History Main / RangedEmergencyWeapon

** Most WoW or ''{{Lineage 2}}'' inspired [=MMOs=] have ranged weapons serve this purpose for melee characters. In the case of the [[AnAdventurerIsYou Party tank]], a solo ranged pull is often safer than running into the middle of the room with the Taunt key held down as it allows the player to control how much aggro he gets and what mobs notice him.

* In ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'', all but the most [[CripplingOverspecialization overspecialized]] [[HumongousMecha Battlemechs]] carry either a long-range weapon (for a CloseRangeCombatant) or a short range weapon (for a LongRangeFighter). The Bushwacker "Delta" for example, has a long range X-pulse laser which it can spam until it gets within range of its far more effective [[BeamSpam medium X-pulses]] and [[MacrossMissileMassacre short range missiles]]. On the opposite extreme, the Vulture "Alpha" carries a pair of extreme range [[MagneticWeapons Gauss Rifles]] backed up by a single short range missile launcher for point defense against enemy [[PoweredArmor battlearmor]]

* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' has unlimited clips for his pistol.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' features pistols with [[BottomlessMagazines an endless supply of magazines]] as your sidearms and indeed Ranged Emergency Weapons.
** The sequel adds an oddly low-powered[[note]]Against Special Infected, anyway. Against the commons it's a OneHitKill ''anywhere'', which in Realism Mode is a feature unmatched by any other gun, even the Sniper Rifles.[[/note]] Desert Eagle ("[[AKA47 Magnum Pistol]]") as an alternative to your pistol(s), and should you decide to pick up a melee weapon to replace your sidearm? Get knocked on the ground and it BECOMES a single pistol. This is justified though, as melee weapons are a one hit kill against almost all infected, and being downed is supposed to put you at a disadvantage.
** The chainsaw in the sequel also becomes a single pistol when it runs out of fuel. Clearly, in the south they've run out of places to stash their guns.

* At some point in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'', you will likely run out of ammo for your SwissArmyWeapon and find yourself resorting to the weak and extremely underwhelming DC-15s blaster pistol. Its two main benefits are that it never runs out of ammo and that it's mostly accurate. Beyond that, it's only got eight shots in its magazine at a time, recharges slowly, doesn't do a lot of damage, and using it forces you to switch away from your main gun and the rather powerful [[{{Vibroweapon}} vibroblade]] installed in your armor's knuckle plate. It is considerably more effective to avoid spending your last few regular rounds just so you can blade-punch your opponents, rather than shoot them with the blaster pistol--inexplicably, using the pistol forces you to rely on an equally weak and underwhelming PistolWhip for your melee attack instead of the much more useful vibroblade.
* In the Metroid Prime 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.

* This sort of thing used to be ridiculously common in ''DungeonsAndDragons'', before Fourth Edition. In all earlier 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". In Fourth Edition, a character won't possibly hit with any weapon outside of that character's narrow focus, so the rules give most classes abilities that let them use their main focus somehow at range (often relying on the rule that any thrown weapon immediately reappears in the attacker's hand after it does damage, so the fighter would just gain abilities to throw his InfinityPlusOneSword in the off case that he can't get up and beat someone down with it directly). Spellcasters, who would previously carry a crossbow in case they ran out of spells, are instead incapable of running out of spells.

** Due to its unrifled barrel, though, the "ranged" part is debatable.

The RangedEmergencyWeapon 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.

* In ''[[RyuGaGotoku Yakuza: Dead Souls]]'', the Pistol has infinite ammo, making it the RangedEmergencyWeapon for most characters. The only exception is Akiyama, whose primary weapon is a pair of pistols, which serves to ease the player into the game (since Akiyama is the first playable character).
* The video game version of ''LordOfTheRings'' gives Gimli throwing axes. They're by far the least effective of the characters ranged weapons (with the possible exception of the hobbits knives in the ''Return of the King'') and are slow to throw, but they're useful for dealing with archers or enemies who are a long way away.

* ''{{Darksiders}}'' gives War a gun and a boomerang for long-range work, but there's no question that he's a melee-character - neither of them can do much of any damage, but there are a few situations where you're forced to use them on enemies you either can't reach, or don't want to be standing next to.

* Hand axes and Javelins in ''FireEmblem'' have the attack power of the most basic axes/lances with lower accuracy and much lower durability, but have a range of 1 or 2 tiles, opposed to every other melee weapons 1 (There are stronger versions with the strength of higher grade weapons, but they are rare and typically [[TooAwesomeToUse can not be bought]])

* The ''VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic'' Engineer gets a railgun that doesn't share its ammo with any of his other weapons. Its practically useless due to its low rate of fire and damage output, suggesting it was included for this reason.

** The sequel adds an oddly low-powered[[note]]Against Special Infected, anyway. Against the commons it's a OneHitKill ''anywhere'', which in Realism Mode is a feature unmatched by any other gun, even the Sniper Rifles.[[/note]] Desert Eagle("[[AKA47 Magnum Pistol]]") as an alternative to your pistol(s), and should you decide to pick up a melee weapon to replace your sidearm? Get knocked on the ground and it BECOMES a single pistol. This is justified though, as melee weapons are a one hit kill against almost all infected, and being downed is supposed to put you at a disadvantage.

* In 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.

* The pistol in ''{{Warhawk}}'' is weak and can't damage vehicles, but has infinite ammo.

** Most WoW or ''{{Lineage 2}}'' inspired MMOs have ranged weapons serve this purpose for melee characters. In the case of the [[AnAdventurerIsYou Party tank]], a solo ranged pull is often safer than running into the middle of the room with the Taunt key held down as it allows the player to control how much aggro he gets and what mobs notice him.

