History Main / RangedEmergencyWeapon

The Ranged Emergency Weapon is generally not very effective as an attack (it's usually not an actual gun or bomb), but it may be enough to, say, flip a door switch behind that open mesh grate.

* ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'' introduces the franchise's first true emergency weapon with the [=MK50=] Sidekick. The weapon abandons some of the hallmarks of the series' past [[PunchPackingPistol Punch Packing Pistols]] in having relatively weak damage, reduced accuracy and a lack of a scope, but in return it gains a fast rate-of-fire, a lightning-quick draw and reload animation, and it retains the ability to one-hit kill an unshielded opponent. This makes the Sidekick true to its name: A poor primary weapon, but the perfect backup for when you run out of ammo mid-fight or you need to finish off a wounded opponent.

* The first three ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Gun Survivor]]'' games -- ''Resident Evil: Survivor'', ''Resident Evil: Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica'' and ''[[VideoGame/DinoCrisis Dino Stalker]]'' -- all gave your basic firearm infinite ammo. The final game in the series, ''Resident Evil: Dead Aim'', averted it with the need to find handgun ammunition, and you don't even get a knife as a consolation.

* This is the basic design concept of the snubnose revolver. The short barrel makes it harder to take long-range, accurate shots, but it also makes it easy to conceal and quick to draw out.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', you can buy a cheap pistol from a vending machine for the same price as 10 cans of soda. It can't be reloaded; your character simply throws it away once the magazine is empty. It's also weak, high-recoil, and said to be made of such cheap plastic that it melts in the sun... but it's still a gun, and its presence helps illustrate [[EveryoneIsArmed what kind]] of [[WretchedHive city]] the game takes place in.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' uses Strength to determine whether a character can wield big melee weapons and Dexterity for bows. There are also Strength-based crossbows to provide Warriors with an ranged option. which is ironic given that crossbows' whole point is ''not'' relying on muscle. They also suck in the game -- they receive ''no'' benefit from stats, unlike bows, which means that even the absolute weakest bow in the game (an Elm Shortbow) is far more effective than even the strongest crossbow.

* Many melee specialists in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' have a ranged weapon or an upgrade that gives them one, pretty much only useful against flyers due to the inaccuracy of firing while moving.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator FP-45 Liberator]] made by the USA in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was a tiny, crude, single-shot .45 caliber pistol. Due to its small size and unrifled barrel, its maximum effective range was about ''7 metres'', meaning all you could really do with it was sneak up on a soldier, shoot him point-blank and take his gear. The idea was to pack Liberators in boxes with ammo and pictorial instructions, then airdrop the boxes into Axis-occupied countries in such great numbers that the Axis couldn't possibly find them all before [[LaResistance the local resistance]] got some. The occupiers would then [[ParanoiaFuel become extremely paranoid]] since any civilian could be hiding a Liberator. However, most of the Liberators built never saw action, as army leaders didn't think the plan was worth lessening bombing campaigns for. There was also concern that Liberators could end up in the hands of Axis loyalists under Allied occupation. The gun was, however, known to have been used in occupied France, Greece, China and the Philippines. It also holds the honor of being one of the few firearms in history where it was faster to manufacture one than to reload it.

* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' when the custom mission creator was released it was possible to make custom enemies with no ranged attacks allowing a ranged character to fly up and fight them in perfect safety. Consequently all custom enemies with a melee attack set now get Throwing Knives or Shuriken as a ranged attack power. Much earlier, a quintet of origin-based attacks was introduced to guarantee that all players had at least one (very weak) ranged attack.

* Lucky for Samus in ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'', when her suit is destroyed and she's forced into a {{No Gear|Level}} StealthBasedMission aboard the Space Pirate Mother Ship, is she managed to grab her self-charging emergency pistol that effectively has the power of Morph Ball Bombs. Unlucky for her is, aside from very briefly stunning them when fully charged, the weapon ''can't harm the pirates at all''. You'd better [[RunOrDie run your ass off]] if you get spotted.

* ''VideoGame/FableI'' has this as an {{Anti Frustration Feature|s}}: one stage of the FinalBattle against Jack of Blades takes place outside of melee range, so someone helpfully abandons a low-level longbow right outside the BossRoom in case the PlayerCharacter never got any ranged weapons or magic.

* In ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'', many (but not all) melee-focused units also have a ranged weapon that is weaker than their melee weapon. It's intended to allow them to fight back against ranged enemies, or to poke enemies without such options without fear of retaliation. Examples include human Spearmen also having javelins to throw, human Duelists/Dragoons having a single-shot crossbow, elvish Fighters practicing BowAndSwordInAccord, and so on.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator Liberator Pistol]] made during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was a crude, single shot .45 caliber pistol. It was intended to be dropped into occupied territory and be used by resistance groups to kill occupying soldiers and take their much better weapons. It never saw much use in Europe, but was employed in numbers in the Philippines and China. Due to its unrifled barrel, though, the "ranged" part is debatable. And it holds the honor of being one of the few firearms ever produced where it was faster to manufacture one then it took to reload one. Its real value was as ParanoiaFuel for occupiers in territories the Liberators were dropped over - they would inevitably find some and figure out what was going on, but they couldn't possibly know ''exactly'' how many were dropped overall or whether they had rounded them all up; any random civilian the occupying soldier came across on a patrol could have had one hidden in their pocket, waiting for an opportunity to shoot him in the back and take his gun.

* Aragorn carries a bow in ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'' but rarely uses it, largely because Legolas is usually present. One of the only times Aragorn uses his bow is during the escape from Moria, when he and Legolas get into a SniperDuel with several orc archers.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden, a wizard with a long trail of burned-down buildings behind him, carries a series of increasingly large revolvers for emergencies. The laws of magic forbid killing humans with magic, but leave killing with weapons to the far more forgiving mortal authorities most of the time, and it's also possible to run out of magical power after casting too many powerful spells in a short period.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': During Kirito's time in ''Gun Gale Online'', he finds himself a [[LaserBlade Photon Sword]] that lets him put his swordsmanship skills to use; Sinon convinces him to get a handgun as a sidearm. He's only seen using it twice; one during the [=BoB=] preliminaries, [[spoiler:and once during the duel with Death Gun, to short out his Optic Camouflage before it fully takes effect]]. In both cases, he's ''in the process'' of closing the range and shoots at his opponent just to keep them busy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''

** Similarly, the pistol in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'' is weak, slow and overall not useful for facing any serious opposition. It does have its own ammo supply, so you can use it to dispatch small groups of minor nuisances without wasting more powerful hardware, but the game swamps you with so much ammo that it's a moot point.

** ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' offers a similar peashooter for emergencies that also has infinite ammo but deals pitiful damage unless you use the [[ChargeAttack Charged Shot]] SecondaryFire. The most common use for it is to set up [[FinishingMove Glory Kills]] [[CherryTapping on already weakened enemies]].

** [[HumongousMecha Battlemechs]] that depend upon missiles or ballistic weapons usually mount an energy weapon or two in the Centre Torso in case ammo runs out, if an ammo explosion takes out their primary weapon, or if an enemy 'mech gets inside their main weapons' ArbitraryMinimumRange. Most commonly these will be a small array of [[BoringButPractical medium or small lasers]]. The TBT-5N ''[[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Trebuchet Trebuchet]]'' and CLPT-C1 ''[[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Catapult Catapult]]'' are both good examples of this, carrying enough medium lasers that they can reliably fend off a light 'mech.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' is usually fairly generous with ammunition, but some weapons such as bows, sniper rifles, and launcher weapons are prone to running out of ammo at inconvenient times. Secondary weapons usually have enough ammo to keep a Tenno fighting until they get more ammo for their primary... but if they ''also'' chose a secondary weapon with a low ammo count (such as a mini grenade launcher) this can ''also'' run dry. In these instances, most players will have to revert to their Amp, which recharges over time and provides infinite ammunition as a result. Some Amps are also quite powerful and can be primary weapons in and of themselves.

* This sort of thing is common in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', excluding Fourth Edition. In all other editions, the main factor in hitting with a weapon is your Base Attack Bonus (or [=THAC0=], in AD&D), which is the same value for melee and ranged attacks, so an otherwise melee-focused character could still probably hit with a bow or a thrown weapon if the situation called for it. Most characters would carry around a backup weapon, "just in case". Fourth Edition hyper-specialized weapons in favor of turning spells into MMO-like "powers" including some that couldn't be run out of. Fifth Edition scaled back the need as well, by granting all spellcasters some cantrips that do damage and thus also won't run out (as well as other abilities; Eldritch Blast is often considered mandatory for Warlocks), but it's not uncommon for spellcasters to have ranged weapons on hand.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'': Zagreus always starts the game with a Blood Crystal, which can be Cast at a single enemy for 50 damage (less than two attacks with most weapons) and will embed itself into that foe until said foe is slain, after which it is retrievable. It is the only ranged option available for Zagreus if he chooses to wield [[HeroesPreferSwords Stygius]] or [[PowerFist The Fists of Malphaon]], and allows him to attack foes out of reach. [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Aegis]] also has a ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks option, which is even weaker than the Blood Crystal but infinitely reusable. However, the Crystal can be upgraded so that it either has the ability to induce status effects or just outright turn into other forms such as spinning blades.

* Psi Operatives in ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' nominally wield assault rifles as their primary weapon, but being this game's equivalent of the mage class, their real mainstay is their Psi Amp with which they unleash their psionic abilities. Although [[JackOfAllStats assault rifles]] are in no way weak, a properly trained [=PsiOp=] will only ever use theirs in the rare event that all their numerous abilities are either on cooldown or unsuited to the situation. It's fairly common for high-level [=PsiOps=] to not use their rifle at all despite holding it in their hands the whole time.
* [[StuffBlowingUp Explosives]] in any ''VideoGame/{{XCOM2}} War of the Chosen'' mission involving [[OurZombiesAreDifferent The Lost]]. Any explosion will attract their attention... Overuse of explosives can quickly get you swarmed...

* In the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' games, Samus' Power Beam is either this or BoringYetPractical. No, you won't be blasting them with pure dark energy, or freezing them solid, or spraying them with burning-hot plasma, but those things take ammo. The Power Beam has infinite ammo, fires ''very'' fast, and is generally the thing to use for those pesky FragileSpeedster enemies you come upon fairly often.

* ''VideoGame/BlakeStone'' had the Slow-Fire Protector, a self-charging, silent energy pistol with infinite ammo but a roughly three-second delay between shots; good for stealthily taking out individual guards, but tactical suicide against anything else. Basically, it filled the same role as ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'''s knife, only trading the knife's speed for a pistol's long range.

* A survival weapon has a history in the United States Armed Forces. The M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon and the M4 Survival Rifle, were both meant for crashed aircraft crews to be able to forage for food by hunting. The GAU-5A Aircrew Self Defense Weapon was issued in 2019 to various survival kits in the US Airforce, though more for defense from hostile forces then hunting.