History Main / EmergencyWeapon

* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', the main characters fight by transforming into demons. If they are caught by surprise or are forced to revert to human form, they have guns as emergency weapons.

* Tools, such as a [[CrowbarCombatant crowbar]] or [[WrenchWhack wrench]]. Lead pipes are also popular.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' actually includes two melee weapons: plain old fists, and a powerful {{chainsaw|Good}}. It also includes [[QuadDamage Berserk Packs]] which make your punches ten times stronger, enough to [[LudicrousGibs instantly gib]] smaller enemies.
* Doom modification ''Trailblazer'' gives you fists as well as a machete - which can be thrown and is, unusually, also a GameBreaker. Upgrade it and it becomes a spammable SwordBeam-emitting, head-lopping, wall-ricocheting frisbee of doom that flies through enemies and instantly teleports back in your inventory when it's done.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}''
** Also has fists, with a similar berserker powerup as the original. In addition to killing enemies instantly, it also slows down time and made you invincible. Of course, it was only available twice in the ''entire game'', and it was accompanied by some rather disturbing screaming.
** ''Doom 3'' also adds the flashlight, which deals twice as much damage as the fists and actually [[WhoForgotTheLights lets you see what you're doing]], but swings twice as slowly (and, in the PC version, has shorter range). ''Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil'' adds the Grabber, which can be used to grab barrels, crates, and even most enemy projectiles and fire them back at the sender, and in addition its Soul Cube analogue gives the same bonuses as the above-mentioned power-up from the base game, depending on how many of the Hunters you've killed.
* The pistol takes this role in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 2016}}''. Unlike the other pistols in the series, it has infinite ammo, and can be charged to do more damage, but it's not very powerful compared to everything else in your arsenal.

* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': Daggers have the worst stats of any weapon, but cost zero Encumbrance to carry. Every adventurer necessarily starts with a dagger and [[PointBuildSystem one point of proficiency]] aside from their specialized weapons.

* While ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' does include melee attacks, most bosses can only be harmed by heavy weapons (or, in one case, a [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame sniper rifle]]). To help out, infinitely respawning ammo pickups are placed in the boss arenas.
** The final boss fights are notable though in that you only have your bare fists (''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'') or your sword (''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''). ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' lets you keep your other weapons and even some mid-game bosses can be beaten with melee maneuvers, but if the final boss (named [[spoiler:The Boss]]) manages to grapple you while you're wielding a firearm, she'll actually DISMANTLE the gun and throw away the pieces. You can pick them back up, but do try keeping the gun holstered during close-quarters combat the next time around.

** Osmose, and its counterpart Rasp (damages MP without draining it) become viable offensive spells in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', where some enemies, including a few bosses, die if they run out of MP. A BonusBoss in the GBA remake's BonusDungeon even has to be defeated this way, as it'll continually resurrect itself otherwise.

* ''VideoGame/MediEvil'' featured a skeletal protagonist. If all his weapons were taken, he'd detach his left arm and wield it as a club with his right.
** It can also be used as a boomerang.
* Samus' Power Beam was quickly obsoleted in many a ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' game, especially the ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy Primes]]'', as you got upgrades. In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', the Luminoth beam weapons required energy sources alien to Samus' Power Suit, thus turning the Power Beam into the Emergency Weapon. Of course, the three Luminoth weapons can still fire without ammo by charging a shot, thus keeping Samus from being locked out of any doors. Ammo is required for those three weapons to regain full functionality, however.
** Samus also had a literal Emergency Pistol in ''[[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Mission]]'' that she uses during the UnexpectedGameplayChange stealth sequence during which she's lost her power suit. It's only able to stun enemies with fully charged shots (uncharged shots do nothing), and for exceptionally short periods at that; Samus herself [[LampshadeHanging hangs a giant lampshade]] on its ineffectiveness in a cutscene.

** The pistol (now called the "Paralyzer" thanks to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'') returns in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM's'' epilogue when Samus has to race out of the Bottle Ship in her Zero Suit. This time, it is capable of stunning Pirates even with uncharged shots, but it's still pretty useless in combat. It's really only used in the sequence to short-circuit closed gates and open them.
*** You'd think she would be better suited to just [[PistolWhipping bash the Pirates over the head with the silly thing]]. Apparently she came to the same conclusion herself by the time of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. Hitting with the Arm Cannon eventually was added to the series in ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' as the Melee Counter.
** In the original ''VideoGame/{{Metroid|1}}'', all of the bosses could be harmed with your regular beam in case you ran out of missiles (with the exception of Metroids, but they always gave you missiles when you killed them). In fact, Kraid [[spoiler:is particularly weak against ''morph ball bombs'']]. The later games are able to mix it up thanks to the Charge Beam power-up; bosses take no damage from uncharged beam shots, while charged shots are just as strong as missiles but take a second or two to actually charge up.

