Line #139 Main/CoincidentalDodge


1	[[quoteright:146:[[VideoGame/{{Avernum}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CoincidentalDodge_3320.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:146:Ooh, penny!]]
3
4	A murder attempt that should have succeeded but fails through outrageous misfortune. For example, the target trips and falls or bends down to tie his shoelaces at the exact moment the bullet zips by overhead, unheeded.
5
6	A common variation is for the intended attack to miss the target and [[MurderByMistake instead kill another person]], thus forcing the murderer to cover up his tracks for a murder he didn't want to commit. Very well known for throwing off even the greatest detectives (at least until the end of the episode).
7
8	Sometimes paired with the PlankGag for extra {{slapstick}} effect. Can lead to the target being MistakenForBadass, if the assassin thinks the dodge was intentional. See also DeadlyDodging, which is usually deliberate.
9
10	----
11	!!Examples:
12
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:Advertising]]
16	* An old Australian television ad for insurance had some average Joe walking along the street, narrowly avoiding accidents. One of the accidents he ducks (literally) is the PlankGag. He drops the coin he is flipping and bends down to pick it up just as the workman with the plank turns around, the plank passing harmlessly over the top of him.
17	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr-mJyKlCBM This Mountain Dew]] commercial has [[Creator/StevenSeagal Steven Seagal]] foil an armed robbery without paying attention.
18	[[/folder]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21	* ''Manga/BadCompany'': Ryuji is about to punch Eikichi in the face when Eikichi suddenly turns to hear what his friend said, [[DeadlyDodging causing Ryuji to]] [[StopHittingYourself hit his own face]].
22	* In ''Manga/BlackClover'', Asta sneezes in his sleep hard enough to push himself out of the way of a magic blast from [[MySisterIsOffLimits Gauche]].
23	* In ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', as the 78th Class students are locking themselves inside Hope's Peak Academy, Junko Enoshima throws a large wrench at Makoto Naegi's head, but, being the [[BornLucky Ultimate Lucky Student]], he slips on a piece of paper and falls on his ass, not even noticing the wrench as it sails over his head and embeds itself into the wall.
24	* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', Jellymon narrowly avoids becoming the next victim of the SerialKiller [[CyberNinja Sealsdramon]] by phasing through a glass wall right when he tosses one of his [[PsychoKnifeNut throwing knives]] from behind her.
25	* ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'': When [[spoiler:Nanno]] tries to bash Eikichi's head in with a [[BatterUp baseball bat]], he misses because Eikichi noticed a 10,000 yen bill on the ground and bent over to pick it up.
26	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
27	** When {{drunk\|enMaster}}, Rock Lee blends fluid motion, economy of movement, and a number of minor accidents to dodge almost any attack launched at him. How many of his accidents are real or faked is hard to tell.
28	** Episode 101 shows a group of filler ninja who are after Kakashi. While at a hotsprings, they decide to use a poisonous dart against him. Just as the blow dart is flying toward Kakashi, there's a slow-motion shot of him bowing down to get into the water and avoiding it completely. The funny part comes when during the scene, he actually states that he's going in slow motion.
29	--->'''Kakashi:''' And slowly, I sink in...
30	* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Ivankov [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this in his fight with [[PoisonousPerson Magellan]], when he bends down to tie his bootlaces, avoiding the opponent's [[SuperSpit poison spit]] attack. This is solely to taunt Magellan, since he notes that the boots are laceless.
31	* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire'', when May attempts to catch Munchlax, all of Combusken's attacks are dodged by Munchlax by... picking up Pokéblocks, and lying down to take a nap.
32	* Used in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', when Akane is possessed by a doll determined to murder Ranma. Throughout most of the arc, he doesn't realize "Akane" is trying to kill him and keeps dodging her attacks through mere coincidence. Not unprecedented, either -- he's shown even in the manga to be capable of doing the same in his ''sleep.''
33	* Used to hilarious effect in ''Manga/SchoolRumble'' where [[TooDumbToLive Tenma]] is trying to [[LoveLetterLunacy deliver a love note]] ''[[AnnoyingArrows directly]]'' to [[ObliviousToLove Karasuma]] by arrow, and he spontaneously {{Flash Step}}s out of the way, and goes into more and more crazy positions as the {{Macross Missile Massacre}}s of arrows miss him by millimeters.
