hornitor to battle the Ninja Megazord.
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail: When brave Sir Robin encounters a three-headed giant, he chickens out. His minstrel keeps singing about it, much to his annoyance. Listen to the Tale of Sir Robin.
    Sir Robin's minstrel: Brave Sir Robin ran away./Bravely ran away away./When danger reared its ugly head,/He bravely turned his tail and fled./Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about/And gallantly he chickened out./Bravely taking to his feet,/He beat a very brave retreat.
  • In The Mummy (1999), at the battle over Hamunaptra, Rick O'Connell's superior officer drops his sword and rides away when an angry horde of Tuareg horsemen are charging his company. Beni turns to Rick and says, "You just got promoted."
    • About a minute later, Beni follows suit, screaming "WAIT FOR ME!"
    • Towards the end, Rick faces off against a group of mummies and gives a loud scream. The mummies screams even louder. Rick promptly goes "Uh uh!" and runs away.
    • So much for the Foreign Legion's time-honored tradition of never running away or surrendering.
  • Murphy's War: Louis wades ashore and marches away from the final battle in a fury after learning that Murphy plans to murder the helpless Nazis.
  • Pete in Neighbors (2014).
  • In The Nice Guys, March and Healy travel to an airport hotel to look for clues, only to discover John Boy engaged in a shoot-out there. They silently and quickly leave before anyone notices they had arrived.
  • This is the reaction of the Bird-warriors from the Underworld in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, when they see how easily the statue of Abraham Lincoln wipes the floor with them.
  • In Night School (2018), the owner of the barbeque dealership where Teddy works takes the insurance and flees after Teddy accidentally destroys the shop during his proposal, screwing over Teddy to save his own hide.
  • No Kidding: After she tries to seduce him, Will is happily mowing the lawn with the children when Vanilla calls out to him. It takes a second before Will bolts for the trees to get away from her.
  • A low-key version of this happens in the movie Nope, when O.J.'s response to apparent alien activity in the stable is a quiet "Nope'' and immediately trying to leave.
  • In North, this is North's reaction towards the Amish.
    North: Floor it! *cue plane leaving*
  • At the end of North Dallas Forty, Phil Elliott, the long-abused veteran who gave his all for a team desperate to see him gone as soon as possible, reaches his breaking point upon being suspended without pay, pending a hearing, for possession of hard drugs. He flat-out tells the executives they can consider him banned from the sport for life already, because he's had it with the constant ingratitude he'd been getting in his later years with the North Dallas Bulls.
    Elliott: Is that what it is, Emmett? Is that what this whole charade has been about, so you don't have to pay my contract? Well, hell, I don't need your money that bad. I quit!
  • Another non-battle example: in Nothing but Trouble, this is Chris' reaction upon seeing, in a news segment, that JP Alvin not only survived the destruction of Valkenvania, but also he announces that he and his family are planning to visit his "grandson-in-law". Chris literally runs out of the apartment, complete with an Impact Silhouette, along with footsteps being heard.
    Chris: No you won't! *slams the door*
  • On the Buses: Stan and Jack's initial reaction to finding out they're now going to be supervised by women, only for it to be almost instantly averted when Stan meets Sandra, his pretty new clippie.
  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Just as the Manson family members are about to assault Rick's house at the climax, Flowerchild (Lisa Kasabian) tricks Tex into giving her his car keys under the pretense of retrieving her knife from the locked car. She then jumps in the car and speeds off, clearly having lost her nerve to through with the murdering.
  • Ouija Mummy: When the spirit of Ahotep the 1at takes full control of Natalie and turns Chase into an animalistic servant, Becca and Blake immediately run out of the room into another one.
  • The Outlaw Josey Wales contains a classic subversion, when a bounty hunter comes looking for the title character (played by Clint Eastwood).
    Bounty Hunter: "You're wanted, Wales."
    Wales: "Reckon I'm right popular. You a bounty hunter?"
    Bounty Hunter: "A man's got to do something for a living these days."
    Wales: "Dyin' ain't much of a living, boy." *pause* "You know, this isn't necessary. You can just ride on."
    *The bounty hunter turns and walks out of the bar. Everyone in the place relaxes, except Wales himself. After a moment, the bounty hunter comes back in.*
    Bounty Hunter: "I had to come back."
    Wales: "I know."
  • Paranormal Prison: When Jacob is in a cell in Siberia (the prison's solitary confinement building), he hears Whispering Ghosts making eerie noises. In response, he simply says "Nope!" and decides to leave.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
    • When Jack and Will fight for the first time in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Will throws his sword at the door, locking them both in his factory. Jack remarks that now Will is trapped with no weapon, to which Will pulls out a sword that has been superheated. Jack upon putting the puzzle pieces together, tries again to flee but still ends up having to fight.
