History Main / TrickBullet

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eclipse Phase}}'', being made by some of the Shadowrun devs and set just a little past the TechnologicalSingularity, has several of these for Firearms, on top of the usual ammo types like ArmorPiercing rounds. Railguns can only use regular and ArmorPiercing rounds, though.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Akira ends up using multiple of these that typically start priced TooAwesomeToUse but get sold to him cheaper [[FantasticRankSystem as his Hunter Rank rises.]]

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': Since his RobotBuddy Luxion has factories that allow him to make pretty much anything, Leon typically uses rubber bullets [[{{Magitek}} magically enchanted]] to put enemies to sleep. The reason for this is to prevent escalation and try to avoid getting the spotlight for killing so many people (also killing people makes Leon StressVomit.)

* In the Classic Series/DoctorWho episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield" Battlefield]]", [=UNIT=] is shown to have developed specialized bullets for the most common alien weaknesses, such as gold tipped for Cybermen, high explosives for Yetis, armor piercing for robots, even silver for Werewolves.

* In the Classic Series/DoctorWho episode "Battleground", [=UNIT=] is shown to have developed specialized bullets for the most common alien weaknesses, such as gold tipped for Cybermen.

* Some of the [[{{Magitek}} caster]] shells in ''Manga/OutlawStar'' do things other than kill the target. Early on in the series Aisha is shot with one and it only paralyzes her, despite being a rather large caliber. Then again, she's an alien CatGirl ...
** And that's ignoring the ones that [[spoiler: create micro-black holes]]. Oh, and [[spoiler: it's not enough to keep the BigBad down for good, either]].

** Amnesia bullets in ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine''.
*** Although technically those weren't "amnesia bullets", they were regular bullets made out of adamantium, thus the only thing they had that could pierce Logan's NighInvulnerable skull. They were ''supposed'' to kill him but his brain was able to regenerate, just without a huge chunk of his memories. Anyone else would [[BoomHeadshot fair far worse]] than just amnesia.

* In the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Burned," a man wanted for setting fire to his ex holds off the cops by threatening to kill himself with a knife. Benson shoots him with rubber bullets in order to prevent a suicide and to take him in.
** As the SVU cops had never used non-lethal bullets before this scene, and there's no set-up for it in the episode, it's close to being an AssPull.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_bullet Smart Bullets]], though most are still in development or experimental. The term is a catch-all for several different types, such as guided bullets, bullets that transmit data about the target area, and intentionally [[ArbitraryMaximumRange limited range]] bullets (intended to minimize the risk of collateral damage).

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trick_bullet.gif]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Ultimatum Dispatcher: another quality product from [[AcmeProducts Acme]]]]

** More recently; [[StaticStunGuns Taser rounds]], although they're still experimental ([[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10615302 most recently]] seen in the case of Raul Moat).

** More recently; [[StunGuns Taser rounds]], although they're still experimental ([[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10615302 most recently]] seen in the case of Raul Moat).

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'':

* In ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', Togusa likes to put these in his [[RevolversAreJustBetter gun]]. In the first movie and an episode of the series he does it with a tracking device (fired into a car).

[[caption-width-right:350:The Ultimatum Dispatcher:Another Triumph of AcmeProducts]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Sven in ''Manga/BlackCat'' frequently supplies Train with these. Freeze bullets come to mind, as do paint bullets.

