History Main / ImprobableAccessoryEffect

* ''FinalFantasy'' has a number of these, the most famous of which is the [[CommonplaceRare Ribbon]], which for some reason makes you immune to status effects. In ''FinalFantasyIV'', they're ''guarded'' by ''dinosaur zombies''. Ribbons are serious business.

** ''Final Fantasy VI'' has the Cat Hood which doubles your money...cause cats are lucky??

*** The mushrooms are in the vein of AliceInWonderland, which had mushrooms that made Alice grow and shrink.

** This is attempted to be explained in later instalments with ribbons being made from malboros, enemies which are known for inflicting many many status effects. Still makes pretty much no sense.

** This is attempted to be explained in later installments with ribbons being made from malboros, enemies which are known for inflicting many many status effects. Still makes pretty much no sense.

** This is attempted to be explained in later instalments with ribbons being made from malboros, enemies which are known for inflicting many many status effects. Still makes pretty much no sense.

** This is attempted to be explained in later instalments with ribbons being made from malboros, enemies which are known for inflicting many many status effects. Still makes pretty much no sense.

** Well, maybe it's curved and has a ball attached to it...

* ''KingdomOfLoathing'', being a parody of computer [=RPG=]s, embraces this trope with all of its being. Some things make perfect sense, like the ordinary metal pail you can use as a helmet to absorb damage. Some things make a certain degree of sense, like the duct tape sword that increases your odds of looting items when you defeat monsters. Some things only make sense due to convoluted pop culture associations, like the arrrgyle socks (they have extra R's because they're dropped by pirates) which boost your mysticality as an offhand reference to The Pattern from TheChroniclesOfAmber. However, there are also [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Tiny_Plastic_Enchantments tiny plastic figurines]] you can carry, which inexplicably do anything from doubling your spell damage to raising the odds of monsters dropping candy.

* The badges in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' (and sequels) and ''VideoGame/PaperMario''. Why does a badge increase attack power, boost stats and make an Infinity Plus One Sword? God knows.

*** [[ItMakesSenseInContext Though to be fair]], the leaf is a reference to the Tanuki, the mushrooms are of the vein found in Alice in Wonderland, and the flower is a pun on the Japanese word for fireworks.[[hottip:* :The word is "hanabi", and it literally means "Flower Fire". Turn it around, and you get "Fire Flower". Neat, huh?]]

*** It's possibly a reference to the Japanese [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko Maneki Neko]], cat statues that bring good fortune. They are often put outside shops and other businesses to attract customers, and in that way also money.

** The Cow Mangler 5000: a big honking laser gun which replaces the Soldier's rocket launcher and fires laser beams... which move at the same speed as rockets, and ''can be reflected with an airblast'', just like rockets!

Let's face it, strapping on more and more identical metal bits is ''boring'', and anyway nobody really knows what a vambrace is.[[hottip:*:[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Aren't those protectors that you wear on your forearms?]]]] So when it comes time to flesh out the equipment in a game, just about anything will do. It doesn't matter what the item is, as long as it adds the right bonuses to stats to keep the game balanced (or [[DiscOneNuke otherwise]]). This leads to random items giving stat bonuses that make no sense--but which no one seems to [[SuspensionOfDisbelief question]], because nobody wants to give up their precious items for the sake of mere logic.

* [[TheLegendOfZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]] has a glove that gives Link the ability to ''stab rocks''.

[[quoteright:350:[[{{Disgaea}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horsewiener.jpg]]]]

* ''{{Disgaea}}'' supplies the page image and the former TropeNamer, introducing the Horse Wiener, which you can in fact ''steal'' from the enemy zombie who has it equipped. Equipping the item in question grants 110 Attack, 30 Speed, and 30 Hit (before you enter it and level it up). Thankfully, the in-game picture is merely a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything large exclamation point]].

* ''ShadowHearts'' loves these - the more bizarre the item, the better its effects. In all three games, the items that protect you from [[OneHitKill Instant Death]] are Leonardo's Bear - a teddy bear that makes a sad noise when you squeeze it. Its origin changes with each game.
* The clothes system in TheWorldEndsWithYou is built on this trope. Fashion in this game is SeriousBusiness so designer clothes take the place of armor.

* [[{{Pokemon}} The Pokemon series]] lets you make your team carry everything from claws to tails to rocks to ashes to scarves to bows to ribbons to berries to herbs to ''sweat'' and ''drool'' and even ''breath'' of other Pokemon to get stat boosts or other effects. You can make a pokemon hold anything, but a large set of them actually grant a tangible benefit like +10% damage with a certain move type, a small stat boost, always going first, etc. There are also consumable items that the pokemon will use automatically when hurt or affected with a status ailment.

* ''TeamFortress2'' has the Equalizer, a pickaxe that lets you run faster when you're low on HP.

* [[{{Pokemon}} The pokemon series]] lets you make your team carry everything from claws to tails to rocks to ashes to scarves to bows to ribbons to berries to herbs to ''sweat'' and ''drool'' and even ''breath'' of other Pokemon to get stat boosts or other effects. You can make a pokemon hold anything, but a large set of them actually grant a tangible benefit like +10% damage with a certain move type, a small stat boost, always going first, etc. There are also consumable items that the pokemon will use automatically when hurt or affected with a status ailment.

