History Main / EnhancedArchaicWeapon

* StaticStunGun – What happens next with shock you!

* SharpenedToASingleAtom – Make a bladed weapon into an AbsurdlySharpBlade
* StaticStunGun – Weapons modified to shock.

* ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'' featured the "Wasp Knife", which injects air into the target to cause them to burst, as a murder weapon.

-->--'''Okoye''' (herself the user of an enhanced spear), ''Film/BlackPanther2018''

* Compound bows use a series of pulleys and cams to make them easier to draw and hold in place, as well as increase the overall power of the bow. They were developed primarily for hunting and for disabled archers to use in target shooting.

* The humble [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]] has been given quite the upgrade from a piece of wood bound with leather to the modern riot shield made of super-resistant and lightweight acryllic.

* In addition to ChainsawGood and SharpenedToASingleAtom examples being commonplace, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' also has much rarer "Power Weapons". These are enhanced by a hazy blue "power field" (produced by a generator on what would otherwise be a normal melee weapon) which weakens the molecular bonds of whatever they strike. Also the ubiquitous bolter is essentially an upgraded version of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrojet Gyrojet]] firearms, fitted with armor-piercing explosive heads, capable of firing full-auto, and far more effective at point-blank range.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has plenty in amongst the many {{Impossibly Cool Weapon}}s. These range from [[NamedWeapons Ruby's Crescent Rose]], [[AllThereInTheManual Nora's Magnhild, Pyrrha's Miló, and Yang's Ember Celica]][[note]]a scythe, hammer, spear/sword, and gauntlets in that order.[[/note]] (which have integrated firearms that can still be fired for extra damage when they strike), Weiss' [[RoyalRapier Myrtenaster]] (which has a revolver-like mechanism for using [[GreenRocks Dust]]), and Jaune's shield (which [[BoringButPractical folds into a scabbard for his sword]]).

* In ''Webcomic/GenocideMan'' Caera has a Jian sword that has a reservoir of GM neurotoxin in the hilt, instant death to anyone but a [[SuperSoldier Genocide Man]]. Though given that she can somehow [[http://www.genocideman.com/?p=435 decapitate]] someone with it she might not need the poison.

* Compound Bows use a series of pulleys and cams to make them easier to draw and hold in place (as well as increase the overall power of the bow). They were developed for hunting (as well as for disabled archers to use in target shooting).

* The Shocknife is a training knife that emits an electric shock when it contacts skin. The idea being that it gives a sense of danger and fear where rubber training knives don't.
* The humble [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]] has been given quite the upgrade from a heavy piece of metal to the modern lightweight riot shield.

* The Franchise/StarWars D20 tabletop game had options for "modern fitting" ships, weapons, and droids for the current time period - most often used for bringing the shockingly good [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Old Republic]] era weaponry and vehicles into the [[Film/ANewHope Galactic Civil War]] and beyond without FridgeLogic getting in the way (i.e. how does this medical droid still use kolto when kolto has long been replaced by bacta as the main medical fluid in the galaxy?). Considering that the Old Republic era also provided some of the most varied, specialized, and detailed lightsaber construction in any [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse expanded universe time period]], most of those old lightsabers also made for tempting finds for prospective Jedi.

* AutomaticCrossbows - Solve your quarrel with [[MoreDakka more quarrels]].
* BoomStick - Turn a SimpleStaff into a long ranged weapon.
* ChainsawGood - Often combined with bladed weapons to create "Chainswords" and similar devices.
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells - Combine the KryptoniteFactor of an enemy with your existing armaments to make killing them easier.
* EnergyBow - Energy arrows optional.
* EvolvingWeapon - When they can enhance themselves as needed.
* FlamingSword - When cold steel just won't do.
* FlyingWeapon - Have it serve as a downplayed AttackDrone[=/=]AttackAnimal
* LaserBlade - Why bother with a boring old metal blade when it can be made of PureEnergy?
* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang - If it's explicitly a special ability of said boomerang and not how all boomerangs are expected to work, anyway.
* RetractableWeapon - Take advantage of modern materials to make concealing and carrying them easier.
* RocketPoweredWeapon - Make a heavy weapon a little easier to swing.
* SharpenedToASingleAtom - Make a bladed weapon into an AbsurdlySharpBlade
* StaticStunGun - Weapons modified to shock.
* TalkingWeapon - If they can give advice, etc.
* TelescopingStaff - Take advantage of modern materials to make a SimpleStaff easier to carry.
* TrickArrow - Upgrade bows by giving their [[RetroUpgrade ammunition]] special effects. See AbnormalAmmo for other weapons.
* VibroWeapon - Bladed weapons which vibrate to enhance cutting power.
* WeaponWieldsYou - Why bother learning how to use a weapon when it can do all the work for you?

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder: Live Action Television]]
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' featured the "Wasp Knife", which injects air into the target to cause them to burst, as a murder weapon.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featured a similar weapon to the ''CSI'' example, which worked by injecting the victim with air.
* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Field of Fire" had an assassin modify a chemical-propelled firearm, a Starfleet prototype called the TR-116, with a short-range [[TeleportersAndTransporters transporter]] that let it fire through walls. Meanwhile the basic model TR-116 fires rounds made of [[{{Unobtainium}} tritanium]]. It was originally developed for situations where {{technobabble}} fields made conventional energy weaponry useless.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

* The nemuranai of ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' are items that have had the kami within them awakened, usually through prayer and supplication (though sometimes they awaken through use). Such items tend to bestow good luck on their users, and the more powerful ones also grant unique abilities, such as a sword that deals more damage each time it hits an opponent.

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Animation]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

** a combination of monofilament and vibro blades[[note]] which is as good an idea as using a WW2 German potato-masher style grenade as a mace after you've pulled the pin on it[[/note]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has plenty in amongst the many {{Impossibly Cool Weapon}}s. These range from [[NamedWeapons Ruby's Crescent Rose]], [[AllInTheManual Nora's Magnhild, Pyrrha's Miló, and Yang's Ember Celica]][[note]]a scythe, hammer, spear/sword, and gauntlets in that order.[[/note]] (which have integrated firearms that can still be fired for extra damage when they strike), Weiss' [[RoyalRapier Myrtenaster]] (which has a revolver-like mechanism for using [[GreenRocks Dust]]), and Jaune's shield (which [[BoringButPractical folds into a scabbard for his sword]]).

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has plenty in amongst the many {{Impossibly Cool Weapon}}s. These range from Ruby, Nora, Pyrrha, and Yang's weapons[[note]]A scythe, hammer, spear/sword, and gauntlets in that order.[[/note]] (which have integrated firearms that can still be fired for extra damage when they strike), Weiss's rapier (which has a revolver-like mechanism for using [[GreenRocks Dust]]), and Jaune's shield (which [[BoringButPractical folds into a scabbard for his sword]]).

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Field of Fire" had an assassin modify a chemical-propelled firearm, a Starfleet prototype called the TR-116, with a short-range [[TeleportersAndTransporters transporter]] that let it fire through walls. Meanwhile the basic model TR-116 fires rounds made of [[{{Unobtainium}} tritanium]]. It was originally developed for fighting Borg drones, whose personal forcefields rapidly adapt to make energy weapons useless but provide no protection against physical projectiles.

Add spear, harpoon and spike-throwing guns, and the rather ludicrous-sounding chapter on yo-yo-based weapons, and some oddities in the super-advanced weapons section, and you have one big, bloody mess of D20-based fun!

* ''1001 Science Fiction Weapons'' for OGL, has whole sections of these, organised by subtrope and various versions thereof, with each covering various kinds of weapon which use the technological concept covered by that section, usually meaning various blades, from quatars to scythes, but sometimes including nunchaku, hammers etc. These begin with merely simple weapons made with advanced materials, monofilament weapons, vibro-weapons, and powered saw-type weapons; go through modern bows, crossbows and dart launchers which fire a variety of trick projectiles, including poisons, electronic disruption and less-lethal options; to bows which inexplicably fire energy bolts with no visible string, blades made of hot energy or forcefields, blunt objects made of hyperdense matter with little gravity motors inside to allow them to be lifted and swung, as they weigh as much as a van, and radioactive weapons (sometimes little more than a bar of spent fuel rod, though the better ones will at least do more damage to the target than the user), heated blades, supercooled blades, blades made of ice, and organic blades which can dose the target with a wide variety of toxins and pathogens. Add spear, harpoon and spike-throwing guns, and the rather ludicrous-sounding chapter on yo-yo-based weapons, and some oddities in the super-advanced weapons section, and you have one big, bloody mess of D20-based fun!

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Wookiee bowcasters are enhanced versions of crossbows that increase the force and accuracy with which they fire quarrels via [[MagneticWeapons magnetic fields]]. Some are further modified in other ways. For example, Chewie's has an automatic re-cocking system.

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Field of Fire" had an assassin modify a chemical-propelled firearm, a Starfleet prototype called the TR-116, with a short-range [[TeleportersAndTransporters transporter]] that let it fire through walls. Meanwhile the basic model TR-116 fires rounds made of [[{{Unobtainium}} tritanium]].

* "Fanfic/ShakedownShenanigans": By the USS ''Bajor'''s launch in [[VideoGame/StarTrekOnline 2409]] the ''Galaxy''-class is fifty years old. The ''Bajor'''s construction series is mentioned to be a limited run of upgraded hulls to replace combat losses from the ongoing Federation-Klingon War, until the newer ''Odyssey''-class can enter full production. Ablative armor has been added, the superstructure has been {{technobabble}}-reinforced, the firepower, range, and speed have been increased, and the ship carries quantum torpedoes instead of photons.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featured a similar weapon to the CSI example, which worked by injecting the victim with air.

** * In ''Videogame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', due to the rising prevalence of nearly bulletproof cyborgs on the battlefield, [[VibroWeapon High-Frequency Blades]] have become the weapon of choice for standard combat. That said, most of them are mass-produced pieces of crap, and guns still see use because cyborgs aren't ''completely'' bulletproof, you just need a lot of bullets to take one down.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has plenty in amongst the many {{Impossibly Cool Weapon}}s. These range from Ruby, Nora, Pyrrha and Yang's weapons (which have integrated firearms that can still be fired for extra damage when they strike), Weiss's rapier (which has a revolver-like mechanism for using [[GreenRocks Dust]]), and Jaune's shield (which [[BoringButPractical folds into a scabbard for his sword]]).

* Compound Bows use a series of pullies and cams to make them easier to draw and hold in place (as well as increase the overall power of the bow). They were developed for hunting (as well as for disabled archers to use in target shooting).
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp_knife Wasp knife]], as mentioned in the CSI example above. It was developed for divers to use to fight off sharks by injecting them with air, so they float to the surface (and don't bleed as much, which might drive other sharks into a frenzy).