Follow TV Tropes

Following

Trigger-Happy

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eatthebroccoli.jpg
This also solves the question of who does the dishes.

Border Guard: Recreational shooting? There's a hundred thousand bullets here!
Yuri Orlov: I'm a little trigger-happy.

Some people really, really like guns. Maybe they're Compensating for Something. Maybe they see all problems as solvable with More Dakka. Maybe they just prefer to shoot first and ask questions later.

Mr. (or Ms.) Trigger-Happy tends to have some (or all) of the following traits:

See also the whole family of people who have a little too much fun murdering people, i.e., Ax-Crazy, Chainsaw Good, Gatling Good, Psycho Knife Nut... Of course, even a mellow and sane person can sometimes find himself in a situation where the only thing to do is Shoot Everything That Moves. But if you're Trigger-Happy, you'll enjoy it more. Despite being a commonly-seen trait of fictional Gun Nuts, Gunslingers and Crazy Survivalists, those tropes and this one are by no means mutually inclusive (famous movie Gun Nut Burt Gummer, for instance, is very, very strict when it comes to gun safety).

Compare/Contrast Orgasmic Combat and Combat Sadomasochist. If the character in-question is trying to get retribution, and is willing to be rude and mean to get it, then they may be a Pushy Gun-Toting Villain. See also Hair-Trigger Temper, whose name is derived from gun triggers but doesn't always involve literal triggers.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Rebecca of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is quite eccentric when it comes to the use of her shotgun, and her loose-cannon and unpredictable personality doesn't do much to show this down.
  • Sōsuke meets his match when he encounters the mad policewoman in Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, who gets into a shootout with Sōsuke in his Bonta-kun costume. In a later episode where she hears the gun-toting Bonta-kun is on the loose again, her fellow police officers have to physically restrain her from going berserk with Guns Akimbo FN-P90's.
  • Genkaku from Deadman Wonderland. Wielding a double-machine gun-electric guitar, he really really loves to use it. He expresses great disappointment when Mouzuri restrains him from shooting Ganta. Not to mention that he even has an affectionate name for it, calling it "Flying V." He generally treats it with a lot more compassion and love than any human he encounters in the series, and the only time he's shown crying is when it's broken by Shiro. He keeps a grudge towards Shiro because of it and is shown saying he'll hold a funeral service for it (something he'd never do for a human).
  • Most notable in Digimon: Gargomon, a trigger-happy Rambo bunny (Dog actually, but who cares?) with gatling guns for hands.
  • Benkate from Et Cetera collects 99 guns, and is more than pleased to have the opportunity to show them off by firing at them.
  • Robert from Haré+Guu. He's even shooting it off in the opening.
  • Of course, we can't forget Alucard, from Hellsing. He carries two impossibly heavy guns, Jackel and his Casull Joshua. And the ever-popular image of him resting his vampire canines on the barrel of the gun.
  • Officer Volvo Saigo in Kochikame is very trigger-happy with his weapons at the slightest disturbance around him causing a threat to Ryotsu and the others.
  • Arnage of Hückebein from Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force. In the chapter that introduced her Divider, instead of dodging the 25 million energy beams headed her way like she was ordered to, she decided to shoot them all down since that was more her style.

    Comic Books 
  • In the Lucky Luke episode that introduced the Dalton brothers, Jack Dalton was this, to the point where he scared his own brothers. Ironically this is also his downfall; had he waited until he had a clearer shot he might have gotten Luke without warning him, and he is ultimately defeated when he accidentally sets fire to his own bullet supply. In later comics, Joe Dalton is also this, but only towards Lucky Luke.
  • Spider-Man once asked The Punisher if he has his own private lead mine after the latter goes trigger-happy in a fight. Given an Ironic Echo later on when Punisher asked Spidey if he buys his web fluid wholesale after the web-head completely cocoons some mooks.
  • Sin City characters are over this trope. Marv certainly laughs when he kills his enemies and calls his gun Gladys. The gun love is there as well. Dwight and the Old Town girls are also quite fond of mowing down enemies as seen in the climax of Big Fat Kill.
  • Thunderbolts: Scourge, of the Dark Reign era team, has a habit of pointing a gun at any team-member who isn't sufficiently Ax-Crazy enough to do what their equally insane boss tells them to do, because to him, that's "treason".

