Frying Pan of Doom



""Let me stress that again: heavyweight. A thin-bottomed saucepan is useless for anything. (...) A proper saute pan should cause serious head injury if brought down hard against someone's skull. If you have any doubts about which will dent--the victim's head or your pan--then throw that pan right in the trash.""

- Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

Unlike many other Improbable Weapons, the frying pan could actually cause quite a bit of damage. One can assume that getting hit over the head with a slab of iron would at least cause a concussion. Indeed, the noble frying pan is a worthy melee weapon.

It should be mentioned that frying-pans-as-weapons are usually wielded by females, although the occasional chef may be found using it.

It should also be mentioned that wielding a typical cast iron skillet for any length of time, with any efficacy, would take considerable arm strength.

Just as it is in any good kitchen, this is an absolute staple of slapstick comedy. In some cases, it might also be considered the Western counterpart of the Hyperspace Mallet. May be found in the arsenal of the Chef of Iron.

Closely related to Rolling Pin of Doom.

See also Tap on the Head.

Anime and Manga

 * Chi-Chi from Dragon Ball. The extent to which it's used, however, is significantly overstated by Fanon.
 * A Running Gag in Martian Successor Nadesico, started by the chef main character, has various human baddies taken out by a sneak attack with a frying pan. Oddly, they seem more effective than the machine guns.
 * In Axis Powers Hetalia, this is Hungary's other Weapon of Choice, aside of her spear. Specially when around France, and maybe Prussia.
 * In the anime, China owns a wok of doom.
 * Played straight with a twist in Fairy Tail, when Natsu battles a mercenary whose weapon of choice is a gigantic, magic frying pan.
 * Ranma ½: One of the many blunt objects Akane introduces to Ranma's skull. Used deliberately in a later story arc: when facing the fire-breathing Rouge (in her Asura form,) Ranma and Pantyhose Tarou arm themselves with griddles, pans, pots, and other kitchen utensils that they can use as shields. After Tarou punches Ranma high above the flying Rouge, Ranma comes down on top of her to deliver an overhead frying-pan smash to one of her heads.
 * The Frying Pan of Doom becomes Shinobu's weapon of choice in Love Hina. Fitting, since she is the resident chef of Hinata House. And yes, in the manga at least, she ends up smacking Keitaro with it at least twice. When he isn't being smacked around by Naru's fist or Kaolla's feet.
 * Ataru from Urusei Yatsura becomes quite proficient with a frying pan. Which he uses both to block Jariten's flame breath and to bat the floating brat into next week (or off some combo of walls floor and ceiling). There's also one Pet the Dog moment when Jariten tries to get a mothers day carnation for his mother, but winds up being delayed so that she's just left when he gets back. Ataru promptly uses his frying pan to smack him in a trajectory that lands him right on his mother's bike.
 * Tamako in Kemeko Deluxe! wields a mean frying pan against Kemeko.
 * Rain in Immortal Rain attempts this, but doesn't hurt anyone.
 * In the Riding Bean OAV, it takes a frying pan (hot off the stove with eggs still sizzling in it) to awaken Bean Bandit from his slumber. Note that he slept through a stun-gun to the neck (or rather, his eyes shot open, then closed again) immediately before this.
 * Jun from Working!! uses one when Souma gets on his nerves. Which is often.
 * Played with in Et Cetera where Ming-Chao has arguably a wok of doom which can be used as anything from a weapon to a lifeboat to a shield capable of repelling bullets (to some extent).
 * Mana from Dragon Half frequently uses a frying pan to rein in her perv of a husband.

Card Games

 * In Ninja Burger, one of the combat boosting items you can get is the spatula, which is as deadly as the Ninja Burger Official Wakazashi. Also, a training card "Wok the Casbah" shows a ninja dual wielding ironcast woks on top of the Casbah.
 * The The Lord of the Rings TCG made a card out of the frying pan used by Sam in the movie (see Film). In-game, it could be used to do direct damage to any orcs the wielder was fighting. Because you could give it to any hobbit you wanted (including Frodo, who for a while was a necessity in every deck), it ended up banned because it made orc-based decks much less effective.

