History ChekhovsSkill / Literature

* In the ''VattasWar'' saga, several characters either off-page has learned something, or in the books learns something that turns out to be useful. Examples: Grace Vatta being [[spoiler: the company spy]] and fruitcake maker extraordinaire, and Kylara Vatta having been trained in the military as well as [[spoiler: learning how to use fairly exotic weapons]], which all turn out to be useful.

* In ''Literature/RangersApprentice'', Gilan teaches Will how to use two knives to defend himself against a sword and has Horace practice with him. Horace later uses this skill to win his duel with [[spoiler: Lord Morgorath]] when his sword is sliced in half, leaving him with a "useless" sword and a dagger.

* In RangersApprentice, Gilan teaches Will how to use two knives to defend himself with a sword and has Horace practice with him. Horace later uses this skill to win his duel with [[spoiler: Lord Morgorath]] when his sword is sliced in half, leaving him with a "useless" sword and a dagger.

* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': Clary's ability to draw - this helps her [[spoiler:create Runes of her own]].

* ''PrinceRoger'': Invoked. In order to join The Empress' Own (the Imperial Bodyguard), one must be an extremely badass soldier, be able to keep a high level of spit and polish, and have at least one skillset with the potential to become a Chekov's Skill. The ones shown in the series vary from the reasonable (gunsmithing, medicine, demolitions) to the implausible (linguistics, car theft) to the bizarre (animal wrangling, shipbuilding, comparative theology).
** The titular prince, considered by most of his entourage to be a useless prat at first, actually turns out to be one of the best suited to deal with Marduk's climate and wildlife due to being an avid big-game hunter and having spent a lot of time on safari. He has little training with military-grade weapons, but he can thread a needle at sixhundred meters with his favorite hunting rifle.

* In Sandry's ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Circle Opens]]'' book, she finds her Pasco dancing over a net to attract fish to it. They use this exact method to catch the assassins later in the book, only with a net made of [[AntiMagic unmagic]].

* ''PrinceRoger'': Enforced. In order to join The Empress' Own (the Imperial Bodyguard), one must be an extremely badass soldier, be able to keep a high level of spit and polish, and have at least one skillset with the potential to become a Chekov's Skill. The ones shown in the series vary from the reasonable (gunsmithing, medicine, demolitions) to the implausible (linguistics, car theft) to the bizarre (animal wrangling, shipbuilding, comparative theology).

** The titular prince, considered by most of his entourage to be a useless prat at first, actually turns out to be one of the best suited to deal with Marduk's climate and wildlife due to being an avid big-game hunter and having spent a lot of time on safari. He has little training with military-grade weapons, but his hunting experience makes him capable of threading a needle at sixhundred meters with his favorite hunting rifle.

* In ''Joyland'' by StephenKing, references are made throughout the story of Annie's proficiency with a gun - her teenage years as a shooting champion, her ability to clean up at the fairground shooting range, and how her otherwise troubled relationship with her father hinged on her marksmanship talents during their hunting trips together. This, and the fact that she still keeps a gun in her safe despite renouncing recreational use of them, later comes in handy when Dev ends up AloneWithThePsycho.

* Happens many times in ''HarryPotter,'' usually in regards to an important spell they need to learn.

** Ancient Runes is one of the many electives Hermione is mentioned taking. In the seventh book, [[spoiler:She translates The Tales of Beedle the Bard from runes, leading them to the story of the Deathly Hallows]].
** Harry being a Parseltongue. Him being able to speak the language of serpents appears in ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone The Philosopher's Stone]]'' as an example of all the weird things happening around him. Since it doesn't come up again in the rest of the book, one could think it was nothing unusual in the magical world. However, in ''[[HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber Of Secrets]]'', Harry learns that this ability is extremely rare and only previously appeared in descendants of Salazar Slytherin. The skill ultimately allows Harry to enter the Chamber and fight the basilisk inside. [[spoiler:More importantly, it is later revealed that Voldemort possessed this ability and inadvertently passed it on during his first attempt to kill him. Thus, Harry being a Parseltongue helped to slyly foreshadow that he was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes all along.]]

* Used to good effect in DealingWithDragons by Patricia C. Wrede. The main character spends the first chapter learning skills her parents think are useless. She spends the rest of the book using those skills to [[spoiler:melt wizards with lemony dishwater.]]

* In book one of TheSharingKnife, Dag says offhand to Whit that someday he'll teach him archery. In book three, it turns out Whit has been practising, and Dag gives him more lessons. In book four, Whit buys a crossbow. Towards the end of book four, Whit [[spoiler:shoots down a flying malice with a sharing knife that's been converted into a crossbow bolt]].

* In DanAbnett's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/{{Titanicus}}'', Golla Ulduna is introduced as a midwife, to emphasize the insanity of her being called up as part of the tertiary reserve. But when they find a princeps in the ruins of his engine, Golla is able to get him breathing air again, just as she would get a baby breathing.

* In Zora Neale Hurston's MosesManOfTheMountain, when Moses is learning magic from his tutor Jethro he is particularly skilled at summoning large amounts of vermin. Those familiar with [[Literature/TheBible a certain other work]] will realize this comes in handy later in convincing the pharaoh to free the Hebrews.

* In DanAbnett's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''{{Titanicus}}'', Golla Ulduna is introduced as a midwife, to emphasize the insanity of her being called up as part of the tertiary reserve. But when they find a princeps in the ruins of his engine, Golla is able to get him breathing air again, just as she would get a baby breathing.

* Justified in ''APrayerForOwenMeany''. Owen is too short to dunk a basketball effectively, but he's so lightweight that when he jumps into Johnny's arms Johnny can lift him high enough for a proper dunk. Owen insists that the pair practice this, and that what matters is being able to do it in under three seconds. (The narrator also finds out later that Owen was practicing how to perfectly pronounce a specific Vietnamese phrase). As it turns out, Owen is DreamingOfThingsToCome, and he knows ''exactly'' what situation this will be useful for.

* Every other ''HardyBoys'' novel had Chet Morton take up some hilarious new hobby, such as ventriloquism or shot-putting. These skills would always come in handy by the end of the book, and would never be referenced again in any later books.