History Main / BladeOnAStick

* ''Webcomic/SweetHome'': Hyun's weapon is a broken mop handle with a knife attached to it. Dusik Hahn upgrades it to also conduct electricity.

* In ''[[WebVideo/HighRollers2016 High Rollers]]'', Jiǔtóu Zhìjī Jīng wields a guandao as her WeaponOfChoice.

* Pearl from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has a spear as her WeaponOfChoice.

** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380426 The Godsend]], WeaponOfChoice for [[LadyOfWar Elspeth]]. It was originally a sword, but was [[ReforgedBlade remade into a spear]] [[ForgedByTheGods by Purphoros]], and is capable of killing Gods, [[spoiler: and Planewalkers, as Elspeth finds out at the hands of Heliod himself]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' of course has spears, halberds and lances as an option for many infantry and cavalry units in various armies, though different factions tend to have their own styles. [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]] in particular often have spears as their WeaponOfChoice, while the [[LizardFolk Skinks]] make extensive use of javelins. Halberdiers are common in mercenary units.

* Gregor of ''WebAnimation/ThrillingIntent'' uses a glaive as his WeaponOfChoice.

* ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'': In addition to being the WeaponOfChoice for Lancers like Scáthach, Ritsuka uses a spear made by Proto Cú Chulainn to protect himself against a swarm of bladed wing worms along with Jack.

* ''Fanfic/MyLittleMagesTheNightmaresReturn'': [[BigBad Nightmare Moon's]] WeaponOfChoice is a double-tipped spear.

** In ''Film/Hellboy2019'', the Osiris Club wields massive, [[ShockAndAwe electrified]] spears as their WeaponOfChoice for hunting giants. [[spoiler:They also use them to literally stab Hellboy in the back, but when the actual giants crash the party, the spears don't do the humans any good and they're quickly slaughtered]].

** In ''Literature/TheRiddlingReaver'' it is stated that your characters may use a spear as their WeaponOfChoice: unlike the sword or the mace, the spear has a chance of dealing only 1 point of damage instead of the usual 2 on a low roll, but can do 3 damage on a high roll, just like the axe.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne, uses a poisoned 8-foot spear during his duel with Gregor Clegane, [[RedBaron "The Mountain that Rides"]], primarily as a way to counter The Mountain's long reach (Gregor uses a [[{{BFS}} 6-foot long greatsword]] [[OneHandedZweihander in one hand]]) and also because it's the WeaponOfChoice of Dornish warriors.

* In ''ComicBook/TheWarlord'', NubileSavage Shakira wields a spear as her WeaponOfChoice.

A polearm--such as a [[AnAxeToGrind poleaxe]], spear, naginata, or any other weapon that's a long stick with something sharp and metal on one end--is often the province of hapless {{Mook}}s: city guardsman, honor guard, [[ChasedByAngryNatives angry natives]], and so on. Anyone who needs something long to cross over a portal to prevent someone from entering will use a polearm. When not in the hands of mooks, they are the {{weapon of choice}} (its SuperTrope) for calm collected individuals, the LadyOfWar, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg or]] TheLancer.

This may be caused by the fact polearms are often BoringButPractical. Many longer spears -- and especially the pike -- are not terribly suited for single combat or individual feats of heroism. A long, heavy shaft can be cumbersome, and a thrust can only threaten one opponent at a time, so a pikeman outside of formation is in danger of being outflanked. The stereotype of a polearm being the WeaponOfChoice for stoic, collected individuals such as guardsmen likely comes from the discipline required to maintain formation in face of the apparent overwhelming odds.

** Actually, “guard,” “wall,” and “Tevri'ed” are also ways that C'hou is different.

* Poseidon, the Myth/ClassicalMythology deity of the ocean, had a trident that was made by the Cyclops. If he struck the ground with it it could create a spring of salty water or cause shipwrecks, earthquakes, or drownings.
* In Myth/HinduMythology, Shiva wields [[ProngsOfPoseidon a Trishula, a trident]]; and was said to have used it to sever Ganesha's original head. Durga is also said to have used one. As a standalone item it carries RuleOfThree symbolisms. Like creation, maintenance destruction; past, present, or future; etc.

** ''Literature/TheFourGospels'': Perhaps the most famous spear in the New Testament, if not the whole Bible, is TheSpearOfDestiny. This was thrust into Jesus's side after he died, causing blood to come out. It left a mark which, after he came back to life, he showed to the disciples. According to tradition, the blood running down the spear touched the partially-sighted eyes of its wielder, the legionary Longinus, and cured his sight; he became a Christian as a result of this, and the spear is also called the Lance of Longinus. It is said that whoever owns this "SpearOfDestiny" will rule the world.