34	* This happens in ''Manga/SkipBeat'' when Kanae's rival tries to injure her and steal her spot in an ad, only to be foiled by Kyoko, who keeps pulling Kanae out of danger without knowing it. HilarityEnsues, with the rival and her mooks getting off worst.
35	* In ''Manga/SumomoMoMomoMo'', Sanae is walking with Kushi when Iroha throws a pencil at the back of her head at breakneck speed. Sanae sneezes and the pencil misses leading you to believe she dodged it on accident. Later at the end of that same chapter, Iroha tries the same method only for Sanae to sneeze again and give Iroha a glare, telling Iroha that she's actually dodging on purpose, however everyone else still takes it as a moment of luck dodge.
36	* Invoked in ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', when Vash pretends to be dodging bullets accidentally as he dances into a captured bank, in accordance with his ObfuscatingStupidity.
37	-->'''Deputy:''' He's dodging the bullets!\
38	'''Mayor:''' Dodging!? That brick doesn't realize he's being shot at!
39	%%* A specialty of the protagonist of ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Board Games]]
43	* The premise behind ''Kill Doctor Lucky'' is that you are trying to, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Kill Doctor Lucky]]. Nobody can directly stop an assassination attempt since they're always done out of sight, but other players can play "fail cards" that cause your plan to fail due to Doctor Lucky's luck.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
47	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Hobbes loves pouncing on Calvin but has on one occasion missed when Calvin bent down at the last moment to pick up a dime.
48	* A running gag in ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat''. Krazy would bend down to talk to a smaller creature, such as a "woim", just as Ignatz was throwing his customary brick. If Ignatz was lucky, it would merely have to be retrieved and thrown again. On a bad day, it would hit Officer Pupp.
49	* Used in [[http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2012/01/20 a 2012 comic]] of ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine''.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Fan Works]]
53	* ''Fanfic/ItGetsWorse'': Taylor's super luck powers prompt her to tie her shoe right in time to avoid a throwing star from Cricket, who gets hit by a bus before she can try again.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
57	* The climax of ''Film/TheDayOfTheJackal'': [[spoiler:The Jackal, an expert marksman, misses his shot because President De Gaulle leans in give an accolade; a French tradition the foreign assassin isn't familiar with. He chambers another round and takes aim...and at that moment the police break down his door.]]
58	* The Old Lady in ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', who survives several attempts on her life... at the cost of one after another of her pack of lap dogs. Worse: the assassin is an animal lover.
59	* In ''Film/FortyGuns'', Brockie attempts to murder Griff at Wes's wedding. However, at the moment Brockie fires, Griff bends forward to kiss the bride. Brockie's shot goes over and [[MurderByMistake kills Wes]].
60	* ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'': A guard that Rambo... er, Topper is shooting arrows at does this a dozen times, only realizing it after Topper ran out of ammunition when he turns around and sees the door behind him filled with arrows. Then Topper improvises.
61	* Wally Ritchie in ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooLittle'' is the avatar of this trope. Good God.
62	* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' series:
63	** Inspector Clouseau is a target of this in ''Film/AShotInTheDark''.
64	** In ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'', Dreyfus puts a price on Clouseau's head. An insane number of hitmen try to kill him at the same time; Clouseau [[DeadlyDodging dodges them and they all kill each other]]. It's not certain how much of the assassins killing each other is unintentional, though, since they're all competing to kill Clouseau; killing each other is also removing the competition, and is probably a secondary goal for all of them.
65	* In ''Film/ThePitAndThePendulum1991'', Torquemada is lying atop Maria on his bed, strangling her. In his fury, he sits upright, yanking her with him. As he does so the thread holding the sword dangling above the bed (ItMakesSenseInContext) snaps and the sword plunges down on to the bed, stabbing through where they were lying a second ago. Torquemada takes this as a sign from God.
66	* In French comedy ''Film/TheReturnOfTheTallBlondMan'', a sniper tries to shoot François in his apartment in Rio but the attempt fails because the latter bows down to spit out his drink.
67	* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
68	** In ''Film/TheTerminator'', Sarah narrowly escapes being noticed by the Terminator when she knocks a water bottle off her table at the [=TechNoir=] night club.
