History Main / HammerHilt

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': Sigfried has a few attacks that involve using the pommel of his sword instead of the blade. Since he wields a large two-handed sword, they still hit pretty hard. Asteroth sometimes can bash foes with the shaft of his axe, but it's not as big a part of his moveset.

** ''The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Ages'': Link gives an opponent a pommel strike to the groin. His ancestor Raven uses a similar technique aimed at the stomach.

As the second variety is a DeathTrope, spoilers below may be unmarked. You have been warned.

!!Examples

* During the Boyhood mini-arc late in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Guts is up against a hulking Bazuso-like tower of a man in full plate armor, and nothing Guts can do with his blunted blade is working. He gets the upper hand by putting a ''mordschlag'' right into the guy's unprotected eye.

** ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'': Quarterstaffs are considered double weapons, which means that, when you attack with one, you can take a penalty on your attack rolls to be allowed to hit the enemy with the other end of the staff as an off-hand attack. Given that they're the only double weapons classified as Simple weapons instead of Exotic weapons, this makes them a fairly practical choice for characters who want to focus on two-weapon fighting style.

[[caption-width-right:350:The ''Mordhau'' or "murder stroke". Do not do this unless you seriously want to kill the MF.]]

Compare with SheathStrike and ImprobableUseOfAWeapon. Also compare and contrast with PistolWhipping.

Compare with SheathStrike and ImprobableUseOfAWeapon. Also compare and contrast with PistolWhipping and DropTheHammer.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': During a boyhood flashback arc late in the story, Guts is up against a big and fully-armored Bazuso-like bruiser with a blunted sword. He [[https://mangadex.org/chapter/08972595-ba04-46cc-a09a-76f50ac9a251/11 turns the tables]] by pulling a move from the ''[[UsefulNotes/HistoricalEuropeanMartialArts fechtbucher]]'' and landing a ''mordschlag'' (a move where the swordsman grips the sword by the blade and then uses the weapon like a warhammer with the crossguard acting as the head) right into the guy's eye.

This trope comes in two forms. The first is the Non-Lethal form intended to incapacitate or stagger an opponent, and the second is the more [[CombatPragmatism pragmatic]] Lethal Clubbing.

* In ''Literature/OneHundredCupboards'', Coradin uses the hilt of his sword to [[TapOnTheHead knock Henrietta and Zeke unconscious]] after kidnapping them, and later clubs Monmouth with it during a fight. All three are affected differently: Henrietta [[HardHead suffers no ill effects]] on waking, Monmouth is unconscious long enough to be worrying but recovers with nothing more than a headache, and Zeke develops a severe concussion.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': At the climax of "[[Recap/FireflyE04Shindig Shindig]]". Atherton Wing has broken Mal's sword and is holding him at swordpoint, when Inara tells Atherton she'll accept his offer to become his {{mistress}} if [[PleaseIWillDoAnything he spares Mal's life]]. The second Atherton looks away, Mal jumps up and counterattacks Atherton using the broken-off basket hilt of his sword as [[ImprovisedWeapon a makeshift knuckle-duster]].

* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa''