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Improbable Weapon User: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:windmillblades.png|link=Unwinder's Tall Comics|frame|
{{quote|"''Here's a riddle: When is a Croquet Mallet like a billy club? I'll tell you: Whenever you want it to be.''"
|'''Cheshire Cat'''', ''[[American McGee's Alice]]''}}
The high probability your wackiest party member, like the [[Team Pet]], will use some sort of bizarre and, well, improbable "weapon"—that is, in the sense of an object you could conceivably hit something with. And some of these 'weapons' don't even go that far.
This usually seems to just be a way to give that character some sort of [[Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness|upgradeable item to explain ongoing power increases]]. Curiously, every weapon shop will sell these upgrades, despite there being seemingly only one such user on the planet.
Many games also have a [[Joke Item|gag]] weapon for each of the party members, which is essentially an Improbable or [[Nerf Arm]] version of their regular weapon, such as a [[Paper Fan of Doom]] for the sword-wielder, a broom for the [[White Magician Girl]], or a squeaky-mallet for someone who normally wields [[An Axe to Grind|an axe]] [[Drop the Hammer|or hammer]]. Of course, this might end up subverted with an [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity Plus One]] [[Lethal Joke Item|Marshmallow Slingshot]].
This trope is surprisingly not that far from reality when you consider how martial arts weapons have included not just spears, swords, and knives, but farming tools, boat oars (see also [[Miyamoto Musashi]]), fans, [[Rings of Death|metal rings]] (no, not even chakram, just round metal rings), and... small wooden benches? Hell, this doesn't even go into the army's trench shovel or some of crazier weapon combinations from about the 17th to early 20th century (brass knuckle knives, ax pistols, and flintlock cutlery).
Note: Many "improbable weapons" can indeed cause significant damage. Examples of these are:
* [[Frying Pan of Doom|frying pans]],
* [[Shovel Strike|shovels (most notably trench shovels, as mentioned above)]],
* [[Edible Bludgeon|a solid mass of frozen food]] (giving a whole new meaning to [[Lethal Chef]]),
* [[wikipedia:Bedwarmer|bed warmers]],
* scissors,
* [[Rolling Pin of Doom|rolling pins]],
* [[Clothing Combat|clothes]] or [[Cloth Fu|cloths]],
and so on. Anything that's heavy or sharp (well, sharp and over a certain size), really.
This may be one of the stranger examples of [[Truth in Television]]. For '''one-time examples''' see [[Improvised Weapon]]. If someone manages to pull this off with an actual weapon see [[Improbable Use of a Weapon]].
See also [[This Banana Is Armed]], [[Trick Arrow]], [[Nerf Arm]], [[Killer Yoyo]], [[Parasol of Pain]], [[Rings of Death]], the aforementioned [[Paper Fan of Doom]], the aforementioned [[Frying Pan of Doom]] and [[Rolling Pin of Doom]], [[Throw the Book At Them]], [[Instrument of Murder]], The [[Death Dealer]], [[Battle Tops]], and the silliest of them all, the [[Musical Assassin]]. Compare [[Martial Arts and Crafts]], [[Joke Item]] and [[Lethal Joke Item]]. See also [[Abnormal Ammo]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan|Bludgeoning Angel Dokurochan]]'', Zakuro wields the deadly and powerful ''wet towel'' Eckilsax.
* The ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' girls have a habit of using these. Mew Lettuce, the worst offender, has a pair of ''castanets'', though at least she shoots water from them. Mew Pudding has tambourines can that rend the earth and encase a target in ''jello'', and Mew Ichigo has a pink heart-shaped bell that shoots out waves of sparkly healing power (the remaining two team members, Mew Mint and Mew Zakuro, use the more reasonable bow-and-arrow and whip, respectively).
** Cure Lemonade from ''[[Yes! Pretty Cure 5|Yes! Precure 5]]'' also uses castanets, which is odd, because her teammate, Cure Mint, is an [[Expy]] of Mew Lettuce.
* Several anime have characters who use [[Killer Yoyo|yo-yos as weapons]]; while this is not as implausible as it sounds (according to popular legend, yo-yos were in fact weapons originally), it nonetheless stretches things when they have [[Trick Arrow|explosive yo-yos]], which can go off several times without being destroyed themselves... Probably the most spectacular example of this weapon is the ''Robot Romance'' classic ''[[Combattler V]]'', a friggin' [[Humongous Mecha|GIANT ROBOT]] that wields yo-yos with blades that slice enemies like a rotary saw.
** Yo-yos are just the beginning. If you're a ''[[Delinquents|sukeban]]'', you've got to have a "signature" weapon. Examples include bicycle chains, cup-and-ball toys, bamboo umbrellas, guitar picks (shuriken style), billiard balls, and even a bowling ball carried by one really enormous schoolgirl.
