History Main / FalseRoulette

* In ''Film/MalcolmX'', Malcolm does this to a co-conspirator in a burglary to force him to accept his leadership. MalcolmX claimed to Alex Haley that he actually did this.

->'''Harry''': [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace I just put in one bullet, didn't I?]]\\

* Variant from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': Harvey Dent threatens a man with a coin flip: Heads, he doesn't shoot him; tails, he does. He's using a two-headed coin. Of course, the guy doesn't know that last detail.

Akin to a mild form of HighAltitudeInterrogation, this can cause trouble than it's worth in RealLife -- if the participant calls your bluff, if you pull the trigger [[CountingBullets one too many times]], you use a blank that goes off, or (God forbid) you [[RecklessGunUsage actually load it]] for [[TooDumbToLive "effect"]], chances are you're going to end up with [[RuleOfDrama a mess]] on [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace your hands.]]

'''Perry''': ''EIGHT?! WHO TAUGHT YOU MATH?!''

* A variation occurs in ''BlackLagoon''. Revy and Dutch, after shooting their way through a small army of Neo-Nazis, have the leader cornered, alone, and sobbing. They make a cryptic bet with each other -- Revy choosing "black" and Dutch choosing "white" -- and toss one of Revy's Berettas to the Neo-Nazi. He slowly brings it up to his own forehead, and then at the last moment turns the gun on Dutch and pulls the trigger. Naturally it's empty. It turns out Revy and Dutch were betting on whether or not the Neo-Nazi would pull the trigger on himself ("white") or Dutch ("black"). Needless to say, the Neo-Nazi buys it soon after.

* A variation occurs in ''BlackLagoon''. Revy and Dutch, after shooting their way through a small army of Neo-Nazis, have the leader cornered, alone, and sobbing. They make a cryptic bet with each other -- Revy choosing "black" and Dutch choosing "white" -- and toss a gun to the Neo-Nazi. He slowly brings it up to his own forehead, and then at the last moment turns the gun on Dutch and fires. Naturally it's empty. It turns out Revy and Dutch were betting on whether or not the Neo-Nazi would pull the trigger on himself ("white") or Dutch ("black"). Needless to say, the Neo-Nazi buys it soon after.

* A book found in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:A_Game_at_Dinner "A Game At Dinner"]] tells the story of a ruler who invites his court to a banquet. After the meal, he informs them that he has poisoned those disloyal to him, and only by drinking the antidote (and revealing their treachery) will they live. The courtiers wait tensely until one snaps, confesses, and drinks... [[spoiler: The real poison, which kills him in a manner so horrible that the author, who is ''also'' a spy (in fact, it is implied that everyone at the banquet was), begs to be removed from his position.]]

* One issue of Daredevil has the title character playing a version this with a paralyzed Bullseye. A version in which the cylinder of the gun is not spun after each pull of the trigger, meaning that someone IS going to die by the time the trigger is pulled 6 times at the latest. At the end of the story with both still alive, Daredevil points the gun at Bullseye...CLICK. It was never loaded. "We're stuck with each other, Bullseye."

* [[http://youtu.be/vHkSDJmSgqo?t=55s Subverted hilariously]] in ''Film/KissKissBangBang'': [[spoiler: The lead character is an ex-magician, so the audience expects him to palm the bullet. However, he has no idea he is supposed to do this, puts one bullet back in the gun, spins the chamber per usual, threatens the suspect by firing a shot, and the suspect is killed. When his partner says WhatTheHellHero, he says that he thought there was only an "8%" chance.]]

* Subverted hilariously in ''Film/KissKissBangBang'': [[spoiler: The lead character is an ex-magician, so the audience expects him to palm the bullet. However, he has no idea he is supposed to do this, puts one bullet back in the gun, spins the chamber per usual, threatens the suspect by firing a shot, and the suspect is killed. When his partner says WhatTheHellHero, he says that he thought there was only an "8%" chance.]]

* During the campaign of "{{Call of Duty: Black Ops}}" [[spoiler:Mason, Woods, and Bowman]] are captured by Soviet/NVA forces. Subverted in that [[spoiler: the revolver is loaded and Mason uses it to shoot his captors and escape.]]

* Variant from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': Harvey Dent threatens a man with a coin flip: Heads, he doesn't shoot him; tails, he does. He's using a two-headed coin.

* Subverted hilariously in ''KissKissBangBang'': [[spoiler: The lead character is an ex-magician, so the audience expects him to palm the bullet. However, he has no idea he is supposed to do this, puts one bullet back in the gun, spins the chamber per usual, threatens the suspect by firing a shot, and the suspect is killed. When his partner says WhatTheHellHero, he says that he thought there was only an "8%" chance.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'': The Gandors pull one of these on a traitorous subordinate, confronting him with their knowledge of his betrayal and then presenting him with a fully-loaded revolver, with which, they inform him, he must now play RussianRoulette. When he panics and tries to shoot Keith Gandor, he quickly discovers two things: the revolver was loaded with harmless empty cartridge casings, and the whole production was actually a SecretTestOfCharacter.

* Variant from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': Harvey Dent threatens a man with a coin flip: Heads, he doesn't shoot him; tails, he does. He's using a two-headed coin. [[spoiler:This foreshadows Dent's later transformation into Two-Face]].

Generally counts as YouFailGunSafetyForever, since "a gun is always loaded, especially when it isn't".

* Variant done in ''{{Killer 7}}'' Garcian Smith is forced to play a game of Russian Roulette (the "barrel is not spun" variation)- The person who forces him goes into a great deal of dramatics as he picks up the gun and puts it to his temple...pulling the trigger and putting the gun down... Garcian meanwhile simply picks it up and methodically, almost robotically, picks it up, puts it to his head, and pulls the trigger. It's a revolver, and it comes down to the fifth pull of the trigger. It's the man behind the desk's turn. He shudders as he pulls the trigger. Click. No bang. He chuckles and slides it to Garcian. "Well, I suppose I win, Guess you have to do what I say." Garcian picks it up and just calmly pulls the trigger. Click. He puts it back down. "This gun holds ''seven'' bullets. I'm a ''professional''. You can't fool me, old man." Cue said man killing himself after a speech.

* Variant from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': Harvey Dent threatens a man with a coin flip: Heads, he doesn't shoot him; tails, he does. He's using a two-headed coin.

* A variation occurs in ''BlackLagoon''. Revy and Dutch, after shooting their way through a small army of Neo-Nazis, have the leader cornered, alone, and sobbing. They make a cryptic bet with each other--Revy choosing "black" and Dutch choosing "white--and toss a gun to the Neo-Nazi. He slowly brings it up to his own forehead, and then at the last moment turns the gun on Dutch and fires. Naturally it's empty. It's probably better we don't know what happened afterward.

* Variant from ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': Harvey Dent threatens a man with a coin flip: Heads, he doesn't shoot him; tails, he does. He's using a two-headed coin. Of course, that coin later manages to get badly burned on one side, right around the time Harvey's worldview takes a massive shift, so when he makes similar threats later, he means business.

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