History Main / WeaponizedLandmark

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had Mandark turn the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington portion of Mount Rushmore into a [[HumongousMecha giant golem/mecha]]; Dexter responds by animating [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln's portion of Mount Rushmore]]. The "golems" stop fighting when they realize they're NotSoDifferent (in particular, famous for their honesty) and walk off arms-over-shoulders to have a friendly conversation.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' SeriesFinale, Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S., Sector V uses a weapon against the Delightful Children called the [[FunWithAcronyms R.E.B.R.I.D.G.E.R.A.T.E.R.]] (Revered English Bridge Really Is Doubly Great Enemy Roadblock And Totally Ends Rundowns). Subverted in that it is only a replica of London Bridge. (Well, ''maybe'' it could have been the real one... Stranger things have happened in this cartoon...)

* This has popped up a couple of times in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''. One episode sees [[EnemyWithout Toxic Rick]] do this to a mood tower to spread a toxifying wave across the planet, and apparently one of the things the Galactic Federation did when they took over the Earth was weaponize the Eiffel Tower.

* Wat Pho, aka the reclining Buddha, is a recurring locale in ''StreetFighter''. It's actually camouflage for Shadowloo's base in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha III''. If you lose, the statue's face crumbles to reveal a mechanical skull; it then fires a laser into the stratosphere, which is reflected by M. Bison's KillSat and [[NonStandardGameOver nukes a major city]].

* One popular UrbanLegend about the Ride/DisneyThemeParks is that Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom has missile silos installed in its turrets.

** The TropeNamer is ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3,'' which is '''loaded''' with these: [[spoiler:Mount Rushmore has gigantic laser cannons mounted inside the Presidents' heads, Griffith Observatory has a giant cannon built into it, Leningrad's Winter Palace transforms into a humongous space center, the [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Moai Heads]] are actually weapons turrets…]] It got to the point where there's a building category named "Weaponized Landmark", because of the sheer ubiquitity of these things in the game.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' SeriesFinale, Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S., Sector V uses a weapon against the Delightful Children called the [[FunWithAcronyms R.E.B.R.I.D.G.E.R.A.T.E.R.]] (Revered English Bridge Really Is Doubly Great Enemy Roadblock And Totally Ends Rundowns). Subverted in that it is only a replica of London Bridge. (Well, ''maybe'' it could have been the real one... Stranger things have happened in this cartoon...)
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' features Shake [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext sneaking off from a tour at the White House and starting a nuclear war with the Russians]]. Said nuclear weapons are revealed to literally be the pillars of the White House's facade and the cupolas of Saint Basil's Cathedral.
* This has popped up a couple of times in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''. One episode sees [[EnemyWithout Toxic Rick]] do this to a mood tower to spread a toxifying wave across the planet, and apparently one of the things the Galactic Federation did when they took over the Earth was weaponize the Eiffel Tower.
* The opening credits of ''[=2DTV=]'' had UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush pressing The Button, which caused [[RushmoreRefacement his own face to please on Mount Rushmore]] and launch a missile out of its head.

* ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'':
** The new Statue of Liberty found on the Neo-American space colony is actually a WaveMotionGun. The blast fires from the torch, naturally. The old Statue of Liberty (or what was left of it) was [[MonumentalDamage destroyed]] in one of Domon's [[DynamicEntry Dynamic Entries]].
** Art/TheSphinx is also a giant Gundam now.
* In ''Anime/NurseWitchKomugi,'' the [[http://www.bigsight.jp/english/ Tokyo Big Sight convention center]] is featured as a giant TransformingMecha, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD3dtfJ4Vtw Big Sightron/Cytron.]]

* One episode of the 1978 series ''[[Anime/CaptainHarlock Space Pirate Captain Harlock]]'' reveals that Art/TheSphinx of Giza is actually an ancient Mazone superweapon.
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Edo Phoenix can even ''create'' a facsimile of the clock tower that holds Big Ben using his [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Clock_Tower_Prison Clock Tower Prison]] Field Spell, making it a WeaponizedLandmark in spirit, at least. (Given how the Solid Vision Hologram system of the Duel Disks work, this also creates a MonumentalBattle ''anywhere'' he uses it, also in spirit.
* In a Osaka-centric episode of ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'', the titular magical girls ended fighting the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ts%C5%ABtenkaku Tsutenkaku Tower]] after [[WickedWitch Majorina]] transformed the well-known landmark into the rampaging [[MonsterClown Akanbe]] [[MonsterOfTheWeek of the Week]].

[[folder:Comics]]
* The Marvel ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' comic book series revealed a secret [[KillSat orbital space laser cannon]] housed in the top stories of the Chrysler Building; it uses a series of satellite-mounted mirrors to direct the shot towards its intended target.
* In ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' #222, [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1126:evil-lincoln&catid=29:confounding-comic-covers-index&Itemid=32 "The Monumental Menace!"]] Cap fights an animated Lincoln Memorial statue.