* ''[[Read or Die]]''. Some people use paper fans. And then there's Yomiko Readman, who uses just plain paper.
** There are a number of characters in the various Read or Die/Dream canons who can use paper as weapons called Paper Masters. There's also a character in the Read or Die manga who wields giant matches. And later on another character wields a giant protractor.
* Nicholas D. Wolfwood, the secondary hero in the Anime/Manga ''[[Trigun]]'' could be seen as the king of the unusual weapons. He, a gun-toting, hard-drinking (apparently Catholic) priest, uses a cross called "The Punisher" as his signature weapon. A cross six feet tall, three feet wide and made of steel. The common version of the cross has one of the "arms" housing six automatic pistols on a rack, the "foot" housing a machine gun that would fit on a helicopter, the other "arm" holding ammo for this gun, and the "head" holding a recoilless anti-tank missile launcher. It's heavy because "it's full of mercy(alternately, God's love)". Yeah, right.
** Nicholas's teacher {{spoiler|and Gung-Ho Guns mentor}}, Chapel the Evergreen, also wields a cross/weapon (which fans call "Neo-Punisher"). ''His'' splits into twin miniguns.
** Midvalley the Hornfreak will jazz you to death with his killer saxophone.
** Rai-Dei the Blade proves that [[Katanas Are Just Better]] by hiding a gun in the hilt of his sword.
** A handful of gun-based weapons really make no sense.
* The minor villain Cho from ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' has a whole collection of strange swords, including one that is several feet long and so thin it can be waved around like some sort of razor-sharp ribbon (this is an actual type of weapon, called [[Whip Sword|Urumi]]).
* One of Berserker's Noble Phantasms in ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' allows him to pick up anything and turn it into a Noble Phantasm-rank weapon. This includes random columns of concrete and other Servants' Noble Phantasms, at one point [[Dual-Wielding]] a spear and an axe. And lest we forget, an F-15J. When the jet crashed, ''he ripped off the entire M61 Vulcan unit and fired it from the hip. In mid-air''. Finally, he went [[Guns Akimbo]] with a pair of MP5K's. In fact, when he finally took out his 'true' Noble Phantasm, it turned out to be a sword - the least outlandish weapon he ever used.
* Haruko, Naota and Atomsk from ''[[FLCL]]'' all utilize electric basses (and a guitar) to great effect. Electric guitars are apparently the weapon of choice for extraterrestrials. They're also used as baseball bats.
* Panther Claw head Hiromi Tanaka from ''[[Cutie Honey]] The Live'', in addition to having a stomach that can shoot missiles, uses ''frozen seafood'' as a weapon of choice. I swear!
* Some of the Exorcists in ''[[D.Gray-man]]'' have [[Applied Phlebotinum|Innocences]] that are shaped like ordinary weapons, like a katana or a hammer, but most of them are very strange. We've seen characters with acupuncture needles, pendulums, soccer balls, and what looks like harp strings.
* ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'' has most of the characters fighting with musical instruments. The main character uses (guess what) a gigantic violin, his friend Raiel plays a solid-gold grand piano, and his sister Sizer wields a [[Sinister Scythe]] with a flute imbedded in the handle (though to be fair she actually makes more use of the scythe part; her flute is mostly used to summon the Valkyries). Of course, the results are pretty awesome, but still.
** More amusingly, the series protagonist (Hamel) has been known to throw Flute (and his other allies) ''at enemies'' as a form of attack.
** He also occasionally throws his instrument, though this rarely turns out well.
* Kaiba in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' throws cards as a weapon, shield, or gun jammer, and uses a [[Handbag of Hurt|briefcase]] like a guillotine in the manga. Duke Devlin sometimes throws his dice with devastating results against [[Faceless Goons]].
** Spoofed in the beginning of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn8rLoxVHHs this] Abridged episode of 5D's, where Jack throws his card at Yusei from atop an ''elevated'' highway. Yusei not only catches it, but throws it up right back to him.
** Respoofed in the {{spoiler|Robo-Jack mini-arc}} where Yusei tosses Jack a card ''while both of them are riding their D-wheels at 60 mph''.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', Amon and Ekou both use explosive cards whose effect read as instructions on how to detonate it.
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*** Erm... you might want to watch the setup phase of the [[This Is a Drill|most common attack sequence]] again. {{spoiler|the shades are used to immobilize the target before the [[This Is a Drill|actual weapon]] goes to town}}
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''':
** Mana uses [
** Asuna uses a fan in serious combat until she manages to upgrade into a sword. And not a war fan, an [[Paper Fan of Doom|actual paper fan]], and it's not entirely played for laughs due to some special intrinsic abilities.
** Evangeline fights with ''strings'', which she uses to restrain people and control her puppets.
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