History Main / SticksToTheBack

* Particularly ridiculous in ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'', where the main character tucks away his weapon by literally sticking it to his back -- whether it's a reasonably-sized one-handed sword, a two meter-long [[BladeOnAStick polearm]], or a [[{{BFS}} two-handed sword]] bigger than ''he'' is. The weapons even "click" audibly when they attach to... ''something'' on his back.

* Seen sometimes with the Sword and Lance Heroes in ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', who carry their weapons this way when not in use. Somewhat justified given that said weapons are {{Clingy MacGuffin}}s and they're permanently stuck to their wielders.

** Also Averted in the third game, where he wears a harness with holsters for his guns and the back of his trenchcoat has a strap for holding in Rebellion. Played straight with all his other weapons, though.
** Trish who doesn't have any sort of harness on her does it with the sword Sparda in ''2'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', Nero who does have harness in does it in ''4'' with his Red Queen-- and in one cutscene, with Sparda ''[[SerialEscalation crossed on top]]'' of Red Queen, which no one in the said cutscene even seems to notice.

** Probably justified by Amaterasu & Chibiterasu being PhysicalGod protagonists.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' does this as well. And by "does this" we mean that you can run around [[ShirtlessScene completely barechested]], with no sign of a leather strap on you, and [[UpToEleven no scabbard for the sword even]] and the sword sticks to your back. [[FridgeLogic Oddly enough, you still hear]] AudibleSharpness when you draw your sword. Or whatever you happen to have equipped.

* Earlier ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' promotional animations showed Toa with obvious weapons as doing this, though it wasn't until 2004 that the actual sets regularly were designed to really do this (and that functionality was promptly discarded the next year anyway). The films instead opted to give everyone {{Hammerspace}}... which still involves reaching behind their backs.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Reboot}}'', accessories like Guardian Keytools like Bob's Glitch, Matrix's gun, and even everyday items like zip boards or Enzo's yo-yo are simply stuck to their owner's wrist or hip without any form of strap or holster. [[JustifiedTrope Fully justified]], as the series takes place inside a computer-based world and might even be considered akin to attaching a file to an e-mail. Looking at how common this trope is in video games nowadays, it's also a case of AccidentallyAccurate.

* ''VideoGame/InfiniteUndiscovery'' both averts this trope and plays it straight: Edward, the resident BFS user, has his sword stick to his back, but Sigmund, TheMan, sheaths his sword in a holder at the back of his shield.

* Happens literally in the 1979 Disney comedy ''A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court''. The eponymous astronaut magnetizes Sir Mordred's sword so when he takes a mighty swing to chop our hero's head off, the sword sticks to the back of his armor and he can't get it free without help.

* ''Film/WonderWoman2017''. A scene where Diana infiltrates a reception with the God-Killer sword tucked down the back of her [[SexyBack revealing dress]] caused fans to joke that she was gripping it with her buttocks. However [[http://booksandquillsmag.com/articles/wwgotyourback/ several women tried the same with their own swords and dresses]] under the hashtag [=#WWGotYourBack=]. Turns out, it actually works!

* Most games that have holsterable weapons show them in this manner when not equipped. From axes to rocket launchers, whatever large weapon or tool the player character is holding will appear floating a few centimeters above their back when not in use. This becomes especially obvious with any game that has a "nude mod" or "sex mod" applied to it, allowing to remove clothes but not necessarily taking care of other equipment. Thus you can have quivers or weapons sticking to the back or to the hip of a naked character with no trace of any belt or strap to hold them.

* Most games that have holsterable weapons show them in this manner when not equipped. From axes to rocket launchers, whatever large weapon or tool the player character is holding will appear floating a few centimeters above their back when not in use.
** This becomes especially obvious with any game that has a "nude mod" or "sex mod" applied to it, allowing to remove clothes but not necessarily taking care of other equipment. Thus you can have quivers or weapons sticking to the back or to the hip of a naked character with no trace of any belt or strap to hold them.

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* Averted in ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters'' where your longarm is strapped to your back when not in use.

