Chekhov's gun

A literary element that, at first, seems to have no purpose but is later revealed to be important to the plot. This is commonly thought of as a parallel of foreshadowing, but it is more properly interpreted as "do not include any unnecessary elements in a story."

The return of Carmelita Spats in The Slippery Slope after her seemingly unnecessary appearance in The Austere Academy is an example of Chekhov's gun.

"One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." -Anton Chekhov

by Rising_Rose January 17, 2010

chekhov's gun

you better shoot that thang

Danny: oh hey a gun
Kurtis: well, you know what they say about chekhov's gun
both: you better shoot that thang

by squiddy_animations February 27, 2022

Chekov's Gun

The principle that every element introduced in a story should be necessary and used later.

"When it was said in Chapter one that Timmy's hamster used to only eat the tail fur of the Namaqua chameleon found in Southwestern areas of Namib desert. I knew it was Chekov's gun waiting to go off"

by DictionaryDecimator July 6, 2024

Chekov's Dehydration Gun

If something is introduced at the start of a movie/game/TV show/episode that can easily handle the main conflict, chances are that it will never be used for that purpose.

This is named after a massive freak out Schaffrillas Productions had in his "Megamind vs The Doom Syndicate" review after Megamind stops the Go Fish Gang using the Dehydration Gun, but he didn't use it on the titular Doom Syndicate, even though the plot would've been wrapped up much quicker with it.

"The movie never says that the villains' powers are preventing them from being stopped by a simple gun!" "That, sir, is what we call a Chekov's Dehydration Gun."

by CherryBlossom91 March 23, 2025