69	** Miles Dyson escapes assassination by Sarah Connor in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', when he is disturbed by his son's remote control truck.
70	* In ''Film/TuckerAndDaleVsEvil'', one of the titular pair is on the receiving end of a flying tackle meant to push him into a running woodchipper. Instead, he pulls this trope and his [[{{Pun}} wood-be]] killer ends up suffering that fate instead.
71	* Happens in the French movie ''La Vengeance du serpent à plumes''. The protagonist is trailed by an assassin in the Parisian subway while eating a banana. You'd expect the BananaPeel trope to come into play, but the bad guy instead slips on a discarded metal can just as he's about to strike, and falls on his own blade. The clueless "hero" then discard the banana peel, which lands on the face of the dying assassin.
72	* The killer in ''Film/WhatACarveUp'' attempts to drop a FallingChandelierOfDoom on Ernie's head, but has to abandon the attempt because Ernie's nervous pacing keeps carrying him out of the drop zone before he can trigger it.
73	%%* Stanley Stupid of ''Film/TheStupids'' goes through this.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Literature]]
77	* Grandpa Smedry in the ''Literature/AlcatrazSeries'' does this consistently; he has the [[CursedWithAwesome power to always be late]] which effectively makes him invincible as he always arrives late to his own death, such as bullets always missing him because he was too late to enter their path.
78	* In the first ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' book, just as Butler fired a tranquilizer dart at Holly, she had ''just'' chosen that moment to bend down to plant the acorn needed to restore her magic. This promptly alerts her to his and Artemis' presence, though they eventually manage to capture her anyway.
79	* In ''Literature/BigTrouble'', when Matt, aiming to "kill" Jenny, barges into the Herk residence, LeeroyJenkins style, Arthur Herk ducks instinctively at the sight of Matt's [=SquirtMaster=] Model 9000, thereby dodging a very real bullet fired at him by a hitman lurking outside.
80	* This and similar unlikelihood occurs a lot in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series, where the universe runs on ContrivedCoincidence. It's especially common around the main characters who are explicitly surrounded by a [[WindsOfDestinyChange whirlwind of altered probability]]. Aside from bending down, characters have been saved by a flock of birds bursting out of a tree and startling the bowman, a fletching inexplicably coming loose and causing the arrow to go awry, an assassin slipping on a roof tile and falling to his death, or the target stopping in shock because he was asked an ArmorPiercingQuestion.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84	* ''Series/DeadMansGun'': In "The Impostor", Leo's deputy Floyd leads him into an ambush at the corral. Floyd drops his hat as a signal for his partner on the roof opposite to shoot. Leo's sees this and bends over to pick up the hat just as the rifleman fires. The shot kills Floyd and, in his panic to get away, the assassin falls off the roof and dies.
85	* During a fight in ''Series/CutieHoneyTheLive'', at one point Honey Kisaragi politely bows when one of the bad guys calls out her name, making one of the mooks trying to do a flying kick goes past above her head.
86	* ''Series/GenerationKill'' shows that in the chaos of a firefight, this can happen even to competent people. Ray Person puts his head down a fraction of a second before a bullet zips through his windshield where his head would have been. He doesn't realize it at the time, but sees the bullet hole the next day and does a sort of [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E16BartVsAustralia Australia/America]]: "Now I'm dead...now I'm alive..."
87	* ''Series/GetSmart'': In "Someone Down Here Hates Me", a KAOS agent posing as a surveyor asks Max for a cigarette in order to get him in position for his partner to take a shot at him. However, Max fumbles the pack as he extends to the agent, spilling the cigarettes on the ground. As he bends down to pick them up, the other KAOS agent fires, missing Max and wounding his partner.
88	* In one ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode, Monk avoids being shot by a drive-by shooter just because he was bending down to pick something up.
89	* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'': Happens to Earl when he's listening to a "stop smoking" [[TwoDecadesBehind cassette]]. His ex-wife Joy wants to get her hands on the lotto money [[DivorceAssetsConflict (that he claimed just after she divorced him for Darnell)]], and to do that, she tries to murder him (because she's the beneficiary in his (illegitimate) will). She tried to buy a gun, but since there was a three-day waiting period, she bought herself a crossbow to shoot Earl with. She misses him three times while he moves around without even realizing he's being shot at or who's doing it.
