History Main / BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon

* In the European cycle of tales known as ''Jean de L'Ours'' ("John of the Bear"), the titular hero is (usually) the son of a human woman and a bear (which explains his great strength). In many of his tales, either he fashions or commissions from a blacksmith a heavy and large cane made of steel.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'': On his quest to find the Chamber of the Sisters of Fate (the Greek Moirai), Kratos meets a resurrected (and giant-sized) Barbarian King, who wields a large and heavy hammer.

* ''VideoGame/HunterHunted'': Garath Den ("The Beast") is a muscular, vicious minotaur-like alien. His signature weapon is a heavy spiked club that sends blood flying when he bashes opponents with it.

* ''VideoGame/ForHonor'': Axe-wielding classes are common among the Vikings, namely the Raider, who uses a long-handled Dane Axe as their primary weapon, and the Berserker, who [[DualWield dual-wields]] one-handed axes.

** Ogryns are big, tough, strong enough to wrestle an Ork, and about as smart as a rock, and their weapons are similarly designed. Each and every piece of Ogryn equipment, from their mauls to their slab shields, is specifically built to be "Ogryn-proof", which is to say that they're built as tough as the Adeptus Mechanicus can manage in order to hold up in the face of being used by an Ogryn to slaughter the Emperor's enemies. This practice extends even to their guns, which are built and reinforced to the point that they can be used as melee weapons as well; it's not uncommon for the simple-minded and enthusiastic Ogryns to use their huge ripper guns as clubs.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'': Kronis is an EvilGenius {{Sadist}} who creates weapons and takes perverse delight in the destruction they cause. When transformed into Trap Jaw, his brutishness is reflected in his SignatureMove [[Vacuum Mouth Mecha-Maw]]. Unlike Man-At-Arms, who can use his [[TimeStandsStill Speed Build]] to [[PersonOfMassConstruction create anything he can imagine with nearby materials]], Trap Jaw has to ''destroy'' raw materials with his [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily Maw of Weaponry]] and can only create [[ShapeshifterWeapon a new weapon for his mechanical right arm]].

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2022'': The Panteros, a Mexican gang, are [[MachoLatino stereotypically hyper-masculine]] ([[AmazonianBeauty including the women]]) and are prone to fighting with sledgehammers in addition to shotguns. If one of them swings at the [[PlayerCharacter Boss]], you'd better dodge it.

* ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'':
** Wan-fu doesn't qualify for this trope in his debut appearance, as he fights with a scimitar. But when he swaps it out for a gigantic broken off stone pillar, he's a textbook example. He even has a special move that has him slamming his own head against it, causing damage to himself but boosting his own rage meter.
** Darli Dagger, introduced in the 2019 game, is an incredibly muscular AmazonianBeauty sailor woman with a rough but friendly demeanor and a love for alcohol. Her weapon of choice is a massive serrated cleaver, not unlike something you'd see in the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series. She also swaps out the handle to turn it into a giant steel hammer and a drill, giving her a whole arsenal of brutish weapons.
* ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'': King Dedede is the large, haughty and boorish self proclaimed king of Dreamland, and he fights with a gigantic wooden hammer bearing his logo. Taken to its logical extreme in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, where many of his attack animations have him wildly swinging the thing without much finesse.
* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'': Protagonist Sol Badguy is an interesting example. He is extremely rude and vulgar, and fights by wildly swinging a blunt weapon with no grace whatsoever. However, he's also a genius scientist and a world class bounty hunter, he just chooses to fight this way. His alternate, "Order Sol" self might qualify even more for this trope, as his weapon is basically a slab of concrete that he swings around like a sword.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The City Watch employs Troll policemen, mainly to act as mobile riot shields that can punch back. Sergeant Detritus used to have a habit of breaking weapons designed for mere humans as he was too strong for them and lacked a delicate touch. The problem of finding him a suitable side-arm was solved when a massive ballista, used as siege artillery and capable of firing bolts of four feet in length, was taken off its wheeled carriage and repurposed as a Troll's personal crossbow. In general, troll society veiws the club with a nail in it as a cultural weapon.

** ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2018'' has Kratos swap out the Blades of Chaos for the Leviathan's Axe, but [[SubvertedTrope ironically,]] he's actually less pissed off and violent than in previous installments. He'll still bring on the hurt, but he's not as quick to do so.

** Darli Dagger, introduced in the 2022 game, is an incredibly muscular AmazonianBeauty sailor woman with a rough but friendly demeanor and a love for alcohol. Her weapon of choice is a massive serrated cleaver, not unlike something you'd see in the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series. She also swaps out the handle to turn it into a giant steel hammer and a drill, giving her a whole arsenal of brutish weapons.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The City Watch employs Troll policemen, mainly to act as mobile riot shields that can punch back. Sergeant Detritus used to have a habit of breaking weapons designed for mere humans as he was too strong for them and lacked a delicate touch. The problem of finding him a suitable side-arm was solved when a massive ballista, used as siege artillery and capable of firing bolts of four feet in length, was taken off its wheeled carriage and repurposed as a Troll's personal crossbow.

** The Dinobots are traditionally armed with melee weapons. The G1 Dinobots are armed with broadswords more suitable for clubbing and hacking than the more elegant blades like the ones used by Springer or Bludgeon. The live-action versions introduced in ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' are equipped with even more brutish weapons, like Grimlock's spiked mace or Slog's clubs.