* Mt. Rushmore was turned into a four-headed golem in ''{{Superman}}'' #209, as seen on [[http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee175/koenmasgurl88/motivational%20posters/MotivationalEpicLevelGolems.jpg this poster.]]
** The idea was reused by writer Brian Azzarello in the ''Doctor 13: Architecture and Morality'' mini-series. "How do you hurt a ''mountain?!''" "Strip mining."
* A literal instance occurred in ''[[ComicBook/TheNewUniverse Psi-Force]],'' when the title hero-entity clobbers a Russian paranormal with the Washington Monument.
* A 1971 ''Comicbook/IncredibleHulk'' story had Art/TheSphinx being [[AncientAstronauts left behind by aliens]] as a weapon.
* Parodied in a ''Film/SpyKids'' comic from an issue of ''Magazine/DisneyAdventures''. The evil organization. F.A.N.G. steals Mount Rushmore and places the heads aboard an enormous robot body, only to realize they have no plan for WHAT the robot is supposed to do afterward.
* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'': In ''Spirou et Fantasio à Tokyo'', a live-sized statue of Hachikō (a famous Japanese dog) is animated by telekinesis.

* ''ComicBook/BigBangComics'': In the origin story of the Knights of Justice, MadScientist Dr. Henry Hyde converts the Washington Monument into a missile and fires it at the White house in an attempt to kill both UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill (who was inside the monument at the time) and UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt. Ultiman saves both leaders and restores the Monument to its proper place.

* In ''[[Film/{{Transformers}} Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]'', the Decepticons' sun-destroying DoomsdayDevice is hidden inside one of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

* In ''Film/XMen1'', Magneto hid his mutation-inducing device [[spoiler:inside the torch of the Statue of Liberty]].
* The Lincoln Memorial gets a BigDamnHeroes moment in ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian''.
* In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Thor uses the Chrysler Building's spire to concentrate and amplify his lightning.

* In ''Film/CanadianBacon'', by means of lying that the equipment is meant for climate measurement, R.J. Hacker manages to install the "Hellstorm" computer (which would trigger the launch of every nuclear silo in America) on the top of Toronto's CN Tower.
* In ''Film/TheGreatWall'', the Great Wall of China is equipped with many fire catapults and also has an incorporated system of rotating blades in order to stop the Tao Tei from scaling the Wall.

* In ''Literature/MortalEngines'', [[spoiler:a city-destroying laser is being built in St Paul's Cathedral.]]
* In ''Fate of Flames'' by Sarah Raughley, set in a world where demon-like creatures called "phantoms" began attacking humanity in the nineteenth century, the Space Needle in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} was built as an electronic beacon to repulse phantoms from the city. It wound up going down, however, requiring [[MagicalGirlWarrior the Effigies]] to save the city after a lengthy siege. Nevertheless, it served as a prototype for similar anti-phantom towers in other US cities, most notably the Needle that dominates the New York skyline. In UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, meanwhile, a similar anti-phantom device was installed in the Pont Saint-Michel bridge near the center of the city, the bridge being chosen for symbolic reasons as the site of a violent massacre committed by phantoms.
* In the ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/BattleGround2020'', the Winter Court stores weapons inside the sculpture Cloud Gate.

* Stonehenge is a LostSuperweapon that detonates Pyramids [[ApocalypseHow all over the world]] for… some reason, in ''Stonehenge Apocalypse''.

* There are gods and TabletopGame/{{Scion}}s who think that The Statue Of Liberty, Christ the Redeemer and pretty much any other similar sized statue could be a giant war automaton that only needs the right key to activate. There's a statue of Vulcan in Alabama that's ''confirmed'' to be one, but nobody knows how to turn it on yet.

* The weaponized [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Moai]] in the ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' series--one of the earliest examples in video games, having appeared from the very first game and serving as a series staple after that.
* Other early examples involve the ''VideoGame/AeroFighters'' series of {{Shoot Em Up}}s:

** The TropeNamer is ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3,'' which is '''loaded''' with these: [[spoiler:Mount Rushmore has gigantic laser cannons mounted inside the Presidents' heads, Griffith Observatory has a giant cannon built into it, Leningrad's Winter Palace transforms into a humongous space center, the [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Moai Heads]] are actually weapons turrets…]] It got to the point where there's a building category named "Weaponized Landmark", because of the sheer ubiquitousness of these things in the game.
* ''VideoGame/BattleTanx: Global Assault'' features a campaign level where the Eiffel Tower is converted into a laser cannon.
* While not exactly a landmark, the Voyager II in ''[[VideoGame/{{Battlezone1998}} Battlezone II]]'' is a space probe on a mission of peaceful exploration, just as it is in real life... except that it is armed to the teeth and is well able to defend itself in case of any, uh, unfortunate encounters. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oewk8TX6KSs&t=27s Mostly well]], anyways.
* Wat Pho, aka the reclining Buddha, is a recurring locale in ''StreetFighter''. It's actually camouflage for Shadowloo's base in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha III''. If you lose, the statue's face crumbles to reveal a mechanical skull; it then fires a laser into the stratosphere, which is reflected by M. Bison's KillSat and [[NonStandardGameOver nukes a major city]].

