Line #11 Main/SinisterSwitchblade


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheDarkKnight https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joker_rachel.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:"You look nervous. Is it the scars?\
7	''You wanna know how I got them?''"]]
8	%%
9	->''"When Eddie said he didn't like his teddy you knew he was a no-good kid.\
10	But when he threatened your life with a switchblade knife..."''
11	-->-- '''Chorus''', "Eddie", ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''
12
13	When it comes to planning out the weaponry of a story, GoodWeaponEvilWeapon never fails to display itself. That said, the switchblade gets a particularly bad rep. The small size, concealability, and razor-sharp edge make it almost impossible for the poor weapon to be seen in a positive light. This is especially the case with "stiletto" switchblade, named for the similarly shaped dagger. Gangsters scare their targets ([[MenacingHandShot and the viewers]]) with a single flick of their blades, and assassins slit the throats of unsuspecting victims who barely have time to hear the ''click'' sound given off by the weapon.
14
15	As the above states, when this trope is applied, almost always expect it to be the iconic Italian stiletto switchblade.
16
17	In real life, a lot of countries ban or severely restrict switchblades, flick knives, and similar weapons such as butterfly knives. These weapons have such a bad reputation that even countries that allow more conventional knives to be carried without restriction have laws against them. The actual effects of the legislation range from prohibiting the use of switchblades to anyone outside the military (Hungary) to banning all switchblades with blades longer than a few centimeters (Japan) to adding specific clauses to laws that distinguish between "tools" and "weapons" that always prohibit them no matter what (Canada) to banning the sale, use, or transport of the knives altogether (the Netherlands). It's to the point that even countries that allow you to own and even carry blades that could be far more deadly like butcher's knives or used in the exact same manner like straight razors nevertheless ban switchblades.[[note]]Some U.S. states, apparently noticing that faster-opening and deadlier knife designs were perfectly legal, have relaxed their laws on switchblades, either by removing restrictions altogether, or permitting possession (e.g. for collectors) but disallowing them to be carried around.[[/note]]
18
19	A SubTrope of PsychoKnifeNut and RetractableWeapon. See also DeviousDaggers, SinisterScythe and SinisterShiv, which are also bladed weapons associated with unsavory people.
20
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* ''Anime/CodeGeass''
27	** Inverted with Kallen, one of the (more) straightforwardly heroic characters, who owns a trick wallet that can project a blade switchblade-style.
28	** Played straight with Rolo, an assassin who can combine his TimeStandsStill powers with a switchblade.
29	* In ''Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor'', [[BigBad Vincent]] uses a switchblade to cut Faye's top before brutally killing one of his own henchmen.
30	* ''Anime/HighschoolOfTheDead'' has a crazed survivor holding up Rei with a switchblade.
31	* The ending of ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' has [[spoiler:Takeshi]] wielding a switchblade after being brainwashed into becoming an assassin.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
35	* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', where Batman keeps a serrated switchblade for use in escaping traps, but actually throws at the Joker's head (just barely missing) when he finds out [[spoiler:the Joker tortured Tim Drake into insanity]]. The weapon marks the first and only time in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries this Batman's]] timeline that he was willing to use lethal force.
36	* In ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox'', the villainous Rat has a switchblade as his main weapon.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
40	* The murder weapon in ''Film/TwelveAngryMen'' is a switchblade, but the blade's reputation even extends to its non-usage; Juror #4 is appalled when Juror #8 pulls out an identical blade to prove that there are more copies of the supposedly rare knife than previously thought.
41	-->'''Juror #4:''' It's ''against the law'' to buy or sell switchblade knives.
42	* ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976''. After several members of their gang are killed in a police ambush, the leaders of the Street Thunder gang stick switchblades into their forearms to make a BloodOath to avenge them.
43	* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' has Thanos using a double-bladed switchblade to explain his perception of "balance", and the slaughter it entails, to a young Gamora.
44	* The murderous [[TheDragon Swinburne]]'s first appearance in ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'' has him threaten the main characters with a switchblade. Later on, his boss the Bookman orders him to shoot someone, and Swinburne that he'd rather use his switchblade.
45	* ''Film/BitterRice'': Giuseppe the thief has one. When he finds Francesca unwilling to help him steal the rice, he says "Jail isn't the worst thing that could happen to you," and he flips open his switchblade creepily.
46	* The final confrontation in ''Film/BlackboardJungle'' involves a delinquent with a switchblade. One of the protagonists manages to take advantage of the weapon's fragile lock to snap the blade off the handle.
