History Main / TwoShotsFromBehindTheBar

* ''Literature/Shane'', as with so many other Western tropes, both codifies and inverts this. When five of Fletcher's men surround Shane in Sam Grafton's saloon, intending a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown followed by [[TarAndFeathers riding Change out of town on a rail,]] Grafton enacts it exactly, along with what for him is a BadassBoast:

* In ''Film/DirtyHarry'' it was a liquor store and this was how the villain, an ex-con, was able to get a gun to battle with Dirty Harry.

** In ''Film/XMen1'', when Logan threatens a customer with his claws, the bartender quickly aims a shotgun point blank at his head. Logan promptly slices the shotgun in half, demonstrating why you should never bring a gun to a [[WolverineClaws clawfight]].

* Averted in ''Film/TheLastDetail'': The bartender threatens this, but Creator/JackNicholson's character points out he knows there's only a baseball bat back there, because he once saw the bartender use it.
* A variant happens in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' when Selina Kyle is attacked by henchmen in a bar. One of the henchmen is stationed behind the counter, and tries to draw a weapon when the attack begins, only for Selina to shoot him before he can fire it.

* In ''Film/AccidentMan'', Big Ray has a sawn-off double barrel shotgun mounted on a swivel beneath the bar of his pub.

** Mr. Goriff, [[AsianStoreOwner curry shop proprietor]] in ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', keeps a crossbow behind his counter, which his son fires at someone he mistakes for a looter. The crossbow turns out to be [[ShurFineGuns so disconditioned by the heat and grease]] that Vimes thinks you'd have to use it as a club to reliably do any damage.

* In the "Massacre at Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant" and "The Lee Hong assassination" levels of ''VideoGame/HitmanCodename47'', if 47 pulls a weapon on the bartender, he will duck behind the bar and unload a sawed-off shotgun on him.
* The seedy bar in the beginning of ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' comes complete with a Stormtrooper rifle hidden under the counter.

* The player can do this in ''{{VideoGame/Poke646}}: Vendetta''. In Nation City, there is a empty bar the player has to pass through. Picking up the shotgun makes Aliens telepot in, as convenient target practise.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The opening shootout from ''Film/TheKiller'' featured a bartender with a shotgun. Needless to say, it didn't end well for him.
* ''Film/PulpFiction'': When Butch and Marcellus bust into Maynard's pawn shop he stops Butch by pulling out a shotgun.
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** In ''Film/XMen1'', when Logan threatened a customer with his claws, the bartender quickly aimed a shotgun point blank at his head. Logan promptly sliced the shotgun in half, demonstrating why you should never bring a gun to a [[WolverineClaws clawfight]].
** This trope came up again in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[ComicBook/{{Magneto}} Erik]] hunts down former Nazis at a bar in [[ArgentinaIsNaziland Argentina]]. As he controls metal, it failed even worse than the above example.

* ''Film/Seven1979'': When Kincella shoots Kimo at his club, Kincella's bartender--who is secretly on Kimo's payroll--pulls a shotgun from behind the bar and tries to kill Kincella.

[[folder: Literature ]]

-->''When a group of men came (into Lefty's bar), boasting of having beaten a Negro to death, my grandfather refused to serve them. "Why don't you go back to your own country?" one of them shouted. "This is my country," Lefty said, and to prove it, he did a very American thing: he reached under the counter and produced a pistol.''

* A RunningGag in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is the presence of a club of some description, possibly with a nail in it, behind the bar of any pub. The landlord of the Goblin's Head in ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'' is a former copper, and kept his truncheon.

* In Literature/TheContinentalOp short story "Corkscrew", the diner owner keeps a sawn-off shotgun in plain sight in a barrel behind the counter. The Op borrows it at one point to quell a potential riot. [[spoiler:The Op later realises that as he keeps this gun in plain sight, he probably has a second weapon concealed below the counter.]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "Night Terrors", when a barfight erupted in Ten Forward, Guinan pulled a phaser rifle from behind the bar and fired a shot into the ceiling.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': During the opening of "Penny and Dime," some of Finn Cooley's men enter a bar looking for information on the Punisher. The bartender tries to draw a gun but Finn's men shoot him, then threaten the owner with a shotgun to the neck. Later in the episode, Sgt. Brett Mahoney is seen processing this scene when Matt drops by as Daredevil to find out if the Punisher is responsible.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has a sawed-off shotgun and its shells stored at the Statesman Hotel's restaurant, under the counter. The reference to the trope is ambiguous, as there's also an ammunition box and frag grenades behind the counter as well.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* A RunningGag in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is the presence of a club of some description, possibly with a nail in it, behind the bar of any pub. The landlord of the Goblin's Head in ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'' is a former copper, and kept his truncheon.
** Mr. Goriff, [[AsianStoreOwner curry shop proprietor]] in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', keeps a crossbow behind his counter, which his son fires at someone he mistakes for a looter. The crossbow turns out to be [[ShurFineGuns so disconditioned by the heat and grease]] that Vimes thinks you'd have to use it as a club to reliably do any damage.

* ''Film/{{Savaged}}'': When Zoe attacks Jed in the bar, the bartender grabs a shotgun from behind the bar and starts desperately fumbling to load it. It dies him no good.

* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' implies similar - the front desk to the dataDyne building in the first few levels has a pair of submachine guns hidden behind it.
* During ''VideoGame/{{Mafia}}'s'' mid-mission stages, Luigi the bartender packs a sawed-off shotgun behind the bar and [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment will not hesitate to gun Tommy down]] if he attacks any of his allies.
* Bartenders in ''VideoGame/MafiaII'' will pull a shotgun on Vito if he tries to rob them.

* In ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', after the player blunders into his bar, the bartender screams "WE'RE CLOSED!" and proceeds to shoot the crap out of you.

* In ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', Vincent can retrieve the Hydra rifle in Edge from behind a bar inside a deserted building.

* The bartender in ''[[VideoGame/{{Spacestation13}} Space Station 13]]'' has a shotgun in the back room. It usually doesn't see much use, but it's there.
** It's also one of the few ranged weapons you can get on station outside of security and antagonists.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has one of the most convenient and straightforward versions of the trope: the owner of Kendo Gun Store, whom you run into early in the game, is unloading on the zombies from behind his counter.
* The seedy bar in the beginning of ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' comes complete with a Stormtrooper rifle hidden under the counter.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Artemis Bock, the bookstore owner, keeps a sawn-off 10-gauge wired underneath the counter. [=MacAnally=] the bartender has one as well as two M1911s, but they're only placed easily accessible when there's trouble brewing.

-->''When a group of men came (into Lefty's bar), boasting of having beaten a Negro to death, my grandfather refused to serve them."Why don't you go back to your own country?" one of them shouted. "This is my country," Lefty said, and to prove it, he did a very American thing: he reached under the counter and produced a pistol.''

* ''Film/XMen'':

* Literature/{{Middlesex}}:

* Although she doesn't fire the gun, Lindsey the bartender brandishes a shotgun while standing behind the bar when Raylan and Quarles face off in the "A Guy Walks into a Bar" episode of Series/{{Justified}}.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Happens several times in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheMentalist'', Rigsby's father (an ex-con) is "helping" on a case, and goes into a BadGuyBar. Moments later several people run out. Rigsby enters and finds his father with a shiv pointed at some guy's throat and the bartender with a shotgun pointed at Rigsby Sr.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "Night Terrors", when a barfight erupted in Ten Forward, Guinan pulled a phaser rifle from behind the bar and fired a shot into the ceiling.
-->'''Guinan:''' That was setting one. Anyone want to see setting two?
* Visually homaged in ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' when Tony draws down on Rick from behind a bar.
* Although she doesn't fire the gun, Lindsey the bartender brandishes a shotgun while standing behind the bar when Raylan and Quarles face off in the "A Guy Walks into a Bar" episode of Series/{{Justified}}.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': During the opening of "Penny and Dime," some of Finn Cooley's men enter a bar looking for information on the Punisher. The bartender tries to draw a gun but Finn's men shoot him, then threaten the owner with a shotgun to the neck. Later in the episode, Sgt. Brett Mahoney is seen processing this scene when Matt drops by as Daredevil to find out if the Punisher is responsible.
[[/folder]]

* Film/PulpFiction: When Butch and Marcellus bust into Maynard's pawn shop he stops Butch by pulling out a shotgun.

[[caption-width-right:350:When he said "last call for shots", he wasn't kidding.]]

* After the T-800 in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' beats up several bikers in a bar, the bartender confronts him outside with a shotgun to prevent him from stealing one of their motorbikes. The terminator proves his BadToTheBone credentials by snatching the loaded shotgun off him, as well as a pair of CoolShades.

* Averted in ''Film/TheLastDetail'': The bartender threatens this, but JackNicholson's character points out he knows there's only a baseball bat back there, because he once saw the bartender use it.

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[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

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[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]

* After the T-800 in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' beats up several bikers in a bar, the bartender confronts him outside with a shotgun to prevent him from stealing one of their motorbikes. The terminator proves his [[BadAss Bad to the Bone]] credentials by snatching the loaded shotgun off him, as well as a pair of CoolShades.