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{{trope}}
[[File:batman-year-
So you've got a hero. He's a really good hero, and [[Heroic Vow|he has rules]] (heroes often do, after all). Let's say, hypothetically, that one of those rules is that [[Doesn't Like Guns|he'll never use a gun]]. [[Death
[[Godzilla Threshold|Then something bad happens. The stakes go up.]] Maybe a villain bent on bringing about [[Omnicidal Maniac|universal entropy]] arrives. The hero's pushed to his absolute limit. The world, even the universe, is hanging in the balance. There's only one way to put things right. The hero picks up the weapon...
▲So you've got a hero. He's a really good hero, and [[Heroic Vow|he has rules]] (heroes often do, after all). Let's say, hypothetically, that one of those rules is that [[Doesn't Like Guns|he'll never use a gun]]. [[Death By Origin Story|Maybe his parents were brutally murdered in front of him with one, spurring him into heroism in the first place.]] Whatever. The guy doesn't use guns.
▲[[Godzilla Threshold|Then something bad happens. The stakes go up.]] Maybe a villain bent on bringing about [[Omnicidal Maniac|universal entropy]] arrives. The hero's pushed to his absolute limit. The world, even the universe, is hanging in the balance. There's only one way to put things right. The hero picks up the weapon...
Batman's Got a Gun.
Can, and often does, overlap with [[Let's Get Dangerous]], [[Big Damn Heroes]], [[
Happens most frequently to the [[Retired Badass]], [[Knight in Shining Armor]], or [[Invincible Hero]], often during a [[What You Are in
When adding examples, please be sure to mention for the sake of clarity what the rule is that's being broken.
Named for Batman's use of a gun during [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''[[Final Crisis]]''.
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
* ''[[Trigun]]'': Vash uses guns all the time. However, as a master of [[Improbable Aiming Skills]], he uses it solely for trick shots, and when in serious trouble, will at most shoot a person somewhere where they'll heal. He doesn't believe in a situation where you can't save everyone. However, {{spoiler|at one point, he is given a true no win scenario, where the villain sets up a situation that will result in the death of his friends, unless the villain is killed (he has... issues). After much hesitation, Vash kills him. He [[Heroic BSOD|doesn't take it well]]. Bear in mind that this was merely [[The Dragon]] he killed, and getting himself shot was the whole point.}}
* Miria in ''[[Claymore]]'' breaks her one rule of never killing fellow Claymores during her battle against {{spoiler|Hysteria the Elegant}}, as that was the only way to end the fight before {{spoiler|a recently Awakened Cassandra}} killed all her allies.
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''s Shinji has always kept the same promise to himself to [[Madness Mantra|"never run away"]] from his duties for 26 episodes, and aside from a couple [[Ten
* ''[[Monster]]'': One of the major theme of the manga is the mental and physical tribulation of Dr. Tenma as he's forced to pick up a gun to hunt and kill a monster he unknowingly saved. This trope already has a bleak atmosphere hanging around it, but it's pushed to the realm of [[Deconstruction]] in his case. {{spoiler|In the end, he ''didn't'' kill anyone. Not even [[The Dragon]] of said monster [[Disney Villain Death|he thought he killed]]. Not the monster himself, the final confrontation with whom put the life of a child at a stake.}}
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
== Comic Books ==
* The [[Trope Namer]]: [[Batman]] breaking out a gun as his "once in a lifetime exception" to try and kill [[Darkseid]] during ''[[Final Crisis]]''.
** There are numerous counter-examples (his
* [[Daredevil]] attempted this after Bullseye killed [[Elektra]], but Bullseye survived.
** In a later storyline, Daredevil takes the same gun (a silver-colored revolver) and almost uses it to kill ''himself'' after Bullseye murders {{spoiler|Karen Page.}}
** Daredevil finally killed Bullseye after the latter blew up a housing project killing everyone inside. {{spoiler|Daredevil was also a bit [[The Corruption|demonically possessed]] at the time.}}
* Dick Grayson broke his no-killing rule after he believed [[The Joker]] had murdered Tim Drake.
* Pretty common in general among the Gotham heroes, as it happened with [[Catwoman (
* Two-Face had a villainous one a long time ago, choosing to ignore his coin to spare Batman's life.
* [[Superman]] generally never uses his [[Eye Beams|heat vision]] against living beings. Except against Mongul in ''[[For the Man Who Has Everything]]''. Burn, indeed.
** He finds himself forced to execute Kryptonians of a "pocket universe" after they have killed almost everybody in their universe. This experience eventually causes him a breakdown.
** In ''[[Superman: At
* An aversion in the final issue of Richard Dragon's series. He's sworn off killing, and SPECIFICALLY sworn off using the deadly Leopard Blow, but resolves to kill one final time (specifically, to kill his love interest/arch enemy Lady Shiva) to save the life of a young boy. During the climactic battle with Shiva, {{spoiler|he has her set up for the blow, and attempts to deliver it, but is tackled away by her ninjas and killed shortly thereafter.}}
** It is worth mentioning that large parts of this series have been [[Canon
* [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]], who, being [[The Cape (trope)|The Cape]], embodies values like [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]] has found himself forced to kill his enemies sometimes:
** He had to decapitate Baron Blood because it was the only way to stop a vampire. Cap was crying when doing it.
** To save innoccent lives, he killed an ULTIMATUM agent. The memory still haunted him when he faced ULTIMATUM again.
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** When Cap and [[Bucky Barnes]] first appeared, they used guns all the time since it was a different time. When he was brought into the [[Silver Age]], they gave him a [[Retcon]], explaining that he never used a gun or lethal force, even during the war. More interpretations explain that Cap used guns during [[World War II]] but has since avoided using lethal force. As Cap sees it, he's no longer acting as a soldier, so using lethal force isn't appropriate.
