History Main / BowsAndErrors

* [[https://www.youtube.com/@blumineck blumineck]] is a creator whose content focuses on and verifies/debunks portrayals of archery in pop culture. Expect this trope to appear in many a video.

* Misrepresenting the draw strength of a bow. A good war bow can have a draw strength of around 150 pounds, the equivalent of lifting a small barbell every time you fire it. Rigorous physical training is needed even to use such a bow, regardless of accuracy.

* In illustrations, showing a fully-drawn bow shorter than its bowstring.

* HumanPincushion: Even a single arrow is likely to debilitate a target. Continuing to fight with multiple lodged arrows is highly unlikely.
* LodgedBladeRecycling: Pulling out an arrow from one's body is extremely dangerous. Even if the victim is able to do so and remains able to fire a bow, the arrow will likely be damaged.

* Holding a bow at full draw for a significant period of time while threatening a target or taking aim. Muscles aren't meant to hold tension for a long time and will become shaky after a couple of seconds, decreasing accuracy or at worst accidentally loosing the arrow. The practice in real life is to aim, then draw immediately before firing.

* Invoked in ''Manga/{{Gamaran}}'' right at the beginning of the final arc: Arata Nakaizumi, the group's archer, keeps Gama's opponent Tojo under aim with his bow and arrow for too long. When Tojo finally makes his move and Arata let the arrow loose, the shot is too weak and Tojo is able to deflect the arrow with ease.

* In ''Film/{{Savaged}}'', Zoe finds a recurve bow and quiver of arrows in a barn and takes it with her and uses it on her RoaringRampageOfRevenge. However, the bow had been stored strung and, according to its owner, had been in the barn for months. This would have ruined the tension in the bow and rendered it useless.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Haley, the party's rogue, is typically depicted as keeping her bow strung at all times, even when it's kept slung across her back and not in use.

* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'': Ashitaka's curse gifts him with superhuman strength, and in battle this is frequently shown through his arrows hitting their targets with extreme force, one time going so far as rip the arms off his target. This ignores the fact that in archery the strength of the archer is only a factor in his or her ability to draw their bow and the power behind the arrow is imparted by the bow, not the archer. Regardless of how strong Ashitaka is, his arrow shouldn't hit with any more force than any other arrow shot from a comparable bow. (It would be theoretically possible for a character with SuperStrength to wield a bow with an exceptionally large draw weight, but it would need to be specially designed and custom-made for the purpose.)

* Lampshaded and exploited in ''Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons,'' by Creator/JaneYolen. Hippolyta gets caught at arrow-point by Molpadia, but stalls for time by talking to Molpadia and suggesting that she should capture her instead of shooting. Holding the bowstring back for too long causes Molpadia's arm to shake so much that when she finally does shoot, she misses Hippolyta even at very close range.
* Averted in one regard towards the end of ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', where a newly-arrived suitor (Odysseus in disguise) proves himself the equal of Penelope's husband by stringing Odysseus' enormous bow, a feat none of the suitors had been capable of.

* ''{{VideoGame/Valheim}}'': While the player's strength isn't an influence on the power of a shot, bows continuously drain stamina (and the higher-tier, the faster it drains stamina), so continuously tracking a target at full draw is usually a bad idea.

* Lampshaded and exploited in ''"Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons,''" by ''Creator/JaneYolen''. Hippolyta gets caught at arrow-point by Molpadia, but stalls for time by talking to Molpadia and suggesting that she should capture her instead of shooting. Holding the bowstring back for too long causes Molpadia's arm to shake so much that when she finally does shoot, she misses Hippolyta even at very close range.

* Leaving a bow strung when not in use, or loosing it without ammunition. Both of these can damage the bow.

* Leaving a bow strung when not in use, or dry-firing it (i.e. without ammunition). Both of these can damage the bow.

* A common terminology has a work's narration say that people ''fire'' a bow as a back-formation from firearm terminology. The correct expression is to ''loose'' an arrow.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Childe's technique when using a bow makes one question how it's even remotely possible for him to hit anything, as stands hunched over with his bow held awkwardly and the string drawn only partway back. It may be a case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, as [[BloodKnight Childe]] mentions he uses bows specifically because [[WillfullyWeak he's weakest at them]], and the other archers in the game have better form, although there are some that, when aiming, essentially hold their bows GangstaStyle by rotating their wrist ninety degrees.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Childe's technique when using a bow makes one question how it's even remotely possible for him to hit anything, as stands hunched over with his bow held awkwardly and the string drawn only partway back. It may be a case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, as Childe mentions he uses bows specifically because he's weakest at them, and the other archers in the game have better form.

* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Justified with Spectra's performance in Qalek's archery challenge. The picture shows her breaking most of the listed rules (incorrect foot stance, drawing the string across her chest, not wearing protective equipment), and she painfully suffers [[BreastAttack every]] [[GroinAttack single]] [[AmusinglyAwfulAim consequence]] when she finally takes the shot.

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': {{Lampshaded}} in "[[Recap/TheWheelOfTimeS1E4TheDragonReborn The Dragon Reborn]]", when Rand and Mat attempt to sneak into a farmstead's barn to spend the night. The farmers threaten them with bows, and Rand points out that the husband has too many fingers on the bowstring. The trope is also played straight in that the farmer has the bow at full draw throughout the scene, and that throughout the season, Rand's own bow is only ever shown being strung, even when not in use.

->''Katniss always pulls back her bowstring a good 10-15 seconds before she shoots. Now, I'm no expert on archery, but even I know this means either A): Katniss has muscles of pure titanium [...] or B): the draw weight on all of her bows has been so laughable her arrows should've been bouncing off anyone wearing thick clothing!''

[[folder:Web Video]]

-->''Katniss always pulls back her bowstring a good 10-15 seconds before she shoots. Now, I'm no expert on archery, but even I know this means either A): Katniss has muscles of pure titanium [...] or B): the draw weight on all of her bows has been so laughable her arrows should've been bouncing off anyone wearing thick clothing!''

* Holding a bow at full draw for a significant period of time while threatening a target. Muscles aren't meant to hold tension for a long time and will become shaky after a couple of seconds, decreasing accuracy or at worse accidentally loosing the arrow. The practice in real life is to aim, then draw immediately before firing.

Most writers, unsurprisingly, are not practiced archers, and the pastime is rare enough in the modern day that consultants are not always easy to find. Add on 100+ years of Hollywood doing what it likes with any subject matter, and certain errors have become compounded to the point of being commonplace. Many of these are the result of ignorant creators assuming that familiar types of scene involving firearms can simply happen in exactly the same way with bows. Modern depictions, aided by CGI that is not tied to the real world in any way, often misrepresent both the best practices of archery and the physics involved.

* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'': Ashitaka's curse gifts him with superhuman strength, and in battle this is frequently shown through his arrows hitting their targets with extreme force, one time going so far as rip the arms off his target. This ignores the fact that in archery the strength of the archer is only a factor in his or her ability to draw their bow and the power behind the arrow is imparted by the bow, not the archer. Regardless of how strong Ashitaka is, his arrow shouldn't hit with any more force than any other arrow shot from a comparable bow. (It would be theoretically possible for a bow to take advantage of SuperStrength, but it would need to be specially made for the purpose, with an abnormally large draw weight.)

Most writers, unsurprisingly, are not practiced archers, and the pastime is rare enough in the modern day that consultants are not always easy to find. Add on 100+ years of Hollywood doing what it likes with any subject matter, and certain errors have become compounded to the point of being commonplace. Modern depictions, aided by CGI that is not tied to the real world in any way, often misrepresent both the best practices of archery and the physics involved.

* Holding a bow at full draw while threatening a target. Muscles aren't meant to hold tension for a long time and will become shaky after a couple of seconds, decreasing accuracy. The practice in real life is to aim, then draw immediately before firing.

* Misrepresenting the range and penetration of an arrow. The best historical longbow would have been able to shoot up to 400 yards, with a modern bow perhaps doubling that range. An arrow from a war bow could penetrate even modern body armor with luck, but not plate steel, and nothing could make it go all the way through a target, even an unarmored squishy human. Real arrows will also not stick in concrete and similar materials, although they might dent them. Loosening an arrow into concrete will damage the arrow at best and reflect it back at the archer (or a bystander) at worst.

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[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/BlackCatHarveyComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horrible_archery_3.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-Clockwise from right: 1) She is gripping the bow like a pistol (and she will slap her wrist with the bowstring). Her hand should be at 45 degrees. 2) She is drawing across her body and will almost certainly hit her breast with the bowstring. 3) The bowstring should be drawn back to touch her nose or cheek. 4) Her elbow should be above her shoulder.-]]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]