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** Additionally, Mittens is shown at the beginning of the movie bullying pigeons to get food for her. One would most likely assume that this behavior (as well as the great lengths she goes to ''talk'' about her claws, but never use them) is simply a throwback to her acting like a mob boss, but we later find out it's because {{spoiler|she's declawed.}}
* There were several in ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]''.
** {{spoiler|The well, which Coraline uses to get rid of the key to the Other World}}
** It was subtle but the {{spoiler|ghost eyes: the little ball that one of the mice was playing with during the circus scene; the pearl ring that the Other Forcible wears during the theatre scene; and the part of the Other Father's tractor during the garden scene. They were all the eyes of the ghost children.}}
** Another subtle one is {{spoiler|the Detroit Zoo snowglobe.}}
** In a way, the stale taffy {{spoiler|after Spink breaks it to reveal the green stone that would later help Coraline find the eyes of the ghost children.}}
** The green stone was a (somewhat) obvious [[Chekhov's Gun]]. What is less obvious however is how it became one. Just before the second visit to the Otherworld, Coraline baits the jumping mice with a piece of cheese. Once she gets there, it has been transformed into fine cheddar.
* ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'': The scene where Mantis is giving Po acupuncture and reveals that it is very hard to find his pressure points under all the fur and
** At the prison, what seems like a [[Perpetual Molt]] trope turns out to be this as well. Tai Lung uses the feather to break the lock keeping him prisoner...and that was basically all he needed to escape the prison, as secure as the warden thought it was.
** Another example is the Wushi Fingerhold, which seems like a throwaway gag near the start of the film... really, the entire movie is a love-letter to [[Chekhov's Gun]]. Remember, "there are no accidents."
** In the first movie, Po remarks how Mantis is the same size as his action figure. {{spoiler|In the second movie, Po swaps Mantis for his action figure while they were being locked up in chains so Mantis could save them after.}}
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*** Andrew Stanton states that the landing pads for the cruise ships serve as one, and the Axiom lands on one at the end.
** Chekhov most have written ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]'' himself, as it's ''full'' of these; {{spoiler|the dogs chasing the tennis balls, the Grape Soda bottle cap, the list goes on.}}
** They actually started out by subverting the trope: in ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' Woody gets a match put into his pocket which he later pulls out to light a rocket that will let him and Buzz catch up to their moving owner...only for a passing car to immediately blow it out.
*** But then immediately plays it straight when {{spoiler|Woody uses the burning things with a magnifying glass trick that Sid had done to his forehead using light going through Buzz's helmet to light the fuse.}}
** A big example in ''[[The Incredibles]]'' is Buddy, the annoying little kid who pops up in Mr. Incredible's car in the beginning of the movie. Since the opening of the film shows us "a day in the life of a superhero", Buddy just seems like a typical fanboy...until {{spoiler|he grows up to become the supervillain Syndrome}}.
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** Done by the [[Pixar]] staff for ''[[Cars 2]]'', as an aspect of the film is Tow Mater's habit of fanciful storytelling. Since this was a trait not shown in the first film, it was feared that the sudden appearance would look like an [[Ass Pull]], so the [[Pixar Shorts|"Mater's Tall Tales" shorts]] were created to establish this ''two years in advance.''
** Mater's gatling guns {{spoiler|which he uses to escape from being tied up in Big Bentley.}}
** Pixar studios likes to put Easter eggs into their movies that turn out to be a reference to their next movie. Anything in the background of any scene can be this. For example, [[Up (animation)|Dug's]] shadow can be seen as the dog that barks at [[Ratatouille|Remy]], and in ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]'', [[Toy Story (franchise)|Lotso-Huggin' Bear]] can be seen in the little girl's room when Carl floats by. [[Toy Story (franchise)||Andy's]] room in the third film features a poster of the same model car as [[Cars|2 Finn McMissile]].
*** And a [[Finding Nemo|stuffed Nemo toy]] at the end of ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]''.
* In [[Disney]]'s ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', the little rabbit sister can't run as fast as the other children, usually lagging behind. This becomes important in the final battle as she struggles to keep up with the evacuating villagers and Robin Hood has to double back to retrieve her, leaving him trapped on the opposite side of the gate.
