Good Weapon, Evil Weapon: Difference between revisions

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In certain stories, especially epic fantasy, there is a correlation between the [[Weapon of Choice|weapon style characters or groups use]], and how they are portrayed in the film.

Heroes' weapons generally have clean lines, such as longbows, broadswords, katana, a musket, Colt revolver, Winchester, etc. [[Bare Fisted Monk|Unarmed combat]] is also a heroic trait. Although the rules change when [[Zombie Apocalypse|zombies are involved]]. (don't ask why)

Heroes' weapons generally have clean lines, such as longbows, broadswords, katana, a musket, Colt revolver, Winchester, etc. [[Bare-Fisted Monk|Unarmed combat]] is also a heroic trait. Although the rules change when [[Zombie Apocalypse|zombies are involved]]. (don't ask why)

Villain armies typically have more oddly-shaped weapons, weapons with [[Spikes of Villainy|spikes]], etc. While not a hard-and-fast rule (see the exception for hammers, below) blunt weapons, especially ridged maces, tend to be evil, possibly due to their lethal practicality, as a crushed shoulder, knee, or skull tends to be more complicated to heal than a clean cut.

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Other stereotypes:

* [[Dual Wielding|Multiple Swords]]: [[Badass]] but generally evil or [[Anti Hero]].

* [[Dual-Wielding|Multiple Swords]]: [[Badass]] but generally evil or [[Anti-Hero]].

** [[Hooks and Crooks|Hookswords]]: Run away. Now. Do not, under any circumstances, trust.

*** However, a dual-hooksword-wielding [[Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon|Michelle Yeoh]] happens to be doubly trustworthy.

*** However, a dual-hooksword-wielding [[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon|Michelle Yeoh]] happens to be doubly trustworthy.

** Flame Patterned Sword (flamberge): Unless sufficiently elegant, run. These were intended to produce nasty wounds upon the victim ( though in reality they don't, ) so this is [[Justified Trope|somewhat reasonable]].

*** The flame pattern is actually a defensive measure: it was meant so that when the person with the flamberge parried with it, the attacker would receive a shock as his own weapon slid down the flame pattern and vibrated rapidly, numbing the attacker's arm. But since the goal of the design is to temporarily paralyze a limb, it still stands somewhat justified.

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** [[Guns Akimbo|Two Handguns]]: [[Badass]]

* Assault Rifles: Evil if it's a Communist AK-47, good if it's an American M16. Either way, usually not a main character.

* [[Hand Cannon|Hand Cannons]]: [[Anti Hero]]. Common in [[Film Noir]], detective stories and cyberpunk.

* [[Hand Cannon|Hand Cannons]]: [[Anti-Hero]]. Common in [[Film Noir]], detective stories and cyberpunk.

* Submachine Guns: Mainly used by mooks, antiheroes or villains.

* [[Sawed Off Shotgun|Sawed Off Shotguns]]: Evil, or at least [[Anti Hero|Anti Heroic]], except when facing zombies.

* [[Sawed Off Shotgun|Sawed Off Shotguns]]: Evil, or at least [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroic]], except when facing zombies.

* [[Sniper Rifle|Sniper Rifles]]: Sign of a villainous assassin, [[Villain Protagonist]], or [[Psycho for Hire]]. Hero characters using one of these are usually in the role of the [[Hero Secret Service|guardian angel]], the guy whose role is to shut down bad guys trying to ambush another hero.

* [[More Dakka|Machine Guns]]: Evil.

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*** Subverted in [[Dune]], in which body shields stop anything moving above a few cm per second and mutually detonate (with kiloton force) on contact by lasers; knife fighting is the dominant form of close combat.

* Any [[Poisoned Weapons]]: Always evil, save for some tranquilizer darts.

** Early editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' made their use an evil act. While this was probably a game balance issue (since poison in 1st edition was [[One Hit Kill|almost always fatal]]), it was strange that hacking or bashing an enemy to death over the course of several rounds of combat was considered less evil than a [[Broken Aesop|quick death]].

** Early editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' made their use an evil act. While this was probably a game balance issue (since poison in 1st edition was [[One-Hit Kill|almost always fatal]]), it was strange that hacking or bashing an enemy to death over the course of several rounds of combat was considered less evil than a [[Broken Aesop|quick death]].

* [[Chainsaw Good|Chainsaws]]: Almost always [[Ax Crazy|criminally insane]], except when fighting zombies or [[Evil Dead|Deadites]].

** Goes either way if you are in the [[Warhammer 40000]] universe, though that's [[Black and Grey Morality|not saying much]].

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** And the [[Church Militant|Adeptas]] [[Warhammer 40000|Sororitas]].

** Acceptable in the case of a [[Bug War]], generally.

* [[Sinister Scythe|Scythes]]: Either villains or an [[Anti Hero]]. Depends on how intimidating the scythe looks. Always scary.

* [[Sinister Scythe|Scythes]]: Either villains or an [[Anti-Hero]]. Depends on how intimidating the scythe looks. Always scary.

* [[Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me|Shields]]: Either supporting characters or [[Mooks]], either way they're usually [[Shields Are Useless|useless]].

* [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me|Shields]]: Either supporting characters or [[Mooks]], either way they're usually [[Shields Are Useless|useless]].

