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| 6 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 13 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capsshieldispoweredbypatriotism.jpg]]]] |
| 14 | [[caption-width-right:350: This pentagram brought to you by [[PatrioticFervor raw patriotism]].]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ->''"Comic book boomerangs, rather than being just sticks with a vague tendency to curve around, are nearly supernatural items with an ability to return where they started no matter what happens. They can bounce off the interestingly ridged skulls of alien conquerors, latch onto weapons or jewelry, or run off to the bar for a quick Jack and Coke, and yet still return to the waiting hand of whatever costumed goon threw it."'' |
| 17 | -->-- '''Creator/LoreSjoberg''', ''The Book of Ratings'', "Green Arrow's Arrows" |
| 18 | |
| 19 | A real-life boomerang is a flat wooden tool carved in such a way as to get some rotor lift when thrown turning end-over-end. Thrown properly, the boomerang will curve back on its course and return to its point of origin. It was originally designed for hunting fowl. If it missed, the hunter wouldn't have to go looking for it; and if it hit, they'd simply retrieve it along with the kill. Some boomerangs allow for more complex trajectories, though these are more for sport than hunting. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | In fiction, however, a boomerang is virtually a living creature possessed of the single goal of returning to the thrower's hand, come hell or high water. This results in boomerangs doing things that are flatly impossible, such as continuing to fly after [[PinballProjectile striking one or multiple targets]] then returning to the user. It becomes humorous in video games, particularly older ones where boomerangs are crudely programmed to return to the player after being thrown. If you're still moving, it'll chase you all over the screen until you stop to catch it. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | This trope covers all weapons that can perform this trick, not just boomerangs. Many of the examples below involve weapons that aren't even meant to be thrown, like shields or escrima sticks. Does it really have to be stated that the RuleOfCool is involved? See also BoomerangComeback for when the boomerang initially seems to miss and then catches the target by surprise. Many of these weapons also are a PinballProjectile where they adjust their course by bouncing off things rather than aerodynamic maneuvering. Compare ExactlyWhatIAimedAt. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | ---- |
| 26 | !!Examples: |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 31 | * Chikuma Koshirou from ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'' {{dual wield|ing}}s kama scythes. He once threw them so that both of them cut off half a human head and still returned to his hands. They work solely by RuleOfCool, no magic involved, since when Kisaragi Saemon and Kasumi Gyoubu knocked the weapons off course, they just fell to the ground. |
| 32 | * Averted in ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo''. When Jiggler is attached to a power-draining ball by Pana, Bo-bobo uses a move to hit it like a pool ball. Jiggler tries to bounce off the walls and hit Pana, but he ends up smashing into the first wall he hits because he's "non-bouncy". |
| 33 | * In ''Manga/BusoRenkin'', this is actually the power of the Motor Gears. |
| 34 | * The title character of ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' has her Honey Boomerang. |
| 35 | %%* Sepikmon's boomerang from ''Anime/DigimonFrontier''. Also double as a mysteriously conspicuously invisible camera. |
| 36 | * ''Anime/EurekaSeven'''s [[HumongousMecha LFOs]] use "Boomerang Knives" for combat, several thousand feet in the air, yet when thrown, they always manage to make it back. In the video games, the boomerangs will actually chase you to come back. |
| 37 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': whenever Archer throws one of his [[DualWielding dual swords]], it will always return to him as long as the other is still in his possession (due to their being "married" swords). Shirou uses this to great effect against [[spoiler:Saber Alter]]: he throws both from the first pair and Traces a second. The first pair are deflected, but when Shirou attacks with the second set, the first set ''fly back'' to hit from behind at the same time. |
| 38 | * [[ColonelBadass The Colonel]] in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' uses boomerangs as his main weapon. Their ridiculous accuracy is revealed to be due to his PsychicPowers -- it's easy to hit an enemy with a boomerang when you're controlling it with your mind. |
| 39 | * In various ''Manga/GetterRobo'' entries, the Getter-1 lineage has the Getter Tomahawk Boomerang, which is the Getter Tomahawk, which ranges from an actual tomahawk-like axe to a halberd, thrown at its opponent like a buzzsaw that can cleave its opponents in half and return to the robot with ease. |
| 40 | * Sango's boomerang Hiraikotsu from ''Manga/InuYasha'' is as tall as she is, can shatter boulders, and returns to her after carving out a swath of total destruction (or even after being deflected!). It's made out of youkai bones and is magical, probably very nearly a living weapon, which probably explains why she [[CallingYourAttacks has to shout its name]] every time she throws it. (In the manga, it is revealed that it does have its own thoughts.) Inu-Yasha defeated her one time by knocking her off balance while her boomerang was away. When it returned, she wasn't prepared to catch it. |
| 41 | * Sette of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', whose Inherent Skill is the ability to fully control the flight path of her Boomerang Blades. |
| 42 | * ''Anime/MazingerZ''. Several members of the Mazinger Family wield boomerangs, including Anime/GreatMazinger (Great Boomerang) and [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Grendizer]] (Shoulder Boomerang). The most extreme, however, is Anime/{{Mazinkaiser}}, whose Kaiser Boomerang is actually its own massive winged backpack, and in TheMovie cuts a massive flying fortress in half. |
| 43 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' introduces [[EnergyWeapons beam boomerangs]], which sound absurd, but might be {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that they're mechanized weapons, potentially with their own thrusters and guidance systems. And safety shutdown mechanism, since they are Beam-edge Boomerang -- it's not safe to hold them or ridiculously catch them, even for a Gundam. |
| 44 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' has the detachable backpack of the ∞ Justice Gundam (yes, the infinity symbol is part of its name). Among its various purposes is to serve as ludicrously large beam boomerang, with beam blades on the front of each wing. |
| 45 | ** Played for laughs in the ''[[Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer Gundam 00]]'' movie's ShowWithinAShow. |
| 46 | * Tessai from ''Anime/NinjaScroll'' wields a massive double-bladed weapon that he can hurl with deadly precision, cutting down multiple men and even entire trees before returning to his hand. [[spoiler:He is defeated when Jubei slices his fingers off right before the weapon returns to him. Since he is unable to catch it, the blade embeds itself in Tessai's head.]] |
| 47 | %%* ''Anime/{{Raideen}}'': '''God Boomerang!''' |
| 48 | * ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': |
| 49 | ** Ryôga's umbrella in the early manga. |
| 50 | ** The Kinjakan: a polearm weapon with a metal ring attached at the head. The user can send the ring flying with devastating force, ricocheting off walls, ceilings, people, and the ground (usually carving deep gauges where it impacts) and it will always return to the pole, with similar force and momentum. Novice users tend to run away when they see the ring coming back. |
| 51 | * ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': |
| 52 | ** "Moon Tiara Action!" Note that it obeys her commands -- Sailor Moon once ordered it to stop right before it'd hit an ally. |
| 53 | ** In the [[Anime/SailorMoon first anime]] Zoisite used an actual boomerang when he was impersonating Sailor Moon (and it came back after it hit). |
| 54 | ** In the manga (both the main series and [[Manga/CodenameSailorV her own]]), the live-action and ''Crystal'', Sailor Venus has a small crescent-shaped blade (actually a compact in the manga, but still usable as a blade) that can be used like this. Its most notable use is Venus' debut in the manga and ''Crystal'', where she uses it on Zoisite and either critically wounds him (''Crystal'') or cuts him into many pieces (manga). |
| 55 | %%* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman''. Ken's Birdrang. |
| 56 | * Kuniko in ''Literature/ShangriLa'' wields a boomerang as her weapon of choice, so it figures that she'd be able to let it do whatever she pleases. |
| 57 | * ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': |
| 58 | ** The Gurren actually uses two pairs of giant CoolShades as boomerangs. It actually was once lost in the middle of a battle and thrown back at the user. Later, the Gurren Lagann uses both the sunglasses and its (wing-shaped) jetpack. |
| 59 | ** The Chouginga Gurren-Lagann also uses its shades (both the head-face's and the torso-face's) as an EXTREMELY big boomerang. They even return to the mecha after cutting one of the attacking Ashtangas in half along its entire length. |
| 60 | * Used in the first episode of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' by a villain who throws/launches it using his belt-driven mechanical arm. Enormous in size and equipped with an AbsurdlySharpBlade, it is capable of slicing large rock formations and entire buildings in half. Despite the incredible speed the boomerang travels at, the main character (Vash) manages to move fast enough to leap onto it mid-flight and launch himself at the villain in order to incapacitate him. |
| 61 | * In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Kazemaru's shuriken will stay in the air until they hit a target-at which point they ''[[StuffBlowingUp explode]]''. {{Justified|Trope}}, as they are powered by spirit energy and filled with explosive. |
| 62 | * ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'': The Eagle's primary weapon is a small boomerang with the edges of the wings sharpened. It repeatedly goes through several {{Mooks}}' necks 1) without slowing down or 2) alteration to its aerodynamics. The only time it doesn't come back is when someone catches it, or he doesn't mean for it to come back, which usually means StuffBlowingUp. |
| 63 | [[/folder]] |
| 64 | |
