History Main / StabTheScorpion

* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'':

* The beach house shootout from ''Film/TheKiller'' is kicked off by one of these. Specifically, Jeff and Lee are holding guns on each other, when Jeff fires off a shot... at an assassin approaching the house outside the window. This unfortunately leads to Lee shooting Jeff in the arm in retaliation, though it isn't fatal.

* ''Film/DemolitionMan''. Lenina Huxley and John Spartan have just taken out a bunch of mooks and Spartan thinks they're safe, but then Huxley suddenly picks up a gun and points it at Spartan. Spartan gets a millisecond of shock before she saves his life by shooting the mook that was sneaking up on Spartan with a knife.

* Lenina Huxley saves John Spartan this way in ''Film/DemolitionMan''. They've just taken out a bunch of mooks and Spartan thinks they're safe, but then Huxley suddenly picks up a gun and points it at Spartan. Spartan gets a millisecond of shock before she shoots the mook that was sneaking up to Spartan with a knife.

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Played for drama in the manga version of ''Literature/BattleRoyale''. During Shogo's previous stint in the royale, he found his girlfriend Keiko, when she suddenly raises her gun at him and yells, "Stay away!". Thinking that she's actually playing the game, he shoots her, only to realize that she was actually aiming and shouting at ''another'' classmate behind Shogo, who was trying to kill him.
* Revy and Dutch from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' manage to pull this one each other ''simultaneously'' when Dutch is chewing her out for acting [[AxCrazy unprofessionally]] and they're pointing their guns at each other when more Neo-Nazis try to sneak up on them. Both mention they thought the other was really going to shot him/her, though Dutch said he was joking.
* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', 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.]].
* In the second episode of ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'', Claire throws her {{BFS}} at a lizard behind Raki -- barely missing him in the process -- when he admits to being hungry. Dinner!
* Played with in ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Vicious throws a big old bowie knife to save Gren from a literal scorpion during the war on Titan. This was just to gain his trust before framing Gren for Vicious' spy activities.
* ''Manga/DrStone'': When Yo tests out Senku's primitive firearm he completely misses the line of bottles he was targeting, 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.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', after [[spoiler:Mest]] is revealed to be the final member of Grimoire Heart's 7 Kin, he teleports next to [[TokenMiniMoe Wendy]], grabs her, and then [[spoiler:pulls her out of the way of an attack from the ''real'' 7th Kin. It turns out he was a spy, but for the ''mage council'']].
* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'', Marta--one of the chimera allied with Greed--does this to a snake that was threatening Edward. It's also a touching CallBack to Ed and Al's [[TrainingFromHell month stranded on an uninhabited island]]: on the last day, Ed makes the last notch in the tree by throwing his knife through a snake.
* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', after [[spoiler: Miaka runs away from Tamahome out of shame by the pretense that she had been raped by Nakago]], Amiboshi shows up, raises his dagger, and aims at Miaka.... or rather the huge ass polecat that was behind her.
* In ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'', Joey acts like he's about to stab Saejima, but instead impales a cockroach on the table. Subverted in that Joey is very much an Ax-Crazy villain (as opposed to Saejima, an Ax-Crazy antihero).
* Done in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', and combined with ProphecyTwist, with Hol Horse and Boingo, the latter of which has a comic book that predicts the future. It foresees Hol Horse kicking a woman, who is so thankful she rewards him with a great deal of treasure. Hol Horse finds the whole thing ridiculous until they find said woman: turns out she had a scorpion (apparently a rather nasty one) on her back, and Hol Horse kicked it immediately upon realizing what would happen otherwise.
* 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.
* In the ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' Prequel Adventures of Sinbad, Drakon is introduced by throwing a knife at the back of his subordinate's seat in the wagon, and surly telling them to keep their eyes on the road. A later panel reveals a scorpion pinned by the knife, a hint that he's actually not a bad guy.
* In an early episode of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' before the pilots become allies, Heero points his {{BFG}} at Duo's Gundam during a battle. Duo assumes that the other pilot has turned on him and they get into a HumongousMecha standoff...only for Heero to blast the enemy machine that was sneaking up on Duo before flying off.
* In ''Manga/RisingXRydeen'' when Aria first introduces herself to Takara she kicks dangerously close to his head. The next panel shows that she was aiming for a bee right behind him.
* 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 that 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 episode 36 of ''Anime/SonicX'' Sonic has reunited with Knuckles and suddenly it looks like Knuckles is going to attack him, it turns out he punched a robot that was going to shoot Sonic.
* In ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce'', Mr. Ricky shoots a scorpion that was about to sting Minerva. Naturally, Shuta immediately jumps to the conclusion that he's a Decepticon.
* In one episode of {{the anime|OfTheGame}} adaptation of ''Anime/ValkyriaChronicles'', Isara looks likes she's going to shoot Alicia. Instead, she shoots through a window and takes out an Imperial soldier on the other side.
