Pistol-Whipping: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:StrontiumDogPistolWhip.jpg|link=Strontium Dog|
{{quote|''"If you get a customer, or an employee, who thinks he's [[Charles Bronson]], take the butt of your gun and smash their nose in. Everybody jumps. He falls down screaming, blood squirts out of his nose, nobody says fucking shit after that."''
|'''Mr. White''', ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]''}}
[[Tap
If you do this in Real
▲[[Tap On the Head|Knocking someone out by hitting them]] with the butt of a pistol. When done with a long gun (e.g. rifle or shotgun), it is referred to as a "Butt Stroke", or "Butt Stroking". (Rest assured, [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=380 some people] have had a [[Having a Gay Old Time|gay old time]] with ''that'' bit of terminology.)
▲If you do this in Real Life -- with enough force -- you can actually kill the victim by cracking their skull. Also, even the butt of a gun has quite a few pointy parts, which, if whacked against your face, will cause a lot of bleeding and probably leave a large and permanent scar. Pistol whipping itself is a outdated way of striking somebody with your weapon, along with butt stroking somebody, the proper way is to thrust your barrel in a forward motion into the target. Muzzle strikes to the head are considered a lethal strike. Barrel strikes are typically used to put down a person who isn't considered a lethal threat, the point is to keep the ability to shoot at all times. Butt stroking or pistol whipping sweeps yourself or buddies in the line of fire. A proper non lethal weapon strike can be seen in ''[[Safehouse]]'' by Denzel's character to Ryan Reynolds' character in the soccer stadium, though a strike of that nature would typically break the sternum.
One purpose of Pistol Whipping is to humiliate your captured enemy (or moronic henchman). You've got a gun, and you could kill them right there, but they're so insignificant, so pathetic, so helpless, that you can just smash them across the face and be done with it. It also causes a lot of bleeding, making a character look a lot worse than they really are. It is also possible to damage or break the magazine or handle of the weapon, depending on the model and the force of the blow.
[[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him]], you ask? As Elliot Stabler of ''[[Law
A rare case of the [[Evil Overlord List]] ''not'' reflecting common sense, as nearly all modern militaries train their troops in how to fight using their rifle as a melee weapon (although it might be that the Evil Overlord just hates it when henchmen Pistol Whip the Hero ''rather'' than shoot him). This was also fairly common during the time periods where firearms were not very advanced and required a lot of time and effort to reload which meant that sometimes it was more prudent to use your gun as a melee weapon rather than trying to reload it in the middle of battle.
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May be a form of [[Quick Melee]].
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
* Train Hartnett of ''[[Black Cat (
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Acknowledged]] but advised against in the ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' manga. Revy is chastised by her gunsmith when he notices minor damage done to one of her weapon's grips caused when she smashed a guy's face in with it. Revy has no intention of stopping though.
▲* Train Hartnett of ''[[Black Cat (Manga)|Black Cat]]'' has basically turned this into a fine art. Since he's chosen not to kill people, he's always clubbing them with his VERY HARD INDESTRUCTIBLE GUN, although since he's a former elite assassin it might explain why he's able to avoid killing with it.
▲* [[Lampshade Hanging|Acknowledged]] but advised against in the ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' manga. Revy is chastised by her gunsmith when he notices minor damage done to one of her weapon's grips caused when she smashed a guy's face in with it. Revy has no intention of stopping though.
* Early in the second season of [[Strike Witches]], Gertrude's two heavy machine guns run out of ammo, so she grabs them by the barrels and uses them as melee weapons.
* Some pilots in ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' / ''[[Robotech]]'' (most notabily, Hikaru Ichijo / Rick Hunter) have used their Gunpods as an improvised meelee weapon when they had ran low of ammo or missiles.
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* When the Heavyarms Gundam from [[Gundam Wing]] is forced into melee combat, the pilot can resort to [[Up to Eleven|gatling gun whipping]] the enemy with its arm mounted gatling cannon.
* Mami Tomoe of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' performs this action correctly (using the butt of the rifles) during her [[Fan Nickname|Unlimited Musket Works]], except in her case it's meant to knock a target away so she can shoot it.