Comic Books

 * Getting older, The DCU's Ma "Original Red Tornado" Hunkel has been known to administer a beatdown with one of these.
 * In an issue of Black Panther, Storm's American grandmother knocked out a HYDRA agent with one of these, while grandpa took on several more in the living room. They were actually disappointed by the low turnout, saying "HYDRA played us soft just because we're old."
 * Batman once used a frying pan to beat up a ninja and block another ninja's shuriken.

Film
"Sam: I think I'm getting the hang of this..."
 * Exaggerated in Tangled, where a frying pan is more effective than a sword in a fight, and becomes the palace guard weapon as a result. Bonus points for averting Always Female.
 * In the movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Sam takes down a few goblins in Moria with his trusty frying pan.

"Momma: Who the hell is this? Owen: Oh, this is Cousin Paddy. He's coming to stay with us a while. Isn't that nice? Momma: [suspiciously] We don't have a "Cousin Paddy". Owen: [to Larry] You lied to me! Wham!"
 * The primary weapon used in Eating Raoul. Bong!
 * In Raiders of the Lost Ark, during the battle in the streets of Cairo, Marion takes out an assailant with a handy frying pan. It's such a memorable moment that the Marion action figure in the new line comes with a frying pan. The stunt show at Disney's Hollywood Studios features this as well, with Marion using a frying pan on the roof of a building to knock back a Mook on a ladder, though her backswing hits Indy as well.
 * In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, one of Max's young "followers" wields a metal frying pan during the final chase scene.
 * In the movie Thursday, the protagonist gets bound to a chair in his own kitchen. He manages to free himself while alone in the room, grabs a frying pan, and sits back down in the chair with it held behind his back as the villain who was going to torture him returns. And proceeds to berate himself for not grabbing the hidden gun nearby instead.
 * Hilariously used in Throw Momma from the Train between Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal.

"Josephine: "Who says I can't use a skillet?""
 * Hilariously averted in Hancock when the titular hero attempts to prove a point. When trying to get answers from  he manages to bend a barbecue fork in her back, shatter a rolling pin over her head and finally attempts to smash two frying pans on her head. She manages to stop him in time, though it is unlikely the frying pans would have had any physical effect, aside from Cross-Popping Veins.
 * In one scene in The Great Dictator, a Mook gets knocked out with a frying pan.
 * UHF: "Hey, Bobbo, look up! Now look down! Now look at Mister Frying Pan!" clang "Uh-oh! Bobbo fall down; go boom."
 * In the special features commentary, Al describes that he accidentally hit the actor portraying Bobbo VERY hard with the skillet; the pain and utter aggravation he exhibits is pure reaction TO BEING HIT WITH A FRYING PAN.
 * Used during a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown in a kitchen in the James Bond film The Living Daylights, both a straight example and a variant; a thrown saucepan full of boiling water.
 * In one of the more graphic scenes in Chocolat, a drunken Serge breaks into Vianne's flat to try and get his wife Josephine back. He ends up assaulting Vianne, until Josephine sneaks up behind them and bangs the frying pan on Serge's head.


 * In Dog Soldiers, one of the men beats a werewolf near to death with a skillet while screaming bloody murder. Unfortunately, another one comes and knocks it out of his hand.
 * In Fatal Instinct, Laura Lincolnberry uses one to give her ex-husband a Tap on the Head.
 * Fried Green Tomatoes: shows up as a murder weapon.
 * On Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Jessica knocks Roger cold with a frying pan...but only because she didn't want him to get hurt. Bonus points for her putting it inside her tiny handbag afterwards.
 * A Super Bowl commercial for Kung Fu Panda 2 called "We Will Wok You" shows Po using two woks to beat a bunch of wolf thugs with "We Will Rock You" by Queen playing. Woks are technically giant Chinese frying pans.
 * One of the killers is beat to near-death with one in Motor Home Massacre.
 * Johnny Depp's cameo in Freddys Dead the Final Nightmare involves him being whacked in the face with the frying pan during a "This Is Your Brain On Drugs" commercial.