* In ''4/fA'', the Hanger ability becomes a set, permanent ability, with a catch: [=NEXTs=] with tank-type legs have no restriction in hangar weapons, meaning that carrying grenade launchers with gatling gun backups is perfectly valid option (obviously, barring weight restrictions).

** [[[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition 5th Edition]]:

* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': Daggers have the worst game stats of any weapon, but cost zero Encumbrance to carry. Every adventurer necessarily starts with a dagger and [[PointBuildSystem one point of proficiency]] on top of their more specialized weapons.

[[folder:Other]]
* Should Jack run out of spears in ''VideoGame/LostInBlue 2'', he can take enemies on with his bare hands. Punches hit for puny damage, but successful dodging can lead to him taking down a ''tiger'' like a man.
* In ''4/fA'', the Hanger ability becomes a set, permanent ability, with a catch: [=NEXTs=] with tank-type legs have no restriction in hangar weapons, meaning that carrying grenade launchers with gatling gun backups is perfectly valid option (obviously, barring weight restrictions).
* In ''Beat Blades Haruka'', the characters have attacks that require no energy to use. However, they're very inaccurate and will only ever inflict 1 damage whenever they do hit, meaning that if you ever run out energy for normal attacks, you'll be in trouble.
* ''VideoGame/Driv3r'' - Tanner's 17-bullet-per-mag [[AKA47 9mm Automatic]]. If you run out of ammo for your other guns (including several machineguns, two other pistols, one of which is silent and fires faster, a grenade launcher and an assault rifle) in a later mission, where you're facing an ass load of dudes with ALL of those guns, bend over and kiss ass goodbye.

** In 4th Edition, powers fall into several types depending on how often they're able to be used and how powerful they are. The At will powers can be used as many times as you want per day, but they are way less damaging than the daily powers.
** In 5th Edition, most everyone carries a melee weapon and a ranged weapon, including spellcasters. This way, a strength-based character can throw javelins at distant foes, while dexterity-based characters can use rapiers and shortswords in melee. While it's almost expected for a Fighter or Barbarian to carry around various sidearms ([[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks usually throwable ones]]) on top of their main melee choice and ranged option, a Wizard can also benefit from keeping a dagger or small knife on their belt; small blades are useful as tools, and sometimes you just cannot rely on your spells at all (like fighting in an antimagic field). Spellcasters also get Emergency Spells in the form of cantrips, little spell effects that can be cast without using a spell slot or preparing it in advance - and many cantrips can be quite potent (in fact for one class, their Eldritch Blast cantrip is their bread and butter power). Likewise, Rogues might want to carry a club or light hammer for dealing with skeletons and other unbackstabbable undead. Even if a character lacks proficiency in a weapon, it's still better to pick it up and use it however clumsily rather than relying on your fists (unless you are a Monk or took the Tavern Brawler feat).
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame''
** Starting from the [[VideoGame/FatalFrameIICrimsonButterfly second game]] onward, there is the Type-07 Film. It's the weakest of the film types, but you have an infinite supply of it; this makes it a good film to use when snapping at the [[GuideDangIt many, many hidden and vanishing ghosts]] in the game and it's still around, even if you have used up all your stronger films.
** The [[VideoGame/FatalFrame1 first game]] had the Type-14 Film, the second-weakest film type in the following games. It isn't infinite like the Type-07 in the other games, but it is the one film you can always restock at a save point.
* ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer'' has glass weapons that are extremely powerful, but break if you take any damage, leaving you unarmed. If this happens, a glass shard weapon will appear that acts like a reskin of the regular dagger (only does one damage and has no range unless it's thrown, which leaves you completely unarmed with absolutely no weapon)
* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' and ''VideoGame/BattleTech2018'': Unlike the ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games that are based on it, all 'mechs can engage in physical attacks as long as enough limbs (both legs or one leg and one arm) are intact, even if all other weapons are destroyed or out of ammo. Doing so is generally seen as a desperation move, though some 'mechs (like the ''Hatchetman'') are intentionally designed to use physical combat as a first resort. Any 'mech that has an EnergyWeapon installed in the head or centre torso also has one of these, as energy weapons cannot run out of ammo and the 'mech is disabled if either of the two locations are destroyed.

* ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'' typically gives its long-ranged-missile [[HumongousMecha battlemechs]] a couple of close ranged weapons for emergencies, because the missile launchers often have an ArbitraryMinimumRange due to their arc and arming time. The ''Catapult'' "Charlie" variant, for example, carries a pair of [[DeathFromAbove Arrow IV cruise missiles]] with a pair of pathetic Small Lasers for point defense against enemy [[PoweredArmor BattleArmor]] who wish to [[PersonalSpaceInvader RIP AND TEAR]] the Catapult's [[SnipingTheCockpit cockpit]]

** In fourth edition, powers fall into several types depending on how often they're able to be used and how powerful they are. The At will powers can be used as many times as you want per day, but they are way less damaging than the daily powers.
** In fifth edition, most everyone carries a melee weapon and a ranged weapon, including spell casters. This way, a strength-based character can throw javelins at distant foes, while dexterity-based characters can use rapiers and shortswords in melee. Also, among spell casters, cantrips are At Will spells that can be used at any time, and don't use up spell slots -- some of them can be pretty potent. Of course, in situations where preferred weapons (those that the character has the proficiency for) are unavailable, any character can use any weapon, though it would be a good idea to base this off their respective strengths -- a dexterous wizard getting a shortsword and a strong cleric getting a battleaxe -- and worse comes to worse, anything can be used as a weapon -- it's actually in the Rules.

In military-themed films and TV shows, soldiers whose primary weapon is a rifle may carry a pistol as a close-quarters defense weapon. Films and TV shows about law enforcement may depict officers carrying a small backup pistol in addition to their main service weapon.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a different melee weapon for every single class - A [[BatterUp baseball bat]] for the Scout, an [[ShovelStrike entrenchment shovel]] for the Soldier, a [[PercussiveMaintenance wrench]] for the Engineer, a butterfly knife for the Spy, a {{Kukri|sAreKool}} for the Sniper, a bonesaw for the Medic, a [[GrievousBottleyHarm whiskey bottle]] for the Demoman, a [[AnAxeToGrind fire axe]] for the Pyro, and [[GoodOldFisticuffs bare fists]] for the Heavy. The game offers [[UnlockableContent unlockable weapons]], including many melee options that have more utility than just bare damage -- this often makes the stock weapons [[ExaggeratedTrope fall into this trope on a meta level]], as despite how unlockables are designed to be [[NecessaryDrawback sidegrades with new power but new drawbacks]], many are considered by players to be direct improvements since function over pure emergency damage that they have guns for makes them vastly more useful (such as the Soldier's "Escape Plan", [[PowerfulPick a pickaxe]] that gives him bonus running speed just by holding it out, or the Heavy's "Fists of Steel", [[PowerFist metal gauntlets]] that protects him from incoming gunfire).

* In the ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior2013'' reboot, Lo Wang's WeaponOfChoice is his favourite katana. Rather than simply being something you pull out as a last resort when you run out of ammo, the katana makes for a very potent primary weapon as it can be upgraded to deal more damage and is also capable of powerful KiManipulation as Lo Wang grows in strength. There's a more powerful demon-slaying katana, the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Nobitsura Kage]], up for grabs too.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' and ''VideoGame/BattleTech2018'': Unlike the ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games that are based on it, all 'mechs can engage in physical attacks as long as both legs (or one arm) is intact. Doing so is generally seen as a desperation move, though some 'mechs (like the ''Hatchetman'') are intentionally designed with physical combat being a first resort. Any 'mech that has an EnergyWeapon installed in the head or centre torso also has one of these, as energy weapons cannot run out of ammo and the 'mech is disabled if either of the two locations are destroyed.

*** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' Ethan's melee weapon is now a hunting knife he finds in the titular abandoned village when he first stumbles into it. Fitting with the game's [[ActionisedSequel more action-packed focus]] Ethan never has to use it in any story context [[spoiler: save cutting himself free of his bonds to shoot Miranda at the climax]] and instead, thanks to the game's abundance of Ammo through either Crafting or The Duke's services, Ethan's main form of attack will always be his guns, with little fear of running out.

* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'''s mage starts with a weak wand that does piddling damage and never runs out. It's ok for the first level or two when you're limited to cantrips, but as soon as you learn proper spells and are able to buy proper wands you might as well dispose of it. The enemies become stronger very soon, but the wand's damage doesn't, so if you ever find yourself with everything but the first wand exhausted you might as well reload, because firing it will do you about as good as spitting.

** The Vulcan Cannon in the original game. It recieved a [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] upgrade in ''II'' with the Gauss Cannon, but was once again {{Nerf}}ed in ''3'' with the Vauss Cannon, which replaces both.

* In the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDuty World At War]]'', and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', the knife is meant for when you find yourself in melee situations. Since it's an instant kill, however, many people just run around the battlefield using it as their primary weapon. Combine this with the Commando Perk(allows longer melee range), Tactical Knife (faster melee speed), and Lightwight (faster character speed) in [=MW2=] and you have what is arguably a GameBreaker. The earlier ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games have more ''Halo''-esque gun melees.

* {{Kni|feNut}}ves, or if you're really lucky, a CoolSword.

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', you have your fists at all times. You can also pick up [[BatterUp a baseball bat]] for when you're out of ammo. Later games added alternatives to the bat, such as [[KnifeNut knives]] and [[ChainsawGood chainsaws]].

** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'', Ethan Winters gets his first combat experiences when he is attacked by [[spoiler: [[DemonicPossession his wife, Mia,]]]] who he has to fight off in a close-combat encounter, with a nearby Hatchet against the attacker's [[KnifeNut Butcher Knife]]. The hatchet comes in handy when [[spoiler: Ethan gets his left hand chainsawed off shortly after, and has to fight the subsequent foe with only one functioning limb]]. He loses the hatchet soon afterwards when ambushed by [[TheDragon Jack Baker]] and dragged into the family house, and has to spend the next few encounters playing cat and mouse with the [[ImplacableMan unkillable madman]]. Following this, he begs for aid from a Police deputy investigating the property, and whilst the cop refuses to give the frantic Ethan his gun, citing Ethan's suspicious behaviour, he does humour his pleas by giving him a foldable pocket knife, which becomes Ethan's Melee Weapon for the rest of the game. As expected, it's not an impressive weapon, but it's unbreakability means Ethan always has a means of defending himself.

** The final boss fights are notable though in that you only have your bare fists (''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'') or your sword (''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2''). ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' lets you keep your other weapons and even some mid-game bosses can be beaten with melee maneuvers, but if the final boss (named [[spoiler:The Boss]]) manages to grapple you while you're wielding a firearm, she'll actually DISMANTLE the gun and throw away the pieces. You can pick them back up, but do try keeping the gun holstered during close-quarters combat the next time around.

* The first ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' had the Air Taser, which uses no ammo, had long range, counted as a silent weapon (unless the enemy starts screaming when they get lit on fire), and is pretty much an instant kill if it latches on any part of the enemy's body. The developers seem to have realized how they've made the Emergency Weapon too damn useful, so they changed it to a combat knife in later games. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks And killed all the fun.]]
** ...Though they did include it as an [[InfinityPlusOneSword unlockable weapon]] in at least one of the later games. One of the rare cases of a weapon appearing on BOTH ends of the spectrum. Oh, and the by the way: "long range" means technically ''infinite''. The game is also nice enough to tell you when you're aiming at someone's head, so that street with a bunch of snipers just waiting for you to walk down becomes trivial when you realize you can sit far beyond their engagement range and fiddle with your aiming until you ''light them on fire''.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'', Olimar had a very weak punch that could slightly damage and distract enemies. The second game introduced the Rocket Punch for better damage.
** This is carried over into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' Most of Olimar's moves requires him to use a Pikmin to actually strike the foe, though he does have a (very few) weak melee attacks that don't use Pikmin.

* Units in most ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' titles may come with a ''useful'' no-energy no-ammo attack (if nothing else, for example, a Grungust can always RocketPunch). If they don't, you can bet they'll come with either the option to perform a generic Attack (basically, bodyslamming the enemy), or head-mounted short-range vulcan cannons with unlimited ammo (one of many, many {{Shout Out}}s to ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', although vulcan ammo was notably limited there). These attacks always hit for piddling damage and are seldom necessary, but can be fun for CherryTapping (or conserving ammo and energy). You could, however, upgrade these weapons. Why? Most Vulcans have 10-15 shots and body-slam has infinite ammo.

