History Main / GreatBow

* [[Creator/FROMSoftware Fromsoft]] uses this trope in all of its ''Souls'' games from ''Dark Souls'' onward.
** The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the Dragonslayer Greatbow from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', a bow so large that it towers over the wielder, to the point it requires an AnchoredAttackStance to be used. Naturally, due to its immense size, it can fire lance-sized projectiles made for hunting dragons, and the Silver Knights are more than happy to knock you down from the roof of Anor Londo with their bows and arrows. Hawkeye Gough, a predecessor of the Silver Knights, has his own homemade bow that is heavier, bigger, and [[spoiler:he uses it to shoot down Black Dragon Kalameet [[ImprobableAimingSkills despite being blind himself]].]]
** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', being a sequel to arguably the most influential game of the ''decade'', adds [[SerialEscalation several more greatbows]]. The most common one the player gains access to is the Alonne Greatbow, a type of greatbow wielded by the Alonne Knights, soldiers of the Old Iron King who were trained by a legendary warrior from the East. Later examples include the Possessed Armor Greatbow, carried by the Possessed Armors in the ''Crown of the Old Iron King'' DLC, and the Twin-Headed Greatbow from the ''Crown of the Ivory King'' DLC. The original Dragonslayer Greatbow can also be obtained as a NewGamePlus bonus.

** ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', being the successor to ''Dark Souls'', features many of the same types of examples.
*** Besides the standard Greatbow wielded by Knights of the demigods (which the player can obtain very early in the game), the player can also eventually obtain the Lion Greatbow, the greatbow once wielded by Starscourge Radahn. What's special about the Lion Greatbow is that its weapon art allows it to unleash a RainOfArrows on the location of its target, and said arrows can include those fitted with explosive tips, effectively turning ''DeathOfAThousandCuts'' into ''Death of a Thousand Grenades''.
*** The Golem class of enemy that the player can encounter throughout the Lands Between will sometimes wield greatbows appropriate to their size. Keep in mind that these Golems are the size of ''buildings'', meaning that their greatbows are similarly absurdly sized, with each easily being as tall as a school bus is long. Obviously for gameplay's sake though, if the player manages to pick one up it will shrink down to an appropriate size, being about the same size as other greatbows.
*** Newly added to ''Elden Ring'' is the crossbow equivalent, the ballista weapon class, which as the name suggests are '''miniaturized siege weapons''' you carry on your person. Unlike greatbows their damage output isn't reliant on the wielder's damage stats (beyond meeting the requirements to use the weapon in the first place), and their long reloading times make them a liability since the player is left extremely vulnerable after firing a shot. Despite this disadvantage, it is far easier to get explosive ammo for them, and said explosive ammo has a much larger splash radius, making it much easier to damage moving targets.

[[caption-width-right:350:Whoever wields them is a great person too.[[note]]Also seriously, that "arrow" is so big and great that you could just use it as a weapon in of itself.[[/note]]]]

