History Main / DeadMansTriggerFinger

* A ComicBook/CaptainAmerica[=/=]ComicBook/ThePunisher teamup comic has Frank do this with a precise knife-throw into a guard with a machine gun, which takes out the other guards for them.

If you are a fan of the action genre (particularly the HeroicBloodshed subgenre), you’ve SeenItAMillionTimes. A character, typically a mook, is shot and reacts by firing his gun randomly as he falls. The victim is almost always lethally wounded and dead as soon as he hits the ground, and he is usually equipped with a one-handed automatic weapon to make his erratic death-spasm shooting more visually impressive. Redshirts killed this way are prone to accidentally offing any comrades standing too close and/or hitting nearby metallic surfaces for the sake of BulletSparks. Seldom does anyone manage to kill his ''attacker'' in this fashion; if he does, it’s also an inadvertent example of TakingYouWithMe.

* Parodied in ''ThreeAmigos''. When El Guapo's men desert him he calls out "Come back, you cowards! You traitors!" His second-in-command Jefe says "I'm still here, El Guapo!" and is shot off his horse. He ends up on his feet, fires one shot in the air, and falls on his face, dead.
* A variant in ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''. The title creature blasts Dillon's arm off with its Shoulder Cannon. The arm falls to the ground, with the dead hand still pulling the trigger of the weapon it's holding and the gun still firing.

* Johnny Ringo in ''{{Tombstone}}'' has one after Doc Holliday beats him to the draw and plants a round in the Cowboy's brain pan.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler: Madoka]] is forced to destroy [[spoiler: Mami's Soul Gem]] before Mami can [[spoiler: shoot Homura, who she immobilized in ribbon]]. [[spoiler: As a dying Mami collapses and [[EmptyEyes her eyes lose their color]], she lets off one final, yet flashy shot, missing Homura and dead by the time she hits the ground.]]

* During the gun battle [[spoiler:at Candie's mansion]] in ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', Django pulls a OneHitPolykill on two mooks, who reflexively then blast each other again for good measure.

* Odd example where the shooting mook is dead to begin with: After a shootout in ''LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels'', there's a face down dead guy holding a shotgun. When Rory turns him over, the dead guy's shotgun is pointed at him. [[spoiler:Rory shoots the dead guy and is then promptly killed by the shotgun, due to the movement of the corpse.]]

* An early source of conflict (and DarkComedy) in ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', a recruit is shot in the back by a StunGun during a {[[NoOSHACompliance very dangerous]]) live-fire exercise, and spaz-fires a burst that ends up hitting another recruit in the head, [[TooDumbToLive right after he had removed his helmet]].

* An early source of conflict (and DarkComedy) in ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', after a recruit shot in the head during a ridiculously dangerous live-fire training exercise spastically fires a long burst from his assault rifle into a group of nearby NewMeat, causing further casualties.

* In [[PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], [[spoiler: Madoka]] is forced to destroy [[spoiler: Mami's Soul Gem]] before Mami can [[spoiler: shoot Homura, who she immobilized in ribbon]]. [[spoiler: As a dying Mami collapses and [[EmptyEyes her eyes lose their color]], she lets off one final, yet flashy shot, missing Homura and dead by the time she hits the ground.]]

Sister trope to LastDitchMove and LastBreathBullet, differing from both in that the Dead Man's Trigger Finger occurs whenever the weapon discharge is (at least mostly) involuntary and not deliberately aimed anywhere. Compare with visually impressive but functionally pointless action maneuvers such as the UnnecessaryCombatRoll. Combines well with something like a WilhelmScream. SlowMotion is optional.

* Enemy soldiers in ''VideoGame/FEAR'' frequently do this. It's not just for show; these stray bullets spraying can hurt and even kill you, especially in the first game.

* In the Nick Carter story "Marked for Death", Nick shoots a gangster named Mike in the back, and initially thinks that he missed because Mike fires while spinning in place. But no, he was just reflexively pulling the trigger as Nick's shot turned him around, and Mike is already dead.

* In [[PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], [[spoiler: Madoka]] is forced to destroy [[spoiler: Mami's Soul Gem]] before Mami can [[spoiler: shoot Homura, who she immobilized in ribbon]]. [[spoiler: As a dying Mami collapses and her eyes lose color, she lets off one final, yet flashy shot, missing Homura and dead by the time she hits the ground.]]

* In [[PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], [[spoiler: Madoka]] is forced to destroy [[spoiler: Mami's Soul Gem]] before Mami can [[spoiler: shoot Homura, who she immobilized in ribbon]]. [[spoiler: As a dying Mami collapses and her eyes lose their color, she lets off one final shot, missing Homura and dead by the time she hits the ground.]]

[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* * In [[PuellaMagiMadokaMagica]], [[spoiler: Madoka is forced to destroy Mami's Soul Gem before Mami can shoot Homura, who she immobilized in ribbon. As a dying Mami collapses and her eyes lose their color, she lets off one final shot, missing Homura and dead by the time she hits the ground.]]

* A possibility in real life, if a person is shot while holding his finger on a gun trigger and jerks it back due to some combination of pain, surprise and instinct. It falls under the general umbrella term “accidental discharge”.

If you are a fan of the action genre (particularly the HeroicBloodshed subgenre), you’ve SeenItAMillionTimes. A character, typically a mook, is shot and reacts by firing their gun randomly as they fall. The afflicted individual is almost always lethally wounded and dead as soon as they hit the ground, and they are usually equipped with a one-handed automatic weapon to make their erratic death-spasm shooting more visually impressive. Redshirts killed this way are prone to accidentally offing any comrades standing too close and/or hitting nearby metallic surfaces for the sake of BulletSparks. Almost never does anyone manage to kill their ''attacker'' in this fashion; if they do, it’s also an inadvertent example of TakingYouWithMe.

Formerly exclusive to film and television due to technical limitations, certain videogames have included Dead Man’s Trigger Finger animations since the late 90’s. Now you too can enjoy forcing mooks to spray bullets indiscriminately as they’re killed!

* A ComicBook/CaptainAmerica / ComicBook/ThePunisher teamup comic has Frank do this with a precise knife-throw into a guard with a machine gun, which takes out the other guards for them.

* In ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' most of the enemy fire off a few shots after being "killed" and falling down, unless you manage to blow them to bits first. This was an intentional game mechanic and was mentioned in the game manual. May be the first example of the Dead Man’s Trigger Finger in videogame form.

* Happens in ''{{Halo}}''. An enemy killed by shooting often fires a couple rounds into the floor before dying.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', cultists who burn to death fire off their tommyguns in a short burst while their burning flesh falls from their bones.

* A possibility in real life, if a person is shot while holding their finger on a trigger and jerks it back due to some combination of pain, surprise and/or instinct. Falls under the general umbrella term “accidental discharge”.

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!!Examples

[[folder: Comic Books]]

* Happens in {{''Halo''}}. An enemy killed by shooting often fires a couple rounds into the floor before dying.
* In VideoGame/{{''Blood''}}, cultists who burn to death fire off their tommyguns in a short burst while their burning flesh falls from their bones.

* Odd example where the shooting mook is dead to begin with: After a shootout in LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels, there's a face down dead guy holding a shotgun. When Rory turns him over, the dead guy's shotgun is pointed at him. Rory shoots the dead guy and is then promptly killed by the shotgun, due to the movement of the corpse.

* Happens in {{Halo}}. An enemy killed by shooting often fires a couple rounds into the floor before dying.
* In VideoGame/{{Blood}}, cultists who burn to death fire off their tommyguns in a short burst while their burning flesh falls from their bones.