Literature

 * Short story Utensile Strength by Patricia C. Wrede, part of her Enchanted Forest Chronicles, centered around what to do with "The Frying Pan of Doom".  The pan is usually so hot that whoever holds it must wear an oven mitt; only its Rightful Wielder can hold it bare-handed.
 * In the Discworld book The Wee Free Men, Tiffany uses a cast-iron skillet as a weapon on her journey with the Feegles to Fairy Land (justified, because elves and other creatures of Fairy Land can't stand Cold Iron).
 * Tika's most prominent scene in the Dragonlance Chronicles has her bashing a draconian in the head with a cast-iron skillet. The skillet was listed in her equipment (1d8 damage) in a version of the campaign modules on which the novels were based. In the 15th anniversary edition of the trilogy (The Annotated Chronicles), Tracy Hickman notes that Tika had a special weapon specialization, known as "Skillet Bashing", which gave several benefits when wielding a skillet.
 * In 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, this makes Tika's skillet as deadly as a longsword.
 * Harry Potter
 * Aunt Petunia attempts to hit Harry with a frying pan in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, but he dodges it.
 * The house elves use them against the Death Eaters along with other cooking implements in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.
 * In the seventh Harry Potter book, Kreacher gives Mundungus a much deserved bang on the head with a copper saucepan.
 * Frank Bennett is killed with a single blow to the head by a large cast-iron skillet in the book and movie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. In the book, he's nailed in the back of the head; in the film, he's hit in the face.
 * An example from TKKG, the popular series of kids novels in German-speaking countries: Gaby uses it on one of her kidnappers.
 * One of several improvised weapons used in an effort to disable the crazed maitre d' in Stephen King's short story Lunch at the Gotham Cafe (found in the collection Everything's Eventual).
 * Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer's joint story "Agnes and the Hitman" features a heroine who has a notorious habit of hitting men (particularly cheating boyfriends) over the head with frying pans. It is hilariously alluded to throughout the book from the first chapter - when she accidentally kills a dognapper by hitting him repeatedly with a frying pan, sending him hurtling backwards into a hidden basement - onwards. She even notes the differences in damage between frying pans ("It was nonstick, not cast iron, so he shouldn't even need a plate in his head!")
 * The opening chapter of Remote Man has Janet smashing a TV with a frying pan, the first indication we get of her nervous breakdown.
 * In Anne Bishop 's Black Jewels series, a woman throws a pot at her employer during her "moontime." He then takes several of her cooking implements outside to throw around. She thinks that the Proud Warrior Race Guy is just taking out his anger on things other than her. Turns out he's trying to figure out which of them would make the best weapon for her, then trains her to be literally lethal with a frying pan.
 * As a result of that training, the rather gentle, caring, and sweet female character declares that she can break bone nine times out of ten when she throws a skillet at someone.
 * In Dan Wells's Mr. Monster John Cleaver knocks out with a frying pan. In this case, there is no levity in the use of a frying pan.
 * In The Pinballs, Carlie's backstory involves a violent stepfather who all but killed her with his bare hands and it is implied she only survived thanks to a frying pan.
 * Jemimah uses one against El Feo in Rapture Of The Deep.
 * Dean, Garrett's live-in housekeeper and cook, whacks the spy Lurking Felhske on the noggin with a skillet in Cruel Zinc Melodies.
 * An early victim in Friday the 13 th: Carnival of Maniacs tries to fight Jason off with a big iron skillet, to no avail.
 * John Irving's "Last Night in Twisted River" has a few of these: The cook, Dominic, is rumored to once have hit a bear with his 18-inch cast-iron skillet to get it out of his kitchen . His son Daniel later uses the skillet as a weapon against what he believes to be a bear mauling his father,.

