Instrument of Murder: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''Mexican Bandito:''' Tell me, Kabong, [[Weapon of Choice|what do you use]]? [[Cool Sword|A sword?]] [[Whip It Good|A whip?]] [[Carry a Big Stick|A shillelagh]]?
'''El Kabong:''' I use a gee-tar! Kabong! ''(kabongs bandito)''
|''[[Quick Draw McGraw]]''}}
So you're an assassin who is also a musician. Unfortunately you're not a [[Musical Assassin]] and cannot [[Power of Rock|kill people with the power of your music alone]]. So what are going to do? Why, have a musical instrument that doubles as a deadly weapon of course. A step up from [[Senseless Violins]], with no danger of your weapon being discovered if anyone opens your case.
Bonus comedy points if a bass guitar [[Not Hyperbole|referred to by the owner as an "axe"]] is used this way.
This trope covers weapons hidden in musical instruments. For assassins who kill their targets with music, see [[Musical Assassin]]. For weapons used as instruments, see [[Instrumental Weapon]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]]
* Midvalley the Hornfreak in ''[[Trigun]]'' is mostly a [[Musical Assassin]] who tears it up with sound waves from his saxophone, but it's also a complicated firearm that he eventually {{spoiler|used to commit suicide... not by shooting himself with it, but by playing it after the B-flat got shot out. It blows up.}}
* The chancellor of Alabasta in ''[[One Piece]]'' also used a firearm/saxophone as his weapon of choice.
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* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'': Catherine Armstrong uses a ''piano'' to attack Yoki when he tries to steal money from the Armstrong family. Given her [[Super Strength]], That Has Been Passed Down Through The Armstrong Family For Generations.
* ''[[Blade of the Immortal]]'': The ridiculously skilled Makie Otono-Tachibana, who specializes in [[Waif Fu]], wields a double bladed three-section-staff called Haru-no-Okina concealed in a hollowed-out shamisen, a mandolin-like Japanese instrument which she is able to play when not slicing and dicing her enemies.
* If a Duel Disk counts as a weapon (and it might, given how easily villains in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' can turn the eponymous card game into a [[Deadly Game]]) Romin's base guitar might count. Yuga built this guitar-Disk combination for her as a gift when she started showing intrest in Rush Dueling. It also has a secret compartment to hold candy bars.
** Also in ''SEVENS'', Luke's sister Tiadosia "Tiger" Kallister - martial arts sensei, musician, and [[The Dreaded| a lady you do ''not'' want to cross]] - carries an overly-large bassoon made of [[Unobtainium|Gohanium]], an odd design that makes the instrument heavy and unwieldy, ensuring only someone with her unique talents can play it, and anyone who dares pick a fight with her ''will'' be clobbered with it before he realizes doing so was a mistake.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In [[The DCU]], the golden age [[Green Lantern]] foe named the Harlequin had a weighted mandolin that served as a club (and a vaulting pole!).
* Also in [[The DCU]], the Fiddler, a golden age foe of [[The Flash]], was primarily a [[Musical Assassin]]. However, he would occasionally use gimmicked violins containing blades or guns.
* The preferred weapon of Minstrel Maverick, a [[Western]] character from [[DC Comics]], was a reinforced guitar that he used to whack owlhoots.
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* Bullseye has killed people with a piano key, a clarinet reed, a spit valve and a french horn.
* One-shot [[Batman]] villain the Maestro (''Batman'' #149) used a number of gimmicked instruments, including a harp that shot arrows and horns that fired bullets.
* Although seldom used as a weapon in the comic, Captain Clarinet's
* In the [[Marvel Universe]], [[Dazzler]] had a foe called Johnny Guitar who wielded an electric guitar that fired sonic blasts. He had a partner in Dr. Sax, and you can probably figure out the rest on your own.
* The Minstrel, one-time foe of Doll Man, who wielded a flame-throwing banjo (as seen in the page image).
* [[Spider-Man]] villain Calypso (Kraven the Hunter's former lover) practiced [[Hollywood Voodoo]], often channelling her magic via the beating of a drum.
== [[Film]] ==
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* ''[[The City of Lost Children]]'' has a music box that controls a circus flea, making it inject its host with a nerve agent. The affected person then turns violent and [[Mind Control|attempts to kill whoever they happen to be with.]]
* In ''[[Wristcutters: A Love Story]]'', Eugene electicutes himself with an electric guitar and a bottle of beer.
