History Main / LethalJokeItem

* The Riot Gun in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' fires rubber bullets which do very little damage, so they're pretty useless in a pitched battle. However, every bullet also has significant knockback on both objects and enemies, which can turn the weapon into a tool for strange experiments - pushing enemies into live landmines (or live landmines into them), knocking foes off ledges, moving heavy objects to create barricades, and so forth. Owing to a GoodBadBug you can also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocx_YevqKzI load it with magnum rounds]] if you only use the keyboard-bound reload key, letting you fire heavy slugs as fast as you can click the mouse or hit the fire key.

* The Riot Gun in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' fires rubber bullets which do very little damage, so they're pretty useless in a pitched battle. However, every bullet also has significant knockback on both objects and enemies, which can turn the weapon into a tool for strange experiments - pushing enemies into live landmines (or landmines into them), knocking foes off ledges, moving heavy objects to create barricades, and so forth. Owing to a GoodBadBug you can also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocx_YevqKzI load it with magnum rounds]] if you only use the keyboard-bound reload key, letting you fire heavy slugs as fast as you can click the mouse or hit the fire key.

* The Riot Gun in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' fires rubber bullets which do very little damage, so they're pretty useless in a pitched battle. However, every bullet also has significant knockback on both objects and enemies, which can turn the weapon into a tool for strange experiments - pushing enemies into live landmines (or landmines into them), knocking foes off ledges, moving heavy objects to create barricades, and so forth. Owing to a GoodBadBug you can also load it with magnum rounds if you only use the keyboard-bound reload key, letting you fire heavy slugs as fast as you can click the mouse or hit the fire key.

* The Riot Gun in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' fires rubber bullets which do very little damage, so they're pretty useless in a pitched battle. However, every bullet also has significant knockback on both objects and enemies, which can turn the weapon into a tool for strange experiments - pushing enemies into live landmines (or landmines into them), knocking foes off ledges, and so forth. Owing to a GoodBadBug you can also load it with magnum rounds if you only use the keyboard-bound reload key, letting you fire heavy slugs as fast as you can click the mouse or hit the fire key.

* ''VideoGame/BloodySpell'', a {{wuxia}}-themed action game, grants you StockWushuWeapons as power-ups (befitting the setting), and then there's the plastic toy rake and inflatable spiked mace (in... [[AnachronismStew the Ming Dynasty]]) you obtain somewhere near the end. Despite being toys, they can deal as much damage as the ''real'' deal, smashing mooks to a bloody pulp with every swing.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', doing a sidequest gives you the reward of a Spoon. What do you do with it? Throw it! Apparently it's the best throwing item Edge has. Unfortunately the joke goes away in later versions where they "properly" rename it ''Knife''. The fact that the game contains a spoon item and [[SpoonyBard Edward]] can't equip it is a travesty.[[note]]The Free Enterprise randomizer corrects this oversight. It has 255 attack power.[[/note]] More properly translated, it's a [[ImprovisedWeapon kitchen knife]]. It is in fact a [[MythologyGag series-spanning]] joke weapon [[SpellMyNameWithAnS sometimes translated]] as "Chef's Knife", used by [[KillerRabbit Tonberries]] to [[FingerPokeOfDoom gently poke]] your party members and obliterate them.

** Pure Water has no effect on anything except ghosts/undead, which are a OneHitKill on them. They're also good for selling since they sell for 75 coins each.

* The [=UrbanMech=] in ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}''. It is a light mech, a category usually populated by [[FragileSpeedster Fragile Speedsters]]. Conversely, it is sluggishly slow. It additionally looks goofy, like a trash can with legs and a cannon for an arm. Its status as a JokeItem is memetic in the game's community. However... that cannon is an Autocannon/10, which does a rather large chunk of damage and is often considered a main armament on ''heavy'' 'mechs, and is enough to breach the armor on ''any'' 'mech's head in the case of a head hit. Against another light mech? Only the heaviest, best armored light 'mechs could hope to take an AC/10 hit without incurring an armor breach, and they can do that at most ''once'' per body part. And [=UrbanMechs=] are [[WeHaveReserves cheap.]] Variants of the design involve sacrificing armor to include an even bigger [[{{BFG}} Autocannon/20]], and one that has an Arrow IV artillery missile launcher... which can load nuclear-tipped missiles. Its potential as a LethalJokeItem merited a Clan variant as well, using their more refined and advanced military technologies.

** The only stated effect of the Iron Ball is that it severely cuts the Speed of any Pokemon that holds it. However, there are some moves like Gyro Ball that are stronger the slower your Pokemon is than the opponent, and under the effect of Trick Room (slow Pokemon go first, not last) it practically guarantees first attack. Even more important is the GuideDangIt use: The move Fling throws your held item at the enemy, and a Flung Iron Ball is one of the hardest-hitting attacks in ''the entire franchise''.

** The anvil. While the setup is incredibly difficult, setting up a trap where a player or mob gets stuck in a pit they can't get out of, then [[AnvilOnHead having an anvil fall on them]], does two full hearts of damage for each block height that it drops (reduced if the target is wearing a helmet). Combine with a dispenser for fun and profit.

* In ''Kengo: Master of Bushido'', the strongest "sword" with the longest reach is actually an oar. Though it doesn't have a Spirit move, because it's made of wood, you can use it instead of a bokken when facing another dojo. This is probably a ShoutOut to the sword saint UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi's (in)famous duel versus his lifelong rival Sasaki Kojirou, in which ([[MagnificentBastard long story short]]) he used an oar and ''won''. It's worth mentioning that Sasaki's katana is waaaay longer than a normal katana.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'': Deku Sticks; they break in one hit, are only available as a child, and their intended use is to light torches... but that one-hit-per-stick is as powerful as the ''[[SwordofPlotAdvancement Master Sword]]'', able to take down most of the child bosses in one to two well-timed Jump Attacks. And because of a glitch, every so often you'd get a stick that only broke part-way, letting you continue to use it indefinitely until you switch to something else.

* ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'': in ''Gun Gale Online'', the [[LaserBlade Photon Sword]] became this following the events of the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc. When Kirito first came to GGO, Photon Swords were considered a JokeItem due to its attack power being offset by a combination of restrictive energy requirements and the fact that it was a melee weapon in a game centered on gunplay: by the time anyone got close enough to hit someone with a Photon Sword, they'd be dead from being riddled with bullets. In Kirito's hands, however, the Photon Sword is a deadly tool, allowing him to [[ImplausibleFencingPowers deflect bullets]] while closing in on the enemy. After the events of ''Phantom Bullet'', other players would be inspired to take up the Photon Sword and attempt to replicate Kirito's feats, to very limited success.

** ''VideoGame/{{BattleTech2019}}'' changes the customisation rules to limit the number of "support" weapons an individual mech can carry but gives machine guns and small lasers a substantial CriticalHit bonus and no minimum range, and furthermore they're the only weapon type that a mech can fire in the same turn that it makes a melee attack. You're unlikely to kill an enemy mech with them alone but they're very good at SnipingTheCockpit of an already damaged mech and doing follow-up damage after a melee attack has chewed up the armour; the Hatchetman, which has the most support weapon hardpoints of any mech in the game, is tailor-made for a build based around this tactic.

So, you found a worthless JokeItem after hours of grinding and beating the BonusBoss at the bottom of the BonusLevelOfHell. Its stats suck, it looks like a wet noodle, and everyone comments on how stupid it looks.

** Holy crap, 8-Bit Fireball. It looks harmless, moves slowly and is very expensive to enhance as it requires the expensive 8-bit coins to do it, but it's easy to farm the shard to boost its grade and if you get it to rank 9 it fires a massive spread and hits like a goddamned semi truck, doing well over 1000 HP damage if you hit an opponent at close enough range so all the fireballs hit. With skill and patience it can be acquired and maxed out as early as the first encounter with Gebel. Standing beside the {{Bonus Boss}}es [[spoiler:O.D. or IGA]] and punching this thing into them as fast as you can mash the button will down them in ''about 30 seconds''.

** One of Jonathan's sub-weapons in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' is a [[PieInTheFace Cream Pie]], which deals Dark-element damage in a game where the majority of enemies are resistant to it. However, its low MP cost makes it ideal for spamming close-range attacks, especially against the [[BonusBoss Whip's Memory]].[[note]]which takes the form of [[spoiler:Richter Belmont]], and is one of the few encounters with a weakness against the Dark element[[/note]]

** The Quartz Charm, acquired by beating [[BonusBoss Culex]], seems to do absolutely nothing... but, in actuality, it lets you start every battle with the "Attack Up" and "Defense Up" statuses (that you normally get from flowers and Geno Boosts), which double your attack and defense. It also protects against [[OneHitKill instant-death attacks]]. The Ghost Medal is similar, but only works for defense.

* In ''VideoGame/DiceyDungeons, the Inventor's "No, You" gadget and Polarity Flip item in the Halloween Special can swap the target of the next item, which is effective in using what are otherwise {{Joke Item}}s:

[[folder: Survival Horror]]
* The ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' series has the Foam Finger, a BraggingRightsReward available in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'', and [[VideoGame/DeadSpaceRemake the remake for the first game]]. It's a giant foam finger, like the kind you might find at a sporting event. It has infinite ammo, and also kills anything it hits in a single shot. In ''3'', it can also be upgraded to the Devil Horns, which does the same thing but makes your character headbang to a heavy metal guitar riff when reloading. The foam finger is a Bragging Rights Reward because you have to beat each game on the hardest difficulty in order to unlock it, so it's really only there if you feel like trivializing any more runs through the game after proving you don't need such power to beat it.
[[/folder]]

* The entire premise of ''VideoGame/ItemAsylum'' is to fight each other with an arsenal of weapons based on memes and [[ReferenceOverdosed references to other media.]]
** Subverted with the now-removed Snap. It's completely useless, but the nature of the game hinted at it having another more combat-viable function. After it was taken out of public rotation, the messages for committing suicide were updated to lampshade this perception with the line "stop asking how the snap works please." ''Double-subverted'' when it was added back to the game with the same usage, [[spoiler:but with an incredibly small chance to instantly vaporize anyone unfortunate enough to be standing near you]].

* The entire premise of ''VideoGame/ItemAsylum'' is to fight each other with an arsenal of these.

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'' FES introduces a crafting system wherein you fuse personas with blank templates to create powerful weapons. Those crafted with personas of the Fool arcana all have an attack score of 1, but powerful secondary effects - hefty stat boosts, inflicting deadly status effects, or a high resistance to magic damage (which no other item in the game grants) if you fuse one with Orpheus Telos.

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'' FES introduces a crafting system wherein you fuse personas with blank templates to create powerful weapons. Those crafted with personas of the Fool arcana all have an attack score of 1, but powerful secondary effects - hefty stat boosts, inflicting deadly status effects, and a high resistance to magic (which no other item in the game grants) if you fuse one with Orpheus Telos.

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'' FES introduces a crafting system wherein you fuse personas with blank templates to create powerful weapons. Those crafted with personas of the Fool arcana typically have an attack score of 1, but powerful secondary effects - hefty stat boosts, inflicting deadly status effects, and high resistance to magic if you fuse one with Orpheus Telos.