History Main / AncestralWeapon

* The Vampire Killer whip is the age-old weapon of the Belmont clan (and allies), seen in every ''{{Castlevania}}'' game where they star.

->''"Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as random or as clumsy as a blaster, but [[ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge an elegant weapon for a more civilized age]]."''
-->--'''[[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]]''', ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]]

* SlyCooper's [[HooksAndCrooks hook cane]].

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', where Wrex's personal sidequest is to find and retrieve a suit of armor worn by his family's ancestors centuries ago. Upon recovering it, Wrex's only outward response is to comment that "My ancestors wore this piece of crap? At least its back in the right hands." After he says this, though, there's a note that mentions Wrex [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming stopping to stare at the armor with a meaningful but unreadable expression.]] Later in the game, [[spoiler: when Wrex confronts Shepard on Virmire, recovering the armor results in Wrex backing down, mentioning that Shepard has done more for him than his family ever did.]]

* Both Dante and Vergil's blades in the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series are keepsakes from their demonic father Sparda. Subverted in Dante's case: Force Edge/Sparda is tossed aside at the end of the (chronologically second) first game, and he uses his own weapon, Rebellion, in every game since. Played straight with Vergil, who uses Yamato whenever he appears (either as himself or [[spoiler:Nelo Angelo]]).

** Yes they did find them cool, but actually two things factor with Aspidae (Hoplite Shield). Firstly, its durable enough to last ages. Secondly, Greeks fought in a Phalanx, a formation where shields were of paramount importance, whereby you covered your COMRADE to the right of you while your friend to the left covers you. This made it culturally significant, whereby an individual is shown as being part of a community, and thereby became worthy heirlooms. Its not from a state armoury (unless you're spartan), which means YOU BOUGHT THAT SHIELD in the first place.

* Iron Kid in ''IronKid'' has the Iron Fist that will only work for people of his family line -- of which he happens to be the last.

* The Gran Centurio, which has been passed down the Fantasinian royal line which may or may not have started with the sword's creator, [[spoiler:Nessiah.]] Its most famous wielder was [[YggdraUnion Princess Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz]], who obtained it after the death of her father [[BlazeUnion King Ordene]].

* Eon Kid in ''EonKid'' has the Iron Fist that will only work for people of his family line -- of which he happens to be the last.

-->--'''[[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]]''', ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope''

* In ''EmpireInBlackAndGold'', [[spoiler:Tynisa]] is given an old Mantis sword by [[spoiler:her]] father, Tisamon; he rarely used it, but it has special significance for the Weaponmasters, making this a combination of AncestralWeapon and TakeUpMySword.

* It isn't revealed until the very end of the game, but the Onyx Blade in ''SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'' is [[spoiler:the AncestralWeapon of the Median bloodline, and has demonic powers. Revya can wield it because his/her soul is that of Median's dead son]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}},'' Lion-O inherits his father King Claudus's Sword of Omens, which has been passed down from the earliest days of the Thundercats' empire.

* ''BattleTech'' frequently has ancestral HumongousMecha; House Kurita is most explicit about this sort of thing, 'Mechs being passed down from one warrior to another much like swords were passed from father to son in a line of samurai, but many 'Mechs have histories that can be traced back decades or even centuries. In one scenario from an early gamebook, a pair of Mackies from the original production run, the first [=BattleMechs=] ever designed and over ''two and a half centuries'' old, are powered up to fight the Black Widow Company. They usually acquit themselves with great distinction.
** It was justified by the fact battlemechs are expensive and somewhat hard to build especially in the succession wars era were there were only a couple of battlemech factories still working after century's of war as well has the older star league era mechs being better than the new mechs coming out in said era.
* In ''{{Mortasheen}}'', they directly say in the description for [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/oodoov.htm Oodoov]] that certain examples of this creature are passed down as family heirlooms. Of course, given that the creature's power to absorb pain tends to turn the user into TheBerzerker, surviving long enough to pass it on is easier said than done.