47	* The switchblade is the villainous bookie Troy's weapon of choice in ''Film/{{Circus}}''. The first time it is seen, it appears seemingly out of nowhere as he holds the blade against Leo's neck. At other points, he whips it out while threatening to cut off various of Leo's body parts for non-payment of debts.
48	* ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' has the gang leader Billy-boy pull a switchblade in response to Alex's challenge to a brawl.
49	* Most of the knives carried by the Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' are switchblades. The most sinister scenes with them are the two "scar story" sequences; in the first, he puts one of his knives in Gambol's mouth before killing him, and in the second, he presses the same knife against Rachel's face menacingly as he's talking to her.
50	* ''Film/Dementia1955'': Before going out, the woman takes a switchblade out of a drawer, flicking it open and smiling strangely. Sure enough, she later uses that switchblade to stab the fat man in the gut.
51	* The main antagonist of ''Film/DennisTheMenace (1993)'' is Switchblade Sam, a town robber armed with a switchblade, and [[WouldHurtAChild he's not above using it on little children]].
52	* Played with in ''Film/DirtyHarry'', where the titular character carries a hidden switchblade when he goes to confront Scorpio and stabs him in the leg with it. Harry's not evil, but he's a definite CowboyCop who's not at all opposed to violence towards perps. Watching Harry tape the knife to his leg, DaChief expresses his disgust that a police officer would know how to use such a weapon (however he doesn't order Harry to leave it behind).
53	* ''Film/DraculaAD1972''. As per the SettingUpdate, Johnny Alucard uses a switchblade instead of an ornate dagger to take blood for the ritual to resurrect Dracula. He flicks it open over the throat of the woman lying on the altar, but cuts his wrist instead of her throat (though she is indeed intended as a sacrifice).
54	* In ''Film/Halloween2018'', Dr. Sartain has a retractable blade inside his pen. While this is ostensibly because he spends most of his time looking after [[AxCrazy Michael Myers]], [[spoiler:he turns out to have been EvilAllAlong and he stabs Sheriff Hawkins with it]].
55	* In the 1958 exploitation movie ''High School Hellcats'', Dolly's EstablishingCharacterMoment is her producing a switchblade and flinging it into the wall.
56	* The primary weapon of Henry Bowers in ''Film/It2017'' is a switchblade. [[spoiler:His fall to madness is punctuated by him killing his father with it.]]
57	* In ''Film/JohnWick'', mob boss Viggo Tarasov owns a stileto with pearl grips. [[spoiler:He uses it in his final fight with John, who takes a stab so he can withdraw it and stab Viggo back]].
58	* ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' has the song Eddie's Teddy invoking this.
59	-->'''Chorus:''' You knew he was a no-good kid, but when he threatened your life with a switchblade knife...
60	* Inverted in the film adaptation of ''ComicBook/SinCity'', where the heroic John Hartigan uses a switchblade to incapacitate the SerialRapist Roark Jr., who wields a Bowie knife.
61	* ''Film/TheTerminator'': The three punk hoodlums at the start pull switchblades on the Terminator when he threatens them. Obviously, since they're really MuggingTheMonster, he doesn't even flinch from getting stabbed.
62	* In the 1988 adaptation of Creator/SvenHassel's ''Wheels Of Terror'' (aka ''The Misfit Brigade''), the Legionaire's throwing knife has been replaced by a large switchblade, with a [[NoOshaCompliance blade twice as big as the handle]].
63	* The PlotTriggeringDeath in ''Film/TheEigerSanction'' is done by a Cuban hitman using a switchblade knife. This is used for a RedHerring later when Creator/ClintEastwood's character has to determine who the killer's accomplice was, and one of the suspects uses a similar knife. The man is a mountain climber, so has a legitimate reason to use a knife he can open with one hand.
64	* In ''Film/TheWarriors'' naturally, given that it's a Seventies movie about street gangs, most notably used by Swan in his [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight climatic confrontation with Luther]].
65	** Earlier, it's downplayed. The leader of the Orphans, Sully, wields a straight razor, and while it might look menacing, being [[DirtyCoward the orphans]], it's practically worthless.
66	* Inverted in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' as [[GreaserDelinquents Mutt Williams]] carries one but is on the side of the heroes, and it is most often used for [[MundaneUtility regular cutting tasks]] as opposed to a weapon. He does flick it open in an attempt to intimidate the two KGB agents, but closes it after [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight realizing they're predictably carrying guns]].