* In [[Tangled]], Rapunzel's hair glows when its magic is invoked. {{spoiler|This comes in handy when she and Flynn/Eugene need light to find their way out of a watery death.}}
** At one point in the movie, Rapunzel {{spoiler|shoves Gothel into her mirror}}, causing the mirror to break. {{spoiler|Flynn/Eugene would later use a broken glass shard to cut Rapunzel's hair, so she ''doesn't'' have to go with Mother Gothel.}}
** Rapunzel's painted walls and the hankie Flynn buys from the marketplace {{spoiler|are what causes Rapunzel to realize she is the lost princess.}}
* Subverted in ''[[The Care Bears Movie]]'', as the key to [[Sealed Evil in a Can|seal the evil book]] is brought up, but in the climax is destroyed. Yet one of the Care Bears uses magic to remake the key.
* ''[[Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit]]'': When Wallace seemingly dies after being freed from his wererabbit curse, Gromit remembers how much Wallace loves cheese and uses a slice to check to see if he's actually dead. Sure enough, he gets right back up...and lampshades how clever Gromit's idea was.
== Film - Live Action ==
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* The cars in the Russian plane in ''[[2012]]''.
* ''[[The Addams Family]]'' has an interesting case: Chekhov's ''Library'', established in an early scene to have somewhat... [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|literal]] books.
* ''[[Airplane!
* ''[[Alien (franchise)|Aliens]]'' features a perfect example in the form of the powerloader. In a seemingly throwaway scene towards the beginning of the film, Ripley is shown to have a remarkable degree of skill with this particular piece of
** Even more subtle is the air lock that the Marine sergeant offhandedly demands to be sealed in the same scene.
* In ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'', one scene in the beginning informs us that the waters of the Antarctic are so cold you'd die in 3 minutes. Now guess how they took out the alien Queen.
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* ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'' (1971). Dr. Hall is repeatedly told about Wildfire's nuclear bomb [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]] (which will go off if a disease escapes containment), how he's the only one who can stop it from detonating and how important it is that he be able to get to one of the deactivation terminals quickly. Guess what happens at the end of the movie.
** In the novel, Dr. Leavitt is repeatedly shown averting his gaze from blinking lights. In the climactic chapter, he doesn't do so fast enough, and thus do we learn that he has epilepsy.
* In ''[[Angels
* In the beginning of ''[[Arachnophobia]]'', the main character is introduced to a nail gun by carpenters building his wine cellar, and later happens upon said nail gun in the final act of the movie.
* ''[[Apocalypto]]'' begins with a group of hunters funneling a tapir into a spring-loaded trap. Later, as the hero is being pursued by warriors through the area, he finds a similar use for the trap.
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* ''[[The Avengers (1998 film)|The Avengers 1998]]''. The boots Steed gives to Mrs. Peel, which later turn out to have a [[Tracking Device]] installed.
* In ''[[Awake (film)|Awake]]'', there is a brief scene near the beginning of the film where Sam, the protagonist's wife, grabs her mail and sticks it in her purse as she and Clayton are on their way out of her apartment. This becomes important later on when Clayton's mother goes through Sam's purse after finding out that Clayton's transplant failed, and finds out that not only was Sam living under an assumed identity... but that she used to be a nurse, who worked with Clayton's doctor in the past. She then realizes that Sam has been part of a conspiracy with Clayton's doctor to kill him and take his money.
* ''[[Babes in Toyland]]'' (The [[Laurel and Hardy]] version): Toymakers Stan and Ollie mess up at the beginning by, instead of making 600 1-foot-tall wooden soldiers, they make 100 6-foot-tall soldiers...who join the fight in the final battle.
* In an early scene of ''[[Back to The Future]]'', a woman tells Marty and Jennifer about how the town's clock tower was struck by lightning and hands him a flyer that gives all the details. This works mainly since the scene is also funny, allowing viewers to think it was simply a joke and thus not realize its significance until later on.
* Perhaps the best [[Sci Fi]] example of this is the hoverboard from ''[[Back to The Future]]'', Part II. Kept in the Delorean after Marty McFly uses it to beat Griff Tannen, the hoverboard plays an essential role in the third film, when Marty flies it over to Doc Brown, who is hanging off a speeding train. Not only are Doc and girlfriend Clara saved, but the hoverboard allows Brown to rebuild the technology, allowing him to create a [[Cool Train|FLYING TRAIN]]. Holy ''shit''.
