History Main / MultiarmedMultitasking

Please note this has surprisingly little to do with ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask, if you're thinking about wielding weapons with many arms you [[RequiredSecondaryPowers still need some form]] of Multiarmed Multitasking; it just belongs in MultiArmedAndDangerous. If your extra limbs are for walking, they belong in SpiderLimbs or possibly HandyFeet.

* ''{{GURPS}}'' has the Multiple Arms [[PointBuildSystem advantage]] available for player characters, but you also need to buy special coordination to use them fully- otherwise they are only good for holding things, not performing more than one task at a time.

* The pilot episode of ''Series/{{Quark}}'' had Interface, a four-armed alien woman who controlled communications between spaceships and [[SpaceStation Perma One]].

Please note this has surprisingly little to do with ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask, if you're thinking about wielding weapons with many arms you [[RequiredSecondaryPowers still need some form]] of Multiarmed Multitasking; it just belongs in MultiArmedAndDangerous. If your extra limbs are for walking, they belong in SpiderLimbs.

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* Played with in Music/TroutFishingInAmerica's "Two Brains", in which the narrator proposes growing extra legs and arms (and a second brain) to keep up with everyday life — so he can do more at once without being stressed out.

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* Spydra in ''GadgetBoyAndHeather'' does this at times in a few episodes, making full use of her six arms simultaneously.

* Played with in TroutFishingInAmerica's "Two Brains", in which the narrator proposes growing extra legs and arms (and a second brain) to keep up with everyday life — so he can do more at once without being stressed out.

* Kamaji in ''SpiritedAway'' operates the bathhouse boiler room. He has six spidery arms, which he uses to multitask: reaching into the hundreds of herb cabinets, pouring boiling water, grinding potions with his yagen (related to a mortar a pestle, but using a wheel in a narrow trough) and responding to wooden tags on ropes signalling requests from the bathhouse above.
* ''FrankenFran'' oftentimes attaches her head to a special multi-armed body in order to perform particularly complex surgery.

* {{Spinnerette}} uses her 6 arms to knit - all at once.
** While using silk she produced herself.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/MagrunnerDarkPulse http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/multi-armed-multitasking_magrunner2_686.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ObligatoryJoke He's a handy man.]]]]

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** Similarly there's a sushi chef in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''.
** And the guy in the octopus costume from ''ThePrincessAndTheFrog''.

* Long John Silver in ''Disney/TreasurePlanet'' isn't multiarmed but still manages to pull off this trope in the kitchen, thanks to his multi-purpose cybernetic arm with little armlets.
* From ''[[Film/SpiderMan Spider-Man 2]]'', Dr. Octopus does this when he built the new sun-generator machine, with his long metallic tentacles. Justified by the tentacles being intelligent in their own right and each one having its own camera.

* At one point in ''[[{{Terminator}} Terminator 2]]'' the [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Voluntary Shapeshifter]] T-1000 grows a third arm to pilot a helicopter and load a machine gun at the same time.

* HinduMythology several gods (Shiva for one) are usually depicted with multiple arms each holding symbolic instruments like scales and scythes and swords.

* Long John Silver in ''TreasurePlanet'' isn't multiarmed but still manages to pull off this trope in the kitchen, thanks to his multi-purpose cybernetic arm with little armlets.

* ''StarWars: Film/AttackOfTheClones'' featured a restaurant run by a chef with four arms named Dexter Jettster a Besalisk, subverted in that the diner owner has only one primary arm.

* ''SpiritedAway'' - Kamaji operates the bathhouse boiler room. He has six spidery arms, which he uses to multitask: reaching into the hundreds of herb cabinets, pouring boiling water, grinding potions with his yagen (related to a mortar a pestle, but using a wheel in a narrow trough) and responding to wooden tags on ropes signalling requests from the bathhouse above.

* Ceres from ''ObanStarRacers'' an Animesque racing series co-produced by French and Japanese animation studios.

* ''StarWars'' featured a restaurant run by a chef with four arms.

* ''Webcomic/AtArmsLength'' When not fighting evil, Ally, Reece and Sheila are not above using all four arms to cut corners in mundane activities.

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* From ''[[Film/SpiderMan Spider-Man 2]]'', Dr. Octopus does this when he built the new sun-generator machine, with his long metallic tentacles.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Magrunner}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/multi-armed-multitasking_magrunner2_686.png]]]]