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'':
** The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the Dragonslayer Greatbow from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', a bow so large that it towers the wielder, to the point it requires an AnchoredAttackStance to be used. Naturally, due to its immense size, it can fire lance-sized projectiles made for hunting dragons, and the Silver Knights are more than happy to knock you down from the roof of Anor Londo with their bows and arrows. Hawkeye Gough, a predecessor of the Silver Knights, has his own homemade bow that is heavier, bigger, and [[spoiler:he uses it to shoot down Black Dragon Kalameet [[ImprobableAimingSkills despite being blind himself]].]]
** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' has the Alonne Greatbow, a type of Greatbow brought by the Alonne Knights from the Far East to entertain the Old Iron King. Another one is the Possessed Armor Greatbow, carried by the Possessed Armors, who [[BowAndSwordInAccord wield a bow and a sword at the same time]]. There's also the Twin-Headed Greatbow, which is somewhat harder to master since arrows are nocked and fired slightly higher that normally, it is also to date one of the heaviest Greatbows and also has one of the highest strength requirements overall.
** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII''
*** The Millwood Knight Greatbow, which comes with a Weapon Skill that creates a shockwave when the arrows land onto the surface, knocking down anyone nearby. There's also a giant living at Undead Settlement, who shoots anyone next to the white branches all over the world. [[spoiler:He's actually trying to help you, should you have the Young White Branch given by him in your inventory, he helps you to shoot down your enemies from a far distance.]]
*** One of the weapons that Aldrich, Devourer of Gods (through Dark Sun Gwyndolyn, whom the former has taken control of as the latter is slowly eaten) uses against the Ashen One is the Darkmoon Longbow, a bow that can create a flurry of bows out of sorcery; the bow can be transposed by Ludleth of Courland and accessed in exchange for the Soul of Aldrich.
* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' also features greatbows, from greatbows tall as the person wielding it to colossal bows wielded by giant animated statues that fire arrows the size of a bus. A new addition is the crossbow equivalent, the Hand Ballista, which as the name suggests is a siege weapon you carry on your person. Even mages can get on the fun with Loretta's Greatbow, a spell that conjures up a magical bow to fire a powerful magic bolt. Or three.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'':
** Genichiro Ashina's secondary weapon is a massive and rather thick bow, with which he is able to rapidly fire arrows from with ease.
** Okami archers wield traditional yumi bows that are longer than they are tall. TruthInTelevision, as real life yumi were designed to surpass the heights of their wielders.

* In his first appearance (in UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks), Bullseye had ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} strapped into one of these as his DeathTrap du jour.

* Olios in ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'' wields an enormous bow with arrows so large that they're compared to spears.

* In ''Manga/{{Gamaran}}'', ArcherArchetype Arata Nakaizumi, one of the largest and best muscled men in the series, makes his return wielding the large ''daikyu'' Reigetsu (lit. Dark Moon), a bow as tall as he his (and, as previously mentioned, he's one of the tallest guys), thick and squared, it's openly mentioned that only the true masters of the Nakaizumi School can use it, and Arata does, to shoot special arrows strong enough to ''rip arms'' off their sockets and smash castle gates open.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_longbow English longbow]] was often taller than the average man of the time (up to 2.1 m in length) and fired 0.8 m-long arrows at 300+ m range. They required such well-developed back muscles that the skeletons of archers that have been exhumed from battlefields show evidence of what would almost qualify as deformities.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumi Yumi]] is a type of Japanese traditional asymmetrical bow, the bow length towers most of the European bows, and the grip is located at about two thirds of the distance from the upper tip. While it can't fire lance-sized projectiles, its range is still impressive due to the bow's length. There's also the Daikyu [[note]]literally ''Great Bow''[[/note]], with an ''even longer bow length'' than the Yumi.

Compare {{BFG}} for big guns and {{BFS}} for big swords. Not to confuse with [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon bows that merely look great]]. Although it can overlap depending on how ''big'' said bow is.

* Ishtar in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' has the "Heavenly Boat Maanna", which is not only an airship but an enormous bow, composed of two crescent-shaped objects connected by rope that floats alongside her.

* The Wolf Clan's Ballistamen of ''VideoGame/BattleRealms'' wield siege ballistae as personal weapons, carrying them into battle on their backs and then firing it without taking it off. The ballista fires twenty pound logs in place of regular ballista bolts and is bigger than the ballistaman, who needs to stand still and anchor himself before being able to fire it. They can also use it to fire large totems with the blessing from a Druidess.
-->'''Ballistaman:''' This thing needs wheels!

* ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'': Archer Maidens wield technologically advanced bows capable of hitting ''aircraft'' (and are the Empire's first AntiAir weapon) and can also fire a volley of arrows for less damage across a wide area. When bunkered in a multigunner turret/IFV, the default weapon is replaced with an even bigger version of the bow.
* ''Videogame/{{Rimworld}}:'' Greatbows are one weapon option, and the single best weapon one can get when it comes to low-tech options. It manages to compete with revolvers by sheer dint of damage done and good accuracy, and it has very good range as well. Their exact size is never specified, however.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' 3 has the Arbalist class, who wield humongous crossbows almost as big as they are.