* [[Pokemon The pokemon series]] lets you make your team carry everything from claws to tails to rocks to ashes to scarves to bows to ribbons to berries to herbs to ''sweat'' and ''drool'' and even ''breath'' of other Pokemon to get stat boosts or other effects. You can make a pokemon hold anything, but a large set of them actually grant a tangible benefit like +10% damage with a certain move type, a small stat boost, always going first, etc. There are also consumable items that the pokemon will use automatically when hurt or affected with a status ailment.

* ''[[PokemonMysteryDungeon Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Sky/Time]]'' let you carry everything from claws to tails to ''sweat'', ''drool'' and even ''breaths'' of other Pokemon to get stat boosts. And that is not counting the crap you actually ''can'' equip (bows, ribbons, scarves and bands that do everything from boost stats to allowing you to hurl items through walls).
** The hold items from the [[PokeMon main series]] also flirt with this: holding a piece of charcoal helps immolate opponents? A small berry nerfs the damage from having rocks dropped on top of you?

* One of the sidequests in ''CaveStory'' parodies this. You're sent to find a curative mushroom. Upon finding the mushroom, [[LetsMeetTheMeat it talks to you]]. After you insist several times that, yes, you really need him, he gives you the Mushroom Badge and sends you on your way. If you try to use it, or just check your inventory, you see the badge doesn't do anything. Which you need to do to call him out on it and to be able to [[KillerRabbit fight him]].

Let's face it, strapping on more and more identical metal bits is ''boring'', and anyway nobody really knows what a vambrace is.[[hottip:*:[[CompletelyMissingThePoint Aren't those protectors that you wear on your forearms?]]]] So when it comes time to flesh out the equipment in a game, just about anything will do. It doesn't matter what the item is, as long as it adds the right bonuses to stats to keep the game balanced (or [[DiscOneNuke otherwise]]). This leads to random items giving stat bonuses that make no sense--but which no one seems to [[SuspensionOfDisbelief question]], because nobody wants to give up their precious items for the sake of mere logic.

** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] with the Accelerator: ''false teeth'' that vastly increase movement range. The item description reads: "Why teeth?"[[hottip:* :It's a ''{{Cyborg009}}'' reference. The main character's Accelerator, which speeds up his reaction time to insane levels, was hidden in his back left molar, and was activated by a switch on it. It should be noted you get the item from Kurtis, who is himself a homage of Cyborg 002, from the same series.]]

** [[FinalFantasyVI Final Fantasy VI]] has the Cat Hood which doubles your money...cause cats are lucky??

** Gets a funny shout out in FinalFantasyTacticsA2 where it's description is "A hood of made from fine white thread. You could make these without the ears, but nobody with any sense would wear them". Not to mention the Sage job. The first Sage you meet berates you for making fun of his hood.

* ''{{Suikoden}}'' III has sets of armor and accessories that are divided up into things that particular characters can use based on their relative size/class; characters that can wear lightweight things generally can't wear heavyweight things, and so on. In particular there is the "Girl" class of items which generally can only be worn by women, which includes jewelry pieces-- but the first Squishy Wizard you can get in your party can equip Girl-class accessories despite being a man. The strategy guide advises buying him a pearl necklace (and taking him out to dinner).
* ''SecretOfEvermore''. Every accessory in the entire game. Chocobo Egg gives you and your dog more HP? A ring gives you a run button? Some...jewelry-type things...increase your dodge ability? Okay!

* ''FinalFantasy'' has a number of these, the most famous of which is the Ribbon, which for some reason makes you immune to status effects. In ''FinalFantasyIV'', they're ''guarded'' by ''dinosaur zombies''. Ribbons are serious business.

* The badges in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' (and sequels) and ''VideoGame/PaperMario''. Why does a badge increase attack power, stats and make an Infinity Plus One Sword? God knows.
** By the same token, the stickers in ''SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. And the BunnyHood.
** Heck, all the way back in VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 there was a ''leaf'' that gave you the tail and ears of a ''raccoon'', allowing you to ''fly''.

* TheWorldEndsWithYou features a pair of high heels that ''increase agility''.

** It's gotten much, much crazier with each update. Here's a short list: jars of piss that make people take more damage, jars of milk (or ''something'' white) that recover health for damaging people covered in it, steaks that let you move faster and punch harder but disallows using your gun and makes you take more damage as well, a club with a nail through it that lets you capture points faster, a kunai and katana that restore health with a kill, a fan that makes one person you hit with it at a time take more damage, and a syringe launcher that lets you run faster as you charge you Medigun.

** It's gotten much, much crazier with each update. Here's a short list: a rifle that shoots [[strike: urine]] Jarate, [[strike: Mann]] Mad Milk, a possessed sword who wants heads, a hunk of meat that guarantees mini-crits...

* ''FinalFantasy'' has a number of these, the most famous of which is the Ribbon, which for some reason makes you immune to status effects.

** Gets a funny shout out in FinalFantasyTacticsA2 where it's description is "A hood of made from fine white thread. You could make these without the ears, but nobody with any sense would wear them"

* The badges in ''MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' (and sequels) and ''VideoGame/PaperMario''. Why does a badge increase attack power, stats and make an Infinity Plus One Sword? God knows.

** Heck, all the way back in SuperMarioBros3 there was a ''leaf'' that gave you the tail and ears of a ''raccoon'', allowing you to ''fly''.