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False Roulette
- 144 statements
- 27 feature instances
- 16 referencing feature instances
| False Roulette | type |
FeatureClass | |
| False Roulette | label |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette | page |
FalseRoulette | |
| False Roulette | comment |
A form of Perp Sweating, invoking Russian Roulette, where a gun is emptied out and one bullet is palmed while apparently being loaded into the chamber. The perp is then asked questions and awarded a dry-fire for tardy answers. Akin to a mild form of High-Altitude Interrogation, this can cause more trouble than it's worth in Real Life — if the participant calls your bluff, if you pull the trigger one too many times without re-spinning, you use a blank that goes off, or (God forbid) you actually load it for "effect", chances are you're going to end up with a mess on your hands. See also Two-Headed Coin for a similar but less violent game of "chance". Generally falls under Artistic License – Gun Safety, since "a gun is always loaded, especially when it isn't". |
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| False Roulette | fetched |
2024-04-12T07:15:09Z | |
| False Roulette | parsed |
2024-04-12T07:15:09Z | |
| False Roulette | processingComment |
Dropped link to FriendlySniper: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| False Roulette | processingComment |
Dropped link to Subverted: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| False Roulette | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| False Roulette / int_22212fe4 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_22212fe4 | comment |
Bosch: Played with; Bosch, while undercover, is forced to play Russian Roulette with his own gun. Fortunately, he sabotaged the gun beforehand specifically to prepare for such a situation; however, the antagonists have no idea and think he's playing for real. | |
| False Roulette / int_22212fe4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_22212fe4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bosch | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_22212fe4 | |
| False Roulette / int_2221ecbd | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_2221ecbd | comment |
Mac does this on CSI: NY to force information out of one of the guys who was involved in kidnapping Mac's girlfriend, Christine. | |
| False Roulette / int_2221ecbd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_2221ecbd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| CSI: NY | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_2221ecbd | |
| False Roulette / int_2a640f8c | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_2a640f8c | comment |
Upgraded in the Gunsmith Cats manga. Rally Vincent puts in the bullet without palming it, spins the chamber, pulls the trigger FIVE TIMES in a row rapidly, and finally fires the gun into the wall (right over the perp's head) to prove the bullet wasn't palmed; she's so good with guns that she can time the spin and lock the chamber so she knows where the bullet is when it stops. After demonstrating her prowess she puts in another bullet and points the gun at the perp. Naturally this scares the perp even more than regular Russian Roulette. | |
| False Roulette / int_2a640f8c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_2a640f8c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gunsmith Cats (Manga) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_2a640f8c | |
| False Roulette / int_5db577ba | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_5db577ba | comment |
Variant from The Dark Knight: Harvey Dent threatens one of The Joker's mooks with a coin flip: Heads, he doesn't shoot him; tails, he does. When it lands on heads, he says he can flip it again. Of course, he's using his two-headed coin, so the goon is in no real danger, but he doesn't know that. Later on he uses the same coin for actual "games of chance," with one side damaged. | |
| False Roulette / int_5db577ba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_5db577ba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Dark Knight | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_5db577ba | |
| False Roulette / int_60c93d14 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_60c93d14 | comment |
Used by Doug in The Riches, when he is trying to get hired as a lawyer. | |
| False Roulette / int_60c93d14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_60c93d14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Riches | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_60c93d14 | |
| False Roulette / int_6209e22d | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_6209e22d | comment |
In Malcolm X, Malcolm does this to a co-conspirator in a burglary to force him to accept his leadership. Malcolm X claimed to Alex Haley that he actually did this. | |
| False Roulette / int_6209e22d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_6209e22d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Malcolm X | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_6209e22d | |
| False Roulette / int_6272adf3 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_6272adf3 | comment |
The Shield: Tavon interrogates a suspect this way. This raises his status in Vic's eyes, as he sees that Tavon doesn't necessarily do things by the book. | |
| False Roulette / int_6272adf3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_6272adf3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Shield | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_6272adf3 | |
| False Roulette / int_6a5cadf7 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_6a5cadf7 | comment |
A bad guy in Foyle's War tries this on with a burglar who has stolen something very incriminating from him; unfortunately, the burglar gets the bullet before the bad guy gets the information. | |
| False Roulette / int_6a5cadf7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_6a5cadf7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Foyle's War | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_6a5cadf7 | |
| False Roulette / int_6cd3b44f | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_6cd3b44f | comment |
A variation occurs in Black Lagoon. Revy and Dutch, after shooting their way through a small army of Neo-Nazis, have the leader cornered, alone, and sobbing. They make a cryptic bet with each other — Revy choosing "black" and Dutch choosing "white" — and toss one of Revy's Berettas to the Neo-Nazi. He slowly brings it up to his own forehead, and then at the last moment turns the gun on Dutch and pulls the trigger. Naturally it's empty. It turns out Revy and Dutch were betting on whether or not the Neo-Nazi would pull the trigger on himself ("white") or Dutch ("black"). Needless to say, the Neo-Nazi buys it soon after. | |
| False Roulette / int_6cd3b44f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_6cd3b44f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Black Lagoon (Manga) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_6cd3b44f | |
| False Roulette / int_776dc40a | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_776dc40a | comment |
Used in reverse in the 2004 Starsky & Hutch movie. Starsky lifts the gun up while he loads one bullet and lets the bullet fall into his sleeve. Then he puts his arm down before closing the chamber and the bullet falls back into the gun. The perp being questioned sees the whole thing and Hilarity Ensues as the perp (who knows the false roulette trick, and would therefore not ordinarily be intimidated) tries to keep Starsky from blowing his own head off with the really loaded gun. | |
| False Roulette / int_776dc40a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_776dc40a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Starsky & Hutch | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_776dc40a | |
| False Roulette / int_7d7fbcc | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_7d7fbcc | comment |
One issue of Daredevil has the title character playing a version of this with a paralyzed Bullseye. A version in which the cylinder of the gun is not spun after each pull of the trigger, meaning that someone is going to die by the time the trigger is pulled six times at the latest. At the end of the story with both still alive, Daredevil points the gun at Bullseye...CLICK. It was never loaded. "We're stuck with each other, Bullseye." | |
| False Roulette / int_7d7fbcc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_7d7fbcc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Daredevil / Comicbook | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_7d7fbcc | |
| False Roulette / int_7db5e90f | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_7db5e90f | comment |
In an episode of Lucky Luke, an extended shootout ends with Luke running out of bullets and Jack Dalton having one left. Jack suggests Russian roulette. After failing to shoot the hero he hands over the gun and starts shivering in mortal fear. Realizing Jack is too preoccupied to keep an eye on him, Luke deftly empties the gun, puts it against Jack's head, and shouts "BANG!!" Jack, believing he's been shot, passes out from the shock. | |
| False Roulette / int_7db5e90f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_7db5e90f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lucky Luke (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_7db5e90f | |
| False Roulette / int_88427eca | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_88427eca | comment |
Subverted in L.A. Confidential, where the cop in question apparently leaves at least one bullet in the revolver. | |
| False Roulette / int_88427eca | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| False Roulette / int_88427eca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| L.A. Confidential | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_88427eca | |
| False Roulette / int_90b916ba | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_90b916ba | comment |
A non-gun variation is performed in Batman: The Animated Series. A germophobic crook has broken into a hospital. Batman chases after him, and during the chase, he accidentally winds up in a storage room for samples of diseases. Batman picks up one of the jars and inspects it. "Hmm... crimson fever. Lousy way to go. No cure, you know." He places it on a shelf above the crook's head and begins asking him questions. For every dishonest answer, he pounds the wall, causing the jar to shudder and come one step closer to falling... then a security guard interrupts the proceedings. Batman pounds the wall one last time, causing the jar to tumble through the air. The crook yells and cowers, but Batman grabs the jar before it can hit him. The camera lingers on that shot a little bit longer, and we see what the label reads: "Seawater For Analysis". | |
| False Roulette / int_90b916ba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_90b916ba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Batman: The Animated Series | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_90b916ba | |
| False Roulette / int_95818d99 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_95818d99 | comment |
Variant done in Killer7. Garcian Smith is forced to play a game of Russian Roulette (the "barrel is not spun" variation) against one Benjamin Keane, with the stipulations being if Garcian wins, Keane will teach him the secret to hitting on women with 100% success, but if Keane wins, Garcian has to kill the President. Keane goes into a great deal of dramatics as he picks up the gun and puts it to his temple... pulling the trigger and putting the gun down... Garcian meanwhile simply picks it up and methodically, almost robotically, picks it up, puts it to his head, and pulls the trigger. It's a revolver, and it comes down to the fifth pull of the trigger. It's Keane's turn. He shudders as he pulls the trigger - no bang. He chuckles and slides it to Garcian. "Well, I suppose I win, Guess you have to do what I say." Garcian, after a short moment, picks it up and just calmly pulls the trigger a sixth time. Click. "This gun holds seven bullets. I'm a professional. You can't fool me, old man." Cue Keane killing himself after revealing the true secret to wooing women - They're all the same. | |
| False Roulette / int_95818d99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_95818d99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Killer7 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_95818d99 | |
| False Roulette / int_b1170177 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_b1170177 | comment |
Played straight in L.A. Confidential during the interrogation of the three Night Owl murder suspects. When Bud White realizes the suspects have kidnapped and raped a woman whose fate is uncertain (best case scenario is that she's still being held hostage and abused, worst case is that the man she was left with might have passed her off to someone else or killed her), he storms into the interrogation room, pushes the suspect against a wall, shakes out some of the bullets from his revolver, and shouts "1 in 6", before pushing the gun into the suspect's mouth and pulling the trigger. By the time Bud's revolver has gone click three times, the suspect is understandably scared shitless and ready to talk. (It's worth noting that in the film adaptation we never actually see if Bud takes the last round out of his .38 or not. Bud's crusade against men who abuse women is personal enough that he might just be willing to take his chances on killing the guy, especially since there were still two more suspects from their group to work with.) | |
| False Roulette / int_b1170177 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_b1170177 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| L.A. Confidential | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_b1170177 | |
| False Roulette / int_b8eb4fe5 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_b8eb4fe5 | comment |
Maria pulls this in one episode of the second Sakura Wars OAV. Ohgami seems to consider it a sign of progress that she didn't load the gun (considering that she used to have no qualms whatsoever about killing). | |
| False Roulette / int_b8eb4fe5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_b8eb4fe5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sakura Wars (Video Game) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_b8eb4fe5 | |
| False Roulette / int_bac68947 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_bac68947 | comment |
The Heat: Mullins, right there in the interrogation room at the police station. She's crazy enough to make the threat believable, and it brings about the desired result. | |
| False Roulette / int_bac68947 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_bac68947 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Heat | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_bac68947 | |
| False Roulette / int_c231405b | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_c231405b | comment |
A variant of this is used in The Punisher (2004). Frank captures low-level mook Mickey and strings him up by his ankles, tying his hands together. He then goes into a fantastic description of how a blowtorch flame will affect him: it won't burn, so to speak. Instead, Mickey will smell burning flesh, but, because his nerve endings are being destroyed, all he'll feel is cold. After the appropriate one-liner ("Isn't science fun, Mickey?"), Frank then proceeds to use the blowtorch to burn a steak, and presses a popsicle against Mickey's back, causing him to react as though he's being burned. When Frank has given away all the information he has...he pops the popsicle in his mouth and lets him down. | |
| False Roulette / int_c231405b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_c231405b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Punisher (2004) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_c231405b | |
| False Roulette / int_ca92edf1 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_ca92edf1 | comment |