* In ''Beat Blades Haruka'', the characters have attacks that require no energy to use. However, they're very inaccurate and will only ever inflict 1 damage whenever they do hit, meaning that if you ever run out energy for normal attacks, [[LiteralMetaphor you're pretty]] [[HGame much screwed]].

* Notably absent from ''Galerians'' - if you run out of drugs to support your PsychicPowers, you have no means to defend yourself. Not to mention that the number of drugs in the game is limited, and the number of enemies is significantly less limited. Done this way because the game is meant to be ''SurvivalHorror'', and is specifically based on the original ''Resident Evil''.
** Although it's still possible to defend yourself by getting angry enough to have a SuperPowerMeltdown that's instant death to anyone near you. That's also a bad idea unless you have the right drug to stop it.

** The big exception is ''Resident Evil 4'', where Leon is equipped with a much more useful knife. For the most part, you use it as an ammo-saver: you can bust open barrels and crates with it, or finish off weakened Ganados. It can also save your ammo when fighting against the Gigante; if you hop on the monster's back, you can slice it with your knife, or stab the eye of the final boss with it as well. It also becomes useful in a few cutscenes, the first time you face Jack Krauser being the best example. Later on when Krauser plants an ambush for you in normal game play, the most efficient way to hurt him is using your knife. You can empty clip after clip into him, but it takes a lot of ammo to get him to back off compared to one slash of your knife.

*** [=RE4=] went pretty crazy with this type of tactic, actually. Apparently the programmers had forgotten that there are crazy fans who'd consider using the weak knife as opposed to more powerful guns, and kind of forgot to program in proper defense against knife usage in several bosses. FridgeLogic hits in spades when you realize that some bosses are faster to kill with a knife than with a rocket launcher.

* In the first ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator'' game for the PC, if you ran out of weapons for all of your guns you ended up using your pulse rifle as a club. The exception is the fact that, given the type of enemy you face in the game, if it comes down to that you're pretty much screwed already.

* The Vulcan Cannon in the original ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}''. It recieved a [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] upgrade in ''II'' with the Gauss Cannon, but was once again {{Nerf}}ed in ''3'' with the Vauss Cannon, which replaces both.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a different melee weapon for every single class - A [[BatterUp baseball bat]] for the Scout, an [[ShovelStrike entrenchment shovel]] for the Soldier, a [[PercussiveMaintenance wrench]] for the Engineer, a ButterflyKnife for the Spy, a {{Kukri|sAreKool}} for the Sniper, a bonesaw for the Medic, a [[GrievousBottleyHarm whiskey bottle]] for the Demoman, a [[AnAxeToGrind fire axe]] for the Pyro, and [[GoodOldFisticuffs bare fists]] for the Heavy. The game offers [[UnlockableContent unlockable weapons]], including many melee options that have more utility than just bare damage -- this often makes the stock weapons [[ExaggeratedTrope fall into this trope on a meta level]], as despite how unlockables are designed to be [[NecessaryDrawback sidegrades with new power but new drawbacks]], many are considered by players to be direct improvements since function over pure emergency damage that they have guns for makes them vastly more useful (such as the Soldier's "Escape Plan", [[PowerfulPick a pickaxe]] that gives him bonus running speed just by holding it out, or the Heavy's "Fists of Steel", [[PowerFist metal gauntlets]] that protects him from incoming gunfire).

** Note that ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' are the only games in the series where items can get damaged. This means that in previous games, melee weapons that don't consume ammo are always usable. And some of them can kill a super-mutant in a few slashes, if your character is built properly for that. This also means that Unarmed Masters avoid much of the hassle of collecting and carrying ammo at all, although some of the [[PowerFist best]] fist-weapons do use electric ammo for that [[IncrediblyLamePun extra punch]].

** In fifth edition, most everyone carries a melee weapon and a ranged weapon, including spell casters. This way, a strength-based character can throw javelins at distant foes, while dexterity-based characters can use rapiers and shortswords in melee. Also, among spell casters, cantrips are At Will spells that can be used at any time, and don't use up spell slots - some of them can be pretty potent. Of course, in situations where preferred weapons (those that the character has the proficiency for) are unavailable, any character can use any weapon, though it would be a good idea to base this off their respective strengths -- a dexterous wizard getting a shortsword and a strong cleric getting a battleaxe -- and worse comes to worse, anything can be used as a weapon -- it's actually in the Rules.