History Main / ShoulderCannon

* ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'': Nei Mo Han's heavy metal had these. You thought her mecha just had oversized shoulders... until she aimed them at you and fired.

* In the ParodyFic ''Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space'', a Film/{{Predator}} is warned not to fire his Plasmacaster without wearing his helmet as he'll melt his face off.

* As with ComicBooks above, IronMan and War Machine, in the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' fighting game series, complete with CallingYourAttacks by trope name ("Shoulder Cannon!")

* Revenants from ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} II'' have two, used together to fire a single rocket-like fireball that may or may not be homing. In ''{{Doom 3}}'', they fire "drunken" homing missiles one at a time or two together depending on the demon's mood. These return in ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' with a new laserbeam ability, in addition to the [[PlayerCharacter Player Character]] recieving a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher.

* ''TabletopGame/BattlelordsOfThe23rdCentury''
** Various armour options allow for shoulder-mounted weaponry, all computer-controlled which can be normal weapons or missile-defense types. The more expensive models can include automated independent targeting systems.

* Revenants from ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} II'' have two, used together to fire a single rocket-like fireball that may or may not be homing. In ''{{Doom 3}}'', they fire "drunken" homing missiles one at a time or two together depending on the demon's mood.

* [[VideoGame/WrathofEarth Wrath of Earth]]: All of your weapons are shoulder mounted cannons and rocket launchers, aside from your emergency use infinite-ammo wrist-mounted blaster.

!!Examples

[[folder:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* Comicbook/WarMachine, typically in the form of a [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] on one shoulder and a missile launcher on the other. The weapons are mounted on rails that allow them to shift onto the back. It was notably the first ComicBook/IronMan suit built by Tony Stark to incorporate shoulder-mounted weapons, as Tony preferred his hand repulsors and chest-mounted Uni-Beam.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* The infamous shoulder-mounted, servo-turret "Plasmacaster" used by the ''Film/{{Predator}}''. It is aimed using a targeting laser in the Predator's mask, which means it can accurately aim and fire while keeping its hands free.

** In ''Film/{{Godzilla 2000}}'', Orga has a shoulder-cannon that's part of its physical structure. It mirrors the side-mounted laser in its parent UFO.

* Like his comic book counterpart, War Machine has a [[GatlingGood Gatling Gun]] on his shoulder in ''Film/IronMan2''.
** Tony himself had multi-shot dart launchers in his shoulders in the first movie.
*** In the second, too. But they don't work as well against armored targets.
** War Machine actually has his gun mounted on a moving arm on a rail along his back, enabling the gun to move from shoulder to shoulder as well as point in every direction. It can even fire directly behind and up (as seen in the trailer).

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* The Mobile Infantry in Literature/StarshipTroopers wear [[Main/PoweredArmor battlesuits]] that can shoulder-mount auto-targeted shotguns, grenade launchers, and even [[Main/AtomicHate nuclear rocket launchers]] to enable each soldier to take the place of a pre-armor squad. This awesome capability, and the armor that has it, is sadly left out of [[Film/StarshipTroopers the movie]].

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:Other Sites]]
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1637 SCP-1637 ("The Army of the Future")]]. SCP-1637-3A is a vehicle with a humanoid torso mounted on a dual-tread chassis. It has a 155 mm cannon with BottomlessMagazines mounted over its left shoulder.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:{{Toys}}]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:Webcomic]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* Series/KamenRiderFaiz had fold-out blasters whenever he assumed his Blaster Form- it was his finisher.
* [[Series/KamenRiderKabuto Kamen Rider Gatack]] has two {{BFG}}s on his shoulders in masked form.
* And there's [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Kamen Rider Zolda]] (and American counterpart [[Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight Torque]]), who has an even bigger pair of Shoulder Cannons.
* And now ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' also gets two of these when using the [[MidSeasonUpgrade Magnet States]].
* The Grand Liner/Supertrain Megazord from ''Series/KyukyuSentaiGoGoV''[=/=]''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'' has its main weapons (a gatling gun and a homing missile launcher) mounted on the shoulders, though they can also [[ArmCannon be switched to the hands]] for additional firepower.

* Blastoise in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' gains two of these upon evolving. Its further Mega-Evolution Mega Blastoise loses the two smaller shoulder cannons and gains an enormous BackpackCannon instead.

* ''OnePiece'': Franky has them, but he hates using them because they actually ''dislocate'' his shoulders. After the timeskip, he modifies his shoulders to do away with that limitation, and even replaces them with a ''rocket launcher''.

* Vile/Vava in ''VideoGame/MegaManX''.

** The beam cannons on 0 Raiser become this for the [[CombiningMecha 00 Raiser]].

** In ''Film/ThePredator'', one character learns the hard way why trying to use plasmacaster without the targeting system is a bad idea [[spoiler:when he accidentally blows his own head off with one.]]

* Comicbook/WarMachine, typically in the form of a [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] on one shoulder and a missile launcher on the other.
** Logically, IronMan as well, though Tony prefers the hand blasters, and his are usually far less pronounced.

* A mecha in the first season of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' had a pair of giant shoulder cannons. It got blown up before it could finish charging it.

* ''OnePiece'': Franky has them. Using them actually ''dislocates'' his shoulders, though.
** [[spoiler: After the timeskip, he replaces it with a ''rocket launcher''.]]

** In ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', Optimus Prime, when combined with Wing Saber, has a [[GunsAkimbo pair]] of shoulder [[GatlingGood gatling guns]].

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Predator}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/l22365380_4339.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Determinator}} The other shoulder has a massive chip on it.]]]]

* [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Tau]] Battlesuit Railguns (and there's two of them!). The Tau commander (in VideoGame/DawnOfWar at least) has shoulder mounted ''missile launchers''.
** Tau Battlesuits in general can mount their weapons on either their hands or shoulders (Broadsides have both)
** Another one from TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}, the SpaceMarine Terminators can have racks of missiles on their backs, and they fire automatically too. Similarly, Reaver and larger [[HumongousMecha Titans]] can have these, but at a much larger scale, and loaded with [[NukeEm Nukes]].

* The Zoanoid Vamore in ''{{Guyver}}''.