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* In ''[[Cowboys and Aliens (film)|Cowboys and Aliens]]'' {{spoiler|when the alien appears in the stranded ferry, it's chest opens revealing it's weak spot: it's beating heart. It was only vulnerable once, when the kid used another Chekhov's Gun: Dolarhyde's knife.}}
* ''[[Crash (film)|Crash]]'' is a movie that seems to almost entirely be based on Chekhov's Guns. The most noticeable example being part of the climax. The Persian woman insists on buying ammunition for a new gun, from a box that the owner gives her a cock-eyed look for choosing. When her father later attempts to shoot {{spoiler|the lockpick}}, who he feels cheated him, the {{spoiler|lock installer's young daughter}} jumps in the way. It turns out that {{spoiler|those bullets came in handy, and were actually blanks, since the Persian woman knew that her father may actually end up firing the gun irrationally one day}}. Which works even better in conjunction with a rather charming example from much earlier in the movie, where {{spoiler|the lock installer tied a "bulletproof, invisible cape" to his daughter in a heartwarming scene, which ironically worked, despite being make-believe.}}
* ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' goes out of its way to point out an apparently utterly trivial detail about the Louvre near the beginning of the
* In ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]'', the young hero gets a digital watch for his birthday, which he later uses to amaze a Viking.
* ''[[Date Night]]'' has a gun hanging from a wall that a character looks at briefly; naturally, a few scenes later, it's revealed that he stole it. It does eventually get fired, but is hilariously ineffective.
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* The coin-collecting side plot in ''[[Drag Me to Hell]]'', if Chekhov's gun was surrounded by flashing neon and howled "Look at me! Look at me!" whenever possible.
* In ''[[Dream House (film)|Dream House]]'', the opening scene shows Will quitting his job at GPH publishing. {{spoiler|It is later revealed that he had been a patient at '''G'''reenhaven '''P'''sychiatric '''H'''ospital for five years, and his "co-workers" were fellow patients}}.
** Jack Patterson looks at an e-mail concerning the custody dispute with his ex-wife Ann over their daughter Chloe. {{spoiler|This was the motive for the triple murder, as he had sent a hit man to kill Ann to get the insurance benefits and sole custody of Chloe}}.
** Also, Will's co-workers at GPH {{spoiler|actually, his fellow psychiatric patients at the hospital}}, mention the novel he was working on. {{spoiler|In the ending, he had published a novel called ''Dream House'' under his real name, Peter Ward}}.
* ''[[Dude, Where's My Car?]]'' contains several examples. The most memorable is probably the nature show the boys are watching at the beginning which {{spoiler|provides the key to saving the universe}}. Many seemingly random people and events in this film are actually significant, but just as many (such as the pissing roommate) have no plot relevance whatsoever and are there solely for the WTF factor.
* At the beginning of ''[[Duel (
* Several examples of Chekhov's Guns can be found in ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''. In one scene, Roper is taken through a medieval torture museum room by Mr. Han, which includes a glass display case with several replacement weapon-hands. One of them, a metal claw, is used during the big fight with [[Bruce Lee]] in the end. In addition, during the big fight (which takes place in said museum room, acting as ''another'' [[Chekhov's Gun]]), Mr. Han tries throwing a spear at Lee, which goes through a wall and into the [[Hall of Mirrors]] beyond. The climax of the movie involves Lee kicking Han right into the spear and [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|Impaling Him With Extreme Prejudice]]. In fact, the advice that Bruce takes about "smashing the image" in order to defeat Han was itself a [[Chekhov's Gun]] given by Bruce's master near the very beginning of the film.
* ''Equilibrium'' has an incident where John Preston hands his gun to Brandt for later exploitation.
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* ''[[Galaxy Quest]]''. The time-machine device that allows the user to go back 13 seconds into the past, just enough time to correct a mistake. It's mentioned early in the film but then dismissed and not used until the end.
