History ChekhovsSkill / Literature

* The first thing Alan and Leonard learn to use mind control for in ''Literature/AlanMendelsohnTheBoyFromMars'' is to make someone remove their hat and rub their belly at the same time. Guess what also happens to be the Nafsulian gesture of irrevocable surrender? Near the end of the book, [[spoiler: Alan and Leonard use their mind control skills to get Manny, Moe, and Jack to surrender, freeing the people of Waka-Waka.]]

* Alexis Larkin in ''{{Literature/Armada}}'' shows off being able to hack into the [=QComms=] when she first meets the protagonist and teaches him how to do it too. It ends up coming in handy at the end when they have to find where the other characters are and contact them.
* Literature/ModestyBlaise novels:

* ''Literature/ThisQuestIsBullshit'': The main character Eve has the skills named [[{{Main/ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin}} Run Away and Heave]] as part of her Courier Character Class. The skill descriptions indicate that it the skills are to help the courier outrun danger and to carry heavy items for delivery. Eve uses the skills to carry her party member on her shoulder to escape a high level enemy.
* In Creator/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.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein is rather fond of this trope. The skill in question is usually some sort of mechanical engineering, which the main character does as a hobby, but ends up saving his life later.
** One particular example is the premise for the novel. In ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel'', the main character wins the titular suit in a contest. He spends his free time from then on making it space-worthy, and gets it fully operational just in time for him to be the RightManInTheWrongPlace to [[spoiler:save all of humanity]].
* At the beginning of the second ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' book, Lan is giving Rand training in swordfighting, and insists to never use the "Heron Wading in the Rushes" technique -- a stance lifting your sword high, that leaves yourself open to attack so that you have a chance to strike.
** Turns into a real problem when shortly there after, Lan tells him of the technique "Sheathing the Sword" taking an attack so you have a chance to strike.
*** A ChekhovsSkill in the making, Mat, Thom and Oliver are constantly seen playing Snakes and Foxes, a kids game, which Mat is openly dismissive of. By the end of book 11 it has become clear that [[spoiler: the game is an instruction manual for invading the world of the Finn and defeating them, which those three are well on their way to doing to save Moraine.]]

* ''Literature/TheLastDayOfKrypton:'' Zor-El's wife Allura runs a massive greenhouse. In the final chapters, she mentions that she can use it to feed the people of Argo City if her husband's energy field saves them from the planet's explosion.

* ''Literature/{{Kane}}'': In her BackStory, Erill from ''Dark Crusade'' ran away with a [[CircusBrat circus]] and learnt acrobatics. This saves her life at the end of the book, because it allows her to [[spoiler:survive an explosion]]. Regular guards are not so lucky and end with broken necks.

* In Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Hover Car Racer'', Jason's CrazyPrepared mentor teaches him what to do in any situation that might come up in a race, including how to do a manual pit stop if the power is cut off. This skill allows him to cut a 30 second lead in an important race.

* ''Literature/HoverCarRacer'' has manual pit stops. In the highly automated and computer-driven world of hover car racing, they're considered so anachronistic only Jason and his team train to do them, which comes in very handy when a virus crashes all the systems in one race, leaving them with a crucial advantage.

* Near the start of ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', Granny Weatherwax works out how much Nanny Ogg is owed in royalties, and the narration notes that Granny is very good with numbers, precisely because she doesn't trust them. Towards the end [[spoiler: she deciphers the Opera House's deliberately terrible book-keeping, which has been carefully designed to conceal Salzella's embezzlement.]]

* ''[[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/366 Bab: A Sub-Deb]]'' by Creator/MaryRobertsRhinehart has SpoiledSweet rich girl Bab and her friends on the eve of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, having learned of the [[https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/satin-khaki-women-join-military-preparedness-movement-1916 Emergency Services Corps]] military camp for girls and women, starting their own camp and practicing various skills including semaphore. Bab subsequently uncovers a German plot going on among some of the servants in her own home and uses signals to alert a neighbor.

* In the Literature/ModestyBlaise novel ''The Night of Morningstar'', Modesty demonstrates an ability to control individual muscles with remarkable precision, as a party trick to distract Stephen and Dinah when they're worried about Willie. Later, [[spoiler:after being injected with a sedative by the villains, she uses the same muscle control to squeeze the injected fluid back out through the injeciton puncture]].