== [[Literature]] ==
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* One of Samuel R. Delany's ''Nova'' protagonists has senso-syrinx, a complex futuristic instrument capable of projecting holographic images, complete with sound and odours. The thing is, it includes a laser to create holograms, has a very sharp focus and runs on near-inexhaustible batteries. As the bad guys learn the HARD way, with [[Improvised Weapon|it's maximum output focused on a person]], it can knock them out with horrible stench, blow their eardrums out and not only blind them with a laser, but ''[[Kill It with Fire|set them ablaze]]''.
* ''[[Get Smart]]'' had a gun hidden in a violin, and a double-
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
▲* ''[[Get Smart]]'' had a gun hidden in a violin, and a double-barrelled flute that acted as an airgun.
* In ''[[The Goodies]]'' episode "The Stolen Musicians", the Goodies use a euphonium as a cannon, only to be outgunned by the Music Master's pipe organ that doubles as a multi-barrelled artillery piece, but are saved when the symphony orchestra arrives shooting bows from their violins.
* Ibuki of ''[[Kamen Rider Hibiki]]'' has a gun that can transform- by shifting the parts around- into a trumpet. It actually works in reverse from normal: he uses the gun to implant bullets in the [[Monster of the Week]] (who is naturally [[Immune to Bullets]]) then switches to the trumpet to create a resonance that blows it up.
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* ''[[Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries]]'': In "The Green Mill Murder", the killer uses the mute in a cornet as a blowgun.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* [[Greek Mythology]] time: According to one myth, the lyrist Linus was the music teacher to [[Classical Mythology/Characters|Hercules]]. After criticizing Hercules' playing a bit harshly, Herc took Linus' lyre and [[Disproportionate Retribution|bashed its owner's head in]]. The first evidence of this story is in vase-paintings of the 5th century BC, making this one [[Older Than Feudalism]].
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
*
** Before J-A-Double R-E-Double T, there was the Honky Tonk Man. Though the whole "smack you with the guitar" thing took a nasty turn when Honky hit [[Jake Roberts|Jake "The Snake" Roberts]] with a ''real'' guitar and severely injured him -- [[It Got Worse|which was the beginning of Roberts' many problems with painkillers]].
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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** The ''pipes of the sewers'' is a set of panpipes that allow the user to summon and control rats, both the normal and giant varieties.
** ''Pipes of Haunting'' are reed-pipes that can cause fear in weak-willed (low-Wisdom) foes; unfortunately, it can also affect the user's allies.
** The ''Horn of Valhalla'' summons a group of spiritual warriors from Valhalla itself to fight on your side. There are four varieties - in ascending potency, Silver, Brass, Bronze, and Iron - and the number of warriors summoned and their level of skill increase depending on the potency of the horn.
** And then we have artifacts, which take the concept [[Up To Eleven]]:
*** [[Demon Lords and Archdevils| The arch devil Geryon had an iron horn]] that was more a symbol of his authority than a weapon, but it could summon [[Minotaur| a mob of fiendish minotaurs]] to aid him.
*** The ''Horn of Change'' was an artifact powered by raw chaos; legend states that the first mortals who possess it did so I winning it from the god of luck during a craps game. Using it can produce a wide variety of magical effects; a player who tries to do so has to roll on a table to determine what type of magic it produces, and then roll a second time on a table for that type. [[Random Number God| The effect could be beneficial or detrimental.]]
*** And of course, ''Heward's Mystical Organ'', one of the most powerful magical items known to exist, but also one of the most unstable. Depending on the song played on the organ and the talent of the user, it could theoretically do anything, acting as a [[World-Healing Wave]], a [[Lost Superweapon| magical weapon of mass-destruction]], or anything in between. And it is said only Heward himself could use it without fail; should even one note be played wrong, it might not have the desired result.
* In the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' adventure ''[[Island of the Lizard King]]'', the Horn of Valhalla is a sacred instrument whose sounding can inspire and strengthen an army. If you find it (which isn't easy) you can skip a difficult [[Boss Battle]] later.
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* There was an old Christian-themed computer game (called ''[[Knights Of Virtue]]'' if I recall) which featured among its weapons the "trump of fire" and "trump of lightning", a pair of trumpets that, if pointed at your enemy and played, wouldn't make a note (just a "ffffff" noise like someone blowing into a tube, fancy that), but ''would'' rain down fire or lightning on them.
* ''[[Terraria]]'' added a weapon called the Magical Harp. Oddly enough, it can be used to kill [[Bonus Boss|The Destroyer]] in a matter of ''seconds''. Beware the [[Spoony Bard]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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* ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'' has the deathknight Resonance Ben, who just recently upgraded to an entire band.