* The incinerator in ''[[Gattaca]]''- {{spoiler|in the [[Bittersweet Ending|final scene]], as Vincent finally leaves Earth, Eugene crawls into it to commit suicide.}}
* Almost averted in ''[[Get Carter]]''. In the first act Carter finds his brother's double-barreled shotgun, which he then carries on and off for the rest of the
* Occurs practically every other movie in the original ''[[Godzilla]]'' series.
* Averted and subverted in ''[[Gran Torino]]'': [[Clint Eastwood]]'s character threatens people with guns several times {{spoiler|but only fires a gun once, by accident and early in the movie}}. Additionally Eastwood's character in the finale {{spoiler|mimics movements that he made earlier where he pulled a gun, but he isn't carrying one at the time.}}
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* ''[[The Hangover]]'' has several Chekhov's Guns that are used by the three friends trying to find the groom. Some are noticed immediately while others are forgotten about until later. There is the tiger that leads Mike Tyson to them, the card counting book that leads to the Chekhov's Skill, the Holocaust ring that winds up in the hands of a stripper. But probably the most important one is the {{spoiler|mattress that was thrown out of Caesar's Palace. Since the windows are locked, it could have only been thrown from the roof, where the groom is.}}
* In ''Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'', while searching a car, the titular characters come across a huge stash of pepper spray. Later in the film, after they're arrested by the FBI, they manage to escape after it's revealed that Harold managed to hide a can of pepper spray in his pants and uses it to disable their captors.
** The first ''[[Harold
* ''[[Harry Potter
* In ''[[Hook]]'', the titular captain reveals in a victory speech to his underlings that he is finally getting his revenge on the now-adult Peter Pan. Prior to kidnapping Peter's kids, Hook killed the crocodile that had been pursuing him all these years and turned it into a [[Clock Tower]]. {{spoiler|It winds up killing Hook in the final battle when it's accidentally brought back to life.}}
* The ''[[Home Alone]]'' movies are full of this. Everything from gifts given to things said to items seen briefly in a bedroom come back in some way, shape or form.
* The cop-movie parody ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'', aka "Chekhov's Gun: The Movie," from the same team as the below-mentioned ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'', has what would be better described as Chekhov's Arsenal stashed in a police evidence room. Actually the entirety of ''Hot Fuzz'' is a great example of this, as nearly everything seen, done, or said in the first half of the film becomes an important plot point in the second. Watch it twice then make a checklist. It's uncanny.
** The DVD feature Fuzz Facts points out every single one of them. And there are a ''lot''.
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** {{spoiler|"SWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANN!"}}
* ''[[House of the Dead (film)|House of the Dead]]'' had one girl who is blatantly pointed out as being on the fencing team. This is of absolutely no importance to the plot until the climax where the [[Big Bad]] picks up a sword and a rather dull sword fight ensues.
* ''[[How To Murder Your Wife]]'': If you understand Italian, you'll hear Mrs. Ford recite Stanley's ultimate plot during the couple's visit to the lawyer's office. She summarizes the plot of a recent movie starring Marcello Mastroianni: "He wanted a divorce and couldn't get one, so he murdered his wife."
* In ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'', Jack Ryan consults with a submarine expert in his factory. One of his side projects is a "daughter-ship" mini-submarine capable of docking with other submarines. Later, the mini-submarine permits the American protagonists and the Russian defectors to commune and collaborate aboard Red October, unbeknownst to the crew adrift.
** Also the (seemingly random) introduction of 'Chef's assistant Loganov' to witness Ramius take possession of both Missile Keys. He is later revealed to be {{spoiler|[[The Mole]] for the KGB.}}
* Averted in ''[[In the Loop]]''. One character keeps a live grenade in his office as a
* ''[[Indiana Jones]]'':
** In the beginning of ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', when Indy finds a snake in the plane. The Ark of the Covenant is hidden in a giant pit filled with snakes. And then Belloq seals him in there...
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*** This includes a subversion and a straight example. {{spoiler|When Hammer is going through all the weapons he's going to add to Rhode's armor, the "ex-wife" is the only one he manufactured himself. Hammer's well established incompetence at weapons design}} is Chekhov's Gun.
