Improbable Aiming Skills/Live-Action TV

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Examples of Improbable Aiming Skills in Live-Action TV include:

  • Arguably one of the best examples was Rita Repulsa. In the original series of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, she would do her Make My Monster Grow by throwing her wand. Thanks to the miracle of Stock Footage, it would land in the exact same spot, every single time. Oh, and did I mention that she was throwing it from the moon?
  • 24: Jack Bauer... because he's Jack Bauer.
  • Shooting the gun out of Bad Guy's hand was a routine shot in the kiddie TV Westerns of the 1950s. The title character in Annie Oakley never shot anyone in any other way. It made her even nicer as a heroine.
  • In the Red Dwarf episode "White Hole" Lister displays Improbable Aiming Skills when it comes to driving a planet into a white hole by stimulating a solar flare. While this sounds like a mindbogglingly complex procedure, it's basically the same as playing pool. Apparently. (He was even able to make it a trick shot!)
    • Note that the actor who played him, Craig Charles, also has them, as he actually did make the pool shot.
    • Improbable Aiming Skills are spoofed when the crew enters a Western VR environment in "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". Both the Cat (as The Riviera Kid, gunfighter) and Lister (as Brett Riverboat, knife-thrower) were able to do things that were clearly completely impossible... until the special skills were erased from the databank.
  • In Lost, Locke is scarily accurate with throwing knives, in one early episode planting a knife in a chair right next to Sawyer's head, from a good 15 feet away, just to make a point.
    • Jack is also a good enough shot to shoot a rope, despite having no discernible experience with weapons.
    • The Others are also excellent shots, the anti-stormtroopers.
    • The mercenaries on the freighter in season 4 know their jobs (and guns) well, as shown in "The Shape of Things to Come" when they fire three instant death shots in a row. Then again, when the group turns their collective attention from extras to Sawyer immediately afterward, they start to fail.
  • Parodied/Subverted in the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3. While trying to take down a vampire without the Slayer's help, Oz, Willow and Xander get beaten and the vampire starts running away. Oz stands dramatically with stake in hand, the music swells and he throws the stake only to have it clatter harmlessly off a nearby gravestone. He sighs and says "That never really works."
  • In The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode "The Never Never Affair", Napoleon Solo demonstrates extremely Improbable Aiming Skills when, bound to a chair, forced to hold a pistol with his hands tied behind his back pointing the pistol behind him, and while having to look into a mirror to see his target, he nonetheless warns a THRUSH agent that any attempt to detonate an explosive booby trap in the face of other U.N.C.L.E. agents arriving at the scene would result in Solo shooting the THRUSH agent. The THRUSH baddie pooh poohs Solo's threat, and makes for the detonator, only to be shot by Solo. Solo then hangs a lampshade on it by looking surprised and muttering, "Well how about that!" when he sees the THRUSH agent go down.
  • Several episodes of MythBusters had segments addressing splitting arrows with other arrows at range.
  • In Brimstone, Detective Ezekiel Stone has no problem shooting out the eyes of the escaped souls.
    • Justified in that in Brimstone, a soul escaped from hell gains supernatural powers related to the individual's history and/or mental condition. As a former cop, it's entirely conceivable that superhuman shooting accuracy is Stone's power (though this is never stated outright, as the series didn't last long enough to make a point of it.)
  • Firefly runs rampant with this. A lot of shots are pulled from the hip, but nonetheless hit targets quite precisely; Zoe even manages to shoot a man's gun out of his hands from a good fifty meters off in "Safe," and Mal's quick-draw shots are legendary.
    • Zoe's shot is even more remarkable given that she does it as soon as the man draws the gun - from another man's holster.
    • Also, River killing three of Niska's men with one shot each, while her eyes are closed, and the bad guys are hiding behind cover...Jayne's disbelief is understandable. So is his line, "She killed them with math, what else could it be?", heavy on the sarcasm. Being a subject of a Super Soldier project, she only took a one-second look, memorized their positions, and shot them by remembering where they were and working out the math of how to angle the gun.
    • Also, one particular Noodle Incident: Jayne once hit a man in the neck at five hundred yards, with a bent scope.
    • Early in Serenity, Jayne gets hit with a harpoon fired by Reavers, and Mal shoots the rope to free him. But it takes him three tries.
  • Castle uses The Magnificent Seven version of this mentioned above in the episode "Boom!", while managing a Shout-Out to Firefly at the same time.