* In ''VideoGame/RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure'', the villainous forces find the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which turns out to be [[spoiler:an ancient nuclear-powered weather-control machine]], though it seems the bad guys knew all along. It can also be flown like a colossal airship and has at least enough fuel to travel non-stop from Babylon to Paris.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has an episode where an animated Lincoln memorial comes to life; the Super Best Friends defeat him with a giant stone John Wilkes Booth.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' revealed that the Eiffel Tower was actually a SteamPunk ecto-containment grid. [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy (Apparently, Gustave Eiffel was, well, a Ghostbuster.)]] This was revisited in the Ghostbusters comic book series ''Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression''
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''
** From ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' cartoon, Stonehenge (or an {{Expy}} thereof) is an alien signaling probe and containment device.
** And while it's technically not a monument ''per se'', the [[spoiler:second]] moon is [[spoiler:actually a planet-heating RayGun]].
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures,'' where [[CircleOfStandingStones Stonehenge]] isn't the weapon of mass destruction the cultists in London claim it to be. It was a [[spoiler:UFO landing site]], however.

* The animated short ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEjUAnPc2VA Pigeon: Impossible]]'' has an ICBM hidden in the Washington Monument.
* In ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'', it turns out Art/TheSphinx and three pyramids around the world are actually part of Apocalypse's mutation-inducing machine (similar to the one in the ''X-Men'' film but worldwide).
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ''Treehouse of Horror VIII'', France launches a NeutronBomb from the Eiffel Tower at Springfield.
* Dr. Wily animated the Statue of Liberty via magic in the [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon]]. As Lady Liberty broke off one of her crown's spikes to attack, she was restored to normal at the end.
* A minor landmark, but on ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', the Red Squirrel hides a missile inside [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra%27s_Needle Cleopatra's Needle]] at Central Park.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}'', one of the animated-statue guardians of Metlar's lair appears to be the Colossus of Rhodes. In a later episode, Metlar animates the Statue of Liberty. [[spoiler:Subverted, as he ''marries'' her rather than uses her as a weapon.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' weaponized the Warner Bros. water tower in "Super Strong Warner Siblings." This is also an actual building, though it has a greater role in the cartoon.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had Mandark turn the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington portion of Mount Rushmore into a [[HumongousMecha giant golem/mecha]]; Dexter responds by animating [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincon's portion of Mount Rushmore]]. The "golems" stop fighting when they realize they're NotSoDifferent (in particular, famous for their honesty) and walk off arms-over-shoulders to have a friendly conversation.

* ''Film/Sharknado5GlobalSwarming'': The London Eye fires one of its capsules into the sharknado like a rocket. The Sydney Opera House changes into a battle-mode and fires off lasers and some of its shell sections at the oncoming shark-storm. In the animated credits sequence, an Egyptian pyramid takes off with rockets and zaps some spear-wielding sharks with FrickinLaserBeams.

** ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'' is a secret spaceport with a portal for alien refugees coming to Earth. The Hive turn it into a {{Hellgate}} for their own race to invade Earth.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had Mandark turn the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington portion of Mount Rushmore into a [[HumongousMecha giant golem/mecha]]; Dexter responds by animating [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln the Lincoln Memorial.]] The "golems" stop fighting when they realize they're NotSoDifferent (in particular, famous for their honesty) and walk off arms-over-shoulders to have a friendly conversation.

** The sequel, ''Anime/GaoGaiGar FINAL,'' features Mic Sounders [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome defeating his opponent by playing a bass solo on the cables of Tower Bridge]] after his disc player is broken.

* The European castle could be classed as such with it's battlements, arrow slits, sluices for hot fluids to be poured on would-be invaders and the like. Edinburgh Castle gets special mention for rising over the city centre on its own mini mountain and having cannons that could fire over the city as far as into the waters of the Firth of Forth.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_ship museum ships]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_guardian gate guardians,]] in that they were weapons ''to begin with'' and disarmed and turned into landmarks. In most cases, despite being relatively intact, the costs and effort it would take to repair and bring the equipment [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece back into service]] is prohibitively high to the point of impracticality anyways, but not completely impossible.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Edo Phoenix can even ''create'' a facimile of the clock tower that holds Big Ben using his [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Clock_Tower_Prison Clock Tower Prison]] Field Spell, making it a WeaponizedLandmark in spirit, at least. (Given how the Solid Vision Hologram system of the Duel Disks work, this also creates a MonumentalBattle ''anywhere'' he uses it, also in spirit.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' revealed that the Eiffel Tower was actually a SteamPunk ecto-containment grid. [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy (Apparently, Gustave Eiffel was, well, a Ghostbuster.)]] This was evisited in the Ghostbusters comic book series ''Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression''