Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,064
edits
Everyone Is Armed: Difference between revisions
→Real Life: fix redlink
m (→Video Games: clean up) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (→Real Life: fix redlink) |
||
| (38 intermediate revisions by 15 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|''Ten squires, ten yeomen, mail clad men, waited the beck of the warders ten''
''Thirty steeds both fleet and wight, stood saddled by day and night.''
''Barbed with frontlet of steel I trow, and with Jedwood axe at saddlebow
''A hundred more free in stall: such was the custom of Branksome-Hall.''|''Lay of the Last Minstrel'', by [[Walter Scott]]}}
In this trope, a crowd of people (patrons in a bar, people in line at the bank, worshippers at church, etc.), are all armed to the teeth, down to the old lady with a walker, the nun, and the clown with the balloons. Like [[Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting]], only with guns, swords, knives, brass knuckles, etc. In other words, a crowd where ''everyone's'' a [[Badass Bystander]]. Often overlaps with [[World of Badass]]. When someone makes the mistake of threatening these people not knowing how well-prepared for trouble they are, it's a case of [[Mugging the Monster]].
A variation of this is when the hero and the villain meet in a supposedly neutral public place, only to have it turn out that all the bystanders are really the villain's [[Mooks]].
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZcNXe20dXI&feature=related This XBOX 360 ad] is an amusing play off of that idea.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* [[Played for Laughs]] (just like every other trope) in the first episode of ''[[Miami Guns]]'', where even the baby in the baby carriage is packing heat. [[Mugging the Monster]] ensues.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]'' has the planet New Hong Kong, where this is the norm thanks to the planet's only law being "There
** Specifically happens in the graphic novel ''PSmIth'':
*** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205830/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070712 "On any planet other than New Hong Kong, it might have worked."]
*** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150428205833/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20070714 "But you just don't DO that here."]
** Also New Hong Kong is invaded in the uncollected short story "Field of Screams"; it goes very badly for the invaders
== [[Film]] ==
* In the 1985 [[Chuck Norris]] movie ''Code of Silence'', two armed robbers attempt to hold up the bar where all the off-duty cops hang out. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GAgIBgOA3M It does not end well.]
* In ''[[The Fast and the Furious|Fast Five]]'', Dom reminds Hobbs that they are no longer in the United States and states "this is Rio". Suddenly everyone in the crowd pulls out a gun.
* In ''[[RoboCop]] 3'', a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaUqdIFUbxE Rocket Scientist] picks the wrong doughnut shop to attempt to rob.
* ''[[Predator 2]]'': several people in a subway car draw guns in response to an attempted robbery. But since {{spoiler|they're all shortly killed by a Predator anyway}}, it hardly matters.
* In ''[[The Naked Gun]]'': [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNcBazCnmdg Nordberg]
* During the escape from the Death Star in ''[[A New Hope]]'', Han Solo chases a small group of Stormtroopers right into a room full of
* ''[[Last Action Hero]]'', [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0_FYrnnbz0 The funeral scene] where all the mourners- including grannies and nuns- whip out firearms.
* In ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'', someone casually mentions that there are more guns in the English countryside than in the cities. Sure
* In ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'', this was the reception Sheriff Bart received upon entering Rock Ridge for the first time. Even the
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* The ''[[Dean Koontz]]'' novel ''Frankenstein: Lost Souls'': an attempt to {{spoiler|begin assimilating the townsfolk en masse}} at a gathering goes awry when it turns out that almost every adult in town carries a firearm, and the villains encounter significantly more resistance than they had planned on.
* ''Healer'' by F Paul Wilson. One of the planets in this fictional universe is Flint, basically the Planet of the Anarchist Gun Nuts. '''Everyone''' there is armed. Invaders who have been using a portal technology to launch terror raids try this on Flint only to instantly come under fire by everyone they encounter. (Thanks to Der Trihs of the Straight Dope Message Board)
* The novel ''The Probability Broach'' by L. Neil Smith portrays a minarchist society in an alternate history North America, where no one would think of not being armed.[http://www.bigheadpress.com/tpbtgn?page=0 The Web Comic version is here]
* In ''[[Artemis Fowl]] and the Eternity Code'', Artemis and Butler walk into the bystander Mooks version.
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s [[Discworld]] novels
** ''[[
** In [[
* Averted by Barrayarans in the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'', surprisingly for a [[Proud Warrior Race]]. Only Vor and their retainers(including servicemen who are all of course the retainers of the Emperor) are allowed personal arms and Counts are only allowed a personal bodyguard of twenty armsmen. Police don't seem to count in this calculation although they are certainly armed. The reason for this is chaos in the past which makes Barrayarans willing to endure a more-or-less enlightened absolutism.
* Averted in ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' the Steadholders on Grayson are limited in the number of armsmen ''they'' can field, for the same reason, that there had been a civil war in the past.