90	* In an episode of ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', Jindrax attempts to off Taylor by throwing daggers at her, but, because she is playing whack-a-mole, she unintentionally dodges them all.
91	* In an early episode of ''Series/SledgeHammer'', Sledge is unaware a price of $1M has been put on his head. As he's waiting at a red light, two assassins, each hoping to claim the bounty for their own, pull up on either side of Sledge's car and take aim. Sledge invokes this trope and the hapless would-be assassins shoot each other.
92	* When Quark from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' gets named as the Grand Nagus's successor, an attempt is made on his life at his predecessor's funeral with a ridiculously accurate autonomous flying missile device. Just as it locks on and fires off its thrusters full strength for the kill, he spots a coin on the floor and he dodges the deadly attack just as he bends over to pick it up.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Music Videos]]
96	* Music/{{LMFAO}}'s members accidentally fend off a group of vampires by dancing, taking shots, and general partying in the video for "Champagne Showers".
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
100	* In the Leslie Uggams episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', Miss Piggy meets [[Series/SesameStreet Big Bird]]. When she says she's the singing star of the show, Big Bird finds it funny and starts laughing. An angry Piggy tries to karate chop him, but Big Bird doubles over just as she swings, and she falls off the second floor.
101	-->'''Big Bird:''' Ah, you do acrobatics too? ''[To audience]'' She's very versatile!
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
105	* In ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast'' this is the most common effect of Passive Joss for all Dhampyr. With the Poison Joss flaw the bystander getting in the way becomes commonplace.
106	* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': Setback, a hero who has powers based around luck manipulation, has a card called Plucky Break. In the art of this card he’s doing exactly this, bending down to pick up a penny and accidentally avoiding a lightning strike in the process.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Video Games]]
110	* In ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'', drawn by Creator/PhilFoglio, the picture drawn to illustrate the LuckStat shows a character bending to pick up a coin while, unbeknownst to him, an arrow whistles over his head. This is true to the game; the Luck stat (among other things) increases the chance that a fatal blow won't actually kill you.
111	* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'', pseudo-subverted with an unlucky Sindacco being run over by [[TheDon Salvatore Leone]] while bending over to pick up a dollar.
112	* In ''VideoGame/HypnospaceOutlaw'', it is possible to get two users permanently banned from [[TheAlternet the titular network]] on the second and third days: [[spoiler:[=BurninRubber50=]]] and [[spoiler:zane_rocks_14]], respectively. If this happens, they won't [[spoiler:be killed by the [[WhamEpisode the Mindcrash incident]]]] later in the game.
113	* In an episode of ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', the heroes use Max's newfound psychic powers to see that Flint Paper will receive a hatchet to the head in the near future. When Sam gives him a helmet without explaining why, the helmet's light illuminates Flint's lunch, causing him to notice the peanuts he didn't see before... and as he bends over to examine, the hatchet flies over Flint's head.
114	* In ''VideoGame/ThreadsOfFate'' Rue leans down to tie his shoelaces just as Mint tries to high-jump kick him into a lake. Naturally, she falls in instead.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Web Animation]]
118	* In the ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' episode "[[Recap/HTFPitchinImpossible Pitchin' Impossible]]", a non-assassination attempt example occurs. The Mole leaning down to get the ball he accidentally knocked to the ground allows him to dodge the falling booth window caused by his ricocheting previous ball which cuts Petunia's head in half.
119	* ''[[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheRecollection Red vs. Blue: Recreation]]'': In "[[Recap/RedVsBlueS7E12WellHello Well Hello]]", [[TheDitz Donut]] meets [[TheDreaded The Meta]], but has no idea how dangerous the latter is. The Meta keeps trying to attack Donut, but Donut ends up ducking and moving to the side at the last moment, completely oblivious to the Freelancer's murder attempts.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Webcomics]]
123	* In one ''Webcomic/TheMansionOfE'' strip, Mortimer [[http://mansionofe.comicgenesis.com/d/20060223.html dodges two attackers]] in this fashion.