    • At the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, after the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman obliterate the HMS Endeavour, along with Beckett, the entire East India Trading Company armada turns around and gets the hell out of there despite their numerical superiority.
  • In The Prestige, Olivia wisely has enough of being involved in Angier and Borden's escalating feud, especially after Sarah's suicide and leaves them both.
  • In Primal, the ship's crew decide that being trapped on a disabled freighter with a heavily armed psycho and a bunch of wild animals is not worth it and steal one of the lifeboats and abandon ship, leaving the named characters to resolve the plot.
  • The Princess Bride: When Inigo confronts Rugen and reveals why he's been searching for him, Rugen pauses briefly as he appraises the situation, then rightfully freaks out and runs in the opposite direction as fast as he physically can. Unfortunately for him, Inigo is faster and catches up.
  • In The Quick and the Dead (the Louis L'Amour adaptation, not the more famous similarly titled work), the outlaws eventually realize that the family they're pursuing doesn't have any valuables and there's no reason left to pursue them besides avenging the dead outlaws from their Dwindling Party and raping Susanna. Furthermore, the bad weather is making it hard to track the family and the family's Mysterious Protector promises trouble if they do catch them, leading to the following conversation between two Siblings in Crime.
    Purdy Mantle: It ain't too late, Ike.
    Ike Mantle: Yeah, it is. 'Cause we've done come too far.
    Ike rides ahead while Purdy lingers back, thinking.
    Purdy: It ain't never too late, unless you're dead.
    Purdy turns his horse in the opposite direction and rides off.
  • Quigley Down Under: Three of Marston's men flee the ranch the night before the final battle.
  • Susanna from Rain Man does this when she gets fed up with Charlie of only using Raymond just to get his share of his inheritance. That doesn't stop her from making a reappearance to Las Vegas, where at that time Charlie has changed his ways towards Raymond.
  • Raising the Wind: As the students leave their string quintet performance at the Tudor Rose Room, eventually only Mervyn is left onstage. The pressure slowly gets to him, until he finally cracks and dashes from the room.
  • Reap the Wild Wind: Captain Phil's freedman associate Chinkapin tries to flee Phil's houseboat when he hears shanghaiing wreckers coming. They intercept him and knock him unconscious.
  • Colonel Bella infamously does this at the end of Red Dawn (1984). He has two of the surviving Wolverines sighted and, seeing that they're just two young scared and wounded teenagers fighting for their home, he lets them go and throws his weapon to the ground.
  • Red Rock West: When Sheriff Wayne mistakes Michael (a drifter) for the man he hired to kill his wife Suzanne, he gives him a down payment. Michael instead warns Suzanne, mails a letter incriminating Wayne to his deputies, then buys a bunch of food with the down payment and tries to drive out of town. The only problem is that he (literally) runs into Kurt.
  • Revenge (2017): The moment Richard returns to his villa after Stan and Dimi have been killed by Jen, he calls his helicopter pilot for an immediate pickup, which is scheduled to arrive 30 minutes later. Fortunately, Jen catches up with him before he can escape her vengeance.
  • In Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, the villain deploys a bunch of mooks in riot gear to stop the title character. He casually punches through the shield, through the armor, and out the back of the leader mook. The others quickly reconsider their line of work and retreat.
  • RoboCop 3:
    • The female MediaBreak reporter quits on air after getting fed up with helping OCP lie about RoboCop going nuts.
    • Most of OCP's staff decide to get out of dodge upon seeing the two Otomos about to fight Murphy.
  • This happens in The Running Man. Evil TV show host Damien's huge bodyguard, Sven, is supposed to fight a final battle against Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Damien's been verbally abusing Sven the entire movie, so Sven decides to just walk away, leaving Arnold to crush the helpless Damien.
  • In the biopic Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent's long time romantic/business partner Pierre puts up with Yves's diva antics, drug addictions, dalliances with other men, para-romantic friendships with women and works to keep their business afloat. But when Yves's tries to kill him in his sleep, he finally packs his bags and leaves.
  • Shenandoah: How much Sam ever believed in the Confederate cause or still believes in at at the end of the film is ambigious. But after he and his men are rescued from the prison train, rather than return to the front to keep fighting for the Confederacy, he orders the others to go home, saying the South has already lost the war and no more of them should die before it's official.
  • Happens twice in Sisu:
    • First when three soldiers are tasked with finding Aatami from a lake he has hidden in. After Aatami kills the first two, the third one starts rowing away in panic. This gets him shot by Wolf for desertion.
    • Second is during the final battle when two soldiers come across Aatami after slowly witnessing him destroy the rest of their convoy one by one. Despite being on a motorcycle and armed with a machine gun while he's only lightly armed, they promptly flee and leave their cycle behind.
