Video Game Items and Inventory

Tropes about things that a player can own, hold and use. If it goes in your bag or your pocket (or wherever the heck you put it), it goes here.

See Also:
 * Video Game Tropes
 * Role Playing Game Tropes
 * Guns and Gunplay Tropes
 * Weapons and Wielding Tropes

Tropes:

An item or event which increases the number of Video Game Lives the player will have to continue following death. Guns resemble real-life guns, but are given different names to avoid legal issues. ...because there might be an item there. Inventory items designed to be Not Completely Useless but have such specific uses that they become a waste of space. All of your weapons/items of a specific type will look and play identically. That nigh-imprenetrable shield or suit of armor that makes even the final boss struggle to hurt you. A small, mobile, unmanned weapon system sent out to do the fighting in place of its commander. A small, mobile, unmanned, usually unarmed robot that simply watches you. An item which can be attacked before picking up to modify its function in some way. An item or spell that is good in theory, but in practice the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. In Role Playing Games, an object which contains many other objects in Hammerspace. In Role Playing Games, there are many characters but they share one inventory. Items, skills and experience do not carry over to the sequel. A ridiculously big, flashy, overpowered gun. A ridiculously huge sword. Weapons that break after using them too much, becoming totally useless if there's no way to repair them. The game developers will sell you items or skills (for real money) to help you achieve your goals. Optional MacGuffins tucked away in Bonus Stages. Gotta Catch Them All! The challenge in developing games that allow you to use any item in your inventory on any other item, environmental object, character, or monster. A mundane, everyday item (e.g., a rope or a bottle) that is difficult to obtain for your inventory for some reason. That doohickey that the entire world is dependent on for its continued peaceful existence. Item Crafting + Flavor Text = Blatant Lies Pickups are volatile and can be accidentally destroyed by collateral damage. An exploit where a powerful item or technique is achieved early on in the game. Better-looking items, swords, guns and armors will be more powerful. The most important aspect of a piece of armor? What material it's made from! A powerful, unique weapon or ability suddenly obtained near the end of the game to help the hero get through the final challenges. A valuable inventory item which replenishes hit points. When you're out of ammo, all you've got left is a weak weapon with crummy range and infinite uses. Random Encounters aren't so random anymore when you use this. For avoiding those random encounters. You're willing to trade your issued weapons for the enemy's the first chance you get. Many players need a unique item to continue their quest, so infinitely clone the item so that everyone can win. Finding an unusable piece of equipment means that someone able to use it will join the party at some point. The emergency "Get Me The Hell Out Of This Battle Free" card. The emergency "Get Me The Hell Out Of This Dungeon Free" card. A weapon that gets stronger as you gain levels or kill things with it. A weapon that can only be found by searching the bodies of enemies. An item that increases the amount of Experience Points gained. Because barrels full of gunpowder or combustible toxic acid are an essential element in any interior or exterior furnishing, and make a great place for enemy guards to take their ten-minute breaks. An NPC demands that you hand over a useful item from your inventory. The ability to whip out a particular item out of seemingly nowhere, regardless of its size. There are virtually no limits to how many weapons, pieces of armor or other items you can have in your inventory — you can produce any one of them on demand. Liquid substance usually used as an Emergency Energy Tank. Weapons which heal you instead of killing you. A way to increase your Life Meter in Action Games or Action Adventure games. Healing items often are in the shape of hearts. A weapon that uses The Power of Good ... to inflict bodily harm. A ranged attack or projectile that seeks out targets so you don't have to. Equippable items which have effects you really wouldn't expect. Anything can be used as a weapon, regardless of what it is supposed to be. The ultimate sword. Period. The second-best thing, for those times where getting the Infinity Plus One Sword is just too plain hard. What everybody else thinks is the Infinity Plus One Sword — but isn't. Any key fits in any door, but as soon as you use the key, it (and sometimes the lock or door) will disappear. Games that limit how much inventory you can carry and force you to manage resources. You have a limited grid or space to fit items of various shapes and sizes. A Power-Up that makes the player invincible for a short period of time. It's dangerous to go alone... Here, Take this random item! You'll be glad you did. Creating your own items and equipment out of handy-dandy ingredients. Creating your own equipment based on standard parts and technologies to do anything you need it to do. Whenever even minor items are obtained, a big fanfare and flashy sequence plays. A weapon or object that is so ridiculously useless that you can't help smiling. An item that seems ridiculous at first, but has a hidden property that overshadows your other, more mundane items when used. Nobody complains