History Main / BackwardsFiringGun

* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'': When facing off against an escaped alien prisoner in "The Take No Prisoners Syndrome", J grabs an unfamiliar alien weapon from the armory and threatens him with it. The Bug sneeringly informs J that he's grabbed a "Sonar Tube" and is holding it backwards. J turns it around, looking at the brace-like structure on the end he's pointing at himself, then points it back at the Bug and pulls the trigger. A small nozzle promptly pops up and aims a targeting laser at J's forehead, forcing him to jerk the blaster up before it nearly takes his head off.

* There is a possibly photoshopped image of a backwards revolver circling the Internet. ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'' has used it a few times as one of its BRollRebus-esque images.

* ''Series/TheGoodies''. In the movies episode, Graham Garden is making TheWestern. He kicks open a door holding revolvers GunsAkimbo, only for the door to slam back in his face. When he opens the door again, both barrels are bent upwards, causing debris to rain down from the ceiling when he fires.

* Played with in ''Literature/{{Starworld}}'', where a pistol has been {{Booby Trap}}ped to explode when fired. The pistol belonged to [[MagnificentBastard Thurgood-Smyth]], who realised an underling suspected him of treason, so he has the weapon prepared in advance, knowing the underling couldn't resist [[EvilGloating confronting him directly]] with his own weapon.

* ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'': In "El tirano", Mortadelo modifies General Panocho's rifle to be this. However, Filemón demands to try it, not knowing it's been rigged, and inadvertently shoots himself.

* The ''Literature/{{Clue}}'' book "Midnight Phone Calls" has a chapter titled "The Guest Who Couldn't Shoot Straight". While hunting an escaped rhinoceros, the six guests are armed with revolvers, two that only shoot to the left, two that only shoot to the right, and two that work normally. At the end, one of the first four revolvers is pointed directly at the rhino, but apparently hits one of the other guests instead. (As usual, it turns out the "victim" isn't really dead.)

* The classic TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons module ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'' has a super-science pistol that relies on a player to interpret it being held like a normal gun (something the ''characters'' should never have seen before) to apply this effect. It doesn't actually fire backwards - its designed to fire at what its aimed at, its just designed to fool the ''player'' using meta-game knowledge instead of figuring out the correct way to hold it.

* In "The Girl Who Was Death", a zany [[{{Pastiche}} spy-spoof]] episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner'' (original), Number 6 modifies some rifles so they'll fire backwards before some guards arrive and attempt to shoot him with them. He also modifies German "potato-masher" grenades so the charges are in the handles instead of the heads.

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'' book "Midnight Phone Calls" has a chapter titled "The Guest Who Couldn't Shoot Straight". While hunting an escaped rhinoceros, the six guests are armed with revolvers, two that only shoot to the left, two that only shoot to the right, and two that work normally. At the end, one of the first four revolvers is pointed directly at the rhino, but apparently hits one of the other guests instead. (As usual, it turns out the "victim" isn't really dead.)

* In UsefulNotes/WorldWarI there were attempts made to mount large caliber cannons onto the flimsy biplanes of the day to shoot down zeppelins, and one method used to mitigate the substantial recoil was to simply weld a second cannon facing backwards to the back of the forward firing cannon, and firing both guns at the same time, the rear one loaded with chain or other such material to cancel out the recoil of the forward firing gun. This was further developed into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle recoilless rifles]]. Instead of the recoil being absorbed by a gun carriage, it is countered by propellant gasses discharging the rear of the weapon. Therefore, a massive gun mount is not needed, allowing small vehicles and even individual soldiers to carry a weapon that can penetrate tank armor. The downside is that this backblast can kill anybody standing behind the weapon when it is fired, and the explosive pressure prevents it from being fired indoors i.e. hiding in a room and shooting out the window. Some models counter this by including a plastic canister of salt water at the back of the round, which is disintegrated by the blast and disperses at much lower pressure.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In "Crime on the Wing" in ''Batman'' #33, the Penguin drops one of his gimmicked umbrellas while fighting Batman. Batman picks it up and fires it the Penguin, only to discover that umbrella is booby-trapped, and fires a dose of gas back in the firer's face.

* The bent-barrel version of this trope was tested--and [[TropesExaminedByTheMythBusters confirmed]]--on ''Series/MythBusters''.

* Happened in a skit of ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' that spoofed ''Series/TheATeam''.

* ''Grimtooth's Traps Too'' contains a reverse-firing "Double Crossbow" as a loot trap.

* ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'': In "El tirano", Mortadelo modifies General Panocho's rifle to be this. However, Filemón demands to try it, not knowing it's been rigged, and inadvertedly shoots himself.

* In a Russ Abbot sketch parodying ''Film/TheGodfather'', the [[ParodyName Oddfather]] explains that if he suspects someone's trying to kill him, he leaves a backwards-firing gun on the table, so the would-be assassin snatches it up, aims it at him, and shoots themself. The henchman he's explaining this to grabs the nearest gun, shouts "[[TemptingFate I'm smarter than da rest! Say goodbye, Oddfather!]]", [[TooDumbToLive points it at himself, and pulls the trigger.]] Turns out it wasn't a backward-firing gun after all.

** A ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode in which Crichton [[AndYouWereThere imagines himself]] in a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon has him pulling this trick by sliding the sight forwards on D'Argo's shotgun. An angry D'Argo swops the barrel round, only to shoot himself a second time. Exactly like Wile E Coyote above.

* In the 1966 film ''Film/TheSilencers'' (part of the MattHelm series starring DeanMartin, a parody of the spy genre), a guard got hold of one of these guns, not knowing it was a trick gun, and pointed it at a woman - as she stoically awaited her fate (she didn't know what it was either). The guard pulled the trigger, shot himself, looked kind of puzzled, and shot himself ''again''. She took the gun and fled. When she was later confronted by another guard, she pointed it at her own chest. The guard, thinking she was about to commit suicide, said "You don't have to do that." She replied "I must" and pulled the trigger, killing him.

* The classic DungeonsAndDragons module ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'' has a super-science pistol that relies on a player to interpret it being held like a normal gun (something the ''characters'' should never have seen before) to apply this effect. It doesn't actually fire backwards - its designed to fire at what its aimed at, its just designed to fool the ''player'' using meta-game knowledge instead of figuring out the correct way to hold it.

* In one episode of ''BastardOperatorFromHell'', we find out that the cattle prods have two settings. "Stir Fry" operates normally, while "Stun" causes the high voltage to fry the person brandishing the device. This is then used by the Bastard when he suggests the Boss use the cattle prod to stun the PFY.

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Lair of the Libertines", one VictimOfTheWeek is killed when the killer removes the safety catch from is pistol. This causes the firing pin to shoot out backwards when he fires the pistol, hitting him between the eyes.