| 65 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/AlanFord'': Otto von Grunf once used a custom-made "Boomeknife", an "Australian-German product" which is a bent knife that returns to Otto after he threw it to launch the catapult mechanism required to send the plane flying, and even returns to his hand while in flight. Curiously, it resembles a Kurki. Parodied later on when Otto makes a Boomerang [[ExplosiveStupidity Hand grenade]] which, of course, returns back to the user before exploding. Becomes a ChekhovsGun in volume ''Save Us Please, Thank You'', where the villain is done in because he tries the above-mentioned bomb. |
| 67 | * ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise'' [[spoiler:we see Sokka has the boomerang he lost in the finale of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' (or a very similar one) again, apparently having recovered it offscreen]]. |
| 68 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Batarangs and Birdarangs all fall under this. Bats even went as far as to invent a remote-controlled Batarang. This is also averted at times. DependingOnTheWriter, Batarangs can also be simple bat-shaped shuriken. [[FridgeLogic While keeping the name]]. Most notably, this is what they are in ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. |
| 69 | * ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]]'s shield is basically a giant, indestructible boomerang, capable of flying through a hail of weapons fire (ballistic and laser), tagging multiple targets and returning to Cap's hand without even losing velocity. Handwaved by it being made from an alloy of the indestructible metal vibranium, which is able to absorb vibrations. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d somewhat by the fact that Cap's temporary replacement, John Walker, could never get the shield to do more than fly in a straight line, while Cap (as "The Captain") was pulling off nearly identical feats with an inferior copy. |
| 70 | ** Soon after Cap was thawed out, ComicBook/IronMan put gadgets into the shield. By using controls in his gloves, Cap could control the shield in flight. He soon took them out, for they messed up the shield's balance. So it can be done, he just doesn't like to do it. |
| 71 | ** In ''Liberty's Torch'', a tie-in novel, it's definitely skill on Cap's part. Steve Rogers totally pwns another character at pool, and makes a casual comment about starting to play when he realized calculating angles on the fly would be handy "at work". |
| 72 | ** When Cap (temporarily) dies, Iron Man looks for somebody else to take up the shield. Everybody who tries to throw the thing accomplishes little more than making themselves look like idiots. Then Iron Man goes to ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, who ''is'' [[ImprobableAimingSkills good enough to pull it off]], but after a brief trial period deems himself unworthy to be the new Captain America. Cap's former sidekick [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky Barnes]] then ends up as the new Captain America, and his cyborg enhancements allow him to pull off the crazy shield-throwing tricks. |
| 73 | ** When Vance Astro of the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy picks up Cap's shield in the distant future, it takes him a good long while -- weeks if not months -- to even begin to approximate Captain America's famous stunts. This is despite the fact that Vance is ''[[MindOverMatter telekinetic]]''. |
| 74 | ** Parodied in an old ''[[ComicBook/RatMan1989 Rat-Man]]'' story, where Cap (turned into a lawyer-friendly version of himself for reprints) first has his ability increased to ridiculous levels ([[RuleOfFunny as in "the thrown shield can even pass the vacuum between a strike and the other" ridiculous]]) and then tries to teach it to the title character. Keyword: ''[[EpicFail tries]]'' ([[EyeScream just ask Nick Fury's formerly remaining eye]]). It's also shown that Cap wasn't originally that good... After all, [[EyeScream how do you think Nick Fury lost his eye]]? |
| 75 | * ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]] is incredibly good at this with his billy club in conjunction with his radar sense. Most JustForFun/{{egregious}}ly in one of Creator/KevinSmith's issues, where Daredevil throws it through a glass window where, instead of shattering the window completely, it just leaves a small hole, approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Then it bounces around, knocking out the {{mooks}} and returns through the ''exact same hole''. |
| 76 | * ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Needless to say, [[Franchise/TheDCU DC]] supervillain Captain Boomerang is pretty good at this. To the point that he was once able to make (specially prepared) boomerangs ''travel through time''. His son Captain Boomerang Jr. is also capable of such stunts. He does have the advantage of SuperSpeed, but his feats include picking bullets out of the air with bent paperclips, and holding his own in a prison riot with things he managed to find on the spot. |
| 77 | * ''ComicBook/KidColt'': Creator/MarvelComics [[TheWestern Western]] villain the Fat Man (originally a foe of [[Characters/MarvelComicsWesternCharacters Kid Colt]]) was an expert with the boomerang: able to win showdowns against gunslingers (being able to throw faster than they could draw and fire) and always having the boomerang return to him regardless of what it hit. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]]'s hammer Mjolnir is enchanted by Odin to always return when thrown, among other things. Justified, as this ability is explicitly magical. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'': Characters/{{Nightwing|DickGrayson}} has been shown doing this with escrima sticks (which aren't even meant to be thrown to begin with), bouncing them off the heads of two mooks, a wall, the floor, and back to his hand. |
| 80 | * ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'': Paperinik's Extransformer Shield. {{Justified|Trope}} by the hi-tech nature of the shield. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'': Lev Gleason's Daredevil ([[SimilarlyNamedWorks no]], not [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} that one]], this one was renamed "Death-Defying 'Devil" by Creator/AlexRoss) uses a boomerang as his main weapon. He's so incredibly skilled with it that in-story people falsely assume that he uses some kind of superpower to control its trajectory. |
| 82 | * ''ComicBook/SinCity'': Miho occasionally uses her manji-shaped shuriken in this manner. |
| 83 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': |
| 84 | ** Fred Myers/Boomerang (who's basically [[ComicBook/TheFlash Captain Boomerang]] with jet boots), like the ComicBook/GreenArrow[=/=]ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, carries an arsenal of different boomerangs for different jobs, including razorangs, gasarangs, etc... |
| 85 | ** The villain Tracer has a variation on this; his guns fire bullets that lock onto their target and will avoid any obstacle to get to them. This allowed him a leg up on Spidey in the quipping department; after Spider-Man claims he ''laughs'' at bullets, Tracer notes that his bullets laugh back. |
| 86 | * ''ComicBook/TheTick'': In one comic book (not the original comics, a [[RecursiveAdaptation licensed-from-the-cartoon version]]), The Tick invents a "Tick-arang". With [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} typical Tick logic]] he believes it will return because he's written his name and address on the side, with the phrase "Return Postage Guaranteed." The amazing thing is... ''it works.'' |
| 87 | * ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': ''Tintin in America'' features a Chicago gangster with a literal boomerang doing this. |
| 88 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': One of the lesser-known tricks of Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}} was the ability to do this with her tiara - though in this case, it's justified by the tiara being [[AWizardDidIt magic]]. Much like Batman's Batarangs, it was a pretty bloodless weapon in the old days, but ComicBook/PostCrisis became a DarkerAndEdgier (literally) tool of destruction that [[OffWithHisHead beheaded]] a ''God'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 at least once]]. She most famously used it on a mind-controlled Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} since Kryptonian NighInvulnerability is no match for magic. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 92 | * ''Franchise/{{Asterix}}: WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfTheMagicPotion'': Getafix the druid uses his golden sickle like a boomerang to pluck mistletoe in the trees. He has enough precision with it that he can catch a freefalling baby bird ''without harming it'' to bring it back safely to its nest. |
| 93 | * In Franchise/{{Disney|AnimatedCanon}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', the title character bends his ''sword'' and throws it like a boomerang during training. It conveniently cuts the heads off all the training dummies before returning to him, and even snaps back into sword shape once caught again, as if it were spring-loaded. |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 97 | * Subverted in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' -- Batman takes a Batarang, ''programs'' it to hit multiple targets, and lets it fly. A small dog catches it like a Frisbee before it can return so that it can be used to frame him later. |
| 98 | * ''Film/TheBeastmaster'' inherits a "caber," a pivoted, curved, bladed throwing weapon. He usually hits with it, but it also curves around and at least once homes in on a mook. How he catches the spinning blade without losing fingers is an open question. |
| 99 | * Spoofed in ''Film/BlackDynamite'' with Fiendish Dr. Wu's kung-fu projectiles, which rather than returning to the user's hand return to wherever it was that the user was aiming. This is done deliberately when he attacks Black Dynamite with one by throwing it to the side of Dynamite (Dynamite looks confused but then dodges it before it comes back), and later when [[spoiler:Dynamite uses one against Dr. Wu by throwing it before he entered the room, and then somehow it came in through the window from outside]]. |
| 100 | * Film/{{Blade|Trilogy}}'s glaive is used in this fashion right from the word go: in the opening sequence of [[Film/Blade1998 his first film]], he stood at the entrance of a circular room, while several vampires stood at regular intervals around it, ready to attack him. He proceeds to decapitate all of the vampires with a single throw before the glaive dutifully returns to his waiting hand. |
| 101 | * The '''boomerang-ax''' from ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm''. {{Justified|Trope}} in that it is enchanted. |
