History Main / TrickBullet

Normally bullets are used to damage or kill whatever they hit, but there are special bullets that are not primarily intended to do that, or do so in an unusual way. [[ArmorPiercingAttack Armor piercing]], [[OneHitPolykill penetration]], [[StuffBlowingUp fragmentation]] and [[KillItWithFire incendiary]] rounds are probably the most common types due to existing in real life, and [[SilverBullet silver bullets]] are also common thanks to their purported effectiveness against [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] (and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent some vampires]]). In fiction however, they can get much, much weirder: [[HomingProjectile Homing bullets]], [[PinballProjectile ricocheting bullets]], [[BottomlessMagazines literal bottomless magazines]], and DepletedPhlebotinumShells are just the tip of the iceberg.

Compare AbnormalAmmo and TrickArrow.

* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' features a wide variety of special bullets, from the commonly seen silver, homing, ricocheting, penetrating, and homing bullets to weirder ammunition such as cursed bullets, [[BottomlessMagazines endless bullets]], nano bullets, and party bullets.

Normally bullets are used to damage or kill whatever they hit, but there are special bullets that are not primarily intended to do that.

** There are also military training rounds that have the same results as paintballs but are sized like normal rounds and fired from standard issue weapons that has their entire upper receivers, barrels, operating parts, and magazines replaced, and often have portions of the weapons painted blue. They have the same general shape, but these changes are intentionally highly visible so that negligent mistakes and harmful accidents are not as likely to occur.

* 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, manuever or otherwise change their course in flight.

See rubber bullets. This kind of thing can be found in most calibers but shotgun shells take the overall award; ignoring stuff like grenades and other weapons we have:

*** You can make a shot gun round that work similarly to a breaching round at home by mixing birdshot with melted wax. The result is a slug with a similar amount of energy as a solid lead slug, but with much higher stopping power and lower penetration. This does decrease the accuracy, but not as much as you would expect.

** 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.

* ''Film/XMen'':

* ''{{Film/Hellboy}}'' has the titular character shoot Sammael with a tracking bullet.

* ''{{GURPS}}''

* A scenario in the old ''[[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''.)

* ''Film/XXx'' features both standard tranq rounds and a "blood drop" round that not only delivers a dose of tranquilizer but includs a blood squib that makes it look like the tranq'd target is actually shot with a standard bullet.

* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabiit'', Eddie use a gun that fires toon bullets: bullets that are self-aware cartoons and can steer themselves in flight. Unfortunately, they aren't the brightest of toons.

* In Rocket Raccoon's solo title, a merchant in the background of a bazaar is selling [[OrganicTechnology plant-looking guns]] she claims impregnates living with their bullets to grow more guns.

* These exist to some degree in RealLife; tracer rounds (which are essentially bullets with built in flares to help the gunner correct their aim. The US Military also uses them near the end of a magazine to tell soldiers when their magazine is low.) See also rubber bullets and "dum dum" bullets. This kind of thing can be found in most calibers but shotgun shells take the overall award; ignoring stuff like grenades and other weapons we have;
** Slug rounds

** Airburst rounds. Close enough to a grenade, the whole idea is to explode right after a barrier such as around a window, thus granting no cover to those hiding.
** There are also military training rounds that have the same results as paintballs but are sized like normal rounds and fired from a slightly modified but otherwise standard issue gun (same exterior, slightly changed interior; you wouldn't know the difference otherwise).

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

* The Taser XREP, is a miniaturized taser fitted within a 12 gauge shell with a range of 100 feet, as a less-lethal incapacitation option.

* Some of the [[MagiTech 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 ...

* Japanese shuriken were actually used as a distraction, not intended for killing a target.

* In ''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).
* Some of the [[MagiTech caster]] shells in ''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 ...

* In the "Escape from Pain" episode of ''{{Trigun}}'', Vash the Stampede is hired to kill a teenage runaway, but shoots the boy with rubber bullets to fool his employer.
* ''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''.

* These exist to some degree in RealLife; tracer rounds (which are essentially bullets with built in flares to help the gunner correct their aim. The US Military also uses them near the end of a magazine to tell soldiers when their clip is low.) See also rubber bullets and "dum dum" bullets. This kind of thing can be found in most calibers but shotgun shells take the overall award; ignoring stuff like grenades and other weapons we have;

* HannaBarbera's RicochetRabbit would 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.

** Dragon's Breath, anyone?