* Subverted during an arc of ''[[X-Men]]'': Professor X, of all people, is packing heat. But it's only to use as a last resort ''on himself'' to prevent any evil force from "hijacking" his brain (arguably one of the greatest weapons in the [[Marvel Universe]]). When faced with such a threat... {{spoiler|he does not go through with it, giving the entity a chance to leave his mind before he fires.}} Things go downhill from there...
* [[Spider
** Peter had inadvertently killed in the past: the second [[Red Skull]] who had killed his parents (he redirected a missile which ended up killing him), ducking out of the way of [[Norman Osborn]]'s spiked glider which pierced his heart (although he got better), he backhanded a [[Badass Normal]] terrorist and killed her when in battle against [[Wolverine]] (he thought it was Wolvie in a berserker rage), and killed Morlun in an evolving nigh-animalistic state during ''The Other'' storyarc.
* [[ROM Spaceknight]] usually follows [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]], but made an exception for Hybrid when he realized his Neutralizer couldn't banish a human-Wraith hybrid to Limbo and that Hybrid was too evil and dangerous to be allowed to live.
== Film ==
* In''[[ High Noon]]'', Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), a devout Quaker, comes to the rescue of her new husband Will Kane (Gary Cooper) when she {{spoiler| shoots one of his enemies from behind, violating her pacifist beliefs in order to save Will's life}}.
* In ''[[Things to Do
* In ''[[Wizards]]'', [[Actual Pacifist]] wizard Avatar confronts his [[Cain and Abel|evil brother]] Blackwolf, {{spoiler|and rather than engage him in a [[Wizard Duel]], simply pulls out a gun and shoots him dead.}}
* In ''[[The Rundown]],'' the Rock's character refuses to pick up a gun the entire movie, maintaining that "bad things happen" when he does. When he gets into a tight spot in the end, he does end up using
* In ''[[Unforgiven]]'', William Munny avoids drinking because his wife "cured" him of such vices before she died. When Little Bill kills Ned, Munny finishes the Kid's bottle of whiskey and goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].
== Literature ==
* Any time a ''[[Harry Potter (
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', Harry has been offered incredible power, often at terrible prices, throughout the series. He's always refused, though at the same time has always been tempted by that power. Offers range from the addictive draw of pure [[Black Magic]], the eternal knowledge and power of a [[Fallen Angel]], the possible godlike power of the Darkhallow, and the standing offer by [[The Fair Folk|Mab, Queen of the Winter Court]], to become her Knight. Harry steadfastly resists all of these offers, as he knows that succumbing to these temptations will destroy him as a person. Then the badguys {{spoiler|kidnap his daughter}}, and Harry {{spoiler|accepts Mab's offer to become her Knight.}}
** Earlier on, he threatens to pull ''everything'' listed above to his advantage if Mavra the Black Court Vampiress ever does harm to his friends again (especially Murphy). The threat is so effective that Mavra hasn't been seen or heard from since.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* Famously done in ''[[Magnum,
* In ''[[
** In "The Invasion of Time", he not only takes up a gun after Gallifrey is invaded, it's an ancient Time Lord superweapon he builds from scratch for the express purpose. And he ''uses it'', after the leader of the invaders forces his hand.
** In "Revelation of the Daleks", the Doctor takes a gun and sets out to kill recurring villain Davros.
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** The Eleventh Doctor takes a soldier's pistol in the climax of "The Time of Angels." However, he only uses it to {{spoiler|destroy a Gravity Globe and engineer an escape from the Weeping Angels.}}
* ''[[Leverage]]'': Elliot Spencer does not like guns. He never said he couldn't use them.
* ''[[White Collar]]'''s [[Con Men Hate Guns|Neal]] snaps in this manner when he has a chance to encounter and kill the man who {{spoiler|he believes}} killed {{spoiler|[[Love Interest|Kate]]}}. All of his friends are so worried about him being in this state that when [[Conspiracy Theorist|Mozzie]] finds out he's got a gun, [[
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] [[Doesn't Like Guns]]. She thinks they're not helpful, she has terrible aim with them and has a vested interest in not involving gunplay, not the least being one of her best friends and secret
== [[Music]] ==
* In the ''[[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny (
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Faith from ''[[
* Played with in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4
* Played brilliantly straight in ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3''. [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Dante and Virgil]] are twins who are the sons of the demon Sparda. Dante chose to fight against demons, despite being half-demon himself, while Virgil joined them. Dante uses his pistols, Ebony and Ivory, and his [[
* Sort of in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', in the [[Tear Jerker|Overlord DLC]]. Paragon!Shepard isn't completely averse to violence, but tends to keep it as a last resort. Later in the mission, there is a paragon interrupt to pistol whip a [[Complete Monster]] because of his [[Moral Event Horizon]], not in self-defence. And it's [[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
* The ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Dead Reckoning" has [[Deadman (Comic Book)|Deadman]] possess Batman and kill Devil Ray with a nearby gun in order to save [[Wonder Woman]]. Batman is visibly disgusted with it.
** Deadman [[Heroic BSOD|doesn't react too well either]].
** Another episode has an [[Alternate History]] version of Batman grab a gun from a fellow resistance fighter. Of course, his parents weren't killed by a lone gunman right in front of him, but killed by Hugo Savage's soldiers storming Wayne Manor.
* ''[[Batman
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[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
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