| 102 | * The Flying Daggers in ''Film/HouseOfFlyingDaggers'' are used in exactly this way. They can attack targets from multiple sides, curve around enemies, continue to attack if blocked by SWORDS, and even CUT AWAY BONDING ROPES. |
| 103 | * The Farmer's weapon of choice in ''[[Film/InTheNameOfTheKing In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale]]'' is the boomerang, which he must hurl with great effort, apparently. And he carries it with him at all times along with his sword, even when he's harvesting. |
| 104 | * The Glaive from ''Film/{{Krull}}'': a magical five-bladed throwing weapon controlled in flight by its wielder's will. Lost at the end when it couldn't free itself from The Beast's body. Justified (assuming the Glaive even qualifies) due to the fact that this ridiculously powerful [[AWizardDidIt magic weapon]] could fly, cut through [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] barriers, and ''hover in place.'' |
| 105 | * Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: |
| 106 | ** At one point in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Captain America breaks up a fight between Thor and Iron Man by throwing his shield in such a way that it bounces off both of their heads and returns to him. |
| 107 | ** {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', where Cap has a magnet in his gauntlet that helps him catch the shield. |
| 108 | ** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', when Spider-Man comments that Cap's shield appears to not obey the laws of physics. |
| 109 | ** ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'': During their fight in the Mirror Dimension, the Ancient One creates a pair of fans with her magic and sends one bouncing against the heads of the Zealots before coming back to her hand. |
| 110 | ** ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': To reveal "Odin" as Loki in disguise, Thor throws his hammer and stands just behind him, casually reminding him of the fact that his hammer ''always'' returns to his hand. Loki takes the hint and drops the disguise. |
| 111 | ** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', beyond the usual suspects (Cap's shield, Stormbreaker, and Mjölnir), Thanos's massive double-bladed sword can be thrown by spinning it, and returns to his hand afterward. |
| 112 | * ''Film/MadMax'': ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'' has the Feral Kid's sharp metal boomerang. It slices off fingers and returns to him without a problem. The Feral Kid wears a special glove to catch it, though. Too bad poor Toadie didn't have one of those. Subverted when his intended target [[TheDragon Wez]] dodges it, and it keeps going and kills Wez's lover instead. |
| 113 | * In ''Film/MysteryMen'', [[ActionGirl The Bowler]] does this with, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin true to her name]], a ''bowling ball''. Justified, since her father's spirit (and skull!) is in the bowling ball. Hence, this falls under EmpathicWeapon. |
| 114 | * ''Film/{{Predator}}'': The eponymous alien's disk and shuriken weapons are a high-tech version, though occasionally they won't come back due to being lodged in a wall. Or somebody's chest. |
| 115 | * ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'': Tails's arsenal includes a boomerang that becomes a flying, glowing projectile that takes out all enemies before returning to the user's hand. [[spoiler:Rachel uses it to knock out some G.U.N. agents surrounding Maddie.]] |
| 116 | * In ''Film/{{Tron}}'' and ''Film/TronLegacy'', the Identity Discs can, among other things, be thrown this way. In skilled hands, one can weave around obstacles to seek its target, reorient and attack ''several more times'' from varying angles if blocked (usually by another disc) or dodged by that target, and still seek out and return to its owner's hand. |
| 117 | * In an old Italian film starring Toto, such a boomerang is used in the climax. It's so effective that not only it takes down a whole room of bandits, but it even ''knock'' on a door in order to return to the thrower (of course, hitting him in the head). |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 121 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 122 | ** Averted in ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', where the eponymous continent's Creator is described as having a boomerang "that does not return to the thrower, typically because it's stuck in the ribs of whatever he threw it at." |
| 123 | ** One appears briefly in ''Literature/RaisingSteam'' as a sneak attack by the fundamentalist Dwarves. Vimes sees it coming toward Moist and yells for him to duck; just as Moist is standing back up, Vimes pulls him down because it is coming back. |
| 124 | * ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'' has the throwing blades of the alien Coo-Hatch race. After being thrown, the blade arc back to their owners, who catch them with their needle-like noses. They are sharp enough to slice through full-size trees like butter and cut through rock, so the aliens mention that they never give them to humans because it takes years of training. |
| 125 | * Wulfgar's warhammer in R.A. Salvatore's ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt novels]] always returns to him after he throws it. In this case, it's not a matter of the hammer flying through the air, though -- the hammer, being magical, simply ''rematerializes'' in Wulfgar's hands after it falls to the ground. This is based on the ''returning'' enhancement in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', see below. |
| 126 | * Ian Cormac, the lead protagonist of Neal Asher's ''Literature/ThePolity'' books, has a shuriken that is programmable and can fly under its own power, returning to the user and even being remote-controlled in flight. Another character in the first book has a knife that will return to his hand as long as he is wearing the ring that comes with it. |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 130 | * In ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' (adapted into ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder''), the [[HumongousMecha Abaren-Ou]] can throw the entire body of the Pteranodon mecha as a huge-ass boomerang. |
| 131 | * ''Series/Batwoman2019'': {{Averted|Trope}} in "Who Are You", when Batwoman uses one of Batman's batarangs and misses, on the return trip it sails to her right and [[PricelessMingVase destroys a priceless vase]] behind her. Luke recalibrates them after this to account for her shorter arms. |
| 132 | * Subject of a gag in one episode of ''Series/{{Blackadder}},'', when (sort of) explorer Edmund returns from his travels with a boomerang (though it's just called "a stick"): it is rejected as a gift by Queen Elizabeth and so Percy attempts to get rid of it by gingerly tossing it away in a very wimpy and awkward fashion. After several seconds' delay, it comes zooming back and clobbers him in the head, amusing Elizabeth greatly. |
| 133 | * In ''Series/KaiketsuZubat'', there's the showdown between Ken Hayakawa and Boomerang Jack. After Jack demonstrates his boomerang skill by throwing one into a sign and cutting it in half, Ken throws the boomerang in a way that somehow ''puts the sign back together and in its proper place'', on top of embarrassing the villain's mooks by cutting their belts so their pants fall down. |
| 134 | * ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'': in the episode "Fun and Games", the alien creature Mike and Laura fight has a boomerang with a serrated edge. It can return to the person who threw it even if it hit something while in flight. |
| 135 | * Some weapons wielded by the main characters in several ''Franchise/{{Ultra|Series}}'' series, such as the [[Series/UltraSeven Eye Slugger]] and the [[Series/ReturnOfUltraman Ultra Bracelet]]. |
| 136 | * In ''Series/Warehouse13'', an artifact football will always return to where it was thrown... a few hours later, after circling the ''entire world''. Said football was later revealed to be [[spoiler: an Artifact tracking device, that scans the planet for signs of Artifact activity, which is then uploaded to Warehouse 13's computer system]]. |
| 137 | * Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}}'s ability to do this with her tiara as mentioned above, came up several times in her [[Series/WonderWoman1975 70s live-action series]]. |
| 138 | * ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'': |
| 139 | ** Xena's most famous weapon is her Precision-Guided Chakram, which always returns to her after ricocheting off walls, rocks, and enemies, often in really convoluted ways. This culminated in a GroundhogDayLoop episode where Xena, realizing she has no time to fix every problem on her own, spends some time planning ridiculous trajectories and using ''the chakram'' to interrupt every problem. Note the real-life counterpart of a war quoit is razor-sharp all the way around and definitely not something you'd want flying back at you. However, the [[AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe lethality of the Chakram]] entirely depended on whatever the plot needed it to do. Sometimes it was ''insanely'' sharp, severing ropes and tree branches in a single flight. Other times, it would knock out enemies without so much as a cut on their cheek, and Gabrielle would use it as a back-scratcher. After a while, the fans just accepted that there was a button, somewhere on the chakram, that turned it blunt. |
| 140 | ** Later in the series, the chakram got upgraded into a weapon that could split in two after being tossed, bounce off of multiple objects, strike many people, and recombine in mid-air before returning to Xena. At this point, it was [[AWizardDidIt explicitly magical]], [[RuleOfCool not that anyone cared about how it worked]]. |
| 141 | ** An AlternateRealityEpisode version of Xena who was some kind of ditzy socialite accidentally performed the exact same chakram trick by throwing a [[CombatStilettos high-heeled shoe]], but this was PlayedForLaughs. |
| 142 | * Various members of the Ultramen from the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', should they have a detachable headcrest, which could be launched as a powerful blade into their foes, slicing their targets to ribbons before returning to the owner. The most iconic example of course being Series/{{Ultraseven}} with his Eye Slugger, a trait seen in several Ultras showing up ''after'' him, such as Ultraseven-21 from ''Series/UltramanNeos'' and the titular hero of ''Series/UltramanMax''. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 146 | * Averted in "My Boomerang Won't Come Back", the tale of an aborigine who can't get his boomerang to just return. |
| 147 | [[/folder]] |
| 148 | |
| 149 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 150 | * OlderThanPrint in Myth/NorseMythology: |
| 151 | ** Thor's hammer Mjolnir would never miss, and yet would always return to him. |