  • StarCrash: When Stella and Elle crash a space station into the Count's space station, all the Count's men evacuate while the Count yells at them for being cowards.
  • Star Wars:
    • A New Hope: Hero example: Han Solo famously does this after delivering Luke and Leia to the Rebel base. Naturally, he returns to save the day. He also says he's going to do this at the beginning of Empire, saying he'd had enough of running into bounty hunters and wanted to get back to Jabba to pay him, but the Imperials attack the base before he's able to leave, forcing him to get involved with the film's conflict instead. Strangely, if you go by the Expanded Universe (which Disney has disavowed in preparation for the sequels), Han and Chewbacca have been hiding out with the Alliance for three years, and have given up on trying to patch things up with Jabba (they were robbed by pirates while on their way to Jabba's palace just after the Battle of Yavin, and knew that Jabba wouldn't accept that as an excuse). To suggest that Han and Chewie had not caught the Rebellion bug by then, or at the very least had not developed affectionate feelings for Luke and Leia, is stretching credibility a little too far.
      • Han has an earlier example in A New Hope. While aboard the Deathstar he's charging a stormtrooper, but promptly does an about face when they turn a corner and come face to face with a large group.
    • Return of the Jedi: After the Endor shield array is destroyed, with the destruction of Executor and the death of the Emperor, every Imperial soldier aboard the Death Star begins to flee the doomed battle station.
    • The Force Awakens: Two Stormtroopers round a corner to find Kylo Ren hacking apart a room with his lightsaber while having a temper tantrum after Rey escapes. They immediately back up and turn around, deciding they want no part in what's going on right now.
    • Finn's initial goal upon defecting from the First Order isn't to join the good guys, but to get as far away from his previous bosses as he can.
    • At the climax of the same film, when Starkiller Base is beginning to self-destruct from the damage caused by the Resistance attack, First Order officers start abandoning their posts in droves, ignoring orders from their superiors to stay where they are. One points out that even General Hux has already fled, so why shouldn't they? (In fact, Hux had gone to confer with Supreme Leader Snoke, who orders a Villain: Exit, Stage Left.)
    • Also from the same movie, Rey finds the lightsaber that once belonged to both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in a basement in Maz Kanata's castle — when she touches it, she has an extremely harrowing Force-vision, experiencing Luke's trauma from his first fight with Vader, and several other painful memories, including what is probably her own worst memory: the moment she was left behind on Jakku. THEN Maz turns up, tells her plainly that the people who left her on Jakku are never coming back for her, and she should move on and look ahead for her "belonging" by embracing the Force, joining the fight and taking the old lightsaber. Rey is horrified at this — she ends up fleeing from Maz's castle and into the woods in terror.
      Rey: [angry and scared] I'm never touching that thing again. I don't want any part of this!
  • Street Fighter
    • Zangief doesn't quite walk away, but decides to help the good guys, largely because he realized that everyone else on Bison's team (specifically Dee Jay) was getting paid besides him. Not to mention that he had just then realized that everybody else on Bison's team was a bad guy.
    • Bison and Dee Jay are watching the former's plans collapse on a screen. When Bison makes a speech about facing the possibility of defeat together "with the stoicism of the true warrior," Dee Jay quietly gets the hell out of dodge in the background.
  • The Substitute: The middleman hiring mercenaries for Rolle lies about a family emergency so he has an excuse to leave town after being threatened by Smith.
  • The Suicide Squad: Being a crew of criminals often times forced into the squad, you can bet someone's bailing. After witnessing the slaughtering of his entire squad, Savant, who until now had seemed the more level-headed and professional of the lot, completely loses it and paddles away, screaming in terror. It does not last long however since Waller does not hesitate to activate his exploding collar.
  • In Sweet Country, a black farmhand kills a white land-owner and goes on the run into the wilderness, pursued by a posse led by the Inspector Javert. As the going gets tougher (and especially after one member of the posse is killed), the posse members one by one decide that they've had enough and head back to civilisation, until there's only Sergeant Fletcher pushing forward on his own. After he nearly dies and is saved by the man he's hunting, he turns back too.
  • Tank Girl. While the Rippers are taking apart the guards inside Water & Power, Sergeant Small says "Screw this, man," and takes off. He's later killed by Jet Girl in revenge for the sexual harassment he put her through when she was a prisoner.
  • Terminator
    • A whole lot of the minor characters in the films wisely did this whenever they had the chance, including an entire factory full of workers in Terminator 2: Judgment Day when a truck full of liquid nitrogen crashed in through the door to their loading dock. Their survival rate tended to be a lot higher than that of most of the other characters.
    • One really extreme example: A guy in a police helicopter in T2 saw the T-1000 in liquid metal form come flowing into the seat next to him and tell him to Get Out!. He got out. They were at least 40 feet up in the air. Even probable death was preferable to staying in the chopper with that metallic guy.
  • Terror in a Texas Town: When Sheriff Stoner discovers McNeil's body, he decides that things in Prairie City are about to get unhealthy for him. He grabs all of the money McNeil had dropped and scarpers.
  • ¡Three Amigos!. During the battle at the climax of the movie, most of El Guapo's men take off and desert him, leaving him to be killed by the villagers.
  • The Three Stooges short subjects had the trio running away from any/every conflict; from running from the law, a mob, or any random person that they encounter; even when it comes to them not wanting to suffer the consequences.
  • In Tombstone, when the stage coach rolls up with the recently-killed actor, the actress in the coach Shames the Mob by pointing out that he only wanted to make their lives better by performing on stage. One of the Mooks, Jason Priestley as Deputy Billy Breckinridge, decides that this has gone too far, saying "We have to have some law and order", and quits the Cowboys. This echoes earlier in the film, when another mook, McMasters, is disgusted by how the Cowboys had targeted the Earp brothers' wives, even going so far as to inform Wyatt Earp that he'll join him for whatever he needs. He joins Creek Johnson and Texas Jack Vermillion to form the posse led by Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday that kills many of his former comrades.
  • In The Train, Major Herren and all the Nazi Mooks abandon von Waldheim at the end after it becomes clear to them that he values the art they're transporting more than their lives.
  • Transformers Film Series:
    • Starscream, toward the end of the second movie, reminds Megatron that "sometimes, cowards do survive," just before they Exit Stage Left.
    • He also does this wordlessly in the first movie, when the credits cut to a scene of him fleeing the battle. He wasn't even there for the second half of it.
  • TRON. After Tron effortlessly defeats several of Sark's guards on the Solar Sailor Simulation, the last guard throws his electrified weapon over the side and then jumps off himself.
  • In the 2010 remake of True Grit, the doctor for Chaney's outlaw gang escapes on horseback when the final shootout starts, and is not seen again.
  • In The War Wagon, two of Pierce's underlings attempt to do this when they realize that they are trapped in a runaway wagon with no driver and no backup. One of them opens the door and prepares to bail out when Pierce pulls a gun on him. After a brief argument, Pierce shoots him for cowardice.
  • Watch Your Stern: After Blissworth knocks down Admiral Pettigrew with a bike, his first instinct is to ride away as fast as he can.
  • A Wedding (1978): The film ends with Luigi driving away from the wedding ceremony and the others, maybe just briefly and maybe for good, after reflecting on how Nettie can't control him anymore and most of the people there don't know the real him.
  • Werewolves Within: After Finn makes a Rousing Speech hoping to unite the townspeople, most of them respond by going home.
  • White Heat: When Ryley realises that Cody intends to shoot it out with the police in the refinery, he waits until Cody has moved on and then immediately announces to the police that he is coming out and attempts to surrender to them. This earns him a bullet In the Back from Cody.
  • Wild Horse Phantom: When Tom expresses reservations about the plan, Dagget tells him he's free to return to prison if he wants. Tom decides to take him up on the offer and rides off. Daggett then shoots him in In the Back.
  • Wolves:
    • Larson Wills, Mayor Robinson, and the human townspeople all flee town offscreen shortly before the fight between Connor and his opponents comes to a head.
    • The Ambiguously Human women who hang around the werewolf pack disappear during the fight around the campfire, apparently running off.
  • X-Men Film Series:
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Chris Bradley and John Wraith leave Team X shortly after Logan did after realizing he was right about Stryker and what they were doing.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • Stryker wastes no time getting himself out of Alkali Lake's base after Wolverine/Weapon X gets loose.
      • After Apocalypse is obliterated by Jean Grey unleashing the Phoenix, Psylocke beats a hasty retreat once she recovers, and slinks away from the site of the battle.
    • In Deadpool 2, Wade is wandering the X-Mansion and complaining again how there are never any other X-Men around. Unbeknownst to him, as he's saying that, Professor X, Beast, Quicksilver, Storm, Nightcrawler and Cyclops are right behind him and Beast quickly runs up to shut the door behind him, effectively pulling this trope on Wade.
  • XX: In "Don't Fall", Only Sane Man Jay takes one look at Demon!Gretchen and immediately tries to leave in the van. It doesn't help.
  • Zatoichi (in at least one of his many adventures) is attacked by three mooks and kills two of them. The one in the rear plays dead and Ichi is briefly puzzled; he knows how many feet he heard, and how many bodies he sliced. Ichi then gestures impatiently for the surviving mook to get up, and he duly runs away.


Alternative Title(s): Live Action Film

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