History Main / GoodWeaponEvilWeapon

** On the series' page picture 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) due to tasting an ''immense'' amount of blood on the battlefield 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. ''Soulcalibur V'' confirms this, showing the two swords aren't so different after all; the don't represent Good vs. Evil as much as OrderVsChaos.

* Half subverted, half played straight in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. 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'' uses a knife, but Krauser's is much larger and rather mean-looking. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that it's stated they worked together in the same military group before the events of the game.

** On the series' page picture 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) due to tasting an ''immense'' amount of blood on the battlefield 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. ''Soulcalibur V'' confirms this, showing the two swords aren't so different after all.
* Half subverted, half played straight in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. 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'' uses a knife. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that it's stated they worked together in the same military group before the events of the game.

* [[SimpleStaff Staves]]: Usually good, unless [[EvilSorcerer topped by a skull or jewel]] [[BoomStick from which magical/laser beams are shot]]. Unless [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha]].

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Gambit with a Staff? Good. Gambit with a knife? Bad. Warpath, Multiple Knives. Good. Spiral, Multiple Swords? Bad. Katana? Evil Samurai, unless it's {{Wolverine}} in one of his Japanese adventures. Dual Wielded Katana? ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}.

* Half subverted, half played straight in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. 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.

* In Orthodox Christian religious art, good angels are depicted with swords – occasionally an example of a FlamingSword – or spears (generally, if an angel is pictured alone, he wields a sword, while depictions of angels vanquishing demons, e.g. the scene of the Last Judgment, show angels wielding spears). Demons have tridents or whips.

** Knife: Unless the hero is trying a last ditch effort to fight off a villain, wielding a knife is [[KnifeNut very, very evil]].

* [[SinisterScimitar Shamshir, Tulwar, Scimitar]]: Can go either way, If there's a single scimitar-wielder, he's probably a good guy. An entire society that favors scimitars is usually evil. Staple weapon of palace guards in {{Qurac}} and SimSimSalabim.

*** Similarly, stay the hell away from anyone wielding a serrated blade.

* [[BladeOnAStick Spears]]: Good if used by named characters, evil if used by mooks. Non-named non-evil characters with spears will usually be RedShirts.

* The swords of Masamune and Muramasa, two legendary Japanese swordsmiths. In general, Masamune's swords are considered to have qualities of good and peace, while Muramasa's blades are considered bloodthirsty. The legend has it that the two had a contest to see who could craft a better sword. Each one made a sword and sent it floating down a river. Masamune's sword peacefully avoided everything, while Muramasa's sword cut everything in its path. Another legend says that a Muramasa sword, once unsheathed, will refuse to leave the user's hand until it draws blood.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', TheHero picked up a hammer for MundaneUtility and [[TookALevelInBadass leveled up with it]]. The AxeCrazy pure evil psychopath is also the only one who wields a full sword (though another hero uses swords, what he actually ''wields'' are swords broken in half.) Later also demonstrated with the good and evil personalities of one character: the good wields a magic wand that can turn into a pistol (a precise weapon that cannot be fired multiple times in succession), while the evil wields a pimp cane that can turn into a fully automatic assault rifle (a highly destructive weapon that will likely cause a ton of collateral damage).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', TheHero picked up a hammer for MundaneUtility and [[TookALevelInBadass leveled up with it]]. The AxeCrazy pure evil psychopath is also the only one who wields a full sword (though another hero uses swords, what he actually ''wields'' are swords broken in half.) Later also demonstrated with the good and evil personalities of one character: the good wields a magic wand that can turn into a pistol (a precise weapon that cannot be fired multiple times in succession), while the evil wields a fully automatic assault rifle (a highly destructive weapon that will likely cause a ton of collateral damage).

** On the series' page picture 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) due to tasting an ''immense'' amount of blood on the battlefield 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. ''Soulcalibur V'' confirms this, showing the two swords are NotSoDifferent after all.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' where almost everyone has a SwissArmyWeapon, the villainous characters have fewer bells and whistles about their weapons and opt for raw power to overwhelm the heroes and their multi-formed, multi dust filled equipment.
** Cinder Fall uses SpontaneousWeaponCreation thanks to her semblance, dust, [[spoiler:and later the Fall Maiden powers]] to create or replace any weapon she wants.
** Tyrian Callows has a pair of [[BladeBelowTheShoulder scorpion claw shaped blades on his wrists]] that also house a pair of machine pistols, though there isn't any dramatic shift in the weapon's shape to use them.
** Hazel Rainhart injects ''himself'' with raw dust crystals to dramatically boost his physical strength for pure destruction.
** Dr. Watts' primary weapon is a simple revolver. A ''large'' revolver with a twenty-count chamber, but not much more.
** The BigBad, Salem, forgoes weapons and martial arts entirely and uses [[LadyOfBlackMagic pure destructive magic.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Gambit with a Staff? Good. Gambit with a knife? Bad. Warpath, Multiple Knives. Good. Spiral, Multiple Swords? Bad. Katana? Evil Samurai, unless it's {{Wolverine}} in one of his Japanese adventures. Dual Wielded Katana? SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}.

** Cinder Fall uses SpontaniousWeaponCreation thanks to her semblance, dust, [[spoiler:and later the Fall Maiden powers]] to create or replace any weapon she wants.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzags this trope like crazy:]]
** The main character, [[PerkyGoth Ruby Rose]], wields a sniper rifle that turns into a very large, imposing scythe, and she is one of the friendliest characters in the series.
** Blake Belladonna's sword can collapse into a bladed pistol, and can be swung like a flail. She's one of the good guys.
** On the other end of the scale, [[TheBully Cardin Winchester]] carries a gigantic flanged mace.

* In ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', the FryingPanOfDoom is only ever used by heroic characters.

** Flame Patterned Sword (flamberge): Unless sufficiently elegant, run. Stylish enough swords may serve a positive character, but the flamberge simply ''looks meaner'', and for a good reason as it may leave much nastier wounds. Serpentine daggers mark most users as evil.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarSeries'' has an interesting example involving ''the exact same weapon''. In the original triology, AntiHero Kratos primary weapons are the Blades of Chaos/Athena/Exile, jagged blades with a red lightning pattern on their sides, which look just as imposing and brutish as Kratos himself. But when Kratos [[spoiler:is forced to re-use the Blades of Chaos in order to go into the Norse Underworld to acquire an item needed to save his son during the events of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'', the blades (after a fair amount of upgrading) instead bare an elegant, runic design, showing how much CharacterDevelopment Kratos has undergone since his time in Greece]].

* Dagger: Sign of the thief or traitor; generally evil. Often the necessary utensil for BlackMagic rituals involving HumanSacrifice.

*** Subverted in Franchise/{{Dune}}, in which body shields stop anything moving above a few cm per second and mutually detonate (with kiloton force) on contact by lasers; knife fighting is the dominant form of close combat.