Deadly Ringer

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong...

Bells are among the most majestic noisemakers. Whether small, tinkly and cheerful or big, deep and possibly ominous, their resonance rings out. Perhaps heralding something's arrival, perhaps signaling someone or something, or celebrating a marriage, but whatever the case, they're not something to be worried about in and of themselves.

Unless, of course, someone happens to be using one to kill you.

Usually used for unleashing powerful sound waves, they can also be bludgeoning weapons. Handbells wielded like hammers are the most common variety, though bigger bells swung similarly to flails exist as well. As well, the bell could also act as a calling device to Summon Bigger Fish.

Subtrope of Improbable Weapon User and Instrument of Murder. Can overlap with Brown Note and Hell Is That Noise. See also For Doom the Bell Tolls.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Amatsuki: The demonic Yakou carries around a little bell that drives anyone who hears it insane.
• The Seven Deadly Sins: Ruin, a Holy Knight and member of the Weird Fangs, uses a bell-topped staff that, when rung, allows him to inflict hypnotic hallucinations on his opponents.
• Tokyo Mew Mew: Along with two teammates who use castanets and tambourines, Mew Ichigo has a pink heart-shaped bell as her weapon, though it's used for healing rather than combat.
• Trinity Blood: The anime adaptation has a pipe organ and series of bells as the controls of a sonic-based earthquake device.

Comics

• The EC Comics story "For How the Bell Tolls!" (Vault of Horror #28, Dec 1952) has an apprentice bellringer who after 34 years of not being allowed to ring the bell murders his master in sheer frustration. He is sentenced to death by the bell being rung all day— with him as the clapper. (The story notes that near the end of the day the bell doesn't so much ring as splat...)
• Green Lantern Rot Lop Fan comes from an area of the universe devoid of light. Therefore, he and his language do not have any concept of light, lanterns, or the color green. When inducted into the corps, he was inducted as an F-Sharp Bell, and his ring makes constructs of pure sound.

Fan Works

• The Body Reflects the Heart, the Shadow Reflects the Soul: The Persona Quasimodo wields a giant bell as his weapon.
• OSMU: Fanfiction Friction: Bells serve as the biggest weakness of the beast from The Book of Ashes, as they are the only thing that can send it back into the tome. Octavius thusly tries using them against the beast, and when they're destroyed, Oswald pulls up a YouTube video of a church cathedral to complete the desummoning ritual.

Films - Animated

• Coco: In the backstory, Ernesto de la Cruz was killed when a large bell fell on him.
• The Great Mouse Detective: Ratigan owned a tiny handbell that summoned his Right-Hand Cat Felicia to eat mice that upset him. Basil kept the bell as a trophy at the end.
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: The enormous Sleeping Giant of Del Mar fights Puss in Boots by swinging a bell on a rope like a massive flail. Puss turns the tables by tricking the Giant into tying itself up and getting knocked out by the bell. But as Puss stops to celebrate his victory, the bell breaks off the rope and crushes him, costing Puss his eighth life.

Films - Live Action

• The Magic Crane has the enchanted bell, the villain General Zhao's main weakness, whose notes somehow causes Zhao's body to overload with energy in the final battle until he explodes, "Pop!" Goes the Human-style.

Gamebooks

• Blood Sword: In book 2, meeting Uraba the Seer will allow you to obtain an iron bell whose knell will dispel sorcery. You can use the bell to instantly put an end to the Witch-King of Wyrd, though you'll gain less experience points.
• Fighting Fantasy:
  • Return to Firetop Mountain has an evil witch who cast Mind Control spells on unwary adventurers, turning them into her slaves, but her enchantment can be broken by ringing a silver bell within her presence.
  • Temple of Terror: One of the most dangerous monsters inhabiting the Lost City of Vatos is the dreaded Night Horror, which can shrug off most hits from conventional weapons. However, it is vulnerable to the ringing of a Brass Handbell, which will force it to cover its ears in agony as it falls over dead.

Literature

• Fengshen Yanyi:
  • Zhou Xin, the first disciple of Lu Yue, carries a magic sounding stone with him, whose rings cause a debilitating migrain into anyone too close to him.
  • Lu Yue himself has, among his many treasures, a magic bell which can spread plague when rung.
  • Yin Jiao is given the Fallen Soul Bell by his master: when he rings the bell he can make someone faint for a while by depriving him of his Hun, the Yang part of the soul in charge of senses.
• The Lord Peter Wimsey novel The Nine Tailors: A man was left bound and gagged in a belfry, and it's thought that the sheer cacophony and loudness of the church bells being rung all night on New Year's Eve killed him—but the person who left him there never intended him to die, originally intending to bring him down before the bell-ringing began, only to be struck down by illness and unable to either rescue him or send someone else to do it.
• Old Kingdom: Necromancers and Abhorsens channel their magic through special sets of bells that are enchanted in The Underworld, which have effects varying from Forced Sleep, mind control, causing death, and animating the dead.
• Redwall: Matthias wins his David Versus Goliath battle against Cluny the Scourge by retreating up the belltower and cutting the bell off its rope. It falls directly on Cluny, crushing him with a final peal. Afterward the bell in question is so damaged it’s melted down and reforged as two bells.