67	* In the 1980 war movie ''Film/TheSeaWolves'', a beautiful German spy uses an automatic knife hidden in her purse for assassinations.
68	* ''Film/SecondhandLions'': In the bar scene, the four teens are instantly tagged as punks with no real fighting skills by the fact that all four draw switchblades after Hub tells them to get lost.
69	* ''Film/TheseAreTheDamned''. Joan, who works as the lure for a gang of muggers, has a switchblade tucked into the front of her tight pants when she first appears, as part of her bad girl image. When a member of her gang finally produces one however, it's just so he can lend someone his knife for non-lethal purposes.
70	* ''Film/DeathWish''. Paul Kersey pretends to be engrossed in his newspaper on the subway, supposedly not noticing the two hoodlums eyeing him until one of them announces his intentions by slashing his newspaper in half with a switchblade. [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight Bad idea.]] The next time however, one of the muggers is able to cut Paul before he's shot.
71	* ''Film/JamesBond''
72	** ''Film/DrNo''. Quarrel takes Bond into a backroom, then suddenly produces a switchblade with a loud ''click''. This is to make the audience think he's a villain; actually Quarrel is an ally of CIA agent Felix Leiter and [[LetsYouAndHimFight wrongly assumes that Bond is the villain]].
73	** At the start of ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'', a seemingly respectable man in suit and tie stands next to a surveillance agent watching a funeral procession. The man produces a switchblade from under his clasped hands and flicks out the blade.
74	--->'''Agent:''' Who's, ah, funeral is it?
75	--->'''Suit-wearing man:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner Yours.]] ''(stabs him)''
76	** ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''. When Edmund Slate catches Bond trespassing in his apartment he tries to kill him with an automatic knife, leading to an extensive brawl that ends when Bond stabs him with a pair of nail scissors.
77	* In ''Film/WestSideStory1961'', switchblade knives are a standard weapon for both the Jets and the Sharks. Riff and Bernardo both use switchblades during their fight at the rumble.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Literature]]
81	* ''The Cross and the Switchblade'' is David Wilkerson's account of his evangelism work among gang members.
82	* ''Literature/GoToSleepAJeffTheKillerRewrite'': An adult Randy flicks out a switchblade in self-defense as he hears commotion in the bushes. Then Jeff, the boy who Randy made insane some years ago, reveals himself to Randy, [[ThisCannotBe much to his disbelief]].
83	* Henry Bowers from ''Literature/{{It}}'' starts off with an ordinary Buck folding knife before losing it and getting a switchblade from the titular BigBad. It's about this time that he graduates from "just" a crazed bully to a truly homicidal AxCrazy maniac.
84	* Switchblades are very common among the gangs in ''Literature/TheOutsiders''.
85	* In the ''Literature/SonjaBlue'' series, antihero and part-time monster Sonja Blue has a silver switchblade as her favorite weapon. Silver to help fight other monsters, and a switchblade because she's ''just that brutal''.
86	* ''Literature/{{Christine}}'':
87	** School bully and delinquent Buddy threatens Arnie with a giant switchblade, which leads to Buddy being expelled when a teacher intervenes (particularly ''because'' it's a switchblade). In the film, he uses it to stab Arnie's lunch.
88	** Also in the film version, Christine chases Moochie (another bully and one of Buddy's friends) into a loading bay. Moochie, believing Arnie is driving, takes out a switchblade and tries to scare him off when it looks like the car can't chase him any further. At this point in the film, it (probably intentionally) just comes off as pathetic.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
92	* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', Ricardo Diaz stabs Oliver with a switchblade in the middle of a fistfight.
93	* The close-range weapon of UsefulNotes/AlCapone's gang in ''Series/DeadliestWarrior'' is a switchblade, referred to a "stiletto."
94	%%* There's an episode of ''Series/ThePretender'' where Miss Parker uses one as a letter-opener. %%Incomplete example: what is it about the character that makes this sinister?
95	* ''Series/{{Highlander}}''. In the episode "The Sea Witch", one of Alexi's thugs carried around a classic Italian Stiletto as a back-up weapon to his [[HandCannon Desert Eagle.]] It's seen quite prominently on-screen when he draws it on Richie and later on Richie's girlfriend of the week just as Duncan arrives in a BigDamnHeroes moment. Both scenes make sure to highlight him clicking it open.
96	* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. Not only villains but Bodie and Doyle can be seen using them on occasion, probably as part of their CombatPragmatist image.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Music]]
100	* The song ''Switchblade Serenade'' by Swedish heavy metal band Sister Sin is about a {{yandere}} who murders the object of her affection with a switchblade, then sings about how much she loves them while they bleed to death. The cover of the album, ''Switchblade Serenades'', also features a tattooed arm holding a switchblade, with menacing-looking thugs in the background.
