History Main / ImprobableUseOfAWeapon

* Aric Jorgan, the Trooper's ranged damage companion in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', qualifies as his combat stance is referred to as "Sniper Mode." His weapon of choice is also a [[{{BFG}} blaster autocannon]] held at hip level. Usually, people use sniper rifles to do their sniping, but not Jorgan. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock#Legacy Then again, neither do certain real-life war heroes]] mentioned in the real life section of this page, but Jorgan doesn't even use a scope or bipod, and, again, [[ImprobableAimingSkills shoots from the hip]]. As of the Knights of a Fallen Empire re-vamp of SW:TOR across the board, this is no longer the case.

* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy 4'': Archer girl Anna's regular attack is... slashing the enemy with an arrow.

* One well-known instance of this trope is the [[NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]] using 88 mm anti-air guns as anti-tank weapons, because in many instances it was the only thing that could get through Allied tank armor.

** Thor often makes creative use of [[DropTheHammer Mjölnir]] outside of combat, usually by taking advantage of the weapon's OnlyTheChosenMayWield nature. In his [[Film/{{Thor}} solo movie]] he restrains Loki by placing the hammer on his chest, knowing that Loki is not worthy and won't be able to move it on his own. In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' he combines the worthiness clause with the hammer's ability to return to his hand when thrown as a GodTest to expose the fact that Loki is disguising himself as their father (the real Odin being worthy of the hammer). Thor throws the hammer into the distance, grabs "Odin" by the neck and holds him in the return path. Loki opts to dodge and drop his disguise rather than risk having his face caved him.
* In ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'', Topper's machine gun runs out of ammunition. He spies a crate filled with bullets and throws them at the bad guys...killing them. Unlike other examples, the improbability is the point of the scene considering it's a comedy movie.

* This is a clue in the Literature/LordDarcy story "Murder on the Napoli Express". A man is clubbed to death with his SwordCane. Since it's far easier to kill a man with a sword cane by stabbing them rather than repeatedly whacking them on the head, this suggests to Darcy that the killer was someone who didn't know it was a sword cane.

* It's mentioned that a Korean War veteran in ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' killed three enemy soldiers with one bullet and no gun. He pushed it into their skulls with his bare hands - which logically considering it probably would mean a person capable of that could have just killed them with their bare hands anyway rather than bothering to shove the bullet through three separate heads.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''WebVideo/VeganBlackMetalChef'' uses the weapon-used-as-a-tool variant. He crushes potatoes with a mace, chops mushrooms with an axe, and uses knives that would be more suitable as weaponry than kitchen utensils.
* Similar to VBMC, in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbS0HkS8Xsorrdr3pPk4lP80tUAzfyxP1 Cooking With Boris]]'', Boris often uses a ''[[VideoGame/CounterStrike CS:GO]]''-esque hunting knife to cut and carve various vegetables.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had Homer buying a revolver, which he promptly uses to do things like opening beer cans and changing TV channels. This recklessness causes Marge to leave with the children and gets him kicked out of the local NRA.
--> "Honey, a gun is just a tool, like a screwdriver, or a crossbow, or an alligator..."

* Kanan from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' knocks out Fenn Rau by bludgeoning him with the unignited hilt of a lightsaber.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': in a flashback episode some guards from Katolis are shown using their halberds(which are seemingly based on the Chinese ''ji'' and fitted with curved sideblades to slash) as javelins against the Magma Titan, tossing them across the air at the beast. The lack of effectiveness is apparently put on the fact that the target is made of living magma.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Due to the YourMindMakesItReal nature of the MentalWorld of the Palace, even prop weapons, such as a toy gun Ryuji gives the protagonist early in the game, are able to work as fully functioning weapons that can damage Shadows, although [[RealityEnsues the amount of ammo it can fire is still limited]]. This also explains how Goro is able to use laser swords and ray guns as weapons.
* Bowguns and Bows in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' can actually be used for melee attacks (sluggishly hitting monsters with your gun or your arrows, respectively). [[RealityEnsues It's about as effective as it sounds and usually not worth the effort]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Brawlhalla}}'', some of the available weapons are used in odd fashions: the bow can be used as a melee weapon in combos, as well as used to fire an enemy you manage to catch. The rocket lance's exaust can be used to attack the enemy and the cannon can be carried and used to clobber your enemy with it.

* ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' has Hanzo, who swings the scythe-part of his kusarigama, Shingen Takeda, whose warfan can be used for slicing people and [[UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson Andrew]] who uses his rifle with a bayonet like a sword. Nagamasa using SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship with his ''lance'' may count as well.

* ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' has Hanzo, who swings the scythe-part of his kusarigama and Shingen Takeda, whose warfan can be used for slicing people. Nagamasa using SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship with his ''lance'' may count as well.

* Kaede Nagase in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' is a ninja who mostly follows the rules of Hollywood Ninjas (kunai, explosives). Except for her being listed on {{BFS}}; it stands for [[FuumaShuriken BF]]''[[FuumaShuriken Shuriken]]''. She does throw it, but it's normally used to shield her and smash her targets. Note that shuriken were used as make-shift blades for close-in defense in RealLife. They just happened to often be small and annoying. On one occasion she does throw it, she takes out a number of opponents. She assures some onlookers that the giant whirling deathball she just threw is totally nonlethal because she hit with the back of the blade. Do note that her shuriken [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_kaede_with_her_shuriken_8798.jpg doesn't appear]] to actually ''have'' a dull side, and that the onlookers still think it should be fatal.

