History ChekhovsGun / AnimeAndManga

** In the manga adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', the feather that Librari gives Link turns into a Roc's Cape, allowing Link to fly.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': Remember those orbs of light Miyazawa and the Girl in the Illusionary World were talking about? Those'll really come in handy [[GainaxEnding much]] [[GrandFinale later]].

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':

** ''Manga/PhantomBlood'': The story begins with a carriage crash with Dario Brando and his wife trying to rob it. Dario opens a case and reveals an odd stone mask, which later on serves as the symbol for Part 1, and comes up again with its origins revealed in ''Manga/BattleTendency''.
** ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'': Rohan and Koichi wander into a section of town connected to the afterlife. One of the rules of this area is that when you enter or exit, you cannot look behind you or your soul will be taken away. After leaving that part of town, this fact is quickly forgotten about until [[spoiler:the Stand, Cheap Trick, attaches itself to Rohan's back, and Rohan realizes that if anyone sees Cheap Trick, he'll die and Cheap Trick will transfer to that person. He and Koichi return to the alley, where Rohan allows Cheap Trick to look at Koichi, resulting in it turning around and being taken away before it kills him]] And later on, [[spoiler:this is also how Reimi, a long-time resident of the alley, gets rid of Yoshikage Kira by having him forced to look behind the alley as he gets DraggedOffToHell.]]

* In perhaps one of the oddest examples of Chekhov's gun, an early episode of the ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' anime shows [[TooKinkyToTorture Ryōna]] is so "experienced" with rope that she can even tie herself up, bondage style. This is presented as just another gag of how perverted and masochistic she is. [[spoiler: But when a giant yōma proves to be impervious to attack, Ryōna busts out a giant rope and quickly ties it up.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'', Eruru wears an odd, apparently decorative loop in her hair at almost all times. Later it is revealed that [[spoiler:it is some sort of transmitter originally made by the humans when it automatically opens the door to a human research facility.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/WindABreathOfHeart'', everybody has a special power. Except the protagonist. This point is made whenever the subject of the powers comes up, suggesting that the protagonist will eventually awaken to a kickass power. Oddly enough, the episode in which he uses his power was taken out of the TV broadcast.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', the final Signer Dragon, Life Stream Dragon, originally appeared in one of Luna's dreams. It was finally unlocked by Leo from Power Tool Dragon late in the series.
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', the pendant Tea wears is the key to unlocking the door of the final stage.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'':
** In the first episode, Yuma is looking over the cards he borrowed from his father's deck to try to find out what would be good to use in the duel against Shark, and is seen reading the effects of the card Double-Up Chance. He later uses that card in a combo with No. 39 to win the duel, and said card keeps being used in several more duels throughout the series. [[spoiler: It even helps him win his final duel of the series against Astral.]]
** In one episode, Yuma uses Baby Tiragon to beat Cathy three episodes after he got it from Tokunosuke as the token of their friendship.

* ''Anime/LucyMayOfTheSouthernRainbow'' has a case of Chekhov's Dingo. After Lucy-May hits her head on a carriage, she turns amnesiac. She doesn't remember who she is until days later, she arrives to the scene of the accident and sees Little, the very same dingo she took under her wing after he was injured. He jogs her memories, and she suddenly remembers the truth - she's one of the Popples.

* ''Anime/LucyMayOfTheSouthernRainbow'' has a case of Chekhov's Dingo. After Lucy-May hits her head on a carriage, she turns amnesiac. She doesn't remember who she is until days later, she arrives to the scene of the accident and sees Little, the very same dingo she took under her wing after he was injured. He jogs her memories, and she suddenly remembers the truth - she's a Popple.

* In Episode 14 of ''Literature/FateZero'', Tokiomi mentions a treasure of Gilgamesh's he calls the "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Sword of Rupture]]" which Gilgamesh is completely unwilling to use even though it could apparently easily destroy Caster's giant monster. In Episode 23, [[spoiler:Gilgamesh summons it during his fight with Rider and completely destroys his Reality Marble and his entire army with only a few seconds of charging.]]

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' is mostly just clever storytelling and repetition so it's actual {{ChekhovsGun}}s are much harder to spot. Akio's planetarian is one of them, but a much more significant one is the Sword of Dios, drawn from Anthy's bosom every other episode. No one asks why. Come the second arc onwards [[spoiler:swords are being drawn from everyone's chests]]. [[spoiler:And, to cap it off, then the Sword of Dios has to be drawn from Utena's breast.]]

** In ''Anime/TheMysteryOfMamo'', Goemon's sword is shattered in a duel and Lupin takes one of the shards. [[spoiler:In the climax of the movie, Lupin uses the shard to save himself by reflecting Mamo's lasers back at him.]]

* In Episode 14 of ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Tokiomi mentions a treasure of Gilgamesh's he calls the "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Sword of Rupture]]" which Gilgamesh is completely unwilling to use even though it could apparently easily destroy Caster's giant monster. In Episode 23, [[spoiler:Gilgamesh summons it during his fight with Rider and completely destroys his Reality Marble and his entire army with only a few seconds of charging.]]

* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'':

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': The Death Note that Ryuk drops into the human world is but one of two Death Notes that this {{Shinigami}} has, and he tells Light that when he dies, it will be Ryuk writing down Light's name in the other notebook. [[spoiler:Ryuk makes good on this promise at the end of the manga, where he proceeds to do just this, sending Light into his final VillainousBreakdown and ending his reign of terror as Kira once and for all]].

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': The Death Note that Ryuk drops into the human world is but one of two Death Notes that this {{Shinigami}} has, and he tells Light that when he dies, it will be Ryuk writing down Light's name. [[spoiler:Ryuk makes good on this promise at the end of the manga, where he proceeds to do just this, sending Light into his final VillainousBreakdown and ending his reign of terror as Kira once and for all]].

* In the [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa manga adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', the feather that Librari gives Link turns into a Roc’s Cape, allowing Link to fly.

** [[spoiler:Shizuru's [[PsychoLesbian thing]] for Natsuki:]] my Mom, ''somehow'', picked up on it in their ''first onscreen interaction, the first time she watched the series'' in Episode 3, becomes important in Episode 21.

* Yuuta's collection of items related to his "[[OldShame Dark Flame Master]]" in ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'', which he originally planned on throwing away come tenth-grade, turn out to be useful whenever he has to distract and/or keep Rikka and friends occupied.

* In ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'', no one would have imagined the cellphone Hatou innocently wanted to buy would end up being used to [[spoiler: re-attach her cut off arm and become a embedded means of communication with Yukari]]. But that's not where its usefulness ends. It also becomes [[spoiler: the means through which Hatou can interfere with the [[TheMultiverse parallel worlds]] by communicating with her alternate selves.]]

** [[spoiler:[[YaoiFangirl Aoi and Yayoi's]] fantasy]] in Episode 5. See Episode 17. Because they were right about ''everything''. [[spoiler: Except for [[SweetPollyOliver Akira's gender]].]]

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** During the "Mother's Rosary" arc, it's mentioned in passing early on that Asuna has a second ALO account with a Sylph character named Erika. Other characters suggest that Asuna use Erika to challenge Zekken (aka Yuuki), but Asuna decides not to, since she's more comfortable using her Undine healer. Asuna later has her mother log on to Erika when she shows her the house that she bought in ALO (another Chekhov's Gun in and of itself), which not only is like the one Asuna owned in SAO, but looks very much like her maternal grandparents' house.
** In the light novel version of the Alfheim arc, Kirito and Leafa take a brief detour through Jotunheim, catching a glimpse of the legendary sword Excalibur in the process. This ends up being a double example, because not only does Kirito summon the sword with his admin powers during the battle with Oberon, but the Calibur arc is about the quest to find the sword.
** In ''Alicization'', Cardinal mentions that the gods of the Underworld, while technically fake, do exist as super-accounts that the supervisors use in case of emergency. They end up being used during the War of the Underworld arc- Asuna uses Stacia, Leafa uses Terraria, Sinon uses Solus and [[ArcVillain Gabriel]] uses [[DarkIsEvil Vecta]].
** Also from ''Alicization'', Higa tells Rinko and Asuna about two robots on the Ocean Turtle-- Ichiemon and Niemon. Both prove essential to saving the day-- Ichiemon acts as a diversion while Niemon [[spoiler:under the control of Akihiko Kayaba, saves the Ocean Turtle by ripping off the explosive charges]].

* ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' features a very sneaky ChekhovsGun in the form of Eureka and Anemone's collars. They seem like random accessories until the ''very last episode'', where it's revealed that they're [[spoiler:devices meant to destroy the Scub Coral, triggered by Dewey Novak's suicide.]]
** Kinda foreshadows its significance in Episode 11 when Eureka does not take the collar off when bathing and Episode 19 when the collar was intact while Eureka's clothes and hair were being consumed by the Scab Coral.

* ''Anime/LupinIII'':
** ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'', there are a few details you might miss the first few times you watch the movie:
*** Right before Lupin and Jigen are attacked in their room by the Count's assassins, you see Lupin fiddling around with some sort of forgery kit. What's he doing, you ask? [[spoiler: Making the fake ring he gives to the Count about halfway through the film.]]

* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', [[IdolSinger Sheryl]] loses one of her earrings ([[CallBack inherited from her mother]]) when Alto crashes into her in mid-performance. She goes nuts looking for it, but later tells him to keep it as a good luck charm during combat (at which point it's lost forever.) It is later revealed that the earrings are made of [[spoiler:[[AppliedPhlebotinum Fold Quartz]], a material that can transmit thoughts and emotions across the galaxy, and she (and Alto) use the remaining one during the GrandFinale to communicate with the [[BigCreepyCrawlies Vajra]]]]. It became so important, the Blu-Ray release of ''Anime/MacrossZero'' went back and [[{{Revision}} added the earrings]] [[CallForward in a scene with Sheryl's ancestors]].

* In ''Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}'' Episode 6, Boss gives Kouji a bar to protect him while trying to get to Mazinkaiser. Kouji accepts it, but points out he has protection in the form of his Photon Gun. In the next (and final episode), Mazinkaiser's steering wheel is destroyed in battle with Hell King Gorgon. As the machine tumbles back, the bar tumbles out and Kouji remembers Boss giving it to him, causing him to shove it in the shaft and finish the fight.

* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' has a Chekhov's {{BFS}}, Blutsauger. It first appears in the hands of a minor antagonist, and when he's defeated, leaving the sword, any viewer could correctly deduce that by the end of the season, it will be in [[TheHero Yuji's]] hands. Although it trades hands several times, Yuji does indeed use it in the first season finale, and in the second half of the second season he carries it regularly.
** There was also the antifire ring, which shows up with the first minor antagonist and is given to Yuji afterwards. He uses it to survive two later fights, including the finale of the first season.

* In ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', while getting annoyed at Kotetsu's attempts to get him a birthday gift, Barnaby randomly points to the television show that was advertising a rare diamond necklace and says to get him that. Later on the episode, a gang steals it and Kotetsu catches the boss and presents him to Barnaby, complete with the diamond necklace.

* ''Manga/XxxHolic'' has the egg given to Domeki by Yuuko, who tells him that it'll be useful somewhere down the road. [[spoiler: Subverted in that even though it's brought up regularly, the right time for it to be used never comes.]]

* In an episode ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'', Yuma uses Baby Tiragon to beat Cathy three episodes after he got it from Tokunosuke as the token of their friendship.

* Remember that absolutely unremarkable ruby used as an example by Antarcticite in ''Manga/LandOfTheLustrous''? It'll be later used to awaken Padparadscha.

** In ''Anime/TheMysteryOfMamo'', Goemon's sword is shattered in a duel and Lupin takes one of the shards. [[spoiler:In the climax of the movie, Lupin uses the shard to save himself by reflecting Mamo's lasers back at him.]]

* ''Manga/CaseClosed'': It's frequently used and a regular watcher ends up being trained to look for them in every episode. They're particularly subtle, too. One episode involved the culprit wearing a headband with the name of her favorite singer. The singer, Okino Yoko, has an accent over the third 'o'[[labelnote:language note]]This is also the spelling as used in Wiki/TheOtherWiki. Elsewhere it is just written as ''ou''.[[/labelnote]]. When the culprit committed the crime, blood, which was the same color as headband, got on it (conveniently right on the accent mark), and was discovered by Mouri *cough* Conan *cough* as the killer. If you are an American viewer, you might tilt your head at the odd spelling at first since, hey! You don't know how Japanese worth squat! It was probably caught easier by Japanese viewers, but still subtle, and no one really pays attention to it until Conan provides the proof.