History Main / StabTheScorpion

* In ''Film/ResidentEvil'', the Red Queen offers to provide a code to let the party escape a lab they're trapped in if they kill Rain Ocampo, who's infected with the T-virus. Rain kneels down and orders the others to accept the deal and kill her by cutting her head off with a fire axe. As she and the Red Queen shout for Alice to do so, Alice raises the axe high in the air and... hits the television monitor the Red Queen is shouting through, cutting her off, and refuses to kill Rain.
* Used in ''Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse'', where a STARS sniper with several redneck attributes is shooting zombies from his rooftop position. L.J., a black man, comes into his view and obliviously attempts to open a deserted car, while the sniper takes aim at his head and fires...to hit another zombie directly behind L.J.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''Film/{{Holes}}'': Stanley (Caveman) is returning to his sleeping quarters after a late night of digging early on in his stay at Camp Greenlake. He turns to find Mr. Sir pointing his revolver seemingly at him and thinks it's all over when Mr. Sir fires. Mr. Sir was not aiming at him, however, but at the deadly and extremely poisonous yellow-spotted lizard that had snuck up behind him. Earlier in the movie and in the book, Mr. Sir says, when Stanley is seen eyeing his revolver nervously, "This is for yellow-spotted lizards. Don't worry; I wouldn't waste a bullet on you."

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', Ai and Tsuburaya are scared away from a crime scene by a gunshot, but Conan eventually deduces that [[spoiler: the man who shot at them did it to keep them from being mauled by a pissed off (literal) MamaBear.]].

* Will shows off his archery skills by shooting an arrow close to Useikh, Amar's daughter, in ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' Book 7. It turns out that he'd actually shot a snake that was about to bite the girl.

* Will shows off his archery skills by shooting an arrow close to Useikh Amar's daughter in ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' Book 7. It turns out that he'd actually shot a snake that was about to bite the girl.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': In one seventh-season episode, "Sangre por Sangre", opens with Mac chasing a gang member with whom he has a respectful rivalry through an abandoned building. The other man raises a gun in Mac's general direction and fires, then the scene cuts back to some days earlier. The scene is [[OnceMoreWithClarity revisited near the end]], revealing that he had been aiming at another gang member, whom he'd been trying to kill earlier and who was sneaking up on Mac.

See also StabTheSalad, BaitAndSwitchGunshot, and BlofeldPloy. Compare AttackHello.

Only to see it wasn't the hero they struck, but a [[ScaryScorpions scorpion]] or snake poised to strike, or even an actual enemy. Either way, rather than killing the hero, the stranger has just saved their life. Sometimes, the target isn't even a threat, but is used to gain trust, the message being "[[IfIWantedYouDead If I wanted you dead]], you would be by now".

* ''Manga/DrStone'': When Yo tests out Senku's primitive firearm he completely misses the line of bottles he was targetting, only for a poisonous snake to fall down dead behind the bottles. Then subverted by a thought bubble revealing that he muffed the shot and hitting the snake was purely accidental. He quickly realizes that he needs to practice a bit more.

* A variation in ''Manga/LoveHina'' when Keitaro and Naru are stranded on Pararakelse, when the mood seems to finally be getting romantic...Squish. Naru's gratefulness at being saved from the scorpion [[MegatonPunch doesn't last long]], though.

* At one point in ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'', the heroes are hiding out in the Guardians' underground city, and attempting to treat a gravely wounded Katsushiro. The Guardians are creepy-looking GasMaskMooks and one of them has been observing the group and crawls up to the ceiling and fires a dart into Katsushiro. It turns out the dart was some kind of advanced medicine which saves Katsushiro and reveals the Guardians are along the lines of MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold -- creepy looking but benevolent.
* Happens twice in the third episode of ''Anime/SolBianca'': The Legacy. First it looks as if Gwen wants to shoot Janny, but both times he actually saves her by shooting Booster's big monster minion standing behind her.

