History Main / EpicFlail

For the one specific type of flail: For just the chain, see ChainPain. SockItToThem is the {{improvised|Weapon}} version. If the business end is fixed to a handle, see HumongousHeadedHammer.

[[folder: Films -- Animation]]

* ''Literature/TheSellswords'': Athrogate [[DualWield Dual Wields]] a pair of magical flails (usually applying oil of impact, an explosive substance, as well).

* In ''Videogame/BattleBrothers'', flails are a class of weapon that can be wielded. Their particular niche is that they are good at bypassing shields, but are effective against most enemies, and can also [[ArmorPiercingAttack partially bypass armor]]. Lower-end flails tend to look more like wooden threshers, while higher-end and more lethal flails resemble the typical ball-and-chain form. [[ChainPain Chains]] and whips are also technically considered flails in the game for the purposes of perks and proficiencies.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta 2}}'', the reward for beating all chapters on 3rd Climax difficulty (the hardest standard difficulty) is [[spoiler:a live, angry [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros chain chomp]] she chains to her legs and uses as a flail]]. [[LethalJokeWeapon It's as deadly as it is absurd and unexpected]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':

** ''STRIVE'' introduces a new character named Goldlewis Dickinson who wields a [[ImprobableWeaponUser coffin attached to a chain]] as if it were a massive wrecking ball. The coffin itself even has something inside of it to provide extra weight--a cryptid that Goldlewis [[ArbitrarySkepticism insists is not an alien]].

* ''Super Snail'' from [=QCplay=] Limited has the first special ability Super Snail can learn is Iron Ball. A formerly evil, demon-hunting monk carries around a 1-ton ball and chain similar to [[VideoGame/KingOfFighters KOF's Chang Koehan]]. He teaches you how to throw one that weighs 100 tons as an effective and devastating opening attack.

* ''Videogame/TigerRoad'' has Lee start off with amounts to a double-bladed battle axe mounted on a chain and handle. Lee swings the weapon in a wide arc to take down leaping enemies as well the usual mooks rushing you from the ground.
* Videogame/{{Tomba}}'s weapon of choice. Later in the game it can be [[SwissArmyWeapon morphed]] with a grappling hook.
* Suika Ibuka of the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series. Those ball/pyramid/cube and chains attached to her aren't just for show, and she also uses her [[GrievousBottleyHarm sake gourd]] as one.

* ''Videogame/WeWhoAreAboutToDie:'' There's a whole selection of [[CallARabbitASmeerp Flaggas]] available for you to use as one-handed maces, in all varieties from simply heavy and spiky bashers to razor-sharp blades. The game's physics engine handles them in bizarre and occasionally hilarious manners, so you can smack around shields and weapons if you know what you're doing and get some deceptive range in the process. One caveat though: It's ''very'' easy to drop them by accident and leave yourself defenseless until you pick it back up, and depending on physics and grabby opponents this might not be an option.

* Webcomic/VGCats has two, The original [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=110 Rat Flail]] and its [[EvolvingWeapon improved version]]: '''[[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=223 Rat Morning-Star]]'''.

* In Season 10 Episode 21 of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', Agent Carolina creates an interesting combination: GrapplingHookPistol plus Frag Grenade equals [[ImprovisedWeapon improvised]] Epic Flail that ''explodes''!

* In the [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP Foundation]] tale [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/introductory-antimemetics Introductory Antimemetics]], a researcher uses a server rack on the end of a pleated rope of ethernet cable as a weapon [[spoiler:against an infovore]].

* Principal Waxelplax in''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' mentions that she keeps one under her desk in the episode "What's The Difference?". Later she proceeds to chase Chester and Mandie with it when they try to grab the doorknobs which have been replaced by jelly filled doughnuts.

*** Megatron used an [[EnergyWeapons energon flail]] in the second episode, which was never seen again but was made available with come reissues of the toy.

* One of the mooks who got fused with their weapons in ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' had {{Epic Flail}}s for arms.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''

** Morrison uses a flail of his own during his revenge on Lord Bottoms for invoking DroitDuSigneur upon his wife, smashing his brains in before [[SpitefulSpit spitting on his corpse]].

* ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'': After losing his hand at the battle of Stirling, Campbell, Hamish's badass dad, wields a spiked flail during the battle at Falkirk, and ends up receiving a mortal wound while he's busy swinging it overhead. Later, Wallace rides into Mornay's bedchamber, uncoils a long-chained flail, and crushes the treacherous lord's head like a watermelon with one great swing.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''. In "The Secret Museum of Kung Fu", the Furious Five get thrashed in their first encounter with the Lin Kuei, wolf assassins wielding huge iron weights on the end of chains.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'': The Witch-King used a truly huge flail to fight Éowyn at the Pelennor Fields. The special features point out how difficult it was to lift; in the scene where the Witch-King first lifts the weapon, there was actually a person lying on the ground underneath and pushing it up from below. It started off as a relatively normal-sized flail, but Creator/PeterJackson kept telling WETA Workshop to "make it bigger." They finally made one that they were positive was going to be "too big". That's the one that made it on screen. Jackson himself thinks that it still could have been [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill bigger]].
** Although Peter Jackson kept calling it a "mace": the Witch King's weapon in the original trilogy is in fact a flail. It's flanged head is almost as big as Merry (roughly 3' tall): so it definitely qualifies as "epic". The Witch King manages to throw Theoden and his horse several feet in the air with it: paralleling the death of Gilgalad shown in the introduction (which was accomplished by Sauron using his actual mace of equally epic proportions). Justified in that the Witch King's body is magical and doesn't need to obey the laws of physics. Even the hollow prop was so heavy and unwieldy that it took two of the stuntmen to lift. There's a great video of Jackson himself trying and failing to lift the final prop.

* Fallon from ''Film/JackTheGiantSlayer'' wields a truly enormous specimen.

* The titular character in the martial arts movie, ''Film/TheBareFootedKid'' uses a flail as his standard weapon, in an extended final battle when he uses the flail to defeat an entire horde of sword-wielding mooks.

* In ''Film/TheCourtJester'', our hero faces off against a knight who selects a mace and chain as his weapon.
* One of the gladiators already in the arena during the first fight in ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' wields one. He swings it over his head in front of the closed door to frighten the new gladiators. He gets the first kill when the doors open, smashing the first in line in the face.
* The BigBad of the ''wuxia'' ''Film/TheGoldenLion'' uses a flail as his primary weapon to rough up the titular hero, and later kills a few redshirts using this weapon as well. It's notable that instead of the usual ball and chain, the flail's tip ends with a set of bronze claws that doubles as a grappling hook.

* TheDragon in ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' has a [[RocketPunch flail fist]].
* He Wan-yan, the main villain of ''Film/HeroesOfSung'' uses a flail whose tip is a deadly bronze claw as his preferred weapon, using it to either claw through the flesh of his opponents or to grab and snatch objects from a distance.
* In ''Film/{{Ivanhoe}}'', Bois Guilbert (George Sanders) chooses to wield a flail in the climax duel against the eponymous hero, [[spoiler: who manages to turn it to his advantage]].

* Go-Go Yubari in ''Film/KillBill'' wields a mean ball-and-chain meteor hammer in her battle against the Bride.
* Balian defends against a "normal" one of these in ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' in an homage to ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. He wraps it around his sword, then stabs the guy [[EyeScream in the face]].
* The Witch-King in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'' used a truly huge flail to fight Éowyn at the Pelennor Fields. The special features point out how difficult it was to lift; in the scene where the Witch-King first lifts the weapon, there was actually a person lying on the ground underneath and pushing it up from below. It started off as a relatively normal-sized flail, but Creator/PeterJackson kept telling WETA Workshop to "make it bigger." They finally made one that they were positive was going to be "too big". That's the one that made it on screen. Jackson himself thinks that it still could have been [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill bigger]].
** ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'': this is Azog the Defiler's weapon in his final showdown with Thorin. It looks more like a huge chunk of stone attached to a chain than a "regular" weapon. He learns the [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome hard way]] that its a terrible weapon to use on a frozen river.

** The Abomination wields a huge fence chain as a meteor hammer against ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'', with concrete pillars being the weights. It proves to be effective in knocking Hulk around, but backfires when Hulk makes Abomination lose control and hit himself with it, then strangles him to near death with the same chain.
** In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Hulkbuster does this with an empty elevator against the Hulk. Hulk lost a tooth, but it didn't stop him.
* ''Film/PacificRimUprising'' features two examples, the first is Titan Redeemer and its enormous "Morning Star" and later [[spoiler:Bracer Phoenix has the weapon and Redeemer's arm attached over its own destroyed one after the Drones attack and kill Redeemer's crew]].
* Clanker, one of Davy Jones' crewmen from ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', dual-wields pieces of chain shot.
* In ''Film/TheRipper1997'', Prince Albert attempts to kill Inspector Hansen by attacking him with a morningstar.
* In ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'', Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) improvises one with a horseshoe and rope against a bunch of bounty hunters, though he wields it like a wushu rope dart.
* Megatron in ''Film/Transformers2007'' briefly uses one to smash apart his prison chamber in Hoover Dam, and later the rooftop pillar Sam Witwicky is clinging to. Barricade also appears to wield one in his fight against Bumblebee, one with ''spinning blades''.
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Erik tries to sink Shaw's ship with its own anchor.

* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} III features the flail-wielding Medieval Infantry, which can be built when the player has access to iron and the technology Feudalism. He has an impressive 4 attack from how hard he hits with the spiked metal ball of his flail, but despite holding a shield in his other hand he’s only got 2 defense and needs to be escorted by pikemen or knights for protection. The Maceman unit from ''IV'' is pretty much the same, including his weapon which is actually a spiked flail rather than a mace.

* The Maceman unit from ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV'' carries one of these.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017''

For the one specific type of flail: For just the chain, see ChainPain. SockItToThem is the {{improvised|Weapon}} version.

Compare SpectacularSpinning, KillerYoYo. Stereotypical flails almost always have a spike covered ball at the end, and it's popularity with brutal and/or crazed characters also makes it one of the most common (and popular) examples of SavageSpikedWeapons. If the spiky part is not a part of a weapon, then these are SpikeBallsOfDoom.

** While possessing the same stats as its rival the Bastard Sword, and more accuracy than its more damaging axe and hammer counterparts. The Triple-Headed Flail suffers from lack of support in terms of feats and magic item options, which relegates it to those who want to [[DropTheHammer stand out]] from the [[HeroesPreferSwords crowd]].

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'' features a magical flail you can reassemble. It's got three heads, with different elemental powers. It's very handy against trolls. Which is lucky, because the place you find it in is ''swarming'' with them. The weapon's name is the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Flail of Ages]]. Its Head-Hunting subquest continues into the ExpansionPack, adding even more elemental powers.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged'', Lord Obsidian is able to transform his right hand into a spiked ball attached to his arm by an energy wire, which lets him use it either as a hand-mounted mace or a flail with an extendable chain.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged'', Lord Obsidian is able to transform his right hand into a spiked flail attached to his arm by an energy wire, which he uses to devastating effect in combat.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' during season 2 when Trevor and his crew return to the ruined Belmont estate, he discovers hidden away the Morning Star flail, an stronger version to his normal leather whip. The tip tends to make vampires explode upon contact. Even Dracula remembers the weapon when it is used against him.

* ''VideoGame/WildArms1'': [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Belselk/Berserk]] wields a massive flail that can one shot your characters or at least leave them with very low health, especially in ''[[VideoGameRemake Alter Code F]]''.

* The X-Hunter [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Violen]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'' uses this as his primary attack. In the rematch, there are disappearing blocks which can sometimes help block his attack, although the chain doesn't obey the same game physics and can pass through, so you need to exercise cautious judgement. Hilariously, [[WeaksauceWeakness his weakness]] in the rematch is [[KillItWithWater Charged Bubble Splash]] (Not the [[GameBreaker Shoryuken]], which can only be obtained two stages later.) Knight Man in ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'' also uses a mace, although to far less effectiveness in range and power.

* ''VideoGame/{{Cadash}} has the Priest character capable of buying one that gives her tremendous range.