Leave Behind a Pistol: Difference between revisions

'''Prosecutor:''' "No, no, no..."

''(Kaminski drops a pistol in front of the prosecutor.)''

''(Kaminski walks out. From behind the closed door comes the sound of a single gunshot as the prosecutor chooses to "resign.")'' }}

** In the unedited version, the prosecutor tries to back-shoot Kaminski after being given the gun, and is blown away for his trouble.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[The Departed]]'': an [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|understandably mentally unstable]] Billy Costigan asks his shrink for a Valium prescription. She hands him ''one'' pill. "Why don't you just give me a bottle of scotch and a handgun to blow my fucking head off!" She eventually gives it to him, [[Good Is Not Nice|the jerk...]]

* Played straight-ish in ''[[The Last Samurai]]'', when one of Omura's henchmen leaves a kodachi rather than a pistol with Katsumoto to commit seppuku—ritual suicide—with.

*** Only if the Daimyo thought the samurai deserved it, and he felt magnanimous enough to grant that blessing. If the Daimyo felt the samurai needed not just to die but also suffer to expiate his dishonor...

**** The head cutting thing is optional. The 2nd was originally there to cut off the head if 1st showed hesitancy. Later, they started doing it as a mercy kill once they person performed the minimum action on their own, or were too badly injured to finish the job themselves.

{{quote|"There is not enough anti-venom for the two of us. How you choose to leave this world is up to you."}}

* A scene filmed for ''[[Aliens]]'' has [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Carter Burke]] [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|impregnated]] and cocooned to the wall. Ripley gives him a grenade to detonate and moves on. The scene has never been included in any release of the film, [[Word of God|apparently]] because it breaks up the tension of the final segment, plus it would raise potential plotholes with regard to the alien lifecycle. However, the scene is included in the novelization and the ''Newt's Tale'' comic series.

** Wasn't that the blackmailer? If so, it was because the whole affair would be wrapped up with far fewer tears if he died wihout exposure to proper authorities.

** No, the blackmailer is killed by one of his victims, a young woman whom Holmes and Watson choose not to tattle on.

* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|The Chessman of Mars]]'', when they decide to proclaim A-Kor jeddak of Manator:

{{quote|''"There can be but one jeddak in Manator," said the chief who held the dagger; his eyes still fixed upon the hapless O-Tar he crossed to where the latter stood and holding the dagger upon an outstretched palm proffered it to the discredited ruler. "There can be but one jeddak in Manator," he repeated meaningly.

 

 

* An episode of ''[[Foyle's War]]'' has Foyle confront a businessman who'd been dealing with the Nazis with the fact that, as a result of his dirty dealings, his business empire is crumbling, his son's been arrested for murder, his wife has left him, and his reputation is ruined. He then leaves the businessman and walks outside—and we hear a shot. Foyle's lack of reaction indicates that he expected this.

** In another episode, he offers a gay airman implicated in a murder the chance to fly one last mission in The Battle Of Britain. His plane is shot down. He does not bail out.

* In ''[[Star Trek]] : Balance of Terror'' , Captain Kirk doesn't interfere—not that there was any way he could've—when the [[Worthy Opponent]] Romulan captain commits suicide. He simply watches and his reaction is [[What a Senseless Waste of Human Life|What a senseless waste of Romulan life.]]

* Implied in one episode of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' (the new version): Baltar and Boomer (who is beginning to suspect that she is a [[Manchurian Agent|Cylon agent]]) have a long conversation discussing how she needs to "do what's right for herself." As Baltar leaves, a gunshot is heard from the room behind him.

* In ''[[Blake's 7|Blakes Seven]]'', Avon captures a professional Federation [[Torture Technician|torturer]] and teleports him to an underground cave with a limited air supply. He offers the man a "way out" if he tells him what he wants to know about his [[It's Personal|ex-lover]] who was supposedly tortured to death. After the man breaks down and tells Avon all he can, Avon coldly teleports away, leaving him his "way out": a loaded gun.

* In ''[[Mara Daughter of the Nile]]'', when Thutmose reclaims the throne from Hatsheput, he offers her a poisoned goblet. She accepts, on the condition she be allowed to drink it in the privacy of her chambers, although Thutmose accompanies her as a witness.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

*** Many sources quote him as refusing, saying "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself," so it wasn't indecision so much.

** Similarly, Ludwig Beck offered to commit suicide after being arrested for his role in the Valkyrie plot. Unfortunately subverted, since [[Nightmare Fuel|he survived the gunshot]] and a sergeant had to deliver a coup de grace.

** That would qualify as a [[Badass]] [[Taking You with Me|Dying]] [[Dying Moment of Awesome|Moment of Awesome]]. Bit of a mouthful though...

** You forgot to mention he requested a new pistol because [[Badass|his was too damaged from '''melee combat''' to shoot]].

** Sergeant Thomas Baker received the posthumous Congressional Medal of Honour for the feat. Talk about [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] !

* In a subversion of sorts, the former Head of the Metropolitan Police (Head of the Greater London police and generally regarded as the top policeman in the UK) Sir Iain Blair was once described as the sort of man who if offered the traditional revolver and bottle of whiskey, would drink the whiskey and come out shooting.

** Preventing this type of reaction is why the [[Trope Namer]] pistol is loaded with only one round.