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{{trope}}
Many games rely on the concept of [[Evolving Weapon]], alias weapons that can be upgraded and get stronger. Sometimes, they not only get more powerful, but they also becomes fancier and more elaborate, usually to show better how they improved. Alternatively, the weapons you pick up becomes more and more elaborated as you proceed in your quest/in the game, again in order to underline their greater power. It probably makes sense, as a [[Katanas Are Just Better|beautifully decorated katana with a runic blade]] is far more appealing than a simple iron shortsword.
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Furthermore in some cases not only weapons but also armor pieces and other items will be subjected to this trope. May also be stretched to various [[Mooks]] who gets better-looking equipment as they get stronger and stronger.
Don't confuse with [[Evolving Weapon]] or [[Rube Goldberg Device]]. See also [[Ace Custom]].
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
* Shown above in ''[[Alice Madness Returns]]'', where unlike the previous game her weapons can now evolve and get a better design. There's also a secret downloadable weapon with a different design for each one of them.▼
== Advertising ==
*
== Film ==
* The Zorg ZF-1 in ''[[The Fifth Element]].''▼
== Video Games ==
▲* Shown above in ''[[Alice: Madness Returns]]'', where unlike the previous game her weapons can now evolve and get a better design. There's also a secret downloadable weapon with a different design for each one of them.
* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' has this, with the various weapons becoming bigger and more decorated as they're aquired.
* ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'' follows a similar concept: the stronger the weapon, the more elaborated it will be.
*
** Furthermore, the manga of the first game has this: Yukimura, Shingen, Mitsuhide and Nouhime are seen using more and more elaborated weapons token from the actual game.
* In ''[[God of War (
* ''[[
* All your arsenal in ''[[Ratchet: Deadlocked]]'' will improve in both strength and design, but only up to level 10.
* Several weapons from ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series. A standard iron or steel weapon will invariably be less powerful than the [[Power Glows|iridescent green glass weapons]], the [[Bling of War|gold-inlaid ebony weapons]], or the [[Spikes of Villainy|spiky]], [[Good Colors, Evil Colors|dark-grey-and-red]] [[Evil Weapon|Daedric weapons.]] Daedric artifacts are often, [[Excalibur in
* Used in the first three ''[[Onimusha]]'' games with the main weapons. The fourth game avert this, as the weapon design is unchanged.
* ''[[Drakengard]]'' has the weapons become more elaborated as they level up.
* Not exactly a weapon example, but many military units from ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'' becomes more and more detailed and well-armed as they gain levels.
* In ''[[Prince of Persia|Prince of Persia: Sands of Time]]'' the main swords used by the prince gets more and more elaborated, starting from a boring palace sword and ending up with the royal [[Infinity
* From ''[[
▲* Not exactly ingame, but those ads for ''[[Urban Rivals]]'' that show the character going from vaguely [[Harry Potter]]-esque [http://urban-rivals.wikia.com/wiki/Kenny#Pictures mage to firebird-with-a-sword] might count, there's also a thin redhead soldier gaining muscles and facial hair until he has a giant beard and flamethrower bagpipes.
* Subverted in ''[[
▲* From ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' the Engineer's Sentry Gun and Dispenser are the most obvious, and all of the pick-upable and craftable weapons are more decorative than usual.
▲* Subverted in ''[[Dragon Quest VIII (Video Game)|Dragon Quest VIII]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest IX|IX]]'': some weapons can be upgraded in their "super" form (for example the [[Holy Hand Grenade|Zombie Killer]] becomes the Zombie Buster and so on). However, the upgraded weapon looks just like the original, or it gets a different color pattern.
* In ''[[Jazz Jackrabbit]] 2'' all your ammo (except for the [[Shock and Awe|electrical gun]]) can be upgraded if you break the right crate. The new ammo is more powerful and looks a little better in design.
* Non [[Video Game]] example: In [[Real Life]] this is partially played straight: Just compare a stone age spear to a medieval ranseur, or a bronze age sword with a Sengoku-period Katana, or a blunderbuss to a modern rifle. Of course, this can also lead to cases of [[Awesome but Impractical]] weapons if they get too much elaborated.▼
** Before the industrial era form and function tended to go hand in hand with form often leading as development was funded by noblemen without scientific backgrounds, who needed new weapons to ''look'' dangerous before agreeing to an investment. Once mass production and optimization became important the decorations disappeared very quickly.▼
▲* The Zorg ZF-1 in ''[[The Fifth Element]].''
* Parodied in the [[Web Comic]] ''[[Rusty and Co (Webcomic)|Rusty and Co]]'': The +1 Trident is actually a rake.▼
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' more powerful weapons tend to be more exotic-looking and elaborated. The same goes for armors and shoulderpads, often to a ridicolous extent.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'' is about the creation of the Master Sword. You start with the basic Goddess Sword, and throughout the game it gets refined by three sacred flames, evolving each time, until it eventually ends with the Master Sword.
* Seen in ''[[
* Mortal soldiers from ''[[
* An old Civ style space game, ''Spaceward Ho'' includes designing your own ships. The various aspects of the ship (speed, gunpower, etc) are scalable and the higher the number, the more awesome the ship ends up looking.
* In ''[[Titan Quest]]'' this is applied mainly with the armor, shields and helmets of various kinds. For example the stronger version of the Corinthian Helmet (a typical greek helm) is the same helmet but now bigger and with a different color and crest. A number of monster-specific and rare pieces subvert this trope by being either rough and jury-rigged (the former) or elegant and stylized (the latter) compared to top tier normal items.
* ''[[Diablo II]]'' too has this with armor: the more powerful the armor, the more parts of your body will cover. A slight exception is the strongest one, the Ancient Armor, which leaves the character with a "top level" armor type all over his body except for the left shoulder, which looks like as if armorless.
* The higher the enhancement bonus of a weapon in [[Neverwinter Nights]], the more impressive it will look.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
▲* Parodied in
== Real Life ==
▲*
▲** Before the industrial era form and function tended to go hand in hand with form often leading as development was funded by noblemen without scientific backgrounds, who needed new weapons to ''look'' dangerous before agreeing to an investment. Once mass production and optimization became important the decorations disappeared very quickly.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
[[Category:Video Game Items and Inventory]]
[[Category:Elaborate Equals Effective]]
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