Weapons Tropes: Part 1

Weapons are the mainstay of Action Heroes and Badasses, and by weapons I don't just mean guns and swords, but anything that can be used to kick ass. Sometimes a punch to the face or a swift kick can be just as effective as a bullet or a knife.

This list includes ammunition troops, but not Combat Tropes; those will be discussed in another post. Also, this list is by no means exhaustive. Some tropes I haven't used yet, some I'm likely never to use, and others I may have used but have not yet recognized them. So, if you are curious as to what other tropes about weapons creators have used, please feel free to follow the link above.

By the way, as tempting as it is, I have refrained from giving Team Girl weapons like the one in the above image, though I will admit, something like that might be a natural for Sunny.

Weapon of Choice -- a character uses a weapon that reflects his or her personality or traits

***** Quite frankly, I hadn't thought of that when I assigned certain weapons to my characters, but in some ways it fits. For example, Differel is a swashbuckler at heart, so she is naturally drawn to swords, but by necessity she had to learn to be a street fighter, so she is also skilled with a combat dagger.

Good Weapon, Evil Weapon -- different types of melee weapons tend to be used by the good guys, others by the bad guys

***** As with Weapon of Choice, I hadn't really thought about this, so some of my choices of weapons for my characters may seem like subversions, while others will seem spot on. Then again, there seem to be a lot of exceptions in this trope.

An Axe to Grind -- using an axe in combat

***** The first of Medb's five favorite weapons is the Dane Axe, with a crescent-shaped, cleaver-like axehead with a very long handle. Medb prefers one that would stand nearly as tall as she does with a heavier than normal head, to give her both long reach and enhance striking force.

Archer Archetype -- a skilled bowman

***** Sunny; first in the Dreamlands, and later when traveling in time or to parallel earths. Though she trained with a composite bow, she later learned how to shoot a flatbow and a modern compound bow.

In the Dreamlands, Ulthar's resident geisha-samurai Tokoyo Yamamoto is a master with the daikyu composite bow.

Surprisingly, while Medb is cross-trained in a whole host of weapon types, she never learned archery. She prefers crossbows instead.

Annoying Arrows -- getting hit by arrows during combat is only a minor inconvenience

***** Subverted in the Dreamlands; as in Real Life, arrows can penetrate chainmail, even plate armor, with the right heads, and can kill as easily as any bullet, especially at close range.

Arrows on Fire -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; flaming arrows

***** A fairly common use for arrows is as incendiary projectiles to deliver fire against flammable targets.

Blade on a Stick -- a polearm

***** The second of Medb's five favorite weapons is the spear. She uses two types. Her main battle spear is patterned after the Greek dory: a seven-foot long wooden shaft, with a two-foot leaf-shaped steel blade and a one-foot steel spike attached to the butt-end. She uses it as a melee weapon, but she does more than just stab with it. She also uses it as a quarterstaff, she attacks with the spike as well as the blade, and she can swing it around her head so fast, taking advantage of its length, that the blade can travel at 100 mph. And if the shaft gets broken, she can use the two pieces as a spiked staff and a short-spear simultaneously. See "Barbarians R Us".

Javelin Thrower -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; a fighter who throws javelins for a weapon

***** This is the second type of spear Medb uses: a three-foot wooden shaft with a one-foot spike-pointed triple-edged steel blade. She carries 4 to 6 in a harness attached to the back of her shield, and she uses them to take out from a distance the enemy combatants she perceives to be the most powerful. With her prodigious strength, she can hurl a javelin the same distance and with the same power as an archer shooting an arrow.

Naginatas Are Feminine -- a polearm is a more ladylike weapon

***** Kojoro the Fox Princess, one of Team Girl's friends, is trained in the use of this weapon, and is deadly-skilled with it.

Medb learned naginatajutsu during one of the times she visited Japan when she Walked the Earth, but mostly to improve her spear-fighting technique.

Blow Gun -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; a tube used to shoot darts

***** In the forthcoming "The Toxic Celebutante", Eile and Sunny are chased by pygmy natives in the Dreamlands who shoot blow gun dart at them. Later, when trapped some 3 million years in the past, they create blow guns to help save on gun ammunition.

Carry a Big Stick -- clubs and maces

***** Some Fomorians use huge maces while in their horrific forms to HULK SMASH!! anything in their path.

Lawman Baton -- sticks used for fighting

***** Medb taught Team Girl singlestick and shillelagh fighting. Sir Differel's Master-at-Arms Giles Holt taught her stick fighting as part of his commando close-quarters-combat and bartitsu training. She in turn taught what she knew to Lady Margaret

Combat Hand Fan -- a hand fan designed to be used as a weapon

***** In the Dreamlands, Tokoyo carries a folding fan made of iron ribs and hard lacquered paper that, when closed, can be used as a club and, when open, used to distract and dismay an opponent.