    Comic Strip 
  • Pig's militaristic Guard Duck from Pearls Before Swine. He constantly believes that everyone besides Pig and his friends are the enemy and his first solution to problems is to shoot like crazy.

    Film — Animation 
  • Panchito from The Three Caballeros is the Ur-Example Disney-wise. He displays his excitement by discharging a fusillade of shots from the two six-shooters he always carries: firing off way more than six shots from each of them.
  • Pecos Bill in Melody Time who — amongst other acts — shoots out all the stars in the sky but one, which is why Texas is the 'Lone Star State'.
  • Madame Medusa in The Rescuers, combined with Reckless Gun Usage, blasting with her shotgun when she has no clear target in sight.
  • Trigger from Robin Hood (1973). It doesn't help that Trigger's crossbow "Old Betsy" is notoriously unreliable and goes off at the slightest provocation. The Sheriff starts making Trigger go first to reduce the risk of being shot by mistake.
  • EVE in WALL•E, given that her job is to go into possibly hostile territory, carries a laser grun and (at first) responds to the slightest sound or movement with shooting in its general direction.

    Film — Live-Action 
  • Batman Forever: On multiple occasions, Two-Face shoots off his gun into the air or readily draws it during a berserker motif. His very first impulse when Riddler enters his hideout is to threaten to blow his head off, and his preferred method of getting Riddler to stop with the flattering and get to the point is a "Shut Up!" Gunshot.
    The Riddler: Has anyone ever told you, you have a SERIOUS IMPULSE-CONTROL PROBLEM?!
  • Walter in The Big Lebowski carries a pistol and doesn't hesitate to pull it out when there is a dispute over a bowling score.
  • Dear Wendy: Happens gradually over the space of the film. The protagonist actually hates guns at first.
  • The Danish movie Flickering Lights has this scene where Mads Mikkelsen gets annoyed at a cow and decides to shoot it dead.
  • Tommy DeVito from Goodfellas, who is more than willing to shoot dead whoever insults him.
  • Rufus Clements in Hannie Caulder. Pretty much every one of the Clements brothers problems stems from Rufus' propensity to open up with his Sawed-Off Shotgun at the drop of a hat. Dialogue reveals that he shot their father in the face, and while Rufus swears that was an accident, his brothers don't believe him.
  • Dr. Watson in Holmes & Watson, who uses just about any excuse to reach for his pistol, including trying to kill a mosquito, and who announces Holmes' arrival in court with a fusillade of gunshots.
  • Bob in Jungle Goddess, whose reaction to anything unexpected is to shoot it. This includes him shooting a coconut dropped by a very lost orangutan.
  • Rocket Racoon in Guardians of the Galaxy and the sequels. He's really, really enthusiasmic about using guns. When he's handed one in prison, he just says ''Oh yeah!" and then starts to fire it wildly while laughing maniacally. During bar brawl between Groot and Drax his answer is pulling his gun to the latter, and when talked out of shooting someone he still remarks he will probably shoot everyone once they're done with their current task.
  • In Kelly's Heroes, there's a scene during the mission where the platoon's corporal is going among the men to see if they need more ammunition. Most of the men merely say they need just one or two magazines, but one soldier says he needs eight. The corporal tells him he's trigger-happy, gives him two magazines, and tells him to watch it. When the private gives a non-committal answer, the corporal gets serious, punches him in the shoulder, and repeats the order. This is very much Truth in Television, small-unit Sergeants and officers know very well it's a good idea to keep a close eye on trigger-happy personnel. Impulsive behavior like this is a sign of both a lack of discipline and perhaps something deeper...
  • Emilio Estevez' Cowboy Cop character in Loaded Weapon 1, named Jack Colt. At one point the Police Psychiatrist claims he's "gun happy." He points his gun at her.
  • Mabel "Madea" Simmons carries a handgun in her purse, and is not at all reluctant to whip it out and start shooting. Just ask the folks who have a party in her house.
    Mr. Brown: SHE GOT A GUN!
  • In Mistress of the Apes, Evil Poacher Thurston is a Gun Nut with a fondness for large calibre hunting rifles. He has a habit of starting shooting without warning, and usually without a clear target.
  • In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Nelson is portrayed as manic-depressive, and he's very trigger-happy when he's feeling good.
    Nelson: (while hanging out the door of a moving vehicle) Han' me dat choppah!
    Delmar: Say, what line o' work ya in, George?
    Nelson: (firing the Thompson at the cops) Ha ha ha ha! Come and get me, coppers! You flatfooted, lame-brained, soft-ass sonsabitches!
  • One of the generals in Pixels keeps on saying "so let's attack (whatever nation/game is considered a culprit at the moment)!", to the annoyance of others.
  • Eugene Tackleberry from Police Academy, who enthusiastically demolishes a shooting range and has to engage in Extended Disarming when sleeping with a female Cowboy Cop who shares his liking for firearms.
  • Baby Face Nelson in Public Enemies. Truth in Television, because in real life, Baby Face used to work for Al Capone, but was kicked out for his itchy trigger finger and even John Dillinger disliked having to work with him (the feeling was mutual). Paradoxically, he was a devoted husband and father who often had his wife and children with him while he was on the run. Nelson is known to have killed more federal agents than any one person.
  • Ironhide in the Transformers Film Series is extremely trigger-happy. In the first film, he recommends that they kill Sam's parents simply to expedite Sam's search for the MacGuffin. In the first video game, it's implied that he blew up a planet, though he insists it would have blown up anyway.
  • Jim West in Wild Wild West, as lampshaded by President Grant: "Shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more and then when everybody's dead try to ask a question or two!"