* {{spoiler|Kaname}} [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/full_metal_panic_sigma/v12/c051/10.html hits a captured] {{spoiler|Tessa}} with the handle of a gun in the [[Full Metal Panic!]] manga. [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/full_metal_panic_sigma/v12/c051/10.html Twice, actually]. To be fair, by that time {{spoiler|Kaname was possessed by Sophia.}} And not to mention, [[It Gets Worse]] soon. {{spoiler|Sort of.}}
== Comic Books ==
* In the original ''[[Sin City]]'' comic (though not in the film), Marv actually criticises Wendy's technique while she's pistol-whipping him in case she harms the ''gun''! But then, he is crazy. [[Made of Iron|And unkillable.]]
* [[The Joker]] does this to Jason Todd in the ''[[Batman]]'' story arc "A Death in the Family" as the beginning of his [[No
* [[Tintin]] knocks out two criminals with this in "The Black Island" to shut them up when he realizes that the gun he obtained from them is empty.
* In ''[[Quantum and Woody]]'', Woody butt strokes an armored goon after discovering his rifle has been loaded with rubber bullets.
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* Ray Liotta's character in ''[[Goodfellas]]'' famously whipped the hell out of his future wife's neighbour early in the movie when the neighbour tried to rape and abuse her. [http://youtube.com/watch?v=AI-VY5cC2jk Ouch].
** Tommy also does this to Billy Batts after he's pushed his [[Berserk Button]] so hard that the gun ends up breaking.
* In ''[[The Mask (
* Captain Picard does this in ''[[Star Trek
* In ''[[Snatch]]'', Vinny attempts to pistol-whip Bullet-Tooth Tony, but Tony catches his wrist and notices that the gun has "Replica" written down the side of the barrel.
* Played with in a particularly bad Lou Diamond Philips movie, where he is pistol whipped several times, causing him to ask, "Doesn't anybody ''shoot'' guns anymore?" Eventually he gets the gun away from one of the people, and winds up like he's going to hit her with it. "See how ''you'' like it!"
* A Somali in ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'' uses his AK-47 as a makeshift club and smacks the pilot of one of the titular choppers across the face with it.
* Happens twice in ''[[The Final Countdown]]''; first when a captured Japanese pilot smacks a Marine in the gut with the butt of his own M16 rifle, then later on when [[Jerkass|Samuel Chapman]] clubs a helicopter crewman over the head with a flare pistol.
* In a sickening scene in the movie ''[[
* In ''[[Tuck Everlasting]]'', Mae does this with a shotgun to the man in the yellow suit and it ''does'' kill him.
* ''[[Sneakers]]'':
** [[Robert Redford]]'s character is incapacitated this way not once, but twice by one of the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Mook
** Crease (Sidney Poitier) knocks out two [[Mook
* ''[[Shoot
* In the Mel Gibson film ''[[Conspiracy Theory]]'', both the protagonist and his female friend are pretty liberal with the
* A [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] (one of many) from ''Hard Times'' starring Charles Bronson has his character, a bare-knuckle boxer named Chaney, demonstrate "more than one way" to use a gun to a sleazy bar owner who bullied him and his manager out of their fight money before. Way one: shoot the place silly. Way two: whack said owner on the noggin'.
* ''[[Undercover Brother]]''
** One of the security guards at the golf course knocks out the title character with a pistol. He's up and around a few seconds later.
** Conspiracy Brother does it to Mr. Elias in the island fortress communications room.
* The titular ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Watchmen]]'', during a fight with the police, Rorschach grabs one of the officer's rifles by the barrel, swings it around and smashes it into his head, sending him down a flight of stairs.
* In ''[[Avatar (
* ''[[Dreamscape]]''. Alex does this to one of Bob Blair's agents.
* When the pistols get wet in [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End]] Ragetti says "We can still use them... as clubs!" Later in the movie, Jack actually puts it to use, swiping a pistol from an enemy's belt and promptly whacking him on the forehead with it.
* ''[[Live and Let Die (
* ''[[Flash Gordon (
* In ''[[Public Enemies]]'', John Dillinger does this to the president of the first bank they rob, because he's taking too long to open the vault.