Beckett: Hell of a shot, Castle.
Castle: I was aiming for his head.

    • Also in the episode "Home is where the Heart Stops", Rick Castle, in order to win access to jewelry photos"

Beckett: If you put any of the next three in the 10-ring and I will give you the files...
Castle: Yeah?
Beckett: Yeah.

    • Castle rips off 3 rapid-fire shots, taking out the X with a perfect cloverleaf

Castle: You're a very good teacher.

    • The pilot shows him to be a crack shot at a gun range, although it is believable that in Real Life he would have trouble properly aiming at someone who is about to kill his Love Interest. Adrenalin would also be a major factor.
  • The Lone Ranger used this to avoid ever having to kill an opponent.
  • The Tenth Doctor shot a tiny diamond with a pistol from across a large room in the Doctor Who story The End Of Time. Particularly improbable and/or impressive given the Doctor's aversion to guns.
    • Earlier, in "The Sontaran Strategem", the Tenth Doctor disables a Sontaran by hitting a tennis ball with a racket so that it ricochets around the room until it strikes the Sontaran's probic vent, in the back of its head.
    • The Fifth Doctor once shot out a dungeon door's padlock with a flintlock pistol.

Tegan: You missed!
Doctor: I never miss (nor had he).

    • The Fourth Doctor's companion, Leela, kills a Sontaran by throwing a knife into its very small probic vent from across a room in the serial The Invasion of Time. Earlier, a Time Lord had told her that a Sontaran could theoretically be killed that way, but of course, no one could throw a knife with such accuracy. Leela then throws hers at something equally small, hitting it perfectly.

Leela: Why not?

