History Main / BrandishmentBluff

** However, because he ''imagined'' that it existed earlier, and the bad guys' main method of collecting data on ''Voyager'' was by examining the Doctor's dreams (thinking them to be memories), it's a very effective one. In addition, the "memory," that they saw showed said cannon destroying a Borg Cube in one shot.

* Vash the Stampede does this in an episode of {{Trigun}}, He'd didn't have his gun with him, and so he stuck his finger in his jacket pocket and extended it to make the bad guy of the week think he had a gun on him.

* TrueLies: JamieLeeCurtis' character brandishes a lipstick holder to the head of a wannabee spy, [[BringMyBrownPants making him pee all over himself]].

** A similar example occurs in ''LoonyTunes'', where Bugs Bunny threatens two gangsters with a carrot held like a pistol. The gangsters start laughing, until Bugs shoots them with it. Double Subverted when Bugs reveals that carrots only have one shot.

* {{Firefly}}: In the beginning of The Train Job, the crew is being held at gunpoint, when Wash appears in the completely unarmed Serenity: "Every man there go back inside, or we'll blow a new crater in this little moon!" Quoth Jayne, after they all follow orders, "Damn yokels can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it."

* Jonny Quest pulls this off in an episode of TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest, convincing a Mook that he had him covered with a gun, allowing [[ActionGirl Jessie Bannon]] to disarm him. When Jonny reveals that he was [[DoesNotLikeGuns wielding a fire extinguisher]], the Mook turns to attack him, only to find that Jessie is now holding his own gun on him, and that she [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "doesn't have a problem with them."]]

* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "The Corbomite Maneuver"

* In ''[[StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'', Riker and Georgi pull a version with the "Crimson Forcefield", which supposedly {{depower}}s the Pakled ship's weapons. It's actually blowing hydrogen back through the Bussard Collectors. Helps that the Pakleds are space retards.

* In ''{{TNG}}'', Riker and Georgi pull a version with the "Crimson Forcefield", which supposedly {{depower}}s the Pakled ship's weapons. It's actually blowing hydrogen back through the Bussard Collectors. Helps that the Pakleds are space retards.

Sometimes, it turns out that the bluff isn't that much of a bluff: see ThisBananaIsArmed.

* Used in {{Suika}}, aka ''Wet Summer Days''. Kamishiro Souji is attacked by some local toughs who tell him of their intention to have their way with his girlfriend, the daughter of a local artist (who is believed by some to have killed his wife). [[PapaWolf Cue the girl's father coming up from behind and pressing a bit of metal into one of their backs, telling them it's his pallet knife, and then describing how his knowledge of anatomy as an artist gives him the knowledge to be a most efficient killer.]]

* ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' has the Drifter, a BadassPacifist, pulling this on an attacker who's an experienced swordsman. The Drifter first parries an attempted InTheBack, then continues to mock-attack while relying on his opponent's own startlement and reflexive movements to trip him up. The "weapon" the Drifter uses is a harmless willow reed he usually keeps OralFixationFixation in his mouth]].

* ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' has the Drifter, a BadassPacifist, pulling this on an attacker who's an experienced swordsman. The Drifter first parries an attempted InTheBack, then continues to mock-attack while relying on his opponent's own startlement and reflexive movements to trip him up. The "weapon" the Drifter uses is [[spoiler:a harmless willow reed he usually keeps [[OralFixationFixation in his mouth]].]]

* In the BugsBunny cartoon ''The Unmentionables'', Bugs pulls a carrot on gangster Rocky. Rocky laughs it off, until the carrot actually fires. Unfortunately, it won't fire again. ("That's the trouble with carrots: they're only good once.")

Please note that this trope is for instances when someone is pretending that they have a weapon, so if they are threatening to use something that is completely recognizable as a weapon (be it empty, an antique, or even a fake or toy that looks extremely realistic), then it's WeaponForIntimidation. SuperTrope of StickEmUp, for when this trope is used in conjunction with the element of surprise and a sharp poke in the back.

** In ''Recap/TintinDestinationMoon'', Tintin pointed a real gun at a spy who had come to exchange data with [[spoiler:Frank Wolff]]. The animated version [[{{Bowdlerise}} turned it into this]].

** In ''DestinationMoon'', Tintin pointed a real gun at a spy who had come to exchange data with [[spoiler:Frank Wolff]]. The animated version [[{{Bowdlerise}} turned it into this]].

* In ''Film/SeeNoEvilHearNoEvil'', Dave breaks into the hotel room of the woman trying to kill him and rifles through her bag, only to find her showering, and blinded by the soap. When he accidentally makes a noise that makes her run out, he sticks his hand in his pocket and pretends that his ''erection'' is a gun in order to escape.

See also HesGotAWeapon and ShootHimHeHasAWallet.

** In "The Time Meddler", the Doctor captures the ([[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Ineffectual Sympathetic]]) villain by poking a stick in his back and letting him think it's a gun.

* In ''DoctorWho'' "Victory of the Daleks" the Doctor convinces the Daleks that a jammie Dodger (a type of cookie) is a super weapon.

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* In ''LieToMe'', Torres scares the hell out of a man in the rough part of town by walking aggressively, wearing a hefty jacket, and then shoving her hand into her pocket to grab something. She talks to the man, mentions how he's scared that she has a gun (which is intentional on her part), and then stops the charade and pulls out her card.

The act of threatening someone with a weapon you do not have, or telling other to back off or you will use a hidden weapon when no such weapon exists. A few variants of this trope include: