Created By: heimdall on July 5, 2011
Do We have This one? Up for Grabs.
A weapon that extends far beyond the range that makes sense in reality. This is used a lot in anime and manga. The Trope Codifier in ancient literature would be Goku and his magical extending staff.
Anime and Manga examples:
Gin Ichimaru from Bleach. His sword extends to ridiculous proportions.
Goku from Dragon Ball. In the first part, like his namesake, he wields an extending staff.
Orochimaru's sword from Naruto also extends to extreme lengths.
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Replies: 24
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KZN02Retractable Weapon
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heimdallNot the same thing. Retractable Weapon can be compared, but this is a weapon that is already at a normal size unextended. The blade or pole then extends to enormous lengths. Retractable Weapon makes weapons smaller. This trope makes them longer.
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KamenZeroPlayed with on Robot Chicken, with Lion-O of Thundercats fame continues to say "Thundercats! Thundercats! Thundercats!" to cause his sword to become even longer than normal. Debatable since his sword is shorter than normal before the Thundercats chant?
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MedinocA lot of swords fall under Whip Sword.
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GymQuirkStar Wars Expanded Universe has multi-phase lightsabers with variable blade lenghs. (One example has a blade extending to 3 meters from the usual 1.2 or so meters.) The twin-blade saberstaff (e.g. Darth Maul in The Phantom Meanace) may also qualify.
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randomsurferThe Cape: The Cape's cape extends as far as he needs it to extend at any given moment.
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ThePopeI dunno, I think this is too close to Retractable Weapon; the "starting size" is just getting into semantics.
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heimdallThose semantics are important. This is the opposite of Retractrable Weapon. It could be combined with it, I suppose, but I can't think of a good title. Weapon Morph? The important fact is the starting point. To use Lionel's example, his sword is normally so short. It's can't get shorter. It can get both longer and bigger, however. The lightsaber definitely qualify. They also have one subpart of this trope. They can't become smaller than their normal size. A Retractable Weapon can become smaller than normal, not longer or bigger. All of examples show objects at normal size ( in universe) becoming smaller. As the trope stands now, it can't accommodate this. This trope has something of already normal proportions get longer, often ridiculously so.
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heimdallAlso, this doesn't apply to just swords. Spears and Lances also apply. Another example would be one of the bad guys from Gunx Sword. She has a regular lance that can extend great distances.
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GiantSpaceChinchilla^^If Retractable Weapon wasn't first I'd say this is more tropeworthy, as it is now, perhaps a redirect would be in order? besides we have Morph Weapon. ^ neat.
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AelesisThe Battle Baton weapon in AQ Worlds is this.
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heimdallHmmm...Maybe reworking the Retractable Weapon could combine this. As it stands, Retractable Weapon only refers to those weapons that fold up for easy storage purposes. A better title that could combine the two for the similar purposes they serve would be Variable Length Weapon, with two types: Retractable and Extendable. The main difference is both their use and starting point. A Retractable, as currently defined, is mainly for storage purposes. An Extendable is mainly for attack purposes, specifically removing the weakness of melee weapons ( their limited range). Also, using the Retractable example, The BFS is apparently the base form. For an Extendable, the normal size weapon is the base form. A third category may be made for weapons that do both of these functions. Another difference is that Extendables typically cover really long distances, and thus function like a looong pike/harpoon, which pierces the enemy.
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GeneralityRetraction and expansion tend to go together, so I'd say a merge is reasonable. Some examples:
- In Norse Mythology, Thor's hammer Mjollnir could be shrunk down for easy carrying, and Thor could rub the handle to make it longer.
- In Journey To The West, the Monkey King had an iron rod known as Ruyi Jingu Bang and various other names. It could shrink down to the size of a needle for carrying, or extend to enormous proportions. In Anime, this stick is known as Nyoi-bo and crops up often: in Dragonball, Naruto, Saiyuki, and Mahou Sensei Negima!, as well as the live-action series Monkey and Gogo Sentai Boukenger. (According to Wikipedia)
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heimdallThe Monkey King's name is Goku, I believe.
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EmbracingShadowsKuwabara's sword from Yu Yu Hakusho
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oztricksterWould it count if the weapon stays the same size but its range and shape can be modified by magic or other means.
- There are the samurai from Naruto who wield regular swords but increase the range or shape of the blade by using chakra.
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heimdallSee also Sasuke's Chidori Spear.
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TheThirdSetWould this also include stuff like air blades? Where the sword dosn't hit you but it moves so fast that the sonic boom cuts you. If so you may need to change the name.
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heimdallNo, the main point of the trope refers to a melee weapon suddenly extending to beyond the impossible. Sasuke's Chidori Spear essentially extends his sword into a pike. Orochimaru's sword looks to extend over 300 feet. Goku's pole extends even further. Gin's sword is even shorter than a regular sword in Bleach, but he can extend it to cut more than four buildings in a single swing. All of these are at high speed. The weapon itself must hit for this trope to be in play (except, of course, for dodging).
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heimdallHonestly, I'm on the fence about the samurai in Naruto. They seem to throw their extended weapons from their swords like energy projectiles. Asuma's trench knifes count, though.
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ArivneTabletop RPG
- 1st/2nd Edition Dungeons And Dragons. The Rod of Lordly Might is normally 3 feet long. At the press of a button it extends into a spear up to 15 feet long.
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Generality^heimdall: The Monkey King's name in the original work is Son Wukong, or something like, as the Roman alphabet is poorly equipped to handle Chinese phonology and tonality. In Japanese this is translated to Son Goku. Dragonball is heavily based on Journey To The West, and many of the characters are the same. The Nyoi-bo is one of those Public Domain Artifacts that crop up often in Anime.
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heimdall^Generality: Thanks for the info. I'd forgotten.
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CatbertBumping with recommendation for merging this with the Expanding Staff
draft proposal.
