This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Paul A: I removed these two:
- An excellent example of this is Land of the Lost where the Big Bad Sleestaks always carried crossbows but never used them, instead preferring to grapple hand-to-hand or capture with nets, and the Marshall family uses crystals that explode or make a bright flash of light when touched together to keep the Sleestaks at bay.
- Similarly, the Cylon Centurions of the 1970s Battlestar Galactica wear swords which they are never observed to use or even draw.
because the trope is "fake/toy weapons that work like real", not "real weapons that are carried but never used".
Ununnilium: We don't need to make every mention of video games a link, especially when this page is already on the Video Game Tropes index.
Nornagest: It might be worth mentioning that there are real-life examples of this; the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, for example, is said to have used bokken in many of his duels.
Seth: I think we are overusing the subversion tag. I'm not sure if Utena is a subversion so much as the trope never really came into play.
Ununnilium: Eeeeeeh, I'd say it counts. Hero brings non-traditional weapon to battle - and gets thrashed soundly for it.
Citiz En: Act first, and the corrections will follow later. =P
Rogue 7: Having just finished reading Love Hina, I'm fairly sure that Motoko does in fact use a real sword for the most part- a bokken or shinai is seen occasionally, but mostly it's her real blade.