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • The Addams Family: Uncle Fester is fond of solving problems with his blunderbuss. In "Cousin Itt Visits the Addams Family", having heard about an escaped animal and not realizing it's Cousin Itt, the Addamses arm themselves with shotguns. Uncle Fester takes a shot at Gomez's safari hat when he peeks over the back of the sofa. Gomez immediately tells everyone that they should shoot the beast, not simply anything moving. Later, when the family finds out that the commissioner locked Itt up in a zoo exhibit, Fester jumps to the solution of shooting the man in the back, politely asking him to turn around so he can do so.
  • Fiona from Burn Notice. (Seriously, the Opening Narration literally calls her a "trigger-happy ex-girlfriend".) Since Thou Shalt Not Kill (Except Indirectly, Or In The First Episode) is in effect, this tends to come across as something of an Informed Ability...until the second Season Finale, where she snipes Carla. Given how hugely satisfying this is, perhaps it's understandable that they decided to save it.
  • Deadliest Catch: The Hillstrands mark special occasions with automatic rifle fire (plus fireworks and flare guns).
  • Farscape:
    • Aeryn Sun spends a lot of time shooting people with evident pleasure. Even while giving birth.
    • Not to mention Talyn, who was quite literally born shooting.
  • Jayne on Firefly. There aren't many scenes where he isn't carrying some sort of weapon. He's shown to be Crazy-Prepared as far as weapons go. His whole room is filled to the brim with them and in the Big Damn Movie, the one time he wants to bring grenades but gets overruled by Mal, the team ends up needing them.
    Jayne: (as the crew is being pursued by Reavers) Boy, sure would be nice if we had some GRENADES, don't you think?!
    (and then later on)
    Mal: Please tell me you brought them this time.
  • Flash Point: A wanna-be SRU member doesn't pass the exam when he's a little too eager to shoot a perp, or possibly a guy who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • How I Met Your Mother: Robin calls herself a "gun enthusiast". She took Marshall to the range to blow off a little steam when Lily left him.
  • Frank from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has a habit of pulling out his pistol when he gets angry or threatened (which happens easily). Usually the gang has to physically hold him down from actually shooting a person with it.
    Frank: So anyway, I started blasting.
  • In what might be the only nonlethal variation, Parker on Leverage is trigger-happy with various stun guns and tasers.
  • Carlton Lassiter on Psych is the butt of many wisecracks from everyone in the SBPD for being this (especially when shooting inanimate objects that he mistook for an attacker).
  • Detective Hammer from Sledge Hammer!. He does target practice inside his apartment, he talks to his gun, and his reaction to a sniper on top of a building is to bring the entire building down with a rocket launcher. That's just in the pilot episode.