* ''[[Buckaroo Banzai]]''. While John Parker is infiltrating Buckaroo's estate a Blue Blaze Irregular clocks him on the back of the head with a pistol butt and knocks him out.
* Westley does this to Inigo with a sword hilt in ''[[The Princess Bride (
* ''[[Cowboys and Aliens (
* ''[[Indiana Jones and
* ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!''. During the annihilation of Congress, Donald Kessler is knocked out by a blow on the back of the head from the butt of a skeleton beam rifle wielded by a Martian soldier.
== Literature ==
* [[Sherlock Holmes]] and Dr. Watson each get to pistol whip a bad guy (in "The Three Garridebs" and "The Empty House," respectively). Neither of them appear to cause lasting damage, even though Holmes actually hits the guy hard enough to draw blood! (The guy shot Watson, he had it coming.)
* In V.Suvorov's book ''Control,'' an elite soviet agent had to choose a handgun with the condition that it should not be made in the USSR. She got a Lahti L-35, not even for its lesser recoil, just because it's a sturdy 1.2
* In the Polish stage drama Tango, a revolver that has been a literal [[Chekhov's Gun]] through the whole play, is used to club one of the characters to death in the last act.
* One of the later books in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory series has a passage mentioning that death camp guards are issued submachine guns with real wooden stocks for just this purpose, rather than the cheaper all-metal construction that apparently falls apart.
* In [[John Dies
* Kipling's [
* ''[[World War Z]]'' featured a couple of purpose-built weapons in this vein. The SIR (Standard Infantry Rifle) has a steel-backed stock for butt strokes and an integrated flip-out eight-inch spike for use as an ersatz spear. As well, the new entrenching tool became a cross between a shovel and a double-headed axe, designed to crush a zombie skull in one shot. Troops [[I Call It Vera|nicknamed it The Lobo]] (short for The Lobotomizer.)
== Live Action TV ==
* In the ''[[Star Trek:
** Somewhat ironically, it was [[William Shatner]] playing the pinchee, so it was one of the [[Large Ham|largest of hams]] who established how a victim of a VNP reacts.
* Extremely subverted in ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]'' when in one episode Sledge sneaks behind a bad guy and pistol whips him on the head with his revolver and the bad guy just grabs his head and starts shouting in pain, Sledge follows it up with a bottle to the head and the bad guy still doesn't go down. Then Sledge jumps on the bad guy's back, piggy-backs him, gets him in a headlock, rams his head into a wall and yup, he's still conscious.
* In the short-lived UPN show ''Special Unit Two'', the [[Cowboy Cop]] wound up pistol whipping a parody of Barney on live television. Twice.
* Used repeatedly in ''[[Firefly]]'', often with ''very'' satisfying results.
* Someone on ''[[Lost]]'' gets hit in the head/face with a gun roughly every other episode. For example:
** In the episode "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1," {{spoiler|Keamy, apparently precluded from killing Ben, hits him with his gun instead.}}
** Kate also hits a guard with the butt of a rifle in "Not in Portland."
* Archvillain Fox hits one of the cops with his gun in the second episode of ''[[The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed]]''.
* One of the ways (along with a couple versions of [[Instant Sedation]]) in which characters in the 60s spy series ''[[The Man
* Awesomely done to reveal Sam is evil/possessed in ''[[Supernatural]]'' - "Born Under A Bad Sign". Sam has just killed a hunter and is acting even more [[The Woobie|woobified]] than usual, he asks Dean to kill him (getting all emotional for effect) who obviously can't. Five seconds later, all the emotion is gone and Dean winds up unconscious for hours while he goes to completely torment Jo in another state. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Awesome]].
* A recent episode of ''[[Psych]]'' featured Shawn being held a gunpoint by the bad guy. When Shawn starts up with his characteristic goofiness in the face of danger, the bad guy responded by hitting him in the back of the head with the gun. Painfully. But it makes no sense when you realize he was planning to kill Shawn ''anyway'', so [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him|why didn't he just shoot him?]]
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* In the Jesse James vs. Al Capone episode of ''[[Deadliest Warrior]]'', pistol whipping is tested as one of Jesse Jame's "weapons" against Al Capone's brass knuckles.