* In the beginning of a ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'' film, Q briefs 007 on all the new [[Shoe Phone|clever gadgets]]. Not only will every single one get used at some point, but every ''aspect'' of each item will be relevant. When, for example, Q added a fingerprint recognition feature into the grip of a camera-gun, the weapon was subsequently taken by a foe and pointed at Bond. The pause while the thug fruitlessly attempted to fire the weapon gave 007 the moment he needed to dispatch him. You know that a Bond movie will never end unless every named gadget from the Q scene has either been used or deliberately written off.
** An exception to this is the film ''[[
*** This is because the BMW [[Product Placement]] came really late into development, so a scene using the car couldn't be created.
** This was referenced in an [[Eddie Izzard]] bit where he points out that Bond never returns and says "Q, I've got a lot of stuff I didn't even fucking use!"
*** Similarly, the series itself lampshades this at one point when Q is giving Bond his set of gadgets for the film, and at the end says, "do try to bring some of it back this time..."
** An especially good example also comes from ''[[
** ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'' both utilized and subverted this. Bond is given special "shark pellets" that are capsules full of compressed gas. He never uses them on any sharks, instead using them as a quick way of dispatching the villain by force feeding him one and making him swell up like a blimp and pop. The subversion is practically the opposite of the above ''[[
*** The watch has another subversion earlier, as it was introduced as a powerful magnet, which Bond tries to use to pull a metal canoe toward him when he's stranded in the middle of a bunch of alligators. After moving a few inches, the canoe is revealed to be securely tied to the shore.
** The car chase at the beginning of ''[[Quantum of Solace]]'' ends when James Bond pulls out a machine gun and blasts the bad guys off a cliff. We had not seen this gun in the movie before Bond uses it... but we ''do'' see him with the gun at the end of ''[[Casino Royale]]'', in a scene that takes place about an hour before ''Solace'' begins.
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** The model of the raptor voice box in the third film is one of the most straight-forward examples of this trope in any of the films.
** From the first film: When Dr. Grant is trying to intimidate the child who mocked the raptor, he mentions that he'll be attacked not by the one he sees in front of him, but by the one to the side that he doesn't see. The raptors later set up this exact trap to kill Muldoon.
* Played straight in ''[[Kick-Ass (film)|Kick-Ass]]''. Half-way through the film, the bodyguard steals a bazooka off of a wall of guns. {{spoiler|It's used in the final scene of the movie to kill the [[Big Bad]].}}
* The church which serves as ''[[The Killer]]'''s primary place of peace and sanctuary throughout the movie is the setting of the movie's final [[Bloodstained-Glass Windows]] shootout.
* Viciously lampshaded by Narrator!Harry in ''[[Kiss Kiss Bang Bang]]'': "Ooo-kay... I apologize, that was a terrible scene. It's like, why was that in the movie? ''Gee, do you think it'll come back later, maybe?'' I hate it when movies do that. TV's on, talking about the new power plant -- hm, I wonder where the big climax will happen."
* In ''[[Lethal Weapon]] 2'', Sgt. Murtaugh is having his house expanded, and as he and Riggs go into the construction area, they hear a noise like a shot going off, hit the deck and pull out their pistols. It turns out that the construction worker was using a nail gun. "Don't you use a hammer?" "What's a hammer?" Later in the movie, Murtaugh is at home alone when he's attacked. He leads his attacker into the construction area, and uses the nail gun to kill him with one nail to the
* A fairly subtle one in ''[[The Long Kiss Goodnight]]''. Samantha Caine slips a matchbook into her daughter's sling, so that she can keep a candle lit while her mother's away. Once Sam has her memory back and is Charly Baltimore, she and her daughter are [[Locked in a Freezer]], where the matches (along with some gasoline) allow her to blow up the freezer door and escape.
** There's a slightly more obvious one, if only because the setup and the payoff occur closer to each other. When Samantha and Mitch are driving away with Waldman, he tells them that he carries three guns on him, including one in his crotch since males are reluctant to check that area while frisking. A few scenes later, Samantha sees Waldman's drowned corpse while she is being tortured, reaches into his pants, and pulls out that third gun. A rare case where the [[Chekhov's Gun]] is a literal gun.
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** The little red button in the LTD.
** K orders J to fasten his seat belt before they go for a drive, and J lectures him about being polite. Just after K has J push the little red button he says "And you might want to put on a seat belt".
