History Main / BowAndSwordInAccord

* [[RuleOfCool It looks damn cool.]]

* ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'' uses both a sword and a bow and arrow to use against the hunters. Dream uses the bow for far-range attacks and hitting the hunters many times when he's being chased.

* Miho sometimes employs the sword/arrow combo in ''ComicBook/SinCity''. Sometimes shuriken are used instead.

* ''Fanfic/AGrowingAffection'': Sakura becomes the ArcherArchetype, but continues to use her axe if her opponents get to close or she runs out of arrows.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', this distinguishes Link from the other Champions. [[ArcherArchetype Revali]] uses just the bow, the other three Champions use melee weapons, but only Link can use both.

* Since ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' is a direct SpiritualSuccessor to the ''Franchise/DarkSouls'' series, playable characters have much the same loadout of ranged and melee weapons, with Dexterity builds especially making equal use of their bows and swords. The katana[=/=]longbow 'samurai' build in particular is back and better (and more popular) than ever, thanks to the game bringing back the dedicated DualWielding movesets from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' while removing the durability mechanic that was previously the bane of such delicate weapons.

** It's a fairly good idea to have this set up, at least in the first game. Warriors occasionally find themselves needing to shoot at something (or, in the case of enemies trapped on the opposite sides of portcullises, want to pick enemies off at a distance.) A rogue often finds herself needing to resort to hand-to-hand if fast enemies are encroaching, so having a sword and shield and the strength to use both available helps. Straying out of The Ranger and into MagicKnight, magic is helpful to the rogue as well, though the warriors' maximum magic is so low that it's barely worth his while. The sorcerer is pretty damn awful with both bow and sword, but it's worth giving him a bit of strength and a light sword and shield in case he runs out of mana. (True, you might be screwed if this is the case, but it's better than nothing.)

* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': Everyone knows Hawkeye is the greatest Marksman to have ever lived with his bow and arrow, but ever since his introduction we've been shown he's also capable of using other weapons, such as guns, and in Civil War, collapsable batons and a staff. In Endgame, he becomes Ronin and uses a sword along with his usual bow and arrows.

* ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} trained under both a master archer and a master swordsman. He tends to favor his bow, but when he had to give up his identity, he used his fallback weapon to become "Ronin".

* ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': You are able to have one melee and one ranged weapon equipped at the same time, with a bow and sword being just one of the available combinations. It's also the first combination a newly created character starts out with.

* ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': You are able to have one melee and one ranged weapon equipped at the same time, with bow and sword being just one of the available combinations.

* In ''VideoGame/BattleRealms'', The Dragon Clan Samurai wield both a bow for ranged combat, and a katana for melee. In line with the game's troop alchemy system this makes sense, because samurai require that a soldier be trained as both an archer and a melee fighter (the alchemist's guild is presumably for the armour, or the tempered steel sword).

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' takes this to perhaps the most literal extreme. Serah's bow and sword are the same weapon which she can transform at will.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Cossacks}}'', the Ottoman Sipahi riders use both bows and swords whereas their Polish Hussar enemies go for SwordAndGun.

* In a variant, WarriorMonk {{Youkai}} Bloodrobe from ''Manga/UshioAndTora'' fights with a longbow in his left hand (the string is seemingly part of his own body and can pull itself backwards at will) and a [[BladeOnAStick long-bladed naginata]] in his right hand. When the latter is destroyed he [[BifurcatedWeapon folds up the bow]] to form a sword.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Master Knights can wield bows and swords, [[WalkingArmory as well as every other weapon type in the game save dark]].

** ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrowsBrawl Brawl]]''[='s=] incarnation of [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]] uses a bow that he can split into [[DualWielding two short swords.]] This carries over to ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' for himself and his doppelganger Dark Pit.

* In ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Roam is primarily an archer, but he also has sword at hand for close-combat.

* ''Videogame/DeathSpank'': The eponymous hero wields a crossbow alongside a sword (or a number of other melee weapons) in his first and third games. The second game has a gun instead.
* [[PlayerCharacter Guardians]] in ''Videogame/Destiny2'' can carry three different weapon types at the same time. Among these are bows and swords. So a Guardian can wield a bow and a sword simultaneously, together with a third weapon. Even two bows and one sword are possible if they want to. [[note]]Swords are heavy weapons and only one of these can be equipped, so two swords and one bow is sadly not possible.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Artemis starts out using the longbow as a sidekick to Green Arrow. While working undercover as an agent of the Light with the codename of Tigress, she uses a sword and a crossbow.

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': Starting from Chapter 13 of the original, Hugh wields the [[VideoGame/BloodBorne Simon's Bowblade]], a [[SinisterScimitar scimitar]] [[MixAndMatchWeapon that can turn into a bow]], for adapting to both short and long range, along with his [[BloodMagic Chi]][[KatanasAreJustBetter kage]].

* [[PlayerCharacter Guardians]] in ''Videogame/Destiny2'' can carry three different weapon types at the same time. Among these are bows and swords. So a Guardian can wield a bow and a sword simultaneously, together with a third weapon. Even two bows and one sword are possible they want to.

** In general, dexterity builds across the entire franchise will usually be equipped with some sort of sword and some sort of bow, even if they switch between the two weapons as the situation demands rather than using them both simultaneously, since most of the weapons with good Dex scaling are either swords or bows. In particular, the [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]][[=/=]]longbow 'samurai' build is enduringly popular thanks to its particular combination of [[SimpleYetAwesome style and practicality]] - both weapons offer an excellent balance of speed, range, weight, and damage output.

It's worth noting that this trope used to be called The {{Ranger}}, from the ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' rangers. Any references to rangers on this page are likely from when the trope was in YKTTW.

* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII its sequel]], pretty much every archer also packs a sword or bludgeon for close quarters combat. In ''Brotherhood'' the crossbowmen intriguingly do ''not'' pack close-quarters weapons, but with the crossbow finally in his hands after being foreshadowed back in the first game's first trailer, Ezio can do this. A tactic is to anger some guards, crossbow half of them, chainkill the rest, finish up with crossbowing any cowards. In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' Connor has a conventional bow.

** The Muslim world pretty much abandoned its previous weapons and tactics upon contact with tribes such as the Mongols and Seljuks. The straight sword gave way to the shamshir and its variants. Heavy infantry was largely replaced by horse archery.
*** In an even earlier era, the Prophet Muhammad said that all Muslim men should know archery and said that the value of prayer was multiplied if one wore a sword.
** The Russians, Georgians, Poles, and Hungarians adopted similar styles of arms and tactics. The Hungarian bow is a variant of the Asian asymmetric compound bow. The Magyars also were a prominent horse archer culture who once ruled the plains.
** Native Americans of various tribes (but particularly the horse cultures of the Great Plains) were known for archery, but had a complete panoply of weapons available to them including tomahawks, knives, war clubs, and lances.