History Main / TrickArrow

* Garrett in the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series has a wide arsenal of magic arrows to use, most notably the water arrow used for dousing torches at long range. [[spoiler:The first game is {{unwinnable}} without them.]]

* Shaft from RobLiefeld's ''{{Youngblood}}'' plays with the trope. His arrows are the standard pointy variety, but he has a trick bow that doesn't require a string. (According to the tech manual, it uses focused ''artificial gravity'' to fire the arrows.) During AlanMoore's run on ''{{Youngblood}}'', GoldenAge hero Waxman tried to get Shaft to consider using trick arrows, giving examples of older archer heroes who used them. [[spoiler: Not one of which had survived the experience.]]

It seems that there is no end to the inventiveness of bowmen, especially in SuperHero comics. If a character uses a bow as their main weapon, you can expect that their quiver will hold, at the very least explosive arrows, arrows which split into nets for capturing opponents, and knockout gas arrows. Furthermore, they will undoubtedly be [[ImprobableAimingSkills masters of trick shots, hitting targets around corners or rebounding from behind]].

* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}: the Series'': the [[AmazonBrigade Galafems]] use magic arrows that can change into anything (water, rope, etc.) with a thought.

* In ''[[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'', one of [[{{Mons}} Servant]] Archer's favourite tricks is to make sword arrows: He can create a sword and transform it into a slimmer, aerodynamic shape, which he then fires from his long bow as an arrow. This has various effects, depending on the nature of the sword: In the VisualNovel he uses one that explodes by overloading it with mana.

or

* {{Blackhawk}} fought a one-shot villain called the Shaft whose gimmick was trick arrows.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1354944814037040100

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]or

* Yondu from the original ''GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' has sound-sensitive arrows that he can control by ''whistling''.

[[AC:FanFiction]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:Mythology]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

** another Unreal Tournament GameMod had a bow that had even more arrow options from normal flaming poison exploding (both small frag grenade and NukeEm levels of explodyness ) And finally Black Hole and Disintegration Arrows

[[AC:{{Webcomic}}]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

----

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* GreenArrow in TheDCU, probably the origin of the trope, as well as Arsenal/Red Arrow (formerly GA's Boy {{Sidekick}}, Speedy). Among others, they've used handcuff arrows, jiu-jitsu arrows, and ''boxing glove arrows''.

* ''VideoGame/Terraria'' allows you to be quite good archer, providing you with automatic crossbows and arrows ranging from flaming to firework ones

** '''GA:''' (freeing himself from ice) "And Black Canary said a buzzsaw arrow was self-indulgent."

* Some recent tellings of the RobinHood legends.
** And parodied in ''RobinHoodMenInTights'' with the "Patriot Arrow".
* The astras from HinduMythology are every trick arrow, ever, taken UpToEleven. Natural disasters and instant death are some of the ''milder'' effects.
** And for the love of Brahma, [[ApocalypseHow don't let them hit each other.]]

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has arrows coated with nitroglycerin.

** At one point, GA and {{Batman}} faced off against a [[BreathWeapon fire-breathing]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]]. Thus:

* {{Batman}} has occasionally been depicted as using trick [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang Batarangs]] when the situation calls for it. ''Film/BatmanReturns'' had him use a programmable Batarang to knock out a large group of {{Mooks}}, while a ChooseYourOwnAdventure-style book featuring the Caped Crusader had him using a "Flash-Batarang" (which emitted a bright flash of light when it was thrown, blinding the Joker in the process) and a "Sprinkler-Batarang" (which sprayed fire retardant to extinguish a fire started by the Riddler) in different storylines.

** In "Green Arrow: Year One", Ollie is trapped on a deserted island and his only arrows are improvised and decidedly pointy. He just uses them for OnlyAFleshWound shots. [[spoiler:Later on he gets an actual bow and arrows. At one point he can't get a non-lethal shot(underside of the bad guy's chin, which would punch straight into their brain), so he removes the head of his arrow.]]

** Came up in a Morrison-era Justice League story. Second-generation Green Arrow Connor Hawke lost all of his normal arrows, and was forced to use classic trick arrows. Of course, it took him a while to figure out how to fire some of them...
--->'''Connor''': My father was either a genius or a madman.

--->'''Ollie''': Fire extinquisher arrow.

* Shaft from RobLiefeld's ''{{Youngblood}}'' plays with the trope. His arrows are the standard pointy variety, but he has a trick bow that doesn't require a string. During AlanMoore's run on ''{{Youngblood}}'', GoldenAge hero Waxman tried to get Shaft to consider using trick arrows, giving examples of older archer heroes who used them. [[spoiler: Not one of which had survived the experience.]]

* [[Series/TheLegendOfWilliamTell Will]] shoots net arrows a couple of times. Note that his usual bolts are very light anyway and are mostly used for trick shots; it's rare to see him actually injure someone with them.

** another Unreal Tournament GameMod had a bow that had even more arrow options from standard pointy flaming poison exploding (both small frag grenade and NukeEm levels of explodyness ) And finally Black Hole and Disintegration Arrows

* {{Deadpool}} made himself trick arrows, riffing on Green Arrow's boxing glove arrow by using ''Hulk Hands'' (one even went "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Hulk smash!]]" on impact). However the ''real'' trick was that these arrows were all ''explosive''.

* Deadpool made himself trick arrows, riffing on Green Arrow's boxing glove arrow by using ''Hulk Hands'' (one even went "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Hulk smash!]]" on impact). However the ''real'' trick was that these arrows were all ''explosive''.

* The Street Angel in ''AstroCity'' used to use gimmicked throwing rings ("halos") before he turned DarkerAndEdgier, after which he used halos made of high impact ceramics with a steel core. This fact drives one character into virtual catatonia; the only person who calls himself an angel in Astro City hits people in the mouth with his steel-cored halo.
** Quarrel is a more straight forward example of the 'archer with trick arrows' archetype in ''AstroCity''. In this case, they're launched from a wrist-mounted mechanism similar to a crossbow.

* Parodied by ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' minor villain Ze Tongue, who had - you guessed it - trick ''tongues''.

** Quarrel is a more straight forward example of the 'archer with trick arrows' archetype in ''AstroCity''.