Live-Action TV

 * Boston Legal — Bernard Ferrion killed his mother by hitting her in the head with a skillet, and later killed his neighbor the same way when he thought she was had found out about the first murder. It then showed up again when Bernard himself was killed the same way by Betty White, after he said that he wanted to kill again.
 * Kel in Kenan and Kel use one to take down a thug. And Kenan. And Kenan's parents. And a police officer.
 * An early episode of Six Feet Under, the "Death of the Week" is provided by a woman killing her husband with one just t stop him talking about nothing.
 * In Dinosaurs, the baby repeatedly beats Earl over the head with a frying pan, all the while shouting, "Not the mama! Not the mama!"
 * A non-comic example occurred in Eastenders with the death of popular, long-running character Pauline Fowler. After several months of leading viewers on a wild goose chase as to who her killer was, it emerged that she died from a brain hemorrhage after being hit on the head with a frying pan by husband Joe.
 * Which is a Continuity Nod to a 1993 storyline where Pauline discovered her then-husband Arthur had been having an affair. The ensuing argument saw Pauline whack Arthur with a frying pan; unlike Joe's attack on Pauline, this was shown on-screen (3'53" in).
 * On Friends Chandler and Joey prepare for the arrival of Joey's Stalker with a Crush. Joey grabs a heavy frying pan. Chandler balks at this, suggesting a back-up plan "in case she isn't a cartoon!"
 * Another time Monica and Phoebe are screaming because of leg-waxing strips. Joey and Chandler run in holding a pot and a tea kettle respectively.
 * In the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "A Day In The Life", Xena fends off an attack by some bad guys with a frying pan. This leads to Gabrielle scolding her about ruining their only good pan.
 * In an episode of Fawlty Towers, Basil Fawlty brains Manuel with a frying pan after mistaking him for a burglar. According to The Other Wiki, Cleese used an real metal frying pan instead of a rubber one, and actually knocked Andrew Sachs (Manuel) unconscious.
 * And according to the documentary, the sound you hear when Basil hits Manuel on the head with a frying pan is him actually hitting Manuel. Not a good sound and shows how this trope actually can be Truth in Television.
 * Ellie Bartowski manages to knock out John Casey with two blows of a frying pan in one episode of Chuck. Later on, she also uses a frying pan on Daniel Shaw.
 * Anya takes out at least one of the Knights of Byzantium with a frying pan in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Spiral. A much more serious example—in his vision of their future together, Xander hits Anya in the head with a skillet after she chews him out for being such a terrible husband.
 * And Buffy takes out Ted with the same cast-iron skillet he made those damn mini-pizzas with!
 * Dexter. Dexter uses one to knock Rita's ex-husband unconscious after he makes one threat too many. Dexter then
 * A regular fixture of Carry On films.
 * Frequently used by Reeves and Mortimer, especially in Shooting Stars.
 * On the You Can't Do That on Television episode about bullying, Barth hits Zilch on the head with a frying pan several times.
 * Subverted in Lie to Me: When attacked in her kitchen, Gillian grabs a frying pan and hits one of the attackers with it—only for it to make a little "ding" sound and the mook to tackle her to the ground.
 * Lost in Space. Judy Robinson wields one in "Welcome Stranger", knocking Jimmy Hapgood out during his fight with Don. As a Call Back in the season two episode "A Visit To Hades", she tries this again with a pipe, only this time she hits Don instead of the guy he's scuffling with.

Professional Wrestling

 * In an ECW match between Cactus Jack and the Sandman, Jack grabbed a frying pan from ringside, fully expecting it to be a light aluminum pan bought from the dollar store next to the arena. It was cast-iron. According to Mick Foley, Sandman's brains didn't unscramble for two weeks.
 * This was back in the days of fans bringing their own weapons to the arena for the wrestlers to use on one another. Immediately following this match, ECW stopped allowing it.
 * At WWE Wrestlemania X-8, Mighty Molly turned on her partner The Hurricane by hitting him with a frying pan and pinning him to win the Hardcore Title.
 * In one storyline, Chyna (who was being considered the ultimate feminist) had entered a feud with Jeff Jarrett (who had adopted a misogynist Stay in the Kitchen mentality.) They decided to run with it and booked WWE's only "Good Housekeeping" match, where the area around the ring was littered with household objects. In her autobiography, there's a photo of Chyna bringing a frying pan down hard on Jarrett's head.