* Subverted by Manga/{{Golgo 13}}. His choice of an M16 seems an odd choice for a sniper, especially since popular imagination has it to be some kind of close combat submachine gun that professionals would avoid with a vengeance because it [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns jams every five shots]]. However, as the creator is [[ShownTheirWork more than willing to point out]], the M16 is an ''assault rifle'', and is perfectly fine for sniping targets up to 500 meters, especially in the hands of a skilled user more interested in getting a job done than setting distance records... which Duke Togo certainly is. It's also a very easy gun to both find and modify, which is handy for a professional who discards weapons as soon as he's through with them. An M16 can also be made very accurate indeed, at least within the range limitations of its 5.56mm round.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''

* The introductory mission of ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' has a shotgun used to bar a door between the cars of a subway train. You don't even get to use it for its intended purpose, as five seconds after you remove it from the door an enemy ambushes you and throws it out the window.
* ''VideoGame/{{Intrusion 2}}'': Where to begin with Maku, she uses a laser cannon twice as big as her, twirls it around like a baton, swings around on a grappling hook while shooting it, uses it as some sort of jetpack, fires it at a disco ball to reflect and split the beam, and fires it into the ground to make molten lava shoot out of the ground.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has an example of the user not understanding how to use it: Junpei uses two-handed swords like they were baseball bats.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Due to the YourMindMakesItReal nature of the MentalWorld of the Palace, even prop weapons, such as a toy gun Ryuji gives the protagonist early in the game, are able to work as fully functioning weapons that can damage Shadows, although [[RealityEnsues the amount of ammo it can fire is still limited]]. This also explains how Goro is able to use laser swords and ray guns as weapons.

* In ''Videogame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', Opera has a laser rifle... ''That she [[PistolWhipping smacks people with]].''

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* At one point in ''WebComic/{{Oglaf}}'', Kronar uses the hilt of a sword to pleasure another man. This, predictably, does not end well, and leads him to be being portrayed thereafter with one of his hands having all of its fingers cut off.

* An episode of ''TheSimpsons'' had Homer buying a revolver, which he promptly uses to do things like opening beer cans and changing TV channels. This recklessness causes Marge to leave with the children and gets him kicked out of the local NRA.

** [[Characters/MCUThor Thor]] often makes creative use of [[DropTheHammer Mjölnir]] outside of combat, usually by taking advantage of the weapon's OnlyTheChosenMayWield nature. In his [[Film/{{Thor}} solo movie]] he restrains Loki by placing the hammer on his chest, knowing that Loki is not worthy and won't be able to move it on his own. In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' he combines the worthiness clause with the hammer's ability to return to his hand when thrown as a GodTest to expose the fact that Loki is disguising himself as their father (the real Odin being worthy of the hammer). Thor throws the hammer into the distance, grabs "Odin" by the neck and holds him in the return path. Loki opts to dodge and drop his disguise rather than risk having his face caved him.

* During the battle at the end of ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', the gargoyles build a catapult and, instead of using it to fire something, they just push it off the cathedral onto the enemies below, who manage to avoid it while it lands face down.

** The [[DrunkenMaster Demoman]] uses a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era Stielhandgranate as melee weapon
-->'''In-game Description''': High-yield [[ViolentGlaswegian Scottish]] [[StuffBlowingUp face removal]]. [[LampshadeHanging A sober person would throw it]].

* ''Series/MacGyver'' once used a revolver chamber as an improvised wrench, 70 feet up in the air. He even stated that he is afraid of heights and hates guns, and he happened to be in this situation.

* ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' has a bit of this in its repertoire, of course. Some are justifiable, like the swordsmen taking a cheap shot with the hilt (or, for Ukyo, with the sheath). Some are a little more RuleOfCool, like Earthquake tossing the blade end of his kusarigama. And a few are less than textbook, like Cham Cham using her boomerang as a melee weapon.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Brawlhalla}}, some of the available weapons are used in odd fashions: the bow can be used as a melee weapon in combos, as well as used to fire an enemy you manage to catch. The rocket lance's exaust can be used to attack the enemy and the cannon can be carried and used to clobber your enemy with it.

** The series has a multitude of ranged and melee weapons that can be used in a normal fashion (though ''nobody'' actually wields the [[LightGun Super Scope]] as the manual says you should)... or you can simply opt to throw them into your opponent's face instead. Amusingly, this frequently is a more effective method of [=KOing=] your opponents than using the weapon in the standard fashion, due to it causing more damage and/or being a lot easier to hit them in this fashion. The Home Run Bat is probably the best example, as while being wielded, the only notably powerful offensive option it has is its [[AwesomeButImpractical ridiculously slow]] OneHitKO smash attack, whereas it can be turned into a speedy projectile with a strength rivaling that of many fully charged smash attacks when thrown.

* In quite a number of martial arts films, when characters fight with weapons, they occasionally throw in a few kicks that would be better suited for unarmed fighting (roundhouse kicks, spinning kicks etc.), in situations when they would be better off attacking with the weapon than with a kick.

* There is video footage of Creator/BruceLee playing table tennis with nunchaku. [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdv_9MhOSoI No, really.]]

** [[Characters/MCUThor Thor]] often makes creative use of [[DropTheHammer Mjölnir]] outside of combat, usually by taking advantage of the weapon's OnlyTheChosenMayWield nature. In his [[Film/{{Thor}} solo movie]] he restrains Loki by placing the hammer on his chest, knowing that Loki won't be able to move it on his own. In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' he uses combines the worthiness clause with the hammer's ability to return to his hand when thrown as a GodTest to expose the fact that Loki is disguising himself as their father (the real Odin being worthy of the hammer). Thor throws the hammer into the distance, grabs "Odin" by the neck and holds him in the return path. Loki opts to dodge and drop his disguise rather than risk having his face caved him.