* In ''Anime/VirtuaFighter'', shortly after Akira meets Lion Raffale, at one point he briefly looks like he's going to punch Lion (for insisting on buying Alexander from him), but it turns out he was aiming for Lion's bodyguards, who were coming from behind to take him back.
* 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:Comic Books]]
* 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.
* In ''ComicBook/BeastsOfBurden: Occupied Territory'', Emrys and Mullins come across some hostile Shibas who charge toward them... only to run right by them, their real target being the oni behind them.
* ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'': A Marvel Comics issue had an ally pull his dagger when Conan revealed he was carrying the MacGuffin. Cocking his arm back, he announced that he was doing something he should've long since. Conan started to warn him off, and then the blade flew past him to impale a fat lizard. The look on the Cimmerian's face as the other fellow held up the meat for their dinner was '''priceless'''.
* In the 1997 ComicBook/{{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]].
* Happens in ''The Legend of Red Wolf'' by Enrique Villagrin. Jessica Hartmann and her maid are [[TwoPersonPoolParty having sex by the swimming pool]] when Red Wolf creeps up on them. Instead of attacking them, however, he crushes a scorpion that was about to sting them.
* The second Corinthian pulls this on Matthew--whom he had previously sworn to kill--in ''Comicbook/TheSandman''. [[spoiler:Dream later tells Matthew that the Corinthian had genuinely intended to kill him, but Dream had exerted his influence to alter the event and save Matthew's life.]]
** Gaiman later explained that this was a retcon of sort; the Corinthian was originally scripted to kill Matthew, but ''Sandman's'' editor requested that he change it, so Dream is speaking as Gaiman's mouthpiece in this moment.
* 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.
* ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen'': In one issue, Jimmy experiences previous lives, including one Janus Ocellus, who was a favorite of Julius Caesar's. To his horror, he discovers that Janus was apparently involved in Caesar's assassination; in fact, he jumps forward into the future just as Janus raises his dagger. However, Superman checks this out and uncovers that Janus had infiltrated the conspiracy to save Caesar. His raising his dagger was supposed to signal Caesar's guards, who were delayed by a group of escaped gladiatorial lions.
* In the ComicBook/{{Tintin}} adventure ''The Secret of the Unicorn'', Captain Haddock (who by now was well-established as a friend of Tintin) charges with a whiskey bottle raised. Tintin assumes that the captain is coming for ''him'', possibly drunk or crazy, until the bottle flies and hits Gustav Bird, who was about to shoot Tintin from behind.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': A Decepticon is [[EnemyMine given a gun]] by an Autobot while the latter tries to switch off a Transformer zombie signal. After it's off, the Decepticon shoots--a zombie that evidently didn't need the signal and had gotten really close to the Autobot.
* Subverted in an early ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comic. Two New Republic pilots holed up in a cave have been found rather suddenly by a New Republic agent, who holds a blaster on them as they work through suspicions. A pilot [[http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1038/swrstro206.jpg tells the agent]] that [[LookBehindYou there's a predator creeping up behind her]]; she asks if he really thinks she'll fall for that. The pilot tells his friend to reach for his gun, so one of the two has a chance to wing it, if the agent doesn't fry them. The [[http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1452/swrstro207.jpg next page]] has the agent [[BadassBack firing behind herself without looking]], hitting the predator. "I believe you," she says.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/FeralnetteAUBigFatBreak'': After delivering a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Alya for [[SayingTooMuch unintentionally admitting]] that she knows about Lila's '[[BlatantLies lying disease]]' and still uses her as a 'trusted source' for her Ladyblog, Ladybug throws her yo-yo out. The string curves around Alya's neck and behind her to snap up an akuma that was approaching her and Lila.
* Used in chapter 13 of a ''Thunderbirds'' fanfiction called ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6127563/13/First-on-Five First on Five]]''. The Tracy boys are playing paintball.
* Used in chapter 22 of ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act II''. Dark seemingly aims a gun at Rason, about to shoot him, to which Rason yells, "Whoa, whoa! Same team!" Dark fires... and headshots a Fairy Tale operative that had snuck up behind Rason.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''Anime/HarlockSpacePirate''. Shortly after undercover agent Logan is shown contemplating shooting Kei, he [[RailingKill shoves her over a railing]] to her apparent death, only to be shown he's throwing her into the mecha hand of a spacecraft which lifts her away to safety.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', Beau is suspected by Velma to be somehow involved in the onset of the zombies. At one point, Beau lifts up a large rock and appears ready to chuck it at her, but he instead throws it further out to show Velma that she was about to walk into quicksand. Velma's suspicions are somewhat mitigated.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' sees Mrs. Brisby, a frightened mouse, entering the Great Owl's den. At the mercy of her natural predator, she is then additionally stalked by a [[SpidersAreScary large spider]]...before the Great Owl appears and crushes the spider.
* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'':
--> '''Cale''': You're never gonna have a better shot, Korso.\\
'''Korso''': No. I won't.
[[/folder]]

