Arrows on Fire: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

This can also happen to ballista arrows, catapult rocks, and various other projectiles. Even if there is no [[Infernal Retaliation|sane reason]] for them to be on fire. [[Incendiary Exponent|Fire is just cool]]. [[Trick Arrow|Though arrows can still get even cooler,]] especially if shot en masse in a [[Rain of Arrows]].

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Slayers]]'': FLAAAAARE...ARROW!!!

== Comic Books ==

* Subverted in ''Troy'', where the Trojans use flaming arrows to set wooden boats on fire, then return to using conventional arrows to kill people. Also subverted in the actual Iliad, for the same reason -- they also used firebrands.

* One of the most famous shots of the movie ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'' was Kevin Costner's Robin letting fly with one of these in slow-mo.

{{quote| '''Villagers:''' "Leave us alone, Mel Brooks!"}}

* Done in ''[[Braveheart]]''. The night before the battle of Falkirk, Wallace's soldiers had coated the ground under the English army with pitch. He then used archers with lit arrows to light it and set many of the English troops on fire. How he knew ''exactly'' where they would be standing is another question. Other questions are why the English did not notice that the ground they were standing on was soaked with pitch and where did they get that large of a quantity of pitch? <ref>It was obviously a [[Just for Pun|pitched battle]].</ref>

{{quote| In the DVD extras, Ridley Scott said his use of flaming arrows was designed to invoke the images of tracer bullets from the footage of the Gulf War.}}

* King Arthur's troops made use of these in ''First Knight.'' Interestingly, the arrows appeared to use something like magnesium as the flammable agent, which, at least, [[Rule of Cool|looked cool.]]

* In Robert Asprin's ''[[Myth Adventures|Myth Conceptions]]'', the hero manages this by performing his most basic magic trick (lighting a candle by concentrating on a single point) and having his ally fire his arrows through that point. A little later when he gets ticked off, the archer asks him to calm down since his anger is almost burning up the arrows before they can hit their targets.

* ''[[Redwall|Mariel of Redwall]]'' features burning projectiles; the searats make "fire-swingers" to kill the defenders on the Abbey walls. A fire-swinger is a clump of cloth and dry grass wrapped around a rock on the end of a rope, which is set on fire and swung around as fast as the thrower can (very carefully, because swinging a burning object around is dangerous at best, particularly when you [[Talking Animal|have fur]]), then released. Apparently the range of fire-swingers is greater than that of slings or shortbows, though the Long Patrol hares get good results when they [[The Archer|retaliate with longbows.]]

* These are alluded to (but not shown) in the second book of Tamora Pierce's ''[[Tortall Universe|Protector of the Small]]'' series, exciting the trainees enough to make them improve with regular arrows. The trainer also points out that fire arrows fly differently from regular ones, which is why they have to get better before he will let them try them.

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In the ''Zelda'' series you can occasionally obtain fire arrows for your bow...as well as ice arrows that freeze enemies, light arrows that beat enemies in one hit, and, ahem, ''[[Trick Arrow|bomb arrows]]''. Most arrows are implied to be magical, but you can still set regular arrows on fire by shooting them trough burning torches.

* In the MMORPG ''[[City of Heroes]]'', one of the powers in the Archery powerset is a Blazing Arrow. This is not the [[Trick Arrow|strangest]].

* You can get these in the "Fable" series, if you use a Flame Augmentation on any bow.

** ''[[Age of Empires I (Video Game)|Age of Empires I]]'' - Archers have an upgrade which adds fire to projectile attacks, increasing their damage.

* The ''Battle for Middle-Earth'' plays this in a similar manner to the above. Fire Arrows, an upgrade for most archer units, adds a decent damage boost vs most normal units, and makes them much more effective vs buildings. It also allows them to cause damage to the wooden walls and gate of Rohan castle defenses. In BFME2 Men of the West keep fire arrows, but Elves get silverthorn blue-glowy arrows. Dwarves get axe throwers (upgraded by forged axes) ''and'' human archers of dale -- upgraded with fire arrows. All the bad guys get ''Orcfire'' arrows, because ''fire set by Orcs is just better.''

