History Main / BackwardsFiringGun

* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Assie Come Home" when making a delivery Leela has Bender bend the barrels of all the guns leading to all the gang members killing themselves.

** In "The Time of the Doctor", the Doctor convinces the wooden Cyberman that he has converted its weapon into one of these. When the Cyberman reverses his gun, it winds up shooting itself in the chest.
** In Fugitive of the Judoon, the Doctor wields one of these which is then taken by the villain, who unwittingly shoots themselves with it.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Time of the Doctor", the Doctor convinces the wooden Cyberman that he has converted its weapon into one of these. When the Cyberman reverses his gun, it winds up shooting itself in the chest.

* A completely accidental version occurs in an episode of ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' due to a design flaw in an automatic weapon: in an attempt to keep the weapon's weight down, the designer made the barrel wall too thin to withstand the heat and pressure buildup that comes from continuous firing, causing the barrel to explode if the gun is in operation for too long. The owner of one of said guns learns this the hard way, taking a piece of shrapnel in the neck.

* A completely accidental version occurs in an episode of ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' due to a design flaw in an automatic weapon: in an attempt to keep the gun lightweight, the designer made the barrel wall too thin to withstand the heat and pressure buildup that comes from continuous firing, causing the barrel to explode if the gun is in operation for too long. The owner of one of said guns learns this the hard way, taking a piece of shrapnel in the neck.

* A completely accidental version occurs in an episode of ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' due to a design flaw in an automatic weapon: the designer made the barrel wall too thin to withstand the heat and pressure buildup that comes from continuous firing, causing the barrel to explode if the gun is in operation for too long. The owner of one of said guns learns this the hard way, taking a piece of shrapnel in the neck.

* ''Series/TheGoodies''. In the movies episode, Graham Garden is making TheWestern. He kicks open a door holding revolvers GunsAkimbo, only for the [[DoorSlamsYou 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.

* ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'': As seen in the page image, this occurs in one strip drawn for a series of paperbacks.

* ''VideoGame/DuckGame'' has one inspired by the Suicide Gun image manipulation. [[TooDumbToLive Naturally, using it kills its user]] and it's often hard to tell from the normal revolver due to the small size of the handle and trigger.

* ''Film/GhostTown1998'': Outlaws Ned and Billy get the drop on Langley and force him to hand over his shotgun. Before he does so, he surreptitiously plugs the barrel with mud. As soon as he gets the gun, Billy fires it at Langley. The plugged barrel makes it backfire; shooting Billy in the gut.

** The US UsefulNotes/NavySeals are among the only members of the US military to use a 9mm pistol that ''isn't'' the Beretta M9, partly because of a defect that caused the same sort of issue as the Ross rifle above -- a specific part was giving out five times earlier than it should have, causing the slide to fly off and hit the SEAL firing it in the face while training. As the quote went, "you ain't a SEAL until you've eaten Italian steel".
*** Beretta eventually fixed the problem with the M9 (hence the model now called "[=M9A1=]", the "A1" bit meaning it went through an alteration) and the only reason the [=SEALs=] encountered it was because they train in a month more than most members do in their entire careers. [[NeverLiveItDown However, the damage was already done]].
* 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.

* Backwards-firing [[http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/cutlery/cutlery.htm Combat Cutlery]]. "It is difficult to imagine a social gathering where it is appropriate to shoot off your own elbows."
* One 'dirty trick' of covert warfare is to arrange for your enemy to get hold of ammunition loaded with C4 instead of gunpowder.