* Lenina Huxley saves John Spartan this way in ''Film/DemolitionMan''. They've just taken out a bunch of mooks and Spartan thinks they're safe, but then Huxley suddenly picks up a gun and points it at Spartan. Spartan gets a millisecond of shock before she shoots the mook that was sneaking up to Spartan with a knife

-->'''Joyce Cooper''': I trust you had a pleasant trip. Fascist!
-->'''Sgt. Angel''': ''I beg your pardon?''
-->'''Joyce Cooper''': (''writes in her crossword puzzle'') "System of Government characterised by extreme dictatorship." Seven across.
-->'''Sgt. Angel''': Oh, I see. It's "fascism."
-->'''Joyce Cooper''': Fascism. Wonderful. Now, we've put you in the Castle Suite. Bernard will escort you up there.
-->'''Sgt. Angel''': Well, actually, I could probably make my own way up. Hag!
-->'''Joyce Cooper''': ''I beg your pardon?''
-->'''Sgt. Angel''': "Evil old woman considered frightful or ugly." It's 12 down.
-->'''Joyce Cooper''': Oh, bless you!

-->'''Jessica Rabbit''': (Aims a gun at Eddie Valiant) Valiant.
-->'''Eddie Valiant''': I always knew I'd get it in Toontown.
-->(''as he turns around, A shadow of [[spoiler:Judge Doom]] with a gun appears on the wall'')
-->'''Jessica Rabbit''': Behind you!
-->(''Shoots at the shadow; it falls back and the gun drops on the floor'')
* Lampshaded in the German police-spoof ''Film/DerWixxer''. The protagonist was trapped in a bathtub and was attempted to kill á la ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''. He manages to defeat the trap, upon which a suspect (whom the building belongs) enters the room, sternly glancing at the protagonist, approaches him slowly and ominously, pulls up his sleeves, complete with a Now-I'm-Going-To-Finish-You-Off - expression. Then, out of the blue, he quips, "Jesus Christ, what's going on here?!" and helps him out of the tub.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Eldest Whistler seemingly attacks Princess Ren, throwing her to the ground. It turns out this was because Ren was standing in an inconvenient position and would have been killed by a trap without Eldest's intervention. Ren, having already drawn her knife, is ashamed of her suspicions.
* Rennie does this to Wick in ''The Crush''. "Move and you're a dead man." He does move, prompting Rennie to shoot the bobcat about to pounce on Wick from behind.
* In ''Literature/{{Deryni}} Rising'' Morgan kills a Stenrect crawler that was inches from Kelson's hand. A lady-in-waiting sees him draw and use his sword, but not the creature; she screams, guards come, and Morgan's [[HeroWithBadPublicity reputation]] is invoked.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In a rare double-sided version, the climax of ''Fool Moon'' had Harry and [[CuteBruiser Karrin Murphy]] at odds for the majority of the book because Harry kept finding himself suspiciously linked to a series of attacks around the city. Later, they find themselves hunted by two of the [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent three kinds of Werewolf,]] and they run into each other, only for Harry to see the more dangerous of the two sorts of werewolf coming up behind Murphy. When he prepares to attack it, she raises a gun and begs him to get down. He doesn't, thinking he'll [[HeroicSacrifice go out in a blaze of misunderstood glory.]] When he wakes up after the event, thinking he's dying of a gunshot wound, she tells him that she shot at one of the other werewolves that was behind him and he was only hit on the head, and promptly mocks him for being such a melodramatic idiot.
* ''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]]).
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Siron Esrah and Culmus Stratos are rivals, both as proxies for their families and personally over the love of Princess Kasile. It is so intense that they are not allowed to joust each other. Then, at the conclusion of a RescueArc, Siron abruptly draws his sword on Culmus. It was to attack a monster that spawned behind him.
* In a Creator/SarahDessen novel ''Literature/JustListen'', Annabel gets into a car with Owen, who has a reputation for anger management issues. He takes out a hammer and she starts imagining headlines of her murder when he carefully buckles her in--the passenger seat's seat belt is broken.
* ''Literature/TheManWithTheTerribleEyes'': Early on in their relationship Dog growls and lunges at the Man after he walks home in the dark. The Man thinks he's about to get mauled, but Dog is actually after the shadow being that was standing right behind him that he hadn't known was there. This is what convinces the Man that Dog can be trusted.
* Will shows off his archery skills by shooting an arrow close to Useikh, Amar's daughter, in ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' Book 7. After he gets punched for his foolhardiness, it turns out that he'd actually shot a snake that was about to bite the girl.
* Happens in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
** Daenerys is given a box from a stranger. She opens it, when an old man hits her hands with a staff, knocking the box out of them. It turns out that the box contained a manticore, a highly venomous, (possibly) scorpion-like creature.
** 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.
* In the second ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' book, Richard, during archery practice with the Mud People, suddenly shoots at one of them (who really doesn't like him). The misunderstanding is cleared up once they find an armed trespasser behind the guy... well, mostly cleared up, because in order to ensure a kill, Richard was forced to give him a cut on the shoulder.
* In ''Literature/UserUnfriendly'', Nocona, who was previously bitten by a werewolf, swings his knife at Thea. This causes Arvin to think that Nocona has succumbed to lycanthropy and turned evil. However, it turns out Nocona was actually stabbing at a goblin behind Thea.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Sabbat Martyr'', Milo raises his lasgun and appears to fire at Saint Sabbat. It turns out that [[spoiler: he hits a Chaos trooper who had survived the Saint's attack on a Baneblade]].
** Earlier, in ''Ghostmaker'', Rawne (who despises Gaunt and wants him dead) sneaks up on Gaunt while he's sleeping, holds his knife to Gaunt's throat, and quickly brings it up -- so he could throw it into the eye of an Ork that was sneaking up on them. Slightly subverted in that Rawne ''would'' have killed Gaunt, but the Commissar apparently having nightmares of Tanith burning convinced him to stay his hand.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime: In A Memory of Light'', this happens between Matrim Cauthon and [[spoiler: Tuon]], where [[spoiler: Tuon]] only has time to react to Mat throwing a knife directly at her, but immediately turns around when she recognizes his face. Mat later uses this as evidence that [[spoiler: she loves him]].