* In [[1632]] if not everyone, a sizable portion of the town of Grantville was armed. As this was supposedly a typical American rural town(the number of badasses it had was rather above-average of course) it only carried what the twentieth century considered good for hunting. In the seventeenth century it could give pause to an army.
* In [[Technic History|A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows]] a border world has a dispute with [[The Emperor]] about this. No disloyalty is intended, not least because the local monarch would rather have the emperor's military protection then not. But local military tradition is not only a necessity on the border but the military has a large influence on social life which would be hard to change. The dispute is in point of fact a mere difference of opinion but there is an [[Evil Plan]] to escalate it into a civil war.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==▼
▲== Live-Action TV ==
* The opening scenes of ''[[Burn Notice]]'' shows Michael running away from the bad guys which involves a car chase through busy streets. When they stop and pull guns on him, however, about two dozen bystanders whip out firearms of their own, allowing Michael to escape.
** Michael [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this by noting Nigeria as the "gun running capital" of Africa, and that it wasn't a good place to have a car chase.
* ''Mega Python vs. Gatoroid'' on [[Syfy]]. There was a scene at a outdoor function that the gators / pythons attacked, and as soon as the attack began, everyone (including the waiters) was suddenly packing heat, and laid down a torrent of lead.
* ''[[Reno 911!]]: Miami'', where Dangle fires a gun to quiet a rap party and [http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:Reno911DE_2.jpg all of the participants pull out and aim their guns at him and Junior.]
* The TV series ''[[Turks]]'''s pilot episode featured an attempted robbery of a cop bar.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* A cheat code for ''[[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]'' causes all pedestrians to be armed, carrying everything from handguns to [[RPG]]s.
* Due to a glitch in ''[[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'', attacking certain pedestrians and then standing on a car would result in the pedestrian running confused into the vehicle for a few seconds before pulling out a pistol and attacking you with it.▼
==
* This page of the ''[[RH Junior]]'' webcomic highlights [https://web.archive.org/web/20110508130821/http://www.rhjunior.com/FoH/00056.html the brief career of a would-be supervillain.]
* ''Escape From Terra'' , the webcomic by Big Head Press features an anarchic Belter society centered on the minor planet Ceres [http://www.bigheadpress.com/eft?page=50 where virtually everyone carries a gun or a knife]
* ''roswell, texas'' by L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser also from the big headed press [http://www.bigheadpress.com/roswell?page=80 tops this.]
== [[Web Original]] ==
* The world of Remnant in ''[[RWBY]]'' at first glance ''looks'' like this, but the sample is biased by virtue of the story being focused mostly on professional warriors, military, students and staff of combat schools, and criminals. The average person in the street does not ''appear'' to be armed, at least in the protected Kingdoms. Settlements in the wilderness, however, may be a different story.
==
▲* A cheat code for ''[[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]'' causes all pedestrians to be armed, carrying everything from handguns to [[RPG]]s.
▲* Due to a glitch in ''[[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'', attacking certain pedestrians and then standing on a car would result in the pedestrian running confused into the vehicle for a few seconds before pulling out a pistol and attacking you with it.
* ''[[Rango]]'', where the title character asks if anyone has guns to contribute, and they all pull out multiples, even the cute little mole girl.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''
Line 65 ⟶ 74:
* In the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' episode "Almost Got 'Im", various Batman villains meet in a club and tell tales of how they almost killed Batman once. Turns out one of them is Batman in disguise trying to get critical info. When he reveals this they all pull out guns; but then every patron in the club pulls out a gun pointing at the villains - they were all undercover Gotham police, making this an example of the bystanders being the '''hero's''' mooks.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* In early human history the men of most families were expected to be proficient with arms, first for hunting then later for defense against beasts and each other. Some cultures also let women carry defensive weapons like knives to protect themselves and their children and some places even considered it acceptable to arm ''the children''. After standing armies became common, bladed implements like knives and machetes were still widely carried as all-purpose tools until modern regulation of lethal and potentially lethal weapons. People in several Asian and African countries as well as more remote areas of developed nations still wear their knives openly.
* Some historical social classes, such as gentlemen in Europe and samurai in Japan, carried weapons as a symbol of their station. In Europe, when swords went out of style, walking sticks took over, which were essentially fancy clubs. Thus, when you were rubbing elbows with the elite, everyone was armed.
**In Medieval Europe a surprising proportion of society had access to weapons and took part in warfare fairly often and sometimes [[Underestimating Badassery| more effectively]] then one might expect from their station in society. There was of course the traditional warrior class. But even peasants often had arms especially in rough country-though they were often only adapted farm tools. Burghers of course had their money as a "weapon", but they also had warships and walls and war machines, later including cannon which the noble class often could not pay for. As well as crossbows which were a favorite Italian specialty. Jews were ''usually'' disarmed but there were even exceptions to that in odd corners here or there-enough for cases involving weaponry to enter into the Talmud. Even clergy a number of times became noted warriors.
