Annoying Arrows: Difference between revisions

** The narrator points out the Genoese mercenary crossbowmen hired by the French were brutally lethal as well: they had the training and equipment to fire an arrow a hundred and fifty yard every ''seven and a half seconds'', and the ''[[wikipedia:Pavise|pavise]]'' they crouch behind renders them invulnerable save the ''exact moment they fire.''

*** The catch is that the damned things weigh around ''twenty pounds each'', meaning they're too heavy for a crossbowman to carry as part of his ruck while marching - they had to be brought to the battlefield by baggage train. And a good archer can fire a [[Trick Arrow]] ''two'' hundred and fifty yards every ''five'' seconds. Crossbowmen were meant to slaughter infantry, not exchange fire with people who can actually shoot ''back.''

* ''[[Elf Quest]]'' has a couple instances that qualify:

** One is when {{spoiler|Cutter}} gets skewered by a spear; his friend breaks the barbed end off and pulls the thing out (the battle is such that every fighter is needed, even if wounded). The wounded {{spoiler|Cutter}} fights on for a few minutes before collapsing and then nearly dies despite having a healer around to work on him magically.

** The hatred of archers was borne by the knights; nobility who would have 'gentlemen's agreements' with their opposite numbers to be ransomed in the event of defeat rather than slain. The archers, commoners to a man, held low opinions of their feudal overlords, cared little for their traditions and had no compunction in slaughtering wounded and captured knights.

** It's also Lampshaded in the second book, Vagabond, when a new archer and a veteran archer are mincing Scottish meat.

'''Veteran Archer:''' Only while the arrows last. Then it gets really hard. }}

* Averted in [[Robin Hobb]]'s ''[[Realm of the Elderlings|Farseer]]'' trilogy. Fitz is being hunted and gets hit in the back with an arrow and it nearly kills him. He nearly passes out from pain several times and spends weeks convalescing.

** Miss Kitty Fantastico. Something happened between her and Dawn's crossbow. It is [[Noodle Incident|not made clear]] but is implied to be really, really bad.

** In one episode, Giles is shot with a crossbow bolt at point blank range and proceeds to pull it out, stake a vampire with it, and limp to the hospital.

*** Though the accuracy of this trope would depend on exactly how much tweed...

*** Strong cloth has been historically used in a similar manner; Mongolians wore layers of strong silk that would sink to the wound along with the arrow, preventing the worst bleeding, and making the extraction safer and easier. Funny - apparently it's already on the page.

* From the Dungeon Siege series, it is normal for enemies to end up with 6, 8, even 10 arrows visibly pin-cushioning them, and they keep coming.

* Averted in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]''. In a game with no HP system where death is determined by [[Subsystem Damage|what body parts are mangled]], crossbow bolts (which have a very good chance of puncturing several organs at once, even through heavy armor) are powerful indeed.

** It helps that a single bolt [[Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics|can go through your brain, liver, both kidneys, right upper arm, and fourth left toe]]. [[Good Bad Bugs|Without hitting anything in between]]. And [[Automatic Crossbows|they fire like machine guns]].

** Crossbows have been nerfed in the 2010 version: low-skill users take a really long time to load, bolts can be blocked by shields or any weapon, plain wooden or bone bolts are now virtually useless except for training and hunting small game, and even steel ones will have trouble with high-quality plate armour. However, with the implementations of tracking damage down to the tissue layer the actual damage inflicted by a bolt or arrow can vary significantly: it may just tear the skin (apparently [[Paper Cutting|skimming the side of the target]]), stick in a wound but only cause pain and minor bleeding, tear muscles, organs, tendons, bones, arteries, or nerves, or in extremely rare cases '''[[Off with His Head|tear someone's entire head off.]]'''<br />The 2012 version of the game restored some power, making them better at armor penetration and harder to block with weapons or dodge.

* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'''s dad takes multiple arrows in the shoulders, legs and below the ribs when fighting Aku. This only enrages daddy, though, and you can guess what happens.

* A comedic example in ''[[Yellow Submarine]]''. During Ringo's accidental ejection into the Sea of Monsters, [[It Makes Sense in Context|a group of Injuns]] attack and fire at him with arrows. After being brought back to the submarine (with the help of the cavalry, no less!), Ringo merely plucks the arrows out of his chest.

'''Ringo''': [[A Worldwide Punomenon|(H)Arrowing]] }}