Leave Behind a Pistol: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Hey Al. Men in your profession, you give 'em a pistol and then leave the room. I don't have a pistol, Al."''|'''[[Richard Nixon]]''' to General Alexander Haig, ''[[Nixon]]''}}

'''Jacob''': ''(walking away)'' It's not for them, ''[[Calling the Old Man Out|Dad.]]''|''[[Mass Effect 2]]''}}

== Comic Books ==

* Sort-of example from the "Tales of Human Waste" [[Trade Paperback]] of ''[[Transmetropolitan]]''; an excerpt from Spider's column after Spider has forced The Beast to leave office reads:

* [[Wolverine]] did this to Mystique in the one-shot comic, ''Wolverine: Get Mystique'' after the events of ''Messiah Comple-X''. Of course, he DID snikt her immediately beforehand to the extent where she would've bled out SLOOOOWLLY if she hadn't followed through with the gun.

* [[Deadpool]] is hired by both a wealthy old man and his extremely attractive trophy wife to kill the other. At one point, he has both of them in a room and tries to convince them that they should work their problems out rationally, instead of with violence. To do this, he leaves an unregistered pistol with a single round on the table between them, noting how either could grab the gun faster and do the job themselves if they want to that badly. He leaves, confident that they'll talk things out. A sudden BLAM makes him realize that, [[Batman Gambit|when it comes to gambits, he's no Batman]].

* Towards the end of the made-for-TV movie ''Tempting Fate'', Bollandine (Abraham Benrubi's character) is exiled by the [[Dystopia|government]] to a cabin in the woods with a pistol with one bullet. He's about to use it when other exiles show up, at which point he elects to join them instead.

* Cruelly subverted in the 2002 version of ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (film)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'': the disgraced Villefort is led to the paddywagon (just like he had done to Dantes so many years before); inside it he finds a pistol and is told by one of the gendarmes that it's "a courtesy for a gentleman." However when he pulls the trigger, nothing happens.

* Played nearly straight in ''[[Romeo Must Die]]''. At the end, Jet Li's character meets his father in his office. His father takes a gun out of his drawer and sets it on the desk as Jet Li explains how he figured out the betrayal. As Jet Li walks away down the hallway, a shot is heard, causing him to pause a moment before continuing.

* Played with in ''[[Where Eagles Dare]]''. A suspected traitor is given a gun, but when his treason is revealed on the plane ride at the end of the movie, and he tries to shoot the main character, we find that the firing pin had been removed. The main character gives the traitor the chance to leave the plane before it lands and he would get arrested. He takes it.

* In the 1986 [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] "epic" ''[[Raw Deal]]'', undercover cop Mark Kaminsky had previously been driven out of the FBI on Excessive Force charges by a zealous Federal Prosecutor, who advised him to "resign or be prosecuted." At one point in the film, he invades a Mob bar, killing everyone but that self-same District Attorney, who is in the pay of the local [[Mob Boss]].

'''Kaminski:''' [[Ironic Echo|"Resign or be prosecuted."]]<br />

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

**** 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.

* ''[[Dead Air (2009 ilm)|Dead Air]]'': When one of the surviving terrorists loses his pouch of anti-venom that would prevent him from getting infected after releasing an airborne [[Zombie Apocalypse]] virus, his leader hands him a pistol and leaves him with the following words:

* 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.

* ''[[Things to Come]]'' (1936). John Cabal leaves his pistol with a dying enemy pilot as [[Deadly Gas]] is floating towards him.

** In ''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'', Lord Peter and Colonel Marchbanks, having extracted a signed confession from the murderer, leave him alone in the library with the Colonel's loaded revolver.

* Brutally deconstructed in [[PD James]]' novel, ''Original Sin.'' Finding the murderer sympathetic, Daniel does a version of this for him. This is completely illegal, and it's implied that he ends up fired or even nailed with criminal charges. The main character is torn about having to turn Daniel in, and there's a major [[Tear Jerker]] when his co-worker stumbles on the scene and immediately knows what happened and what's going to happen.

* [[Tom Clancy]]'s ''[[Clear and Present Danger]]''. At the end, the [[General Ripper]] who sold out several dozen US soldiers to ruthless, Columbian druglords to save his own career, is confronted by John Clark (who is basically [[The Punisher]] with government backing). John tells him that they managed to save a handful of the soldiers, and have plenty of evidence to reveal his involvement in the whole affair. He also informs him that he's being watched by federal agents, and that they'll come by to arrest him within a couple of hours, to put him on trial for a multitude of crimes, up to and including treason. Then he leaves him. Shortly after, the General goes jogging... and halfway through his route, steps out on the street in front of a bus.

** And then disallowed in a later novel, ''Debt of Honor''. The [[Big Bad]] of the book asks if he can spend some time alone after his capture. It's denied so he can't take his own life.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Gaunt's Ghosts]] novel ''Necropolis'', Sturm is offered this, and promptly tries to kill Gaunt with the pistol. In ''Traitor General'', Sturm pleads with Gaunt to allow it again, and Gaunt risks it. Sturm thanks him and shoots himself.

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

O-Tar took the proffered blade and drawing himself to his full height plunged it to the guard into his breast, in that single act redeeming himself in the esteem of his people and winning an eternal place in The Hall of Chiefs.'' }}

* On [[Miles Vorkosigan|Barrayar]], the punishment for [[Blue Blood|Vors]] who commit treason is [[Come to Gawk|public exposure]] until they starve to death; Aral Vorkosigan at one point observes that nowadays they are given a chance to kill themselves, but him, if it came to that, he'd insist on getting the punishment.

* Subverted in one ''[[Sharpe]]'' episode. Sharpe remarks that leaving a disgraced officer in a room with a loaded pistol might be the gentlemanly thing to do, but of little use to the regiment or the officers family. He gives him a chance to lead a suicidal charge instead.

* [[Black Comedy|Actually]] [[Played for Laughs]] in the "Roger of the Raj" episode of ''[[Ripping Yarns]]''. At dinner one night, as the ladies are leaving, one officer [[Did I Just Say That Out Loud?|blurts out, "We'll be in to spank you later, you firm-buttocked Amazons, you."]] As everyone stares at him, his commanding officer says, "I think you know what to do," and he apologizes, steps outside and shoots himself. One by one, each of the other officers decides to rebel against the social order by committing another crime against etiquette, like [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|passing the port the wrong way around the table]], and then voluntarily does the honorable thing.

* In the latest ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' series, Guy's sister Isabella is in the dungeon following the capture of Nottingham by the peasants. Her execution is scheduled for the next day. While Guy doesn't exactly feel anything for his [[Face Heel Turn]] sister, he does give her a vial of poison, claiming she'll be dead by morning. Isabella manages to escape and, in the ensuing fight, kills Guy with a dagger and then cuts Robin with it, having covered it with the poison beforehand. This gives Robin just enough time to kill the Sheriff and Isabella and say his good-byes to the gang.

* A similar case happens in ''[[Prison Break]]'', where Agent Mahone tells C-Note that his wife will go free if he uses what is in the package Mahone gives him. C-Note opens it to find a rope, already tied in a noose. C-Note tries to use it, but the guards manage to pull him off just in time. Subverted in that this isn't about honor at all.