    • Leela shoots the dragon's eye with remarkable accuracy in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", given that she was unfamiliar with the type of weapon used. (We never see her using a handgun prior to this episode.)
    • In "The Face of Evil" the Doctor passes the test of the horda, shooting a descending rope with a crossbow. Most of the time he's not even concentrating on the rope, then he abruptly turns around and shoots. It turns out he learned his archery skills from William Tell.
    • Sergeant Benton once hit a rooftop windvane across the village green and the Brig shot a man off a prison wall at about the same distance.
    • River Song also displays some remarkable aiming skills, at one point, blindly spinning in a circle as she fires her handgun, and managing to kill all the enemies in the room - despite there being plenty of objects for them to take cover behind.
  • The Comic Strip Presents spoofed this in Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. A detective from the gun-toting cop shows of The Seventies shoots at a Nineties-era suspect at a hundred yards and misses, because reality has now taken over the genre.
  • Charmed has a few instances of this, but many may be justified by the fact that they're witches. However, in the eighth season, Billie manages to throw a potion bottle in the partially-open mouth of a demon, while she's lying on her side after being thrown to the ground, about ten minutes after being beaten up by said demon. Since she doesn't seem to use her powers and is pretty much just winging it, I have to call it this trope.
  • Olivia Dunham from Fringe almost constantly shoots people right between the eyes, regardless of how quickly they're moving, whether they're inside a car, or even if she just picks up her gun and fires (seemingly) at random.
    • Interestingly, when she is in the Alternate Universe, and Walternate implants Fauxlivia's memories in her head, she suddenly becomes a crack shot and claims she normally sucks. Apparently, memories equal hand-eye coordination.
  • Torchwood's Captain Jack Harkness uses this trope to establish his pure awesomeness at the beginning of series 2.
    • There's also a few instances where Gwen pulls this off, namely shooting at a car repeatedly without changing stance and then running off when the driver realizes she's been shooting at the wheels and they've gone flat in Children of Earth.
  • In the pilot episode of "Psych" Shawn Spencer displays this ability at the police shooting range where after watching a female officer slowly and carefully fire a number of shots he rapidly fires the same number of shots at the same target with each of his bulletholes overlapping one of hers.
    • Near the end of "Shawn Takes A Shot In The Dark" Shawn manages to shoot out the engine of a moving vehicle with just four shots. While laying on the hood of another moving vehicle. Both of which are moving at high speeds. While he's injured from being shot himself.
      • These are actually kind of Justifiable seeing as how Henry has trained him with every cop skill possible. It's not totally implausible that Henry would have started him at the gun range as soon as he could safely hold a gun and would have taught him how to shoot accurately in almost any situation.
    • Juliet O'Hara shoots a machete wielding crazy, in the HAND, during a wind storm at night with limited visibility while he was attacking Shawn. "Tuesday the 17th"
  • In addition to making ridiculously awesome (but plausible) shots with a sniper rifle, Gibbs and his NCIS team are routinely capable of shooting bad guys in the forehead with a handgun—even from behind a hostage (but DiNozzo did shoot off the hostage's ear in that instance), from the trunk of a car, or while running at full speed.
    • Tony misses sometimes, but usually he always bull's eyes whatever he is aiming at with whatever is at hand. Examples include the knife when Ziva is trying to teach them knife throwing skills, the straw paper war, McGee's food.
  • Hotch on Criminal Minds is acclaimed, in-universe, as the BAU's best shot. He rarely misses, and once, while traveling in a moving SUV, shot an unsub off of a moving freight train. The quality of JJ Jareau's shooting talent has a smaller sample size, but she * did* once shoot a guy between the eyes, from across a room, through a plate glass door. (Through the FBI seal, no less.)
    • However, there is debate over whether Reid's headshot of Phillip Dowd at the end of "LDSK" subverts this trope or plays it straight. The episode's subplot had revolved around Reid's lack of shooting acumen; however, when he gets a chance during the climactic hostage situation, he plugs Dowd between the eyes. The veracity of the following statement is dubious.

Hotch: Nice shot.
Reid: Actually, I was aiming for his leg.

  • Averted in a late 3rd season Burn Notice episode "Good Intentions". The bad guy has Fiona at gunpoint a long distance off, and Michael draws his weapon, only to be talked out of it by Sam, who points out he'll never hit his target at that distance with a pistol.
    • Of course, Sam himself was capable of drawing a martini glass on a target at maximum range with a handgun.

Sam: Did you notice the little olive?

