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Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Both a [[Stock Phrase]] and a staple of the [[Action Adventure Tropes|action genre]]. A character comes into the scene armed with what he thinks is sufficient, only to find out he is severely outclassed weapon-wise, because he brought the entirely wrong ''type'' of weapon (usually the superior weapon is revealed after the first person has committed to a fight). Could lead to a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] (which would make it a [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]], or maybe a [[Bond One-Liner]] if uttered after), or the character running for his life.
A popular subversion is [[Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight]]. Subtrope to [[Combat Pragmatist]].
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She pulls out her ''katana''.
I feel a little stupid. }}
* This is a theme repeated in a number of variations throughout the works of [[Eyrie Productions, Unlimited]].
** It initially appears as "Overstreet's First Law of Tactics", from contributor Kris "Redneck" Overstreet's story ''The Quagmire Project'':
{{quote|Take a stick to a fistfight.
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*** This scene is subverted in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]''. Indy is confronted by several sword-wielding enemies. Smirking, he reaches for his gun, only to discover that he does not have it, and then runs away.
** In ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'', Indy warns Mutt about the dangers of bringing a knife to a gunfight (as he takes out his knife, but the Russians have revolvers).
* Nearly subverted in one of the final fights in ''[[Wanted]]'': Wesley is in a gun fight with a [[Knife Nut]]. Notably, the [[Knife Nut]] was more experienced, got to choose the battlefield (enclosed area with lots of visual obstructions), and very nearly killed him.
** The Knife Nut earlier explained the various advantages knives have over guns, justifying his weapons preference. Mostly it came down to them being easier to aquire, requiring little maintenance, and never running out of bullets.
* Near the end of Thai martial arts movie ''Chocolate'', a group of high ranking thugs grab katanas and rush at the Yakuza father of the protagonist. [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] ensues when he promptly shoots the first one down, though the rest close in and it turns into a sword fight.
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* Parodied in [[30 Minutes or Less]] with "You just brought a gun to a bomb fight, officer!"
* The final scene of ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]'' has Swan, knife in hand, facing down Luther and his gun. Weirdly enough, Luther shoots, but Swan dodges and ''nobody else gets harmed''. Nobody else, that is, except for Luther, who takes a knife to his gun hand.
* ''[[War Horse]]'' has a scene in [[World War
* In the BBC adaptation of ''[[Tom Jones]]'', when Lord Fellamar's attempted rape of Sophia is interrupted by her father, he turns his sword on the older man, assuring him that his class and education have well prepared him for anything the squire can dish out. Squire Western pulls out a pistol and promptly shoots out one of Fellamar's knees.
* Routinely inverted by the [[Star Wars|Jedi Order]] throughout the franchise. In the words of the prequels' stunt coordinator, they've chosen to use swords against [[Frickin' Laser Beams]], "so they'd better be damn good at it."
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* Subverted in ''[[Nation]]'': (paraphrased) "His gun will run out of bullets before my knife runs out of sharp."
* Played straight several times over the course of ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', mostly by supernatural forces. Most non-humans, and even some magical humans, eschew guns in favor of claws, swords, or other melee weaponry, or specifically think to counter someone's magic ability when they do consider long-range combat, neglecting to consider firearms. At least one very powerful practitioner thought she had Harry dead to rights after disarming him of his staff and blasting rod, only to learn a little too late that they should have taken his gun too.
** Also, Kincaid remarked to Harry that, if he wanted to kill Harry, he would use a high powered sniper rifle from a long distance away, neatly avoiding any Death Curse.
* In [[David Weber]]'s ''[[Out of the Dark]]'', the Shongairi come off as [[Insufficiently Advanced Alien]]s because their entire war doctrine revolves around conquering pre-industrial races. Guess what happens when troops trained and equipped to [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb-stomp]] natives with pointy sticks comes up against modern military hardware?
* [[Meaningful Name|Hiro Protagonist's]] weapon-of-choice in ''[[Snow Crash]]'' is a katana. At one point, Hiro's use of the katana actually leads to a standoff when he's able to find cover that the gun-wielding mooks he's fighting with can't shoot through, but they're all too far away for him to attack. He actually taunts his adversaries that they can take as long as they like because "Katanas don't run out of bullets."
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* In one possible ending of ''[[Yo-Jin-Bo]]'', the main characters — who are mostly samurai and armed with swords — are attacked by ninja with guns. The heroes die very quickly.
* In ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', you get an achievement for the Spy by fatally knifing another Spy who has his gun out.
** The Scout plays this straight with his domination line "Don't bring a wrench to a gun fight."
* ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. No matter how many guns the player has when invading Madd Dogg's mansion for the first time, he ends up with just a knife. The player is not even allowed to pick up dropped weapons until half way through. A much later mission ends with a helicopter crash leaving the water-treading protaganist outside of the ship he has to infiltrate. All his weapons (sob) are at the bottom of the drink except his knife. However, here, a quick swim to shore and knowledge of respawning weapon locations makes the ship much easier to overcome.
* Subverted somewhat in Metal Gear Solid 3. Snake(Big Boss) talks about how sometimes a knife is more useful in close-quarters than a gun, thus he carries both and even wields them simultaneously, the knife held in a [[Reverse Grip]] next to his pistol's grip.
** [[Resident Evil 4|Leon Kennedy]] doesn't use his in tandem with his pistols, but he also points out the utility of a knife in close quarters when he gets the drop on Ada.
* ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'': [[Deadpan Snarker|Garrus]] mentions this trope by name when fighting Phantoms, finding the whole concept silly. As Garrus is a sniper, the amusement is justifiable.
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