History Main / DeliberatelyJumpingTheGun

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', Sans does this, attacking the player mid-dialogue - and taking the first turn, which the enemies in Undertale otherwise never do. If the player survives the attack, he wonders out loud [[LampshadeHanging why people don't always start off with their strongest attacks.]]

* ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid''. Butch is about to be in a knifefight.
-->'''Butch:''' No, no, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.\\
'''Harvey:''' Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!\\
''[Butch immediately kicks Harvey in the [[GroinAttack groin]]]''\\
'''Butch:''' Well, if there ain't going to be any rules, let's get the fight started. Someone count 1-2-3 go.

* In the climatic duel in ''Discworld/{{Mort}}'', Cutwell is asked to give a count of three. The blades meet in mid-air at two.

[[folder:Film]]
* The live action version of Manga/InitialD has Itsuki starting before the countdown finishes during his face with Takeshi Nazakato. Being a casual racer, it doesn't help that much when he crashes.

* In ''Film/FastFive'', the guys have an impromptu four-way drag race after "acquiring" some police cars. Roman takes off before the others...and still loses.

''[Butch immediately kicks Harvey in the [[GroinAttack groin]]] ''\\

-->'''Keli''': They both cheated!
-->'''Ysabell''': Of course.

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

* During the Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs episode of ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'', Jobs interrupts the announcer in the middle of introducing the contestants and goes straight into a high energy rap, trying to blitz Gates with it.

* Played for laughs in "WesternAnimation/TortoiseBeatsHare", the 1941 WesternAnimation/BugsBunny WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short based on [[Literature/AesopsFables Aesop's fable]] "The Tortoise and the Hare". Bugs and Cecil Turtle are at the starting line for the race.
-->'''Bugs:''' One for the money! ''[Tiptoes a bit past the line]'' Two for the show! ''[Tiptoes a bit further]'' Three to make like ready ''[Tiptoes a bit further]'' And four to... ''[Runs a long way past the line]'' Go!
* In the WesternAnimation/{{Tex Avery MGM Cartoon|s}} "The Chump Champ," Droopy and Spike are competing in sports events. For the first event, the 100 meter dash, Spike has the starting pistol, but after going "On your mark, get set..." he runs to within one step away from the finish line. The moment he yells "Go!" and fires the gun, Droopy instantly zips to the finish line, then tells Spike that he ''might'' be cheating.

* In ''VideoGame/Undertale'', Sans does this, attacking the player mid-dialogue - and taking the first turn, which the enemies in Undertale otherwise never do. If the player survives the attack, he wonders out loud [[LampshadeHanging why people don't always start off with their strongest attacks.]]

-->''Ysabell'': Of course.

* ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'': James Bond is kidnapped by Hai Fat and taken to a martial arts school, where he is forced to fight the students. In a formal combat like this the opponents are supposed to bow to each other first. While Bond's opponent is bowing to him, Bond takes him out with a surprise attack.

In any competition, making the first move helps. Naturally, the {{Combat Pragmatist}}s of the world and those who believe in FightingDirty often like to take that a step further, by intentionally getting in a first blow before a competition is even supposed to start so they have the advantage.

SubTrope of TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty.

* In the WesternAnimation/{{Tex Avery MGM Cartoon|s}} "The Chump Champ", Droopy and Spike are competing in sports events. For the first event, the 100 meter dash, Spike has the starting pistol, but after going "On your mark, get set..." he runs to within one step away from the finish line. The moment he yells "Go!" and fires the gun, Droopy instantly zips to the finish line, then tells Spike that he ''might'' be cheating.
* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' TOS episode "Dragons of Ashida". When Dr. Ashida and Race Bannon have a judo match, they bow to each other. Ashida hits Race with a judo chop while he's still bowing.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode, "[[Recap/RugratsS2E25DrivingMissAngelicaSusieVsAngelica Susie Vs. Angelica]]", Susie and Angelica compete in a race to see who's the best three-year-old in the world. Tommy is given the job of waving the flag (which consists of a pair of underwear on a stick). Angelica drives off before he waves the flag, which leads to this exchange:

* ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'': In "The Mother of All Marathons", Mike and Lu have a sprint race and Lu starts before Mike says "Go". Mike still wins because she's more athletic.

* The Land Rush of 1889 had a number of people hide out in unoccupied lands of what is now Oklahoma to claim the land before the Land Rush officially started. Because they got there sooner than the others, they were referred to as "Sooners". This is why Oklahoma's state nickname is "The Sooner State".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode, "Susie Vs. Angelica", Susie and Angelica compete in a race to see who's the best three-year-old in the world. Tommy is given the job of waving the flag (which consists of a pair of underwear on a stick). Angelica drives off before he waves the flag, which leads to this exchange:

-->Butch: No, no, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.
-->Harvey: Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!
-->''[Butch immediately kicks Harvey in the [[GroinAttack groin]]] ''
-->Butch: Well, if there ain't going to be any rules, let's get the fight started. Someone count 1-2-3 go.

-->'''Bugs:''' One for the money! [Tiptoes a bit past the line] Two for the show! [Tiptoes a bit further] Three to make like ready [Tiptoes a bit further] And four to... [Runs a long way past the line] Go!

-->'''Lil:''' Hey! That was cheating!
-->'''Tommy:''' Nah, Angelica told me, she was opposed to go right before the flag was waved, and Susie's opposed to right after.
-->'''Phil:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Oh. Well, as long as it wasn't cheating]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' often had a racer, usually Dick Dastardly (of course) either doing this or trying to do so.

* An episode of ''[[WinnieThePooh The Book of Pooh]]'' features Rabbit and Tigger accusing each other of making a head start before Eeyore gave the starting signal for the race they were doing (what really happened was that they ''both'' started early).

* Played for laughs in "Tortoise Beats Hare", the 1941 WesternAnimtion/BugsBunny WesternAnimtion/LooneyTunes short based on [[Literature/AesopsFables Aesop's fable]] "The Tortoise and the Hare". Bugs and Cecil Turtle are at the starting line for the race.

In any competition, making the first move helps. Naturally, {{The Combat Pragmatist}}s of the world and those who believe in FightingDirty often like to take that a step further, by intentionally getting in a first blow before a competition is even supposed to start so they have the advantage.

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