Gangsta Style: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''Holding the hand crossbow sideways "gangsta style" does not add to my intimidate check.''|''[[Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do In An RPG]]'', #1033}}

Visually, it emphasizes the fist of the gunner. In other words, [[Rule of Cool]] wins in fiction.

 

 

 

 

* Mukuro from ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' wields his pistols in the Gangsta style. Notable because the series takes place in feudal Japan the style is [[Anachronism Stew|super anachronistic]]. Of course, the entire show is fully intended to be an [[Anachronism Stew]].

** Played straight again when we find out that {{spoiler|he never served in the military, or at least not in Vietnam.}}

** Holding them upside-down is also useful for blocking melee attacks, since, held right-side-up, one would either have to twist their arms uncomfortably or present their wrists and hands for slicing and dicing to block with a gun. Not that blocking a melee attack with a gun is realistic, but [[Rule of Cool|realism isn't important in a series like this]].

* Kiriyama, from [[Battle Royale]], ONLY shoots this way. (in the manga, at least)

* While giving a firearms training lesson, [[Gunsmith Cats|Rally Vincent]] gives a student who uses this style a thorough explanation as to why this is so prominent in movies and television: "The shell casings flying past the firer's face are '[[Rule of Cool|a cool image]]', but without the sights, you can't hit anything." She does demonstrate that Gangsta Style is good for hitting targets flying through the air, as the bulk of the gun doesn't obscure the firer's vision as it moves upward or downward, by plinking a thrown can like a sporting clay - but then goes on to say that it's still a pretty useless technique, as targets on the ground move sideways, not up and down.

*** She ''also'' gets chewed out by the owner of the firing range: he wanted idiots to line up and burn ammo with stupid shooting, and teaching them to shoot properly means they shoot less, and therefore ''buy less of his ammo.''

* You would think a well-renowned killer like Brandon Heat of ''[[Gungrave]]'' would know better than to exhibit this trope, but you'd be wrong. Notable in that he often uses two guns this way, with his arms crossed above the wrists. Imagine the potential for sprains and broken bones there...

 

** Not shown is the character who's attempting to pull the trigger with his "[[Kiss|Gene Simmons]]-like tongue"

* A dime-store crook tries this in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]''. He misses completely despite being mere feet from Spidey, who actually complains that he didn't get the chance to show off by dodging.

 

 

* In ''[[Date Night]]'', Phil ([[Steve Carell]]) becomes MORE scared of having a gun pointed at him when it's turned sideways: "Kill shot! That's a kill shot!"

* Subverted in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'': Dr. Tolian Soran fired his energy pistol with the grip in a sideways position, but the gun itself and its sights automatically aligned itself to an upright position.

* Blade in the ''[[Blade]]'' movies and the short-lived TV series' does this.

* The Fraternity assassins in ''[[Wanted]]'' fire their guns gangsta style to [[Rule of Cool|"curve" the path of their bullets, like baseballs]]. In the climactic shootout, Wesley even fires [[Guns Akimbo]] ''upside-down'', having snatched them out of the air from a couple of killed Mooks.

* Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) in ''[[The Fifth Element]]'' holds his gun/blaster sideways when a mugger meets him at the front door. Since he's at point blank range, his accuracy isn't going to suffer, and he's just trying to scare the mugger off anyway. Intimidation factor of it all.

* Apoc from ''[[The Matrix]]'' takes out several policemen in a shootout, with his Uzi turning sideways as he fires at them from left to right. If you know that the Matrix is just a simulation, then using poor firearm technique apparently doesn't matter.

** Not necessarily a bad move in this context, actually. If you absolutely ''must'' fire off a whole magazine at once rather than short, controlled bursts for whatever reason -such as if you're unlucky enough to need to lay down suppressing fire and only have an SMG, which was Apoc's situation- then it's better to have the recoil push your aim sideways instead of up and over the enemy's heads.