When a hero uses a polearm, he'll generally wield it "open-fashion", swinging it around almost like a [[SimpleStaff staff]]. Glaives and halberds -- and even the Chinese spear ("Qiang" in Chinese), with its leaf- or dagger-like blade -- are well-suited to it, but all of these are "individualistic" weapons, requiring a lot of space to be employed effectively and needing a lot of conditioning and experience on their wielder's part. Ordinary spears, and pikes as well, are better used in close formations, and can be used well by poorly-trained troops provided they don't break and run, and in the hands of skilled and disciplined troops, make a formation almost unbreakable in a head-on fight.

** ''Film/TheEightDiagramPoleFighter'': All the Yang Brothers use gigantic spears with ornate shafts to battle the Mongols in the film's opening sequence, although after Ng-long, the fifth brother, ends up as the SoleSurvivor of the DownerBeginning, he forfeits his spear for a SimpleStaff instead.

** ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'': All five main Dairangers have their own SimpleStaff (Dai Rod), to which they can attach a unique blade: Red gets a halberd, Green a fork, Yellow gets a spear, Blue a sideways axe (called a plane), Pink a round blade (just called a weight).

** Bonus points for Guan Yu's weapon being granted the name [[AwesomeMcCoolname '''Green Dragon Crescent Blade''']].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' naturally has polearms and their super-sized artifact variants, the larger types gaining a damage bonus if used against a charging foe, or if used as a lance when charging. They also have the Reach tag, which allows them to attack enemies on [[IHaveTheHighGround higher terrain]] or those in high mounts (such as elephants) without penalties.

* ''"Some folks call it a Film/SlingBlade. I call it a kaiser blade. It's kindly a long, wood handle, kind of like an axe handle. With a long blade on it shaped kinda like a bananer. Mhm. Sharp on one edge, and dull on the other. Mhm. It's what the highway boys use to cut down weeds and whatnot."

See also HarpoonGun, XOnAStick, BoomStick, ProngsOfPoseidon, JavelinThrower, JoustingLance and TelephonePolearm, for the giant-bladeless-stick version.

** When Rayek fights with a weapon it's with either a hunting spear or [[KnifeNut a dagger]]

** Women from Samurai families were expected to have a functional ''naginata'' as part of their dowry. The naginata was also the favoured weapon of the ''sohei'' [[WarriorMonk Buddhist warrior-monks]].

** One peculiar weapon that Japan has is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagamaki nagamaki]], which is basically a swordstaff. Literally meaning "long wrapping", the nagamaki was wielded like a katana, with a fixed hand position unlike other polearms. It was meant to act as an anti-cavalry weapon.

** The ''fangtianji'' (Squared Heaven Halbeard), a long spear with a crescent blade attached to the side, like an axe on a western halberd, is used by several characters, such as [[WarriorPrince Sun Quanzhang]], [[ActionDad Ji Ling]], [[EliteFour one of the Mo Brothers]] and [[FaceHeelTurn Prince Yin Hong]]. Crown Prince [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Yin Jiao]] wields a Paopei one made of gold and adorned with a jade dragon behind the blade, which can animate to grab ahold of the opponent.

** The ''dao'' (glaive) weapon is seen used by a handful of characters, such as [[DarkIsEvil Hong Jin]] (wields a weapon called "Crescent Moon Glaive"), Yang Jiang/Erlang (the "Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Glaive, a bladed trident) and possibly [[TheCaligula King Zhou]] himself (as the term ''Dadao'', great saber, can refer to both large curved swords and glaive-like polearms).

** Furthermore, in eras where the pike dominated among polearm users (e.g. mid 14th to late 17th century Europe), most polearms would have necessarily been purely formation weapons with no real capability of personal use (other polearms that were effective in personal combat like halberds, bills, and partisans were also used, but pikes were by far more common than all other types combined). This mattered because there was a minimum number of troops required to form an effective pike square (generally considered several hundred men). If you didn't have enough men to do so you'd drop your pike in favor of your sidearm - which, for almost all troops varying from pikemen to knights to musketeers, would be a one-handed sword (e.g. broadsword, rapier, saber, arming sword). Now remember that the majority of battles were relatively tiny skirmishes and personal combat, with pitched field battles between proper armies being exceedingly rare (for example, in the English Civil Wars there were 588 engagements involving fewer than 250 casualties in total, with an average of 69 fatalities per engagement; accounting for nearly half of the conflict's combat deaths; meanwhile there were only 9 major pitched battles which in total accounted for 15% of casualties). You can see why swords remained so embedded in collective memory despite being sidearms.

** In ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', Prince Nuada has two weapons: a curved short sword, and a spear that can alternate between compact and full size. The spear's tip is detachable when struck at a living target and will attempt to burrow deeper if removal is attempted.

** In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Odin's spear Gungnir, which aside from being a magical weapon, is also the symbol of Asgardian kingship.

* [[http://medieval.stormthecastle.com/images/new-polearm-thumbs.jpg This]] is a pretty good illustration of the many varieties of Blades on a Stick that have existed in real life, though the examples are limited to European polearms.

* As ComicBook/RedRobin Tim added a retractable blade he can use in a desperate situation, like against the [[NighInvulnerability nigh invulnerable]] Goliath, to his TelescopingStaff.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', Franchise/WonderWoman uses a spear to fight, and Big Barda wields a halberd.