* The ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series exhibits this in every game made so far. The games various {{BFS}}s, bows, lances, gunlances, and hammers all stick to the players back or hips when not in use. Slightly averted with the Longsword as it is held in a sheathe, although the sheath itself SticksToTheBack. Shields however are attached firmly to the arm. Furthermore, the bigger weapons actually have smaller models when you're carrying them on your back, as they'd clip through the ground otherwise.

* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'': Electromagnets keep weapons hovering behind the androids' backs.

-->-- ''{{WebVideo/Unskippable}}'', on ''VideoGame/TwoWorlds''

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' has Negi doing this with his staff. Of course, [[AWizardDidIt he's a mage]].

* Zabuza in ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' exhibits this with his [[{{BFS}} rather sizable sword]], as Zabuza carries no visible strap on him. Suigestu averts this, as you can see the strap from his front, and it's shown [[http://read.mangashare.com/Naruto/chapter-351/page002.html quite clearly]] how it wraps around (which also explains the functional purpose of the huge semicircular notch in the Decapitating Carving Knife). Likewise Samehada, being a giant mass of hooks/spikes, is "sheathed" in a cloth wrapping and has a strap (or in [[spoiler:Killer Bee]]'s case, a rope) that goes around that, though it's often very hard to see. Being an EmpathicWeapon with [[MorphWeapon some degree of shapeshifting]], Samehada presumably assists its wielding by staying in place.

* Nearly averted in ''VideoGame/{{Mount and Blade}}'' by a variety of visible sheaths, belt straps, quivers, and bow cases to hold equipped items. Most two-handed weapons and shorter polearms simply stick to the back, though.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''
** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' follows this trope, although for the bigger weapons this only applies to the ammo reservoir; the gun itself is presumably kept in the HyperspaceArsenal. Except for most one-handed weapons, which stick to the hip.
** Continued in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' (and ''Videogame/Fallout4''), except with most of the BadassLongcoat armors, where the guns clip into the back instead.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''

** VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry handwaves it by having the weapon being conjured from Dante's tattoo on his back (thus a case of HyperspaceArsenal).

* As does ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''; with two-handed weapons and shields use the classic "on the back" version, while the rest just stick to the hip.
* Ditto ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline''.
* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' also does this as well.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'''s Amaterasu does this when she wields a glaive or reflector. The rosaries kind of float around her neck. Same goes for [[{{VideoGame/Okamiden}} Chibiterasu]], who gets another divine instrument: a pair of crystals that float by his sides. Technically, they never really "wield" them; they just fly off their back/neck/sides and attack.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' has this particularly blatantly, given [[{{BFS}} the size of some weapons]]. Something interesting is the two characters who don't use something with a sheathe (Sharla's [[{{BFG}} Ether rifles]] and Reyn's [[SwissArmyWeapon massive shields with gun and sword attachments]]) visibly duck under their weapons as they put them away, suggesting the presence of an invisible strap. Shulk uses the Monado for a great portion of the game, which makes it all the more blatant when some camera angles show you that the thing isn't even ''touching'' his back at all.

* ''{{WebAnimation/Haloid}}'': Some kind of system involving [[LightningCanDoAnything visible electrical currents]] allows Master Chief to clip a shotgun to his back. So awesome is this scene that it's in SloMo.

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Phantom 2040}}'' has the title hero wielding twin pistols that magnetically attached to his thighs.

** Though, despite any justifications, there numerous [[CutscenePowerToTheMax cutscenes showing Dante simply touching his sword to his back and having it stick there]], without him putting it ''in'' anything.

* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'': Electromagnets keep weapons hovering behind the androids' backs.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Averted by Guts, who wears his sword across his back but has an actual suspension mechanism to hold it there. His early {{BFS}} has a flexible leather sheath that only holds the blade at the point, middle, and base, and which flaps behind him like a pointed devil's tail while his sword is drawn. His even larger {{BFS}} the Dragon Slayer has no scabbard, but instead is held up by a ring on the hilt that engages a hook on his baldric. It is kept from swaying by a leather strap on a chain that wraps around the opposite side. When he draws his sword, all he needs to do is release the security chain and lift the sword clear of the hook.