* ''[[Monty Python and
** Originally they had more modern scenes planned, but ultimately focused on the grail quest for the most part. It's funnier because it comes out of nowhere, anyhow.
** Also, on the scene where they have to answer questions in order to cross the bridge, Arthur knows about swallows due to the first scene.
*** Which goes to show that, in comedy, the line between [[Chekhov's Gun]], [[Running Gag]], and [[Brick Joke]] can become rather blurry.
** In a more typical sense, from its very beginning the scene with Prince Herbert and his father shows the bow and arrow that Herbert will use later to send a message hanging in plain sight on the wall.
* ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'': Gonzo's odd decision to keep starfish in his pants come in handy when they battle against the pirates. If people count, the fact that [[Statler and Waldorf]] are the animated, talking figureheads of the Hispaniola also counts.
** Also in ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'': The script of the movie. No, really.
** And in ''[[The Muppets (film)|The Muppets]]'', there's a scene in which Gonzo gets his fingers stuck in a bowling ball [[It Makes Sense in Context|while trying to bowl a pin off Jack Black's head]]. They're still stuck until the last couple seconds of the movie, when {{spoiler|the ball flies off and beans the [[Big Bad]], giving him a brain injury and changing his personality, prompting him to sell Muppet Studios back to the Muppets}}.
* ''[[My Cousin Vinny]]'' is loaded with examples, from Lisa's ever-present camera and her extensive knowledge of automobiles to the story of Judge Malloy and the diner cook's brief explanation of how grits are cooked.
* In ''[[Mystery Men]]'', Dr. Heller's Tornado-in-a-Can was intended to be a Chekhov's Gun but ended up as a deleted scene. Rather than throw The Bowler's bowling ball into Casanova Frankenstein's machine to destroy it, they were going to throw a Tornado-in-a-Can into it in the alternate version. The effect for this can still however be seen in the theatrical release; just after they toss the bowling ball in and it does its damage you can see the green swirling smoke coming out of the hole.
* Several in ''[[Mystery Team]]'': {{spoiler|Duncan's slingshot, the firecracker, Jason being "The Master of Disguise" and Eric, just to name a few}}. Subverted with {{spoiler|Duncan and Charlie's "skills"}}
* In ''[[The Naked Gun]] 2 and 1/2'', Frank uses a police tank to crash though a house, a gated community, and a zoo. Much later, Frank wrestles Quentin Habsburg till Quentin accidentally falls out of a window. He plummets several stories before landing on a canopy and bouncing to the ground unscathed . . . where he is then mauled by a lion presumably from the zoo.
** In a movie like this one its surprising they actually set that gag up as opposed to just having it randomly happen for no reason.
* In the animated movie ''[[Once Upon a Forest]]'', early on in the movie the animals are told by their teacher that a certain part of the forest is off limits, but says that the reason why is "not today's lesson". Pan across to reveal a trap. This is promptly forgotten...until the very end of the movie, when Edgar the Mole gets caught in it while trying to evade some humans doing cleanup after the gas damaged the forest. One of them frees Edgar, smashes the trap, throws it in the garbage bag, and proves to the animals that perhaps (contrary to dire warnings throughout the movie) [[Humans Are
* ''[[The Opposite of Sex]]'': Dedee is shown packing a gun, and helpfully informs the audience, "This is foreshadowing. [[Viewers are Morons|Duh!]]". And despite the fact that she toys with being an [[Unreliable Narrator]], it does get used later on. Twice.
* ''[[Our Man Flint]]''. Early in the movie Flint is woken up from suspended animation by his watch. Later on when Flint is apparently dead, the watch wakes him up again - he was just in suspended animation.
* Subverted in ''[[Outbreak]]''. The soldiers begin rounding up infectees in the quarantined small town, and we get to see only one woman say a tearful goodbye to her family. We follow her for a few minutes while they take a blood sample during her initial medical exam. There is even a close up of the phial, labeled "Sample 612". In a later scene, we see a scientist examining blood slides:
{{quote|
* {{spoiler|Ofelia's red shoes}} in ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'' are forgotten about halfway through the film, only to suddenly reappear at the end. They don't really ''do'' anything, they are just a part of the [[Viewers Are Geniuses|elaborate system of clues]] that let the viewer know the truth about what happens--{{spoiler|[[wikipedia:The Red Shoes (fairy tale)|red shoes]] are associated with [[The Fair Folk]], as is Ofelia's all-green outfit, for that matter.}}
** The bottle of sleeping medicine Ofelia's mother was given would count. At first, it seems completely unnecessary since {{spoiler|Ofelia helps her mother to get better with the mandrake root. At the end of the movie though, she uses it to drug her stepfather and escape with her brother.}}
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* Happens twice in ''[[Papillon]]''. First on the boat to French Guiana, where Papillon displays his pocket knife, which later is used by Papillon to defend Louis from two robbers. Later, when Papillon, Louis and Clusiot have escaped their captivity, Papillon is shown putting an axe in the back of his pants. The same axe is later used to kill an officer.
* ''[[Paul Blart: Mall Cop]]'' has several, including the "Devil's Crotch" hot sauce and the [[Stalker with a Crush]] using GPS to track a cell phone.
* Strange case in ''[[Pee
* In ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians|Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief]]'', the protagonists find a fountain full of Gold Drachma's when looking for the first Pearl of Persephone. Later on, when they meet Charon, guess what they have to bribe him with?
* Subverted early in the first ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''
** It's played straight in the same movie: Norrington mocks Jack's pistol (with only one shot) and compass (that's apparently broken); the pistol has symbolic importance and the compass proves important not only to the first movie but to the sequels as well.
** An interesting one comes in the form of the sword Will forged for Norrington. At the end of the third film, Will is killed with this sword.
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* Near the opening of the [[John Wayne]] movie ''[[Rio Bravo]]'', Sheriff Chance directs an incoming wagon train to park outside of town (and near the [[Big Bad]]'s land) because its cargo contains dynamite he wants away from the jailhouse. Naturally, at the end of the movie, the big shootout happens in the same location.
* In the 1963 movie ''The Sadist'' one of the characters is scared by a {{spoiler|snake skin she mistook for a rattlesnake}}, this doesn't have any significance till later {{spoiler|towards the end where the main villain of the movie is killed by falling into a pit full of rattlesnakes}}.
* In ''[[Salt]]'' starring [[Angelina Jolie]], there was a brief scene where she took some venom from a spider, putting it into a needle. {{spoiler|We find out that she used it to temporarily render the Russian Prime Minister unconscious and paralyzed, giving the illusion that she shot and killed him.}}
* The wild boar tooth fitted with an LED that Frank gives to his son Josh in ''[[Sanctum (film)|Sanctum]]''. With no other light source, Josh uses the special torch to light his way as he swims to freedom at the end of the film.
* In ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'', after the battle with {{spoiler|the Katayanagi Twins, Scott picks up an extra life, which would be used at the end when he is killed by Gideon.}}
* Teased and subverted in ''[[Secret Honor]]''. At the start of the movie, former President [[Richard Nixon]] takes out a pistol in his study and makes sure that it's loaded. By the end, he's waved it around a bit, but not fired it.
* ''[[Serenity]]''. Captain Mal orders Jayne not to take any grenades when they go to rob the payroll shipment. During the robbery the Reavers attack and Jayne sarcastically points out how nice it would be to have grenades available. Late in the movie the Reavers attack again and Mal asks Jayne if he brought any grenades. Jayne just pulls open his coat and shows him the grenades he's wearing.
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** Let's face it... ''[[Signs]]'' could very well have been retitled ''[[Chekhov's Gun]]: [[The Movie]]''.
** Which was precisely the point of the movie. Everything happens for a reason.
* The 2004 Hong Kong film ''Silver Hawk'' (no, no relation to [[Silverhawks|these guys]]) has the titular heroine's [[Love Interest]], a cop who's ironically chasing her masked alter ego, displaying a very weird martial arts stance that dates back to their childhood days in martial arts training (shown via flashbacks): he'd raise his arms above his head, then bring them down slowly to his sides with the hands still pointing upward, while sucking in his stomach and making growling
* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]''. The two metal tubes that Polly Perkins received from Dr. Jennings. They turn out to be {{spoiler|the human DNA Dr. Totenkpf need to complete his plan}}.
