History Main / MexicanStandoff

* In the end of ''Anime/PsychoPass'' season 2 episode 6, Akane and Kamui get in one of these. In a twist, neither of them can fire; Akane's Dominator doesn't register Kamui, while Kamui's Dominator is locked since Akane's Crime Coefficient is too low for enforcement action.

* A Mexican Standoff is a heightened version of what is sometimes referred to as a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbesian_trap Hobbesian Trap]] (After the [[HobbesWasRight philosopher]], not the [[CalvinAndHobbes tiger]]. However, the tiger was named after the philosopher). When two (or more) parties are both able to do harm to the others, and afraid of ''being'' harmed ''by'' the others, the trap is set. A great deal of effort has gone into providing ways to safely back out of the trap, at least on the national level; "Honor", where making a pre-emptive strike causes the nation to become a pariah; mutual defence treaties, where another nation will avenge any pre-emptive strike made against their ally, in order to discourage agressors; and international organisations like the U.N., who provide a way for nations in a Hobbesian trap to reduce their conflict to a war of words rather than arms. All three were considerations during the Cuban Missile Crisis, remarked on below[[note]]America did not want to be seen as a bully blasting a neighbouring nation back into the stone age; the U.N. provided a highly visible means of pointing out that the Soviets were being disingenous about what weaponry they had provided to Cuba; and the mutual defence treaties... actually made the stakes a lot worse, as the various treaties set up a worldwide game of DisasterDominoes[[/note]].

* ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead: Season 2'' - Episode 4 ends on this note as the protagonists are ambushed by a group of Russians who are out for revenge for being robbed earlier by two members of the protaganist's group. Each side points guns at each other arguing for the other to put their's down. [[spoiler: Clem then notices that Rebecca, who recently gave birth to a baby, has died from exhaustion and is reanimating as a Walker, threatening to to eat her newborn which she had in her arms when she died. Clem (or Kenny if she bring this to the other's attention) is forced to shoot her to save the baby. But this sets off the Russians who open fire on the group.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead: Season 2'' - Episode 4 ends on this note as the protagonists are ambushed by a group of Russians who are out for revenge for being robbed earlier by two the protaganist's group. Each side point a gun at each other arguing for the other to put their's down. [[spoiler: Clem then notices that Rebecca, who recently gave birth to a baby but has died from exhaustion, is reanimating as a Walker and threatening to to eat her newborn which she had in her arms when she died. Clem (or Kenny if she bring this to the other's attention) is forced to shoot her to save the baby. But this sets off the Russians who open fire on the group.]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' is littered with Mexican standoffs with all sorts of people; whether they end peacefully, with someone getting shot in the face, or with a BlastOut depends mostly on the player's choices. In the most notable example, Shepard and [[spoiler:one of their own party members, Wrex,]] get into a standoff over [[spoiler:blowing up a lab containing a cure for the krogan race's infertility, which is slowly killing them off]]. Getting out of the situation without [[spoiler:killing Wrex]] earns the player an Achievement for resolving "an impossible situation" with diplomacy. No better way to break a standstill than to have your buddy gun down your other buddy [[{{Backstab}} from behind him]] when things start getting hairy...

* ''{{FLCL}}'' episode "Brittle Bullet". Haruko and Commander Amarao end up in one when she reveals herself as the woman cutting his hair. They each have a gun pointed at the other's head.

* A Mexican Standoff is a heightened version of what is sometimes referred to as a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbesian_trap Hobbesian Trap]] (After the [[HobbesWasRight philosopher]], not the [[CalvinAndHobbes tiger]]). When two (or more) parties are both able to do harm to the others, and afraid of ''being'' harmed ''by'' the others, the trap is set. A great deal of effort has gone into providing ways to safely back out of the trap, at least on the national level; "Honor", where making a pre-emptive strike causes the nation to become a pariah; mutual defence treaties, where another nation will avenge any pre-emptive strike made against their ally, in order to discourage agressors; and international organisations like the U.N., who provide a way for nations in a Hobbesian trap to reduce their conflict to a war of words rather than arms. All three were considerations during the Cuban Missile Crisis, remarked on below[[note]]America did not want to be seen as a bully blasting a neighbouring nation back into the stone age; the U.N. provided a highly visible means of pointing out that the Soviets were being disingenous about what weaponry they had provided to Cuba; and the mutual defence treaties... actually made the stakes a lot worse, as the various treaties set up a worldwide game of DisasterDominoes[[/note]].

** Done much more simplistically in the film ''TheDeparted'' is based on, the Hong Kong thriller ''InfernalAffairs''. Only three people, rather than the addition of another two a bit later on.