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Kate Lockley pulls a really violent version of this on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', stabbing both him and his vampire spawn with a (very long) wooden stake. The other vampire dusts, but Kate reveals that she deliberately avoided Angel's heart.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Despite the fact that she is working with the Mayor at the time (and accompanying him at that particular moment), Faith throws a knife in Wesley's direction...which kills a rabbit-sized spider that was near his head.
** Also done by the Master as a threat to a lesser vampire. He makes a swift motion that could've easily left a ''nasty'' mark, and then says "bug".
** In "Spiral" Ben appears to be about to kill Dawn with a fatal injection, having been told doing so would give him a normal Glory-less life, but it turns out to be a morphine shot for Giles.
* The season three premiere of ''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 [[HowWeGotHere 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.]]
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': 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.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The cliffhanger for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E1TheMysteriousPlanet episode 3]] of "Trial of a Time Lord" involves Merdeen seemingly firing his crossbow at the Doctor. However, the reprise in episode 4, reveals he was actually aiming at the traitor Grell, lurking behind the Doctor and Peri.
** [[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.
** The older Amy's introduction in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited "The Girl Who Waited"]] involves stabbing a Handbot over Rory's shoulder.
* In the pilot for ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Jayne has been offered a lot of money to betray Mal. We see him knocking out a sniper, taking careful aim at Mal... and shooting someone who had a gun trained on the captain.
* 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/GameOfThrones'':
** In season 3, Barristan Selmy does this literally. He approaches Daenerys Targaryen from behind while holding a knife, but he uses it to stab a scorpion that was about to attack her.
** In season 5, Bronn appears standing above Jaime Lannister with his kukri ready, seemingly to kill him, and a few moments later he kills a snake that was about to bite the Kingslayer.
** Later, [[spoiler: Jorah Mormont enters the fighting pits to fight before Daenerys one last time. After killing the men in the arena, his face contorts with anger and he grabs a spear and throws it into her viewing box - killing an assassin who was sneaking up behind her]].
* Seriously, almost every time anyone does ''anything'' in ''Series/HarpersIsland'' it seems to be following this trope. That's what you get when you have 22 characters and every single one of them is a murder suspect.
* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'': In "The March to Freedom", a woman (played by Creator/LucyLiu) who had constantly shown disdain for Hercules raises a rock over his head while he's sleeping and brings it down. Hercules rolls out of the way, but she reveals that she has crushed a huge tarantula that was next to him.
* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': In Episode 2, [[CowboyCop Isamu Fuwa]] ignores his supervisor Yua Yaiba's orders and takes an untested [=gun/=]TransformationTrinket. When she goes to stop him, he points the gun at her, but then shoots the robot that was about to attack her from behind, then goes out and uses it to transform into Kamen Rider Vulcan.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}''.
** Michael approaches handcuffed Jin with an axe. He looks angry. He's going to kill him! Nope. He's going to chop the cuffs open.
** In a later episode, Ana-Lucia approaches tied-up Sayid with a knife. She's going to kill him! Nope. She's going to cut his ropes and free him.
* In the first few minutes of the pilot of ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'', a character just introduced to LaResistance is given a mission to transport a shipment to a neutral zone. Just as he is about to leave, Nazi troops storm the facility. At one point, the aforementioned character -- who was considered a possible Nazi spy by the Resistance leader -- points a gun the leader's way and... shoots one of the soldiers rushing toward them. [[spoiler: This keeps his cover intact]].
* ''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/PrincessAgents'': Chu Qiao stands over an ill and unarmed Yuwen Yue, sword in hand, remembering how he killed Lin Xi. She raises the sword... and uses it to shove away the snake about to bite Yuwen Yue.
* ''Series/QueenOfSwords'': Done in "The Serpent" by [[spoiler:Doctor Helm]]. In this case, he deliberately meant to scare Tessa, as a challenge to her casual ([[ThouShaltNotKill by his standards]]) attitude toward killing.
* Taken to extremes in ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. Having been forced to team up with a Wraith in order to escape a prison, Sheppard wakes up as the Wraith starts sucking the life out of him. It turns out he needed the strength to defeat a group of soldiers about to discover their position. After sucking the life out of them he returns Sheppard's youth.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. In "Dagger of the Mind", a MadDoctor has used his MindControlDevice to make Captain Kirk become obsessed with [[HospitalHottie Dr Helen Noel]]. They're locked in a room together and Helen watches in fear as a BrainwashedAndCrazy Kirk advances on her...because he's seen the [[AirVentEscape air vent]] she's standing in front of.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E5Phantasms Phantasms]]", Data, currently prey to nightmares and hallucinations, suddenly stabs Troi in the shoulder. When Dr. Crusher examines the wound, one of her scanners detects an invisible alien parasite exactly where he stabbed.
* ''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 at Josh. The knife goes over his shoulder and impales the rattlesnake slithering on the log behind him.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Something like this occurs in ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos''. After a boss battle, the characters start talking about the possibility that there might be a spy for TheEmpire among them who is leaking their locations to the villains and allowing them to steal the {{Plot Coupon}}s. Lyude declares that there is a spy, and turns his gun on the party, leading you to believe for a moment that ''he's'' the traitor (which would make sense, since he ''did'' work for TheEmpire before he joined you). But it turns out that he's specifically pointing it at Savyna, accusing ''her''. (It turns out he's wrong though.)
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'': Dante points his handgun towards Lucia in the prologue cutscene, only to reveal that he's about to shoot the Puia demon behind her.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'': In the opening cutscene of Mission 9, Dante points his handgun to Lady while they were having a conversation. The camera then adjusts itself to reveal several demons surrounding them, and Dante was actually aiming at one of them all along. Lady moves her head out of Dante's gun and she returns the favor by shooting another demon behind him. The two then briefly go {{back to back|Badasses}} while shooting some more.
* ''VideoGame/EnemyZero'': [[spoiler:Kimberly]] draws a knife, advances on Laura, and [[spoiler:slits the side of her neck -- freeing the alien worm that had been implanted there so that Kimberly can safely kill it without killing her friend in the process]].
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has "Marth" draw his blade, prompting Chrom to do the same. However, "Marth" says, "I'm about to save your life... from him," just as an assassin charges out of a bush and is cut down by the warrior. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, "Marth" didn't account for the second one hiding in the bush, who manages to cut "Marth's" mask in two before being killed by Chrom and reveal [[{{Bifauxnen}} he's a she]].]]
* Shamir from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' kills spiders and other insects by throwing her knife at them in multiple support conversations. The other person in the conversation often doesn't notice the bug until Shamir points it out. While some people thank her for it, it's implied she does it simply because she hates bugs more than anything.
* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'': In Moonlit Lovers, a double example happens in Chapter 2 of Forte's route. Chitose goes out and points her gun at her, so Forte responds in kind, and both shoot the enemy probe that was about to sneak up behind the other.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', the first time we see [[spoiler:Legion]], it's aiming at [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] with a sniper rifle. The second time we see [[spoiler:Legion]], it's shifted its aim to take out some Husks who have crept up on him/her.
** It happens twice more in ''2'', with Zaeed and Shepard each invoking the Trope.
* In ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden II'' (the NES game), the first time we meet Robert, he pulls a gun on the hero Ryu and fires. But his target isn't Ryu, but the nasty demonic creature that was sneaking up behind the ninja. (This is in contrast to the first NES game, where the first time Ryu meets Irene, she pulls a gun on him and shoots him...with a tranquilizer.)
* Amaterasu in ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' snarls, growls, leaps up and catches Mr. Orange by the head -- and uses him to fend off three imps who were about to attack him.
* At the start of ''VideoGame/Persona5 [[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'', [[InMediasRes the protagonist is in the middle of his escape from the casino heist]] when he encounters Kasumi Yoshizawa, a character who debuted in ''Royal''. Kasumi strides up to Joker, saying she'll "end this right now," then throws her sword in his direction. The sword is actually aimed at one of the Shadows behind Joker, and Kasumi proceeds to fight the others with him
* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'', the Prince evades an axe thrown at him by a strange creature. Later it is revealed that the creature is [[spoiler: [[StableTimeLoop the Prince from the future]]]], who threw the axe at an enemy sneaking up behind the Prince.
** 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.
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', Claire Redfield comes running out of a zombie-infested gas station and ends up staring down the barrel of rookie cop Leon Kennedy's gun. She throws her hands up and says "Don't shoot!", but Leon yells "Get down!" and blasts the zombie creeping up behind her, before the two team up to find out what the hell is going on in Raccoon City.
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheDarksideChronicles'' Krauser sneaks up on Leon with a knife, only to toss it at a snake that was about to attack Leon's back.
* Crops up twice in the Transylvania arc of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld''.
** In the introduction to "Ripples," the nameless Vampire Hunter points a crossbow in your direction. Given that he's clearly resentful of you for being a powerful representative of the Big Three among unaffiliated underdogs, it actually seems as though he might hate you enough to shoot you... only for him to reveal that he was aiming at the vampire creeping up behind you.
** The Iele introduces herself in "The Wild Hunt" by dropping from the treetops, raising a spear, giving every impression of being about to attack you, before neatly impaling the fungal monster behind you.
* [[EmpoweredBadassNormal Yakumo]] in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' subverts this in the encounter leading up to his boss battle. He suddenly appears behind the Nahobino, shooting down a pack of demons that nearly get the drop on him... before shooting at ''him'' too, forcing him to block the bullet with his blade.
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', the Jedi Knight player character arrives on Corellia and begins rescuing other Jedi who have been scattered across the Republic's beachhead. Arriving at the third Jedi's location, they find a Sith, who ignites his lightsaber as two Imperial droids sneak up behind the Knight, then throws the lightsaber at the droids. (The Sith is Lord Praven, whom the Knight had earlier persuaded to defect to the Jedi.)
* 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]].
* ''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.
* ''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 "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]].
* 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.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Smoke of ''WebAnimation/{{Bunnykill}} 3'' does this with Snowball, killing a bunny mook that was sneaking up behind him, before the two join forces.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In "Heroes and Monsters", Qrow unveils his full scythe and charges at Ironwood, who is initially shocked but then stands guard as he thinks Qrow is about to attack him. As he jumps into the air, Qrow flies right past Ironwood and bisects the Griffon lunging towards him. [[spoiler: JustifiedTrope: Qrow's Semblance is being TheJinx and had he not personally dealt with it, Ironwood could have been seriously hurt due the bad luck Qrow could have brought him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Happens in ''ComicBook/{{Buck Godot|ZapGunForHire}}'', after Al manages to knock out the assassin that was sent 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.
%%* Scott's Penguin in ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel''
* In ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', this is subverted 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.
* Parodied with a fake cliffhanger in ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'': "I NEED TO SHOOT YOU--TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!"
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Elan politely informs [[spoiler:Therkla]] that he already has a girlfriend and isn't looking for a relationship. She gets an angry look on her face and draws her weapons... then throws a shuriken at the demon she spotted sneaking up behind him.
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', during the Dangerous Days arc, an unusually dark and vengeful Torg walks up to Riff, [[spoiler:who'd previously confessed to giving information about Aylee to Hereti-Corp(the villains)]] 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.]]
* In [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/ep-95-memorial-behemoth/viewer?title_no=486&episode_no=101 this]] ''Webcomic/TheSwordInterval'' strip, Agent Porter (who Fall knows and is not happy to see) points a gun at her while saying her surname... then shoots the plant monster sneaking up behind her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* In ''Literature/TrintonChronicles'', Aurora performs this act in the first scene of her meeting Sara. While in the ice maze Sara is walking by herself after leaving another group of people in a huff. She runs into Aurora, who promptly throws a knife at Sara's head. The knife misses by a few centimeters and it turns out Aurora saved her from some BigCreepyCrawlies that had been poised for an attack on her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In 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.)