* ''Manga/OnePiece's'' Usopp's "Stars" would fall into this category, fired from his preferred weapon, the [[BratsWithSlingshots slingshot]]. Standard ammunition include exploding pellets (needle and fire varieties), rotten eggs, Tabasco sauce, slippery oil, glue, and toy cockroaches. After the TimeSkip, he gains seeds that form quick growing plants to terraform the battlefield or attack the enemy. Or make an emergency ''boat''.
* In the first chapter of ''Manga/CityHunter'' Ryo uses a gold-tipped .500 Nitro Express bullet so that, once shot in the ear of the target ([[ImprobableAimingSkills Ryo is just that good]]), it won't leave the skull and use all of its enormous power (it's an ''elephant bullet'') to move him. As the target is the challenger for a boxing championship who has murdered the previous challenger (leading to Ryo being hired by his fiancee to avenge him) and is threatening the life of the champion's daughter to fix the match, the well-timed shot has the effect of making it appear that the champion hit the challenger so hard it not only killed him, but [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom sent him flying out of the ring]].
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'':
** Giorno modifies some bullets that transform into a tree for Mista to fire at Ghiaccio to knock him off their car and unfreeze it.
** When fighting Cioccolata, Giorno modifies some bullets that transform into a tree for Mista to fire at Cioccolata's helicopter to ensnare it. Later Giorno uses another bullet to transform into another tree to prevent him from falling, and kicks a section of its branch for it to later transform back into a bullet to fire itself into Cioccolata's head. Later, said bullet transforms into a beetle that burrows out of his head.
* ''Anime/{{Macross 7}}'': Basara's Valkyrie (and later, the rest of Fire Bomber's custom machines) has its guns loaded with "speaker pods" rather than bullets. Rather than explode, these rounds burrow into an enemy machine, seal the hole they create, and broadcast Basara's music into the enemy ship. Notably, he used this ammunition long ''before'' they discovered the series' main enemies are more affected by music than bullets: Basara is a pacifist and believes he can bring opposing factions together through song (it's sheer coincidence he turns out to be correct).

* Back before he got his own series, ComicBook/ThePunisher would have to use non-lethal rounds to justify him teaming up with other heroes. These were eventually revealed to have a painful sedative in them.

* The entirely creepy [[spoiler: infectious]] bullets from ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}''.
* In Rocket Raccoon's solo title, a merchant in the background of a bazaar is selling [[OrganicTechnology plant-looking guns]] she claims impregnates living targets with their bullets to grow more guns.

* ''Film/XXx'' features both standard tranq rounds and a "blood drop" round that not only delivers a dose of tranquilizer but includes a blood squib that makes it look like the tranq'd target is actually shot with a standard bullet.
* ''Film/PhoneBooth'': [[spoiler: The cops shoot Stu with a rubber bullet to trick the sniper]]
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** The mutant-cure delivering bullets from ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''.
** Amnesia bullets in ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine''.
*** Although technically those weren't "amnesia bullets", they were regular bullets made out of adamantium, thus the only thing they had that could pierce Logan's NighInvulnerable skull. They were ''supposed'' to kill him but his brain was able to regenerate, just without a huge chunk of his memories. Anyone else would [[BoomHeadshot fair far worse]] than just amnesia.
* The bullets in ''Film/{{Wanted}}''; the conceit is that some are multiple-stage bullets, like an Apollo-era rocket, and are designed to be able to bend, maneuver or otherwise change their course in flight.
* In ''Film/TheRundown'', The Rock's character is shot with bean-bag rounds.

* In ''Film/{{Dobermann}}'', Dobermann has a variety of miniature rocket shells that he fires from a launcher mounted in the barrel shroud of his HandCannon. Ones we see used include tear gas and high explosive.

* The security guard on ''Series/{{Wonderfalls}}'' carries a gun with rubber bullets. The effect is that they knock the target off his feet without wounding him.

* In ''Series/TheExpanse'' the guards on Dresden's secret research station had guns loaded with gel rounds, that for some reason were colored blood red so that the already jumpy OPA boarding party (who ''weren't'' using gel rounds) panicked when one of them took a gel to the helmet. None of the guards survived.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eclipse Phase}}'', being made by some of the Shadowrun devs and set just a little past the TechnologicalSingularity, has several of these for Firearms, on top of the usual ammo types like ArmorPiercing rounds. Railguns can only use regular and ArmorPiercing rounds, though.
** 'Flux' ammo, that can reconfigure itself, allowing users to inflict normal wounds, or inflict lesser injuries for crowd control.
** Bug ammo, which tags the target and allows you to track them via the Mesh.
** Capsule ammo, as per Shadowrun Capsule rounds above.
** Jammer ammo, which sticks to the target and jams wireless signals.
** Splash ammo, which is similar to Capsule, but splashes the contents on the target instead of injecting it directly into them.
** Zap ammo, which stuns enemies like a taser shot.
*** There are also several 'smart' ammo types, which - with the exception of Biter, Flayer, and Proximity types, can be combined with the above-mentioned types.
** Accushot ammo, which reconfigures itself in-flight to ignore the effects of wind, drag, and gravity - allowing users to ignore range penalties.
** Biters and Flayers, which increase damage dealt, and Proximity ammo that can harm targets even if it doesn't strike them directly.
** Homing and Laser-Guided ammo, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. 'Zero' ammo allows burst and full-auto weapons to 'zero in' on a target during extended firing.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''
** Ultra-Tech has a truly amazing number: Aerosol, liquid, flare, memory baton, tangler, stingray (to disable robots), swarm, EMP, jammer, strobe, warbler, force, implosion, psibomb, stasis, vortex. Those are just the non-lethal ones.
** High-Tech has basically everything realistic.