* In an episode of ''[[Anime/{{Voltron}} Voltron Defender of the Universe]]'', the Voltron Force frees a slave and meets up with the woman who leads the rebellion against the BigBad on some DeathWorld where the population is being forced to mine a dangerous substance through slave labor. The slave knows the layout of the enemy base, but he initially refuses to help and reveals he was a traitor and a soldier for the bad guys. The rebel leader draws her laser pistol and tells him not to move, and he tells her to go ahead and kill him. She then fires - and kills the roughly two foot scorpion on the wall behind him. She then delivers the obligatory PatrickStewartSpeech.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* Franchise/{{Batman}}: During the Club of Heroes reunion that turned sour with the murder of host John Mayhew, el Gaucho stabbed the robot scorpion creeping up on the Musketeer, recognizing it not only as deadly, but as the calling card of his enemy Scorpiana.

* Subverted in the ''ComicBook/SinCity'' story, "A Dame to Kill For," where [[spoiler:Ava appears to have Dwight [=McCarthy=] at point blank range and instead aims upward and shoots Manute in the face]]. She then claims mind control so as to regain his already once-misplaced trust. It doesn't work, as evidenced by the last page where [[spoiler:Ava]] has a bullet through her head.

* ''Film/{{Holes}}'': Stanley (Caveman) is returning to his sleeping quarters after a late night of digging early on in his stay at Camp Greenlake. He turns to find Mr. Sir pointing his revolver seemingly at him, and thinks it's all over when Mr. Sir fires. Mr. Sir was not aiming at him, however, but at the deadly and extremely poisonous yellow spotted lizard that had snuck up behind him. Earlier in the movie and in the book, Mr. Sir says, when Stanley is seen eyeing his revolver nervously, "This is for yellow spotted lizards. Don't worry; I wouldn't waste a bullet on you."

** This gets an IronicEcho later, when they're actually shooting at each other and dispense with the subtext to levy the insults directly.
* In ''Film/ISawWhatYouDid'', Tess is running for the garage where her sister Libby is trying to start the car. The viewer (but not Libby) sees an arm reach out and grab her and drag her behind the garage. While it looks like the murderer Steve Marek has grabbed her, it is actually Mr. Austin who is stopping her getting to the car because [[DangerTakesABackseat Steve Marek is hiding in the back seat]].
* ''Film/TheIsland1980'': When Maynard is leaning over, about to ignire the PowderTrail to destroy the magazine, Beth walks out holding a crossbow that she levels at Maynard. She then raises the crossbow several inches and fires: shooting Windsor who is standing behind Maynard with an axe.

* In ''Film/{{Legend 1985}}'', Lily is apparently about to kill the unicorn with its mate's horn. Instead she uses the horn to strike at and break the chain holding the unicorn, freeing it. Likewise, at the last moment Jack (Lily's lover), who had been trying to decide whether to shoot her with an arrow to prevent her, instead decides to shoot the evil being Darkness.

* In ''Film/OperationDeltaForce'', Major Tipton is constantly at odds with Delta Force Captain Lang, because a mistake on Tipton's part years ago lead to the death of Lang's brother. But at the end of the movie, Tipton realized he's been forgiven when Lang suddenly fires a shot at his direction... and kills General Praetorian, the film's MookLieutenant, who is about to shoot Tipton.
* ''Film/ParadiseRoad'' has a scene in which a Japanese prison guards dramatically holds up a sword as though about to decapitate Cate Blanchett's character after subjecting her to a day and night of torture, but brings the sword down and slices off a lock of hair instead.

* ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' Lord Hong kinda; at one point a servant brings him bad news while he's forging a sword. He orders the guy to stand up straight and open his eyes wide, as if he's about to [[BadBoss Shoot the Messenger]]. Turns out he was using the guy's eyes as a mirror to target the assassin sneaking up on him ('him' being [[EvilChancellor Lord Hong]]).

* Will shows off his archery skills by shooting an arrow close to Useikh Amar's daughter in ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' Book 7. It turns out that he'd actually shot a snake which was about to bite the girl.