* In [[RyuGaGotoku Yakuza:Dead Souls]] the Pistol has infinite ammo, making it the RangedEmergencyWeapon for most characters. The only exception is Akiyama, whose primary weapon is a pair of pistols, which serves to ease the player into the game (since Akiyama is the first playable character).

* ''Left4Dead'' features pistols with [[BottomlessMagazines an endless supply of magazines]] as your sidearms and indeed Ranged Emergency Weapons.
** The sequel adds an oddly low-powered[[hottip:*:Against Special Infected, anyway. Against the commons it's a OneHitKill ''anywhere'', which in Realism Mode is a feature unmatched by any other gun, even the Sniper Rifles.]] Desert Eagle("[[AKA47 Magnum Pistol]]") as an alternative to your pistol(s), and should you decide to pick up a melee weapon to replace your sidearm? Get knocked on the ground and it BECOMES a single pistol. This is justified though, as melee weapons are a one hit kill against almost all infected, and being downed is supposed to put you at a disadvantage.

* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' all ranged weapons are this for all classes except Hunters. They consist of guns, bows, crossbows and throwing knives for warriors and rogues and wands for mages, priests and warlocks. The most common use of them is ''initiating'' battle from a distance in order to lure mobs to a more favourable position[[hottip:*:Technically that's the most common use that actually involves ''using'' said weapon. For most classes it's just another slot's worth of stat-bonus-granting gear.]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonAge Origins'' 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. Crossbows are universally and unconditionally awful.

* Possible in ''{{Diablo}}'' for the warrior. The bow is hardly his most useful weapon but it can be handy if an enemy is behind a grate or if you need to exchange fire with something that won't let you close enough to engage in melee for a meaningful length of time.

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* Several such weapons appear in the ''{{Predator 2}}'' film. There's a disk gun which could cut through multiple sides of beef and still take someone out on the other side, an expandable spear, and a net that could be fired to pin a target to a wall.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAge Origins'' 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 EmergencyRangedWeapon. Crossbows are universally and unconditionally awful.

** The sequel adds an oddly low-powered[hottip:*:Against Special Infected, anyway. Against the commons it's a OneHitKill ''anywhere'', which in Realism Mode is a feature unmatched by any other gun, even the Sniper Rifles.]] Desert Eagle("[[AKA47 Magnum Pistol]]") as an alternative to your pistol(s), and should you decide to pick up a melee weapon to replace your sidearm? Get knocked on the ground and it BECOMES a single pistol. This is justified though, as melee weapons are a one hit kill against almost all infected, and being downed is supposed to put you at a disadvantage.

** The sequel adds an oddly low-powered Desert Eagle("[[AKA47 Desert Cobra]]") as an alternative to your pistol(s), and should you decide to pick up a melee weapon to replace your sidearm? Get knocked on the ground and it BECOMES a single pistol. This is justified though, as melee weapons are a one hit kill against almost all infected, and being downed is supposed to put you at a disadvantage.

This is fairly rare, mainly due to the story wanting to focus more on the melee action: If a guy is an awesome swordsman why make him use a gun or bow? Also, there's a tendency for good guys in fiction to be great shots whatever their melee skills. However, a handful of characters graduated from the {{Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy}} even as they kick ass at melee.

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* Several such weapons appear in the ''{{Predator 2}}'' film. There's a disk gun which could cut through multiple sides of beef and still take someone out on the other side, an expandable spear, and a net that could be fired to pin a target to a wall.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* In the {{Dragonlance}} novel ''Dragons of Winter Night'', when Sturm needs to buy time for Laurana to use the [[AncientArtifact Dragon Orb]], he decides that he needs to draw the attacking dragons toward him, and fires a bow at them to do so, even though he never otherwise uses a ranged attack.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

* The video game version of ''{{Lord of the Rings}}'' gives Gimli throwing axes. They're by far the least effective of the characters ranged weapons (with the possible exception of the hobbits knives in the ''Return of the King'') and are slow to throw, but they're useful for dealing with archers or enemies who are a long way away.

* ''{{Darksiders}}'' gives War a gun and a boomerang for long-range work, but there's no question that he's a melee-character - neither of them can do much of any damage, but there are a few situations where you're forced to use them on enemies you either can't reach, or don't want to be standing next to.

* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheLance'', Flint Fireforge, similarly to the Gimli example given above, has a single axe he can throw in addition to his melee axe.

* Hand axes and Javelins in ''FireEmblem'' have the attack power of the most basic axes/lances with lower accuracy and much lower durability, but have a range of 1 or 2 tiles, opposed to every other melee weapons 1 (There are stronger versions with the strength of higher grade weapons, but they are rare and typically [[TooAwesomeToUse can not be bought]])

* Many melee specialists in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar'' have a ranged weapon or an upgrade that gives them one.

* ''{{Left 4 Dead}}'' features pistols with [[BottomlessMagazines an endless supply of magazines]] as your sidearms and indeed Ranged Emergency Weapons.

[[AC: {{TabletopGames}}]]

[[AC: {{RealLife}}]]
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator Liberator Pistol]], made during WWII 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.

* ''DragonAge Origins'' 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 EmergencyRangedWeapon. Crossbows are universally and unconditionally awful.

* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' video game ''Heroes of the Lance'', Flint Fireforge, similarly to the Gimli example given above, has a single axe he can throw in addition to his melee axe.

* Several such weapons appear in the ''{{Predator}} 2'' film. There's a disk gun which could cut through multiple sides of beef and still take someone out on the other side, an expandable spear, and a net that could be fired to pin a target to a wall.

* The ''TeamFortressClassic'' Engineer gets a railgun that doesn't share its ammo with any of his other weapons. Its practically useless due to its low rate of fire and damage output, suggesting it was included for this reason.