Cool Gun -- those special guns given a prominent place in the story

***** Vlad Tepes Drakulya's guns, especially those custom built for his use. Differel's wheellock pistols in the Dreamlands. Otherwise, all my characters have favorite guns that get mentioned in my stories when they use them.

Family-Friendly Firearms -- unrealistic firearms or firearms use, meant to soften or eliminate gun violence in a story

***** Totally averted in my stories, though ignored might be a better description. Without descending into Gorn, I generally try to depict guns as being lethal, even going as far as to describe their effects.

Gatling Good -- gatling guns

***** Despite how cool it might look, I refuse to give Vlad a portable gatling gun. He's not the Schwarzenator; besides, he doesn't need one, because he could wreck far more havoc without it.

However, the Caerleon Order uses GAU-2/A Miniguns to defend its installations and as point-defense weapons on its airship, as well as in one of its four models of sentry guns.

Good Guns, Bad Guns -- guns that tend to be used exclusively by heroes and villains

***** Again, I hadn't really thought about this, so sometimes I subvert it and sometimes I play it straight, but always inadvertently.

One good example, however, is that Marseilles Sheraton, evil genius and nemesis of Team Girl, uses a sawed-off riot-version Ithaca Model 37 pump-action shotgun, which is usually portrayed as an evil weapon (except when Zombies are around). However, machine pistols are considered evil as well, but one of Differel's favorite guns is the Beretta Model 93R, for its semi-automatic 3-round burst setting (though it was Aunt Mandy's favorite weapon as well). See "Feline Savior", "Man Friday", and "Oak Do Hate".

Grenade Launcher -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; a weapon that shoots grenades

***** The Caerleon Order uses three types of launchers for its 40mm grenades: an underslung model for mounting on rifles, a shoulder-fired model for independent use, and an automatic model.

Handguns -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; pistols

***** These are the primary weapons my characters use, unless they anticipate greater opposition. Differel always carries a pistol on her person ("The Beast of Exmoor"), and prefers her wheellock pistols even over Caliburn in the Dreamlands ("Dribble & Maggot in the Land of Dreams"). Team Girl generally carry pistols for protection when investigating parallel earths ("The Double Image"). Even Medb prefers to use pistols over other types of guns (except shotguns) when she has no choice but to use a firearm.

Hand Cannon -- an exceptionally large handgun

***** Most of Vlad's guns match this description, especially the custom-made models: the 12-gauge Lupara and Caerleon Order LC243 sawed-off shotgun, the .45 Mars Automatic and Caerleon Order LC354 submachine pistol, the .455 Webley Scott M1912 Automatic and Browning M1911, the .303 Caerleon Order LC465 machine pistol, the .44 Smith & Wesson Model 29, the .700 Maskeulin Nitro Express, the 20mm (.79) Caerleon Order LC576 anti-material pistol, and the .550 (28-gauge) Taurus Raging Judge.

Then too, in the Dreamlands, Differel's wheellock pistols have a caliber of .56, and fire a heavy, low-velocity ball.

Subverted with most other characters. Differel and the Caerleon Order use 9mm or 5.7mm pistols, while Team Girl uses the .380 Walther PK380. The only character who doesn't use a small caliber pistol is Lt. Gen. Morgan Leia Ross; she uses a .45 M15 General Officers pistol.

Pillow Pistol -- a pistol hidden under a pillow

***** In "A Little Hospitality", Differel sleeps with a wheellock pistol under her pillow when in the Dreamlands.

Punch Packing Pistol -- an unrealistically powerful and efficient pistol

***** Vlad's LC576 20mm anti-material pistols, Maskeulin .700 Nitro Express sporting pistols, and Taurus Raging Judge .550 sporting pistols.

Sniper Pistol -- a pistol that has the same range, accuracy, and power as a sniper rifle

***** Any pistol in Vlad's hands, due to his Vampiric and Dark Arts powers, but he achieves his best results with his FN Five-seven 5.7mm service pistols. In his hands they have an effective range of 3000 ft, and he can shoot the central symbol out of an ace card.

Mix-and-Match Weapon -- a combination of two or more weapons in one

***** The Caerleon Order uses the British Army L85A2 5.56mm assault rifle, which can take the British Army L17A2 40mm grenade launcher.

However, Dr. Mabuse has developed an experimental assault riffle that combines a 5.56 automatic rifle with a 12-gauge shotgun and a 40mm grenade launcher, with internal and external magazines.

Bayonet Ya -- placing a blade on the end of a gun for when you run out of ammo

***** The Caerleon Order issues a bayonet to all troops for use with their assault weapons.

Rare Guns -- guns that show up in stories in far larger numbers than they ever did in Real Life

***** Downplayed; just about every weapon I describe is a standard military or civilian weapon that is fairly common, except Vlad's Mars .45 Automatic service pistols. Only about 80 were made in Real Life, but Vlad used it for 11 years, and blew through about 20 a year, so that the Caerleon Order alone purchased some 250 before replacing it.

