Multi Ranged Master

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Complementing the Multi Melee Master, the Multi Ranged Master is a character who wields two distinct types of ranged weapons, ones which would require distinctly different techniques.

Wielding a rifle is very different to aiming a pistol, and using heavy weapons like bazookas and grenade launchers even more radically different. And as for those protagonists who use bows... or alien weapons. Basically, if a character carries two distinct types of ranged weapon, both of which would require a lot of practice to use without necessarily giving competence with the other, you have this trope.

May be a Walking Armory if the character doesn't have access to a Hyperspace Arsenal.

Aside from being a signature of the Crazy Prepared, it marks a character as diligent, as well as well trained.

Sub-trope of Choice of Two Weapons.

Examples of Multi Ranged Master include:

Anime and Manga

  • Mana Tatsumiya, resident gunslinger of Mahou Sensei Negima, changes between rifle, submachine gun and handcannons easily.
  • Team Guy's Tenten is this, specifically for throwing weapons. If she can hurl it she will.

Comic Books

  • Marvel Comics:
    • Hawkeye of Avengers fame, especially in his Ultimates version, where he can shoot, throw, flick, spit, and otherwise glance at you with deadly results.
    • Bullseye is an equally extreme example, if not moreso. Pretty telling that Bullseye impersonated Hawkeye in the Dark Avengers.
  • Miho in Sin City can use normal shuriken, her bladed manji, throwing knives, or arrows.

Literature

  • In Dances with Wolves, Lt. Dunbar arms the bow-and-arrow/tomahawk-using Indians with Winchester rifles; despite having absolutely no training, they succeed in wiping out the enemy tribe in a one-sided victory.

Live-Action TV

Tabletop Games

  • Usually averted in Paranoia unless your character has taken weapons training with the weapon type. Different kinds of weapons require different skills, and considering what the GM is likely to be like, achieving a level of mastery with two types of weapon is unlikely to happen.
  • Warhammer 40,000:
    • Space Marines are trained at least with both boltguns (fully automatic anti-tank rocket rifles) and bolt pistols. Quite useful in gameplay, as they can't charge the enemy in the same turn they fired the bolter in.
    • Many ranged (and melee) units have pistols to fire before charging in an assault. That is generally not a good idea since most ranged units will never go as much damage as any unit made for melee face-to-face, and most standard ranged weapons are rapid-fire meaning they fire two shots instead of one when in range to assault as opposed to firing one shot with their pistols and charging in. Utilizing rapid-fire is generally prefered for most units. It can work for the Space Marines, being The Mario, though.
    • Pistols -can- be fired and still allow a unit to charge in the 5th Edition of the game and earlier. Many weapons, including all pistols, are classed "Assault" weapons. This means anyone carrying that weapon can shoot normally and charge later in the turn. Since not every model in a unit must shoot, a unit which plans to close to close combat can choose to fire only its assault weapons, including all pistols. A player usually should try to shoot the enemy first to soften them up, unless the enemy is one who has no chance in close combat and might retreat out of range if shot up. For example, Khorne Berserkers are axe-crazy madmen who can decimate the Redshirt Army Imperial Guardsmen in hand to hand; they may hold off shooting their pistols. If the Guardsmen fall back from shooting, they may escape the close combat, rally, turn around, and light up the Berserkers. An even more canny player may shoot only a few pistol shots, softening up the target as much as they can without actually risking the enemy retreating out of range. Consequently, units with mixed ranged weapons really fit this trope when considering whether or not they want to be able to fight close combat later in the turn and whether they want to curbstomp their enemies in one turn or draw out the combat (to avoid being shot on their opponent's turn). This really hits home when shooting/assaulting Space Marines; they can choose to fall back from your shooting if it's advantageous to, like, say, if it helps them avoid an assault they want no part of.
    • Upgrades for squads generally allow the squad to have different ranged weapons from one another. Mixing anti-tank and anti-infantry weapons in the same squad is not advised though, since they can only attack one or the other in (standard, mind you) rules.
    • Tau Battlesuits fit this trope very frequently, as most carry at least two weapons, most carry upgrades letting them fire two weapons in a turn, and they have ranges from "terrifying close" to "across the damn table." Whether the competence in one is not competence in the other requirement is met is debatable, as the character is piloting a suit, and who knows whether these different weapon systems require different training.
  • Many a character in Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 or later or Pathfinder is automatically proficient with a stunning array of ranged weapons and may carry two or three of them at will. A typical fighter may be roughly as competent with a thrown dagger, thrown hammer, javelin, longbow, crossbow, shortbow, sling, darts, a blowgun, and a chakram at first level. The list of melee weapons such a character knows how to use is far longer. When you realize human first level characters created by the rules are often about 16 years old, one can only wonder when they found time to learn it all. This is generally considered an Acceptable Break From Reality. Earlier D&D characters also could fit this trope, but the player had very limited slots for characters to learn to use weapons and it would be based on player choice.

Video Games

  • Let's get the obvious out of the way first: 90+% of all FPS protagonists, ever.
  • Fable allows the protagonist to operate both a longbow and crossbow with equal competence, despite the two weapons being very different in function and requiring a lifetime of practice with the longbow. (Crossbows are easier to pick up and learn to fire, and don't require the same insane levels of strength.) The sequel does away with the longbow but adds rifles into the mix, which are different from crossbows again. The third game swaps out crossbows for pistols.
  • The Soldier class in Makai Kingdom excels at using rifle and another ranged weapon. Males favor gatling guns while females are proficient with flamethrowers.
  • In World in Conflict, Rifleman squads have a medic, a rifleman, an AT soldier, an AA soldier and a machinegunner, with the first two having grenade launchers mounted on their rifles. Anti-tank squads have mostly AT soldiers with a medic and some riflemen, lacking grenade launchers.
  • Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed II is this and Multi Melee Master. While his ancestor Altaïr only used throwing knives - the crossbow was Cutscene Power to the Max and doesn't count - Ezio eventually gains a Hidden Gun and, in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, a crossbow.
  • Mordecai from Borderlands is both a skilled sharpshooter and an archetypical gunslinger.
  • Laguna in Dissidia Final Fantasy doesn't need swords or sorcery, nor even significant athletic ability. While others are trading barrages of Holy and a lifetime's martial training with each other, Laguna just shoots things. With a machine gun, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, a bazooka, a multi-rocket launcher, grenades, sticky bombs and electro-shield bombs. Oh, and a laser cannon. Also, Vaan, to a lesser extent, as he can use a rifle and crossbow.
  • Billy Lee Black from Xenogears wields pistols, two elemental-bullet firing guns and a shotgun. The game's combat system lets him swap between the weapons seamlessly, but his combos stand out: Launching an enemy into the air with a shotgun, then firing two pistols at them to juggle them in mid-air. And that's just the start!
  • The Ranger job tree in Dragonica uses a different type of firearm (plus multiple types of grenades and a remote drone or two) for nearly every attack skill, with their actual equipped weapon being a crossbow.
  • While Demon's Souls allows you to carry different types of ranged weapons (bows and crossbows), it was superfluous because ranged combat isn't too useful. Its Spiritual Successor Dark Souls however, allows you to become a bona fide pure non-magic user ranged weapon fighter. At least three weapons are viable for this playstyle: The Dragonslayer Greatbow, Composite/Darkmoon Bow, and Avelyn. The first is a spear-firing large bow that does tremendous damage and knockback with sluggish reload time, the second is a fast-firing medium range bow that can be used for harrassing players, and the last is a triple-shot crossbow that can kill other players scarily fast, but has a long vulnerability window and high end ammo costs can really break the Soul Bank. Switching between these three gives the most flexibility and advantage in a battle.
  • This is pretty much a necessity in Mass Effect 3's Multiplayer; the sheer usefullness of sniper rifles means that most any class that isn't Vanguard or Adept is carrying a sniper rifle as a primary weapon, and a short ranged weapon, typically a pistol or SMG, as a backup. As an example, a commmon loadout is Mantis sniper and Predator pistol, which is actually quite practical as the stock Mantis can dish out one hit kills with ammo mods and headshots, while the Predator, properly leveled and outfitted, is less like a pistol and more like a small semiauto rifle.

Real Life

  • Officers in the British armed forces will learn to shoot both their standard issue rifle and their signature handguns. Soldiers in general may also have learned to use a heavy machinegun which have to be placed on the ground and stabilized before being fired from the prone position to be used with any accuracy. And then there are anti-tank weapons and the like.
  • The standard modern soldier carries a sidearm, and rifle or support weapon. They are trained in most of the weapons to take over them should something happen to its previous owner.
  • Police in America carry a handgun normally, but they do have a shotgun in the car if something heavier is needed. One would think they'd choose a more long-ranged weapon, such as a rifle, but policemen prefer shorter-range weapons because the longer range on rifles means they might go through a house or car or street and kill bystanders even if they don't miss their targets.
    • This is not to say that they don't have rifles as well. But those are usually reserved for SWAT teams and situations where they're dealing with shooters with body armor.
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