History Main / SelfPoisoningGambit

* When [[TheCaptain Captain Sheridan]] is captured by [[PresidentEvil President Clark's]] forces in ''Series/BabylonFive'', he is DeniedFoodAsPunishment for several days to soften him up before [[TortureTechnician an interrogator]] begins torturing him into a FalseConfession. During one of the earliest stages of interrogation, the interrogator begins eating a sandwich right in front of the ravenously hungry Sheridan, and offers Sheridan half of it if Sheridan says what the interrogator wants to hear. Sheridan uses some ExactWords to TakeAThirdOption, and the interrogator appears impressed enough to give Sheridan the food anyway. Sheridan gets paranoid just before eating, until the interrogator points out "You saw me eating it, didn't you?" Sure enough, later in the scene the interrogator reveals that he has AcquiredPoisonImmunity, and the food makes Sheridan very sick (although it doesn't kill him, as they [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou still need him alive]] for his "confession").

* In ''Manga/{{Ooku}}'', O-Shiga sacrifices her own life in an attempt to kill the sociopathic Harusada by sharing poisoned food with her. She was intending to slowly poison Harusada without killing herself, but was driven to desperate measures when Harusada decided to kill Ienari. Harusada just survives, but is left [[AndIMustScream completely paralysed]] and forced to helplessly watch all the good people she worked against succeed.

* When [[TheCaptain Captain Sheridan]] is captured in ''Series/BabylonFive'', he is DeniedFoodAsPunishment for several days to soften him up before [[TortureTechnician an interrogator]] begins torturing him into a FalseConfession. During one of the earliest stages of interrogation, the interrogator begins eating a sandwich right in front of the ravenously hungry Sheridan, and offers Sheridan a piece if Sheridan says what the interrogator wants to hear. Sheridan uses some ExactWords to TakeAThirdOption, and the interrogator appears impressed enough to give Sheridan the food anyway. Sheridan gets paranoid just before eating, until the interrogator points out "You saw me eating it, didn't you?" Sure enough, later in the scene the interrogator reveals that he has AcquiredPoisonImmunity, and the food makes Sheridan sick.

* In ''[[Film/{{Red}} Red 2]]'', when Bailey is in custody he gets rid of his captors by sliding open the bottom of his shoe to reveal an ampule of nerve gas and a syringe of antidote. He gives himself the antidote and gasses everyone else around.

->'''Vizzini:''' I switched glasses when your back was turned. Ha ha! YouFool You fell victim to one of the classic blunders[...]never go in against a Sicilian when ''death'' is on the line! ''[EvilLaugh for a few seconds, then stops abruptly and falls over dead]''\\

* In ''Film/TheFrenchDispatch'', the kidnappers refuse to eat the meal prepared for them until the cook tries it too. The cook dutifully eats it, is fortunately revived by the medics, and remarks upon the unique taste of the poison afterwards.

* ''Manhua/RavagesOfTime'': Lu Bu steals a kiss from Diao Chan ([[spoiler:actually assassin Xiao Meng in disguise]]) and realizes, too late, that her lips had poison on them.

* In the Creator/DashiellHammett [[Literature/TheContinentalOp Continental Op]] short story "Fly Paper" (1929), a woman wants to poison her abusive boyfriend, but is afraid he'll be suspicious if she gives him something without drinking it herself. After reading ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' she takes small doses of arsenic (extracted from flypaper) to build up an AcquiredPoisonImmunity, but instead fatally poisons herself. In discussing the case afterward the detectives reveal that the book is wrong; while some people have a natural resistance to arsenic, it's not possible to build up an immunity through controlled exposure. The poison of choice in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' is in fact [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brucine Brucine]], and '''is''' subject to Mithridatism.

->'''Vizzini:''' I switched glasses when your back was turned. Ha ha! YouFool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders[...]never go in against a Sicilian when ''death'' is on the line! ''[EvilLaugh for a few seconds, then stops abruptly and falls over dead]''\\

** Brought up in ''4:50 from Paddington'': when the whole family is poisoned and the housekeeper is all right, the latter is suspected at first, until another character points out that any intelligent poisoner would have been careful to pull the gambit. [[spoiler:As it turns out, that character, the family doctor, was the real murderer, so there ''was'' no self-poisoning after all]].

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', Jimmy takes his friends to search for a scientists that invites them for dinner, but turns out he added a chemical into the food that would transform them into seaweed golem slaves. When Jimmy points out that he ate it as well, he simply answers that he has an antidote, and proceeds to drink it.

* ''Manhua/RavagesOfTime'': Lu Bu steals a kiss from Diao Chan ([[spoiler: actually assassin Xiao Meng in disguise]]) and realizes, too late, that her lips had poison on them.

* In some variations of ''FairyTales/SleepingBeauty'' the queen/witch somehow poisons only one half of the apple she then shares with the princess.

* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' features a "battle of wits" between Vizzini and the Man in Black. The Man in Black sets up two goblets of wine, shows Vizzini a [[PerfectPoison rare, odorless, and colorless poison powder]] then challenges Vizzini to determine which goblet is poisoned. Vizzini does a LookBehindYou and then does the PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo, and makes his choice about which goblet to drink. Vizzini then waits for the the Man in Black to drink, and when the Man in Black does so with no hesitation, it leads Vizzini to believe that the Man in Black thought he was drinking from the "safe" cup, which Vizzini now has thanks to the switch, so he drinks too thinking that he has won. The Man in Black had AcquiredPoisonImmunity and [[XanatosGambit had poisoned both cups]], leaving Vizzini OutGambitted. (And dead).
* In ''[[Film/{{Red}} Red 2]]'' when Bailey is in custody he gets rid of his captors by sliding open the bottom of his shoe to reveal an ampule of nerve gas and a syringe of antidote. He gives himself the antidote and gasses everyone else around.

