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Fuuma Shuriken

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A shuriken (throwing star) which is really, really big. Fuuma literally translates as "wind demon" and is taken from the name of a famous Ninja clan. Mostly used by ninja for thematic purposes, despite it having lost the quality which made it useful to them in the first place. Can sometimes be folded for easier storage.

Doubles as Non-Indicative Name, since "shuriken" literally means "blade in the hand".

Sometimes overlaps with Precision-Guided Boomerang.

A Sub-Trope of Stock Ninja Weaponry, Bigger Is Better, and Impossibly Cool Weapon (try to use it without cutting yourself in two).

Not to be confused with Fuuma Kotaro (though he has wielded them in fiction).


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 
  • Kaede Nagase from Negima! Magister Negi Magi has probably the biggest one (comparative size to the wielder) on record. If you took each blade of this cross-shaped weapon and stuck them on hilts, you'd have four BFS. The outrageous size is offset by the fact that she can use it as a shield, but she also tends to pull it from Highlanderspace. There are notes in some side material that indicate that the individual blades do indeed break apart for easier storage, but it's still way too big to hide like she does. Later in the series she gains a Pactio artifact that is basically hammerspace and makes storing the shuriken more plausible.
  • A number of characters in Naruto have the folding version of this. Notably, the "ridiculously conspicuous" part of the trope is subverted by the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu, which is the throwing of a second shuriken at your opponent in the part of their line of sight blocked by the first one.
    • One of the first examples of Naruto demonstrating that he's maybe not as stupid as he seems involves combining the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu (carried out by Sasuke) with transforming himself into a fuuma shuriken to get in a sneak attack on a much stronger enemy. Despite not speaking a word about what the plan is, and Sasuke and Naruto barely knowing and not liking each other at the time, Sasuke somehow knows exactly what to do from the moment Naruto tosses him the fuuma shuriken.note 
    • Naruto goes Sasuke one better. He can actually create a Fuuma Shuriken out of wind energy, the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. And still hide a second one in the shadow of the first. Yeah, that's right, he can hide wind in the shadow of wind. Although he initially couldn't throw it at all, and now only can in Sage Mode. Also, this attack doesn't just cut through the target, it explodes into a nigh-infinite number of flechette-like chakra needles that disintegrate the chakra network of anyone caught within the football field-sized blast. It is also one of the only techniques that can essentially knock out the Kyuubi, of all living beings (even if for a few seconds), though a certain Kage is immune to it.
    • The very first chapter/episode has Mizuki throwing a Fuuma Shuriken at Naruto. Iruka steps in to protect Naruto and takes the weapon in the back, but the injury does little more than slow him down.
  • Shurimon of Digimon Adventure 02 has four for hands and feet which are actually kept attached to his vine-line limbs for easy retrieval. He carries an even larger fifth one on his back which spins like a helicopter rotor for flight, plus he can detach and throw it as a projectile.
  • Tsubaki from Soul Eater can transform into one that's roughly the size of her Meister, Black Star, when he holds her.
  • In the My-HiME manga, Akira's Element is an enormous shuriken that can be taken apart into two giant kunai-like weapons. In the anime, it's a smaller, dagger-like thing.
  • Volfogg from GaoGaiGar can combine his two bladed boomerangs (Silver Moon) into one (Silver Cross).
  • In Yaiba, two of these appear, but oddly not in the hands of the eponymous ninja Kotaro, but wielded by Goemon Ishikawa instead.
  • Ivan/Origami Cyclone in Tiger & Bunny has one of these as part of his hero costume. Doesn't see much use, but in the last episode he chucks it at escaping Big Bad, Maverick.
  • Espio from Sonic X has big shuriken. Very big, almost as large as him. Some of the official profiles for the Chaotix even hang a lampshade on it;
    Despite the fact that the detective agency has a ninja who throws three-foot wide shuriken, money has been scarce.
  • Pokémon the Series: XY: Once Ash and Greninja fully master the "Bond Phenomenon" it causes the shroud of water around Greninja's powered-up form to compress into a giant shuriken shape on its back, which can be thrown as a more powerful version of its Signature Move Water Shuriken. Later Exaggerated when Greninja absorbs its water doubles into the shuriken to create and throw a Finishing Move variant many times larger than itself. Taken even further in Ash's final match with Alain, where Greninja channels so much power into the shuriken that the water catches fire.
  • In My Monster Secret, Yuka Momochi can't understand how everyone was able to discover her well-hidden secret identity as a ninja. Asahi Kuromine points out that her walking around with a Fuuma shuriken strapped to her back is kind of a dead giveaway.
  • In GoLion, the title mecha brandishes the Space Cutter as an example.
  • Voltes V: Like the kunoichi that pilots it, the Volt Lander can shoot shurikens, except it's are large and used as prjectiles. However, this ability is absent when it combines into Voltes V.

