History Main / GuysSmashGirlsShoot

** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Ryuji and Yusuke are both better at melee than casting, while Ann and Haru are better at magic. Though Makoto ends up pretty good at both.

* In ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', Hansel uses an axe, and Gretel uses a really big gun. [[spoiler: Then again, we don't know what gender either of them actually is. They even switch roles, weapons included.]]

The tendency to make a female character a ranged fighter while her male partner/teammate fights up close. In fantasy settings, she's the archer or a SquishyWizard, and the burliest male character has a [[{{BFS}} giant melee weapon]]. In SuperHero comic books, especially Creator/MarvelComics in the '60s and '70s, female characters are more likely to be given powers that are ranged or unconventional enough to let them stay back while their male teammates did all the up-close hitting. In settings where ranged weaponry is the norm, such as military or futuristic settings, you can expect the female character to be a sniper, hacker, medic, or some other support role. The most common exception to the "girls aren't melee fighters" rule comes when the female combatant is fighting someone who's [[DesignatedGirlFight equally matched]].

The tendency to make a female character a ranged fighter while her male partner/teammate fights up close. In fantasy settings, she's the archer or a SquishyWizard, and the burliest male character has a [[{{BFS}} giant melee weapon]]. In SuperHero comic books, especially Creator/MarvelComics in the '60s and '70s, female characters are more likely to be given powers that are ranged or unconventional enough to let them stay back while their male teammates do all the up-close hitting. In settings where ranged weaponry is the norm, such as military or futuristic settings, you can expect the female character to be a sniper, hacker or some other support role. The most common exception to the "girls aren't melee fighters" rule comes when the female combatant is fighting someone who's [[DesignatedGirlFight equally matched]].

*** The all-male Kingsguard also use spears, but their's have the ability to shoot energy bolts.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': The male members of the team are either straight hand-to-hand combatants or include hand-to-hand with their weaponry. The female members of the team, however, have telekinesis and a bow-and-arrow so they do not need to physically touch their opponents. This is more balanced come season 2, where melee female heroes are introduced to the Team in the 5-year gap. Furthermore, although Artemis is primarily long-range, she has been shown to be quite good in close-hand combat. Her sister definitely prefers it, fighting with swords.

** ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'': In the ''Last Days of Magic'' event, when all of Earth's sorcerous community lost their spell-casting, they found out enchanted weapons still work so Stephen and company armed themselves. While Stephen and the other male sorcerers got melee weapons like a battle-axe, Magik and Scarlet Witch took a shotgun and Thomas submachine gun respectively. This choice is especially interesting in the case of Magik, who's a MasterSwordsman.

** ComicBook/SpiderMan villains Scorpion and his 90s DistaffCounterpart Scorpia. Scorpion had SuperStrength and a cybernetic scorpion tail that let him inject venom or spray HollywoodAcid at close range (as well as making a useful bludgeon). Scorpia, by contrast, had PowerArmor with "claw" blasters in the wrists and a tail blaster, letting her fight at range.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileSilmeria''. [[TheHero Alicia]] uses a sword while [[TheLancer Rufus]] uses a bow.

** ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Inverted with ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn. The Joker most often uses guns in his crimes, and Harley is best known for her [[DropTheHammer mallet]].

** Also true of the robots AR-D and RM-C: he is a heavy brawler who favors [[DropTheHammer a gigantic hammer]], while she is a lightweight flier who fights with guns. [[spoiler:That is until they go all CombiningMecha and RM-C gives up her weapons to AR-D, where he becomes able to shoot the head of his hammer at his opponents.]]

** ''Series/ResshaSentaiToqger'': Partially inverted, where not only does the whole team use each other's weapons regularly, but the girls have a [[DropTheHammer hammer]] and [[WolverineClaws claw]] while one of the boys has a gun.

* Inverted with the companions in ''VideoGame/FableII'': [[DropTheHammer Sister Hannah]], the Hero of Strength; [[TheGunslinger Reaver]], the Hero of Skill; and [[EthnicMagician Garth]], the Hero of Will.

** This is also true with ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', where of the male companions include a former raider who uses a [[MoreDakka fully automatic assault rifle]], a ghoul with a ''sniper shotgun'', and an intelligent Super Mutant with a [[GatlingGood Gatling Laser]], (not that any of them have a problem using melee weapons) while the two female companions include a cybernetic Brotherhood of Steel Paladin wielding a [[DropTheHammer Super Sledge]] and a depraved former slave whose default range weapon is pitifully short-ranged double-barrel shotgun but is ''very'' proficient in close quarters combat. [[note]] Butch, a hoodlum from Vault 111, doesn't really fit either, as he doesn't seem significantly more proficient in either weapon type.[[/note]]