* In the climax of ''Literature/{{Airman}}'', [[spoiler: Bonvilain attempts this with Queen Isabela and Conor's parents while they're having a toast]]. However, [[spoiler:they suspect what he's up to and refuse to have their drinks, and he's later [[HoistByHisOwnPetard weakened enough by his own poison]] for Conor to kill him.]]

* Several Creator/AgathaChristie novels have this.

* In the Creator/DashiellHammett [[Literature/TheContinentalOp Continental Op]] short story "Fly Paper" (1929) a woman wants to poison her abusive boyfriend, but is afraid he'll be suspicious if she gives him something without drinking it herself. After reading ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' she takes small doses of arsenic (extracted from flypaper) to build up an AcquiredPoisonImmunity, but instead fatally poisons herself. In discussing the case afterward the detectives reveal that the book is wrong; while some people have a natural resistance to arsenic, it's not possible to build up an immunity through controlled exposure. The poison of choice in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' is in fact [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brucine Brucine]], and '''is''' subject to Mithridatism.

* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' [[spoiler:President Snow attempts this with mixed results, as no antidote is perfect and he suffers from mouth ulcers, giving him a permanent smell of blood.]]

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' [[PlayedForLaughs played this trope for laughs]]. The Janitor takes a bite of a cake he offered to J.D. to prove that it's not one of his pranks. Unlike most versions, Janitor has no immunity, and the next shot is both of them sitting in the bathroom due to the laxative he put in the cake. J.D. asks, "Who would do this to themselves?!", to which Janitor replies, "WorthIt!"

[[folder:Multiple Media]]
* In some versions of ''Literature/SnowWhite'', only half the apple is poisoned, so the queen eats the half that's not poisoned, leaving the poisoned half for Snow White.
[[/folder]]

* A variation is used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In that episode it's revealed that [[FatIdiot Barry acts the way he does]] because of the pills he takes every day, pills that Stan convinced him to throw away. Off his medication, Barry becomes smarter as well as [[FatBastard meaner,]] [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] and even talks with a [[EvilBrit British accent.]] Things go back to normal after Steve prepares some drinks and dares Barry to guess which one contains a dose of the meds, and leads to Steve revealing to Stan that he spiked both drinks, and consequently [[TheDitz Steve acts like Barry until the medication wears off.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E11DookuCaptured "Dooku Captured"]], Anakin and Obi-Wan are partying with Hondo's crew of pirates, and are savvy enough to discretely swap drinks with two of the pirates. But then it turns out ''all'' the drinks were drugged, and they wake up in a cell at the beginning of the [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E12TheGunganGeneral next episode]].

* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair:'' Prince Zen has spent years developing different immunities in case he ever needed to pull this off. Which he does, in the very first episode for Shirayuki's sake.

* In ''Series/TheExpanse'' when their complicity in the Protomolecule scheme is about to be exposed [[spoiler: Undersecretary Errinwright and the Martian ambassador share a bottle of scotch that contains a poison tailored specifically to the ambassador's physiology and his death is passed off as suicide.]]

** Swartt Sixclaw gets rid of a rival warlord by offering him wine and an ornate cup to drink it from, taking a swig from the wineskin first himself to prove it's safe. The warlord has his GiantMook drink first before drinking, both enjoying the wine. The next morning, the latter two are found dead, and when the captain interrogates Swartt, he drinks the rest of the wine to prove it isn't poisoned (the wine wasn't poisoned, but the cup was).

* {{Discussed}} in ''Film/GetSmart''. Agent 99 points out to Max in case he's captured that there is a CyanidePill concealed in his belt buckle in case he's captured. Max pipes up with, "Great, but how exactly do I get them to take it?" 99 irritatedly storms off.
--> '''Max:''' Not much of a laugher, are you?

* {{Discussed}} in ''Series/GetSmart''. In the pilot, Max is handed a CyanidePill in case he's captured. His first thought is to ask how he should convince his captors to take it.

* {{Discussed}} in ''Film/GetSmart''. Agent 99 points out to Max in case he's captured that there is a CyanidePill concealed in his belt buckle in case he's captured. Max pipes up with, "Great, but how exactly do I get them to take it." 99 irritatedly storms off.

* In ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', Yzma's plan to poison Kuzco fails because Kronk forgot which cup had the poison, so he had to mix all the drinks together and he and Yzma only pretend to drink with Kuzco. It didn't matter anyway if they had, since Kronk had used extract of llama instead of poison, and only succeeds in turning Kuzco into a llama.

* ''Series/Scrubs'': PlayedForLaughs The Janitor takes a bite of a cake he offers to J.D. to prove that it's not one of his pranks. Unlike most versions, Janitor has no immunity, and the next shot is both of them sitting in the bathroom from the laxative he put in the cake. J.D. asks, "Who would do this to themselves?!", to which Janitor replies, "Worth it!"