    Music 
  • The Arrogant Worms sing a sardonic song titled "Let There Be Guns" where a group enthusiastically sings about how everyone would feel safe and no one would ever be shot if everyone had a gun. The song culminates with the group one-upping each other on the type of gun they want, from a rifle to a semi-automatic, to the final rant about a super-duper automatic weapon with ridiculous features:
    You get yourself one of those, I’m gonna get a super-duper automatic weapon with a CD-ROM drive and a big ole hard drive and a big guitar amp so I can play BTO songs on it, it’ll go so fast it’ll be able to chase you here to Saigon, and then I’ll shoot like little Nerf rockets at you and poke you in the eye ‘cause it’ll have automatic like finger-poking in the eye things and I’ll get myself another guitar amp…
  • Peter Schilling's "(Let's Play) U.S.A." has this line:
    Won't it be a lot of fun? Every man will own a gun.
    Shoot the ones whose point of view makes a point that bothers you.
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Trigger Happy" is, of course, a song that parodies this trope.
    I filled that kitty-cat so full of lead
    We'll have to use him for a pencil instead

    Radio 
  • Our Miss Brooks: In "New School Bus", Mr. Boynton buys an old paddy wagon for use as a school bus. Mrs. Davis uses the opportunity to drive around in the wagon, pretending to be a trigger-happy cop. Fortunately, she's using a toy gun and shooting blanks!

    Tabletop Games 
  • Dark Champions includes a villain called Trigger Happy who certainly lives up to his name. Several other Dark Champions villains also qualify.
  • In Warhammer the Skaven Doomwheel must be fired at someone every turn. If there are enemies within range, all the better.
  • Warhammer 40,000:
    • The Orks are the Trope Namers for More Dakka. Enuff said.
    • Chaos Dreadnoughts have a chance to go completely nuts, firing every single one of their weapons in a single turn.