or even seems to notice when you walk into their house, rummage through their cupboards, smash their clay pots, and otherwise take whatever isn't nailed down. When you must be mighty enough to equip a particular item. A collectible item which is, well, alive and walking around. An item so rare and powerful in MMORPGs that drama ensues over its possession. If you don't pick this item up at your first opportunity, you won't get another. Hope the item wasn't important. A universal hand tool whose user can magically fix any machine or structure simply by waving it at the target from close range. Games in which amassing money isn't very useful at some point. Increase the amount of or chances of loot you gain. Virtual taxes to reduce the ever-increasing supply of money in a MMORPG Any logically less-than-lethal weapon which ends up being otherwise just as effective as its "real" equivalent. The act of dishonorably acquiring items at the scene of a kill in an MMORPG. A Power-Up that makes you go really fast for a short period of time. Nothing will try, or be able, to kill you before you're armed and suited up. An item which is useless for 99% of the game but turns out to be one of the best ways to survive a certain sequence. Where enemies drop items that are actually its body parts. Collectibles in Platform Games have different weights and reward potentials. Collect enough MacGuffins and redeem them for one free climax! Something that's part of your menu or ability system which also features in the game's plot. An item that behaves like a Power-Up but has negative effects when used. Something which is found in the game environment that bestows an immediate benefit. A powerup that has an effect on other skills (making them more effective or lasting longer). A Power-Up presented as an edible item. A powerup or item that takes a lot of time to get and is extremely underwhelming and/or useless once you get it. Pulling in dropped items to the player. A Power-Up that yields temporary boost in speed, power, or damage for a character. A melee weapon that is activated by pressing a button, rather than switching to it. Usually seen in shooter games. Kill it, it might give you something useful. You have a 1 in 128,983,234 chance of getting the Infinity+1 Sword from that Metal Slime. Happy grinding! Enemies drop items that they could not plausibly have. Item that increases a character's level instantly. The purchase or sale of online game equipment, currency, or even powerleveling services for real money to a third party without the involvement of the game's publisher. Changing weapons without needing to pause for the menu or use power ups. Some item or equipment that reduces the magic points necessary to cast spells. Just because a BFG is fixed to the ground doesn't mean you can't take it with you. Sometimes a circle is the shortest path between two weapons. Something that increases your score. Weapon selections in games which forego historical accuracy in place of featuring cool or famous guns. Items which give off a pulsating light as their primary means of indicating their presence on screen. Video game shotguns pulverize targets at close range and tickle them from afar, a huge exaggeration of their real-life capabilities. A key that will open any and all doors or locks in a level/game. One step up from Interchangeable Antimatter Keys. A (consumable) item that resets a Player Character's skill and ability scores, allowing you to redistribute them. Kills all enemies on the screen for a brief breather. Bullet-shooting weapons in video games have similar range. A weapon that allows you to add abilities or statistics by use of slots or sockets to attach gems or similar. Annoying effect of having potentially great equipment stolen from you because the character wearing them is rendered inaccessible for some part of the game. You will acquire consistently more useful items and equipment as your progress through the game. An item, ability or spell that enables the player character to move faster. You got yer shotgun, yer sniper rifle, yer grenades and, when all else fails, yer CHAINSAW! We got potions, ethers, remedies and revives, and dang it if they aren't all the same color! A Plot Coupon shaped like a star — symmetrical, five-pointed and shiny. The equipment you begin the game with by default. Weapons equipped for their stat bonuses and not for their value as weapons. These are slots in your inventory that must always be filled. A sword that is important to the story, though usually not the best of its kind. Shopkeepers sell powerful and expensive equipment that you won't be able to afford until later in the game. It's so awesome, you don't want to use it because you're afraid of it not being there. The same bullets can be loaded into multiple types of guns. Enemies drop stuff that disappears instantly or is somehow incompatible with your hands. Items with Improbable Accessory Effects that unlock more of a character's potential. You can use the command "use sword". Nobody bothers asking what, exactly, that means. The developers include a weapon for the hero to use, but don't provide any enemies that are vulnerable to it. A weapon which is also used to bypass obsticles. An item that's useless for anything but selling for cash. Items or equipment that are used to solve puzzles and pass by obstacles. You start on your quest with the lowest-ranked equipment available, and nobody will give you the good stuff for free. A quick shortcut to enable rapid travel in an open-world setting, but usually only to places you've already been before.