** Inverted in Literature/AClashOfKings with Theon. He sees some of his reavers scuffling over some plunder, one of which, Todric, was drunk. In an attempt to impress his men with his prowess and "leadership", he decides he'll shoot the horn of ale out of the drunk man's hand. Unfortunately for both of them, the man moved as Theon loosed the arrow and Todric got shot in the belly instead. To save face, he tells the rest of his men that he does not tolerate drunkards or fighting over plunder.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] probably counts. The Doctor seems to be forced into shooting either Rassilon or the Master in order to save the universe. Finally he seems to settle on the Master, and aims the gun at him... then says "Get out of the way", and shoots the machine behind him instead. A minute later, the Master does the exact same thing, telling the Doctor to get out of the way so he can attack Rassilon himself.

* In season 4 of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Peter travels to the other universe after [[CosmicRetcon time reboots itself]]. Because Walter Prime won't help him get back, he goes to beg Walternate - who previously tried to destroy our universe in an attempt to save his own - for help. During Peter's plea Walter grins insanely and plays with an ominous bit of machinery. Finally he uses it to expose and destroy Alternate Brandon Fayette, who had been his [[TheDragon dragon]] before the reboot but is now a shapeshifter.

* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': In "The Murder Channel" one of Jessica's friends has been kidnapped and is lying BoundAndGagged in the back of the kidnappers' van. One of the kidnappers advances menacingly, takes out a switchblade and flicks the blade out. She then uses the knife to cut the victim's bonds and release her.

* ''Series/WantedDeadOrAlive'': In "Dead End", Josh is holding a Mexican cowhand he suspected of attempting to bushwhack him at gunpoint. The Mexican pulls a hidden knife and throws it Josh. The knife goes over his shoulder and imaples the rattlesnake slithering on the the log behind him.

** Also done by [[spoiler: Farah]] in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones''. The individual in question appears to fire an arrow at the Prince, but instead fires it at a {{Mook|s}} behind him.

* ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'' plays with this. In the second Haunted Mansion level, after the mine cart sequence, a future version of Cortez charges toward your version of Cortez, wielding an oversized gun. He fires a beam of red energy behind "your" shoulder. Turns out there was a ghost behind you, and Future!Cortez has a "ghost gun" that can get rid of them.

* Happens in ''ComicBook/{{Buck Godot|ZapGunForHire}}'', after Al manages to knock out the assassin that was send to seduce and trick him into selling his bar wakes up again in the middle of a big fight, gun aimed at Al. She angrily states no-one ever managed to knock her out. [[ItMeantSomethingToMe Because she never let anyone get close!]] She then shoots an enemy behind Al.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', an aged Bruce Wayne is about to be attacked by a random criminal when a dog jumps towards Wayne...and attacks the criminal instead. Bruce adopts the dog, and names him Ace. Because when a dog is badass enough to save BATMAN you know he's awesome.

* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'', the title character is presented with one in regards to bullish rhinos that have forcefully moved into the apes' territory after being driven out of their homes by human civilization. After learning that he purchased large amounts of dynamite to resolve the rhino issue, Jane and the others rush stop Tarzan from doing the deed, which turns out to be blowing up a new section of river. Aware that he could've killed them all if he wanted to, the rhinos accept their new home.
* Done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax''. When the main heroes are gathering a team of heroes, one of them is an old man with a bow. When Max tries to doubt his skills, the guy aims the bow at his direction...
* Towards the end of ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'', during a race down a canyon, Jordan opens fire on Prince Aikka after he's wiped out. He gets a "What the hell?" look from Eva, until she sees the corpse of the giant bug thing that was stalking Aikka.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Numbah 1 teams up with an adult named Moosk to hunt evil, snakelike ties, and when it looks like Moosk is about to betray Numbah 1 and shoot him, he actually shoots a tie behind him.

-->--'''"Mad" Stephen''', after saving William Wallace from an assassination attempt by Faudron, ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''

* In the 1997 {{SelfDemonstrating/Deadpool}}/{{Comicbook/Daredevil}} Annual, the two reluctantly team up to take down SerialKiller Typhoid Mary. During a brawl with hired mob muscle, Deadpool concludes out loud that he'd quite like to kill DD himself and throws a knife...right into a huge henchman who was about to cut Daredevil in two.

