Playing Possum: Difference between revisions

In the [[Real Life]], this is a ''war crime'' and has been since 1977. [[Useful Notes/The Laws and Customs of War|The Laws and Customs of War]] state that those soldiers that are ''hors de combat'' ("out of the fight") a category that includes prisoners, the severely wounded, the dead and ejecting aircrew -- although not paratroopers -- [[Would Not Shoot a Civilian|are not]] [[Kick Them While They Are Down|to be attacked]]. Feigning that status is perfidy and highly illegal, since it would lead to the other side [[Coup De Grace|killing the genuinely wounded]] [[Leave No Survivors|on the spot]] (which is a war crime too) to make sure. Of course, fictionally (and [[Real Life|non-fictionally]]), you're often up against people who aren't signatories to the Geneva Conventions...

 

 

Note that Playing Possum is a phrase inspired by the Virginia opossum, which famously feigns death and produces a rotting smell. Proper possums are not noted for employing this strategy. Unfortunately for the opossum, this response to danger is involuntary and often leaves it incapacitated in a [[Car Fu|dangerous situation]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* {{spoiler|[[Dual-Wielding|Deed]]}} attempts this during the finale of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] StrikerS'' so she can perform one last sneak attack on {{spoiler|[[The Gunslinger|Teana]]}} ({{spoiler|it fails thanks to [[Improbable Aiming Skills|Vice]]}}), though since she was struck by [[Stun Guns|stun rounds]], it's more accurate to say that she was playing unconscious instead of playing dead.

* Hei from ''[[Darker Than Black]]'' does this in the second episode, at which point we and some hapless goons learn both that his [[Badass Longcoat]] is bulletproof and that [[Combat Pragmatist|he doesn't really go in for that whole "fighting fair" thing]].

* The bad guys sometimes pull this trick as well. See ''[[Hot Shots]]! Part Deux'' for a spoof of this.

* In ''[[The Patriot]],'' Col. Tavington does this at least once.

* In ''[[Fatal Attraction]]'', Glen Close appears to be dead-- but wakes up and attacks Michael Douglas again.

* In the movie ''[[Runaway Jury]]'', {{spoiler|Marlee}} plays possum to stab a hitman's leg.

* {{spoiler|BB}} uses this trick against {{spoiler|her mommy}} near the end of ''[[Kill Bill]] Volume 2.''

* In ''[[Plunkett and Macleane]]'' {{spoiler|Plunkett}} uses this to lethal effect during the finale.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' {{spoiler|The Joker}} uses this to gain control of a gang.

* In ''[[Shooter]],'' Bob Lee Swagger is badly wounded after being shot twice, but as a highly trained [[Badass|Marine Scout Sniper]] he is far from disabled. He plays up his injuries so FBI Agent Memphis will get close to him, then quickly disarms him and steals his car.

* ''[[The Big Red One]]''. German infantry lay doggo around a knocked-out panzer and its dead crew, planning to ambush the main troops once [[The Squad]] of Americans have finished their recon. Fortunately [[Lee Marvin]]'s character notices the mixed uniforms (panzer troops have red piping on their shoulder tabs, but infantry have white).

** It was more successful with the attack on Bennigs by what was assumed to be a completely dead and burned body.

 

* In the [[WW 2]] novels by [[Sven Hassel]], it's a sign of a combat veteran that he never passes an enemy corpse without putting a bullet into it.

* Tsubodai comes up with such a plan in ''[[Conqueror|Wolf of the Plains]]'' when the Mongols move to attack the Shizuan fort. Those with the hammers feign death and, when the Xi Xia soldiers come to loot their corpses, they jump up and attack the no-open fort with the rest of the Mongol army waiting just around the mountain.

* {{spoiler|Harry}} in ''[[Harry Potter]]''. {{spoiler|He is apparently killed by Voldemort. It didn't quite work. He ended up playing possum until he could slip away unnoticed, only to confront Voldemort again and come out on top.}}

 

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

** In "Balance of Terror", the Romulan commander orders debris ejected into space (along with [[I Did What I Had to Do|the body of his friend the Centurion]]) to make it look like his ship has been destroyed so that the Enterprise will drop its pursuit. The trick doesn't work.