* A scenario in the old ''[[TabletopGame/HeroSystem Adventurer's Club]]'' magazine called for the [=PCs=] to be spies trying to infiltrate a company headquarters. This was actually a training mission, and the "guards" carried guns loaded with specialized ammo that ''felt'' like a normal bullet but didn't do the damage. The [=GM=] was told to tell the players they'd taken damage based on the caliber of gun they were shot with, but track the actual damage secretly until someone got around to checking the injury. (One option for this scenario involved real criminals trying to break into the "headquarters" while the [=PCs=] were in the middle of their infiltration ... and their weapons were ''real''.)
* [[VigilanteMan Expatriette]] from ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' specialized in guns, and has specialized ammo to match. From the mundane (Hollow Point rounds), to the uncommon but still used in RealLife ([[KillItWithFire Incendiary Ammo]]), to the clearly exotic ([[KillItWithIce Liquid Nitrogen Ammo]], which comes with a debuff on the damage dealing capabilities of whomever is hit by it, and [[ShockAndAwe Shock rounds]], which deal extra damage on every enemy target in addition to whomever they're shot at]]

* ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'': The Megaphone Hacking Gun uses a variety of Truth Bullets, including Move that activates machines and Dance that forces Monokuma units to dance.

* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, [[PowerCopying EX Skills]] for Zero's Buster Shot weapon. In the first game (where there are no EX Skills) this is limited to one of the game's three elemental types (fire, ice, lightning) but the second game onwards expands on the system, giving Zero a wide range of attacks with the Buster Shot. The most common shot types include a SpreadShot and an EnergyBall that either blows up on impact (fire-type) or leaves a trail of sparks when it hits a wall or the floor (elec-type).
* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' has EMIYA Alter's [[LimitBreak Noble Phantasm]], ''Unlimited Lost Works''. He [[BifurcatedWeapon combines his guns]], and fires a bullet with his Origin of "sword" into the enemy, manifesting his [[MentalWorld Reality Marble]] with them as the anchor. Since they're incompatible, the results are... [[LudicrousGibs messy.]]
* Nisha the Lawbringer in ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' gains these with her Riflewoman capstone skill, The Unforgiven. When using her Showdown ability, any shots that hit enemies ricochet to hit other enemies for 10% damage. Additionally, her bullets have bombs that explode at the end of Showdown, heavily damaging any enemy who survived getting shot.

* ''Creator/HannaBarbera's WesternAnimation/RicochetRabbitAndDroopALongCoyote'' had Ricochet fire bullets that - for example - would stop in front of the bad guy, open up to show [[HammerSpace a hand carrying a mallet]], and bop the bad guy on the head.

* The Gambler, foe of the GoldenAge ComicBook/GreenLantern, carries a special Derringer, which can fire ammonia or blackout gas in addition to real bullets.

* Creator/HannaBarbera's WesternAnimation/RicochetRabbitAndDroopALongCoyote had Ricochet fire bullets that - for example - would stop in front of the bad guy, open up to show [[HammerSpace a hand carrying a mallet]], and bop the bad guy on the head.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer40000}}'' ([[TropeOverdosed of course]]) has the Imperium employ these, specifically for the Bolters. Because having full-auto .75 caliber RPG-bullets wasn't enough, they also come in super-armor-piercing, anti-materiel, anti-psyker, incendiary, sniper and "mutagenic acid" flavors. The last one is pretty much official terminology for "Tyranid killers".