* In ''Rome: Total War'' and ''Medieval II: Total War'' archers can be told to light their arrows on fire. However, due to the ''[[Total War]]'' series being more of a realistic tactical simulator and less of your usual real-time strategy fare, flaming arrows in this game are less accurate and, on the whole, less damaging and take a lot longer to reload. The entire point of firing them is the psychological punch, as they deplete enemy morale like mad, often sending fearless spearmen running within a few volleys. Flaming catapult ammunition, on the other hand, is much more destructive (and utterly ruinous to morale), but again less accurate and slower to reload. Setting any projectile on fire also eats through the ammunition supply more quickly, so a unit of archers firing flaming arrows will probably only get off half the shots of their non-flaming counterparts over the course of a battle.<br />** The siege engines can fire rather ahistorical flaming/exploding projectiles. Flaming Arrows can also be used to set enemy siege equipment (such as siege towers or battering rams) on fire, which is a very important thing when you are defending a castle/town. And because of the importance of breaking enemy units' morale in the ''[[Total War]]'' series, units of archers with bows can actually become more useful than crossbowmen, who tend to deal more damage. Bow-wielding archers can set their arrows on fire, whereas crossbowmen can't, so the archers can do hefty damage to the enemy's morale even if they aren't killing very many of the enemy, which in turn can break the enemy unit much faster.

* In ''[[Heavenly Sword]]'' during the levels where you control Kai(well, starting with the second one where you control Kai) you can shoot an otherwise normal arrow through an open flame, resulting in a flaming arrow, useful for detonating explosives which are downrange from the flame source.

* ''[[Thief]]'' allowed you to purchase fire arrows. The arrows didn't actually burn (but rather had magical glowing crystals on them instead), and they exploded violently when they hit something. In a stealth game like ''Thief'', though, [[Awesome but Impractical|a weapon that makes a loud explosion isn't very practical (unless you're planning on using it as a distraction.)]] They are, however, the only weapons (save holy water and, in Deadly Shadows, flash bombs and land mines) that can kill zombies. They can also [[Mundane Utility|relight torches]]. The games also include three other elemental arrows as well.

* In ''[[Guild Wars]]'', being a skill-heavy game, rangers have different bow attacks that do can light a foe on fire, do a massive amount of fire damage in one hit, give all bow attacks a fire-damage bonus for a period of time, and do explosive damage that affects all nearby foes when a target is hit.

* In ''[[Mabinogi]]'', standing next to a campfire and drawing your arrow will cause the arrowhead to catch fire. This gives the arrow a damage bonus and fire element status. Also, landing 3 critical hits with this grants you the Fire Arrow title, which is needed in order to get the Arrow Revolver skill.

* In ''Stronghold'', braziers can be placed on castle walls. Archers firing from nearby will shoot flaming arrows which are more deadly to enemies and can also light pitch for further pyromania.

* In ''[[Patapon]]'', Yumipons (the archer units) can gain an upgrade for this, but you need wind and dry weather conditions for them to be the most effective.

* In ''[[The Lost Vikings]]'', some levels have a fire arrow item for Baleog. If he uses it, all arrows he shoots from then on will be on fire, and can take out otherwise invincible enemies.

* In ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'', all orcish archer units have an alternate ranged attack utilizing these, making them very effective against undead.

* The [[The Archer|Hunter class]], from ''[[Ghouls vs. Humans]]'', can use these; they do radius damage around themselves as they fly through the air, and explode on impact.

* In ''[[Minecraft]]'', firing an arrow through lava will set it ablaze in, and any mobs struck will burst into flames. A similar effect can be achieved by giving a bow the Flame enchantment.

* The Algerians in ''Cossacks: European Wars'' have a special Archer unit that fires flaming arrows that are used to set buildings and ships on fire. They're also available as mercenaries to other factions.

* [[The Elder Scrolls]] Skyrim allows you to enchant bows with fire, which while you don't see the arrow being on fire does set the enemy on fire for a little while.

** Some mods also add arrows that do this naturally.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* The nephews used charcoal-tipped fire arrows against [[Donald Duck]] during the snowball fight in "Snow Fight".