Music

 * They Might Be Giants, with Particle Man: "Person Man, Person Man, Hit on the head with a frying pan..."

Radio

 * The Stephanie Miller Show has voice impressionist Jim Ward portray former president Bill Clinton's reaction to titillating news stories of the day. Then his wife hits him with a frying pan after the inevitable innuendo. Mind you, this is a liberal radio show.

Stand Up Comedy

 * Eddie Izzard: Part of the "Heimlich Gesture", along with being thumped in the stomach and kneed in the bollocks.

Tabletop Games

 * A classic story passed around in role-playing circles tells of the Dungeon Master who has a monster attack his players that can only be harmed with magic weapons, knowing that they have no such weapons in stock. Instead of fleeing like they were supposed to, one of the characters picks up the only magic item the party has, a self-heating frying pan the DM had previously given them as gag treasure. The character defeats the monster and the player goes on to build the character around frying-pan battle techniques.

Video Games

 * Linear Cannon (yes, her name really is Linear Cannon) uses one in Evolution Worlds.
 * Iksei of Atelier Rorona. Since he actually is a cook and runs a cafe, he can be literally considered a Chef of Iron.
 * This was the best weapon for Peach in Super Mario RPG. She also uses it in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. It make a hilariously satisfying whang! sound when it connects, too.
 * Frying pans are the recurring weapon of choice for the female leads of the MOTHER trilogy. They were the sole weapons available to Ana in MOTHER and Paula in EarthBound. Kumatora can use a Fake Frying Pan late in Mother 3, but they're not her primary weapon type.
 * After the treasure hunting quest chain Fable I, the prize is a frying pan, which has several augmentation slots.
 * It's an amazingly powerful anti-zombie weapon in Dead Rising. You can smackdown a decent number of zombies with it ordinarily, but For Massive Damage, use the pan with a handy stove, to create a Red-Hot Frying Pan - which you can then use to toast the zombies' faces! One-hit knockout against any zombie, while also looking hilarious.
 * The Chef class in Makai Kingdom uses Frying Pans as one of their preferred weapons. They're a pretty rare find, as they only show up in mid-to-high level random dungeons.
 * A variation is in Final Fantasy IX. A chef wants to use his frying pan as a hammer to help rebuild, but he's told his work is just as valuable making sure everyone else is fed and healthy, so they can rebuild.
 * An entire sidequest in Phantasy Star Online involves a club of weapon enthusiasts talking about the ultimate weapon, which turns out to be the frying pan of the club's president's wife. Amazingly enough, it's actually more effective than some of the real weapons you usually get around that time.
 * Conker's main weapon in Conker's Bad Fur Day. The remake gave him a baseball bat.
 * Lilith Aileron in Tales of Destiny. Used to devastating effect in the attacks "Shisha no mezame" (waking the dead, with sound waves!) and Steak Flare (though not directly). It is at least as painful as it sounds.
 * Patty Fleur in the Play Station 3 remake of Tales of Vesperia uses a frying pan for her Little Big Chef and Fire Big Chef artes. She only smacks them over the head with it for the former attack, though, and only if she's using certain attack styles. This is somehow just as capable of producing dishes as the other variants of the attack that actually look as though she's preparing food with the pan.
 * In Chrono Cross, several characters use various cooking utensils as weapons, the strongest of which is a frying pan made of Rainbow Shell. Combined with a battle system that utilizes stringing weak-fierce blows together, this leads to, among things, an unassuming village girl unleashing a rapid-fire, martial arts Spam Attack with her trusty frying pan.
 * Evolution: The World of Sacred Device has one of the main characters, Linear, use a frying pan as her main weapon. What is odd is that they are exploring ancient ruins, yet she keeps finding upgrades for her weapon. Surely the ancients had some really tough eggs to fry.