    Comics 
  • Miho's manji shuriken in Sin City isn't as big as the ones detailed here but it's certainly too large to be realistically practical.

    Fanfic 

    Films 
  • In Gamera vs. Guiron, Guiron has a pair of giant shurikens in its head that it controls with psychokinesis.
    • Note that they are only "giant" in relation to humans (and indeed in that sense are probably the largest shuriken of all, at 3-4 meters in diameter). At kaiju scale, they are on par with normal palm-sized throwing stars.
  • The Glaive from Krull.

    Live-Action TV 

    Pinball 
  • As with the movie, the Glaive from Krull is a Western version of this.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Paranoia has shuriken with so many targeting aids stuck to them that they weigh 20 pounds and need two hands to use.
  • Pathfinder: In the Golarion setting, followers of Desna commonly wield "starknives" resembling a shuriken longer than the owner's forearm, which can be either wielded in melee or thrown. Notably, as martial weapons, every warrior-type class in the game is proficient with them but the Ninja class is not.

    Toys 

    Video Games 
  • Avernum 2 introduces these as the primary ranged weapon of the Vahnatai (although it refers to them as "razordisks.") They're uncommon, expensive, and non-reusable, but they make up for it with incredible base damage.
  • In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Alucard can throw Cross Shuriken and the massive Buffalo Star at enemies. He also has the slightly smaller, but even more damaging Flame Stars.
  • Devil May Cry:
    • In the original, one of Dante's weapons called Pandora can transform into 666 weapons with one of them being a giant tri-blade shuriken with spade tips called PF 422: Grief.
    • In the reboot, one of the weapons Dante can use are a pair of angelic blades known as Aquila.
  • In Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode, a large serrated disc left around an abandoned Fortress (usually used for traps) can be picked up and throw around like one of these. In Fortress Mode, the same effect can be achieved by loading a minecart with them, accelerating it to relativistic velocities, then inducing a crash; this will turn pretty much anything it hits into puree.
  • Dynasty Warriors
    • Lu Bu wields a version of this called Crossed Pikes in the sixth game. It can also split into two Double Weapons.
    • Lu's daughter, Lu Lingqi uses the same type of Crossed Pikes (with the 6 version moveset with some additions) in DW: Xtreme Legends 8 as a Continuity Nod, since her dad got his traditional Halberd back since 7.
  • The Fuuma from various Final Fantasy games.
    • Edge from Final Fantasy IV can throw these, along with swords, spears, knives, etc. The Fuma Shuriken has one of the highest Attack ratings of any weapon, exceeded only by the one-off Knife (999!), Lightbringer (246), & Abel's Lance (230).
    • They can be similarly thrown by Shadow in in Final Fantasy VI and in his appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia they become his unique weapons.
    • Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII uses these. One of her weapons is explicitly called this in the original version of the game, but it's translated as Magic Shuriken. She uses ordinary-sized shuriken in her apperance in Kingdom Hearts but switches to her large 4-Point Shuriken in Kingdom Hearts II.
    • Seifer's minion Fuujin from Final Fantasy VIII wields one called a Missile Blade when you fight her.
    • Fuma Shuriken is the most basic Ninjutsu ability in Final Fantasy XIV, its use over other ninjutsu isn't its great strength but the fact that it requires only one mudra to use and the fact it is a physical attack rather then a magical one.
    • The Star of the Rogue in Final Fantasy XV was the signature weapon of one of Noctis's ancestors, a great queen of Lucius. She wields it in her bossfight in the Extended Edition and Noctis himself can also use it as a long ranged weapon.
    • In the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, the Onion Knight can throw shuriken when he is in his Ninja job, and they are large enough to dwarf him in size, thankfully he can pull them from his Hyperspace Arsenal.
  • Gotcha Force features the aptly-named Shuriken Ninja, who has one of these strapped to his back. He uses it in two ways — if using his standard melee combo, he somersaults and hits with it a few times as the last hit of the combo. If you use his special dashing attack, he flings himself in a horizontal line, spinning the entire time. The latter is useful as a rapid multi-hit combo and as it's somehow immune to gravity while spinning. Slightly subverted in that the Ninja in question is the size of an action figure: it's huge to HIM, but...
  • Grand Chase has the pet Ninkoro who attacks with one of these. Later the resident Ninja, Lass, also gained it as a optional Special Attack, oddly named "Hornet Sting" for whatever reason.
  • The second character in Kung Fu Chivalry for the Mac has this for a special attack.
  • Mega Man:
  • In Mystic Warriors, one Mini-Boss wields a Fuuma Shuriken as a slow-moving Precision-Guided Boomerang.
  • The Ninja Gaiden series has the signature Windmill shuriken. Timing your jumps to avoid its return makes it an orbiting weapon that costs no more mana than one shot.
  • One of the Ninja class' two primary weapons in Ragnarok Online. It can be thrown with the powerful Throw Fuuma Shuriken skill, or used a melee weapon.
  • Kubikiri note  Basara from Samurai Shodown is armed with a large three-bladed shuriken connected to his gauntlet with a long chain, allowing him to catch it back when its thrown.
  • Sengoku Basara:
    • Sarutobi Sasuke dual-wields these in the games.
    • It also stars Fuuma Kotaro, who can be considered a Trope Namer (and whose shuriken is much bigger than Sasuke's). Although he doesn't use the shuriken outside the games (though a keen-eyed viewer may notice him standing on it in his first appearance in the anime as Hojo Ujimasa introduces him).
  • In Shounen Kininden Tsumuji Tsumuji's main weapon is a large fuuma shuriken which is called Wind Demon.
  • In Skullgirls, Painwheel's Buer Drive effectively serves this purpose.
  • Skylanders: Trap Team: Trap Master Lob-Starr (a ninja lobster) wields two huge starfish-shaped throwing stars made out of Traptanium crystal.
  • One of the weapon styles in Soulcalibur 3 incorporates a fuuma shuriken for a few special attacks. Miser is this style's in-game representative.
  • Pom Pom wields these in Super Mario 3D World, and they're about as big around as her large head.
  • The night elves of Warcraft fame use huge multi-bladed weapons known as glaives. In a vain attempt at quasi-realism, they're mostly used in melee combat or thrown a very short range (the original users, Huntresses, were technically ranged but in all ways were used and intended as the elves' primary melee combatants). The exception is when they're attached to Glaive Throwers, ballista-like siege engines. Their special ability? Linear splash damage, meaning that the blade cleaves through the first victim and just keeps going.
  • In X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Silver Samurai can throw shurikens that appear to be about six feet in diameter.
  • In StarCraft, the zerg Mutalisk is armed with "glaive wurms," large, triskellion-shaped parasites it launches from its mutated ovipositor. The spin allows them to strike up to two additional targets.

    Webcomics 
  • In Huckleberry's second issue, Morning Star successfully throws a person-sized star ornament like a big shuriken.

    Western Animation 


 
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Video Example(s):

Alternative Title(s): Fuma Shuriken, Giant Ninja Star

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Shadow Man

Shadow Man is one of the eight robot masters from the third Mega Man game. His special weapon is Shadow Blade, a large shuriken that is coated in a substance that can harm machines. Defeating him gives Mega Man his weapon. (Gameplay done by NafrielX) (https://www.youtube.com/@NafrielX)

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