Basic Trope: An alleged Ultimate Weapon is less powerful than one would expect.
- Straight: Excalibur has worse stats than a generic "+4 Flaming Axe" you find in a later dungeon.
- Exaggerated: Zeus's lightning bolt does less damage than the bow you had at the start of the game.
- Downplayed:
- Excalibur is overshadowed by several weapons, and while none are as legendary for their power as Excalibur, they are still fairly well-known in the game world.
- Excalibur is the best all-around Jack of All Stats weapon, but switching between specialized weapons for different scenarios is more effective.
- Justified:
- Excalibur is by this time well over a millennium old, and even magic can't keep a blade sharp and strong after that long.
- Excalibur was the most powerful blade at the time of its creation, but advancements in smithing/metallurgy/weapon enchantment have enabled stronger weapons to be built since then.
- The rumors of Excalibur's power were just that— rumors.
- Inverted: A random kitchen knife in a peasant's hovel back in level one is the most powerful weapon in the game. No other knives, kitchen or otherwise, are nearly this powerful.
- Subverted:
- Excalibur is a Dismantled MacGuffin that just needs to be completed—a chunk was broken off of its pommel.
- Excalibur is very powerful, but also sapient, and it deems you unworthy of its full power.
- The Excalibur you found is a fake. The real deal is the strongest weapon in the game.
- Double Subverted:
- Once completed, Excalibur remains weak. The magic leaked out while it was broken.
- The sapient Excalibur was lying to hide the loss of its power.
- The real Excalibur is stronger than the fake, but still weaker than several other weapons.
- Parodied: "Excalibur" is a normal sword, not even enchanted. Everyone reacts with wonder upon seeing it, even though its blade bounces off of moderately robust wooden poles.
- Zig Zagged: Excalibur is weaker than the weapon you have when you find it, until you find the missing piece, only to discover that it is a fake; the real one is found and discovered to be very powerful. Later, it is discovered that this is just a "normal" magic sword; the real Excalibur is discovered to have rusted to pieces. Once reforged, it claims you are merely unworthy for its true power, eventually admitting it was wrong and had lost its power in a bet with Humility—who promptly returns Excalibur's full power because it earned it. It's still weaker than the party's current weapons.
- Averted: ???
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "Why are we still carrying around Excalibur? It belongs in a museum—it can't kill things half as well as the sword I looted off that orc chieftain we fought last week."
- Invoked: Legendary weapons are deliberately created weak, to fool future heroes into taking them instead of the more powerful, non-legendary weapons.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Excalibur was enchanted with the greatest power available, and maintained carefully since then, specifically so the weapon of their king will not become subpar.
- Discussed: "Alright, we need to stop looking for these legendary weapons." "Why?" "They're never as good as what we've already got, and the museums barely pay enough to cover the expenses incurred on the quest."
- Conversed: "Why do these games always make weapons that are so famous, so pathetic?"
- Implied: Excalibur is only seen in a cutscene, but its wielder does essentially as well as any other soldier in the battle.
- Deconstructed: Everyone ignores Excalibur, because it is worthless.
- Played For Laughs: Excalibur breaks the first time it is used to hit something.
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