Shell Game: Difference between revisions

 

Frequently results in [[Spot the Imposter]] and [[Needle in a Stack of Needles]]. Compare [[Doppelganger Spin]]. See also [[Stolen MacGuffin Reveal]].

{{examples}}

* ''[[D.Gray-man]]'' uses the person variation with Lenalee Lee.

 

* 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]] 2''.

== Literature ==

* ''[[Harry Potter]]''

** 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.

* ''[[Good Omens]]'' has a version of this with babies. It doesn't go as planned.

* 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.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** 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.

* ''[[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.

* In ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger]]: [[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger/Recap/Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle|199 Hero Great Battle]]'', the Gokaigers and [[Tensou Sentai Goseiger|Goseigers]] trick [[Mahou Sentai Magiranger|Hades God Dragon]] into attacking his own [[Mooks]] by transforming the mooks into illusions of themselves.

 

* There's a ''[[Mario Party]]'' game that has you play a shell game with a Koopa.

* In the ''[[Dystopia (video game)|Dystopia]]'' map "Cybernetic", there is a [[Cyberspace]] objective in which you see a yellow box in a ring of about 20 blue boxes. The yellow box turns blue and they all spin around for a few seconds. Selecting the right box speeds the capture of the objective.

* ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'': When first going to meet the Iris Network, Jade has to play a shell game (a very easy one) operated by Peepers (who may or may not be blind?) to find a key card for a room from where she may enter to the Iris' Den. At any time, the regular shell game (find the little pearl) can earn you good money, up to a limit. The more you bet, the quicker Peepers shuffles them.

* ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' combines this with [[Spot the Impostor]] when you perform the "Patsy" move. Mercer, while in the form of a soldier, can grab another soldier, spin the both of them around, and point to the other guy to confuse the enemy into believing he's the impostor.

* ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'' had [[Smug Snake|Riddler]] using his second hostage in one of these. In a twist, you are required to [[Cutting the Knot|use Detective Vision]], because he will lower the hostage through the floor and bring it up through another one.

== 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.

* 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]]