***It's somewhat a myth in some circles that the population was disarmed. In fact often they were just forbidden ''swords''. Or in other words it was a sumptuary law not an arms control one. Like all such laws not all that effective. After all a rich man could get a hold of a sword and a man who could prove noble ancestry (which was sometimes calculated rather ambiguously anyway to the effect of "daddy always said we were lords") in some places had a right to one even if he lived like a peasant. In any event, knives, polearms, bows, whatever were in the hands of everyone.
***There was often not even a prohibition of swords to commoners. That sort of thing depended on a multitude of regional idiosyncrasies (the sociology and politics of the Middle Ages was so labyrinthine that any time you say one thing someone else can always say, "What about..."). However swords were expensive as they required the highest bladesmithing technology available to handle the stress. While a sax or a falchion did its job good enough to defend against bandits or [[Feuding Families|fight local vendettas]]. Furthermore, no one would want to buy a sword unless they are going to soldier for a living or are just [[The Dandy|vain]].
***According to one account a Spanish King once mandated that everyone own a sword for militia service. So all the poor folks came around with their traditional Navajas (Spanish fighting knives). In this case the inspector effectively said, "close enough".
**In England the Cinque Ports (naval militia from a chosen number of royally favored ports, originally five -- "cinque" is Italian for "five") had a corporate noble status and the Warden could enter the House of Lords. Freeholders of course usually practiced archery -- and indeed were often required to. In Scotland which had fewer knights they depended on the wild country and its wild clansmen who usually had arms for cattle thieving and feuding as well as sturdy lowlanders who could handle a pike pretty well. Switzerland had its famous pikes. And Venice had its galleys which were usually rowed by freemen perfectly capable of handling a blade.
* Early Medieval Scandinavians even of fairly low status tended to have a sax (utility chopping knife), an ax (also useful for wood in the more mundane and less specialized form and thus something farmers might have), hunting weapons, the ever popular spear, and improvised equipment if nothing else suits. Some even had swords although those were rather expensive and you would probably only buy one if you thought there was a good chance you might use it. They would have all kinds of reasons for fighting from local feuds, to going on a raid, to defending against a raid (for vikings went a-viking against each other) to hiring out with some noble when he is going to war, to simply defending oneself when one travels.
* Sikh men are required by religious law to carry a knife with them at all times. These days it's usually a small, ceremonial knife.
* Exaggerated in the retelling but basically true: [http://www.snopes.com/crime/dumdum/gunshop.asp The Guy who tried to rob a Gun Store]
Line 76 ⟶ 90:
* [[wikipedia:Kennesaw, Georgia#controversies|Kennesaw, Georgia]] famously passed an ordinance in 1982 actively requiring most heads of households there to possess a gun and ammunition.
* This happening repeatedly is why Hamas switched to bombing instead of using guns in Israel.
* Being armed and trained for militia service is part of the duty of citizenship. In fact this inspired Heinlein in writing ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]''.
**It is the same in Switzerland which was a major inspiration for ''[[Starship Troopers]]''. Not coincidentally it was also an inspiration for a number of aspects of the IDF.
* Every few years another incident makes the news in which crooks attempt armed robbery in places where multiple off-duty police officers happen to be.
** One notable example involves the robber robbing a bank branch in New York, [[Too Dumb to Live|directly under the FBI's office]], on payday.
** There have been notable examples of inept criminals trying to rob bars or restaurants frequented by off-duty police (which, in many places, tend to be frequented by few others). There has also been at least one example of rather cleverer criminals staging an apparently stupid attempt to rob such, then a second group arriving after the obvious happens, posing as another, unfamiliar group of police. The second group of criminals then attempt to trick the real police in the establishment out of their guns to conduct a real robbery.
* In ''Tales of the Alhambra'' Washington Irving commented about this aspect of Spain. As there had not only been a recent guerilla war, but the government was corrupt and incompetent, disorder was rampant and private subjects were often forced onto their own resources.
**Spanish knife fighting is a plebian tradition complimentary to the more courtly rapier and arising from such turmoil. In Spain(not otherwise a country famed for female egalitarianism)even women regularly learned how to use knives and knives made for women were decorated and had cute slogans to the effect of, "[[Loyal Phlebotinum|I am]] [[Submissive Badass|devoted]] to my mistresses [[Chastity Dagger|honor]]". Gitano(Spanish Roma) have their own curious tradition of using horse shears as a combat weapon.
* It was perfectly true in the Old West (and in some parts of the modern West) that practically everyone owned a firearm. It was ''not'' true that there was a shootout everyday or that everyone was a gunslinger or indeed that it was routine for any given person to fire on any other given person. They were used more often to deal with dangerous beasts and gather food then to have [[Showdown At High Noon|showdowns at high noon.]]
**Pack and wagon trains along the Santa Fe Trail (roughly between the Missouri river and richer settlements in the American Southwest) were known to take ''field artillery'' with them. [[It Makes Sense in Context|Quite sensibly,]] as they carried a lot of stuff someone else might want to relief them of.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Guns and Gunplay Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Everyone Is Armed]]
| |||