History Main / SecretWeapon

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}
** ''[[Recap/AsterixAndTheSecretWeapon Asterix and the Secret Weapon]]'' which is [[AmazonBrigade female legionaries]], to take advantage of the fact that everyone knows Gauls WouldNotHitAGirl.
** [[Recap/AsterixInBritain Asterix in Britain]]''. A Roman officer sees Obelix lugging a barrel of the magic potion and demands to know what's in it (he's hoping it's Gaulish wine). He's told it's [[NationalStereotypes warm beer]] and loses interest. Later a messenger arrives telling him to be on the alert for two Gauls smuggling a secret weapon to the British.
-->'''Officer:''' ''[FacePalm]'' Warm beer!
-->'''Messenger:''' No, that weapon's no secret. This is some kind of magic potion.

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} [[Recap/AsterixInBritain in Britain]]''. A Roman officer sees Obelix lugging a barrel of the magic potion and demands to know what's in it (he's hoping it's Gaulish wine). He's told it's [[NationalStereotypes warm beer]] and loses interest. Later a messenger arrives telling him to be on the alert for two Gauls smuggling a secret weapon to the British.

* The ''VideoGame/SniperElite'' [[VideoGame/SniperEliteV2se]][[VideoGame/SniperEliteIII ri]][[VideoGame/SniperElite4 es]] focuses on Allied agent Lt. Karl Fairburne's attempts to destroy several Nazi wonderweapons, of which the Germans have gone through great lengths to keep secret, including but not limited to [[HeKnowsTooMuch murdering innocent civilians and prisoners-of-war just for being near the bases where said weapons are being kept or tested.]]

See also ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest, for obscure items that come into play later, ForbiddenChekhovsGun, where the characters must do something that they have been explicitly forbidden from doing, and ForgottenSuperweapon, where the characters have a super powerful weapon, they just forgot about it. StupidJetpackHitler and SovietSuperscience can often overlap with this trope.

See also ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest, for obscure items that come into play later, ForbiddenChekhovsGun, where the characters must do something that they have been explicitly forbidden from doing, and ForgottenSuperweapon, where the characters have a super powerful weapon, they just forgot about it.

* The French regarded the Mitrailleuse (a primitive machine gun) as the secret weapon that would win the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar for them. Emphasis on secret; security restrictions meant that no-one had a chance to train with the weapon and develop proper tactics. After the apparent failure of the weapon in the face of determined Prussian assaults, the French believed that ''elan'' (fighting spirit) was more effective than machine guns. The Prussians (who had been on the receiving end of the Mitrailleuse) decided to concentrate on firepower instead, with tragic results for the French in the beginning of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* The French regarded the Mitrailleuse (a primitive machine gun) as the secret weapon that would win the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar for them. Emphasis on secret; security restrictions meant that no-one had a chance to train with the weapon and develop proper tactics. After the apparent failure of the weapon in the face of determined Prussian assaults, the French believed that ''elan'' (fighting spirit) was more effective than machine guns. The Prussians (who'd been on the receiving end of the Mitrailleuse) decided to concentrate on firepower instead, with tragic results for the French in the beginning of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

** As pictured, the atom bomb (Fat Man model shown) was a closely guarded secret weapon of the United States military during World War 2.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'': Kane and the NOD ''love'' their secret weapons. Each game usually contains several, including invisible tanks, mole-machine [=APCs=], cyborgs, and Tiberium-based [=WMDs=]. GDI usually isn't '''that''' big on the SecretWeapon front, but they develop one or two (the Ion Cannon from the first game being the most obvious).

* Umbrella corporation had a number of these in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' for dealing with bioweapons that get out of control, weapons such as [[MagneticWeapon a rail gun for Nemesis]] or a laser-firing KillerSat in Africa. Unfortunately for Umbrella, their human foes often find them and use them for their own purposes.

* Umbrella corporation had a number of these in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' for dealing with bioweapons that get out of control, weapons such as [[MagneticWeapon a rail gun for Nemesis]] or a laser-firing KillerSatellite in Africa. Unfortunately for Umbrella, their human foes often find them and use them for their own purposes.

* In Carrie Patel's ''Recoletta'', the uprising against the White Nails had thrown the underground city of Recoletta into chaos. The rebel Sato won the city, but his reign is a disaster and it appears Recoletta is ripe for conquest with its army and police forces in turmoil. A rival city on the surface has readied an invasion force, but an insider gets the plans to Sato, who goes to the unearthed Library of Congress and finds the information necessary to make a secret weapon. The invaders come by the hundreds in a steam train for food export and would easily overwhelm Recoletta in a surprise attack, instead they are welcomed with re-discovered Greek Fire. The closest thing to a casualty for the Recoletta army, are the many members who [[StressVomit end up puking]] at the sight of so many men and women burning alive...

* In Carrie Patel's ''Recoletta'', the uprising against the White Nails had thrown the underground city of Recoletta into chaos. The rebel Sato won the city, but his reign is a disaster and it appears Recoletta is ripe for conquest with its army and police forces in turmoil. A rival city on the surface has readied an invasion force, but an insider gets the plans to Sato who goes to the unearthed Library of Congress and finds the information necessary to make a secret weapon. The invaders come by the hundreds in a steam train for food export and would easily overwhelm Recoletta in a surprise attack, instead they are welcomed with re-discovered Greek Fire. The closest thing to a casualty for the Recoletta army, are the many members who [[StressVomit end up puking]] at the sight of so many men and women burning alive...

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TropeMaker The original earth-shattering secret weapon]]]]

* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine:'' Joey Drew left one in the old animation studio - specifically one that can [[spoiler: defeat Ink Bendy, who cannot be hurt by conventional means: a film reel labeled [[LogicalWeakness "The End".]]]] He didn't tell Henry about it before [[spoiler:sending him to the studio.]] Instead, he left it Ink Bendy's throne room along with an audio recording on how to use it that Henry finds during the fifth and final chapter.

* [[spoiler: Joey Drew]] left one in the old animation studio in ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'' - specifically one that can [[spoiler: defeat Bendy, who cannot be hurt by conventional means: a film reel with [[LogicalWeakness the cartoons' end card]] on it]]. He didn't tell Henry about it before [[spoiler: sending him to the studio]], instead leaving an audio recording that Henry doesn't find until the main game's final chapter.

Something of a DiscreditedTrope, simply because it was overused to the point of nausea in the past, so it is more often [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] or PlayedForLaughs in modern fiction. Also, while SecretWeapon used to be almost exclusive to [[BigBad super villains]], more and more works are giving [[TheHero heroes]] a chance to to invoke this trope as well.

-->-- ''Series/BlakesSeven'', "Weapon"