History Main / SwordsToPlowshares

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has a card named "[[https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=559783 Swords to Plowshares]]." It exiles a creature (IE DeaderThanDead) but gives that creature's controller HitPoints equal to the creature's power in EquivalentExchange, representing the repurposing of a combat unit to a non-violent function. This is one of the most powerful spells in the game, reprinted continuously for its entire [[LongRunner 30-year]] existence rarely worth less than $1 a copy: how are Hit Points going to help your opponent after you just used this card to behead their KeystoneArmy?

[[caption-width-right:300:"''Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares'''", a sculpture by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Vuchetich Evgeniy Vuchetich]] at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations Headquarters, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity]]

Great news! [[ForeverWar The war]] is over! Now, what do we do with all these leftover weapons? Turn them into things civilians can use! All that scrap steel can make heavy machinery or be used in construction. Those nuclear weapons? Fuel rods. TNT? Use it for earth-moving. Factories that built bombers and warships? Use them to build cars. Imagine all the possibilities.

* ''Literature/TheFarawayPaladin'': During William's battle with the dragon Valacirca, his longtime WeaponOfChoice, the spear Pale Moon, is [[WreckedWeapon wrecked beyond repair]]. He has a smith reforge the largest fragment of the spearhead into a knife, which he gives away to a novice adventurer.

* [[BadassLongcoat Trenchcoats]], for their namesake, were originally worn by officers and soldiers in the trenches during UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne to protect them from rain and cold. Today, they've been adopted by civilians, {{private detective}}s, and the occasional exhibitionists.

If a weapon of war doesn't even require conversion to be used for civilian purposes, then it doubles as an example of MundaneUtility. Compare and contrast with NotTheIntendedUse. Also compare CallToAgriculture, which is this trope for characters rather than items. Contrast with TrainingThePeacefulVillagers and SuperweaponSurprise.

Most inversions of this trope fit under ImprovisedWeapon or {{MacGyvering}}. There's also TorchesAndPitchforks when a group (usually an AngryMob) converts their farm implements into weapons.

** Referenced in ''[[Literature/NightWatchDiscworld Night Watch]]'', where Vimes sees the stuff the government ban on weapons has missed, like an old halberd used to hold up a clothesline, or a sword used as a fireplace poker... which are by far outstripped by the perfectly legal tools (billhooks, cleavers, etc.), but that ''can'' repurposed into very efficient weapons.

Most inversions of this trope fit under ImprovisedWeapon or {{MacGyvering}}. There's also TorchesAndPitchforks, when a group (usually an AngryMob) converts their farm implements into weapons.

* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' has World War II-era tanks repurposed for an intramural sport called Tankery. It's somewhat like mock battle, using "special" shells that can blast an engine block to flinders, but will do no worse that jiggle and smudge the girls inside. The sport relies on team-building, tactical analysis and resource management, which is Oarai Commander Miho Nishizumi's ''forte'': her RagtagBunchOfMisfits combine to disable a superheavy Maus tank during the final match.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/MaouJouDeOyasumi'' when the princess turns a bunch of high level weapons into a hammock.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' has [[AllThereInTheManual Blu-Ray extras]] detailing how Syndrome's leftover robots are reprogrammed to become camp counselors, lifeguards and cooks after [[IslandBase Nomanisan]] gets converted into a tourist resort.

* In in one ''Literature/{{Retief}}'' story, the CDT have re-purposed ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'' tanks (ArtificialIntelligence supertanks with megaton firepower) for farming and mining by attaching bulldozing blades. Subverted in that the Bolos are still more than capable of being used as weapons of war.

* Chapter V, Section III of the Analects of Creator/{{Confucius}} includes a story in which Confucian disciple Yan Hui expresses his wish to educate others, so that they might turn their weapons and fortifications into more peaceful tools.

* ''VideoGame/Afterlife1996:'' In Heaven there is a reward structure for peaceful souls named "Swords Into Plowshares", where the blessed souls get to spend eternity living in a city made out of discarded missiles, assault weapons, and torpedoes.

** The space-habitat of Credomar. A journalist even mentions that it was created by the 'Swords to Plowshears' project. Essentially, it's a Hyperspace DeathRay with enormous stategic value, which has been repurposed as a deep-space habitat. AnArc centers around the king of Credomar evacuating the entire population to a habitable moon somewhere in order to [[SuperweaponSurprise reactivate the weapon]] -- not because he's looking to pick a fight with anyone, but because he's worried that TheFederation, who BUILT the damn thing in the first place, may at some point declare a 'state of emergency' and fire the weapon without evacuating the population first...

---> Tohdfraug Admiral: "But if you break a sword through abuse or neglect, it's useless."
---> Petey: "As a sword, yes. Eventually I'll be needing plowshares."

* Implied as part of the backstory and inverted in the main story of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. The Baron has a gift for repurposing the technology of his fellow mad scientists, and is reputed to have used it to try and better the lives of the citizens of Europa. During the Siege of Mechanicsburg however, [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080602 his son notices]] him bring a lot of civil engineering equipment to the fight, and figures out that the Baron plans to use them as the weapons they were presumably originally designed as.

* Downplayed example from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. The show has instances were weapons such as catapults, cannons, and even tanks are being used for games (like chucking pumpkins) or celebrating parties.

* The ''escopattera'' (a portmanteau of the Spanish words ''escopeta'' and ''guitarra'', meaning "shotgun" and "guitar" respectively) is a type of guitar made from a modified gun. It was first invented by Colombian peace activist Cesar Lopez, after he saw a soldier holding his gun like a guitar following the 2003 El Nogal Club bombing in Bogota.

* Military surplus vehicles, like the "Deuce and a half" truck and the HMMWV, often wind up sold to the public to perform mundane jobs like hauling freight in remote areas. A civilian version of the HMMWV eventually entered production, and is now known as the Hummer.

* Jet aircraft were first developed for military applications by Germany and the UK during WWII, and later improvements of the engine made civilian aircraft larger, faster, and more efficient.
* UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace was kicked off by Germany developing the V2 ballistic missile, sparking competition between [[UsefulNotes/PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower the USA]] and [[UsefulNotes/FromRussiaWithNukes the USSR]] (along with [[UsefulNotes/TheUltimateResistance a few]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDragonsTeeth other countries]]) all developing missiles to lob nukes at each other, when some came to the idea of using those same missiles to lob their countrymen into outer space instead.
* The Global Positioning System was originally developed for military navigation and maneuvering, but has become ubiquitous for civilian uses.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* A variation occurs in ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas''. After Linus uses his SecurityBlanket to knock a can off of a fence, which he's shown to weaponize on occasion, Lucy chastises him for having it in the first place, followed by a RhetoricalQuestionBlunder.
-->'''Lucy:''' You think you're so smart with that blanket! What're you gonna do with it when you grow up?!\\
'''Linus:''' Maybe I'll make it into a sport coat!

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' Dr. Zefram Cochrane builds the first warp ship out of an old nuclear missile.

-->-- '''[[Literature/BookOfIsaiah Isaiah]] 2:4''' (KJV)

->'' "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up their sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." ''

-->"And the pale child came and stood before them, with His great sword in His hand, and in a voice like thunder He rebuked them. 'You have been weak children,' He told them, 'for you have disobeyed. Where are your swords? Did I not set swords in your hands?'
-->"And the children cried out, 'We have beaten them into plowshares, oh Bakkalon!'
-->"And He was sore angry. 'With plowshares, then, shall you face the [[StarfishAliens Sons of Hranga]]! With plowshares shall you slay the [[TheHorde Horde of Fyndii!]]' And He left them, and heard no more their weeping, for the Heart of Bakkalon is a Heart of Fire."

* ''Literature/TheCorellianTrilogy'':
** Zigzagged with Centerpoint Station. [[spoiler:After the hyperspace-capable planetary-scale repulsor was initially used to construct the Corellian star system, it was retired and the station was converted into living space. However, the starbusters have done the opposite, taking the construction tool and using it as a weapon.]]
** There's also a discussion of how warships can disappear from attempts to track and register them, by filing all the paperwork to strip out most of their combat systems and convert them into freighters -- but not actually carrying out the work.

* ''Literature/KnownSpace'': On the backstory of the ''Man-Kzin Wars'' saga, humanity had decided to become peaceful and gotten rid of all of its weapons, meaning that during the first encounters with the Kzin, the Earthlings had only unarmed vehicles and other civilian equipment... unfortunately for the Kzin, the fact that HumansAreWarriors means that they are also ''murderously'' adaptive, and {{Improvised Weapon}}ry that was the result of on-the-spot MacGyvering was what killed those early Kzin war parties (one of the most famous instances being using a ship's fusion torch engine and the energy beam it fired off for propulsion to ''[[WeaponizedExhaust cut a Kzin ship in half]] '').

* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Since the New Republic is not engaged in much active combat, and trade is struggling, they take several dozen capital ships, remove a bunch of equipment to make more space, and use them to haul cargo. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, since it wouldn't be hard to convert them back, they're a prime target for theft by the ascendant Grand Admiral Thrawn.]]

-->Melting down all metals, turning plows and shears to swords
-->Shun words of the Bible, we need implements of war

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has the "Swords to Plowshares" card, which exiles a creature in exchange for life points equal to the creature's power, representing the repurposing of a combat unit to a more utilitarian function.

* ''VideoGame/{{Afterlife1996}}:'' In Heaven there is a reward structure for peaceful souls named "Swords Into Plowshares", where the blessed souls get to spend eternity living in a city made out of discarded missiles, assault weapons, and torpedoes.