* In the 1999 TV Series of ''[[Oliver Twist]]'', Bill Sikes used this technique to land two very bloody blows on {{spoiler|Nancy, before he finished her off with a club}}.
* ''[[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]]'' pistol-whipped a division agent she captured in the pilot episode to cover up the fact that she placed a wireless transmitter in the cap of one of his molars.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'', Kaito does this to Yuusuke in the Agito's World episodes to get the G3 Chip from him, though Yuusuke isn't badly injured.
** ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'' Gun Form is usually [[The Gunslinger]], but he isn't above using his firearms as melee weapons.
* ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]'' episode "The Night Of The Double-Edged Knife". A man working on the protagonist's railroad engine is knocked out by the barrel of a gun wielded by one of the bad guys.
== Tabletop Games ==
* In ''[[Warhammer
** Pistols are actually better for close-combat in the game's systems as opposed to other ranged weapons - [[Sword and Gun|having one with another melee weapon]] allows models to shoot before charging in, and give an extra attack as if they had a second close-combat weapon. Other shooting weapons generally grants no bonuses for melee combat, though they may be allowed to shoot before charging (they still don't give an extra attack, though).
** In ''[[Dawn of War]]'', you get to watch it happen. In the rare occasions Tau Fire Warriors kill anything in melee combat, they will generally do so by first rifle whipping it to the edge of death, then ''[[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him|fire several pulse rounds into the target's face]]''.
** Some races take this even further by sticking ''blades'' on their guns. The Kroot have blades sticking out of the stocks of their rifles (kind of reasonable, as they were designed from more primitive staves) while the Dark Eldar regularly have knives adorning the bottom of the grips on their guns.
** Also, Ogryns, which are [[Recycled in Space|space]] [[The Ogre|ogres]] are so prone to using whatever weapon they have for clubbing things that their guns are specifically designed to withstand lots of impact. Their shotguns are essentially made to be used as clubs, and the fact that they actually fire rounds just gives the ogryn something to do while running up to the target.
** RPGs allow only pistols to be fired while in melee, and a ranged weapon used for melee attack usually is classified as "improvised weapon", but there are exceptions even not counting any [[Bifurcated Weapon|melee attachments]] - some weapons are heavy and sturdy enough to be used as truncheons, others have a chance to break when used to parry a melee strike.
* The Tabletop RPG ''[[Star Wars]]'': Saga Edition gives a talent that lets one do that: Gun Club. A later talent builds upon that, allowing one to use weapons with bayonets as double weapons.
* In [[GURPS]] pistol whipping is just slightly better than punching someone. A few weapons, like the Tower Sea Service Flintlock, do considerably more damage.
*
== Video Games ==
* ''Winback'' for the Nintendo 64. Sneaking up on someone and pistol whipping them is entirely possible, but your trainer (after shoving out a guy for you to practice on, ) says this is not really always effective. So blasting 'em is better.
* Ocelot very foolishly attempted to do this to Snake in [[Metal Gear Solid]] 3 rather than [[Shur Fine Guns|attempt to clear the jam in his gun]], a very bad move since Snake is a hand to hand expert. A few moments later [[The Hero]] showed Ocelot how it's done when he easily parried another attack from Ocelot, hit him in the gut, then smacked the already stunned Ocelot on the back of the head/neck with the butt of his own pistol.
** Snake himself utilizes this trope. If a weapon is equipped, and he attempts to punch, he will swing the weapon and do more damage to enemies than he would with his bare fists.
* In ''Perfect Dark'' for the N64, it's entirely possible to steal a mook's Generic Pistol, then knock him out with it.
** Especially effective when done with the magnum.
* ''Goldeneye'' for the same system. The 'punching' aspect for Bond, James Bond turns into 'Hit them with the sniper rifle' once said gun is obtained. Very delicate instrument for smacking in skulls...
* ''[[
* ''[[Project Reality]]'' has this as one of several melee attacks available.
* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', most of the enemies have a firearm and some form of melee attack. This can look a bit ridiculous in cases where someone will pull out a gun, fire once, run in, pull out a small knife, and slice away. Most ridiculous, however, was the Malta Group. These are trained professionals, given advanced assault rifles and other high tech armaments, yet what do half of them do? Run up and punch you with one of their hands. Yeah. There is also an ally in a mission that earned the [[Fan Nickname]] of "General Pistol-Whip" because he would randomly run all the way across a packed room to pistol whip the bosses.
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** The Arachnos Soldier "Epic" Archetype has access to an attack called Pummel, which is a butt-stroke to your enemy's jaw. Low damage but has a decent chance to stun and a satisfyingly meaty sound effect.
* The game ''Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction'' features this as the melee attack. One hit stuns the victim, and he or she can recover if left alone. You then have your choice of subduing that victim ... or throwing a second melee attack to kill. It does count as a kill, too.
* The melee attack in the ''[[Halo]]'' games. [[One
** More than fairly useful - the developers (and players) know it is an essential part of the gameplay, two melee hits in standard multiplayer will kill anyone, making it a prudent thing to use after shooting someone and closing in. Many fights with the standard-equipment end with a melee attack there. A hit from behind is instantly fatal.
** It was actually taken to the extreme in Halo 3. Before it was removed, a melee kill would send the vanquished flying across the map. When asked why this is, Bungie replied [[Rule of Cool|"Because it's awesome".]] Unfortunately, it was later removed and player models behaved more realistically from melee kills.
** Most Brute weapons have a blade of some sort on them to give pistol-whipping an extra ouch.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Gears of War]]'', the most common strategy in multiplayer was to run right up to your target, pop up at the last second and shotgun them in half. The Developers thought this was boring, so they added a delay between when you stop running and when you can fire. Now the most common strategy in ''[[Gears Of War 2]]'' is to run right up to your target, pop up at the last second, club them with the butt-end of your shotgun, ''then'' shotgun them in half.
* ''Killzone 2'' is somewhat interesting in this regard; it's the only shooter that both lets you club enemies with your gun AND gives you a combat knife at the same time.
* Awesomely subverted in ''[[The Punisher]]'' video game in which the Punisher prepares to pistol whip a mook but shoots him instead as said mook recoils in expectation of the gun strike.
** You can hit guards with your weapons; typically when holding guards as a human shield, it's a nonlethal kill (the Punisher showing mercy? Egads!); however, some specific close range kill animations feature the Punisher clubbing the gangsters to death.
* This is the melee attack of the rifle soldiers of ''[[Metal Slug]]''.
* Mr. X from ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' has a very annoying tendency to run right up to you and smack you in the face with his tommy gun. Which actually turns out to be much more powerful than [[Guns Are Worthless|actually firing it]].
* Draco from ''[[Samurai Shodown]]: Edge of Destiny'' takes this to its logical extreme, using a shotgun primarily as a melee weapon. Actually makes a certain amount of sense, considering all the playable characters use standard melee weapons...and while he does actually ''shoot'' with his gun, it [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|doesn't kill or incapacitate instantly]], and he has to reload after two shots.
** Andrew from the same series's later games (5 and 6, if I remember) is much the same, primarily using a bayonet on the end of his rifle.
* Used along with kicks in the brutal (near exclusively head blows or [[Groin Attack|Groin Attacks]]) melee combat in [[Psi
* ''[[Splinter Cell]]''. In the first two games, Sam can knock his enemies out by giving them a sharp rap over the head with his pistol.
* In ''[[Hitman]]: Blood Money'' Agent 47 can pistol whip any [[Human Shield]]
* In the ''[[
* Unlike in its predecessors, many infantry units that carry guns or crossbows in ''[[
* ''[[
** Actually in Lucca's case, she uses the hammer she's holding in the official art.
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' has melee parameters for all ranged weapons, with one inferior (but then, in DF great warriors can slay a huge golem with thrown fuzzy animal) blunt attack, there's even distinction in that the wielder uses hammer skill when bashing someone with a crossbow, but sword skill with a bow or blowgun.
**
* [[
* In ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak II]]'', the opening cutscene has Jak get knocked unconscious by a rifle butt to the face.