* In ther ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the city Watch was at the end of the supply and priority chain for just about everything, and tended to be issued with crossbows so defective that they fired backwards. This ended when Captain Carrot raided the city armoury so as to be able to control an obvious source of weaponry and deny it to rioters, then to issue his City Militia with reliable kit. Later on, Sam Vimes uses his new wealth as Duke of Ankh to ensure Watchmen get the best sidearms available.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1302455081088409400
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* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "The Inquisitor", Kryten and Lister steal the Inquisitor's gauntlet and Kryten reprograms it. When the Inquisitor reacquires it and fires it at Lister, it fires backwards and removes the Inquisitor from history.
* ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'': At the end of "Son of a Gun", the skinhead leader Jonjo Burden is blinded when the Sten gun he is aiming at Gently backfires. It turns out the boy he was forcing into modifying it hadn't finished boring out the barrel.
* ''Series/TheGoodies''. In the movies episode, Graham Garden is making TheWestern. He kicks open a door holding revolvers GunsAkimbo, only for the [[DoorSlamsYou 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.
* 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 themselves. 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.
* "Wine, Women and War", the second pilot for ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' has Steve Austin crimp the barrel of a mook's gun closed with his bionic fingers. The mook doesn't notice this and, despite Austin warning him not to fire, he shoots and nails himself (though it's unclear whether he actually shoots himself or gets knocked out by backfire).
* One episode of ''Series/RunningMan'' had Yoo Jae-suk, acting as [[Franchise/JamesBond Yoomes Bond]], searching for an apprentice. He ends up taking in Lee Kwang-soo, whose medical history has a prominent case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. Nonetheless, the two working together were able to eliminate the other players with squirt guns until they were the last ones left, whereupon Jae-suk presents Kwang-soo with one last test by handing him a squirt gun and challenging him to either shoot him and take the prize for himself, or put the gun down and they can split it. It becomes a SecretTestOfCharacter, as the gun Jae-suk hands over is a trick gun that fires backwards. [[spoiler:Kwang-soo fails the test and pulls the trigger only to shoot himself in the face, to Jae-suk's disappointment but not to his surprise.]]
* On ''Series/{{Class}}'', the displacement gun is an alien weapon that fires both forwards ''and'' backwards, thus killing its wielder as well as its target. It was intentionally designed as a [[TakingYouWithMe suicide weapon]], as it's intended exclusively for use against Shadow-Kin: otherworldly entities that exist inside other beings' shadows, hence can only be killed if the opponent whose shadow they are inhabiting is simultaneously annihilated.

* 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 - it's designed to fire at what it's aimed at, it's just designed to fool the ''player'' using meta-game knowledge instead of figuring out the correct way to hold it.

* One of the ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' chapters has Guybrush insert a glass tube in the [[VisualPun shape of the letter 'U']] into an antagonist's gun, causing it to fire backwards.
* The site ''Epic Mafia'', centered around an online version of the [[ParlorGames parlor game]] ''Mafia'', has the Fabricator role. While Village-aligned roles such as the Gunsmith, Blacksmith, and Santa can secretly give others gifts every night, this EvilCounterpart can create fake versions of items. This includes a fake gun which backfires and kills the user.

* In ''Videogame/WarThunder'', damage to the breach of the tank's cannon can cause it to misfire. Attempting to fire with a damaged breach has a fairly high chance of causing the shell to explode in the breach, instantly killing the crew.

** 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 swaps the barrel round, only to shoot himself a second time. Exactly like Wile E Coyote above.
* ''[[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis and Gnasher]]'': In "Yard Sale", Walter picks up Dennis's squirt gun and attempts to shoot Dennis with it, only for it to spray him in the face as Dennis says it backfires. He then turns the gun around and attempts to shoot Dennis again, only to soaked again as the water comes out the barrel and Dennis adds "Sometimes".
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Assie Come Home" when making a delivery Leela has Bender bend the barrels of all the guns leading to all the gang members killing themselves.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'': In "An American Benwolf in London", a robot grabs Rook's gun off him and points it at him. Rook says that he knows something about the weapon that the robot does not. As the robot fires and blows a hole in its own chest, Rook says "You're holding it backwards".
* ''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 and the open barrel-like end pointed at the Bug, then puts back the way he had it, 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.