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]

** Once, while Saul was looking for David, he and his men made camp. While they slept, David and Abishai snuck into camp. Abishai offered to kill Saul, but David said no, just take his spear and water jug from beside his head, and let's go. So that's what they did, and they took it and called to the camp, and let the king know that he could have killed Saul, but did not. King Saul is several times described as having a spear by his side, possibly AT ALL TIMES. (Paranoid much?) Even at dinner with family and friends during a festival - when he threw it at his own son for siding with David (the second time he was going to kill his own son), he tried to kill David with his spear when David was in the throne room playing music on the harp to help Saul's affliction and ended up sticking it in the wall as David got away, he held a meeting with all his officials (and his spear) by his side under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah when he decided to kill the priests of God at the town of Nob for helping David. He eventually was buried under a tamarisk tree, one can just imagine with a spear, planted in the ground at the head of his grave in epic manner. Old King Saul definitely had a thing for spears, spears and tamarisk trees and evil.

** Perhaps the most famous spear in the New Testament, if not the whole Bible, is TheSpearOfDestiny. This was thrust into Jesus's side after he died, causing blood and water to come out. It left a mark which, after he came back to life, he showed to the disciples. According to tradition, the blood running down the spear touched the partially-sighted eyes of its wielder, the legionary Longinus, and cured his sight; he became a Christian as a result of this, and the spear is also called the Lance of Longinus. It is said that whoever owns this "SpearOfDestiny" will rule the world.
* During the First Crusade, a group of Crusaders claimed they had found the head of the Lance of Longinus. It didn't help much.

* ''Film/{{Hero}}'': Long Sky uses a spear with a rather flexible metal pole in his duel with [[NoNameGiven Nameless]].

* During the song "Topsy Turvy" from ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Esmeralda actually uses a spear for part of her dance. Guess what she does with the spear?[[note]][[{{Pun}} Polearm dancing.]][[/note]]

* Although the sword was "the soul of the Samurai", polearms like the naginata were actually their primary battle weapon for much of their history; along with [[BowAndSwordInAccord the bow]] when fighting from horseback. At the peak of the Samurai's power, the sword was used predominantly for dueling rather than warfare--though admittedly at this time there weren't exactly very many wars to fight anymore.

** Naginata blades were made using the same costly and laborious process as katana blades, but were often made longer, or at least had longer tangs. So if they broke, they were re-made into katana/wakizashi/tanto depending on how much blade was left.
** Just as important as the naginata was the yari spear. Longer than the Naginata and with a shorter blade (which is straight and double-edged for thrusting), the Yari ranged in size (from about 3.3 feet to 20) and was a popular weapon for large formations of Samurai and Ashigaru during the Warring States Era. Samurai tended to wield shorter versions while Ashigaru wielded the longer varieties. Specifically, it was the rise of prominence of the Ashigaru soldiers (and a rising role of infantry and fortification) during the wars of the Nanboku-chō period that saw a widespread usage of the Yari. Yari themselves have plenty of variations in shapes and designs, to the point that sometimes the translation "spear" feels underwhelming. Among them there were the Omiyari (a yari with an extra long massive blade, like a swordstaff), Kamayari/Jumonji Yari (yari with either straight or curved side blades), Tsuki-nari Yari (yari with a crescent-shaped blade) and Onoyari/Fuso (a yari with a small axe head attached at the base of the blade). Furthermore, there were also accessories to be attached to the shaft to improve the weapon, such as hooked "hilts", tubes (to speed up the attack, making the weapon a kuda-yari) and, in longer infantry spears, short picks to break through enemy armor.
** In ancient times, before the advent of Yari, the Hoko was the spear of choice of the Japanese army, consisting in a simple, short-bladed spear made to thrust and used in tandem with shield formations. Smaller variants known as "teboko" (hand spear) did exist, sometimes with a knife-like blade like a small naginata.
** Other atypical polearms from Japan include non-lethal submission weapons used to catch people or unmount riders such as the Sasumata (a long spear with an u-shaped flat blade/round bar at the end like a mancatcher), the Sodegarami (a long pole with plenty of hooks on the end to catch people's clothing) and the Tsukubo (a long T-shaped staff with a spiked end used to push, pull or trip people).
** Another notable Japanese polearm was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagamaki Nagamaki]], which is similar to a katana with a handle as long as the blade. This places it "in between" the katana and the naginata, with longer reach than a sword but more close-range maneuverability than a full-length polearm. It also slides into {{BFS}} territory, as the nagamaki originated from the overly-long Otachi fit with a longer handle for better use.

* ''Literature/TheMummyMonsterGame'': In book 1, during the challenge for the second arm of Osiris, the pharaoh Rameses is equipped with a spear as one of his three weapons. Later, during the final challenge, the player is given one as one of their three weapons for use against the three pieces of the monster Ammit.