* Zabuza in ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' exhibits this with his [[{{BFS}} rather sizable sword]], as Zabuza carries no visible strap on him. Suigestu averts this, as you can see the strap from his front, and it's shown [[http://read.mangashare.com/Naruto/chapter-351/page002.html quite clearly]] how it wraps around (which also explains the functional purpose of the huge semicircular notch in the Decapitating Carving Knife). Likewise Samehada, being a giant mass of hooks/spikes, is "sheathed" in a cloth wrapping and has a strap (or in [[spoiler:Killer Bee]]'s case, a rope) that goes around that, thought it's often very hard to see. Being an EmpathicWeapon with [[MorphWeapon some degree of shapeshifting]], Samehada presumably assists its wielding by staying in place.

* Earlier ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' promotional animations showed Toa with obvious weapons as doing this, though it wasn't until 2004 that the actual sets regularly were designed to really do this (and that functionality was promptly discarded the next year anyway). The films instead opted to give everyone {{Hammerspace}}... which still involves reaching behind to their backs.

* The namesakes of ''VideoGame/MercenariesPlaygroundOfDestruction'' do seem to be using a type of harness for the weapons they carry, but on the other hand not only will it accept anything from a light submachinegun to an anti-tank missile launcher, they also appear to attach them with Velcro. The player models generally have visible clips and straps to hold the guns; at least they tried.

** Averted with Kratos's Leviathan Axe in the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 fourth game]] as it clearly attaches to a hoop om the straps that he's wearing. [[spoiler: The Blades of Chaos however still play this trope straight once he retrieves them]].

* Nearly averted in ''VideoGame/{{Mount and Blade}}'' by a variety of visible sheaths, belt straps, quivers and bow cases to hold equipped items. Most two-handed weapons and shorter polearms simply stick to the back, though.

** Present with Shepard and his/her party members carrying a shotgun, assault rifle and sniper rifle on their backs simultaneously using a futuristic harness, and having a pistol in a side holster. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that their weapons reduce in size when not in use due to advanced futuristic design. Though it makes one question why they don't just keep them in the same HyperspaceArsenal as the other 150 weapons they can carry. Less justified with Jack, who despite not wearing a shirt, can still stick a shotgun to her lower back. She ''is'' a powerful biotic, though...

* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', the large firearms curiously and conveniently attach to the characters' backs when they're not being used, with no straps apparent. The same applies to the medical kits. Straps are shown on the guns in the characters' official art, though. Still doesn't explain how to have one for a baseball bat or frying pan....

* The ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series exhibits this in every game made so far. The games various {{BFS}}s, bows, lances, gunlances and hammers all stick to the players back or hips when not in use. Slightly averted with the Longsword as it is held in a sheathe, although the sheath itself SticksToTheBack. Shields however are attached firmly to the arm. Furthermore, the bigger weapons actually have smaller models when you're carrying them on your back, as they'd clip through the ground otherwise.
* Melee weapons in ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTrespasser'' are stored on the player character's back, and can be seen hovering behind her character in the DummiedOut third-person viewmode. Sadly, this caused a glitch where the player would be constantly taking damage because the weapon's hitbox would collide with the character's, so they fixed this by removing all mass from melee weapons, making them completely useless... apart from Nedry's mace.