* Subverted in ''[[Slither]]''. A grenade is shown in the police station's gun cabinet, and a minor character explains what it's doing there. The main character goes back for it, planning to use it to blow up the [[Big Bad]]. During the climax, the Big Bad knocks it out of his hand, twice, and it finally explodes uselessly in a swimming pool.
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** A blink-and-you'll-miss-it one: when Quaid is being put into the Rekall machine at the beginning of the movie, one of the techs says in the background {{spoiler|"Blue sky on Mars, that's a new one."}} Cut to the end of the movie, {{spoiler|where Mars is given an atmosphere}}.
* In ''[[Training Day]]'', Hoyt comes across two drug addicts trying to rape a teenage girl. He fights them off, and later picks up the girl's wallet. {{spoiler|Later in the movie, Alonzo hires some gangbangers to kill Hoyt. They are about to execute him when they find the girl's wallet in his pocket. The girl he saved was the cousin of one of the gangbangers, and they let him go.}}
* The second ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'' movie does this in reverse, with the more significant use coming before the minor appearance. Part of the plan for getting into a museum involved tasers; Sam's college roommate, who was dragged along more or less by accident, showed his incompetence by shocking himself with one and becoming completely paralyzed. The tasers were then forgotten. Later, the same roommate was freaking out in the back of the car, and wouldn't stop until he was shocked into unconsciousness.
** The first had an example that perfectly fits the Chekhov heading quote: the camera shows a motorcycle in the ground. 5 minutes later, Capt. Lennox rides it to attack a Decepticon.
*** And {{spoiler|the glasses Sam tries to auction off on ebay.}}
**** As an example of [[Chekhov's Hobby]], it is stated that Mikaela had a criminal record for helping her dad steal cars. In [[The Climax]], she uses this knowledge to hotwire a tow truck when Bumblebee is seriously injured.
* The flamethrower that Cody was testing early in ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' was really helpful against the enemy in the final action scene.
* to a lesser extent {{spoiler|the Tivo box used to stop the RPG round aimed at the helecopter.}}
* From Wolfgang Petersen's ''[[Troy]]'': Briseis's virginity. Established early for the sole purpose of ensuring that [[Brad Pitt]] takes it later.
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* In ''[[Wayne's World]]'' Wayne and Garth meet up with a security guard after coming out the stage exit during a rock concert, and this guard just so happens to have a lot of information about the big-wig record producer's travel itinerary, including the fact he drives everywhere in his expensive limo with a big satellite dish right on top. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Wayne when Garth figures out a way to use this to further the plot.
* ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'' has Chekhov's ''[[Gatling Good]]'' Gun: Lt.Col. Moore first meets his new battalion's officer in a hangar where they've just been checking out an M134 Minigun... weapons which play a prominent role in the movie's climactic [[Gunship Rescue]] moment.
* A very literal example in the [[Bill Murray]] film, ''[[What About Bob?]]''. Near the end of the first act, the psychologist main character has a rifle on the mantle for an interview photo op, but takes it off in favor of a bust. At the climax, he holds Bill Murray's character up with it. The only the thing keeping this from being a perfect Chekhov's Gun is that the rifle isn't actually fired.
* In ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', during the scene where Eddy visits the scene of Marvin Acme's murder, some of the cops on the site are seen fooling around with a portable hole and a mallet with a spring-loaded boxing glove in it. Both these props come in handy during Eddy's confrontation with Judge Doom at the end of the movie.
** Also a more explicit example that has some crossover with [[MacGuffin]] in the recurring {{spoiler|love letter that is actually the will written in invisible ink.}}
** The emphasis on laughs could count.
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* Averted, at least partially by accident, in ''[[Willow]]''. As Willow Ufgood sets off on his quest, the leader of his village gives him three magic acorns which can turn what he throws them at to stone. However, throughout the entirety of the movie he attempts to use only two of them, missing a troll with one and hitting Bavmorda with the other only for her to overcome the stone transformation with her own magic. According to Warwick Davis's DVD commentary track the third acorn * was*
* The 1940 Kay Keyser comedy ''You'll Find Out'' has
* In ''Zoom'', it's mentioned that {{spoiler|if Mr. Zoom still had his powers, he could create a vortex that would negate the gamma rays' effects, turning his brother back to the good}}.
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