* In ''[[Babylon 5]]'', Sheridan destroyed the Minbari warship ''Black Star'' by sending a distress call from his crippled ship, and then destroying the Minbari warship with mines as it homed in on his signal. [[Word of God]] is that the Minbari ship's response to the distress call was in order to find and destroy the surviving ship, not to rescue the crew.

** Justified as well in the series, as the Minbari had demonstrated it over and over. Also, Sheridan's distress signal ''was'' genuine. He simply [[Genre Savvy|knew]] that the Minbari ship would likely find them before any rescuers did.

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S15 E6 The Invasion of Time|The Invasion of Time]]'', one of the savage Gallifreyans, after telling Leela [[I Will Only Slow You Down]].

** One of the pirates in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18 E2 Meglos|Meglos]]''.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Hunters' Feign Death move in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Like similar moves in other MMOs, it causes monsters to stop attacking the Hunter, thinking him dead, although it can fail.

** In the early days it was pretty effective in [[PvP]] as well. Well timed Feign Death could make the opposing player think their enemy is already dead... until the realized the Hunters' pet was still attacking (normally auto dismissed at player death), and that Hunter that ''was'' on the floor is now using Aimed Shot (charging, really powerful attack back in the day) on you... ouch! Trying it these days will now get you the following statement from your opponent: KEK! N00b!

** [[Truth in Television]], as it turns out, ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' saved the life of one kid. [http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/12/boy-survives-mo/ report here]

* Similarly, you can do this in ''Tenchu: The Wrath Of Heaven/Return From Darkness'' (same game, different consoles).

* Used in the ''[[Call of Duty]]'' series; some enemy soldiers, when wounded, will lay on the ground dying, but pull out a grenade or pistol and wait for the player to get close. It's also possible to do this in multiplayer, where if critically wounded your character can either pull out a pistol and try to take the enemy down with them (Last Stand), or drop a live grenade and blow themselves up (Martyrdom).

** In ''World At War'', the Japanese sometimes do this ''without'' being wounded first; at one point in the first mission, the player and his squad happen upon what appears to be a group of corpses. Within seconds, a flare shoots up, blinding everyone while the soldiers get up and surprise attack the unprepared Marines.

* Done in ''[[Tomb Raider]] Anniversary'' with the final boss. She goes down and Lara slowly approaches with her guns drawn. The boss turns her head and then quickly leaps to Lara, grabbing her by the neck, and tossing her aside while taunting with "I cannot die, you fool. Sooner or later, you'll run out of bullets!"

** This may be a lampshading of the fact that Lara ''never'' runs out of bullets (at least for her basic guns).

** On the harder difficulty, however, the necromorphs will do it ''after you've shot them''. Remember kids: In this game, just because you shoot its head off and it falls down ''doesn't mean it's dead''.

** This may trick your eyes, but not your interface: your targeting reticle will turn red when it aims at a seemingly dead corpse that is really a live splicer in ambush. Regular corpses have it keep its standard white color.

* The [[Dragon Age|Rogue's]] Feign Death talent.

* The zombies in several of the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games have a tendency to do this, falling to the ground after you've damaged them enough, but getting back up a short while later (or gnawing on your legs if you get too close). The key is that they're not really dead until you see the spreading pool of blood beneath them.

** Jim Chapman of ''[[Resident Evil Outbreak]]'' can do it right back to them, plummeting to the ground to make zombies ignore him for a while. It's balanced by the virus gauge climbing at a much faster rate, so you can't just lay there forever.

* [[No More Heroes|Bad Girl]] will drop at random and start crying, though there are times her hands are completely off her bat, which means she's open to a Travis Touchdown spanking. If she's got one hand on her bat, approaching her is a bad idea.