* Averted in the ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' series, where the characters simply never let go of their weapons. Unless they're deliberately [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throwing them]]. Or having them explode into a dozen tiny blades and shredding you with a whirlwind of evil-powered steel. [[KatanasAreJustBetter Mitsurugi]] plays the exception-to-the-exception, having moves based upon drawing his sword from its scabbard (or just hitting you with the scabbard). [[RealityIsUnrealistic Not actually that ridiculous:]] Samurai (like Mitsurugi) were regularly trained in [[IaijutsuPractitioner Iaijutsu]]. See that trope for details. Played straight with [[{{Ninja}} Taki]] though. While the art shows otherwise, the scabbard for her right hand kodachi looks more like this trope.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' was originally going to avert this --- pre-release screenshots show both of Geralt's swords in sheaths on his back -- but the sheaths were dropped not long before release, making the game fall square into this trope. There is a third-party mod however that adds the sheaths back into the game (although they don't clip properly during the sheathing/unsheathing animations). This is also shown by how he draws his sword: rather then just removing it from his back like a fridge magnet he pulls it up and out, keeping it straight as if it were in a scabbard. He does the same when putting it away again, holding it partially by the blade. Proper back sheaths for Geralt's swords did manage to make it into ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2'' and ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3''.

* In ''VideoGame/SniperEliteV2'', your rifle and SMG are both stored on your back when not in your hands. This means that if you have your pistol out, you're wearing your rifle on your back, and your SMG ''on your rifle''.
* ''7.62 High Caliber'' lets weapons be slung onto both shoulders and around th eneck (for a total of four weapons: one in the hands and three on the back). There's no actual sling model, so the weapons just magically stick to your fatigues, and only the gun in the first shoulder slot or hands is actually visible on your model. All other items, however, are invisible except when being held; putting a pistol in a holster simply causes it to evaporate into the visible belt on the character model.

* In the first three ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' games, none of the rifles and shotguns Nate picks up have slings on them. But it doesn't matter because they just stick to his back until he needs to use them, the implication being that he has a magnet in his chest holdster. The exceptions are the fourth game in the series, ''[[VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd A Thief's End]]'', where the long guns have slings, and all the multiplayer modes, where characters feature leg holdsters (but only for their handguns).

* In ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, you can equip a weapon or shield in each hand. By pressing Y/Triangle, you hold your right hand weapon with both hands for extra damage while your left hand weapon/shield sticks onto your back, or if it's small enough, your hip (which is how [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome literally everybody plays these games]], with a weapon in both hands and a {{Stat Stick|s}} of their choice permanently glued to their back). Some weapons do have sheaths, but there's nothing attaching the sheath itself to you, so the trope still applies. If you go naked, weapons sheathed at the hip will often be floating in midair a noticeable distance away from your body.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'', while the Sword of Omens was actually sheathed in the clawshield, the clawshield just stuck to Lion-o's leg, often with a glowing effect. Similarly, Cheetara's bo-staff stuck to her armband and [=WilyKit=]'s capsules just stuck to her belt (her brother's were at least in a pouch).

* Most games that have holsterable weapons show them in this manner when not equipped. From axes to rocket launchers, whatever large weapon or tool the player character is holding will appear floating a few centimeters above their back.

* This becomes especially obvious with any game that has a "nude mod" or "sex mod" applied to it, allowing to remove clothes but not necessarily taking care of other equipment. Thus you can have quivers or weapons sticking to the back or to the hip of a naked character with no trace of any belt or strap to hold them.

** Continued in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', except with most of the BadassLongcoat armors, where the guns clip into the back instead.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', where the official explanation is that the Master Chief's armor is literally magnetized, even causing weapons to stick with a distinct [=*clunk*=] noise. On the other hand, a Bungee employee who explained the magnetization holstering also gave this as the answer to where [[HyperspaceArsenal the ammo and grenades go]]: "Who knows? [[AWizardDidIt It's magic.]]"

* Played with in the N64 version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': While all official art depicts the scabbard for Link's swords as secured by a shoulder strap, the strap does not appear in game due to hardware limitations. The strap began to appear in the sequel ''Majora's Mask'', and then appeared properly in the remake of ''Ocarina.'' and almost all the 3D games going forward.
** The scabbard starts floating again in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' however.

* Melee weapons in ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTrespasser'' are stored on the player character's back, and can be seen hovering behind her character in the DummiedOut third-person viewmode. Sadly, this caused a glitch where the player would be constantly taking damage because the weapon's hitbox would collide with the character's, so they fixed this by removing all mass from melee weapons, making them completely useless...apart from Nedry's mace.