* ''{{Afterlife1996}}:'' In Heaven there is a reward structure for peaceful souls named "Swords Into Plowshares", where the blessed souls get to spend eternity living in a city made out of discarded missiles, assault weapons, and torpedoes.

* ''Afterlife1996:'' In Heaven there is a reward structure for peaceful souls named "Swords Into Plowshares", where the blessed souls get to spend eternity living in a city made out of discarded missiles, assault weapons, and torpedoes.

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', some Tachikoma are repurposed into civilian roles after Section 9 is "disbanded". One works in a care home, and another is used in high altitude construction sites, etc. [[spoiler: The one in the care home is "gifted" an explosive shell from a ShellShockedVeteran and sets off to rescue Bateau in the finale.]]

[[folder:Films - Animated]]

[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]

* At the start of ''Film/SmallSoldiers'', the [[MegaCorp GloboTech Industries]] has basically resolved to do this by buying up companies in other industries, then using its state-of-the-art military technology to make superior products. This is how AIIsACrapshoot computer chips end up in the Commando Elite and Gorgonite action figures. [[spoiler: Inverted at the end when the CEO decides to sell the toys as weapons after all.]]

-->"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and study war no more."- Isaiah 2:4

-->At last came [Yan Hui], who said "I should like to find an intelligent king and sage ruler whom I might assist. I would diffuse among the people instructions on the five great points, and lead them on by the rules of propriety and music, so that they should not care to fortify their cities by walls and moats, but would fuse their swords and spears into implements of agriculture." - ''Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean'' (trans. James Legge, 1892)

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'': Inferno Squad utilizes the Imperial Raider-Class Corvette ''Corvus'' - designed to engage both starfighters and larger ships - for their operations during the Galactic Civil War. During the final mission, which takes place a few decades after the war ends, [[spoiler:it is revealed that the crew has since converted it to a commercial freight hauler.]]

** The space-habitat of Credomar. A journalist even mentions that it was created by the 'Swords to Plowshears' project. Essentially, it's a Hyperspace DeathRay with enormous stategic value, which has been repurposed as a deep-space habitat. AnArc centers around the king of Credomar evacuating the entire population to a habitable moon somewhere in order to [[SuperweaponSurprise reactivate the weapon]] - not because he's looking to pick a fight with anyone, but because he's worried that TheFederation - who BUILT the damn thing in the first place - may at some point declare a 'state of emergency' and fire the weapon without evacuating the population first...

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_surplus MIlitary surplus]] - old military gear is sold on the commercial market. Items like sleeping bags, tents, uniforms, and boots are used by the public, often because they're rugged and cheap.
* In Britain, Anderson Shelters were built as backyard air raid shelters during UsefulNotes/TheBlitz; since then, they have been used by many homeowners for peaceful purposes ranging from garden sheds to childrens' playhouses.

* A variant in ''Manga/PlusAnima''; Harden, an UltimateBlacksmith, gave up on making weapons of war when he realized WarIsHell, and instead devoted all his smithing skills to making practical domestic tools for him and his wife to use in their daily lives, deciding to never make anything that can't be used for a practical, non-violent purpose again. Despite this, he is still sought after by the army to keep making weapons for them. Eventually, he grants their wish by giving them a box full of...kitchen knives and scissors. The leader of the army is furious, but the soldiers end up admitting that they're ''very'' well made and decide to keep them for practical purposes anyway.
* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', some Tachikoma are repurposed into civilian roles after Section 9 is "disbanded". One works in a care home, and another is used in high altitude construction sites, etc. [[spoiler: The one in the care home is "gifted" an explosive shell from a ShellShockedVeteran and sets of to rescue Bateau in the finale.]]

** In the 1950s, the U.S. government embarked on a project to develop nuclear weapons for civilian purposes, like mining and construction, called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare Project Plowshare]]. It was a dismal failure, as nuclear weapons were trickier to deal with than conventional explosives and had the unfortunate side effect of irradiating the area after their detonation.

* "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare Project Plowshare]]" took its name from this saying, being the official name for a U.S. Government program to explore practical peacetime uses for nuclear bombs. (The Soviets had a similar program under the name "Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy.") [[AvertedTrope Unfortunately]], the test results ran from "AwesomeButImpractical" at best to "Contaminating the water table with radioactive fallout" at worst, and the program was ultimately shuttered in 1977 amidst widespread criticism.

Most inversions of this trope fit under ImprovisedWeapon or {{MacGyvering}}.

* SupremeChef Auguste Escoffier, the codifier of Haute Cuisine, was an apprentice chef when he was conscripted into the French Army. He served there for 7 years as a chef, and when he left he developed the "Brigade De Cuisine", a method of organizing a kitchen staff along the lines of an army regiment.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/SleepyPrincessInTheDemonCastle'' when the princess turns a bunch of high-level weapons into a hammock.