* As the example mentioned above, piano wire: In a flashback arc of ''[[And Shine Heaven Now]]'', after [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves]] refused to teach [[Hellsing|Walter]] a complicated technique with their weapon of choice, monofilament, Walter nicks the piano wires from Bertie's piano to practice on his own, and later uses it to hold back a vampire while the others escaped.
* In ''[
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' spinoff ''The Program'' had John Ferrara use, of all things, a banjo to beat Matthew Gourley to a pulp. On the main site we have Isabel Guerra making a shiv out of a trumpet and broken piece of glass. [[I Call It Vera|It's called Partario]].
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20161012184907/http://student.francis.edu/~adfst5/209/Main3.html The Ongoing Saga of Fritz the Unfortunate]'' follows a troupe of musicians who all wield these.
* From ''[[SCP Foundation]]'', [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-6624 SCP-6624] - Il Maestro del Rancore. (Be warned, this link is to an entry that has some NSFW material.) This apparatus, as it is described, was discovered beneath the Castle of Gesualdo at Gesualdo, Italy during a 1953 kidnapping and mass murder investigation. Dating back to the 7th century, it was built by a composer named Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa who went insane after murdering his wife, and later made a deal with an entity that has some connection to the extra-dimensional city of Alagadda, probably [[Bigger Bad|the Hanged King]]. Ostentatiously resembling some sort of organ, it contains [[Human Resources|124 preserved human bodies]]; it also has a system of bronze pipes and giant bellows fashioned from a whale’s stomach and lungs. It has 12 keyboards, plus a number levels, pulleys, and pedals, arranged in a haphazard fashion. This makes it impossible for a human to play the device, lacking the anatomical structure needed to do so. (The inventor had turned himself into some sort of multi-armed demon that enabled him to do so, while the researcher assigned to study it had to build some sort of mechanical device to experiment with it.) The various mechanisms force air through the lungs of the 124 bodies, manipulating the jaws and tongues to create “vocal music”, horrible melodies composed of screams, groans, sobs, and other unpleasant sounds. These preserved humans are not truly dead, and are at least partially conscious. Playing the device also causes steam to rise from vents all over the town and the sound of gears turning, so one can assume it’s only a small part of a larger device. When played, the music causes corruption over everything in the surrounding area, warping people, animals, plant life, and even structures into infernal versions of themselves, creating a [[Hell on Earth]] in a localized area. The second time it was played - in the modern era, after the aforementioned researcher was tempted and corrupted by the device - it is suggested that the true purpose of this device is to conduct an unholy ritual that would free the Hanged King from his prison and bring him to the mortal world.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** He also owns a guitar made from the wood of the cross Jesus was crucified on.
* In the ''[[Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!]]'' episode "Operation Dog and Hippie Boy", the evil hippie robot Groovy Don carries a laser beam firing guitar.
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]''{{'}}s version of Soundwave has an electric guitar that turned into his attack bird Laserbeak. At least until Prime used him as an axe. ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|Sorry!]]) He also had Ratbat, who turned into a keytar.
* In ''[[Silverhawks]]'', Bluegrass wielded a sonic blaster guitar as a weapon while his [[Evil Counterpart]] Melodia had a keytar that fired laser blasts shaped liked musical staves.
** Got an [[Actor Allusion]] [[Shout-Out]] in the ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' ep "Battle of the Bandits" where the Rangers and a pack of Slaverlords started firing their "modified" guitars at one another. Doug Pries played both Bluegrass and Gooseman.
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* The Cosmic Guitar from ''[[Loonatics Unleashed]]'' which, amongst its other powers, could fire energy blasts.
* In ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', Ignignokt and Err had the Foreigner Belt, a guitar-shaped belt that causes damage effects according to [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] lyrics.
* The Music Meister from ''[[Batman: The Brave
** And in "Night of the Batmen!", the Vigilante has guitar that doubles as a rifle.
* ''[[Class of 3000]]'': In "Funky Monkey", Tamika uses her harp as a bow to fire a drumstick at Lil' D.
* Five from ''[[Generator Rex]]'' wields an electric guitar as her primary weapon.
* [[Van Halen|Val Hallen]], the Viking God of Rock, from the "Justice Friends" segment of ''[[Dexter's
* ''[[Adventure Time
** If her father is to be believed, the instrument started life as an axe and was turned into a guitar later.
* Gene Simmons did ''not'' use his bass guitar this way when [[KISS]] appeared on ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]'', but Ace Frehley did.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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