124	* ''Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic'':
125	** Happens to [[PrincessClassic Princess Goldie]] during a DisneyCreaturesOfTheFarce moment. She bends down to pet a squirrel just as [[http://yafgc.net/comic/2219-goldies-song/ a goblin shoot her with a crossbow]], killing a deer instead.
126	** Considering Cap'n Fang is completely oblivious to his surroundings, [[http://yafgc.net/comic/0259-fangs-uncanny-strategies/ this is the only kind of dodge he ever does...]] [[TheFool all the time]].
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Web Videos]]
130	* In ''Series/{{Noob}}'', this happens at least once while [[TheFool Sparadrap]] is fighting against Dark Avenger, contributing to the long-standing MistakenForBadass situation between the two.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Western Animation]]
134	* ''WesternAnimation/BlueEyeSamurai''. In "An Unexpected Element", Mizu is meditating under a tree when she hears the drums of the town festivities below. She figures she might as well go and look at what's happening, only when she stands up a [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks thrown sword]] impales the tree where her head had just been.
135	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'': Can happen to Dodgers when he's in full TheFool mode. In "The Wrath of Canasta", he avoids a laser shot by leaning to pick an apple, and said laser ricochets until it cuts a rope, leading to Nasty Canasta being crushed by a ton of bricks.
136	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Lois Griffin is the target of a mob contract foiled by chance.
137	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': During "The Duh-Vinci Code" Animatronio blows a dart towards Farnsworth, who bends down noticing something. Perhaps a [[{{Subverted Trope}} subversion]] because the dart hits Bender in the eye, but due to his being a robot and all, doesn't faze him.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'': Happens approximately OncePerEpisode, with Gadget blissfully unaware of the MAD agents out to do him in.
139	* ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey'': Mikey does this while being targeted by agents from Mitsuki's old spy job.
140	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E23InspirationManifestation Inspiration Manifestation]]", Spike is oblivious to the room crumbling as he walks away with an ancient tome, and only dodges falling chunks of masonry and avoids falling from the rapidly-collapsing staircase through simple coincidence.
141	* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': In "Goof Gas Attack", Boris watches Rocky and Bullwinkle go into their house. He stretches a rope across the door and ties one end to the trigger of a shotgun, reasoning that when Bullwinkle opens the door, he'll trip over the rope, and the gun will fire and do him in.
142	-->'''Narrator:''' But Boris was wrong again—for when Bullwinkle came out, he didn't just trip over the rope, he fell over it.\
143	''[The gun goes off right over the head of Bullwinkle, who is sprawled across the rope.]''\
144	'''Rocky:''' Boy, a good thing you fell, Bullwinkle! That thing went off right over your head.\
145	'''Bullwinkle:''' Let's look on the bright side, Rock. It missed!\
146	''[The camera moves to Boris, now barefoot and in tattered clothes.]''\
147	'''Boris:''' Not quite!
148	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': The beginning of ''[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E18AgonyOfAWitch Agony of a Witch]]'' sees [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Hooty]] confront Lilith and her mooks from raiding the Owl House. During the battle, Lilith manages to take a shot at Hooty, only for Hooty to dodge the attack because [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny he got distracted by leaf he thought was a bug]]. Lilith's blast hits a nearby tree instead, which then topples over onto her. Given that the rest of the battle was a total CurbStompBattle in Hooty's favour, it is hard to tell if Lilith scoring a hit would have changed anything.
149	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
150	** Grampa Simpson and Homer have both done this a few times. The most famous (and tragic, and permanent) example being when Homer bending over for a bobby pin gets Maude Flanders killed.
151	** Snake attempts to kill Homer for driving his sports car. He ties a piano wire between two trees to off Homer's head. As Homer drives standing up, he ducks down to pick up a gumball thus, missing the wire, but Kirk lost his arm while holding a sandwich in the air (he gets better).
152	* A not-so-coincidental example in ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder,'' when a bounty hunter fires [[TranquilizerDart Tranquilizer Darts]] at Wander and Sylvia, who keep bending down to pick up coins at just the right moment. The coins are being tossed by Commander Peepers, who [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou is determined to capture them himself]].
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Real Life]]
156	* Mobster Mickey Cohen survived any number of attempts on his life by such means as bending down at the last second to check a scratch on his car.
157	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CoincidentalDodge