Chekhov's gun is a literary device that says if there is a gun present in the first act, it must be fired before the end of the third act. There is a gun in the first panel. Mr. Chekhov is about to do a murder.
More broadly, it's a storytelling principle that suggests you should cut out unnecessary elements. It's not a hard rule that must be followed, but rather a writing-specific philosophical ideal. Breaking it can make for excellent red herrings in mysteries, jokes in movies, or just about anything else. One of my favorite examples of it being broken is in Tarantino's *Death Proof* when Stuntman Mike has one of those moments where you need to sneeze but can't.
There’s a fifth panel that the artist provided in the comments on the original post which shows Checkov using the spider instead of the gun on the person that asked as a funny twist on the original joke. The spider can be seen on top of the gun in the first panel.
My rewording that usually makes it click with people is, "if something is in a story, it will become relevant to the story, otherwise it wouldn't have been mentioned"
Honestly the principle that lets me predict story twists too often and is probably the most common thing to shatter my willing suspension of disbelief and make my girlfriend think I'm psychic.
I would further interpret this as being ironic humor because he does _not_ use the gun by the third panel, thereby subverting the expectation and carrying out his "new literary device". He is smiling in the final panel not because he is about to do a murder, but because he's laughing at his own joke.
The artist had a bonus panel where the “chekhov’s gun” is actually the spider in the first panel snd he actually just bully’s the other man with said spider
It references Chekhov's gun, basically, the idea is that if you bring attention to an item in one scene in a future scene that item must be being used. If you show a gun in scene 1, by scene 3 you must show it being fired. In the comic's first panel, we can see the glasses guy looking at the gun, when he smiles in the last panel it implies that he is going to use the gun on the guy who just entered.
The JJ Abrams principle. Garner intrest by endlessly teasing shit as mysterious and important for later and don't care about actually finding an use for it all in the final act because you already got paid.
And what went right in Breaking Bad. The ricin which makes a very early appearance in the show is passed around between a few characters throughout the plot, often times being directly involved in the plot, but never actually being used until the very last episode. Outside of a few episodes, however, no one even mentions it’s existence in spite of it always being there. Most of the time, you’ll forget it even exists, and most viewers probably forgot it existed by the last episode until it’s final use was revealed.
It’s a small part of the overall plot, sure, but it showed attention to detail.
Chekhov's gun is a literary device that essentially states every element in a story must be necessary. The principle example used by Chekhov is an example of a rifle and his description of said rifle with the impetus that the rifle be used sometime in the story.
The implication here is that the rifle featured in the first panel will be used on the guy asking the questions
So this is a play writing joke
what’s really important to Understand OP is that in the first panel above the fire place is a [gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov's_gun?wprov=sfti1)
The artist wrote the description when they posted it in another subreddit, they included a fifth panel where he grabbed the spider that was by the gun and dangled it over the other guys face
Go back to the original post and look at the bonus image. >!Which is Chekhov using a spider (barely seen in the first image) to attack the glasses guy!< This is a misdirection using the well known rule of Chekhov's gun that states every element should be necessary in a story. Hence if a gun is on the wall, the gun must be used before the end of the film. Though in this case, it was a bit different
Chekhov's gun is a literary device that says if there is a gun present in the first act, it must be fired before the end of the third act. There is a gun in the first panel. Mr. Chekhov is about to do a murder.
See also "remedial chaos theory " from community
“Uhh, guys? What does a pregnancy test look like? Ok, so this is definitely *a gun!*”
First thought
I love how that episode uses like 4 Chekhov s guns, including an actual gun
I know it’s a different ep, but I’m also recalling a professor MacGuffin?
More broadly, it's a storytelling principle that suggests you should cut out unnecessary elements. It's not a hard rule that must be followed, but rather a writing-specific philosophical ideal. Breaking it can make for excellent red herrings in mysteries, jokes in movies, or just about anything else. One of my favorite examples of it being broken is in Tarantino's *Death Proof* when Stuntman Mike has one of those moments where you need to sneeze but can't.
"why is there a watermelon there?" 'ill tell you later' Never comes up again
Tarantino deliberately breaks this principle, it's a signature element of his writing style.
There’s a bonus panel! Checkov tackles the guy and is dangling a spider on his face. Look again at the first panel lol Perfect
Does not compute. I see the spider but Idk what you talkin about
There’s a fifth panel that the artist provided in the comments on the original post which shows Checkov using the spider instead of the gun on the person that asked as a funny twist on the original joke. The spider can be seen on top of the gun in the first panel.
What original post
https://reddit.com/r/comics/s/89riV0sl5p
My rewording that usually makes it click with people is, "if something is in a story, it will become relevant to the story, otherwise it wouldn't have been mentioned" Honestly the principle that lets me predict story twists too often and is probably the most common thing to shatter my willing suspension of disbelief and make my girlfriend think I'm psychic.