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', even a common jade [[{{BFS}} daiklave]] can be a legendary sword passed down through a Dragon-Blooded family line since the First Age.
* ''LegendOfTheFiveRings'' is all over this trope. A samurai's sword is traditionally passed on to their grandchild. Virtually all magical weapons are passed down in the same manner, most notably the "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Ancestral Swords]]" of each clan, and the Ancestral Sword of the Hantei (Rokugan's equivalent to Kusanagi).
* ''{{Pathfinder}}'' lets a new character take a trait to start with one of these at creation. It's up to the player [[WeaponOfChoice what form]] [[ExcaliburInTheRust or outward appearance]] [[WeaponOfChoice that weapon takes]], but it'll always be easier to hit with than any other weapon that character can use.

* In the ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer 40000}}'' spinoff RPG ''TabletopGame/RogueTrader'', an option to have one of these can be taken at character creation. Your choices include a LostTechnology laser pistol, a [[ChainsawGood chainsword]] that was used in the Crusade that conquered the region of space where the game is set, and a set of PoweredArmor that once belonged to one of the honor guard of an Imperial saint.
* In WerewolfTheApocalypse, Klaives and [[{{BFS}} Grand Klaives]] were handed down from generation to generation. They counted as some of the post powerful melee weapons a character could have.
* ''FadingSuns'' allow the players to start the game owning powerful weapons such as [[SharpenedToASingleAtom the Wireblade]]. It is described rather clearly that this usually means inheritance, given the price and the nobility's taste for melee weaponry.

* In ''CarBattlerJoe'', the G-COM that weaponizes Joe's car was a gift from father.

* The Valstork and Valhawk in ''SuperRobotWars W'' have been handed down through the Ardygun family for about two or three generations, which in their world is about as far back as one could have a Spaceship and TransformingMecha, respectively, without raising too many eyebrows.

* The MirrorUniverse episode of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' "In a Mirror Darkly" featured Mirror Commander Archer having and treasuring the shotgun used by Mirror Zefram Cochrane to kill the Vulcans who made [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact first contact]] with them.

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* The Engineer's "Gunslinger" in TeamFortress2 was first invented by his grandfather, Radigan Conagher. Although the one the Engineer himself wields was handmade, he did use his grandfather's blueprints.

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* In ''MassEffect'', where Wrex's personal sidequest is to find and retrieve a suit of armor worn by his family's ancestors centuries ago. Upon recovering it, Wrex's only outward response is to comment that "My ancestors wore this piece of crap? At least its back in the right hands." After he says this, though, there's a note that mentions Wrex [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming stopping to stare at the armor with a meaningful but unreadable expression.]] Later in the game, [[spoiler: when Wrex confronts Shepard on Virmire, recovering the armor results in Wrex backing down, mentioning that Shepard has done more for him than his family ever did.]]

* ''TrueGrit'', a 1969 western. Mattie, a 14-year old daughter of a killed {{Rancher}} seeking revenge, carries her father's revolver with her. She actually gets to shoot the murderer with it (though he survives it).

-->--'''[[TheObiWan Obi-Wan Kenobi]]''', ''StarWars''

* As the quote above notes, Luke's first lightsaber in ''StarWars'' once belonged to Darth Vader. He later makes one for himself.
** In the ''StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', he recovers the one Anakin used, and [[TheThrawnTrilogy gives it to Mara Jade]]. Given some of Zahn's opinions on the matter, it seems this was meant to be sort of like giving her a ring that costs two months' salary. Turns out it was about ten years early. Other parts of the EU make [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Concordance_of_Fealty the gift of a lightsaber]] something that represents a profound bond.

* Aragorn in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' inherits the shards of Narsil, the sword of his ancestor Elendil, which Elendil's son Isildur used to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand 3000 years prior. In the books, the Elves of Rivendell reforge the shards of Narsil into Anduril in ''Fellowship of the Ring'', and Aragorn uses it as his primary weapon for the rest of the saga. In the movie trilogy, however, Narsil isn't reforged into Anduril until ''Return of the King''.

* In ''Film/TheHobbit'', Gloin wields the axes that his son Gimli will use in ''Film/LordOfTheRings''. It's later revealed that Gloin's father had these in his possession as well.