History Main / PinnedDown

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': This happened to the heros during the SchoolFestival's third day when they were trying to make it to the battles grounds. [[ColdSniper Mana]] had OneHitKO rounds that send anything they touch forward in time to the battle's end (which they've presumably lost), and when they tried to hide in a trolley, she shot the trolley itself, sending the entire vehicle to the future. They managed to escape when [[TheHero Negi]] used his own {{Magitek}} TimeMachine to escape the in the last second. [[{{Ninja}} Kaede]] stayed behind to hold off Mana while the rest went ahead.
* Used to great effect in ''Anime/{{Monster}}''. In the anime, Grimmer ends up in a situation with a cop lying on the ground bleeding with him unable to help due to a sniper. As time goes on, the foreign language the squad is using gets to Grimmer and [[spoiler:causes him to go into his second personality and beat the guys to death the minute they got in close.]] Probably should have kept that sniper in place.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/BrothersInArms https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/poster_side2_trainer.jpg]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Fix 'em and flank 'em. That's the key."'' [[note]] This trope can very much be applied to enemies as well as friendlies, as shown here. [[/note]] ]]

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': This happened to the heros during the SchoolFestival's third day when they were trying to make it to the battles grounds. [[ColdSniper Mana]] had OneHitKO rounds that send anything they touch forward in time to the battle's end (which they've presumably lost), and when they tried to hide in a trolley, she shot the trolley itself, sending the entire vehicle to the future. They managed to escape when [[TheHero Negi]] used his own {{Magitek}} TimeMachine to escape the in the last second. [[{{Ninja}} Kaede]] stayed behind to hold off Mana while the rest went ahead.

* One episode of the ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' TV series has the entire base pinned down by a sniper who shoots anyone he sees outdoors.

* Normally in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', squads that suffer casualties from enemy fire have to pass a Leadership test or fall back, but weapons with the Pinning special rule - sniper rifles, mortars, coils of psycho-plastic resonating with negative emotions, rapidly-growing entangling alien tumors, etc. - lock units in place and prevent them from firing effectively instead.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: VideoGame/DawnOfWar II'' has the Suppression mechanic. Regular ranged units tend not to be capable of it, but heavy weapons will if they don't just kill all infantry in their firing arc, and there are a few other options to inflict this with other units. Being suppressed greatly reduces weapon firing times and slows movement speed, but there are ways to break it, [[TacticalWithdrawal namely the Retreat button]].

* Introduced in ''VideoGame/ProjectReality'', this feature made it to ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}''. Getting pinned down by auto weapons or sniper fire will [[InterfaceScrew blur out your vision]] and disables your RegeneratingHealth, even if you did not get hit. Killing a suppressed enemy will also give suppression assist points to the suppressor.

* Parakewl and Mauchi tried this during ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'''s Hide and Seek test on Quant. Keyword is tried.
** Funnily enough, Hatsu, who before managed to hold Quant down for a few seconds, relied on them to do exactly this with their javelins, but they simply ran away.

* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', Suppression is an ability by default available to your machine-gun toting Heavies, rifle-wielding Supports and a few larger enemies, and with the appropriate Foundry project, your [[AttackDrone S.H.I.V.s]] can do it as well. It uses up twice as much ammo as a regular attack, but subtracts 30% from the target's aiming accuracy and grants a reaction shot if they try to move or, if the soldier has Covering Fire, attack. If the Heavy has Mayhem, their Suppression fire also hits for a small amount of damage at the start, and if they have Danger Zone, they suppress an entire area, which can include multiple enemies. "Training Roulette" makes ''any'' class potentially capable of Suppression, even Snipers and Assaults with shotguns, though they get neither Danger Zone nor Mayhem. In ''VideoGame/XCOM2'', the aiming penalty is a heftier 50%.

* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', Suppression is an ability by default available to your machine-gun toting Heavies, rifle-wielding Supports and a few larger enemies, and with the appropriate Foundry project, your [[AttackDrone S.H.I.V.s]] can do it as well. It uses up twice as much ammo as a regular attack, but subtracts 30% from the target's aiming accuracy and grants a reaction shot if they try to move or, if the soldier has Covering Fire, attack. If the Heavy has Mayhem, their Suppression fire also hits for a small amount of damage at the start. "Training Roulette" makes ''any'' class potentially capable of Suppression, even Snipers and Assaults with shotguns. In ''''VideoGame/XCOM2'', the aiming penalty is a heftier 50%.

* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', Suppression is an ability available to your machine-gun toting Heavies and rifle wielding Supports and a few larger enemies. It uses up twice as much ammo as a regular attack but subtracts 30% from their attack accuracy and shoots them if they move.

* In ''Film/Heat'', the last heist ends with a shootout in a busy Los Angeles street. McCauley and his crew use automatic weapons and copious amounts of fire to pin down the police so that they can inch closer to an escape vehicle.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Fix 'em and flank 'em. That's the key."'' [[note]] This trope can very much be used on enemies as much as friendlies, as shown here. [[/note]] ]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''Fix 'em and flank 'em. That's the key.'']]

* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'': Basically a FirstPersonShooter, except it relies heavily on being able to successfully utilize this trope on the enemy. If you can't manage to keep their heads down, they'll kill you.

* Gordon Freeman rescues Barney Calhoun in ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'' when he is pinned down by snipers.

* The 2010 ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' features this as a gameplay mechanic for one or two missions, complete with a helpful icon that appears to let you know you have successfully [[StandardStatusEffects suppressed the enemy machine gunner]] (for a few moments, anyways).

** In later editions, you can take being pinned down as a tradeoff against casualties. Essentially, infantry units can "go to ground", giving them an improved cover save but hampering them for the next turn.

* Generally, every gun fight in MatthewReilly's books. This is the most common form of gunfire used in his books, except when he breaks out the ImprobableAimingSkills at least.

* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' the Covenant will keep firing at the last position they saw you since you last ducked behind cover. Trying to re-emerge there will probably get your shields shot off in short order, but if all their focus is there...

* In an early SilverAge ComicBook/CaptainAmerica story, Cap is fighting Nazis at Castle Greymoore, but he is eventually pined down by suppression fire away from his shield. Fortunately, Bucky, in the clutches of the Nazie, is able to overpower his guard and take his pistol to provide cover fire to recover Cap's shield. Bucky soon runs dry, but Cap's shield is more than enough on its own.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': This happened to the heros during the SchoolFestival's third day when they were trying to make it to the battles grounds. [[ColdSniper Mana]] had OneHitKO rounds that send anything they touch forward in time to the battle's end (which they've presumably lost), and when they tried to hide in a trolley, she shot the trolley itself, sending the entire vehicle to the future. They managed to escape when [[TheHero Negi]] used his own {{Magitech}} TimeMachine to escape the in the last second. [[{{Ninja}} Kaede]] stayed behind to hold off Mana while the rest went ahead.

-->--'''Barney Calhoun''', ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''

* In ''FullMetalJacket'', the squad is pinned down by one sniper. It isn't pretty. Especially since it tries them to get out of their cover by repeatedly shooting an injured but still alive squadmate.

->''Gordon, I can't move! These snipers got me pinned down!''
-->--'''Barney Calhoun''', ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}''

* Parakewl and Mauchi tried this during ''TowerOfGod'''s Hide and Seek test on Quant. Keyword is tried.
** Funnily enough, Hatsu, who before managed to hold Quant down for a few seconds, relied on them to do exactly this with their javelins, but they simply ran away.

* Formally, this situation is known as being "under suppressive fire". Achieving this to enemy targets and getting closer to shoot them with impunity is the main tactic to neutralization for infantry (and a heavy contributor to ATeamFiring, since soldiers trying to achieve it really don't mind not hitting any enemies while doing so).
* Suppressive fire doesn't always require fully automatic weapons, soldiers sometimes drill to suppress by having multiple people fire single shots. This is partly a result of logistical concerns, encouraging soldiers to use the full automatic setting wastes ammunition.

* ''MahouSenseiNegima'': This happened to the heros during the SchoolFestival's third day when they were trying to make it to the battles grounds. [[ColdSniper Mana]] had OneHitKO rounds that send anything they touch forward in time to the battle's end (which they've presumably lost), and when they tried to hide in a trolley, she shot the trolley itself, sending the entire vehicle to the future. They managed to escape when [[TheHero Negi]] used his own {{Magitech}} TimeMachine to escape the in the last second. [[{{Ninja}} Kaede]] stayed behind to hold off Mana while the rest went ahead.