| 152 | ** Odin's spear, Gungnir, had a similar enchantment. |
| 153 | * Similarly in Myth/SlavicMythology, Perun's axe, it would appear, did the same thing as Mjolnir. (We're not certain, as evidence on Slavic myth is scanty, but it makes sense; Slavic and Norse myth are believed to be derived from the common Indo-European mythology and Perun and Thor are believed to have common origins.) |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Puppet Shows]] |
| 157 | * ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' has Lew Zealand and his boomerang fish act. "I throw the fish, and they come back to me." |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 161 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'': |
| 162 | ** Supplement ''Enemies III''. Stronghammer the Dwarf's warhammer has an enchantment that causes it to return to him after being thrown. |
| 163 | ** Any Hero System character with a ranged attack and combat skill levels can pull this off -- one skill level per controlled bounce. |
| 164 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 165 | ** In the 4th Edition, all magically-enhanced throwing weapons have this effect by default, presumably because nobody in their right mind would throw an expensive magic weapon if there was a chance they wouldn't get it back. |
| 166 | ** In the 3rd Edition it isn't a requirement, but almost always standard for weapons with an enchantment over +1, except arrows, bolts, and bullets. |
| 167 | ** There are also a few prestige classes that allow a character to pull the trick off even with non-magical weapons. The Hammer of Moradin can do it with hammers, and the Bloodstorm Blade can do it with any melee weapon. Better still when the Bloodstorm Blade takes levels in a class with skill at {{improvised weapon}}s, becoming able to make boomerangs out of dinnerware, broken bottles, and furniture. |
| 168 | ** In the 2nd Edition (and perhaps the later, too), the thri-kreen (mantis-like insect humanoids) wield combat boomerangs called chatkchas. A chatkcha always returns to its thrower if it hits its target, but it won't return if it misses. Which is quite probably an error in the initial description, the chatkcha being supposed to come back if it misses and not if it hits. Unfortunately, instead of correcting the mistake, later sourcebooks ran further with it. |
| 169 | ** ''Dungeons & Dragons'' also has the Dwarven Thrower and Hammer of Thunderbolts, which are inspired by Mjölnir. Early editions of the ''Unearthed Arcana'' supplement had the Axe of Hurling and Darts of Homing as well. But averted with the Dagger of Throwing -- with all the other returning weapons, you'd think it'd do so but instead it just does double base damage when thrown. |
| 170 | ** Additionally, the ''returning'' enchantment can be applied to any throwing weapon to turn them into an [[ImprovisedWeapon impromptu boomerang]]. A Greater Crystal of Return can give this property to any throwing weapon with at least a +3 enchantment. |
| 171 | ** The ''Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords'' features the Iron Heart maneuver "Lightning Throw", which allow one to throw any kind of weapon and damage several enemy in a line, before returning the weapon to the thrower's hand (and it isn't even a supernatural move). |
| 172 | ** ''Deities & Demigods Cyclopedia''. The Babylonian deity Ramman has a 10-foot-long mallet that can be thrown to hit his enemies. After being thrown, it returns to his hand automatically. |
| 173 | ** Judges Guild adventure ''Portals of Irontooth''. The magic item known as the Gnome King's Spear can be thrown as if it were a spear or javelin and will return to the caster after it hits or misses its target. |
| 174 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'': |
| 175 | ** The magical Devastator Spear will return to its owner after being thrown. |
| 176 | ** The Hawk Hatchet has a kernal of True Air forged into it that causes it to return to the thrower's hand. |
| 177 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': |
| 178 | ** The Iron Raptor Technique enables you to throw any melee weapon like a boomerang and have it return to you. |
| 179 | ** You can attain similar effects with legitimate throwing weapons, such as the sky-cutter (a literal precision-guided boomerang). For the rare occasions anyone with a sky-cutter can't gain 2 successes on a Dexterity + Thrown roll, you can learn a Thrown-based version of Call the Blade to make it leap back into your hand. |
| 180 | * Anything with the Loyal Weapon enchantment will do this in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' and will keep trying if someone tries to stop it. |
| 181 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 182 | ** Several characters in (most commonly, Eldar) use variations of this trope. Maugan Ra, an Eldar hero armed with a shuriken-launching BFG can cause his projectiles to ricochet off walls, depriving his enemies of the benefits of cover. |
| 183 | ** A better example would be the Eldar weapon called the triskele, a three-bladed dagger-like weapon that can be hurled like a boomerang or used in close combat. |
| 184 | ** There's one unusually strong Space Wolves character who has a weapon sort of like this. He's a Wolfguard who's an expy of Thor and besides his impressive strength, he has a Thunderhammer that he can throw and it returns to him (though in this case, it's done by teleporting through the Warp). |
| 185 | ** Interestingly, the actual Boomerang weapons only return on a miss, and even then are not a guaranteed catch. |
| 186 | * ''TabletopGame/WorldOfSynnibarr''. A Dwarf Hammer will return to the dwarf who threw it from up to 1,000 feet away. This ability only works once per CharacterLevel of the dwarf per day and takes a while to do so. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 190 | * In ''VideoGame/AlienVsPredatorCapcom'', the disc would go through enemies and bounce off of walls, but always rebounded straight back at you at the wall or the edge of the screen. If you weren't there or you were in the middle of a damage animation, it flew by you and was lost forever. In the [[VideoGame/AlienVsPredator PC second version]] it lost ability to bounce, but can be "recalled" to you, using part of your energy; also, its guidance system is (still?) very loose. In the 2010 game, the Predator's disc will always find its way back to you. Also, its targeting is tied to your LaserSight, so you can steer it around a bit in midair. |
| 191 | * Stiletto Anyways from ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}'' fights with daggers. Depending on which set she's equipped with, they're thrown at the enemy and return every time. |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'': |
| 193 | ** Regular Batarangs avert this. After hitting their target, they would simply bounce off, never returning to Batman. You can even find them lying around after tossing a few. (However, they would cut through ropes fairly flawlessly, though that's more of an AbsurdlySharpBlade.) Also, the usual "multiple targets" of other video game boomerangs is averted in that you can only hit one target with a single Batarang; later upgrades let you throw more than one, letting you pick more targets (but never more than the amount of Batarangs you can throw). The Remote Control ones are justified, seeing as... well, they're remote control. (And they can be guided back to Batman, whereupon he will actually catch it. You don't have to do this, however.) |
| 194 | ** Played straight with Nightwing's Escrima Sticks, which can be thrown as projectiles, can hit multiple targets and will always return to Nightwing's hand. |
| 195 | * The Guardian and Nomad bloodlines from ''VideoGame/BloodlineChampions''. The former has an "Axe of Zechs" ability, while practically half of the latter's abilities consist of this. The former does it with a ''two-handed axe'', while the latter at least really uses a boomerang. |
| 196 | * The [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity + 1]] weapon of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI'', the Tri-Rang, split and flew in three directions at once and hit every enemy in its path at least twice - multiple times if the enemy was big enough. (The game also featured lesser boomerangs of the lesser "hit and return" variety) |
| 197 | * Kota from ''VideoGame/BoundByBlades'' has a pair of shields as his weapons, a large pavis shield for defense, and a smaller, circular buckler shield with ''blades'' attached to its sides. The latter can be thrown as a ranged attack, and after hitting an enemy it immediately bounces back to Kota. |
| 198 | * In ''VideoGame/{{BugFables}}'', one of the main characters, Vi, uses a beemerang as her weapon. Not only will it always return to her after being thrown, she can also have it hit enemies multiple times before returning or even '''stop''' it mid-air until it's recalled. Partially justified as the beemerang is a technological prototype. |
| 199 | * ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has had boomerangs as a secondary weapon since the first game. Some of them are crucifixes, some are X-shaped, and some are actual boomerangs. Interestingly enough, after reaching the limit of their range, the cross weapon tends to fly back in the opposite direction until you catch it or it flies off the screen. [[http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Cross_Boomerang#Item_Data See here for more info]]. |
| 200 | ** In ''Vampire Killer'', the crucifix and the axe both act as boomerangs, but you lose them if you don't catch them. |
| 201 | ** The Axe Armours do this with their axes. |
| 202 | * In ''VideoGame/CrusaderOfCenty'', the first skill the hero learns is ''throwing his sword'', which will indeed spin around and come back like a boomerang. |
| 203 | * ''Dark Angels: Masquerade of Shadows'' from Alawar Entertainment, features the Chakram which is a demon-killing throwing weapon that returns to its user's hand and also used for puzzle solving. What is unusual is such a weapon and combat featuring in a "hidden objects" adventure game, a genre not known for slugging it out with enemies. |
| 204 | * The main character of ''VideoGame/DarkSector'' has a glaive that acts like this, going so far as to have a puzzle at one point where you have to throw it over a fence and curve it down to hit a switch. Somewhat {{justified|Trope}} since when he first gets it, it actually seems to be coming out of him, meaning it's organically attached to him or something. |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'' features a Crossblade that works exactly like ''Wind Waker'''s boomerang. |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' has a boomerang that will return to you even if you move from where you threw it. It will only fail to return if you step behind something or leave the area. |
