History Main / WhenAllyouHaveIsAHammer

Say that Alice is facing against the [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain of the week]], Bob. She punches him really hard, as she usually does, and... [[OhCrap oh no!]] Bob [[NoSell shrugged it off]] easily! After [[ThisIsGonnaSuck realizing what will happen if she tries to fight normally]], Alice flees. By the end of the episode, Alice has come up with a genius plan to beat Bob: Punch him really hard ''in the face''.

This can often be the calling card of a InvincibleHero, since the lack of challenges which force them to change or upgrade their approach in much any way can eventually make them repetitive in action.

* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'': Two members of the party fall into this. Since he's a rust monster (a [[MooksAteMyEquipment creature that corrodes and devours metal]]), Rusty's answer to everything is always "Eat [metal object]". [[BlobMonster Gelatinous Cube]], for his part, [[EatenAlive eats people instead]]. Most problems that can't be solved with eating either a metal object or a person are handled by [[FaceOfTheBand Mimic]]. Best summarized [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/19/ here]]:

** The titular character of the series has two attacks: "curl into a ball and hurl self into the enemy at high speed"; and "turn into [[SuperMode Super Sonic]] and fly into the target at even higher speed". Over the years, by figuring out exactly when to do so and where to aim himself, he's destroyed armies of Dr. Robotnik's robots with the first attack, and defeated several evil gods with the second. Though the series does mix things up occasionally with {{Puzzle Boss}}es, and the major gimmicks of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' and ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Black Knight]]'' involve hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting, respectively. This comes up even when Sonic shows up in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games, as a good portion of his moves consist of different ways of the former and his Final Smash, across different games, are different applications of the latter.

* How many times did ''Series/{{Star Trek|the Original Series}}'''s Captain Kirk [[MyFistForgivesYou punch an offending alien in the face?]] Or order his crew to [[BeamSpam fire phasers?]] Handheld phasers borders between EveryDeviceIsASwissArmyKnife and this trope -- on the one hand they can be used in a fair number of non-weapon ways (plus, they can serve as improvised explosives), but on the other hand a lot of problems were solved by firing at someone/something until it fell down/exploded/disintegrated.
** In "The Carbomite Maneuver", Yeoman Rand offers Kirk a hot cup of coffee, which is surprising because they'd been told there was no power. Rand says she heated it with a phaser. Who knew you could set phasers to "percolate"?

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' may be the {{Trope Namer|s}} for WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway, but as [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] pointed out in a comic review, it was by far the most versatile of the powers. Wheeler mocks Ma-Ti for his abilities, but when all is said and done, all Wheeler could do was set stuff on fire (or make it melt). It was, in fact, the ''least'' useful of the Planeteers' powers, especially in a series where ThouShaltNotKill. He didn't even use it very creatively. Heart, on the other hand, combined aspects of SpeaksFluentAnimal, CareBearStare, and MoreThanMindControl. HeartIsAnAwesomePower, indeed. In a broader sense, OncePerEpisode the solution to the problem of the week turns out to be, 1.) summon Captain Planet, 2.) watch the fun.

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' in the show-within-a-show "Knight Boat." A ''Series/KnightRider''-esque sapient crime-solving boat is never stymied when the crooks go on land, because, as Bart and Lisa says in this exchange, "There's always a canal." "Or an inlet." "Or a fjord."

** This is the FatalFlaw of Starlight Glimmer. Her solution to any problem is "throw enough magic at it to make it go away". Not only has this backfired on her more than once, it's gotten her new allies very annoyed with her. In the Season 5 finale "The Cutie Re-mark," it also potentially doomed the entire world, which [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten no one has let her forget]]. Even after pulling a HeelFaceTurn, she still struggles to learn that not every problem can be solved by casting a spell: "All Bottled Up" had her try and solve of a problem of not using magic by using even more magic and "Every Little Thing She Does" had her decide that {{Mind Rap|e}}ing them into effectively being her servants was a good plan.

** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Kaiser was the epitome of this trope, before he had a FreakOut and got new cards. His entire strategy consisted of summoning Cyber End Dragon ''over and over again''.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': If Jack Rakan has anything to say about it, just about every problem can be solved by summoning a sword or multiple swords or a sword the [[{{BFS}} size of a skyscraper]]. He calls this his "Rakam Smash" technique and he uses it so often because he [[ObfuscatingStupidity keeps his intelligence a secret.]] Much of his apparent invincibility comes from his flexibility, knowledge, and cleverness. When intelligence and strategy prove useless against [[spoiler: Fate]], he shows just how ridiculously strong his "Rakan Smash" technique is regardless.

** Luigi in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' and ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' can do ''anything'' with his Poltergust vacuum. Including (in the first game) spraying ice, water, and fire, carrying objects, hanging on to things, pulling things, grabbing items from afar, defeating enemies, etc.