** In-game, in II and III, you can do this with your guns. Even better, it's part of a combo: you hit the enemy, then hit the fire button to shoot the hell out of them up-close, which works pretty well---the melee attack puts the foe into a sort of stunned animation that nearly guarantees your subsequent shots will hit. And if you manage to kill them with the melee lunge, and hit fire, Jak will automatically turn toward the nearest enemy and shoot them.
* There's a Pistol Whip ability for Smugglers in Star Wars Galaxies, which does damage and stuns the target. Smuggler's offensive abilities are based around the use of pistols and melee weapons.
* Also Smugglers gets the Blaster Whip ability in ''[[Star
* The 2010 ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' game allows the Marine players to do this. While hardly practical to kill an enemy, it does generally give them enough space to use their firearms effectively. However, it does raise the question of how strong the Marines would have to be, considering when Arnold Schwarzenegger tried it the Predator just looked kind of annoyed and when Yaphet Kotto went hand-to-hand with an Alien he died almost immediately.
* ''[[
* In [[Mass Effect 2|Mass Effect 2's]] Overlord DLC, [[Good Is Not Nice|a Paragon interrupt allows you to pistol-whip]] [[Complete Monster|the bad guy]].
** The original Mass Effect allows you to hit a Wrex with the butt of a shotgun. This is pistol-whipping a ten-foot warlord which most peole would take down with a ''rocket launcher''.
*** It works.
** You also default to pistol whipping when an opponent gets too close to you. This allows you to knock them away and start shooting them again.
* In ''[[Flashback (
* The early [[Call of Duty]] games have this as your melee attack. Later games (4?) have switched to using a combat knife.
* The [[Fallout: New Vegas]] DLC Honest Hearts introduces "Joshua Graham's pistol wippin' .45", a unique version of the unique .45 pistol designed so that they could have said character use his signature weapon even while told to use a melee weapon. Not obtainable by the player without console commands.
* [[Bayonetta]] can melee with her guns like this. She also likes to slap mooks around with her pistols in cutscenes.
* In the Questern chapter of ''Buddy Rush'', cowboy enemies do this with their guns. The ones with long range attacks... will use slingshots intead. If you get their gun from a random drop, its description implies they don't really know how to use guns.
* It's possible to do this in the [[Grand Theft Auto]] series the easiest of which is IV.
* In ''[[Tomb Raider|Tomb Raider: Legend]]'' after the final battle, Lara confronts her former friend-turned-arch nemesis Amanda about her being responsible for the loss of Lara's mother. After [[Punctuated Pounding|punctuating her words with bullets]] Amanda gives in and tells her that her mother was sent to Avalon. Lara appears to have calmed down but delivers a wicked backhanded Pistol Whip, knocking Amanda out instantly.
{{quote|
'''Amanda:''' Avalon! It's not a myth. Don't you get it?!
[They both calm down a bit]
'''Amanda:''' You'll never understand. I'm wasting my breath.
[Lara pauses]
''[SMACK]''
'''Lara:''' [To an unconscious Amanda] From this moment, your every breath, is a gift from me. }}
* Thieves in ''[[Guild Wars 2]]'' actually have a skill called Pistol Whip when they wield a dagger and a pistol at the same time. The pistol whip stuns your target, leaving them open for a flurry of knife strikes. It's arguably more effective than shooting your gun in some scenarios.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Day of Defeat]]'' (later versions) has [[Secondary Fire]] for non-scoped rifles performing a melee attack - Garand with butt stock, others with bayonet. There's also pistol and knife or spade, but when the enemy is already at point-blank range, the first hit lands faster if you don't switch weapons.
== Web Animation ==
* Using guns as melee weapons is a common tactic in ''[[
* In one of [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad]]'s [https://web.archive.org/web/20131104040330/http://www.homestarrunner.com/dween_kidsbook.html defaced kids' books], he modifies one wintry image into:
{{quote|
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Narbonic]]'' plays with it a smidgen. Mell tries, but she can't quite manage it without advice from the person she's supposed to knock out. It's not her fault; she normally just [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=10227 shoots to kill].
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' had a few overlaps between ranged and melee weapons. But when Zola stole a huge marshmallow gun from Lucrezia's old lab, she killed one of the Castle Heterodyne inmates with it (after which it exploded in her hands, because another inmate used an implanted "[[EMP|pulse cannon]]").