| 207 | * In the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series, any weapon thrown as part of an attack will return to the wielder's hand, follow them as they turn -- or move, if the attack allows it -- and can hit multiple targets. This is odd enough with Zhu Rong's Boomerang... but it gets weirder with Sun Shang Xiang's chakrams, which aren't ''returning'' throwing weapons; and Yue Ying's War-Spear/Dagger-Axe, which she shouldn't even be able to use as a throwing weapon at all. |
| 208 | * In the doujin fighter game ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', Mizuka Nagamori throws her ''cello bow'' as a boomerang for one of her attacks. Her bow will hone in on her position on its return voyage, remaining airborne until she regains it. Mizuka can also control its direction by waving a conductor's baton. |
| 209 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has several examples. |
| 210 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Yuffie's shuriken work this way. Oddly enough, you can never get thrown weaponry back. [[FridgeLogic Not sure why you can't just pick it up after the battle....]] |
| 211 | *** The extended re-release of the movie ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' features Cloud hurling one of his swords several hundred feet, where it flies in a wide lateral circle and slices through three monsters along the way before returning to him. Not only does he throw it, the sword splits in two in mid-flight. And he catches the second sword with the blade of the first one. |
| 212 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Rinoa's Blaster Edges work the same way. |
| 213 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' there were boomerang weapons that could be dual wielded! They could also be made to steal items using Locke's Capture/Mug command. |
| 214 | ** Same goes for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV V]]''. |
| 215 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Hope Estheim's weapon of choice is a folding boomerang that can make a figure eight-shaped arc to hit the mook at least twice before returning to him, the game [[JustifiedTrope justifies this]], he has a device on his wrist that makes his boomerang follow his arm movements. |
| 216 | ** Dancers in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' wield a pair of [[RingsOfDeath chakrams]] that they can direct with their MagicDance. |
| 217 | * ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games have throwing axes that can be thrown from a distance. The attack animation has them thrown like 'boomerang'. This, however, has stopped since ''Shadow Dragon'', as the thrower now, instead, takes out new axes from {{Hammerspace}}. |
| 218 | * Your ThunderHammer in ''VideoGame/GodOfThunder'', when thrown, comes back directly towards you, no matter how much you move after throwing it. If there's an obstacle in its way, it will stop against the obstacle and hover in mid-air until you move aside to give it a clear path to you. This becomes an important element in various puzzles. |
| 219 | * ''VideoGame/HorizonForbiddenWest'': The Shredder Gauntlet class of weapons let Aloy throw out discs that spin into a machine for a short time, potentially damaging multiple components, before they come flying back toward Aloy. If she intercepts their path she can catch them and throw the same disc out again for more damage. Should she catch the same disc three times, it explodes on the fourth throw. Its ability to return to Aloy is justified due to the discs obviously being made with high-tech components scavenged from machines that include a limited guidance system. |
| 220 | * The Pa Cheng in ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheEmperorsTomb'' is a shuriken-like weapon that, when thrown, homes in on enemies and always returns to Indy's hand. Justified by it being a magical weapon. |
| 221 | * Once thrown, the Boomerang acquired in ''VideoGame/JoeAndMac'' will literally chase you wherever you run as long as it does not lodge into a mook on the way. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/TheJungleBook'' has a boomerang as one of the weapons; interestingly, while it comes back to you after being thrown, you still lose one boomerang whenever you throw one. |
| 223 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Kamiko}}'', Hinome uses the Mirror of Yata as a boomerang that returns to her whenever thrown. For her special attack, she causes it to spin around her, circling around the screen and destroying everything in its path before returning. |
| 224 | * ''Kid Kool'' and its {{Spiritual Successor}}s by Creator/VicTokai all featured a partner that could be thrown at enemies but would return after a few seconds, though you would lose it if you took a hit: |
| 225 | ** Wicky in ''Kid Kool''. |
| 226 | ** Bird Fly in ''VideoGame/PsychoFox''. |
| 227 | ** The skull in ''VideoGame/DecapAttack'' (whose counterpart in ''Magical Hat no Buttobi Turbo! Daibouken'' was an egg named Robogg). |
| 228 | * In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', Sora has an attack that allows him to throw his keyblade multiple times. Each time he throws it, it travels until it goes offscreen before reappearing in his hand. This is explained in the same way as Wulfgar's hammer above: The keyblade is a magical weapon that [[ClingyMacGuffin will appear in the hand of the wielder whenever they want it to]]. Later games have it physically flying back, though the same principle may be in play. Advanced versions of the attack include Wind Raid, which uses wind to guide the blade on a crazy looping trajectory to hit as many enemies as possible before returning to the user's hand. Goofy's shield and Axel's chakrams also return to them when thrown. |
| 229 | * Chakrams in ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning''. Not only do they come back when thrown, but they can do a few tricks in the air like hitting multiple targets before coming back to you. Justified since they're explicitly magical weapons. |
| 230 | * Zig-zagged in ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' by the main character and various enemies. Most boomerang attacks will go forward before reversing direction but will '''not''' return to the thrower if they've moved. One of the most common [[PowerCopying Copy Abilities]] is Cutter, which usually allows Kirby to throw boomerang-like blades that don't always come back. However, in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', the Cutter ability causes Kirby to throw a piece of himself as a boomerang, and given [[BlessedWithSuck his greatly reduced mobility during this]], it's guaranteed that the projectile will return home shortly after rebounding. Also, in ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'' and ''3'', using Cutter while teamed up with Rick causes Rick to throw Kirby as a boomerang that tries to come back, though it's possible to avoid catching the projectile and even set up a situation where Rick can stand still and have Kirby orbit endlessly around him. In the same game, teaming up with Pitch for certain copy abilities turns Pitch into a returning projectile, though for Cutter he becomes a crescent-shaped blade that does not spin like a boomerang. |
| 231 | * The remake of ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' includes a chakram that behaves like one of these; it will make a good effort to return to you but doesn't always succeed. If it fails (or hits a hard surface) it falls to the ground; either way, successfully catching or retrieving it allows you to avoid wasting ammo. |
| 232 | * In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', Sivir has two abilities that do this. The first cause her auto-attacks to bounce and hit nearby enemies, the other throws her crossblade straight forward, where it will return to her. She can move while it's in flight to alter the angle of its return so that it hits an enemy it would otherwise miss. |
| 233 | ** Lux has an odd defensive version of this. She throws her wand, and every allied champion it hits gains a defense shield. As with Sivir, moving while it's in flight can be used to make it hit more people, or hit the same person again on the return journey to reapply the shield. That said, it IS explicitly magical. |
| 234 | * In the Jaleco arcade game ''Legend of Makai'', your hero starts off with just a cheap sword. But he can quickly earn enough money to buy a throwing knife, a throwing axe, and ultimately a pair of throwing axes. Each of these will return to you regardless of whether you hit or miss an enemy. |
| 235 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Link's boomerang allows for limited control. Once he upgrades to the magic boomerang, it can travel the full length of the screen. The boomerang in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' physically locks onto multiple targets when you aim, and will hit them all when you release. And it's not even said to be magic! The similar Gale Boomerang in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' ''is'' explicitly magic, as it's inhabited by the "Fairy of Winds". One little trick with the boomerang in ''The Wind Waker'' was to throw it upwind then sail downwind and watch as the boomerang chases the boat when trying to return to Link. |
| 236 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' and sequel ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' takes it to a new level, with a boomerang that can follow any path you draw, making it no problem at all to throw it around corners, hit two enemies, grab an item, then navigate back to you. And, unlike many boomerangs in the ''Legend of Zelda'' series, such as the above ''Twilight Princess'' example, they don't HandWave it by labelling the boomerang magical. |
| 237 | ** The Magic Boomerang in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Seasons]]'' is similar, but instead of drawing a path, it's controlled with the d-pad. It doesn't turn very well, though. |
| 238 | ** What really takes the cake is the boomerang from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''. If you have the boomerang and the flying cuckoo at the same time, you can throw the boomerang and pick up the cuckoo before it returns. The cuckoo will make you hover several feet in the air, and the boomerang will spin around underneath you until you land. You can move while hovering, and the boomerang will follow you wherever you go, which basically makes you into an invincible flying engine of death, since Link can't be harmed by enemies while airborne, and the boomerang is easily the most powerful weapon in the game. Almost anything it is capable of affecting will die in one hit, ''including the final boss''. |
| 239 | ** There's also a spot in the Great Bay Temple in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' where you can throw the Zora Boomerangs while being pushed around in a circle by the water current, letting you move faster than normal. If you keep running away, you can avoid the boomerangs indefinitely as they continue to chase you in a circle. |
| 240 | ** One of the only times the 'rang is not guaranteed to return to Link's hand is in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' It will attempt to get to where Link's moved to but can't always make it, passing him by and travelling a good distance across the stage; this can be very useful in Break The Targets or for simply more amounts of projectile spam. Link can't use the move again until it's vanished. |
| 241 | ** Mostly averted in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''. Link not only has to catch boomerangs with a button press on the return trip, they can also be stopped mid-flight by solid objects in their path such as trees or rocks, and will eventually land on the ground if not caught; further, they return to where they were thrown from, so if Link throws it and then moves any significant distance, he's not catching anything. However, hitting enemies still doesn't interrupt their flight. |
| 242 | ** Parodied in this Website/{{Cracked}} article, [[http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_85_if-video-games-were-realistic_p2/ If Video Games Were Realistic]]. |
| 243 | * ''VideoGame/LooneyTunes'' on UsefulNotes/GameBoy gives Bugs and Daffy auto-return frisbees that would swing around you if you dodge their first attempt. If you do manage to throw it off, it's pointless because the frisbees are [[OneBulletAtATime actually infinite]]. |
| 244 | * Selan's weapon of choice in ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' are [[AnIcePerson icy]] chakrams. Both of her special attacks involve throwing her blade, with the basic special being guided by the D-pad. It's [[JustifiedTrope justified]] via the setting's {{Magitek}}. |
| 245 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'', ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter'' and the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series with Captain America. Cap's shield will not return to you, instead bouncing off an opponent or a wall with the intention of you catching it. You can actually miss it, forcing Cap to fight shieldless until you walk over it. |
| 246 | * In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'', Captain America's shield can be controlled in midair, probably through the controls mentioned in the above comic book section. It's worth noting, however, that controlling it is damn near impossible in-game. It's better to just throw the shield and let it do its own thing. It'll return to you regardless. |
| 247 | * In ''VideoGame/MaximoGhostsToGlory'', the title character's shield acts very much like the Captain America example above: it always returns to him (regardless of what it hits) and with the right upgrades can bounce between enemies and/or hover in mid-air. |
| 248 | * ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' has a number of weapons like this, some boomerangs (Quick Boomerang), some... not (Rolling Cutter, Shadow Blade, Ring Boomerang). Unfortunately, you don't get your weapon energy back if you catch them (a flaw that ''VideoGame/MegaManX'''s Boomerang Cutter corrects). ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' has a Shield Boomerang weapon that also returns when you throw it, though the throwing arc differs between games - in ''Zero 3'', you can trick the Shield Boomerang into indefinitely revolving around Zero. This is actually pretty common for video game boomerangs, right down to being able to keep it going indefinitely. Model PX's charged shot (which is an especially bad example, as it ''holds still'' for a second before returning) can ''orbit'' Aile in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'', without having to keep moving or anything. |
| 249 | * ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': Tridents can be enchanted with the "Loyalty" enchantment, which makes your Trident return back to you after it's thrown and hits something. |
| 250 | * In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'', Tanya's weapon of choice was a boomerang. While all characters could throw their weapons, hers would actually return to her if it misses the opponent. However, the trope is averted in that she has to retrieve it if it hits. |
| 251 | * Aversion: The boomerang in ''VideoGame/NetHack'' is a decently powerful missile weapon that moves in a circular pattern when thrown. Among other effects, this means that you can't throw it in narrow passages. And yes, if it actually hits, it doesn't come back. Then there's [[http://nethack.wikia.com/wiki/Mjollnir Mjollnir]], which has a 99% of magically returning to you after being thrown if you're wearing gauntlets of power (or otherwise have artificially maxed Strength). |
| 252 | * In the original ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'', the giant shuriken -- the Windmill Star -- would return to you, no matter how doggedly you dodged it. A skilled warrior could use a single star to fight over a long period of time, simply by repeatedly jumping over it. The Xbox remake also features the Windmill Star as a somewhat hidden weapon. It's the single best subweapon in the entire game, being the only one (other than the bow, and that doesn't really count) that can hurt bosses, and also capable of killing sufficiently weakened mooks. |
| 253 | * These get distinct names in different ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' games. In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII'', they're slicers; ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' and ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'' call them slashers. Whatever they're called, they're an iconic weapon of each game's resident [[LadyOfWar Ladies of War]]. |
| 254 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/PitfallTheMayanAdventure''. Boomerangs are one of three weapons in the game, follow an improbably far-reaching curved path, and float around in the air upon return. They do disappear if you don't grab them again, however... and they ''don't'' return if they hit an enemy. |
| 255 | * In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the bones that Cubone and Marowak wield in battle exhibit this trope when Cubone or Marowak uses the Cubone family's signature move, Bonemerang. |
| 256 | * ''VideoGame/Postal2'' has a precision guided '''[[MacheteMayhem machete]]'''. |
| 257 | * The NES platformer ''VideoGame/PowerBlade'' featured the protagonist, an [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Albert Wesker]] lookalike wield such a weapon. It centered on finding power-ups or PoweredArmor to increase its effectiveness, as well as agents who will help you deactivate security to shut down computer networks, in a mix between ''Franchise/MegaMan'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear.'' |
| 258 | * Your frisbees in ''VideoGame/{{Purple}}'' always return to you after throwing. Should they fail to do so, they immaterialize and return as soon as possible passing through everything (or in case of Cluster F., {{sp|readShot}}lit). |
| 259 | * ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'': In [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 the original game]], your wrench can be thrown boomerang style in a straight line and will always come back after hitting a target only you are unable to move after releasing your boomerang. Ever since the sequel, you CAN move after throwing your boomerang and it always comes back to wherever you are (though you can only move maybe a couple feet in the time the wrench is flying). Justified, as both the wrench and armor Ratchet wears are stated to be magnetized. |
| 260 | * In many console {{R|olePlayingGame}}PGs that have boomerangs or similar weapons, including the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, their advantage is that they can hit multiple enemies in one attack. |
| 261 | * Cham Cham out of ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown II'' has one of these as her primary ''melee'' weapon (her heavy slash is basically to toss it about a metre in front of her). This actually makes it one of the best projectiles in the game, since it will plow through and disrupt all but a few other projectiles in the game: it can't destroy other melee weapons, and some projectiles escape just by not being where the boomerang goes. And it always returns, even while she's being grappled and pummelled. "Oh! How dangerous a boomerang is!" |
| 262 | * Mitsunari Ishida from ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' throws his war fan in this fashion. Also in the same game, in roughly increasing levels of absurdity: |
| 263 | ** Yoshimoto Imagawa has his kemari (soccer ball) |
| 264 | ** Oichi has her chakrams, similar to the example above. |
| 265 | ** Kunoichi and Nene can fling their twin knives out and they will return. The latter can even combine hers like fuuma shrunken. |
| 266 | ** Katsuie Shibata can throw his ''axes''. |
| 267 | ** Okuni's parasol, It can also function as a kind of blender/shield that always hovers in front of her for sorry periods. |
| 268 | ** Kanbei Kuroda can multiply and launch his crystal balls, but they're more explicitly magical. |
| 269 | * The Boomerang class of weapons from ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' can defy all sorts of conventional physics when sufficiently charged up, but will always return to the wielder when thrown. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' has Goto Matabe, who uses a "Fang Blade" that can be tossed like a giant boomerang in order to clear crowds of enemies. It also serves as a useful torture device, either for sawing into the enemy or crushing them between the blades like a vice grip. |
| 271 | * Somewhat subverted in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartSimpsonsEscapeFromCampDeadly'', where boomerangs were the main weapon. They could ricochet at 90-degree angles from the ground and hard objects, but if you missed them on the way back, they were gone. |
| 272 | * Aika from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' uses these. |
| 273 | * ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' features boomerangs that make every attempt to get back to you after being thrown, but can get cut off by surrounding terrain, especially if you move after tossing one. |
| 274 | * In ''VideoGame/StarOcean1'', Fear Mell fights with two throwing knives that always return (and some versions hit on the way back too). She wears a magical ring (that cannot be removed) to give her this power. Marvel Frozen similarly fights with a flying orb that she manipulates with her telekinetic power. |
| 275 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'' games often have "throw lightsaber" powers that let Jedi turn their lightsabers into Precision Guided Boomerangs. This is more due to the Jedi's telekinetic Force abilities than the lightsaber, but to an observer, it looks the same. |
| 276 | * ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'': |
| 277 | ** In ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' two characters Sialeeds and Sharmitsa have Chakrams as their weapons which are actually considered boomerangs and come back on return, they can also learn a skill for boomerangs which another character who actually has a boomerang cannot use. |
| 278 | ** In ''VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis'' Various characters can use a boomerang as their weapon, a chakram is one of the weapons included in the boomerang category and works like one as well. |
| 279 | * ''Super VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' allows players to pick up and throw boomerangs at enemies, complete with return flight. However, in an odd and unintended aversion, they deal damage to the ''user'' as well. This was because the developers had yet to program the ability to catch them (along with many other things) when they were forced to rush-release the North American version, which was based on an incomplete build. They were able to add the ability to catch them for its ''slightly'' more complete Japanese release, ''Return of Double Dragon'', although in a more conventional aversion, they're still lost forever if the player fails to catch them. |
| 280 | * Boomerang Bros in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games. Mario also can do it with an e-reader upgrade in the GBA remake of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' and as a normal power-up in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld''. |
| 281 | * Colette in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' wields chakrams that do this. |
| 282 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts [[UpdatedRerelease R]]'' gives us Gall Gruner who [[DualWielding wields]] a {{Machete|Mayhem}} and an axe that can attack again after being thrown. |
| 283 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' has Malik Caesar who fights with "[[MixAndMatchWeapon Bladeaxes]]". |
| 284 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has [[CuteBruiser Nan]] of the Hunting Blades use a boomerang that is the same size as her. The fact it returns to her is annoying in a battle as if a character is in the way, they get hit again by it. |
| 285 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1989''; boomerangs follow a fixed path, and if the player doesn't catch them on the return, they are lost. Boomerang-wielding {{Mooks}}, on the other hand, play it straight. Though not so much in other ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' games with Michelangelo's nunchaku, which are usually thrown in special attacks to make him less of a CloseRangeCombatant. |
| 286 | * If you throw a boomerang in ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', it ''will'' return to you, even if it has to {{offscreen teleport|ation}} back into your inventory. |
| 287 | * ''Times of Lore'' from Creator/OriginSystems, one available weapon is a magic axe that you throw at people and [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang it will return to your hand]]. |
| 288 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Elly's Scythe in ''VideoGame/TouhouGensokyoLotusLandStory''. Even if you FIRE at it, it just blocks the attack and makes Elly [[ThatOneBoss more of a pain than she already was.]] |
| 289 | * ''VideoGame/TribesVengeance'' features the Buckler, a weapon/shield exclusive to the Assault class. When thrown, the buckler will follow the player's crosshair, then after a certain point (or upon hitting an enemy) will bounce back in mid-air to return to the player's hands. If the buckler gets caught on an object, it will teleport back to the player's hands. |
| 290 | * In ''VideoGame/TronDeadlyDiscs'', Tron's disc and those of the MCP's warriors rebound and return to their owners when they hit a wall. Tron's disc even goes so far as to also have LagCancel -- if you don't want to wait for it to rebound when you miss your target, just press a button and it will instantly return to you. |
| 291 | * In ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'', the Disc Primitive is just what it was in the film, and is the main non-energy-weapon. No self-guidance, but can be manually "corrected" through the flight. It ricochets off nearly any surface and will always return sooner or later -- though it can be forced to return in case you need to use it as a shield. Ricocheting [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment can be a problem]], if you're using disc near "civilian" programs. |
| 292 | * A couple ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' games feature the Razor Wind, a thrown ''circular saw'' that passes right through most enemies and, if it manages to get stuck, simply ''appears in the wielder's hand''. What's more, it never seems to hurt the wielder despite its lethal shape. |
| 293 | * ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal II'''s Roadkill had a boomerang missile that would shoot straight out, make a 90° turn and swing back to you. It was pretty sporadic as to whether or not you got credit back when you "cought" it, and sometimes it would just decide to fly circles around you. As a bonus, it did double damage if it hit an enemy on the way back. |
| 294 | * ''VideoGame/TyTheTasmanianTiger'': Ty's main weapons are a variety of {{dual wield|ing}}ed boomerangs that ALWAYS return directly to him, no matter what obstacles get in their way. |
| 295 | ** The Doomerang, which is player-controlled while your character stands immobile and vulnerable, making it AwesomeButImpractical, unfortunately. |
| 296 | ** There's also the Megarang, which automatically targets crates and enemies, and will merrily bounce from enemy to crate to enemy, before returning to Ty's hand, er, paw. |
| 297 | ** Then there's the Kaboomarang, which somehow returns to Ty even after ''exploding''. |
| 298 | * In the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, there is a weapon called the Magic Axe which acts EXACTLY like the cliche boomerang: when thrown, it will fly straight ahead, and return to its wielder once it hits its target or hits the edge of the screen, no matter how its wielder moves. It's one of the more powerful weapons in the game, up to the seventh in the series, ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' -- which introduces a ''two-handed sledgehammer'' called the Juggernaught that does the same thing. Itself subverted within the same game (perhaps unintentionally) if playing the game on a slow PC -- the terrain tiles are moved before the weapon tiles are, making it entirely possible to have either the Magic Axe OR the Juggernaught wind up embedded in the terrain and unrecoverable. Which is painful in both, because there are limited numbers of Magic Axes (five) and Juggernaughts (one) in the game, so once embedded they are lost to the player for the rest of the game. |
| 299 | * In ''VideoGame/UnleashTheLight'', Steven's [[ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks Shield Throw]] functions like a boomerang. You can pick up to 2-3 targets to hit, and his shield hits all enemies in its path before returning to him. |
| 300 | * Thrown melee weapons in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' will always come back to the player, allowing them to OneHitPolykill enemies in the way. The Glaive (originally featured in ''VideoGame/DarkSector''), Kestrel boomerang, and Halikar mace will all come straight back to the user (though enemy Halikars take a curving path); and the Halikar [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands will take enemy weapons with it]]. Several other weapons like the various [[SinisterScythe scythes]] can be thrown with certain melee stances equipped; the "Reaping Spiral" stance will hurl the scythe forward while it spins through enemies and goes straight through cover and riot shields, before returning to the user's hands. |
| 301 | * ''VideoGame/WarioWareGetItTogether'': Mona carries a boomerang whose trajectory can be guided with the control stick. |
| 302 | * Jet's boomerang in ''VideoGame/WildARMs3'' acts the same way, and is necessary to activate some switches. |
| 303 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a couple, surprisingly enough. |
| 304 | ** [[http://www.wowhead.com/?item=11905 Linken's Boomerang]] is a quest reward named after the aforementioned [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]. It used to be a fairly popular item for Paladins at the time, who usually lacked the ability to pull from a distance. The quest chain has since been removed from the game, though the item remains for those who still had it. |
| 305 | ** Much more enjoyable is the [[http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=11055 Booterang]], which can be used in a daily quest. Note that these items obey the trope perfectly, following you around literally forever as long as you don't catch them or change zones, and it's easy to outrun them on a fast-flying mount. Since the items' use cooldown works independently of the graphical effect, it's also possible to have a ridiculously huge number of them on screen at once. Yes, this means you could fly orbits around Shattrath pursued by a swarm of 100 Booterangs, if you really wanted to. |
| 306 | ** Cataclysm introduces the engineering-exclusive Loot-a-Rang, which allows you to rifle through the pockets of a fallen foe and collect piles of gold and/or items from a distance. |
| 307 | ** Some of the Hozen (a race of monkey-like creatures) in Mists of Pandaria have a Bananarang attack which works like this. |
| 308 | ** One of the Hunter talents as of Mists of Pandaria throws a pair of Glaives that act like boomerangs, converging on the target for four times the damage each, but can hit other targets again on their way back to the Hunter. |
| 309 | ** Any other throwing attack kind of implies the return to the user since the weapon (or shield for some Paladins) is never lost, but the whole "hitting other targets on the way to the main target and back to the user"-concept is generally ignored. |
| 310 | [[/folder]] |
| 311 | |
| 312 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 313 | * Subverted [[http://campcomic.com/comic/279 here]] in ''Webcomic/CampWeedonwantcha'': when Malachi says it comes back, he means his friend Seventeen will retrieve it for him. |
| 314 | * ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'': |
| 315 | ** Chief has a spear that materializes in his hand after throwing it. It also splits into lots of spears when thrown. |
| 316 | ** Kin also had a crossbow with bolts that regrow in the quiver... but that takes an hour. |
| 317 | * In ''Webcomic/TheGodsOfArrKelaan'', this is a major plot point that Satan tries to plan around. The magical pink mallet still goes through him to return to Ronson. |
| 318 | * ''Webcomic/KnightsOfTheOldCoding'': |
| 319 | ** The comic parodies this, when it is revealed that Ryu's Windmill Star always returns, but he had slept through the class on how to catch a giant spinning blade of death. He eventually stops it -- by embedding it in a Dragoon's back. |
| 320 | ** Similarly, when Kuros finds the Axe of Agor, he discards the Knife of Throwing, forgetting that [[BoomerangComeback it always returns until it stabs him in the back]]. |
| 321 | * [[DoubleSubversion Double-subverted]] in ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom''. At first it zig-zags all across the room before disappearing down a hole. After several pages and most of a BossBattle, it reappears and lodges itself in the Boss's throat at the perfect moment. |
| 322 | * ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'': |
| 323 | ** See [[http://www.xkcd.com/445/ this comic]]. |
| 324 | ** And [[http://xkcd.com/475/ this one]], in the same vein. |
| 325 | ** And at long last, [[http://xkcd.com/939/ the return]]... |
| 326 | [[/folder]] |
| 327 | |
| 328 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 329 | * In the ''WebVideo/KateModern'' animated episode "The Wedding Video", Ninja!Charlie {{throw|ingYourSwordAlwaysWorks}}s a bent {{katana|sAreJustBetter}} at a group of enemies. It slices straight through them all and arcs around, coming to rest embedded in the wall next to where Charlie is standing. |
| 330 | * In his Youtube channel ''[=JLaservideo=]'', Jake Laser created a replica of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield, made of carbon fiber with a ring of fiberglass. Amazingly, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpiGPLUCC3w&ab_channel=JLaservideoJLaservideoVerificado it works]], as it bounces on the hit surfaces and comes back to him. |
| 331 | * Played for laughs in the ''Blog/WhatIf'' entry [[http://what-if.xkcd.com/23/ "Short Answer Section II"]]: |
| 332 | --> '''Chad Macziewski:''' What if you strapped C4 to a boomerang? Could this be an effective weapon, or would it be as stupid as it sounds?\ |
| 333 | '''[[Webcomic/{{xkcd}} Randall Munroe:]]''' Aerodynamics aside, I'm curious what tactical advantage you're expecting to gain by having the high explosive fly back at you if it misses the target. |
| 334 | * During the ''[[WebVideo/TGWTGYearOneBrawl Year One Brawl]]'', That Aussie Guy whips out "The Stereotype of Doom", throwing a boomerang that knocks down [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], Handsome Tom, WebVideo/MarzGurl, and Ma-Ti, before he effortlessly reclaims it, spouting a menacing "Oi" at the end. |
| 335 | [[/folder]] |
| 336 | |
| 337 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 338 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': |
| 339 | ** Sokka's boomerang does this to a lesser extent, and has been known to simply [[ClingyMacGuffin show back up after being lost]], or be found again by sheer luck -- a more mundane form of returning, but you can't doubt its loyalty. Lampshaded once when Sokka was stuck in a pit and an apple was ''just'' out of reach. While struggling to get free, the boomerang dislodges from him and falls in front of the apple, and Sokka remarks: "Now come back, boomerang." Furthermore, in one episode, the group's packs are stolen, and Sokka's boomerang with them. Later in the same episode, they run into the thieves and the boomerang is dropped. When Sokka sees it, he snatches it up, cuddles it, and proclaims "Boomerang! You really do always come back!" |
| 340 | ** In "The Western Air Temple", Sokka became the worst abuser in history. [[spoiler:[[AwesomenessByAnalysis Based on the angle of two firebending attacks]], he is able to locate and hit an enemy hundreds of feet away, at least one floor up, ''from behind a wall'', and it still comes back. Add to this is the fact that it is a headshot, and when the guy gets back up and tries to attack again '''[[HoistByHisOwnPetard he explodes]]''']]. Seriously. While it was '''completely insane''', [[RuleOfCool it's pretty awesome]] -- and awesome enough InUniverse that ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' reveals that even nearly 30 years later, he's still bragging about it a little (and can you really blame him?). Granted, there ''was'' {{Foreshadowing}} in a previous episode that [[spoiler:[[GoForTheEye hitting his third eye]] causes his mind/firebending to backfire and blow up in his face]], so there's at least a reason for ''that'' part. |
| 341 | ** [[spoiler:Then subverted in the GrandFinale, where Sokka throws it in a last-ditch effort to save himself and Toph. He then guesses (correctly) that it's not coming back when he realizes that he only delayed the inevitable... [[BigDamnHeroes only to be saved by Suki's timely comeback.]]]] Made all the funnier by Toph (who is blind and thus only heard the ensuing carnage) asking the question, [[spoiler:"What happened? Did boomerang come back?"]] |
| 342 | * In both ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', the Batarangs are much more often just bladed throwing weapons that may or may not curve. And sometimes they're not. However, ''The Batman'' might also be a justified case, since here the Batarang is equipped with the same kind of [[AppliedPhlebotinum weird technology]] found within the GrapplingHookPistol, [=the BatWave=], etc. -- remember that strange zinging noise the Batarang makes. In ''Batman Beyond'', they were shown to be much less precise without the processing power of Terry's PoweredArmor. |
| 343 | * Wonder Woman also does it with her tiara in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', as a shout-out to her live-action TV days. |
| 344 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': |
| 345 | ** Yumi's tessen fans act like this. It helps that she can use telekinesis to control them. Though in an episode she and Odd switch bodies, Odd is unable to make them return. |
| 346 | ** Ulrich's {{katana|sAreJustBetter}} veers into this a few times [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks when thrown]]. |
| 347 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHerculoids''. Zandor's shield, which could even return while ''carrying a person''. |
| 348 | * In the "A Better World" episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Wonder Woman uses her tiara as this against [[spoiler:Justice Lord Wonder Woman]]. |
| 349 | * In ''WesternAnimation/KryptoTheSuperdog'', Ace the Bat-Hound also has a teleguided batarang. |
| 350 | * In the WesternAnimation/{{classic Disney short|s}} "Mickey Down Under" (1948), WesternAnimation/{{Mickey|Mouse}} uses a boomerang that's borderline self-willed. It barely needs to be thrown and just flies in circles at the slightest touch. Pluto struggles for a while with it, and both he and Mickey end up chased by the boomerang at the end. |
| 351 | * ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' episode [[Recap/MickeyMouseS5E11OutbackAtYa "Outback At Ya!"]] takes place in Australia and revolves around Mickey ignoring a [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia joey's]] warning about how "once a boomerang is thrown, its journey begins and ends in your hands". Mickey throwing it leads to disaster for everyone around him. Mickey fixes it by throwing the boomerang again and having it directly chase after him. |
| 352 | * One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' has Tigger throw a boomerang at a beehive. Said boomerang hunts him down like a bloodhound for the rest of the episode, even into houses. |
| 353 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', Private uses a butterscotch lollipop as a boomerang. |
| 354 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'' had Smee cursed with [[ClingyMacGuffin a boomerang that always returned.]] Even from a locked chest at the bottom of the sea. Even with people clinging to it (and getting a free ride). |
| 355 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Skyland}}'': Mahad's boomerang. |
| 356 | * ''WesternAnimation/SkysurferStrikeForce'': Soar Loser has a total of five boomerangs at his disposal and throughout the course of the show, they always came back. |
| 357 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Robin's Birdarangs are examples, and one of his many shoutouts to ''[[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]''. |
| 358 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'''s most colorful apprentices from "The Tick vs. Education": the Babyboomerangotan! A man in an orangutan costume... throwing baby dolls which returned to him. Except for the doll dubbed "the middle child", which ''exploded''. |
| 359 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': |
| 360 | ** Optimus Prime from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' somehow manages to have a precision-guided ''axe''. |
| 361 | *** Prowl's shuriken seem to work this way as well. |
| 362 | ** Before him, Cheetor in ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' could stick his swords together to form a boomerang thingy capable of hitting several Vehicon drones in one flight path and still return. |
| 363 | * ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' has the Blade of Marmora who can hurl their swords to bounce off objects, strike their target, and then catch the weapon. Slightly subdued in that the blade doesn't return to where they started, they jump to catch it where they knew it would end up. |
| 364 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': |
| 365 | ** Ruel Stroud's ''{{shovel|Strike}}'' (the Enutrof's weapon of choice). |
| 366 | ** Remington Smisse has a Shushu dagger/scimitar also capable of this feat. |
| 367 | ** The Masked Gobbowler can do this by controlling a gobball infused with energy. |
| 368 | * ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'': Wile E. Coyote and a boomerang. You can figure out the rest. |
| 369 | * In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' the monks get a MidSeasonUpgrade in the form of artifacts personalized to their elemental powers. Clay gets the Big Bang Meteorang, which is a brown boomerang that splits into multiple boomerangs in flight, blows up the MechaMooks in its path before returning as a single boomerang. |
| 370 | [[/folder]] |
| 371 | |
| 372 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 373 | * JustForFun: R.W. Wood (physicist, enthusiast of boomerang and surfing, and sort of daredevil) at one of his open demonstrations decided to show how the boomerang flies and sent it into a wide loop over the tribunes. Then one of his students raised an umbrella high enough to be in the way. Boomerang cut it down. |
| 374 | [[/folder]] |
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