History Main / EmpathicWeapon

* [[TheMightyThor Thor's]] hammer Mjolnir. It doesn't matter how strong you are, but how ''worthy'' you are to weld it. The ''Comicbook/IncredibleHulk'' can barely lift it an inch. But CaptainAmerica was able to pick it up and throw it. Another instance had [[TheRealHeroes an emergency worker]] hand Mjolnir to a beaten Thor.

->''"If [[HarryPotter Harry Potter's]] wand can make decisions, why can't [[TheMightyThor Thor's]] hammer?"''
->--'''Penny''', ''TheBigBangTheory''

* Saba, wielded by the White Ranger in ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers''.
* Though the audience never sees anything unusual with Inspector SledgeHammer's custom [[HandCannon .44 Magnum]], he treats it as a living, breathing entity. Subverted in one episode in which Hammer is hallucinating and the viewers ''do'' see his gun talking, complete with animated barrel/mouth.

** But does the Sword of Omens give him [[{{Thundercats}} sight beyond sight]]?

* The Sword of Omens from ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'' seems to be partly empathic. In one episode the sword was broken after Lion-O was tricked into attacking Tygra with it, and the rest of the episode revolved around the Thundercats trying to find a way to fix it. Furthermore, the sword has exhibited something of its own personality, such as when Lion-O decided to hunt for sport. The sword reacted by flying from the Thundercat's hand, embedding itself in the ground, and refusing to be removed until the spirit of Jaga appeared to tell Lion-O that it will not cooperate in an act of evil.
** Much in the same vein, at one point Mumm-ra uncovers Excalibur, King Arthur's legendary sword. The swords do battle (eventually abandoning their actual wielders and duking it out in the air) until Excalibur pierces the Sword of Omen's eye. The Thundercats suddenly collapsed at the destruction of the Eye, but fortunately Merlin the Magician suddenly appeared to restore it before Mumm-ra could fully triumph.

** On many occasions the Sword of Omens reacted on its own, usually by flashing and growing, to Mumm-ra or other evil characters touching or even just approaching it.
** In the ''{{Thundercats 2011}}'' episode "The Forest of Magi-Oar", the Wood Forgers tell the Cats that [[GiantFlyer Viragor]] has been terrorizing them and the forest. But when Viragor attacks later in the episode, the Sword of Omens won't work against him. Lion-O later figures out that [[spoiler: it's because Viragor is the forest's true protector, and the Wood Forgers are really the ones terrorizing him and the forest.]]

->''"In his blade... there was only 'solitude'."''
->--'''Ichigo Kurosaki''', ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''

** Oh yeah, and it likes to drink the its enemies' blood. It also seems to be somewhat cursed, possibly by the malicious Elf that forged it.

* The ''[[SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'' series of games features two empathic weapons, although one doesn't seem all that talkative (Soul Calibur) while the other controls its wielder into killing people so it can eat the souls and gain power (Soul Edge). They form into whatever the wielder is most familiar with when held. Although Soul Edge is a bit more like an ''ArtifactOfDoom''.
** Soul Calibur talks a little more in 4, in a somewhat smarmy female voice. In a twist it turns out to actually be a purified shard of Soul Edge itself and its techniques don't seem a whole lot different (Though it is nicer about it at least).
*** In Soulcalibur V, Soul Calibur becomes the driving force for Patroklos when [[spoiler: his older sister Pyrrha is manipulated into becoming the next wielder for Soul Edge when Tira becomes dissatisfied and hateful towards the new Nightmare]] Though apparent in SCIV [[spoiler: it becomes quite clear that Soul Calibur herself can be just as bad as Soul Edge since she is only concerned with killing Soul Edge and its wielder and possesses Patroklos and removes his empathy to become an unfeeling and loyal KnightTemplar.]]
*** Ivy's sword, [[WhipSword Valentine]], is also described as having a mind of its own. In her ending during ''Soulcalibur IV'' it displays this by shattering itself to protect her from being marked spawn of Soul Edge when the soul weapons were destroyed. In breaking itself, it nullifies the energy in her blood.
*** Also, it's constantly noted that one of Taki's swords, Riki-Maru, will react when around evil energy and seems to be empathetic. In the second one Youshimitsu's sword seems to do this a small bit, but it's never expanded upon.

* In ''SuperRobotWars'', the mecha sometimes act like Empathic Weapons, especially when people with PsychicPowers are using them. See [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN0IlOcBykQ this clip]]. The Mechanoids also are also more requested to do attacks then 'piloted'.

* Gurthang ([[ICallItVera Anglachel]]), Turin Turambar's sword in Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. At the end of Turin's saga, he discovers that he ended up [[spoiler:[[BrotherSisterIncest marrying his sister]] (who [[DrivenToSuicide just committed suicide]])]], and he kills the person giving this news in a fury (he didn't like the guy already...). Then, full of grief, he speaks to Gurthang, [[spoiler:asking it to take his life.]] Gurthang speaks, saying that he will slay him swiftly, in order to avenge its previous owner whom Turin killed by mistake, and give justice for the murder he just committed.