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' has Conway Stern finally gain Archer's trust by pulling a gun on him, but shooting someone behind him. Then they share a ManHug.
-->''(stabbing sound)''\\
'''Archer:''' Conway?\\
'''Conway:''' Yeah, buddy?\\
'''Archer:''' Are there more bad guys behind me?\\
'''Conway:''' [[DeadlyHug Nope.]]\\
'''Archer:''' You dick. ''(collapses to the floor)''
* 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 ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', Ben and a [[FantasticRacism Highbreed]] get stuck on an alien planet together and have to team up to survive, though the Highbreed makes his disdain of Ben repeatedly clear. When camping out, Ben wakes up suddenly to see the Highbreed shooting at...the creature right behind him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Numbuh 1 teams up with an adult named Moosk to hunt evil, snakelike ties, and when it looks like Moosk is about to betray Numbuh 1 and shoot him, he actually shoots a tie behind him.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', when Scrooge is in the Australian outback with a ranch hand of his sheep ranch, he suspects that he might be involved in the mysterious willie-wisps that are attacking his flock. Right before a commercial break, the rancher chucks his boomerang right at Scrooge when he's not looking. Then when the break ends, it's revealed that he was actually stopping the cobra that was about to attack Scrooge.
* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' episode "A Small Matter of Pygmies". A man under a basket approaches Hadji (who's tied to a stake) and pulls out a knife. Hadji squirms to try to escape, and the man cuts the rope tying Hadji to the stake. He was the pygmy the protagonists had earlier saved from being sacrificed.
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Ancient History" Shadow Thief binds Comicbook/GreenLantern, ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}, and Hawkgirl so they can see a flashback of the past romance between Chay-Ara Hol and Bashari, an ancestor of John Stewart. In order to prevent history from repeating itself and to reclaim Shayera, Shadow Thief gives Carter his mace to MurderTheHypotenuse. Hawkman raises the weapon over Green Lantern - and frees him.
** ''Superman'' saves ComicBook/VandalSavage from a monster this way in "Hereafter".
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', everyone fears that Bobby's "pet" raccoon has given Ladybird rabies, which causes friction between Hank and Bobby when each of them is concerned for their own pet's well-being more than the other. At the end of the episode, Ladybird shows up and Bobby is prepared to shoot her if she ''is'' rabid in order to protect his father. As she leaps at Hank, Bobby fires; initially it looks like he missed, but [[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt he reveals]] that he shot the raccoon, which was sneaking up on Hank. (For the curious, it turned out not to be rabid.)
* 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 to 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 in 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryInc'': In "The Midnight Zone", Cassidy levels a shotgun at Mystery, Inc. with a DramaticGunCock. She then uses it to shoot the robot coming up behind them.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower She-Ra and the Princesses of Power]]'': In the episode "Huntara", the title character explains that most people in the Crimson Waste are running away from something. When Adora probes further by asking what Huntara is running away from, Huntara grabs Adora, pulls out her spear - and impales a large bug next to Adora's head. Which she then proceeds to eat.
* In the second season opening for ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow,'' Hulk and Thor look like they're about to beat the crap out of each other. The camera backs away just as the two heroes attack... the previously-offscreen villains they were ''actually'' getting ready to duke it out with.
* In the cult classic series ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats'', this is the scene that introduces Lt. Felina Feral, one of the show's supporting characters, in the second season premiere "Mutation City". As she is rescuing Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs, Felina points a laser at the Deputy Mayor - and shoots a man-eating plant that was about to eat Callie.
* During the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' three-parter "One Shall Rise", Unicron attempts to use his connection with Megatron to get the Decepticon leader to murder Optimus. While it at first appears that he's going to kill Optimus from behind, Megatron simply shoves him out of the way so he can destroy one of Unicron's antibody drones.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', Keith meets Axca in the belly of a weblum and initially thinks she is hostile when she aims her gun at him. It turns out she was aiming it at the monsters behind him, thus saving his life.
[[/folder]]

