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Con Men Hate Guns: Difference between revisions
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It might be simple fear because [[The Lethal Connotation of Guns and Others|guns are dangerous weapons]] and the conman might very easily prove to be far less proficient in a gunfight than his supposed victim. It may be pragmatism, as guns are often taken as evidence of intent to kill and will usually get you a longer prison sentence if you get caught, as well as increasing the chance that someone will draw a gun on you in return. On the other hand, it is quite often a point of pride -- [[Even Evil Has Standards|guns are beneath them]]. After all, they aren't called [[Con Artist|the con]] ''[[Con Artist|artist]]'' for nothing -- a truly good conman makes people do his bidding with ''cunning''. [[Just Shoot Him|Just threatening to shoot somebody]] is [[Consummate Professional|inelegant]], if not outright ''cheating''.
From an out-of-universe standpoint, it's usually because the easiest way to turn a [[Loveable Rogue]], [[The Family for
If guns have not been invented, then sometimes the con artist will have a dislike for swords, or knives, or whatever else is the most prolific/dangerous personal weapon.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* Aiber in ''[[
* [[Arsène Lupin]]'s grandson [[Lupin III]]. The difference with his ancestor is that the latter does ''carry'' a gun, because for someone in his position ''not'' having one is just stupid.
** Also subverted because Lupin regularly travels with a man who is explicitly one of the -- if not ''the'' -- greatest gunslingers alive.
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== Films -- Live-Action ==
* The main character in the film ''[[Matchstick Men]]'' keeps a gun next to his money. When someone tries to rob him, he doesn't want to use it.
* Played with in ''[[Maverick (
* None of the cons in the ''[[
* In ''The Flim-Flam Man'', the rather elderly conman Mordecai Jones (George C. Scott) never uses force and surrenders peacefully when a gun is pulled on him.
* Surprisingly averted in [[The Sting]] as main character Hooker would happily kill the villain in revenge for the murder of his friend Luther, but realizes that he doesn't know enough about killing people to successfully pull it off and opts for cheating him out of a fortune instead.
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* Mick Connelly in ''[[In Death|Betrayal in Death]]'' is a con man, pick pocket, and various other thievery-related professions. He expresses a disdain for the guns in Roarke's [[Wall of Weapons|private weapon collection]], instead perusing the knives.
* ''[[Discworld]]''
** Moist Von Lipwig in ''[[Discworld
** On another note, the Thieves' Guild prefers to incapacitate or frighten its victims into handing over their possessions rather than killing them outright, because that would intrude on another Guild's territory (the Assassins' Guild). Reducing the number of people there are to rob in a city is also bad for their business. Of course, they are free to punish those who steal without a license however they wish. Thieves breaking demarcation by killing people earn a short word from an Assassin: "Goodbye."
* James "Slippery Jim" diGriz, the main character and con man from ''[[The Stainless Steel Rat]]'' series is a variant of this. He sometimes carries a .75 caliber recoilless handgun with explosive rounds; however he hates killing, only using the gun to [[Shoot Out the Lock]] and related things. He also carries it [[Can't Bathe Without a Weapon|in the shower]].
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* The [[Big Bad Duumvirate|villainous triumvirate]] in the ''[[Hand of Thrawn]]'' duology has one character who never makes threats or so much as touches a blaster, and that's the professional con man/actor. Then again, he usually gets on okay with the strategist, who is a {{spoiler|clone of a}} Red Guard and is much more wiling to try violence. The politician once tries pulling a blaster on the strategist and is disarmed quickly enough that the strategist didn't even take the threat seriously; the con man probably remembered that the strategist is ridiculously good at combat.
* Inverted with ''[[The Gentleman Bastards]]''. In their society, ''not'' carrying a weapon would just be weird, so not only do they carry the traditional concealed weaponry of thieves, they must also carry more obvious weaponry to complete their cover identities. A [[Royal Rapier]], for instance.
* In [[
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* From the way Patrick Jane drops the shotgun in ''[[The Mentalist]]'' episode "Red John's Footsteps," he doesn't like to use them -- contrasting with the team of hardboiled cops he works with.
* Averted in ''[[Lost]]'': Sawyer is MORE than willing to use a gun. Although he had never used a gun until just before the crash, when he thought he was killing the man who had killed his parents.
* Also averted in ''[[
** Face sort of fits this trope. While he is quite capable of using a gun, he doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as his teammates do. Given the choice, he'd rather charm his way out of a bad situation.
* Michael of ''[[Burn Notice]]'', a former spy turned [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|MacGyver-for-Hire]], doesn't particularly like guns (but is willing to use them when necessary, which of course [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|they increasingly are as the series progresses]]).
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== Western Animation ==
* Walter Hardy in ''[[The Spectacular Spider
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