Chekhov's Gun
A dramatic principle stating that every element introduced in a story must be necessary and relevant to the narrative; irrelevant elements should be removed.
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Origin
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov articulated this principle in an 1889 letter to Aleksandr Lazarev: "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." He repeated the idea in various forms across letters and conversations through the 1890s, each time stressing economy in storytelling.
Updated February 22, 2026