* ''{{ComicBook/Valhalla}}'': Thor is a subversion. Thor's comfort zone when it comes to problem-solving is "Hit it with Mjolnir until it stops resisting", and Mjolnir's power and Thor's strength make this a valid solution to pretty much any problem. This leads a lot of beings to believe that Thor is helpless without the hammer, but this is repeatedly proven to not be the case. Thor is the strongest of the Aesir even without magical help, and quite capable in a fight, even unarmed and unarmored. Thor also possesses a strength-enhancing belt, a pair of armored gauntlets and a magical mail hauberk, which are all powerful magical items in their own right (though not as powerful as Mjolnir). Finally, Thor is HotBlooded and impulsive, but he is far from stupid, and has inherited some, though not all, of his father Odin's talent for strategy and intrigue.

** This goes even more for when you're able to play as [[AntiHero Meta Knight]] (or sometimes [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking King Dedede]]) who can't copy abilities like Kirby does (Dedede can inhale, but only when he's the boss; outside of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', the player could never do it). They just smack things around with their sword and hammer respectively.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''LightNovel/DateALive'': Shidou solves almost all of his problems by dating them. This works because he has the ability to seal a Spirit's power by kissing her while she's in love with him. He does eventually learn to [[AllYourPowersCombined use the powers he's sealed]], but this still requires dating first.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' has [[spoiler:Saika]], a demonic blade that truly loves humanity and wants nothing more than to express that love. Unfortunately, it's a sword, so the only way it knows how to do anything is to cut it.

* ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer:'' Goblin Slayer himself is so monomaniacal about what he does that ''everything'' he says or does must be related to goblin extermination. Quest offered? Ask if there's goblins involved, kill them if so, turn down otherwise. Asked for any advice, even romantic? Compare situation to goblin slaying in one way or another and work from there. [[spoiler:High-tier heroine asking him for help with her broken psyche, as she got captured and abused by goblins so long ago and she's also rather infatuated with him? Offer to slay goblins... that are in her ''dreams''. And by calling upon him within her dreams, it ''works'', and she finally sleeps well.]] Also inverted in the "when you have a nail, everything looks like a hammer" sense, as anything and everything Goblin Slayer finds will inevitably be considered as a tool for goblin murder. Even an expensive Gate scroll or simple illumination spells.

* ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}'': Megumin is obsessed with her powerful Explosion spell and believes it is the answer to any situation. [[CripplingOverspecialization She absolutely refuses to learn any other spells and devotes all her resources to improving Explosion]].

** Chaka is a martial artist with control of Ki. She uses Ki for ''everything''. Punching an opponent? Ki attack. Learning an opponent's moves? Ki reading. Drying off in the shower? Ki trick. But while the attitude fits the trope, the results usually invert it: her power is so flexible she's almost a living GreenLanternRing.

* Cori Falls believed that [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Ash]] was an incompetent trainer because his Pikachu only knew Thundershock, though [[DanBrowned this is not actually the case]]. But she wrote it as such in her fanfictions, so the [[RecursiveFanfiction Recursive]] HateFic ''Fanfic/AtTheFoodCourt'' has the narrator confused when Ash says Thundershock was all Pikachu ever needed to win battles, and concludes that this was the reason Team Rocket was always after Pikachu.

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': Nanoha Takamachi's signature style relies mostly on [[BeamSpam using an assortment of beams to try and subdue opponents]]. When the going gets tough, [[WaveMotionGun Starlight Breaker]]. This is lampshaded during [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs the second season]]; during her fight with the Book of Darkness. She told Nanoha that [[PowerCopying since she already knows all of Nanoha's attacks, using the same ones over and over would be pointless.]] Her response when [[NoSell a point blank Excelion Buster fails to even scratch her opponent]] [[{{Determinator}} was simply "I guess I have to try harder."]] This philosophy is also part of her training style during ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS StrikerS]]'', stressing the importance of refining the skills one is strongest at to bring out her students' full potential.
* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has all enemies defeated with song. The only time this didn't work was when an enemy COVERED HER EARS (shock, horror). They steal her hat, and the song defeats her. Music also apparently cures illness, brainwashing, and changes the weather... so might be a flexible tool?

* For [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion NERV]] as a whole, Unit 01 is this. Got an Angel that can't be beaten? Throw Shinji at it. Shinji can't beat it? Piss Shinji off. There are a couple aversions, but generally Unit 01 is treated as the Ultimate Hammer. [[spoiler: There's a very good reason for this, since Unit 01 is a SuperPrototype PhysicalGod.]] The {{deconstruct|ion}}ive nature of ''Evangelion'' comes from the horrific psychological toll that this treatment (along with everything else he goes through) takes on Shinji's mind.

** The ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon Sun and Moon]]'' series does bother to try downplay this, since the SliceOfLife format of many episodes involves situations where the protagonists want to solve a problem pacifistically, meaning instances of them often still utilising their Pokémon's abilities, but achieving their ends [[GuileHero through cunning]] rather than raw power. Compared to the standard "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" climax of many previous series' episodes, one has the gang deal with a hungry Morelull absorbing the team's life energy. Ash however pities it and solves the problem by eating enough food for it to absorb and fill off of him. Another has Jigglypuff livid when Komala seemingly sleeps through its singing (it sleeps ''constantly'' by default). Despite Komala being able to easily outmanoeuvre Jigglypuff, the group know battling won't end it's vendetta, so instead teach Komala to mimic it's Sing ability in it's sleep, making Jigglypuff think it's joining it's performance.
* ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'': Some of the characters in the series have a limited arsenal of shots. Kaidoh only has one called "The Snake"...along with many variations to confuse opponents. Special mention goes to Ishida Gin, who only has a single move, the Hadoukyuu that happens to have a hundred and eight variants. Said variants are simply the same move with more power. The illogical situation is even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Ryoma Echizen, calling him stupid for having several identical variants of the same thing.

** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Kaiser was the epitome of this trope, before he had a FreakOut and got new cards. His entire strategy consisted of summoning Cyber End Dragon OVER AND OVER again.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': Getaway has one solution to all his problems; [[spoiler:his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory erasing]] nudge gun. People learn you're planning a mutiny? Nudge gun! Crew objects to you acting like a selfish prick? Nudge gun! Need to ensure a dissenter's death? Nudge gun]]! He abuses the thing so much that [[spoiler:the gun eventually starts ''breaking down from overuse'']].

* Very common for most Comicbook/XMen, especially more minor characters, to fall under the trope and be reliant solely on their mutant powers. This is not completely universal for every mutant though. For example, [[Characters/MarvelComicsGambit Gambit]] very notably has many non-mutant skills and can manipulate his powers in a lot of different ways. Generally, his well known DeathDealer approach is most emphasized when he plays a minor role in a comic. Another example is their reliance on the FastballSpecial, especially during Creator/JossWhedon's run on Astonishing. Lampshaded by Characters/{{Emma Frost|WhiteQueen}} when she once told [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Colossus]], "You can't just throw people at all your problems, dear." {{Justified|Trope}} in part; a usual aspect of mutants was that they had only one power (usually), and many of them have a highly specialized power. Still, they were able to use it creatively: [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]]' optic blast serves as an attack, can be used to slow his falling, [[MemeticMutation allows him to fly...]]

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': SCP-682 inverts this into "when you really, ''really'', '''really''' need to pound in a nail, everything looks like a hammer." It's a malevolent entity which is virtually impossible to kill due to its HealingFactor and AdaptiveAbility. At some point or another, the proposal to introduce SCP-682 to any other interesting SCP will be made.

*** By extension, the Pyro is practically a trope victim. Since all his [[RunningGag (her?, it?)]] primary weapons deal damage through fire, all but one/two of his secondaries also light things on fire (the exception being the fairly generic shotgun or the Reserve Shooter which scores minicrits against airborne foes[[note]]It doesn't help that Pyro can airblast people in the air[[/note]]), and one of the best melee options (the Axetinguisher and it's reskin the Postal Pummeler) relying on the target being on fire, it can be safely assumed that fire will be making your kills. This puts the Pyro in a bad position as the number of ways to counter ongoing burn keep increasing.

* Website/TVTropes -- Let's face it, not everything on this site really lends itself to a wiki format, but you have to give the admins credit for making it happen. Same with a lot of wikis. Notably [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]]'s discussion pages.

* ''Manga/GetterRobo'': "If it doesn't work, we'll just have to make it work!" Though the series uses comparatively more strategy in its battles than other {{Super Robot|Genre}} shows, an awful lot of problems are solved by just getting a bigger [[AnAxeToGrind axe]] and hitting things with it. And then things get crazy when we get into combining.

** This goes even more for when you're able to play as [[AntiHero Meta Knight]] (or sometimes [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking King Dedede]]) who can't copy abilities like Kirby does (Dedede can inhale, but only when he's the boss; the player could never do it). They just smack things around with their sword and hammer respectively.

* ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'': A Russian cosmonaut, confronted with a malfunctioning piece of equipment, [[PercussiveMaintenance repeatedly hits it with another, similarly malfunctioning, piece of equipment]], shouting "THIS IS HOW YOU FIX THINGS ON RUSSIAN SPACE STATION!"

* ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'': Battling Quentin Beck's assault drones, Peter Parker eventually runs out of the web-fluid in his web-shooters. Meanwhile, the drones create a barricade by propelling everything in sight towards them (via a shockwave projector) and then obliterating it with concentrated gunfire. Peter uses a trash can lid to shield himself from the incoming bullets and destroys the drones by throwing a core of one of the wrecked machines at them, whcih explodes. Finally, the shockwave projects helps Parker get to Mysterio.

* Wiki/TVTropes -- Let's face it, not everything on this site really lends itself to a wiki format, but you have to give the admins credit for making it happen. Same with a lot of wikis. Notably [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]]'s discussion pages.

* ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' occasionally features a group of weird and dysfunctional superheroes. One of these, considered pathetic even by the others is the "[[KnifeNut Knifeketeer]]". He's a (not very) BadassNormal who stabs people with knives. That's it. When the others complained that most heroes prefer non-lethal tactics, he got himself a [[Comicbook/GreenArrow boxing glove knife]]. Yes, a boxing glove on a knife handle. That he then "stabs" people with.