History Main / GoodWeaponEvilWeapon

* Katars: Almost always AntiHero at best, usually the province of assassin or rogue characters, unless the assassin or rogue is ChaoticGood. Almost always DualWielded, at least for rogues in WorldOfWarcraft and Assassins and Assassin Crosses in Ragnarok Online.

* In ''{{Halo}}'', this shows up in the two warrior races of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Covenant]]: The characteristic weapon of the ([[HeelFaceTurn ultimately]]) good Elites is the [[LaserBlade Energy Sword]]. The signature weapon of the Brutes is a big, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin brutish]] hammer.

* [[KillItWithFire Flamethrowers]]: Usually in the hands of a villain who [[PyroManiac loves burning things a little too much]].

** Pictured above are the two swords that the ''Soul'' series revolves around: Soul Calibur (right) and Soul Edge (left). Soul Edge, once an ordinary sword, [[EvilWeapon gained a malicious will of its own]] (which manifests as the firespawn Inferno, a FinalBoss in some of the titles) and soon evolved into a [[TheCorruption corruption-spreading]] ArtifactOfDoom. Soul Calibur was created by the Hero King Algol from a purified shard of Soul Edge. They are currently wielded by TheHero [[TheAtoner Siegfried]] and the BigBad [[MadeOfEvil Nightmare]] (himself an incarnation of Inferno) who, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy at one point]], [[EnemyWithout used to be the same person]]. ''Soulcalibur IV'' does subvert this, however, as Soul Calibur is heavily implied to be a KnightTemplar in regards to Soul Edge.

* ''[[SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'': Ivy wields a sword that separates into multiple parts:good. It does turn into a whip, but that helps it with the BifurcatedWeapon bit. Astaroth wields axes:evil.

*** But ironically if it has two snakes, usually good and used by the medic, despite the single-snake staff being associated with [[ClassicalMythology Asclepius, ancient Greek god of medicine and healing]], and the two-snakes caduceus being associated with [[DidNotDoTheResearch Hermes]], [[WallBanger messenger of the gods]] and [[CriticalResearchFailure guide to the Underworld]].

** For the record, WellIntentionedExtremist Jet has a pair of hooked swords, while Zuko's swords resemble scimitars. On that note, [[TheHero Aang]] uses a glider-staff, while Sokka starts with a club and boomerang, but later [[CharacterDevelopment stops using the club]] and eventually gains a longsword.

** [[WolverineClaws Claws]]: Sign of an AntiHero or a particularly AxCrazy villain.

* [[BladeBelowTheShoulder Wrist blades]]/[[WolverineClaws claws]]: Definitely well into dark {{Badass}} or [[NinetiesAntiHero antihero]] territory, if not outright evil.

* Whip: Generally evil, [[WhipItGood with rare exceptions]]. The exceptions tend to be either[[AdventurerArchaeologist Archaeo]][[IndianaJones logists]] or [[{{Castlevania}} vampire hunters]].

* [[WolverineClaws Claws]]: Sign of an AntiHero, an [[ExoticWeaponSupremacy Exotic Weapon Specialist]] or a particularly AxCrazy villain.

* Shamshir, Tulwar, Scimitar: Generally heroic: if the villains use one then it's pretty much because the hero is using a cooler one.
** Scimitars can go either way; if on the side of evil, they're usually found in the hands of the [[{{Qurac}} Quraqi]] [[{{Mooks}} palace guards]].
*** If an [[OurOrcsAreDifferent entire society]] favours scimitars, they're evil.
* Dirk, Longsword, Etc: Sign of a KnightInShiningArmor. Heroic.
** If used by a villain, it will generally be a {{BFS}}.

* Mace (metal club, often with ridges): Evil. Definitely so if it's a chain-swinging Morning Star.
** Typically used by the {{Big Bad}} or {{The Dragon}} as maces were traditionally symbols of power and authority, only to be used by royalty or those in command.
** Unless it belongs to a priest (the ridged mace, not the morning star). Then it has a much higher chance of being good (but can still [[ReligionOfEvil be]] [[CorruptChurch evil]]).

* Whip: Generally evil, [[WhipItGood with rare exceptions]].
** [[AdventurerArchaeologist Archaeo]][[IndianaJones logists]] are usually exempt from the whips=evil rule, and make up a great chunk of the exceptions.
** The handful who aren't tend to be [[{{Castlevania}} vampire hunters]].

Villain armies typically have more oddly-shaped weapons, weapons with spikes, etc. While not a hard-and-fast rule (see the exception for hammers, below) blunt weapons, especially ridged maces, tend to be evil, possibly due to their lethal practicality, as a crushed shoulder, knee, or skull tends to be more complicated to heal than a clean cut.

[[caption-width-right:354:[[GoodColorsEvilColors Give you one guess on which is evil.]]]]

[[quoteright:354:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Good_Sword_Evil_Sword_8727.jpg]]

*** But ironically if it has two snakes, usually good and used by the medic. [[ClassicalMythology Hermes, god of medicine, had the first one.]]

[[SoulSeries quoteright:354:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Good_Sword_Evil_Sword_8727.jpg]]

[[[[SoulSeries quoteright:354:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Good_Sword_Evil_Sword_8727.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:354:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Good_Sword_Evil_Sword_8727.jpg]]

[[caption-width-right:354: [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Give you one guess on which is the villain's]].]]

[[caption-width-right:354: [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Give you one guess on which is the villian's]].]]

* The Mace/Club thing is subverted in ''{{Eragon}}'', where the good guy dwarf king Hrothgar carries a hammer, called Volund.

** Hookswords: Run away. Now. Do not, under any circumstances, trust.

[[caption-width-right:354: [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Give you one guess on which is the villian's.]]

[[caption-width-right:354: Give you one guess on which is the villian's.]]

* ''FireEmblem Path of Radiance'' has [[BigBad Ashnard]]'s Gurgurant, a black flame patterned sword with a more or less flat tip, evil.
* ''[[SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'': Ivy wields a sword that separates into multiple parts:good. It does turn into a whip, but that helps it with the BifurcatedWeapon bit. Astaroth wields axes:evil.
* Half subverted, half played straight in ResidentEvil 4. Krauser uses a knife as his WeaponOfChoice, is a mercenary working for the BigBad, kidnapped the [[DistressedDamsel President's Daughter]], and if he isn't outright evil, is at least very, very amoral. But [[TheHero Leon Kennedy]] ''also'' is a bit of a KnifeNut. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that it's stated they worked together in the same military group before the events of the game.

* {{X-men}}: Gambit with a Staff? Good. Gambit with a knife? Bad. Warpath, Multiple Knives. Good. Spiral, Multiple Swords? Bad. Katana? Evil Samurai. Dual Wielded Katana? {{Deadpool}}.
* A rare exception to "Only villains poison weapons": Sadi, a eunuch on the side of the heroes in the ''[[{{Belgariad}} Mallorean]]'', uses a poisoned dagger as his primary weapon.
** Justified in that one of the two defining characteristics of the Nyissans is an extensive knowledge and ... ''creative'' ... use of pharmaceuticals. (The other one is a positively astounding ability at being devious and conniving.)
** And from the same series, there's the Ulgo knife, which is generally described as one of the most unpleasantly mutilat-y weapons in the world. The Ulgos are good guys.

* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' had a duel between WellIntentionedExtremist AntiHero Jet and AntiVillain Zuko. They both dual-wielded. It was epic.
** For the record, WellIntentionedExtremist Jet has a pair of hooked swords, while Zuko's swords resemble scimitars. On that note, [[TheHero Aang]] uses a glider-staff, while Sokka starts with a club and boomerang, but later [[CharacterDevelopment stops using the club]] and eventually gains a longsword.

* Chaos Space Marines typically wield weapons that look similar to their Loyalist counterparts with the addition of lots of spikes and studs and skulls. Their Terminators also use maces and axes in addition to the standard PowerFist (which they add spikes to anyway), and they have an entire unit type which uses chainsaw axes.
* TransformersAnimated has [[PsychoForHire Lockdown]], a BountyHunter who loves taking pieces off helpless targets. He has a chainsaw, and is decidedly evil and probably a little crazy too.
**And let's not forget Generation 1's Megatron, who literally is an Evil Weapon.
* In {{The Lord of the Rings}} Sauron is depicted using a mace, and his lieutenant, the Witch-king, swings an {{Epic Flail}}. His ancient teacher, Morgoth, fought with a warhammer.
* The crazy Japanese girl Gogo Yubari wields a meteor hammer in {{Kill Bill}}.
* The Mace/Club thing is subverted in {{Eragon}}, where the good guy dwarf king Hrothgar carries a hammer, called Volund.
* ''AceCombat'' has a variant; It has been noted that in almost every game, the protagonist squadron and sometimes his allies usually fly Western Fighter Aircraft (usually American) while the antagonist ace squadron(s) usually use either high-tier Russian fighters (usually a variant of the [[CoolPlane Su-27 Flanker]] ). This is however subverted multiple times.
** In ''2'' the protagonist squadron (presumably, given the cover art) flies the Su-35 Super Flanker, while four of the ZOE aces use IRL-American jets.
** In ''5'' one of the enemy ace squadrons you fight flies the [[RareVehicles F-15S/MTD]].
** In ''Zero'', out of the 12 major ace squads you face in the game, only three (Gelb, Gault and Schwarze) play this trope straight.
** In ''X'', some of the ally Redshirts use the Flanker.

*In {{Halo}}, this shows up in the two warrior races of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Covenant]]: The characteristic weapon of the ([[HeelFaceTurn ultimately]]) good Elites is the [[LaserBlade Energy Sword]]. The signature weapon of the Brutes is a big, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin brutish]] hammer.
* King Fahn and Lord Ashram of the first "Record of Lodoss War" anime wield swords of good and evil, respectively, that grow stronger the closer they are to each other.
* In Shakespeare's Othello, heroic Claudius uses a sword. Its implied that his attempted assassination may have been done with a knife.
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