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2''. Daphnis the WholesomeCrossdresser {{Meido}} shoots. His master Elissa TheOjou carries [[DropTheHammer a huge hammer]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' has a similar arrangement, with a female Rogue who functions best as an archer, and a male warrior and wizard.
** In [[VideoGame/DiabloII the sequel]], the two close-quarters combat classes - the Barbarian and the Paladin - are male. The Sorceress is a ranged combatant, and the Amazon specializes in bows, javelins, and spears - only the latter is close-quarters. The Assassin and Necromancer inverts this dynamic where the former has an entire skill tree for martial arts and wields a katar by default while the latter summons minions, casts bone and poison skills, and curses enemies.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' with the Origin Characters: Gale is a Wizard and Wyll is a Warlock, classes that favor magic, while Astario is a Rogue who specializes in attacking enemies from stealth. Meanwhile, Lae'zel is a Fighter and Karlach is a Barbaian, while Shadowheart is a Cleric who is equally adept at using magic and melee weapons.

* ''ComicBook/XenozoicTales'': Downplayed with Jack Tenrac and Hannah Dundee. While Jack is usually going for GoodOlFisticuffs, he's used rifles quite often. Hannah has a tendency to go for shooting someone with a rifle, but she also came from a highly educated tribe of hunter-gatherers who had limited access to high technology so she's well-experienced in stabbing things with spears and other sharp objects.

** Inverted with ComicBook/GreenArrow and ComicBook/BlackCanary when they are teamed up. Also slightly averted as Dinah has a ranged option with her [[MakeMeWannaShout Canary Cry]] while Oliver later learns sword-fighting.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': While Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein have an even spread of genders between their melee and spellcaster classes, Bell's Hells do fall into this. [[PintsizedPowerhouse Orym]], [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Chetney]] and [[TheBigGuy Ashton]] are all male (or masculine-aligned in [[NonHumanNonBinary Ashton]]'s case) melee fighters who tend to get up close and personal with their targets, while [[ShockAndAwe Imogen]], [[{{Druid}} Fearne]] and [[MakeEmRot Laudna]] are all female spellcasters who fight at range. [[CombatMedic Fresh Cut Grass]] falls in the middle, as they're a genderless robot who mostly focuses on healing and buffing the party, and fights using a mix of ranged spells and a circular sawblade they can attach to their arm.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': While Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein have an even spread of genders between their melee and spellcaster classes, Bell's Hells do fall into this. Orym, Chetney and Ashton are all male (or masculine-aligned in [[NonHumanNonBinary Ashton]]'s case) melee fighters who tend to get up close and personal with their targets, while Imogen, Fearne and Laudna are all female spellcasters who fight at range. Fresh Cut Grass falls in the middle, as they're a genderless robot who mostly focuses on healing and buffing the party, and fights using a mix of ranged spells and a circular sawblade they can attach to their arm.

* ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'': Owen Zastava Pitt, the main protagonist, uses [[ICallItVera Abomination]], a [[MoreDakka fully-automatic]] [[CoolGuns Saiga-12]] shotgun with a {{bayonet|Ya}} ([[SilverHasMysticPowers silver-inlaid]], of course), while his [[FriendlySniper wife]] and other [[ActionGirl female characters]] tend to use longer-ranged weapons. Earl Harbinger, [[spoiler:being a werewolf]], plays it straighter.

Ironically, this trope was sometimes inverted in real life, at least with low-tech weaponry. Powerful war bows require a great deal of upper body strength to draw back, while [[JavelinThrower javelins]], darts, and rocks fly farther and hit with greater force when thrown by a person with stronger muscles and longer limbs to give the projectile more velocity. Crossbows could put average women on more equal footing with average men because they are drawn using mechanical spanning devices or more advantageous muscle groups, but are still in part dependent on physical strength, especially in regards to rate of fire (drawing back that span was ''exhausting'' even for very physically fit men). Other possible equalizers are [[SufferTheSlings slings]], which effectively lengthen the user's throwing arm to accelerate small stones or bullets very efficiently; and muskets, which substitute chemical propellant for muscle power, and whose effectiveness is most determined by skill and discipline. As for melee weapons, historical swords, axes, maces, etc. were rarely as heavy and cumbersome as those in fiction. In particular, anything with a slicing edge like a sword or a stabbing point like a spear could often kill with relatively little force as long as decent technique was used, especially if the target was wearing little to no armor, or the offender was good at finding weakpoints (significant physical strength was needed to smash through metal armor, as many historical archaelogy videos prove). Two-handed polearms are good options because of their reach, and the ability to take a wide grip on the shaft for increased leverage in striking or binding: NaginatasAreFeminine in Japanese culture, and a signature weapon of the LadyOfWar. Still, the image of the lithe, graceful female archer persists in medieval fiction.