History Main / MultiRangedMaster

* While DemonsSouls allows you to carry different types of ranged weapons (bows and crossbows), it was superfluous because ranged combat isn't too useful. Its SpiritualSuccessor Dark Souls however, allows you to become a bona fide pure non-magic user ranged weapon fighter. At least three weapons are viable for this playstyle: The Dragonslayer Greatbow, Composite/Darkmoon Bow, and Avelyn. The first is a [[AbnormalAmmo spear-firing]] large bow that does tremendous damage and knockback with low reload time, the second is a fast-firing medium range bow that can be used for harrassing players, and the last is a triple-shot crossbow that can kill other players scarily fast, but has a long vulnerability window and high end ammo costs can really break the Soul Bank. Switching between these three gives the most flexibility and advantage in a battle.

** [[DareDevil Bullseye]] is an equally extreme example, if not moreso. Pretty telling that Bullseye impersonated Hawkeye in the Dark Avengers.
* Miho in ''SinCity'' can use normal shuriken, her bladed manji, or arrows.

** Hawkeye of [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] fame, especially in his Ultimates version, where he can shoot, throw, flick, spit, and otherwise glance at you with deadly results.
** Bullseye is an equally extreme example, if not moreso. Pretty telling that Bullseye impersonated Hawkeye in the Dark Avengers.
* Miho in Sin City can use normal shuriken, her bladed manji, or arrows.

[[folder: {{Video Games}}]]

* ''{{Fable}}'' allows the protagonist to operate both a longbow and crossbow with equal competence, despite the two weapons being very different in function and requiring a lifetime of practice with the longbow. (Crossbows are easier to pick up and learn to fire, and don't require the same insane levels of strength.) The sequel does away with the longbow but adds rifles into the mix, [[CaptainObvious which are different from crossbows again.]]

* Tatsumiya Mana, resident gunslinger of MahouSenseiNegima, changes between rifle, submachine gun and handcannons easily.

* Billy Lee Black from Xenogears wields pistols, two elemental-bullet firing guns and a shotgun. The game's combat system lets him swap between the weapons seamlessly, but his combos stand out: Launching an enemy into the air with a shotgun, then firing two pistols at them to juggle them in mid-air. And that's just the start!
* The Ranger job tree in ''Dragonica'' uses a different type of firearm (plus multiple types of grenades and a remote drone or two) for nearly every attack skill, with their actual equipped weapon being a crossbow.

* Tatsumiya Mana, resident gunslinger of MahouSenseiNegima, changes between rifle, submachine gun and handcannons easily.

** This is not to say that they don't have rifles as well. But those are usually reserved for [[MoreDakka SWAT]] [[BigDamnHeros teams]] and situations where they're dealing with shooters with body armor.

[[AC: {{Comic Books}}]]
* Hawkeye of [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] fame, especially in his Ultimates version, where he can shoot, throw, flick, spit, and otherwise glance at you with deadly results.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* In ''Dances with Wolves,'' Lt. Dunbar arms the bow-and-arrow/tomahawk-using Indians with ''Winchester rifles;'' despite having absolutely ''no'' training, they succeed in wiping out the enemy tribe in a one-sided victory.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: {{Tabletop Games}}]]
* This is a common trope in tabletop role-playing systems with highly abstracted skills. (Such as shooting)

* {{Space Marine}}s from ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are trained with both bolters (fully automatic anti-tank rifles) and bolt pistols. Quite useful in gameplay, as they can't charge the enemy in the same turn they fired the bolter in.

[[AC: {{Video Games}}]]
* Countless FPS and 3rd-person shooter protagonists.

* Ezio Auditore from ''[=~Assassin's Creed II~=]'' is this ''and'' MultiMeleeMaster. While his ancestor Altaïr only used throwing knives - the crossbow was CutscenePowerToTheMax and doesn't count - Ezio eventually gains a [[ArmCannon Hidden Gun]] and, in ''[=~Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood~=]'', a crossbow.

* Laguna in DissidiaFinalFantasy doesn't need swords or sorcery, nor even significant athletic ability. While others are trading barrages of Holy and a lifetime's martial training with each other, Laguna just shoots things. With a machine gun, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, a bazooka, a multi-rocket launcher, grenades, sticky bombs and electro-shield bombs. Oh, and a laser cannon.
** Vaan to a lesser extent, as he can use a rifle and crossbow.

[[AC: {{Real Life}}]]

** That said, such high-powered weapons are primarily the province of SWAT teams, who get called in only for the most dangerous of situations and the most heavily-armed perps.

* The standard modern soldier carries a sidearm, and rifle or support weapon. They are trained in most of the weapons to take over on them should something happen to the soldier who was carrying them before.
* Police in America carry a handgun normally, but they do have a shotgun in the car if something heavier is needed. One would think they'd choose a more long-ranged weapon, such as a rifle, but policemen prefer shorter-range weapons because the longer range on rifles means they might go through a house or car or street and kill bystanders if the officer misses. Or, for that matter, even if they don't; some rifles fire bullets that are quite capable of going through a person and hitting another person on the other side of them.

* Hawkeye of {{Avengers}} fame, especially in his Ultimates version, where he can shoot, throw, flick, spit, and otherwise glance at you with deadly results.

Wielding a rifle is very different to aiming a pistol, and using heavy weapons like bazookas and grenade launchers even more radically different. And as for those protagonists who use bows... or [[InWorkingOrder alien weapons.]] Basically, if a character carries two distinct types of ranged weapon, both of which would require a lot of practice to use without necessarily giving competence with the other, you have this trope.

Complementing the MultiMeleeMaster, the MultiRangedMaster is a character who wields two distinct types of ranged weapon, ones which would require distinctly different techniques.

* Police in America carry a handgun normally, but they do have a shotgun in the car if something heavier is needed. One would think they'd choose a more long-ranged weapon, such as a rifle, but policemen prefer shorter-range weapons because the longer range on rifles means they might go through a house or car or street and kill bystanders if the officer misses. Or, for that matter, even if they don't; some rifles fire bullets that are quite capable of going through a person and hitting another person on the other side of them.

*In ''Dances with Wolves,'' Lt. Dunbar arms the bow-and-arrow/tomahawk-using Indians with ''Winchester rifles;'' despite having absolutely ''no'' training, they succeed in wiping out the enemy tribe in a one-sided victory.

*Countless FPS and 3rd-person shooter protagonists.

*Officers in the British armed forces will learn to shoot both their standard issue rifle and their signature handguns. Soldiers in general may also have learned to use a heavy machinegun which have to be placed on the ground and stabilized before being fired from the prone position to be used with any accuracy. And then there are anti-tank weapons and the like.
*The standard modern soldier carries a sidearm, and rifle or support weapon. They are trained in most of the weapons to take over on them should something happen to the soldier who was carrying them before.
*Police in America carry a handgun normally, but they do have a shotgun in the car if something heavier is needed. One would think they'd choose a more long-ranged weapon, such as a rifle, but policemen prefer shorter-range weapons because the longer range on rifles means they might go through a house or car or street and kill bystanders if the officer misses. Or, for that matter, even if they don't; some rifles fire bullets that are quite capable of going through a person and hitting another person on the other side of them.