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': Battler suggests this to explain one crime.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The anime only G8 arc had the Straw Hats (specifically Luffy, Ussop, Zoro and Robin) when the Marines corner them in a storage vault (They had raided it to recover the treasure they had gained from Skypeia). When a Marine Commander named Shepherd pulls out a gigantic gun dubbed the "Eagle Launcher" and goes to aim. But the Marines around him tell him he's pointing it the wrong way. When he doesn't believe them, he fires and predictably ends up hitting the troops behind him. What's more Robin uses her Hana Hana powers to take control of him and the gun to keep firing it, giving the Straw Hats a path to escape.

* An issue of the ''[[Franchise/TheFlash Impulse]]'' comic book guest-starring ComicBook/TheRiddler featured said Crown Prince of Conundrums with a revolver rigged to shoot backward.
* Used seriously in one ''ComicBook/{{Torpedo}}'' story, where the killer commissions a special one-shot gun for this purpose, replacing a cop's gun with it.

* ''ComicBook/SinCity: The Big Fat Kill'' had this happen to [[DirtyCop Jackie Boy]]. Miho puts a throwing spike into the barrel of Jackie Boy's gun. Despite Dwight's warnings not to fire the thing, he fires the weapon, and the slide flies backwards, impaling him through the head. This doesn't even kill him, just render him blind.

* ''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.
** A variation in "El premio No-Vel": VillainOfTheWeek Ten-Go-Pis infiltrates the TIA's headquarters and tampers with Filemón's gun, making it fire ''upwards'' and causing Filemón to shoot himself in the nose.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In "Crime on the Wing" in ''Batman'' #33, ComicBook/ThePenguin drops one of his gimmicked umbrellas while fighting Batman. Batman picks it up and fires it at the Penguin, only to discover that umbrella is booby-trapped, and fires a dose of gas back in the firer's face.

* Happens with a wrongly assembled cannon in Creator/BusterKeaton's ''Film/ThePlayhouse''.
* In the 1966 film ''Film/TheSilencers'' (part of the MattHelm series starring Music/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.
* In ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', GeorgeRaft, who was best known for playing gangsters, is shot with such a gun.
* In ''Film/BallisticEcksVsSever'' the big bad tricks a lackey into killing himself by giving him a backwards firing pistol. More of a loyalty test with a built in punishment, since he was told to shoot himself with it.
* In the 1989 Tamil film ''ApoorvaSagodharargal'', the dwarf Appu tricks Sathyamoorthy into killing himself with a circus hand gun that shoots backwards.

* An improvised version occurs during a GunStruggle in ''Film/{{The Art of War}}'' (2000), with the protagonist jamming the barrel of TheDragon's pistol against a marble floor and forcing him to fire, causing part of the slide to fly back into his face from the confined gunshot.
* The titular pistol in ''Film/TheMexican'' killed its first victim this way when it was being test fired. This lead to the persistent rumor that the pistol was cursed.
* ''Film/{{Hulk}}''. The Incredible Hulk bends back a tank's cannon so it's pointing at the wide-eyed crew. It can't fire this way of course, [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry but they get the point]].
* ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'': The final trap in the [[spoiler: original version of the]] Farm Trap sequence is a shotgun that was rigged to fire in reverse. One of the last two survivors grabs it, assuming that killing the other survivor is the only way out of the trap, and is killed when the trigger is pulled. [[spoiler: This also destroys the key that would have let both survivors escape, which was hidden inside the shotgun shell.]]

* The ''Literature/{{Lovejoy}}'' novel ''The Judas Pair'' featured a pair of duelling pistols designed to fire backwards. The owner would challenge someone to a duel and let them fire first. His opponent would end up shooting himself in the face. This story was also made into an episode of the ''Lovejoy'' TV series.

* The [[http://livre.fnac.com/a2516355/Hugh-Laurie-Tout-est-sous-controle French Cover]] of Creator/HughLaurie's ''Literature/TheGunSeller'' shows an automatic pistol with the barrel clearly pointing backwards.