** On the occasion a shield is used by a major character, it is generally a sign of the [[Knight in Shining Armor]].

* [[Laser Blade]]: Always [[Badass]], specific alignment usually [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|determined by blade color]].

** ''Attack of the Clones'' subverts this, as there are enough Jedi in the field at once for the lesser among them to count as Redshirts.

* [[Bare Fisted Monk|Martial Arts]]: Flowing styles and high acrobatics tend to be the domain of good guys and monks; Pressure point poking, open-palmed jabbing, and other "quick and to the point" styles are used by the [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]] or [[Evil Overlord]]. [[Good Old Fisticuffs]] are either way, unless the bad guy knows a style of any type, then it becomes the domain of the "everyman" good guy. [[She Fu]] is neutral, as it lends to [[Cat Fight|catfighting]] between two parties.

* [[Bare-Fisted Monk|Martial Arts]]: Flowing styles and high acrobatics tend to be the domain of good guys and monks; Pressure point poking, open-palmed jabbing, and other "quick and to the point" styles are used by the [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]] or [[Evil Overlord]]. [[Good Old Fisticuffs]] are either way, unless the bad guy knows a style of any type, then it becomes the domain of the "everyman" good guy. [[She Fu]] is neutral, as it lends to [[Cat Fight|catfighting]] between two parties.

* Katars: Almost always [[Anti Hero]] at best, usually the province of assassin or rogue characters, unless the assassin or rogue is [[Chaotic Good]]. Almost always subject to [[Dual Wielding]], at least for rogues in [[World of Warcraft]] and Assassins and Assassin Crosses in [[Ragnarok Online]].

* Katars: Almost always [[Anti-Hero]] at best, usually the province of assassin or rogue characters, unless the assassin or rogue is [[Chaotic Good]]. Almost always subject to [[Dual-Wielding]], at least for rogues in [[World of Warcraft]] and Assassins and Assassin Crosses in [[Ragnarok Online]].

* [[Improbable Weapon User|Unlikely Weapons]]: Good, if [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|eccentric]].

Compare [[Weapon of Choice]]. See [[Good Guns Bad Guns]] [[Sub Trope|for the more detailed gun version]].

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

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* In ''[[Halo]]'', this shows up in the two warrior races of the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Covenant]]: The characteristic weapon of the ([[Heel Face Turn|ultimately]]) good Elites is the [[Laser Blade|Energy Sword]]. The signature weapon of the Brutes is a big, well, [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|brutish]] Gravity Hammer.

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'', {{spoiler|the Master Sword is shown at the very end of the game to have an [[Evil Counterpart]] wielded by the [[God of Evil|Demon King]] [[Bigger Bad|Demise]], whose spirit and humanoid form is named [[Big Bad|Ghirahim]].}}

* Averted in the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series, where alignment is independent of weapon choice. Machine pistols are very common on both sides in the [[Mass Effect 2|second game]], Shepard can get [[AI Is a Crapshoot|Geth]] guns in all three games and [[Bug War|Collector]] guns in the second, and gets access to [[Hand Cannon|large pistols]], [[More Dakka|assault rifles]], and [[Blade Below the Shoulder|wrist-mounted omni-blades]] regardless of [[The Paragon|Paragon]]/[[Anti Hero|Renegade]] alignment.

* Averted in the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series, where alignment is independent of weapon choice. Machine pistols are very common on both sides in the [[Mass Effect 2|second game]], Shepard can get [[AI Is a Crapshoot|Geth]] guns in all three games and [[Bug War|Collector]] guns in the second, and gets access to [[Hand Cannon|large pistols]], [[More Dakka|assault rifles]], and [[Blade Below the Shoulder|wrist-mounted omni-blades]] regardless of [[The Paragon|Paragon]]/[[Anti-Hero|Renegade]] alignment.

* In [[Knights of the Old Republic]] there are sometimes weapons or objects (lightsaber crystals for example) that can only be used if one has the proper alignment.

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== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' had a duel between [[Well Intentioned Extremist]] [[Anti Hero]] Jet and [[Anti Villain]] Zuko. They both dual-wielded. It was epic.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' had a duel between [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] [[Anti-Hero]] Jet and [[Anti-Villain]] Zuko. They both dual-wielded. It was epic.

** For the record, [[Well Intentioned Extremist]] Jet has a pair of hookswords, while Zuko uses a pair of dao. On that note, [[The Hero|Aang]] uses a glider-staff, while Sokka starts with a club and boomerang, but later [[Character Development|stops using the club]] and eventually gains a jian.

** For the record, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] Jet has a pair of hookswords, while Zuko uses a pair of dao. On that note, [[The Hero|Aang]] uses a glider-staff, while Sokka starts with a club and boomerang, but later [[Character Development|stops using the club]] and eventually gains a jian.

*** A black jian ''[[Crazy Awesome|made from a]] [[Thunderbolt Iron|meteor]].''

* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' has [[Psycho for Hire|Lockdown]], a [[Bounty Hunter]] who loves taking pieces off helpless targets. He has a chainsaw, and is decidedly evil and probably a little crazy too.

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[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]

[[Category:Good Weapon Evil Weapon]]

[[Category:Trope]]

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