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Batman Grabs a Gun: Difference between revisions
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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]], [[OOC Is Serious Business]], and/or [[Despair Event Horizon]]. It's a kind of [[Godzilla Threshold]]. Pretty much always results in an [[Oh Crap]] moment for the villain. Can be a [[Moment of Awesome]], but it will ''always'' be [[Played for Drama]]. This trope isn't just a hero doing something they wouldn't normally do. It's a hero doing something they're fundamentally against (see the examples below). If the hero has ever done it before (at least, during their heroic career), it's not this trope. This is the hero breaking their ''golden rule''.
Happens most frequently to the [[Retired Badass]], [[Knight in Shining Armor]], or [[Invincible Hero]], often during a [[What You Are in the Dark]] moment.
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]]''.
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* [[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 Discontinuity|booted from canon]].
* [[Captain America (comics)]], who, being [[The Cape (trope)]], 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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== Literature ==
* Any time a ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' protagonist uses an Unforgivable Curse: Professor McGonagall with the Imperius Curse, and Harry himself using the Imperius and specially the Cruciatus Curse.
* 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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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Faith from ''[[Mirror's Edge|Mirrors Edge]]'' applies to this<ref>Based on her personal politics and ignoring [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|player cruelty potential]]</ref>; considering her [[Death by Origin Story|parents were shot for protesting]], [[Thicker Than Water|her sister is a cop]] and the player is [[That One Achievement|generously awarded for not so much as]] ''[[That One Achievement|shooting]]'' [[That One Achievement|anyone]], you ''know'' Faith is pissed when she's pointing a gun at an officer.
* Played with in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', with Snake's rule not to use CQC (added to the series in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]'', a prequel, so presumably Snake knew it since before ''[[Metal Gear 1987]]''), because of Big Boss' betrayal of FOXHOUND. He uses it [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!|because his first response to someone using it on him is to respond in kind]]. While [[Enfant Terrible|Liquid]], [[Magnificent Bastard|Ocelot]], [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|Gray
* 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 [[BFS|sword]]; Virgil only uses his [[Katanas Are Just Better|katana, Yamato]], [[Does Not Like Guns|hating guns]] because he believes them dishonorable. However, when push comes to shove, [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)|Virgil ends up taking one of Dante's guns and the pair shoot]] [[Big Bad|Arkham]] simultaneously, finishing him off.
* 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 [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)|awesome]].
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