Accidental Aiming Skills: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Bleach]]''

** Tousen and Shinji have a brief battle, and Tousen congratulates him for dodging an attack. Shinji turns his head to show a small cut above his eye and notes that Tousen had actually hit him. Tousen replies that he'd been ''trying'' to cut Shinji's head off from the eyes up, so that little scratch counts as a miss.

* Sousuke Sagara uses this trope during ''[[Full Metal Panic!|Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu]]''. After firing a grenade at his opponent, which is subsequently dodged, the grenade lodges itself into a pillar and explodes. Debris from said explosion lands on and disables the opponent, who then praises Sousuke for analysing both his position after the dodge and calculating the trajectory of the debris. Sousuke then denies the action and states that he accidentally fired a live round instead of a practice one.

* In [[Pandora Hearts]], we get a variant of this: When Oz is kidnapped by the [[Nigh Invulnerable|Baskervilles]], [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Elliot]] [[Those Two Guys|and]] [[Megane|Leo]] come to rescue him. Toward the end of the ensuing battle, Leo fires his gun at [[Yandere|Lottie]] and manages to skim her arm and cause enough of a distraction for them to escape. Directly afterwards, he reveals that he is [http://www.mangareader.net/350-24655-13/pandora-hearts/chapter-26.html genuinely surprised that he actually managed to hit her], as, according to Elliot, he's "hopeless with guns and swords."

** Probably picked up from Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.'s ''[[Sinbad the Sailor (film)|Sinbad the Sailor]]'', in which [[Obfuscating Stupidity|Melik]] claims to have arrow'd the steersman of a following warship, "By aiming at everyone else but the steersman."

* In the film ''Geronimo'', the title character manages to shatter a jar of whiskey just as an opponent is taking a drink from several hundred yards away. When he's commended for a good shot, Geronimo unabashedly admits, "Not so good. I was aiming for his head."

* From ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'' movie:

{{quote|[Britt has just shot a fleeing bandit off his horse]

'''Chico''': Ah, that was the greatest shot I've ever seen.

'''Britt''': The worst! I was aiming at the horse. }}

* In ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy Returns]]'', the heroes' son was kidnapped by the bad guys and was annoying them by talking incessantly. To shut him up, one of the bad guys pulled out a knife and quickly stabbed it into the table between the kid's fingers. This didn't have quite the intended effect as the kid started gushing about how good his aim was--"What are you talking about? ''I missed.''"

* In ''[[Harlem Nights]]'', Quick ([[Eddie Murphy]]) is pinned down in an alley by a trio of gangsters (led by Arsenio Hall). Out of desperation, he fires off three quick shots to try and back the gangsters off. When he doesn't hear any return fire, he looks up from behind his cover and discovers he'd nailed all three men.

* The fantasy novel ''[[Knights Of Dark Renown]]'' features a swordsman- formerly the King's Champion, and one of the greatest warriors around- who's lost his right hand, and is having serious trouble training himself to be left-handed. At one point he's facing some charging cavalry, throws an axe and kills a soldier. "I was aiming for the horse."

* Jake Spoon of ''[[Lonesome Dove]]'' gets a reputation as a deadly marksman after shooting a bandit in the throat at an extremely long range, but the shot was really just a lucky fluke. This trope also bites him, as he is introduced while on the run from the law after firing a buffalo rifle during a bar fight, which completely failed to hit Spoon's antagonist and instead went through the wall and killed the mayor of the town, who was walking down the opposite side of the street.

* Kurik in [[David Eddings]]' ''[[Elenium]]'' series does this when he hits an enemy officer right between the eyes with his crossbow, only to admit that he was aiming for the chest.

* Done a couple times in ''[[Wyrm]]''; the other characters compliment Ragnar on his good aim only for him to admit each time that he was aiming at something else entirely.

* In an episode of ''[[Castle]]'', Rick Castle shoots a gun out of a serial killer's hand. When Beckett says that it was a "hell of a shot" Castle replies that he was aiming for his head (a reference to ''[[Firefly]]'', above).

** Slightly subverted in that Castle has shown himself to be a better shot on the firing range than even Beckett. Then again, his aim is probably affected by adrenalin, as well as seeing his partner ({{spoiler|and love interest}}) about to be shot.

* In ''[[VIP|V.I.P.]]'', Vallery Irons took off her headband and threw it. The [[Pinball Projectile|instant chakram]] knocked out four enemies with head blows despite them wearing helmets. Since she'd just a figure head, she was surprised it worked.

* In ''[[Get Smart]]'', a villain launches an explosive table tennis ball into a room where the heroes are being kept. Maxwell Smart uses his paddle to hit it into a slot to the next room, whereupon it explodes and presumably kills the villain. Impressed, the chief of Control asks Max how he did it. Max says he was aiming for a window a ways from the slot. [[The Ditz|Only afterward does he realize how incompetent he now sounds.]]

{{quote|''[Jelly shoots the gunman in the head]''

'''Sully''': Nice shot, Jelly.

== Music ==

== Newspaper Comics ==

'''Dr. Doppler''': You know, actually, I ''did!'' }}

* ''[[Stroker and Hoop]]'': "That was just a warning shot! The next one will be in your chest!" "You idiot, the warning shot ''was'' in his chest!

* In an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' when given a gun to shoot at a robin, Bart tries to intentionally miss.. only to be congratulated on compensating for the crooked sight and making a perfect kill.

* In ''[[Dan Vs.]]'' "Technology", Dan throws a hatchet at {{spoiler|a brainwashed Elise trying to kill him, and he breaks the [[Mind Control]] headband without hurting her.}} His comment afterwards makes it clear to the audience that he was aiming to kill.

[[Category:Older Than Television]]

[[Category:Accidental Aiming Skills]]