Shoot the Bullet: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Examples of bullets fused by (accidental) head-on collision have been found on [[American Civil War]] battlefields, so the idea in general is not impossible, just so improbable it requires two armies' worth of fired ammunition to result in a few collisions. The idea of [[Destructible Projectiles|destroying projectiles]], however, is regularly used on a [[The Same but More|much bigger scale]]: [[Missile Command|anti-ballistic missiles]] and [[wikipedia:YAL-1|lasers]] have been put into service for the purpose of destroying incoming nuclear missiles before they could detonate, and smaller variants exist for shooting down smaller projectiles like tactical missiles and artillery shells. [[Types of Naval Ships|Naval vessels]] now commonly make use of [[Gatling Good|gatling-type]] [[Naval Weapons|or other types of Close In Weapons Systems]] to defend themselves against low-flying aircraft and missiles, and are definitely not [[Point Defenseless]]. Tank-based systems are also being developed, as a counter to RPGs and anti-tank missiles.

 

Not to be confused with the ''[[Touhou]]'' game of the same name.

 

* [[Madlax]] does it to save Elenore.

* Rushuna from ''[[Grenadier]]'' does this ''all the time''. At one point, she even stops an entire [[More Dakka|machinegun salvo]] with a single revolver bullet (by making it ricochet).

** Yuuna Akashi does this with Fate's [[Taken for Granite|petrification]] [[Flechette Storm|darts]], with some help from [[Status Buff|Ako's]] [[Bullet Time|artifact]].

* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]''

** In ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'', Arnage uses her [[Gatling Good|Gatlings]] to take down [[Beam Spam]] instead of bothering to dodge.

* Batman does this in [[The Dark Knight|Gotham Knight]], except since he doesn't use guns, he simply punches the bullet out of the air with the armored part of his gauntlet (because, you know, a batarang wouldn't be half as badass). A bullet fired from a high powered sniper rifle, from a train moving at full speed, towards a moving target.

** Done earlier by Kamille Bidan and Jerid Messa in ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|Zeta Gundam]]'', during the AEUG's operation in Jaburo.

** Also done by [[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam|Uso Evin]] to defend from [[Badass Normal|Katejina's]] beam rifle ''while'' he is fighting [[Char Clone|Chronocle Asher]] for the last time. Also, note that all the previous examples were done by newtypes, who can sense the ''intention'' to fire before the actual shot rather than simply react with impossible speed.

* [[Naruto]] often uses this with kunai or shuriken, the most notable occasion being part of the battle between Sasuke and Itachi in Shippuden. Since both are equipped with [[Evil Eye|Sharingan]], each deflects the other's dozens of shuriken, which pile on the floor between them.

 

* [[Green Arrow]] did it with arrows against his robot doppelganger.

* [[Hawkeye]] has also been known to do this with arrows, such as one instance where he couldn't dodge an arrow with dynamite strapped to it without getting caught in the blast range, so he shot it in midair instead. Naturally, when he and [[Green Arrow]] meet up in Marvel/DC Crossovers, they do it to each other quite often.

 

 

* In the [[Heroic Bloodshed]] movie ''[[Full Contact]]'', Chow Yun-Fat shoots Simon Yam's bullet out of the air during the nightclub scene.

* This happened in the movie adaptation of ''[[The Shadow]]''.

** The looks on the character's faces when it happens is the film's Crowning Moment Of Awesome.

* Alluded to in ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'': {{spoiler|Teleporting from a ship moving at warp speed to another}} is compared to "trying to shoot a bullet with a smaller bullet, blindfolded, while riding a horse".

* A character in ''[[RED]]'' shoots an RPG out of the air. The fact that he survives while the shooter dies demonstrates the director likely [[Rule of Funny|did]] [[Rule of Cool|not]] [[Crazy Awesome|care]] how a shaped charge actually works.

* Disney's ''Robin Hood'' adaptation has one with arrows. In the archery competition, the sheriff has just scored a bullseye (by cheating). To make sure Robin (in disguise) can't win, the sheriff taps Robin's bow as he releases. The arrow goes in a high arc. Undaunted, Robin nocks another arrow and fires at the first arrow. It hits, changing its direction such that it too hits a perfect bullseye, ''right through the sheriff's arrow.''

 

* This happens often in [[Dale Brown]] books with missiles getting shot down, sometimes with other missiles, sometimes with [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]. Sometimes, though, it fails.

* In the ''[[Star Trek]]'' novel ''Dreadnought'', some Klingons are firing torpedoes at the ''Enterprise'' from long range and Kirk asks Sulu to try and hit the torpedoes and detonate them before they reach the ship. Sulu protests that that's never been done. Of course, having [[Improbable Aiming Skills]], he does manage to hit at least one out of the three of the salvoes.

* A realistic version occurs in one of the ''[[Sharpe]]'' novels. Hagman, [[The Squad]]'s [[Friendly Sniper]], tries to take down a fleeing enemy spy. Unfortunately, at the same time, a cannon fires a load of grapeshot that intersects with his shot and knocks it awry.

 

* Done in the episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' within an artificial reality environment. The outtakes video features a several-minutes-long montage of the multiple attempts to film the bullets falling out of the air.

* ''[[Get Smart]]'' had the anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-missile-missile, which was [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].

** That's just silly. [[Schlock Mercenary|We all know]] that there must be only one more "anti" than "missile" or nothing happens. Clearly, ''Get Smart'' had the anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-missile-missile-missile-missile.