    Theatre 

    Video Games 
  • Salvador the Gunzerker from Borderlands 2.
    • Anyone with a gun on Pandora is likely this.
  • Crash Bandicoot has Pinstripe Potoroo, the head of the potoroo mafia that is really fond of his Tommy Gun. In the first game, he practically shoots at you almost nonstop while laughing wildly. In Crash Team Racing, in the epilogue, he's mentioned to become a used car salesman who's fond of using his Tommy Gun to "make his customers decide faster".
  • In Dead Rising, Cletus Samson and both Roger Hall and his son Jack have a policy of "shoot first, ask questions later" in dealing with humans that they seem to enjoy. Perhaps somewhat understandable as the zombie outbreak did turn a number of human survivors homicidally insane. Then again, that they take it to an extreme that makes them obviously Trigger Happy is what makes them among those humans themselves.
  • One of the Shadow Master's goons from the Double Dragon (1993) animated series is named Trigger Happy. True to his name, he's got a big gun.
    • Willy, the Big Bad of the original arcade game, is nicknamed "Machine Gun" Willy for his favorite weapon.
  • In The Feeble Files, SAM is a robot specifically designed for mass destruction and tries to find every possible excuse to try solving every problem he comes across by shooting at it. He's not happy that other characters, especially Feeble, do not share the same sentiment and keep ordering him to stay civil.
  • Final Fantasy VII: The typical response of Barret Wallace to any problem he faces is to let loose with the drill/chainsaw/BFG he's got hooked up to the end of his arm. It's Justified later in the game when you find out just why Barret's so Trigger Happy to begin with.
  • Forte Stollen of the Galaxy Angel gameverse. Her personal Cool Ship is equipped with a pair of starfighter-sized gatling guns and enough missiles to shame your average UN Spacy pilot. Heck, the name of this flying death machine is even Happy Trigger.
    • Forte's anime counterpart is obsessed with military hardware, practically living for rare and antique firearms and never hesitating to try them out on people. Fortunately for everyone else, she exhibits A-Team Firing on pretty much anybody who isn't Normad.
  • In Jagged Alliance 2, any mercenary with the "Psycho" trait can and will, when armed with a weapon capable of automatic fire, fire it on automatic. Even if you told them to fire a single shot or a burst.
  • Both Jak and Daxter follow this trope, though Jak uses the BFG more often.
  • Axl of the Mega Man X series, especially compared to Technical Pacifist X and Shell-Shocked Veteran Zero.
  • Revolver Ocelot from Metal Gear Solid. To put it in his words, "There's nothing like the feeling of slamming a long, silver bullet into a well-greased chamber." The man loves his guns.
  • Red Dead Redemption: John Marston is trying to get over his problem of being one of these, but the time where he shot up three Mexican troublemakers for stealing his hat comes to mind.
  • Trigger Happy from Skylanders. He's a crazy gremlin goldslinger whose main weapons are a pair of golden guns that shoot golden coins. His personality is described as gunplay being his solution to every problem and he "will take down any bad guy... usually without bothering to aim."
  • Big Bad Mr. X from Streets of Rage isn't shy of firing his gun either, even if he hits his own Mooks most of the time.
  • The Heavy from Team Fortress 2 really, really loves his miniguns. He has given them names, they have their own cradles to lie on, he gets ticked off if someone other than him touches them, he's proud of how much it costs to shoot them, and in the final seconds of his introductory video "Meet the Heavy", he's laughing like a madman as he unleashes said minigun on the opposing team.
  • Marisa from Touhou Project is a variant; she doesn't have a gun but is mentioned to be trigger-happy, and the gun is just replaced with magic missiles and giant lasers most of the time.

    Web Comics 
  • Craze from Building 12.
  • In Commander Kitty, the normally goofy and harmless (but egotistical) CK can get surprisingly trigger-happy when the Triple-I are on his case.
  • Freckle of Lackadaisy fame is this, though he generally only becomes so when he has a gun in hand, to the point where he got booted out of the police force for being too enthusiastic.
  • Mell from Narbonic is a clear example. Not only did she get kicked out of both heaven and hell quite quickly, she seemed very happy when she found a recording of herself from the future, stating that she has/was/is going to destroy the universe.
  • Vaarsuvius of The Order of the Stick would be this if s/he had a gun. As it is, s/he just uses spell spam.
  • Schlock Mercenary: Schlock himself takes every possible to intimidate or incinerate any and all available targets with the plasma cannon he keeps in his mouth. Most of the other mercenaries are also itching for a fight at all times.
  • The first thing Tabbi does in We Are The Wyrecats when the team walks in on her unexpectedly? Start shooting at everyone, naturally.

    Web Original 
  • Caddicarus uses a gun in nearly every episode. It's even part of his gimmick — if a game is bad, he "slaughters" it by shooting it with a gun (good games get the "salvage" when they are beamed with a transporter). He also shoots off secondary characters left and right, including other reviewers who join him for a crossover.
  • Channel Awesome:
  • Joe the skeleton from Professor Shadow is rarely seen without some type of gun in his hands. It is common for him to shoot at random people or just shoot his guns around in the air like crazy.