** John Woo is fond of these kinds of standoffs. Apart from the standoffs between Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee from ''TheKiller'', and between Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in ''{{Hard-Boiled}}'', there's also the moment in ''Film/FaceOff'' where Sean Archer and Castor Troy end up in a standoff at a church, with Archer's FBI agents and family on one side, and Castor's family and crew on the other, which is made very dramatic by the fact that Archer and Castor are wearing each other's face and both sides are trying to convince the other which is which. When the stalemate is finally broken, the shootout that commences is the most memorable of the entire movie.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDead]]: Season 2'' - Episode 4 ends on this note as the protagonists are ambushed by a group of Russians who are out for revenge for being robbed earlier by two the protaganist's group. Each side point a gun at each other arguing for the other to put their's down. [[spoiler: Clem then notices that Rebecca, who recently gave birth to a baby but has died from exhaustion, is reanimating as a Walker and threatening to to eat her newborn which she had in her arms when she died. Clem (or Kenny if she bring this to the other's attention) is forced to shoot her to save the baby. But this sets off the Russians who open fire on the group.]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' is littered with Mexican standoffs with all sorts of people; whether they end peacefully, with someone getting shot in the face, or with a BlastOut depends mostly on the player's choices. In the most notable example, Shepard and [[spoiler:one of his/her own party members, Wrex,]] get into a standoff over [[spoiler:blowing up a lab containing a cure for the krogan race's infertility, which is slowly killing them off]]. Getting out of the situation without [[spoiler:killing Wrex]] earns the player an Achievement for resolving "an impossible situation" with diplomacy. No better way to break a standstill than to have your buddy gun down your other buddy [[{{Backstab}} from behind him]] when things start getting hairy...

* The final episodes of ''Manga/DeathNote'' should count. Though Matsuda was the only one using his gun; We have Light, Mikami with his death note, the Japanese police, Near, and the SPK at each other's throats. Someone was about to kill someon,e and until the end it was Matsuda that was quick on the draw.

* Vash and Knives, in their climactic showdown in the finale of the ''{{Trigun}}'' anime, have a very protracted (and very dramatic) one-on-one standoff, where every attempt to break the stalemate by one character is instantly copied by the other. [[spoiler:Vash breaks it when Wolfwood's voice sounds in his head - at which point he realizes he's standing on the Punisher, giving him a move Knives can't copy.]]

* In the card game ''The Good, The Bad, and The TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' there is a card called MexicanStandoff which does indeed balance the sides in any given battle.

** The card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29936 Standstill]] explicitly invokes this trope. Drawing three cards (basically for free) is an ''enormous'' advantage, and no player would want to allow their opponents such advantage. What this card does is that if a player casts a spell, all of his or her opponents draw three cards. The effect is the more devastating, and the trope most invoked, the more players there are in the game. It often literally ends up in a standoff, with all players waiting to see who will cast the first spell.

** The movie ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' features a few instances of the trope. Toward the beginning, an argument between Mr. White and Mr. Pink gets heated, and the end up pulling guns on each other. They hold for a moment, then both lower their guns. At the climax, an undercover cop and three villains are caught in a tense three-way standoff. Bad guy one shoots the cop, bad guy two shoots bad guy one, bad guy three shoots bad guy two and bad guy two returns fire. In the end, Mr. White holds Mr. Orange at gunpoint, while the cops (off-screen) point guns at Mr. Pink.

* Spike and Vicious engage in a MexicanStandoff in the fifth episode of ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. Spike's got a gun, and Vicious holds a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] to the space cowboy's chest. They both attack each other, and Spike nearly dies, revealing flashbacks about both men's pasts.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has a [[spoiler:Time Lord]] one at the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]", with the Doctor versus [[spoiler:the Master and Rassilon.]]
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]], one occurs when a squad of Daleks corner the Doctor, but he threatens to blow up Davros if they don't "[[UnusualEuphemism spack off!]]" When they do stand down momentarily, the Doctor says "I believe this is what's called a Mexican Standoff".
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen Revenge Of The Cybermen]]'', Dr. Kellerman and the commander face off. [[spoiler:The other surviving crewman jumps Kellerman.]]
** Again in "Victory of the Daleks", when the Daleks gloat at the Doctor at gunpoint while he holds ''them'' hostage by threatening to blow up the TARDIS and take the Dalek ship with it. Eventually, however, the Daleks figure out that the self-destruct device the Doctor's been threatening them with is actually a tea biscuit, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' does this at least twice.

* One of the most famous scenes from ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' involves the titular characters in one of these. [[spoiler:Somewhat subverted in that the Man With No Name knew that Tuco's gun was unloaded, so he knew to shoot Angel Eyes and deal with Tuco later.]] This scene helped to make the Mexican Standoff popular and is perhaps one of its best examples.

* Done on an organisation-wide basis in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. [[spoiler:Captain American broadcasts that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by HYDRA, causing the loyalists and the infiltrators to point guns at each other, including Agent 13 and Brock Rumlow. Brock drops his pistol in apparent surrender, then uses a knife to slash 13's gun-arm. Everyone then starts shooting at each other.]]

* Another Hong Kong film, RingoLam's ''{{City on Fire}}'', feature's a Mexican standoff near the end of the film, similar to the one later seen in ''ReservoirDogs'' (see below).

* The final airstrip scene in ''{{Takers}}''.