101	* Music/RodStewart's "The Killing Of Georgie" has the title character mugged by a gang and stabbed with a switchblade. The song itself was inspired by the death of a friend of Stewart's, though he cannot remember if the song's inspiration was shot or stabbed.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
105	* Wrestling/JayWhite (originally wrestling at NJPW, now with AEW) is nicknamed the "[[TheyCallHimSword Switchblade]]" and is consistently characterized as a ManipulativeBastard heel.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Video Games]]
109	* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has the switchblade as a holdout weapon (e.g. you can sneak it into casinos, which normally take your guns). It's typically used by the Fiends, Powder Gangers, and the [[SuicidalOverconfidence infamously overaggressive]] Freeside thugs.
110	* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' again features a switchblade in the [[https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALiCzsZhx3lCwx8Q_609MLMMxWQ7iXtBPw:1671191990117&q=swinguard+switchblade&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLibCni_77AhUSk2oFHekNBm4Q0pQJegQICRAB&biw=412&bih=767&dpr=1.75#imgrc=MaUK0UMWEmlrCM "swinguard" style]] (with a hinged guard that folds up against the blade when closed) commonly seen in movies as a basic melee weapon sometimes carried by Raiders. It's possible to modify them with a serrated blade that inflicts extra bleeding damage, making them somewhat more useful than typical straight-edged one.
111	* In both ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' and [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII its sequel]], Ellie uses a switchblade that she inherited from her mother. In-game, it functions as an unbreakable shiv, enabling her to stealth kill clickers without having to craft anything. [[spoiler:She ends up losing it in the ocean during her final fight with Abby in Santa Barbara, another casualty of her pursuit of revenge.]]
112	* Played with in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange''. When Frank is introduced, he threatens Max and Chloe with one, but he quickly proves to be something of a PaperTiger, and that he tends to [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight bring a knife to a gunfight]] means his switchblade marks him as a bit pathetic. [[spoiler:Indeed, the worst that can happen is that Max and Chloe accidentally kill him in self-defence in episode 4, if the player fails to convince him to join their investigation (and if Chloe ends up fighting him unarmed, she easily manages to stab him with his own knife). In the prequel his much more dangerous friend Damon threatens Chloe and Rachel in a similar scene (in the same place, no less) but uses a much scarier looking combat knife to make it clear that he's much more of a threat.]]
113	* In the ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' bonus case ''Rise from the Ashes'', the SpreeKiller Joe Darke's weapon was a switchblade. It was also the [[spoiler:true murder weapon of Bruce Goodman before a second knife was used as a decoy]].
114	* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''[='s=] Spy carries a butterfly knife around with him as a default weapon. He can also use an alternate weapon, the Big Earner, a more conventional switchblade whose switch has been broken.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Webcomics]]
118	* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Jack is introduced leading the rest of the class to see a lake which (thanks to some crazy experimental science/magic) immediately boils away. He then proceeds to draw what appears to be a switchblade (from the way it clicks and the way the panels are framed), but is then revealed to be an umbrella ([[TheTrickster he didn't warn them it was about to come back down again]]).
119	* In ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' one of the alternative Minmaxes carries twin flip-''swords'' (or very large daggers).
120	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' [[spoiler:Prof. Tiktoffen]] [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110711#.YLNODNUzbIU pulls one out]] after getting smacked in the face by a [[WrenchWhack wrench]] and [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110713#.YLNODNUzbIU uses it against]] [[spoiler:Agatha]].
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Web Original]]
124	* The WebVideo/{{Jontron}} video ''Love Is Like Drugs'' characterizes a drug dealer as evil nigh instantly by having him open a switchblade in front of our main characters, which sends them fumbling to find a magical analogy to get them out of the situation.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Western Animation]]
128	* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Schoolhouse Rocked": When the Gangreen Gang are forced to attend Pokey Oaks kindergarten, the girls tackle Lil' Arturo when he shows off what looks like a switchblade. Turns out it was just a switchblade-style ''[[ShootHimHeHasAWallet comb]]''.
129	-->'''Ms. Keane:''' Girls! Girls! No fighting!\
130	'''Blossom:''' But Ms. Keane! Arturo's holding a deadly--\
131	''(Arturo presses the switch)''\
132	'''Blossom:''' --comb.
133	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SinisterSwitchblade