** 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.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is ''Film/{{Predator}}''. Dillon has been annoying the rest of the team for the entire mission so far, including demonstrating dangerous incompetence, as well as recently reveal that he set them up on what they believed to be a rescue mission. In a lull in the jungle action, Mac, who had earlier threatened Dillon "You give away our position again, I'll ''bleed'' you", gestures to him to come close and turn around. Dillon does, and Mac's combat knife takes careful aim at the base of Dillon's neck. There's a stab. Dillon jumps and sticks his pistol in Mac's face-and Mac displays the scorpion he had just picked off Dillon's back, now impaled on the knife.

* 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/{{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.
* ''Film/{{Nightwish}}'': Dean suddenly approaches his girlfriend Kim with a tire iron to kill a rattlesnake that was sneaking up on her.

* In ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', a woman (played by Creator/LucyLiu) who had constantly shown disdain for Hercules raises a rock over his head while he's sleeping and brings it down. Hercules rolls out of the way, but she reveals that she has crushed a huge tarantula that was next to him.

* In the ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthofMagic'' Prequel Adventures of Sinbad, Drakon is introduced by throwing a knife at the back of his subordinate's seat in the wagon, and surly telling them to keep their eyes on the road. A later panel reveals a scorpion pinned by the knife, a hint that he's actually not a bad guy.

* In ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'', Joey acts like he's about to stab Saejima, but instead impales a cockroach on the table. Subverted in that Joey is very much an Ax-Crazy villain (as opposed to Saejima, an Ax-Crazy antihero).

* Used in chapter 22 of ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act II''. Dark seemingly aims a gun at Rason, about to shoot him, to which Rason yells, "Whoa, whoa! Same team!" Dark fires... and headshots a Fairy Tale operative that had snuck up behind Rason.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/sword-interval/ep-95-memorial-behemoth/viewer?title_no=486&episode_no=101 this]] ''WebComic/TheSwordInterval'' strip, Agent Porter (who Fall knows and is not happy to see) points a gun at her while saying her surname... then shoots the plant monster sneaking up behind her.

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

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[[quoteright:347:[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scorpion_001_1444.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:347:"QUU" indeed.]]

->"''I didn't like him anyway. He wasn't right in the head.''"
-->-- '''"Mad" Stephen''', after saving William Wallace from an assassination attempt by Faudron, ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''

* The opening cutscene of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 2'' has Dante take aim at Lucia with a pistol... then shoot a harpy that was attempting to attack her from behind.
** Dante and Lady also do this to each other in 3 right before going {{back to back|Badasses}}.

* Similar to the ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' reference above, an issue of Marvel Comics' ''[[ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]'' had an ally pull his dagger when Conan revealed he was carrying the MacGuffin. Cocking his arm back, he announced that he was doing something he should've long since. Conan started to warn him off, and then the blade flew past him to impale a fat lizard. The look on the Cimmerian's face as the other fellow held up the meat for their dinner was '''priceless'''.
* In the 1997 ComicBook/{{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]].

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'': A Decepticon is [[EnemyMine given a gun]] by an Autobot while the latter tries to switch off a Transformer zombie signal. After it's off, the Decepticon shoots--a zombie that evidently didn't need the signal and had gotten really close to the Autobot.

* In the ''Manga/Magi'' Prequel Adventures of Sinbad, Drakon is introduced by throwing a knife at the back of his subordinate's seat in the wagon, and surly telling them to keep their eyes on the road. A later panel reveals a scorpion pinned by the knife, a hint that he's actually not a bad guy.

[[quoteright:347:[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scorpion_001_1444.jpg]]]]