During the campaign of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Mason, Woods, and Bowman are captured by Soviet/NVA forces, with Woods and Mason forced to play Russian Roulette with one another. Subverted in that the gun was loaded, but after Woods' first turn, Mason takes the chance to shoot the Viet Cong bookie watching over their game instead - and he gets the live bullet. | |
| False Roulette / int_ca92edf1 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| False Roulette / int_ca92edf1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops (Video Game) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_ca92edf1 | |
| False Roulette / int_cd8905f6 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_cd8905f6 | comment |
Baccano!: The Gandors pull one of these on a traitorous subordinate, confronting him with their knowledge of his betrayal and then presenting him with a fully loaded revolver, with which, they inform him, he must now "play Russian roulette". When he panics and tries to shoot Keith Gandor, he quickly discovers two things: the revolver was loaded with harmless empty cartridge casings, and the whole production was actually a Secret Test of Character. | |
| False Roulette / int_cd8905f6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_cd8905f6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Baccano! | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_cd8905f6 | |
| False Roulette / int_d2d62c81 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_d2d62c81 | comment |
Happens in book three Alpha of the Monster Hunter International series. Since the player was a werewolf the gun was loaded, with the trick being that it wasn't a Silver Bullet. It was a Secret Test of Character that the werewolf passed after willingly pulling the trigger and blowing his own brains out (he got better after some time unconscious). | |
| False Roulette / int_d2d62c81 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_d2d62c81 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Monster Hunter International | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_d2d62c81 | |
| False Roulette / int_d810e65f | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_d810e65f | comment |
Double subverted in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Price interrogates the Butcher by handing Gaz a revolver and ordering him to aim at the Butcher's wife and son. When the player eventually pulls the trigger, Price reveals the revolver was never loaded, and then hands Gaz six rounds. Actually firing at the Butcher's family results in a Non-Standard Game Over. | |
| False Roulette / int_d810e65f | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| False Roulette / int_d810e65f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) (Video Game) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_d810e65f | |
| False Roulette / int_e82c9823 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_e82c9823 | comment |
Double subverted near the beginning of Black Cat. Train puts a bullet in his gun (in a way that only he can see it), hands it off to his partner Sven and tells him to shoot him in the hand. Sven does end up shooting him with the one bullet...but it was just a blank so he wasn't actually hurt. | |
| False Roulette / int_e82c9823 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| False Roulette / int_e82c9823 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Black Cat (Manga) | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_e82c9823 | |
| False Roulette / int_e976f202 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_e976f202 | comment |
In Life of the Party, Michael claims he's loaded the gun with one bullet, but he reveals that he never did after pointing the gun at his friends four times and pulling the trigger, then putting it to himself and squeezing twice. | |
| False Roulette / int_e976f202 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_e976f202 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Life of the Party | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_e976f202 | |
| False Roulette / int_f61e0445 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_f61e0445 | comment |
In the Dempsey and Makepeace episode "Extreme Prejudice", Dempsey plays Russian Roulette to a terrorist he's interrogating. Makepeace and Spikings arrive seconds after Dempsey extracts what little information the terrorist actually knows. Dempsey then pulls the trigger of his revolver in front of them multiple times, resulting in a series of clicks. He then shows them that he had palmed the bullet all along. | |
| False Roulette / int_f61e0445 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_f61e0445 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dempsey and Makepeace | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_f61e0445 | |
| False Roulette / int_fb2991d8 | type |
False Roulette | |
| False Roulette / int_fb2991d8 | comment |
Justified: A minor villain has addicts play for pills, getting a single pill for each trigger pull. One of them gets fed up and pulls the trigger on the villain several times, revealing that the gun was never loaded to begin with. | |
| False Roulette / int_fb2991d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| False Roulette / int_fb2991d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Justified | hasFeature |
False Roulette / int_fb2991d8 |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.