    • Both Fiona and Jesse are pretty good with a sniper rifle. Jesse is able to shoot through Michael and kill the guy behind him, while only wounding Michael. Fiona makes a kill shot from afar while standing up.
  • Green Arrow is an impressive shot on Smallville, able to shoot a specific country on a globe or into the opening of a soda can. Clark Kent also hardly ever misses, whether he throws a football, basketball, bowling ball, knife, can, anything. He even shoots a bullet out of the air with his heat vision. It is implied that his talent comes from his powers, as in one episode where he was Brought Down to Normal, he found that he now sucked at basketball.
  • Played jarringly straight on a recent episode of White Collar, when Agent Peter Burke uncannily shoots the radio out of a mook's hand, with no damage to anything or anyone but the radio.
    • It is, sort of, a Running Gag on the show that Burke often exhibits abilities that impress everyone, even Neal, such as when he charms a Black Widow with a tango, while Neal and his partner are shouting in his ear to abort. These abilities usually come with no warning.
  • In Third Watch, Davis assumes Sully is practicing this trope when Sully shoots the gun out of a crazed gunman's hand. Promptly subverted when Sully answers his admiration with, "Yeah, but I was aiming for his head."
  • Misfits The mysterious Super Hoodie is able to throw a paper airplane across Southmere Lake with enough accuracy to twat Kelly in the eye. After Super Hoodie's identity is revealed, Simon demonstrates that he is beginning to develop his superhuman aim by throwing a peanut in the mouth of the allergic Villain of the Week's mouth, all while being strangled.
  • Eliot Spencer in Leverage Does Not Like Guns. However, in one episode, the team is ambushed by a group of armed Mooks in a warehouse. In order to let the others escape, he grabs two guns and proceeds to distract the enemy. This distraction involves moving quickly through the warehouse in a hail of bullets, while picking off Mooks with well-placed shots. One memorable scene involves him sliding on his knees in a puddle, while making precision shots. Apparently, just because someone Does Not Like Guns, doesn't mean he can't use them.
    • Eliot has former military special operations experience, which means he of necessity has substantial experience and training with firearms. He just doesn't normally use guns because guns = lethal force and killing people for a living is a habit he's trying to quit.
  • In News Radio, Dave puts on a knife-throwing act for a talent show as "Throwgali". He impresses his co-workers beforehand by turning off a light switch fifty feet away by throwing a knife, and then turning it back on again by throwing a knife even though the room is now dark. There is another knife thrower in the talent show called "Throwdini". He and Dave salute each other, saying, "To the sharp arts!"
  • On Alphas this is Hick's special power. He can analyze the environment and then make the perfect shot. In the pilot he kills a man in a windowless room with a sniper rifle by shooting though a grate, down a ventilation shaft and then cliping a second grate in such a way that the bullet tumbles just enough to hit the target sitting under it. Later on when faced with a hostage taker he ricochets a bullet off a sign so it hits the bad guy in the back since it is the only shot he can take without hitting the hostage. He can also shoot the hinges off a door using two pistols Guns Akimbo from across a street. He can also use his power for throwing object and to execute incredible feats of acrobatics.
    • Also of note is Marcus from one of the first episodes. His power is a more extreme version of Hicks' (which has more psychological side effects than Hicks' does). In the first few minutes of the episode, he flicks a quarter and hits it on the precise spot on a bar that would cause it to fall and set such a chain of events moving that he would be able to escape the ambulance he was in. His aim is so naturally perfect that he can't understand how other people can do things accidentally and not see the repercussions.
  • Unlike Mulder, Scully of The X-Files very rarely misses what she's aiming at. Mulder lampshades this after she's shot him, to prevent him killing someone else.
  • While playing darts in Once Upon a Time, the Sheriff/The Huntsman hits the bullseye three times in a row, then throws the fourth dart at the door right next to Emma's head. When Emma points out that he could have hit her, he claims that he never misses.
    • Prince Charming has also exhibited this, saving Snow White by hitting a guard on a galloping horse from a relatively long distance. In another episode he intercepts an arrow midflight with a sword.
  • In an episode of Arctic Air a drug trafficker and a hitman are both killed during the same night by long range rifle shots. The difficulty of the shots is magnified by the fact that it happened during a major snowstorm with heavy winds. The police suspect that the criminal group the men were working for hired a sniper to kill them. It turns out that the shooter was a young Native kid whose life was threatened by the criminals. His grandfather was a legendary hunter and marksman and he taught the kid everything he knew. Nobody suspected him since he never had a chance to demonstrate his skill since he left his village and came south to work for the airline.
  • In the first episode of Sherlock, we are introduced to John's aiming skills when he shoots the cabbie through two windows and just over Sherlock's shoulder - one handed. With the gun in the wrong hand. It's even more awesome in the unaired pilot.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: When Bashir was revealed to have been genetically engineered all along, among the many other Marty Stu abilities he was immediately given were Improbable Aiming Skills, the most ridiculous of which was him walking out of a bar with his back turned towards the dart board (and at an angle because the door wasn't perfectly aligned with the dartboard), tossing the dart over his shoulder without looking and still perfectly hitting the bullseye.
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