* A standard part of [[Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger|DekaRed's]] fighting style.

** They did however prove you could fuse two Minié balls together.

* Done in the "Modern Warfare" (1.23) episode of Community, the gets {{spoiler|Britta and Chang}} out when their paintballs collide in midair, spraying them both with paint.

* Done in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' several times. Station weapons, when set to "intercept" mode, automatically target incoming energy blasts and take them out with their own.

 

* In ''[[Exalted]]'', Dragon-Blooded archers have several techniques for shooting down projectiles with their own arrows. At higher levels of skill, they can use this to protect their allies, or hit the attacker with their counter-arrows.

** Lunars have a similar ability... except they can use their bare hands to make the deflection. This also explicitly allows them to use the ability on [[Frickin' Laser Beams|attacks of pure essence]].

* ''[[GURPS]]: [[Gun Fu]]'' has a perk that allows the character to try doing this. Of course, ''GURPS'' is pretty unforgiving when it comes to actually hitting that bullet.

 

* Dante from the ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' series is a pro at this. In ''DMC3'', he does it during the cutscene where he and Lady find the body of {{spoiler|Arkham}}. In ''DMC4'', he uses his handguns to cancel out Nero's revolver shots.

** Indeed you can do it during {{spoiler|her boss battle}} by firing when she does, which also gives you a nice Style boost.

* ''[[Virtua Cop]] 3'' gives you [[Very-High-Velocity Rounds]] with which to do this.

* The first ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' game has what might be considered a low-tech variant on this. One of the puzzles involves somehow procuring a tiny seed that's being launched between several plants, and one of the solutions is to intercept it mid-flight... by throwing a rock and knocking it out of the air.

* Happens in ''[[Space Invaders]]''. Very annoying when you wanted your bullet to go on and into the enemy.

** In ''[[Space Invaders]] Extreme'', shooting a bullet or laser won't add to your combo, but it will reset the combo timer.

** In ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'', [[Deadpool]] and [[Devil May Cry|Dante]] do this in the first opening. In gameplay, if two Dante players pull off Million Dollars at the same time, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUCNH_ygkZs they get to shoot each others bullets]'' averting [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]].

** Sonic Hurricane's [http://sonichurricane.com/?p=3511 sh/f Super Fireball Battle] provides dozens of examples of fighting game projectile attacks harmlessly cancelling each other out

* ''[[Wild Guns]]'' allows you to do this. Keep doing it enough and you'll fill out that gauge at the bottom of the screen which gives you temporary invincibility and an awesome weapon.

* ''[[Do Don Pachi]] Dai-Fukkatsu'' introduces a new mechanic to the ''DonPachi'' series: purple enemy lasers. You can shoot these withh your laser to block them. When you go into [[Super Mode|Hyper Counter mode]], you can use your shots to cancel [[Bullet Hell|bullets]].

* It's one of the main game mechanics in ''[[Battle City]]'' series.

* This is a trait seen in varying amounts in almost every [[Shoot'Em Up|shoot-em-up]] developed by [[Compile]].

** In ''[[Super Aleste]]'', the spinning oval bullets can be destroyed with any weapon, you can use the Laser to blunt certain bullets, and the Circle can block just about any bullet.

* In [[Fallout 3]], it was possible to target missiles and grenades in midflight with VATS; a patch removed this.

** It was brought back for Grenades and Dynamite in Fallout New Vegas. Easier with a shot gun, though in the hand it would often kill the user.

* Intercepting and shooting down anti-warship torpedoes is an essential skill in the ''[[Free Space]]'' series and is vital to successfully completing an [[Escort Mission]]. Fortunately torpedoes are fairly large and slower than most fighters.

* In the ''[[Touhou]]'' games ''Shoot the Bullet'' (appropriately enough) and ''Double Spoiler'', you can knock bullets out of the air by taking pictures of them with a '''''camera'''''.

* ''[[Heavy Weapon]]'' has your tank able to shoot down incoming enemy missiles. '''Required''' against [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Atomic Bombers]], because if their bomb manages to hit you or the ground, [[One-Hit Kill|you're toast no matter how many shields you have]]!

* The ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series has the ability "Shoot Down", created as a gun-based counterpart to [[Implausible Fencing Powers|"Sword Cut"]]; however, it only works on missiles, grenades, and [[Attack Drones]].

 

* Used in ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle|Peabody's Improbable History]]'', in particular in that episode about a guy who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but his gun was crooked so that made him a great shooter. However the gun got fixed just before the big competition, so Peabody shot his ''own'' bullet to correct the trajectory in flight. Inverted the [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]] and lampshaded the improbability of this trope while explaining the plan.

 

* Close-in Weapons Systems do this, the most well-known of which is the American Phalanx CIWS. CIWS guns that use a hit-to-kill system actually track both the incoming projectile ''and'' their own outbound projectiles on radar and "walk" the bullets towards the target. Many modern CIWS guns have started to use explosive proximity rounds, rather than hit-to-kill penetrators, in order to conserve ammunition so they may not qualify as "shooting the bullet" (or missile, in this case.)

* Also the YAL-1, Which is a 747 modified to contain a huge Laser that destroys missles. Some want to improve it to shoot down Fighter Jets and to destroy tanks!

 

[[Category:Guns and Gunplay Tropes]]

[[Category:Bullet Index]]