 * One Up
 * AKA-47
 * Always Check Behind the Chair
 * Antidote Effect
 * All Swords Are the Same
 * Armor of Invincibility
 * Attack Drone
 * Surveillance Drone
 * Attackable Pickup
 * Awesome but Impractical
 * Bag of Holding
 * Bag of Sharing
 * Bag of Spilling
 * BFG
 * BFS
 * Breakable Weapons
 * Bribing Your Way to Victory
 * Chaos Emeralds
 * Combinatorial Explosion
 * Commonplace Rare
 * Cosmic Keystone
 * Day Old Legend
 * Destroyable Items
 * Disc One Nuke
 * Elaborate Equals Effective
 * Elemental Crafting
 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower
 * Emergency Energy Tank
 * Emergency Weapon
 * Encounter Bait
 * Encounter Repellant
 * The Enemy Weapons Are Better
 * Enough to Go Around
 * Equipment Spoiler
 * Escape Battle Technique
 * Escape Rope
 * Evolving Weapon
 * Exclusive Enemy Equipment
 * Experience Booster
 * Exploding Barrels
 * Give Me Your Inventory Item
 * Hammerspace
 * Hyperspace Arsenal
 * Healing Potion
 * Healing Shiv
 * Heart Container
 * Hearts Are Health
 * Holy Hand Grenade
 * Homing Projectile
 * Improbable Accessory Effect
 * Improbable Weapon User
 * Infinity+1 Sword
 * Infinity-1 Sword
 * Penultimate Weapon
 * Interchangeable Antimatter Keys
 * Inventory Management Puzzle
 * Grid Inventory
 * Invincibility Power-Up
 * It May Help You On Your Quest
 * Item Crafting
 * Design-It-Yourself Equipment
 * Item Get
 * Joke Item
 * Lethal Joke Item
 * Kleptomaniac Hero
 * Level-Locked Loot
 * Live Item
 * Loot Drama
 * Lost Forever
 * Magic Tool
 * Money for Nothing
 * Money Multiplier
 * Money Sink
 * Nerf Arm
 * Ninja Looting
 * Nitro Boost
 * Non Combatant Immunity
 * Not Completely Useless
 * Orbiting Particle Shield
 * Organ Drops
 * Pickup Hierarchy
 * Plot Coupon
 * Plot Coupon That Does Something
 * Poison Mushroom
 * Power-Up
 * Meta Powerup
 * Power-Up Food
 * Power-Up Letdown
 * Power-Up Magnet
 * Quad Damage
 * Quick Melee
 * Random Drop
 * Rare Random Drop
 * Impossible Item Drop
 * Rare Candy
 * Real Money Trade
 * Real Time Weapon Change
 * Reduced Mana Cost
 * Removable Turret Gun
 * Ring Menu
 * Score Multiplier
 * Selective Historical Armoury
 * Shiny Sense
 * Short-Range Shotgun
 * Single Use Shield
 * Skeleton Key
 * Skill Point Reset
 * Smart Bomb
 * Sniper Pistol
 * Socketed Equipment
 * So Long and Thanks For All The Gear
 * Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness
 * Sprint Shoes
 * Standard FPS Guns
 * Standard RPG Items
 * Star-Shaped Coupon
 * Starter Equipment
 * Stat Sticks
 * Stuck Items
 * Sword of Plot Advancement
 * Teaser Equipment
 * Too Awesome to Use
 * Universal Ammunition
 * Unusable Enemy Equipment
 * Upgrade Artifact
 * Use Item
 * Useless Item
 * Utility Weapon
 * Vendor Trash
 * Video Game Tools
 * With This Herring
 * Warp Whistle