{{quote|'''von Zinzer''': …uh — with a marshmallow gun? ''Really?''
'''Mezzasalma''': She ''brained'' him with it! }}
== Web Original ==
* Jonas does this to Edward Salinas in the ''[[
* A character in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' attempts this once due to the close range between him and the opponent, but the opponent is able to dodge and get behind cover before the character starts shooting. However, Will Sigurbjornsson has recently used this to dispatch {{spoiler|Clive Maxwell.}}
* As a derivative of the ''Halo'' games, ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' features this in many forms, all nonlethal. Often it works as a one-hit knockout ('Ow, the back of my head!'), but sometimes not, as when Tex tries to do this with a guard (and then resorts to more..and then starts just shooting him..).
* This is how Shelton from ''[[
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== Real Life ==
* [[
* Wyatt Berry Stapp
** Back then, it was known as "buffaloing" someone.
** According to myth, Earp favored an extra-large revolver known as a [
*** Do it a few times and your gun [[Reality Is Unrealistic|will never fire straight afterwards]] unless you change the barrel. An expert marksman would have known better than to ruin his gun this way.
* Another real life example: Most infantrymen in modern armies are taught how to fight with rifles, without a bayonet, usually using the butt for striking and the barrel for parrying the other guy's rifle, but it's interchangeable, kinda. It's taught in boot camp and is a surprisingly effective way of killing someone in close quarters, in addition to the training's use by armies as an aggression enhancer for its men. Even when the gunman's weapon is loaded, in close quarters, a strike or two may be necessary before the gun can be brought to firing position.
** [[Gun Kata|Rifle Kata?]]
** The rifle combat technique includes a move where you smack your opponent in the side of the head or face with the barrel or the side of the weapon.
** [[The More You Know|This is why all military rifles were full-stock]] while their civilian/hunting versions were usually not. The wooden part had to protect the barrel of the weapon from bending, nicking, pitting and so on, otherwise the gun would quickly lose any kind of accuracy.
*** Yes. Infantrymen are taught all manner of methods for mayhem, from bare-handed to edged weapons to the use of the rifle and fixed bayonet; US infantrymen, and probably many others, are even [[Improbable Weapon User|taught to use the entrenching tool]]
*** Many armies ([[Reds
* Before the advent of bayonets in the late 1600s, formations of musket-wielding soldiers had no other option if they were forced into close combat. Which they were fairly often in war, because their guns had very short range and lousy accuracy, and they took a minute or more to reload, so musketeers would get only one shot when the enemy was already nearly on top of them. Even after the invention of bayonets, this was still not unheard of as late as the Napoleonic Wars or even later, as a musket was easily heavy enough to kill, and bayonets, which were basically designed to turn the gun into a spear for use against cavalry, had to be yanked out of an enemy footsoldier's corpse.
* The Finnish army assault rifle close combat drill consists of not only thrusts with bayonet, but also butt sweeps and strokes and blocks with stock and butt. The magazine can be used on trapping the opponent's weapon. Likewise, the conscripts are encouraged to hone the sides of the spade with whetstone - not only for better purchase on ground, but using the spade as a trench weapon.
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** Also a favoured tactic of Swedish cavalrymen during the Thirty Years War. High speed charges and low effective range of pistol volleys meant that there was little time to draw a sword before the melee began. Swedish cavalry pistols from this time are almost 4 inches longer than their continental counterparts, and have brass- or steel-plated butts specifically for this purpose.
** The pistols favored by 18th century Scottish Highlanders seemed to be made with this in mind, being made entirely of steel.
* Lewis Powell, the would-be assassin of US Secretary of State William Seward, tried pistol-whipping Seward's son Fred after Fred barred him from entering his father's room. Powell hit him so hard that he broke the pin on which the revolver's cylinder rotated, rendering it useless and probably saving William Seward's life.
** He also cracked Fred Seward's skull so badly it was thought to be highly unlikely that he'd survive. He did.
* Most interpretations of the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution have Davy Crockett and other doomed defenders resorting to using their rifles as clubs by the end of the siege.
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