* SinCity has ''The Babe Wore Red'' which shows Dwight getting pinned down by a sniper while rescuing the eponymous Lady in Red.
** Wallace was also pinned by a sniper in ''Hell And Back''. He [[ScopeSnipe got out of that situation pretty quickly]], though.
* In an early SilverAge CaptainAmerica story, Cap is fighting Nazis at Castle Greymoore, but he is eventually pined down by suppression fire away from his shield. Fortunately, Bucky, in the clutches of the Nazie, is able to overpower his guard and take his pistol to provide cover fire to recover Cap's shield. Bucky soon runs dry, but Cap's shield is more than enough on its own.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has a mechanic regarding this, but it requires more than mere rifles - weapons with the pinning mechanic tend to be heavy ones (snipers or big guns).
* ''{{GURPS}}'' requires only a moderate rate of fire to use suppression fire but without an RoF of around 20 (attainable only by a very few weapons) reliably hitting targets is virtually impossible.

* This can happen in first and third-person shooters, but in multiplayer, most players won't be waiting in their cover for their death to come and there is rarely a system to ruin players under heavy fire, so thinking an enemy player is suppressed may lead you to just running up and getting shot by them.

* [[TacticalShooter Tactical Shooters]] as a whole often implement this trope as an important game mechanic that must be taken advantage of (and/or watched out for).
* ''JaggedAlliance 2'' has recently received the ability for suppression fire in its ''1.13'' unofficial patch.
* Mentioned in dialogue, but not actually a mechanic in ''EndWar''. Units under fire while at half health are described as being suppressed by your XO and their info tab, but it really means nothing more than being at half health (on the other hand, any unit at half health probably has little chance against what they're fighting anyway)
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar II'' has the Suppression mechanic. Regular ranged units tend not to be capable of it, but heavy weapons will if they don't just kill all infantry in their firing arc, and there are a few other options to inflict this with other units. Being suppressed greatly reduces weapon firing times and slows movement speed, but there are ways to break it, [[TacticalWithdrawal namely the Retreat button]].

* Introduced in ''ProjectReality'', this feature made it to ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}''. Getting pinned down by auto weapons or sniper fire will [[InterfaceScrew blur out your vision]] and disables your RegeneratingHealth, even if you did not get hit. Killing a suppressed enemy will also give suppression assist points to the suppressor.
* This is a major gameplay element in ''CompanyOfHeroes''. There are two levels - suppressed and pinned. A suppressed unit moves very slowly but gets a slight evasion bonus from being prone on the ground, and a pinned unit is completely immobile and unable to fire. Since cover only provides a bonus while it's between the users and the fire, any unit suppressed is waiting to be outflanked and killed (so press [[TacticalWithdrawal Retreat]] for that unit). Heavy machine gun weapon teams can be used to supress infantry units, which dramatically slows their movement and reduces their firepower. That being said, all weapons' fire will suppress any infantry that survives long enough (unless they are in a building).
** Armed with a Bren gun, the British Infantry Section can 'button' tanks and other vehicles - it will greatly slow the vehicle down and greatly reduce their ability to see, which is described as the infantry section firing at the vehicle's sight ports. The vehicle is a sitting duck to being outflanked with anti-tank weapons and can't defend itself while alone and buttoned down, but having other allies near them will allow them to fire back since they provide sight for the vehicle.
* The 2010 ''MedalOfHonor'' features this as a gameplay mechanic for one or two missions, complete with a helpful icon that appears to let you know you have successfully [[StandardStatusEffects suppressed the enemy machine gunner]] (for a few moments, anyways).
* In {{Halo}} the Covenant will keep firing at the last position they saw you since you last ducked behind cover. Trying to re-emerge there will probably get your shields shot off in short order, but if all their focus is there...

* ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' uses covering fire as a primary gameplay mechanic, and makes a distinction between ordinary fire (most weapons) and suppressing fire (vehicles and mounted machine guns). Your teams can do suppressing fire too, ''completely'' pinning down any targets, but burning through ammo quickly.