Line #47 Main/WeaponOfPeace


1	-> ''"We have a saying in Belka. 'If you're an ambassador of peace, don't carry a spear'."''
2	-->-- '''Vita''', ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' (Actually, it's not a saying, [[OrphanedPunchline it's the punchline to a joke]])
3
4	Weapons [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons are designed to hurt]]. Their names, however, may not reflect this.
5
6	The goal of the 'defending' faction in most wars is to defeat the enemy and achieve peace and, as a result, a weapon may be named for its supposed purpose of achieving peace. 'Peacemaker' seems to be a popular choice.
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8	Usually played straight, although a satirical work might play this trope for laughs (in which case the chances are high that someone will crack a "peace through superior firepower" joke). Compare ICallItVera.
9
10	Usually a WeaponForIntimidation, though with a possibly more family-friendly name.
11	----
12	!!Examples:
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
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16	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
17	* The Pacifista units in ''Manga/OnePiece''. Basically, huge [[NighInvulnerability nigh-invulnerable ]] {{Artificial Human}}s with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]]. Ouch.
18	* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'', this appears to be ZAFT's rationale behind the names of the Freedom, Justice, and Providence Gundams. The former two get used by the heroes, the latter is used by the OmnicidalManiac.
19	* The Peacemakers in ''Literature/ScrappedPrincess'' are humanoid weapons that routinely wipe out swathes of the population to keep the country in a MedievalStasis.
20	[[/folder]]
21
22	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
23	* In ''Film/DangerDeathRay'', the titular invention is said to have been created for "peaceful purposes" by its inventor. Naturally, [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Mike and the Bots]] pointedly ask why the heck you would call it that, if it was so friggin' peaceful.
24	* ''Film/ThingsToCome''. Wings Over The World drop the [[KnockoutGas Gas of Peace]] on those who [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans fail to recognise the benefits]] of their OneWorldOrder.
25	[[/folder]]
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27	[[folder:Literature]]
28	* Detritus of ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has a [[{{BFG}} one-man siege crossbow]] he calls 'the Piecemaker'. The spelling is intentional, since the arrows shatter into a cloud of burning splinters on firing. Presumably, moments after, so does the target...
29	** ... and the door in front of the target. And maybe the wall behind the target too...
30	* The novel ''The Tomorrow File'' by Lawrence Sanders is about a future United States where the Department of Defense was renamed the Department of Peace.
31	* Similarly, ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'''s [[BlatantLies Ministry of Peace]].
32	* In ''Literature/KnownSpace'', the "Wunderland Treatymaker" was a huge Death Star-like disintegrator weapon that razed a Mars-like planet's surface to the point where they had to rename the planet [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Canyon]].[[note]]Said "Canyon" is as long and wide as the Baja Peninsula and ''twelve miles deep'' - and it turns out that a Mars-type atmosphere is Earthlike if it all falls into a Baja-sized canyon... and Earthlike planets are rare in Known Space, so humans promptly moved in.[[/note]] The Kzinti soon surrendered after it was deployed, so it lived up to its name.
33	* In ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', there is a weapon of mass destruction that uses sound waves to disintegrate anything. While it is still an unfinished secret project, it goes by the more sinister name of "Project X," but the finished product, which is known to the public, it is called "The Thompson Harmonizer," apparently a reference to its alleged goal of keeping society "harmonious" by intimidating those who disagree with the government.
34	** Although, the title may also be implying how the device operates by referencing the weaponization of harmonic frequencies.
35	[[/folder]]
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37	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
38	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has several:
39	** The Realm Defense Grid is the main protective measure Creation has against [[TheFairFolk the forces of the Wyld]]. In [[{{Precursors}} the First Age]], it was known as the ''Sword of Creation'', capable of redirecting elemental Essence from the entire world to nuke entire legions five times over -- but [[GodEmperor the Scarlet Empress]], who now is the only one with access, didn't want her subject nations to feel so threatened by her world-sized cataclysmic superweapon. Well, you know, it's a defensive measure; it just happens to have a bit of ''kill-everything-in-this-subcontinent'' applications.
40	** Octavian, one of the DemonLordsAndArchdevils of the setting, has a giant club called ''Equitable Resolution''. Given Octavian's brutal, tyrannical personality, the name is clearly ironic.
41	* ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' has the [[ImprovisedWeapon Cheese Grater]] of Peace.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Video Games]]
45	* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' thoroughly deconstructs this trope.
46	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', [[spoiler:FOXALIVE]].
47	* The biggest, baddest gun in ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' is named 'Peacemaker'. It can be taken literally; while the other three guns require quite some skill to be effective, you just point it in the general direction of an enemy and pull the trigger. One of the strategy guides lampshades this, noting that "Piece Maker" would be a more appropriate name.