Sawed Off Shotgun -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; a shotgun with the front part of the barrel sawed off to make it shorter and easier to conceal

***** Marseilles Sheraton's Ithaca Model 37 shotgun; Vlad's Lupara and Caerleon Order LC243 shotgun pistols. Also, many of the Human criminals Team Girl comes up against use sawed-off shotguns.

Sentry Gun -- an automated fully automatic weapon that selects and shoots at targets by itself

***** The Caerleon Order developed and uses four different designs, from 5.7mm to 20mm ammunition.

Sniper Rifle -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; a rifle designed to strike single targets at great distances

***** The Caerleon Order used the .338 British Army L115A3 and the .50 British Army L82A1. Also, Annis Nin, one of Team Girl's friends, and Sunny's mother, Oda Jaeger, are crack shots with sniper rifles, having been assassins.

Wall of Weapons -- an armory that displays an enormous range of firepower

***** The Caerleon Order maintains an armory in the compound of the paramilitary troops on Differel's ancestral estate, as well as at the main stations of Bethmoira Castle, Connarath Castle, Camdel Castle, Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, and Tyrone Mansion in Northern Ireland. The security forces that guard Differel's manor house maintain an arsenal in the basement. Differel keeps a personal stash of weapons in the room safe off her office, as well as at her Loch Moria safehouse and her various private residences, such as the townhome in Downham Market. Medb keeps arsenals in each of her safehouses, including the home of Team Girl in Denver.

Ammunition Backpack -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; a backpack that contains mucho ammunition for the weapon being used

***** In "Survival & Sacrifice", Master-at-Arms Giles Holt fires a heavy machine gun being fed by a belt from a backpack.

Bottomless Magazines -- a magazine that seems to contain an unlimited number of bullets, so that a weapon doesn't need reloading

***** Averted; in my stories I keep careful track of how much ammunition each character has and uses, so that when they run out they have to reload. See "Survival & Sacrifice".

Bullets Do Not Work That Way -- bullets are described as doing things that violates the laws of physics

***** Again averted; as much as possible I try to depict bullets performing realistic actions. However, I also don't waste words on describing the resulting collateral damage of rounds that missed or passed through the target, if doing so would not advance the plot.

To some extent played straight in "Youthful Indiscretion" when in the climactic scene everyone shoots at the Cenobites with no effect or collateral damage, but this could be justified in that the Cenobites could have made the bullets disappear using their inherent psychic powers.

Blown Across the Room -- getting hit by a bullet tosses you into the air and backwards many feet

***** Generally I try to avert this trope, but I both averted it and played it straight in "Survival & Sacrifice". In Eile and Sunny's first firefight with the monsters, Sunny's pistol just drops them where they stand, though they slide forward a bit because of their running momentum. Eile's assault rifle, however, "threw ... the creatures back". However, my thought was that they dropped backwards rather than forwards; I didn't mean to imply they flew across the room. I need to be more explicit in future.

Only a Flesh Wound -- getting hit by bullets during combat is only a minor inconvenience

***** As with Annoying Arrows I try to avert this as much as possible. One can get hit in a way that is debilitating but not fatal or critical, but one can also die from a shoulder wound if a major artery is severed.

Universal Ammunition -- any cartridge can work in any gun

***** Averted and lampshaded in "Man Friday", when Differel finds out that the ammunition for Vlad's machine pistols is no longer made, and it may not be possible to convert them to use standard NATO ammunition. Subverted in a future story, when Vlad's pistols have been converted to use modern ammunition, but they jam more frequently as a result.

Recursive Ammo -- ammunition that shoots its own ammunition before it hits the target

***** The Caerleon Order has access to Royal Navy RBL755 cluster bombs. Though their use is banned by international treaty, an exception was made for their use against hordes of monsters. They even work well against Zombies.

Silver Bullets -- Exactly What It Says On the Tin; bullets made of solid silver or jacketed in silver

***** The Caerleon Order doesn't use silver bullets. They're too expensive, have poor performance compared to lead bullets, and are useless: no monster is vulnerable to silver. At best, silver can be used for jacketing, but copper is less expensive and easier to work with. Any monster that can be killed by a silver-jacketed round can also be killed by a copper-jacketed round. Or, more correctly, if a monster can be killed with a bullet, any bullet will work, and for those invulnerable to bullets, no bullet will work.

There are some creatures in the Dreamlands that are vulnerable to silver, and with the smoothbore firearms available, a silver bullet is no more inaccurate than a lead bullet. In fact, a silver arrowhead or sling ball would be more effective.

Next week will be part 2 of Weapons Tropes.