* Doctor Manhattan in the ''{{ComicBook/Watchmen}}'' sequel ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' thinks that [[spoiler: [[HopeBringer Superman]] will either kill him or (Doctor Manhattan) will destroy the metaverse in retaliation (or possibly in self defence). Luckily, Superman just knocks down Pozhar which was trying to pounce on Doctor Manhattan, which led the latter to realise the former's purpose in the metaverse and therefore retcons the entire DC History, at the cost of his own.]]

* ''Film/TheEigerSanction''. Jon Hemlock knows that one of his fellow climbers is an enemy agent, but doesn't know who. A man called Meyer has a SinisterSwitchblade of the type used for the PlotTriggeringDeath; at one point Hemlock is sleeping when Meyer creeps up holding the knife...and cuts the end off a climbing rope that had frayed. Then later Hemlock is on the edge of a cliff when Meyer comes up behind him with hand outstretched...only to grab hold of him for support.

** Also done by [[spoiler: Farah]] in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones''. The individual in question appears to fire an arrow at the Prince, but instead fires it at a {{Mook}} behind him.

* In ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis 5: True Mastermind Edition'', the end of stage 4 has [[spoiler:Keith Martin]] firing at what appears to be the two heroes, but was actually aiming at [[spoiler:the two knives that were actually being tossed at both of them. The one who tried to attack them was Robert Baxter, who up to this point was serving as MissionControl and turned out to be EvilAllAlong.]]

** In "A New Day" in the ''Final Remix'', Neku has a vision of [[spoiler:Joshua shooting at him. This time, it really is a Stab the Scorpion situation, as Joshua was shooting at the woman who just fatally shot Neku.]]

* On the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Camp Refoogie," Steve is sent to Africa and is currently moping by the river. He suddenly sees a random girl running at him with a weapon--then just past him into the river to kill the giant snake rising up behind him, which she drags home for her family's dinner. (She winds up being his {{Love Interest|s}} for the episode, by the way.)

** Also done by [[spoiler: Farah]] in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones''.

* In ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', this is inverted when Fooker and Maddie are on a mission against Dr. Nefarious; a scuba diver comes up behind them, but then gets shot by a woman. Fooker later reveals that he knew that the woman was one of Dr. Nefarious' men because the diver belonged to a friendly intelligence agency.

* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', during the Dangerous Days arc, an unusually dark and vengeful Torg walks up to Riff and wordlessly levels a shotgun at him. [[spoiler: Then he actually does shoot Riff, but immediately apologizes and says he was aiming for the bad guy behind him. It turns out Riff was wearing a bulletproof vest.]]

* Inverted in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. During the first major battle of the book, George lost an ear, as it was cut off by one of Snape's curses. [[spoiler: It turns out Snape was actually aiming for a Death Eater flying near George, but missed and hit George instead.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'': Neku recovers a missing piece of his memory and thinks that [[spoiler:Joshua ran up to him and shot him]], but he later recovers more showing that [[spoiler:Joshua was aiming at Minamimoto who had a gun and was standing behind Neku]]. Only much later does Neku discover that actually, [[spoiler: Minamimoto was aiming at Joshua but failed and fled, and ''then'' [[SubvertedTrope Joshua finally shot Neku]]]].
* In ''Videogame/{{XCOM 2}}: War of the Chosen'', one mission has you trying to broker an EnemyMine alliance between [[WeAreStrugglingTogether two resistance factions fighting against the greater alien threat]]. When the two faction reps, Elena and Mox, meet each other, they exchange insults before Elena takes aim with her sniper rifle... and fires a shot that flies over Mox's shoulder and towards the assassin that just teleported behind him.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has a double Stab The Scorpion. Beckett and Castle are facing each other, both apparently pointing guns at the other. They fire simultaneously, and both hit a bad guy that was sneaking up to take the other unawares.
** For impact, the setup to this -- them aiming weapons at each other -- was the episode's ColdOpen, and it was followed by an episode of Castle showing up in suspicious circumstances near a bunch of murders that seemed to have been perpetrated by him. [[spoiler:They weren't.]]