* ''VideoGame/WildArms'': Berserk wields a massive flail that, in the remake, is capable of knocking your party members out the first time you fight him. He's also hot-tempered, and impatient and believes brute force is the most important factor in battle.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Heavy, the game's slow but hard-hitting MightyGlacier, uses a huge underslung gun called Sasha as his primary weapon. It's not a precision tool by any stretch, being instead intended to deal tremendous amounts of damage to whatever's standing in front of him.
* ''VideoGame/WildArms'': Berserk wields a massive flail that, in the remake, is capable of knocking your party members out the first time you fight him. He's also hot tempered, impatient and believes brute force is the most important factor in battle.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2'': On his quest to find the Chamber of the Sisters of Fate (the Greek Moirai), Kratos meets a resurrected (and giant-sized) Barbarian King, who wields a large and heavy hammer.

* Berserk from ''Videogame/WildArms'' wields a massive flail that, in the remake, is capable of knocking your party members out the first time you fight him. He's also hot tempered, impatient and believes brute force is the most important factor in battle.

[[folder:Franchise]]

A character's weapon can tell you a lot about their approach to life. Large, heavy, force-based weapons are typically depicted as the {{Mighty Glacier}}s of the weapons world, slow and difficult to handle and poorly suited to any complex technique, but capable of dealing immense damage when they land a hit. Their wielders follow suit in personality -- fictional mace-wielders, hammer-hefters and axemen are usually direct and brutish sorts, provided with the tremendous strength needed to wield such weapons effectively but lacking the skill, patience or interest necessary for making use of anything that requires finer technique. Alternatively, they may be capable of learning more technical weapons, but just don't see a good reason to do so when a good solid blow from a heavier tool can still send any foe flying out of their boots.

Among the more common wielders of these implements of bonebreaking you will find TheBigGuy, TheBrute, the BarbarianTribe, the FeralVillain, TheBerserker and the SmashMook. [[FantasticRaceWeaponAffinity In fantasy settings]], different sorts of brutish weapons will be found in the hands of local orcs, ogres, trolls and giants.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Reflecting the DarkerAndEdgier {{Deconstruction}} angle of the series, the main Gundam of the series. the Gundam Barbatos, is armed with a gigantic club. Compared to the more elegant beam sabers of previous series, the Barbatos is a brutal, savage creature more akin to a wild animal than a soldier on the battlefield. In-universe, the Barbatos is finally destroyed when its enemies stop trying to treat it like a human and more like a frenzied beast to be put down.

** The Dinobots are traditionally armed with melee weapons. The G1 Dinobots are armed with broadswords more suitable for clubbing and hacking than the more elegant blades like the ones used by Springer or Bludgeon. The live action versions introduced in ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' are equipped with even more brutish weapons, like Grimlock's spiked mace or Slog's clubs.
** While G1 Megatron famously wields an EpicFlail, his Aligned counterpart in ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'' and ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron'' is armed with a brutal-looking spiked mace. In the latter half of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Aligned Megatron forges the Dark Star Saber, a two-handed sword which looks very rough and vicious compared to the more refined Star Saber.

** Victarion Greyjoy, the leader of the pseudo-Viking fleets of the Iron Isles and often noted for his intimidating size, great strength and limited intelligence, favors a huge battle axe.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': Jayne us the big, muscular mercenary, the largest character, and something of a brute as well. His signature gun [[ICallItVera Vera]] is a large, powerful Callahan Full-bore Autolock, based on the Saiga 12 Kalishnakov semi automatic shotgun. It?s quite a bit stronger than the shotguns and pistols the other characters regularly use.

* ''Wrestling/{{WWE}}'': Fit Finlay, a barrel-chested mug who [[BloodKnight loves to fight]], often carried an ugly, short-handeled shillelagh to the ring, and usually knocked out his opponents with it when the ref's back was turned.

** The Warriors of Chaos generally use heavy metal axes, hammers, chain flails and large two-handed swords. They are no-nonsense warriors and brutal vikings, so ferocious close combat is what they're all about.
** Beastmen tend to use the same kinds of hefty axes, cleavers and bludgeons as the Chaos Warriors do.

** The Ogres' weaponry tends to focus heavily around brutal melee bludgeons, such as clubs, hatchet-like swords, maces, and monstrous iron knuckles. Even their ranged weaponry is like this -- their primary ranged troops wield giant repurposed cannons known more for their raw damage than their range and precision, and which can be also be used as huge bludgeons if the enemy reaches melee range.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Barbaric and physically powerful factions and beings, such as orcs, minotaurs and the Nord barbarians, are traditionally depicted as wielding large, ornate axes into battle.

** Warriors practice an art in which they tap into their "Inner Beast" to access incredible SuperStrength and stamina at the risk of losing control and attacking friend and for alike. They wield war axes in combat, many of which have heads larger than their wielders' torsos.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, uses his infamous two handed "Wrath Hammer" as his weapon of choice, which is indicative of his strength and power and the iron-fisted brutality with which he both fights and rules his realm.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Heavy, the game's slow but hard-hitting MightyGlacier, uses a huge underslung gun called Sasha as his primary weapon. It's not a precision tool by any stretch, being instead intended to deal tremendous amounts of damage to whatever's stranding in front of him.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Hegemonic Brute/Hearts Boxcars is a towering brute notable more for his inhuman strength than for any particularly cleverness, and serves as the Midnight Crew's muscle in missions requiring the application of liberal amounts of brute force. Fittingly, he uses an assortment of battleaxes, warhammers and morningstars as weapons.

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* Myth/ClassicalMythology: Herakles, the mightiest of the Greek heroes, is usually depicted wielding a heavy club.

* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': The Wrecking Crew is a villain team of four super-strong individuals. One member is Dr. Elliot Franklin, a.k.a. Thunderball, who wields a large ball and chain.

** The {{Barbarian Tribe}}s of the Mountains of the Moon favor axes, particularly the giant chieftainShagga, who wields one in each hand.