 * Sauceror characters in Kingdom of Loathing start out with a saucepan as a weapon.
 * In Evergrace (by the makers of Armored Core), you not only get a frying pan for Sharline, but the first upgrade adds a pair of eggs, and the second adds a strip of bacon to make a happy breakfast plate. Upgrades add enormous bashing damage (though not as good as the monstrous hammers) and fire attacks.
 * In a rather weird and somewhat different usage of the Frying Pan O fDoom, but not as a hand held weapon, you've got the Evil Chef boss in Wario Land: Shake It!, Large Fry. He actually rides around in a frying pan as some kind of flying device, uses it to charge at Wario for one attack and slam into the ground from above the screen in another attack, and uses said improbable weapon in quite possibly an evil more improbable way than most.
 * Occurs in Sword of Vermillion, if the hero refuses to go save a woman's husband.
 * A decent Chef weapon in Contact, though the carving knives are better.
 * Suikoden has Hai Yo, a chef who fights with a Wok and frying pan. He can be turned into a game breaker.
 * Hisui wields a pan, in addition to several other cooking (and cleaning) implements, in Melty Blood. Pishi!
 * When you play as Sam in one of the The Lord of the Rings tie-in RPGs, one of your abilities uses a frying pan that has a stun effect.
 * The Frying Pan is one of the melee weapons in Left 4 Dead 2, and is the source of the above image.
 * In a promotion for a Left 4 Dead DLC, the Frying Pan was added to Valve's other hugely popular multiplayer game Team Fortress 2 as a cosmetic change to the Soldier's shovel and the Demoman's bottle.
 * The Frying Pan reached memetic status as part of the "Demopan", a fan-made parody of the many, many promotional items of Team Fortress 2. The noise it makes on a hit is often considered the Most Annoying Sound.
 * Even better, now the Frying Pan can be equipped by every class except the Spy and the Engineer. Considering that using the Scout's bat is one of the most annoying things to be hit with, you can only imagine how much people started to use the Frying Pan as the Scout just to cause the Most Annoying Sound.
 * In Final Fantasy IV, Yang's Wife (later named Sheila in The After Years) gives the heroes a frying pan with which to hit Yang, and doing so cures his memory loss. It's hinted that this is because it reminded him of the many times it apparently happened before. It's even hinted that she shows her love with physical violence in the Japanese version, where the item is actually called the "Frying Pan of Love". The "Frying Pan of Love" returns with a ladle (meant for Yang and Sheila's daughter, Ursula) in The After Years. After Yang and Ursula take their beatings, they groggily mumble as though waking up, clearly believing that Sheila was the one who hit them. Luca is left utterly dumbfounded.
 * One of the costume objects in LittleBigPlanet is a frying pan. If you try to do a Sackboy Slap while holding it, you get the expected sound. It's also supposed to knock the target further than a standard slap.
 * One of the many melee weapons available in Zombie Panic! is a frying pan. On a similar note, another is a cooking pot.
 * In Champions of Norrath, one might be able to deliver melee blows with The Scrambler.
 * One of Miyu's weapon lines in Trinity Universe is an over-sized Phrying Pann.
 * Your main method of attack in non-Japanese versions of Panic Restaurant is a frying pan.
 * Frying pans are a weapon in the Snowboard Kids series. They are launched into the air rather than swung and will hit all other racers (unless they're made immune in some way, such as invisibility), flattening them and bringing their forward momentum to a screeching halt. Anyone in midair, such as when going off a jump or doing a trick, when hit by the frying pan, will plummet straight down. Disastrous over a Bottomless Pit.
 * Tia of Lufia II uses frying pans as her Weapon of Choice.
 * In Attack of the Mutant Penguins, a frying pan is Bernard's main weapon.
 * Bud from Legend of Mana uses his mother's frying pan as his preferred weapon. The game treats it as a two handed sword.