48	* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' with the Arbiter, so named because Ace Hardlight used it to settle a legal dispute. When upgraded, it becomes the Silencer.
49	** The Future trilogy brings us fellow rocket-launcher the Negotiator and its upgrade the Judicator.
50	-->'''[=GrummelNet=] Vendor:''' [[LampshadeHanging The Negotiator wins every argument by blowing your opponent to smithereens!]]
51	* There is also a formerly high-level polearm weapon in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' called the Peacemaker.
52	* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' has The Redeemer, which is a SlapOnTheWristNuke. InUniverse, the Flak Cannon weapon classifies, with the Mark III in ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'' taking the nickname ''Negotiator'' and the Mark IV in ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'' being named the ''Peacekeeper''.
53	* In ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'', one of the Cybran weapons is named ''Liberator''. It's a [[NukeEm strategic missile launcher]].
54	** Many of the Aeon weapons have nice, peaceable seeming names, like the ''Mercy'' guided missile and the (actually purely defensive) ''Asylum'' shield vehicle.
55	* Gamma from ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' was built to be a "peacekeeping robot." How a four-story tall robot is supposed to "keep peace" is not explained.
56	* Some of the Advent ships in ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' have peaceful, religious names. For example, the Illuminator Vessel "illuminates" others by hitting them with bright long-range energy beams. Then there's their powerful capital ships with names like ''Radiance'', ''Rapture'', ''Revelation'', and ''Halcyon'' (a mythical bird said to calm waves).
57	* Both ''VideoGame/PlanetSide'' games have the Liberator; in the first game, it's a high altitude bomber capable of dropping [[RecursiveAmmo cluster bombs]] or tank busters. In the second, it's a gunship with a [[GatlingGood quad Gatling gun]] turret on the belly that can be [[CharacterCustomization swapped out for different cannons]]. The Terran Republic [[PoweredArmor MAX exo-suit]] can use the Mercy arm-mounted mini gun, and completing the TR's Assault Rifle Directive grants access to the [=T1A=] Unity assault rifle, "''a key weapon attributed to helping bring Earth together under the Terran Republic's harmonious rule.''"
58	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': One of Vincent Valentine's guns is named Peacemaker.
59	* ''VideoGame/HostileWatersAntaeusRising'': The PretentiousLatinMotto of the game (and of the ''Antaeus'' and its crew) is ''Pugio in Averso Belli''; "A Dagger Against War". The ''Antaeus'' is the last [[MatterReplicator Creation Engine]]-carrying warship on Earth, and in the story it's being used to put down a band of [[EvilReactionary Evil Reactionaries]] who want to resurrect the military-industrial complex.
60	[[/folder]]
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62	[[folder:Webcomics]]
63	* Simultaneously used and averted with the "Serial Peacemaker," the protagonists' heavily-armed warship in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''.
64	-->'''[[TheSmartGuy Kevyn]]:''' The more I think about it, the creepier it gets.
65	* Part of the plot of ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' involved the plans for a 'Peace Moon'. AKA [[Franchise/StarWars The Death Star]].
66	[[/folder]]
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68	[[folder:Real Life]]
69	* Nukes are often referred to as 'the deterrent', the idea being that their existence alone is enough to make enemy countries think twice before attacking. Of course, [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar if]] ''[[UsefulNotes/ColdWar two]]'' [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar huge countries have nukes]]...
70	* The Colt Single Action Army revolver is often referred to as the 'Peacemaker', because of its use in duels and as a self-defense weapon.
71	* ''Peacemaker'' was also the name given to the Convair B-36 strategic bomber.
72	* The LGM-118A Peacekeeper, also known as the MX missile (for Missile-eXperimental), was a land-based ICBM deployed by the United States starting in 1986. It was originally planned to be called "Peacemaker", but at the last minute was officially designated the LGM-118A Peacekeeper.
73	* Various countries have renamed their Department or Ministry of War to Department/Ministry of ''Defence''. This shift--which generally occurred after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII--was partly a result of a change in attitude (it being no longer acceptable to wage aggressive war), and partly a result of the fact that the previously-existing "War Departments" and "War Ministries" had been strictly in charge of the country's Army, with the other military branches having their own bureaucracies. The new "Defence" bureaucracies integrated all branches under one roof; as nobody wanted to give the impression that the Army was taking over the other branches, a new name was needed, and when you combine the shift in attitudes with the fact that "Ministry/Department of the Military" or "Ministry/Department of the Armed Forces" sounds a bit off or awkward in most languages, you can see why they went with "Defence."
74	* Subverted with the 9x19mm Parabellum round. ''[[GratuitousLatin Si vis pacem, para bellum]]''' means "If you wish for peace, prepare for war.", but the round's name just uses the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "for war"]] part.
75	[[/folder]]

Context Main / WeaponOfPeace