* In "The Girl Who Was Death", a zany [[{{Pastiche}} spy-spoof]] episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' (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.
* ''Series/TheWildWildWest'':
** In the season 2 episode "[[Recap/TheWildWildWestS2E16TheNightOfTheTotteringTontine The Night of the Tottering Tontine]]", the killer substitutes such a gun for the regular revolver of one of his intended victims, one Harry Stimson. Since Stimson was a TriggerHappy {{Sociopath}} who enjoyed shooting up saloons for fun... cue him taking the substituted gun and offing himself instead.
** In another season 2 episode, "[[Recap/TheWildWildWestS2E28TheNightOfTheBogusBandits The Night of the Bogus Bandits]]", Miguelito Loveless hands James West such a pistol, but he sees through the ruse.
*** Said gun pulls a {{Chekhov|sGun}} at the end of the episode, when Loveless pulls a gun on a hostage, only for West to remind him that there were two identical-looking guns in the bag, only one of which shot forwards.

* In a season 3 episode of the Canadian series ''Series/TheListener'', this turns out to be the payoff for the villain's EvilPlan to wreak revenge on the guy who molested his daughter -- he set up a scenario where he knew the guy would get the gun from him, but the gun was rigged to shoot the chamber backwards right into his head. This also allows him to rationalize the guy's death with his personal vow against killing others; ''technically'' he didn't pull the trigger.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Time of the Doctor", the Doctor convinces the wooden Cyberman that he has converted its weapon into one of these. When the Cyberman reverses his gun, it winds up shooting itself in the chest.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. In "Worst Case Scenario" Seska has programmed the holodeck to become a DeadlyGame involving the Voyager crew; when Holodeck-Janeway fires her compression phaser rifle at Seska, it [[DeathIsCheap disintegrates Janeway]]. Later Seska forces Tuvok to PutDownYourGunAndStepAway, but the same thing happens to her as Tuvok sabotaged his rifle before handing it over.

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

* One episode of ''Series/RunningMan'' had Yoo Jae-suk, acting as [[Franchise/JamesBond Yoomes Bond]], searching for an apprentice. He ends up taking in Lee Kwang-soo, whose medical history has a prominent case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. Nonetheless, the two working together were able to eliminate the other players with squirt guns until they were the last ones left, whereupon Jae-suk presents Kwang-soo with one last test by handing him a squirt gun and challenging him to either shoot him and take the prize for himself, or put the gun down and they can split it. It becomes a SecretTestOfCharacter, as the gun Jae-suk hands over is a backwards-firing gun. [[spoiler:Kwang-soo fails the test and pulls the trigger only to shoot himself in the face, to Jae-suk's disappointment but not to his surprise.]]

** In the season 2 episode "[[Recap/TheWildWildWestS2E16TheNightOfTheTotteringTontine The Night of the Tottering Tontine]]", the killer substitutes such a gun for the regular revolver of one of his intended victims, one Harry Stimson. Since Stimson was a TriggerHappySociopath who enjoyed shooting up saloons for fun... cue him taking the substituted gun and offing himself instead.
** In another season 2 episode, "[[Recap/TheWildWildWestS2E28TheNightOfTheBigus Bandits The Night of the Bogus Bandits]]", Miguelito Loveless hands James West such a pistol, but he sees through the ruse.

* In an episode of ''Series/TheWildWildWest'', Miguelito Loveless hands James West such a pistol, but he sees through the ruse.
** Said gun pulls a [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov]] at the end of the episode, when Loveless pulls a gun on a hostage, only for West to remind him that there were two identical-looking guns in the bag, only one of which shot forwards.

* An issue of the ''[[Franchise/TheFlash Impulse]]'' comic book guest-starring The Riddler featured said Crown Prince of Conundrums with a revolver rigged to shoot backward.