    Western Animation 
  • Stan Smith of American Dad! has hundreds of guns behind every wall of his house, including one in his pillow. "200 thread count, 200 dead count." Interestingly, despite his gun obsession, it's revealed that he never actually killed anybody in "The 42-Year-Old Virgin".
  • Scrooge McDuck's New Old Flame Glittering Goldie on DuckTales (1987).
  • Meanwhile, another character voiced by Dan Castellaneta, Earthworm Jim, has this as his modus operandi. "EAT DIRT, EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY! AH-HA-HAHAHAHAHA!"
  • Futurama: Mom's Friendly Killbots will automatically shoot whenever anyone mentions anything resembling gun terminology, like getting howitzer out of "how it's her." They usually shoot the person or Killbot that says the gun term. This is in addition to shooting anything that moves.
  • G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Hasbro's other popular boy's toy franchise, features Metal-Head, a loud, goofy, talkative moron with dual missile launchers on his back and a tendency to fire them at every opportunity, usually just because he likes bright lights and loud noises. He might as well be Triggerhappy's squishy human cousin. Surprisingly for a series where A-Team Firing was common, he actually turned out to be a pretty good shot.
  • ReBoot, After years of fighting for his life in the Games, Matrix has become incredibly prone (and skilled) at pulling his gun on and sooting anything or anyone that gets on his nerves. Unlike many examples, however, it is made extremely clear that this habit comes from Matrix's severe PTSD and is NOT a good thing.
  • The Simpsons
    • Homer Simpson becomes this for one episode, where he buys a gun to protect the family following a series of riots in Springfield. However, he quickly becomes ludicrously irresponsible with the gun (using it to change the channel and open a beer, among other feats), which drives Marge and the kids away. He goes to the local NRA for support, but they're just as appalled by him as Marge was and kick him out of the organization. The whole episode serves to deliver An Aesop about responsible gun usage.
    • Moe can be this as well. In the episode mentioned, he rigs up a device combining five guns and his fighting style of funk dancing for self-defence involves a shotgun.
    • Rich Texan always carries two revolvers, and he has a common habit of pulling them out and firing them into the air while yelling, "Yee-haw!" whenever he is happy or excited.
  • The Transformers:
    • Minor Decepticon Triggerhappy lives up to his name. Apparently while goofing around at the military academy he accidentally vaporized his entire squad of trainees and his instructor. This earned him an immediate graduation and field promotion. However, some theorize that his crazed affection for heavy automatic weaponry isn't due to pride at this defining moment, but because he happened to bump his head pretty bad in said accident.
    • Strafe of the Technobots is one of the best shots in the Autobots. Unfortunately, he's also one of the most paranoid minds in the Autobots, and he reacts to such things as "something moved" or "nothing's happening" by blasting away with his heat rifles until they're out of power. His partners on the Technobots like to keep him out in front, where he's less likely to start shooting in their direction.
    • Cliffjumper combines this with Leeroy Jenkins. Being the sort to shoot first and ask questions never, he responds to even the slightest possible Decepticon threat by producing worrying large firearms from thin air and firing the moment he has a target in his sights. We get to see him try this on Megatron (and miss) as well as a suspiciously Starscream-shaped rock (which he blasts to bits in a shower of gravel and smoke). He's most known for carrying around a ridiculously huge bazooka. It's a wonder he hasn't been responsible for any war crimes.
  • Heinrich "Herr Trigger" Triggermensch, one of the three assassins sent after Brock Samson during the Season Three Finale of The Venture Bros., is one of these, complete with licking his gun-barrel in sexual ecstasy during his fight scene.
  • Yosemite Sam made his debut as a masked railroad train robber in the 1945 cartoon "Hare Trigger." He's a Fiery Redhead with no manners, no patience, and loves to draw his two six-guns as a universal solution to any problem. Sam will even fire off his guns into the air when he's in a rare good mood, such as cheering for Fearless Freep in "High Diving Hare."

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Pinstripe Potoroo

Don Pinstripelli Potorotti, commonly known as Pinstripe Potoroo, is a mafioso potoroo who's utterly obsessed with his trusty Tommy gun. In his boss fight, Crash must hide behind wrecked furniture in Pinstripe's office, evade the gunfire, and attack Pinstripe while he's busy reloading his gun.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (6 votes)

Example of:

Main / TriggerHappy

Media sources:

Report