* The Omnitrix from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' has a mind of its own -- possibly more than one. It will often turn Ben into an alien other than the one he's trying to become, and has a tendency to act in self-defense by zapping bad guys who try to tear it from Ben's wrist. Ben doesn't ask it for help so much as argue with it when it acts up. You could probably even say that the Omnitrix is trying to ''teach'' Ben something. His usual plan is to turn into Fourarms and just smack everything around until the problem's solved; forcing him to use other, more complicated aliens like Grey Matter and Cannonbolt is a good way to make him fight more strategically. It also seems to dislike being removed from Ben's wrist. It seems almost happy and enthusiastic when it jumps back on him after being removed in the season two finale, and after being stuck in the bottom of Ben's closet for [[TimeSkip 5 years]], it refuses to work, and the watchface turns blue [[hottip:* : Forget the Blue Screen of Death; that watch was just ''feeling blue''.]] When Vilgax later steals it during ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'', the watch refuses to work for him... until ''Ben'' presses the dial in a TrickingTheShapeshifter plan. Even though removing the watch is now possible in the sequel series, Azmuth still seems sulkily resigned to the fact that Ben must be the wielder of his invention; [[Literature/HarryPotter the wand chooses the wizard]], and the Omnitrix [[TheChosenOne chooses its owner]].

* In the ''RevelationSpace'' Saga by AlastairReynolds, the Hell-Class Weapons are controlled by [=AIs=] somewhere between beta- and gamma-level. That is, they don't have fully-fledged personalities, but are quite capable of acting on their own initiative.

* The Jaegers from ''Film/PacificRim'', courtesy of the neutral link. The stronger the mental and emotional connection between the pilots, the greater control they have over their Jaeger, which translates into better performance in battle. This is why many pilot teams know each other inside and out by being blood relatives, lovers, or lifelong friends.

* In JohnCWright's ''The Literature/CountToTheEschaton'', Menelaus realizes that the Chimarae practice of NamedWeapons stems from {{Ancestral Weapon}}s that had [=AIs=].

** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' introduces a Steel/Ghost pokemon that's actually a sword, making it a straight example of this trope.

* The Nox Nyctores in {{Blazblue}} chooses their owners and will protect the owner if the need arises. As seen in Jin's story in Continuum Shift, Nox Nyctores can ceast to activate if it doesn't approve the owner anymore and will even attempt to take over the owner's mind to fulfill its mission. There are only 10 of such weapons in existence, all in different forms and shapes. More info on http://blazblue.wikia.com/wiki/Nox_Nyctores

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Shinigami all have an EmpathicWeapon that is born from their own souls, but only the most talented shinigami can awaken the sword's living spirit into a TalkingWeapon. If the sword breaks in battle, it can heal itself afterwards if given enough time. [[spoiler: However, if the sword breaks while in bankai, the weapon can never be restored to its original form]]. We later learn that Zanpakutou are originally blank slates with limitless potential called Asauchi, which are used to draw out the Shinigami's true Zanpakutou, giving the Asauchi a defined form and thus limiting them. [[spoiler:Ichigo's Zangetsu was born from the remnants of the proto-arrancar White passed on to him from his mother fusing with his natural Shinigami powers. That is why Ichigo's true Zanpakutou spirit is so savage and predatory: it's fundamentally a Hollow.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Shinigami all have an EmpathicWeapon that is born from their own souls, but only the most talented shinigami can awaken the sword's living spirit into a TalkingWeapon. If the sword breaks in battle, it can heal itself afterwards if given enough time. [[spoiler: However, if the sword breaks while in bankai, the weapon can never be restored to its original form]]. We later learn that Zanpakutou are originally independent beings called Asauchi who [[FusionDance merge]] with the Shinigami. The Asauchi start out as blank slates with limitless potential, and merging with Shinigami defines and limits them. [[spoiler:Ichigo's Zangetsu was born from the remnants of the proto-arrancar White passed on to him from his mother fusing with his natural Shinigami powers. That is why Ichigo's true Zanpakutou spirit is so savage and predatory: it's fundamentally a Hollow.]]

* [[AmplifierArtifact The Elements of Harmony]] in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. They only work for those who represent their Elements, change "allegiance" based on who is the last to successfully wield them (as seen by their losing their former connection to Celestia and Luna after the mane six take them up, resulting in [[SealedEvilInACan the release of]] [[TakenForGranite the imprisoned]] [[GodOfEvil Discord]]), stop working if the harmony between the users is broken, and can reform from being destroyed when [[ThePowerOfFriendship the appropriate sentiments]] are strong enough.

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' one of your companions, Dak'kon, wields the last known Karach blade. It is made of chaos-matter and its form and abilities change to match the power of its user. If you did deeper in the dialogue it is revealed that [[spoiler:a former incarnation of the Nameless one saved Dak'kon purely because of the blade, with the intention of eventually taking it for himself. It is implied that the Nameless one's power and force of will would make the blade phenomenally powerful.]]
** You also meet an NPC called Ingress, whose *teeth* are empathic (if not outright sentient; it's hard to tell since The Nameless One doesn't speak Tooth Language). If you help her she'll gift the teeth to you, and they turn into Morte's EvolvingWeapon by having you ask them to improve. Some DummiedOut dialogue also involves the teeth forcefully invading Morte's jaw for insulting them.
** Finally, Nordom carries a pair of gear spirits, partially sentient spirits of mechanics that have taken the form of crossbows for him to use. Nordom can requisition them for improved ammunition.

A lot of HumongousMecha fall into this category, as it seems Japanese writers love to personify machines. Compare {{Mons}}, which typically also depend on the bond with the main characters.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Shinigami all have an EmpathicWeapon that is born from their own souls, but only the most talented shinigami can awaken the sword's living spirit into a TalkingWeapon. If the sword breaks in battle, it can heal itself afterwards if given enough time. [[spoiler: However, if the sword breaks while in bankai, the weapon can never be restored to its original form]].