* We see Keyzer Soze hold his gun in this way at the beginning of ''[[The Usual Suspects]].'' This acts as a Red Herring later when we see Hockney hold his gun in this fashion later in the film. The filmmakers jokingly referred to this grip as "Nineties Style."

* In ''[[Layer Cake]]'', some of the Duke's bodyguards have a habit of doing this with [[Guns Akimbo]]. Notably, that whole group is comprised of stupid wannabe gangsters.

* [[Intrepid Reporter|Roxanne Ritchie]] invokes this trope in ''[[Megamind]]'', when dealing with the threat of Titan:

* Chris-R does this in ''[[The Room]]'', like any stereotypical Gangster.

* In ''[[Date Night]]'', when the Gang Member turned his gun sideways at the couple, the guy who is unfamiliar with this, believes that means its a kill shot.

 

* A street thug employs this style when threatening Jack in one of F. Paul Wilson's ''Repairman Jack'' books. Jack informs him that it's not a very secure grip ... and proceeds to prove it to the hapless lowlife.

* A character in Christopher Farnsworth's ''The President's Vampire'' turns his gun sideways, counter to what his instructor told him again and again, and the hot casing is ejected into his eye.

 

* In an episode of [[Burn Notice]], Michael infiltrates a gang in order to help a member get out without putting his family in danger. When Michael is given a gun in order to rob a dry cleaners, his associate corrects his handling of it, turning the gun sideways. Michael, who is certified on pretty much every firearm known to man, winces appreciably.

* Used in a sketch on ''Mind of Mencia'', wherein Carlos taught gang members to be more effective. After being corrected one remarks "Wow, it lines up and everything!"

* Daiki Kaito/Kamen Rider Diend from ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' shoots gangsta style just as frequently as he shoots properly (though only out of suit)--his aim is impeccable, either way.

** As it is shown by Decade and Diend, the guns have no recoil so it has no real way to affect your aim other than your own aiming skills. However, what is to be noted is that the Kamen Ride : Blast effect allows those shots to become homing which means that he could fire while pointing anywhere and STILL hit on a dime.

* Ethan in ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'' often does this, but no point is ever made of it.

* The leader of the short-lived series "Acapulco Heat" had a variation on this. He held two pistols at once, but fired one normally and the other horizontally, lining them both up at once at a 90-degree angle. This is probably very unwieldy and not at all recommended for use in real life, but it's also the only way you could conceivably try to aim down both sights of two pistols at once while dual-wielding.

* Sometimes done on ''[[The Wire]]'', but anyone (cop or criminal) who actually knows how to use a gun will fire it properly, image be damned.

** Particularly notable in the ''Stray Rounds'' episode when gangsters use their pistols in the most haphazard ways possible (frankly, one of them uses it professionally, up to the point of keeping aim while moving). The result is a prolonged gunfight with a single casualty - {{spoiler|the innocent bystander kid}}.

* On ''[[Party Down]]'', Kyle tries to hold a gun sideways and Roman immediately tells him "no one holds a gun like that".

* Deconstructed and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the pilot of ''[[Person of Interest]]'': Reese walks in on a gun buy (to ''acquire'' weapons), and [[Crowning Moment of Funny|asks the people involved if they've taken a firearms safety course]].

** Then proceeds to [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|demonstrate it]].

** They visited it again when testing how effective various firing stances are. It didn't hold up all that well.

* One episode of ''[[Numb3rs]]'' showed two gangsters firing their guns like this. They missed.

 

 

* When [[LEGO]] first released their ''[[Star Wars]]'' line of toys, the battle droids had arms with only sideways hands, which caused them all to be holding their guns in gangsta style. It wasn't until the release of ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' that LEGO finally corrected this, but seeing a literal army of "gangsta" battle droids was pretty amusing.

 

* ''[[Phantom of Inferno]]'': Drei holds her pistols like this, owing to her love of dumb action movies. While the man who trained her actually notes that it's totally useless as a marksmanship technique, Drei later moves on to giving her opponent a chance to shoot her, twirling her guns and yelling out catch phrases in the middle of a gunfight, so she's clearly not at all concerned with anything but [[Rule of Cool]] gun-handling techniques. She's sixteen, which might explain it somewhat.

 

** It's carried over from Unreal, in which you could do the same thing. It's averted, however, since attempting it at anything less than point blank range will cause you to miss spectacularly.

** Technically, Coyote holds it almost-upside down. Surely enough, the recoil is crazy compared to the other characters'.

** Also, Con's blindness may be the ''cause'' of his side-shooting: it keeps his super-hearing turned toward his targets.

** In a few cutscenes in ''4'', Snake cants his M4 about 45 degrees to the side to use a different set of offset optics, rather than what's mounted on the top rail. It's a real technique, but it's not very widespread.

*** Towards the end of the game, a Navy man, probably a SEAL, can be seen briefly with a canted weapon in one cutscene. Given that he's in a cockpit, he may have it that way to easier clear the consoles and equipment.

* The Gold Edition of ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' gives the Marine new ([[Awesome but Impractical|and mostly useless]]) pistols as a weapon. When alternate fire is used with a pair of them, he turns them sideways.

* In ''[[Perfect Dark]]'', characters in single and multiplayer are able to do this - however, it only happens when they are right next to their target.

* Dante in ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' fires his twin pistols this way when firing while sidestepping. In addition, in the third game, he often turns one pistol or the other sideways if firing at separate targets in his Gunslinger fighting style.

** Also, in cutscenes, or if using gunslinger mode to fire at a single target, Dante will hold both guns sideways and hold his arms across each other, left gun on the right side, right gun on the left side. First done in the series at the end of the first game, coupled with Dante's Catchphrase: "Jackpot!"

* [[Dungeon Fighter Online]] has a gunner class. Most of their shots are normal, but Multi-headshot and Moving Shot skills turn sideways like Dante.

** This is also the standard stance for Mafia, highway patrol, and SWAT teams (normal beat cops hold their pistols with both hands).

* [[Our Elves Are Different|Elvaan]] from ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' tend to hold guns and crossbows in this fashion, as well as firing bows in an awkward diagonal position. [[Fridge Logic|Now it makes sense why their DEX is so crappy.]]

* Axl from the later ''[[Mega Man X]]'' games fires a energy pistol this way. [[The Scrappy|Though that is hardly his worst problem.]]

** And now those who have pre-ordered 'Going Rogue' have access to the Dual Pistols power sets for Blaster, Defenders and Corruptors that employes ''Gunfu'' with liberal amounts of sideways shooting.

* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' you don't actually get to use this mode of fire, but Romero the Ghoul provides some advice on gunfighting that includes "keep that glock-to-the-side crap in the movies."

* Similar to the above example, enemy [[Giant Mook|Brutes]] in [[Uncharted]] 3 can do this with the PAK-80 LMG. The worst part about it is that they still hit you. Repeatedly.

* In ''[[Blood]] 2'' the alternate fire for the single pistol fires the gun this way and increases the rate of fire. It's apparently an ''emergency'' mode to quickly empty the pistol into a close-range attacker. Notice how Caleb points the barrel downwards as he shoots.

* It's possible to fire some weapons (such as Mini Uzi) this way in the Wii version of [[Call of Duty|Call of Duty 4]]: [[Modern Warfare]].

* While you can't actually see your weapon being held like this in ''[[House of the Dead]]: OVERKILL'', the game recognizes when you hold the Wiimote sideways and will give you a $1337 post-chapter bonus for killing 50 mutants in this manner.

* In ''[[Rainbow Six]]: Vegas'' and it's sequel, characters do this when using a ballistic shield, so it's not as awkward to fire.

* This can be done in ''Jurassic Park: [[Trespasser]]'', since the game lets you rotate the objects in your hand (including guns) in any manner you liked. It serves no practical purpose and absolutely kills your long range accuracy (assuming you don't line the sights back up), but it does look cool.

 

 

* [[Loading Ready Run|Crapshots]] episode 69: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbhVKbYQv6g The Aim]. Also features increasing amounts of crouching.

 

* In ''[[The Boondocks]]'' Riley is seen doing this with two guns during the opening for seasons 1 & 3.

* R2 shot down a TIE Fighter with a sideways gun in ''[[Family Guy Presents Laugh It Up Fuzzball]]''.

 

* On [[YouTube]], you will actually find several videos of people wielding guns sideways, from [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQM8sEjtr_s random guys with dual 9mm pistols] to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owKowHKhpxQ experts doing it one handed.]

** Also, the expert actually points out that you want to only tilt it slightly sideways, and not completely to the side, and not to have your arm outstretched because it leaves your vital organs open to be shot.

* It's said by many that this trope was adopted by modern gangsters from film stuntmen who turned their guns sideways to avoid ejecting hot shells onto each other. That said, ejecting straight upwards tends to drop spent casings directly down the shooter's collar; definitely a lateral move. Except the case in which the gangster is using is left hand in the case of a weapon designed for being held by right-handed people or using the right hand in the opposite cases.

** The guy in the front seat during a drive-by would hold his weapon on its side so that the ejected casings wouldn't be propelled into the rear window - instead they would be ejected up onto or over the top of the car.

* Tilting a handgun about 20-30 degrees can help recoil management, and is often taught as a technique for shooting one-handed, with the off hand. However, a 90 degree tilt results in a weaker grip than normal.

* As mentioned with the Mauser C96, this technique can be useful with a submachine gun, allowing the recoil of the weapon to create a sideways sweeping motion, essentially mowing down everything in front of you. Now, you have to seriously know what you're doing in order to be able to take the recoil of firing a submachine gun one handed for prolonged periods of time. After all, most were designed to be used two handed.

* The [[Nerf]] N-Strike Deploy CS-6 gun has its targeting light flipped to the ''left'' of the barrel, which may necessitate this. Sure it's got regular sights, but being sponge darts launched at safety speed, the drop in the trajectory makes a targeting light ''below'' the barrel more practical.

** Also, a number of Nerf guns such as the Maverick are cocked using a pistol-style slide after every shot. If the shooter wishes to increase the rate of fire while holding the gun at arm's length, the logical thing to do is to hold it in a gangsta grip, giving the left hand easy access to the slide.

* There actually exists a shooting system in which the firer cants their pistol 45 degrees or more to the side. It is known as Center Axis Relock (CAR) and it is used by many law enforcement, security, and armed forces groups as a method of close quarters shooting. The technique is actually extremely effective for trained shooters and can be applied to rifle and shotgun shooting in close quarters as well. Watch a demonstration [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SASDcZFCXzQ Here]. This technique is SCARY effective at helping the shooter cope with recoil, as seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y70mxsqTxrs Here] where a shooter fires a 12-gauge shotgun as though it were a pistol. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_e18qAbQpo Here's] an explanation of the physiological flaws of Gangsta Style and the strengths of CAR.

* Another consideration is that many techniques for disarming a guy with a handgun are meant to be used when the opponent is holding it vertically, and need to be adapted and practiced in order to deal with an opponent holding it in this manner.

* Something like this does get used by some military units, called an Ambi stance. It's used when breaching a room, if you catch a hostile in your peripheral vision, to bring the gun to bear as fast as possible, before following round into a proper shooting stance. It's not used for protracted periods of time.

* This is similarly impractical with airsoft guns that use hop-up to make pellets fly further. Firing one in this manner can cause the pellet to [[Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics|curve in-flight.]]

 

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{{reflist}}

[[Category:Guns and Gunplay Tropes]]

[[Category:Guns Do Not Work That Way]]