Shell Game: Difference between revisions
replaced: Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone → Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (novel)
(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.ShellGame 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.ShellGame, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
(replaced: Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone → Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (novel)) |
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[[Satchel Switcheroo|Briefcases are also extremely susceptible to this]]. However, in those situations, the audience always knows which one is which because they never fail to be swapped.
Frequently results in [[Spot the Imposter]] and [[Needle in
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime ==▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[D
* Played
▲* Played with -- interestingly enough -- in ''Dragonball: Evolution''. "Mai" disguises herself as "Chi-Chi", and in the ensuing fight, "Goku" mistakes the REAL "Chi-Chi" for the fake one, punching her and knocking her out. Whoops!
▲* Johnny Five learns it from a street performer in ''[[Short Circuit (Film)|Short Circuit]] 2''.
* ''[[Tom Clancy|Patriot Games]]''. When a IRA terrorist is being transferred to another facility, several prisoner vans are sent out at the same time to confuse any possible attackers. It doesn't work because [[The Mole]] has told the terrorists which route the correct van is taking.
* ''[[Home Alone]] 3'' got a spy's shopping bag mixed up with an old woman's identical shopping bag.
* ''[[What's Up, Doc?]]'' and the four red-plaid suitcases, containing: A) Barbra Streisand's underwear, B} Ryan O'Neal's igneous rocks, C) secret government documents, and D) a fortune in jewelry. Of course those would [[Sarcasm Mode|never]] get confused.
* ''[[The
* In the French movie ''[[Oscar]]'' (with Louis de Funès) and its American remake (with Sylvester Stallone), several swappings of two identicial suitcases, one full of money and the other full of the maid's underwear, constitutes a main part of the plot.
* [[Fritz Lang]]'s film [[Spies]] features a Japanese diplomat giving three people identical envelopes to deliver, one of which supposedly contains a treaty. In reality, the diplomat has the actual treaty; all three envelopes are decoys.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[Harry Potter]]''
** ''[[Harry Potter and
** In the beginning of ''Deathly Hallows'', the Order has to transport Harry safely from the Dursleys' to the Burrow. They have six order members take Polyjuice potion with bits of Harry, turning them into exact replicas of him, so that when the Death Eaters attack they'll be unable to tell which is the real Harry.
* An example of the actual shell game is found in ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''By Chaos Cursed'', the last novel in Mickey Zucker Reichert's ''[[The Bifrost Guardians]]'' series, the medieval thief Taziar Medakan finds some hustlers in modern New York City running a shell game with playing cards. He takes offense at how much they cheat and sees it as his professional duty to cheat back even harder.
* Not actually done in ''[[
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Star Trek:
** Also used in one of the movies. Kirk and a shapeshifter are fighting when the bad guys show up. They both claim the other is the real Kirk, and the shapeshifter gets blasted.
* Used metaphorically in ''[[The Outer Limits]]'': "O.B.I.T", for the reason why no department will admit responsibility for the mysterious machines of the episode title.
* The B-plot of the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "Live Fast and Prosper" involves Paris and Neelix trying to trick the Doctor with a literal shell game.
* One of the oldest challenge in the [[Game Show]] ''[[Fort Boyard]]'' is a shell game (called "[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneteau bonneteau]" in French). Performed by Serge Avril, a stage magician, it consists of finding a little key under the cups; 3 keys (hence, 3 successes) in a limited time are necessary to win the challenge. Very, very few contestants ever made it through, 'cause the gambler is really good.
* In a ''[[
* ''[[White Collar]]'': Neal met Mozzie when Mozzie was running a street game of three-card monte with a partner. Neal used sleight of hand and an extra card hidden in his sleeve to cheat the game, and Mozzie was impressed enough to track Neal down and propose a partnership.
* The pricing game with the same name in ''[[The Price Is Right]]''. The game features four shells with one of them holding a winning ball. The contestant is asked whether each one of the four incorrectly price items is higher or lower. The contestant receives a chip for each correct guess and is an instant win if all four items are correctly guessed.
* On ''[[Leverage]]'' this is the primary game of [[The Chessmaster|Nate's]] father. It is strongly contrasted with Nate's game of chess.
* In ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger]]:
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== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Paper Mario (
** Also, on Shiver Mountain and in Crystal Palace, there will be a few points where you have to use Kooper or Bombette, and once you do, there will be one or more Duplighosts mimicking the partner, and you have to decide which is the real one and which are the fakes. This involves watching what they say. (The Duplighosts with the "worst disguises ever" don't count.)
** In ''[[
* ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' FoMT has Won give the player a version of this. In this case, you need to guess which apple is which.
* One ''[[
* There's a ''[[
* In the ''[[Dystopia (
* One of the between-match minigames in ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance]]'' (which returns in ''[[
* ''[[Beyond Good
* In ''[[
* ''[[Prototype (
* ''[[Batman
== Web Comics ==
* Interestingly played with in ''[[The Order of the Stick
* An interesting variant is referenced (and explained in the [[Footnote Fever]]) in ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Toph finds out she can scam street magicians by ''playing'' this game. Because her earthbending [[Disability Superpower]] lets her sense where the pebble is, she can get it right every time. She even puts it back under a shell when a con artist tries to stealthily put it in his sleeve.
* An episode of the ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' animated series has an ancient creature holding an item of mystic power that the group needs. He puts before them several tests that are borderline [[Ice Cream Koan]] versions of such
* In one episode of ''[[
* In an episode of ''[[The Simpsons (
== Real Life ==
* The original of the phrase is from a form of gambling where the "dealer" hides a small item under a shell or cup or other device identical to two others, then quickly moves them so that whoever's watching can't tell which it was under. The player then picks one; if the item is under it, he wins. However, the point of a shell game is that with some quick sleight of hand, the "house" ensures the player wins the first round by putting an item under all three. In following games, a similar trick ensures the item isn't under ''any'' of them, and the dealer always wins.
** It's also done with thimbles, which is why it was previously known as "thimblerig". And that is why "thimblerigger" usually means "swindler".
* The President of the United States when traveling by helicopter. [[Air Force One|Three or four identical helicopters are used so no outsider knows which one he is on]]. They also sometimes use several identical presidential limousines in motorcades.
* In three-card monte, one of the real purposes of the game is to distract players so that a confederate in the audience can pickpocket them. Such a person is known as The Dip, or sometimes a "cutpurse" if you're in some sort of [[Epic Fantasy]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Disguise Tropes]]
[[Category:Narrative Devices]]
[[Category:Mystery Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Shell Game]]
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