* As far as toy bows go, the [[UsefulNotes/NERFBrand NERF Dude Perfect Signature Bow]] is gigantic. At over a meter long, it's more or less the size of a proper bow, hence being definitely big for children, which it's still partly marketed towards. This could explain why it was never ultimately released in its original form, the Platinum Bow for the Rebelle line, aimed towards young girls.

** The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the Dragonslayer Greatbow from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', a bow so large that it towers the wielder, to the point it requires an AnchoredAttackStance to be used. Naturally, due to its immense size, it can fire lance-sized projectiles made for hunting dragons, and the Silver Knights are more than happy to knock you down from the roof of Anor Londo with their bows and arrows. Hawkeye Gough, the predecessors of the Silver Knights, has his own homemade bow that is heavier, bigger, and [[spoiler:he uses it to shoot down Black Dragon Kalameet [[ImprobableAimingSkills despite being blind himself]].]]

** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has the Millwood Knight Greatbow, which comes with a Weapon Skill that creates a shockwave when the arrows land onto the surface, knocking down anyone nearby. There's also a giant living at Undead Settlement, who shoots anyone next to the white branches all over the world. [[spoiler:He's actually trying to help you, should you have the Young White Branch given by him in your inventory, he helps you to shoot down your enemies from a far distance.]]
*** In addition to the above, in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', one of the weapons that Aldrich, Devourer of Gods (through Dark Sun Gwyndolyn, whom the former has taken control of as the latter is slowly eaten) uses against the Ashen One is the Darkmoon Longbow, a bow that can create a flurry of bows out of sorcery; the bow can be transposed by Ludleth of Courland and accessed in exchange for the Soul of Aldrich.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}: Uryū Ishida starts off wielding an EnergyBow called Kojaku, and can increase its size at-will to make it larger than he is tall. During the Arrancar Arc, he upgrades to a ridiculously massive spider-web shaped bow called Ginrei Kojaku, which can fire thousands of arrows in a single shot.

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[[caption-width-right:350:Whoever wields them is a great person too.[[note]]Also seriously that "arrow" is so big and great you could just use it as a weapon in of itself[[/note]]]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
** Tomb King Ushabti wield Great Bows, which are as tall as the Ushabti, while the Necrolith Colossi can be upgraded with the even bigger Bow of the Desert, also about as tall as the Colossus. Both [[{{Golem}} constructs]] can draw and fire these massive creations, which hit as hard as some War Machines of other factions.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_longbow English longbow]], which was often taller than the average man of the time (up to 2.1 m in length) and fired 0.8 m-long arrows at 300+ m range. They required such well-developed back muscles that the skeletons of archers that have been exhumed from battlefields show evidence of what would almost qualify as deformities.

* The Dainsleif Rod from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' is an illegal weapon fired from a bow-like launcher that is ''[[UpToEleven taller than a Mobile Suit]]'', firing ranged projectiles capable of penetrating Nanolaminate Armor. It is commonly attached onto a Graze variant, costing the left arm slot to equip the bows.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumi Yumi]] is a type of Japanese traditional asymmetrical bow, the bow length towers most of the European bows, and the grip is located at about two thirds of the distance from the upper tip. While it can't fire lance-sized projectiles, its range is still impressive due to the bow's length. There's also the Daikyu [[note]]literally ''Great Bow''[[/note]], with an ''[[UpToEleven even longer bow length]]'' than the Yumi.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_longbow English longbow]], which was person-sized (up to 2.1 m in length) and fired 0.8 m-long arrows at 300+ m range.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' also features greatbows, from greatbows tall as the person wielding it to colossal bows wielded by giant animated statues that fire arrows the size of a bus. Even mages can get on the fun with Loretta's Greatbow, a spell that conjures up a magical bow to fire a powerful magic bolt. Or three.