Web Comics
"Marie: And now I'd like you to convince me you're not out to hurt Agatha. Wooster: Or you'll hit me with the frying pan? (Given he's sporting new bandages and bruises in his next appearance, it was not an either/or situation.)"
 * Parodying Final Fantasy IV, Yang's Wife in Captain SNES believes that any status effect can be cured by being hit over the head with her frying pan.
 * As demonstrated in Girl Genius, the best weapon is the one you don't use.
 * Later, the pan makes another appearance:


 * This strip from The Devils Panties. Comes with a side of Good Angel, Bad Angel.
 * Done in Questionable Content by Marten to a couple of Badass kung-fu monks. Yes, you read that correctly.
 * Kyo'nne of Drowtales pulls this offscreen when a halme sneaks up on her to hilarious effect
 * Invoked in Mac Hall.
 * Also invoked in Nip & Tuck.
 * Then again, the pig was being a jerkass.

Web Original

 * Kate knocks out Steve with a frying pan in the Kate Modern episode "Ding Dong".
 * Being hit with a frying pan is the usual form of dismissal in the Boleg Bros Lego Apprentice parodies.
 * Hillary Clinton uses one to hit Bill with in the JibJab video "Time For Some Campaignin'"
 * A character in CAPOW uses a Frying Pan Of Heaven. Luckily for the rest of the cast she's a staunch Pacifist who only uses it to fix glitchy code in the World Tree, and the planned storyline where The End of the World as We Know It hits and her optimism gets broken in the worst possible way never came to full fruition.
 * In this CGI-Lego recreation of 'The Apprentice, each fired contestant is shown the door by way of a frying pan.
 * In the Homestar Runner short "Bug in Mouth Disease", Strong Bad knocks Homestar out with a skillet when he's watching Caleb Rentpayer.
 * And it's an Offhand Backhand too.
 * Rhia, from the Anti Cliche and Mary Sue Elimination Society uses a frying pan as her Weapon of Choice.

Western Animation
"Frying pans! Who knew, right?"
 * Weapon of choice for Irma, April O'Neil's dowdy coworker in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She nearly brains Donatello before she realizes who it is.
 * During Huey and Riley's fight in The Boondocks episode "Let's nab Oprah!", Riley first pulls out a frying pan from his pants (and later produces a gun from there as well), while Huey fends him off with a katana. As the fight moves into the kitchen area, Huey uses a frying pan that's lying around to knock Riley down.
 * Wilma from The Flintstones
 * Family Guy. Peter invents an antidote for frying pans to the head. It doesn't work.
 * Chris Total Drama World Tour hits Owen over the head with a Frying Pan of Doom whenever he freaks due to his fear of flying.
 * In the Wacky Races episode "Idaho a Go Go", Dastardly lures Penelope Pitstop into a Red Riding Hood scenario, with Muttley as the wolf. Except that Penelope's an Action Girl, so rather than hide from the wolf, she clobbers him with a frying pan. When the real wolf shows up, he doesn't fare any better.
 * Tangled has one of these. It's the signature weapon of Rapunzel (well, besides her hair), and early in the film she knocks out Flynn at least three times with it. Later Flynn has a swordfight with Maximus — Flynn using the frying pan, while Maximus uses the sword. Maximus is a horse.


 * It is also her Weapon of Choice in Wreck it Ralph 2: Ralph Wrecks the Internet.
 * The My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" has the cake-guarding Pinkie Pie taken out with one by an elderly ninja lady in one of Pinkie's Imagine Spots.

Real Life

 * Richard the Lionheart is reputed to have died after being called out of his tent to come see an enemy mook using a frying pan as a shield. The actual cause of death was being shot by crossbow though.
 * Some versions claim that the lethal bolt was fired from the crossbow of the man with the frying pan. Lucky shot indeed.
 * As mentioned on the trope page; this trope is often seen because yes, Frying Pans can be pretty heavy and several people had used them as makeshift weapons in self-defense.
 * Adding to that, if the frying pan has been recently used, it could also be RED-HOT while it's being slung around.
 * Not to mention it could be full of equally SCALDINGLY HOT oil, making it capable of doing copious amounts of damage (to the wielder as well, if not careful) even on a complete miss.
 * As the page quote shows, Anthony Bourdain once wrote that if upon hefting a frying pan, if you have any doubt whether when brought down on someone's head the pan or the head would dent, throw it away.

Frying pans... who knew, right?