History Main / BladeOnAStick

In the hands of a hero, a spear is often swung around as a [[SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship slashing weapon]], in a flashy manner reminiscent of a [[SimpleStaff staff]]. The effectiveness of such a maneuver is largely dependant on the type of spear; a pike isn't good for much other than stabbing, whereas the chinese Qiang is effectively a knife on a stick, making slashing moves potentially effective. Naturally, the halberd, glaive, naginata and similar weapons are particularly well-suited for this style, due to the use of a sharp and/or heavy blade in place of a spear point. Of course, regardless of actual utility, the RuleOfCool dictates that simply 'poking' the enemy won't do by itself, even if that's the most logical and effective use of a spear. It should be noted that many martial arts do teach staff-like techniques for use with the spear - after all, the whole thing is a weapon, not just the sharp end. Spears may also be thrown, even if the weapon in question [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks isn't exactly built for it.]]

* Nadeshiko's naginata from ''{{Shugo Chara}}'' when she chara change with temari

* "VagrantStory" has spears, two handed axes, and two handed maces, and you can combine them to your hearts delight

** The naginata wasn't the only spear available to the Samurai however. Popular amongst Samurai and Ashigaru (peasant levies) alike was the yari spear. Longer than the Naginata and with a shorter blade, the Yari ranged in size (from about 3.3 feet to 20) and was a popular weapon for large formations of Samurai and Ashigaru alike during the Sengoku Jidai era. Samurai tended to wield shorter versions of the Yari: Ashigaru wielded the longer varieties. The Yari became popular because of the Mongol invasion of Japan; in the brief clashes, the Mongols and Koreans advanced in tight formation. The Japanese learned the lesson.

See also HarpoonGun and TelephonePolearm, for the giant-bladeless-stick version.

** [[MobileSuitGundam The One Year War]]: The beam naginata found on various Gelgoog models.

* Of course, ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' had the [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Lance of Longinus]]. Which is apparently capable of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxrplMC0pKs&fmt=18 altering it's own weight]].

* This seems to be a favorite weapon for ''FinalFantasy'' Dragoons. Examples of those who wield spears as their default weapon: [[FinalFantasyIV Kain Highwind]], [[FinalFantasyVII Cid Highwind]], [[FinalFantasyIX Freya Crescent]], [[FinalFantasyX Kimahri Ronso]], and [[FinalFantasyXIII Oerba Yun Fang]]. Because polearms are the only two-handed weapon type that does piercing damage, Dragoons in ''FinalFantasyXI'' have an advantage over flying enemies compared to other two-handers, and other monsters weak to that damage type.

* [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Undines]] and knights wield them in YggdraUnion and it's spinoff YggdraUnison. The former use [[ProngsOfPoseidon tridents]], and the latter fights with a [[BFS humongous lance]].

* Used a few times in ''{{Discworld}}'' and other Terry Pratchett works. It's mentioned in ''The Carpet People'' of how a kitchen knife tied to the end of a pole is a popular makeshift weapon among improntu civilian fighters.

* Polearms also exist in ''WorldOfWarcraft'', but they are surprisingly rare compared to other two-handed weapon types and can't be used with Titan's grip. Blood Elf Paladins can get one early, however.
** They have become more common with Wrath, used mostly as a WeaponOfChoice for hunters and feral druids (who couldn't use polearms before).

* OdaNobunaga's favoured weapon on the battlefield was the [[http://www.freewebs.com/toufuushogunate/Nagamaki.jpg nagamaki]], which is essentially a katana with a big-ass handle.
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* Lavitz and later [[spoiler: Albert]], combine this, and EverythingsBetterWithSpinning to be two of the most powerful characters for a long while. The latter is almost too fast to control though.

** In William King's SpaceWolf novels, the Spear of Russ, the ancient weapon of the Space Wolves' primarch. Prophecy says that when he returns, he will take it up to fight. [[spoiler:Which causes real problems when Ragnor destroys it, fighting against a [[BackFromTheDead revived]] Magnus the Red, their ancient enemy.]]

*** Megaman X8 gives us [[GameBreaker the glaive.]] [[UnderStatement It has pretty good range, for a melee weapon.]]

** It also helps that it is relatively easy to train someone to use a spear effectively, as opposed to weapons like swords. To give you some idea, a decent spearman can be trained in six weeks. A half-decent swordsman would take a ''minimum'' of six months.