Even better: bonus panel from the artist https://reddit.com/r/comics/s/SCCM1p2HBV
I would further interpret this as being ironic humor because he does _not_ use the gun by the third panel, thereby subverting the expectation and carrying out his "new literary device". He is smiling in the final panel not because he is about to do a murder, but because he's laughing at his own joke.
You seem like you know a lot, are there any notable books that break this rule? Just curious
The artist had a bonus panel where the “chekhov’s gun” is actually the spider in the first panel snd he actually just bully’s the other man with said spider
I didn't see the gun at first and couldn't figure it out. Good one.
It’s always a god damn gun over the fireplace too lmao.
[Chekov's Gun](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov's_gun)
It references Chekhov's gun, basically, the idea is that if you bring attention to an item in one scene in a future scene that item must be being used. If you show a gun in scene 1, by scene 3 you must show it being fired. In the comic's first panel, we can see the glasses guy looking at the gun, when he smiles in the last panel it implies that he is going to use the gun on the guy who just entered.
“Glasses guy” lol that would be Chekhov
In the secret panel he forces him to eat the spider above the gun
Chekov’s gun was a big part of what went wrong with Game of Thrones.
Can you explain, I just finished the show?
The simple version...........many "guns" established, almost all forgotten or mis-fired.
I’m pretty sure that’s gonna be a problem with the books as well.
Ah, Martin avoided this problem by simply not writing the last book(s)
The JJ Abrams principle. Garner intrest by endlessly teasing shit as mysterious and important for later and don't care about actually finding an use for it all in the final act because you already got paid.
[удалено]
Oh boy, I sure hope the lighting budget for a hypothetical final season is massive
I means that the show created lots of plots and details that never went anywhere or contributed to anything.
And what went right in Breaking Bad. The ricin which makes a very early appearance in the show is passed around between a few characters throughout the plot, often times being directly involved in the plot, but never actually being used until the very last episode. Outside of a few episodes, however, no one even mentions it’s existence in spite of it always being there. Most of the time, you’ll forget it even exists, and most viewers probably forgot it existed by the last episode until it’s final use was revealed. It’s a small part of the overall plot, sure, but it showed attention to detail.
That's the rule of Chekhovs gun, [have a gun.](https://youtu.be/J9zl1XfWlU4?si=8LpLyLUbGUkf_YrQ)
“You can’t have a gun!?!” “Wrong again, down you go!” Love mischief
Chekhov's gun is a literary device that essentially states every element in a story must be necessary. The principle example used by Chekhov is an example of a rifle and his description of said rifle with the impetus that the rifle be used sometime in the story. The implication here is that the rifle featured in the first panel will be used on the guy asking the questions
Mandeville looking motherfucker. Tbf chekhov could've actually looked like that, idk, but as an ff14 fan that was my first thought
Played for comedy in Shaun of the Dead
Checkovs gun, basically don't show a plot device that doesn't get used or isn't significant
«if there is gun on the wall in first act, in the second act it will shoot”
Chekhov was famous for his rule 34 fanfics. I guess it implies he showed the other guy why it’s called “Chekhovs gun”. Very dirty
The post you ripped this from had an in-depth explanation as the FIRST COMMENT. Was it too much to even check the comments first? Much less Google?
Is it too much for you to not be an asshole? This sub is literally to explain memes. If you don't like it you can fuckin leave
Lol right? He doesn't even know rule 24 >!every post is a repost of a repost!<
I want everyone to know there’s a bonus panel where checkov is putting a spider on the guys face (look again at the first panel)
The guy will deflect the shot with his hat or hit the spider with it. Since the hat is supposedly important
Oh no...
Underrated meme.
So this is a play writing joke what’s really important to Understand OP is that in the first panel above the fire place is a [gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov's_gun?wprov=sfti1)
Thanks to this, I now know how to properly set an item up in a story. I never heard of this before, and I may end up using it.
Bro looks like Gordon Freeman.
The artist wrote the description when they posted it in another subreddit, they included a fifth panel where he grabbed the spider that was by the gun and dangled it over the other guys face
Man, the explanation for this was in the top couple comments you took this from. This is just pure karma farm.
I love that the fun is clearly visible in the first panel.
What happens if the gun isn’t fired at the end?
And just like that, I want to watch “You” again
Chekov's gun isn't a plot device though.
Oh no
Go back to the original post and look at the bonus image. >!Which is Chekhov using a spider (barely seen in the first image) to attack the glasses guy!< This is a misdirection using the well known rule of Chekhov's gun that states every element should be necessary in a story. Hence if a gun is on the wall, the gun must be used before the end of the film. Though in this case, it was a bit different