Live-Action TV

• Monk: In the Christmas Episode "Mr. Monk and the Man who Shot Santa Claus", a man dressed as a Salvation Army Santa bludgeons a woman to death with his handbell to better aid his plan of stealing a valuable diamond from a museum where she worked.
• Power Rangers Wild Force: Monster of the Week Bell Org used a hammer to send sound waves from his own body, and also had the Bell Trapper attack, where he dropped a massive bell on an enemy and then hit that bell with his hammer to attack them.
• Robin Hood: Averted: when each of the Merry Men gets an Instrument of Murder, Little John gets ordinary and very small bells, which he tacks on the end of his staff.

Tabletop Games

• Dungeons & Dragons:
  • When rung, Calvan's Bell will summon the spirits of any evil seamen within five miles in the form of ghouls or lacedons (aquatic ghouls). The summoned monsters serve the person who rang the bell for one hour.
  • The Cow Bell summons all bovine creatures within 300 yards, including gorgons. Summoned gorgons attack anyone near the Bell and other bovines charge the Bell, allowing it to be used as a weapon if placed properly before use.
  • When it is rung, the Bell of Discord causes anyone within 90 feet to attack the nearest living creature in a berserk manner.
  • If any creature approaches within 90 feet of the Bell of Doom, an oni or ogre magi appears and attacks it. It thus acts as an area-denial weapon, like a minefield.
  • When rung, the Golden Bell of Blasting drops a valuable-appearing item that will detonate like a Fireball three minutes later. The item can act as a booby trap against enemies.
  • The Lament Bell rings if any non-Good creature comes within 90 feet. The sound inflicts 3-18 Hit Points against most creatures and 6-36 Hit Points against undead and non-Good creatures from the lower planes.
  • When Pavlov's Bell is rung, it causes uncontrolled salivating in any creature within 30 feet. This prevents talking and casting spells with a verbal component. There is a 20% chance that a victim will cease all other activities and eat a meal, making them vulnerable to attack.
  • When a Bell of Protection rings, any spirit creatures within 50 yards take 3-30 Hit Points of damage. Lesser spirits can't enter the area, and greater spirits that enter take 4-40 Hit Points of damage.
  • When any creatures approach within 90 feet of the Bell of Treachery, it will begin to ring and four gaki (monsters) will appear and attack the creatures. The creatures will take 3 Hit Points of damage per minute they spend in the area.
• In the Hell's Rebels adventure path for Pathfinder, the party's mission to storm the temple of Asmodeus is complicated by the cursed bells in the belfry of the temple, which will periodically ring out and deal various debilitating effects to the intruders.

Video Games

• Armello: Volodar uses a ritual bell on the end of a staff as his weapon. His Fight ability is a very low 3, a trend common among the game's Improbable Weapon Users.
• Dark Souls II: Velstadt's weapon is a hammer that looks like a bell on a stick. When he Turns Red, he rings it to buff himself and shoot dark orbs with it. You can craft a Sacred Chime Bell with his boss soul, which lets you emulate some of his moves.
• Dead by Daylight: The Wraith has a bell that turns him invisible if he rings it, an ominous warning for anyone nearby.
• Dragon Quest VIII has a class of bell-shaped enemies including the Ding-a-Ling, the Magc Dumbell, and the Dead Ringer. The first kind is harmless by itself, but can call stronger enemies, while the latter two can lay low even high-leveled characters.
• Enter the Gungeon: The Mine Flayer boss uses a bell in many of its attacks, ringing it to shoot rings of bullets at the player or hiding under it and spawning decoy bells.
• Final Fantasy:
  • The recurring Geomancer job uses bells as weapons. How this actually works varies; for example, in Final Fantasy III, they use the same generic attack animation as all melee weapons, making it unclear if the ringing somehow damages enemies or if the Geomancer is simply bludgeoning monsters to death with a pair of handbells, while Final Fantasy V shows a line of bells extending towards the foe (YMMV on which is more confusing).
  • The Beastmaster and Animist classes in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Tactics A2 wield musical instruments, four of which are bells, as bludgeoning weapons.
• Fire Emblem Heroes has two examples:
  • Winter Lissa uses a handbell as a melee weapon.
  • Bridal Haromized Catria wields a "Wedding Bell Axe", which is a bell on a pole that acts like an axe.
• Hyrule Warriors: Marin from Link's Awakening uses the Sea Lily's Bell, a foot-tall bell that she holds with both hands. It's an effective bludgeoning weapon but also unleashes exploding water spheres on nearby enemies and ringing it can also summon the Windfish to charge or bellyflop on enemies.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • In Kingdom Hearts II, one of Donald's staves, the Victory Bell, is a large bell on a stick. Its power is notable but not exceptional.
  • In Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], the keychain from La Cité des Cloches (French for "The City of Bells") is the Guardian Bell, which gives the Keyblade a bell for its teeth, held in a gargoyle's mouth.
• Kirby: Triple Deluxe: The Bell ability first appears in this game. Kirby dual-wields handbells that attack with sound waves.
• Little Samson: The titular character shoots bells at enemies.
• Mario Party: In the second and third games as well as Superstars and the Top 100, the Boo Bell is an uncommon item that a player can use to summon Boo, who will steal coins or Stars from other players.
• Persona 5: The Bell of Declaration is one of the four weapons that the Final Boss wields. The sound waves can cause damage, increase the user's defense, decrease the opponents' defense, or inflict Vanity (weakness to all attacks) or Jealousy (target will attack anyone who uses any support spells or items on another party member) upon an opponent.
• Persona 5 Tactica: The Thieves ultimately defeat Marie (pronounced MAR-ee-ay) by having Toshiro drop the oversized chapel bell on top of her, crushing her tank and her with it.
• Phantom Brave: You can make pretty much anything into this game into not only a weapon but an Infinity +1 Sword. A bell is one of the options.
• Pokémon: In real life, a Dōtaku is a bronze bell that's used ritualistically for good harvests. The Pokémon Bronzong introduced in Gen IV is a powerful Steel/Psychic type based off of that bell.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: There are rare variants of Taro Soldiers that swing around a large bell tied to a rope. One of its unblockable attack is to slam it over your head and trap you inside it.
• Shin Megami Tensei I: A bell is one of three musical instruments that make up the strongest "swords" in the game.
• Skullgirls: Big Band's Tympani Drive when powered up using his Bagpipes ends by catching the opponent in a giant bell and ringing it for additional damage.
• Star Ocean: The Divine Force has its White Magician Girl Nina Deforges use a small bell as her weapon. Naturally, it's not a physical weapon, and she primarily uses it to channel her healing power by playing Magic Music. When she does attack with it, she rings it, harming the enemy with sound waves.
• Super Smash Bros.: Mr. Game and Watch has a bell that he rings for two of his taunts and also uses as a bludgeoning weapon. It originates from the alarm feature on the "Wide Screen" and "Multi Screen" Game & Watch systems.
• Them's Fightin' Herds: As a playable fighter, Texas uses a pair of cowbells tied to his yoke to hit opponents from a distance.
• Wild ARMs XF: The Fantastica class uses bells as weapons.

Web Comics

• Exterminatus Now: The spider demon is finally defeated by dropping the church bell on her, trapping her between the sacred bell and the sacred ground below.

Western Animation

• Gargoyles keeps the tradition of fairies being weak to iron. When the heroes must defeat Oberon the king of the fairies ("Ill Met By Moonlight") they forge iron into a bell. Each ring of the bell weakens Oberon.
• Hilda: Ringing bells is considered the only reliable way to drive away trolls; the walled city of Trolberg is surrounded by bell towers because of this. Hilda and the Mountain King reveals that this works because the sound of bells is extremely painful to trolls.
• My Little Pony: Grogar is one of the franchise's biggest and most powerful villains and has a bell serving as the source of his power, albeit working differently in both of his appearances.
  • In G1, Grogar's bell is able to generate magic to attack foes with (including being able to trap intruders in cages). Conversely, another bell within Tambelon, when rung, destroys this bell and renders Grogar powerless.
  • In G4, Grogar was banished, and his bell was moved to the peak of a high mountain where no one could get it. A team of villains is sent to retrieve the bell, and it is later used in the finale but not by Grogar, who turns out to have been a disguise.
• Sanjay's Super Team, a Pixar short: A Hindu god uses the sound emitted by a prayer bell to drive away a demon. This fails, but then Sanjay uses the prayer-candle holder as a bell, which succeeds.
• The two-part TaleSpin episode "For Whom the Bell Klangs" applies this to an entire ancient civilization. Tinabula incorporated bells and sound-based mechanics into all of its technology, including what amounts to a sonic death ray; when Klang fires it at an oncoming army, it proves capable of throwing tanks aside like toys. In the end, even the city's self-destruct mechanism turns out to be a bell built in the shape of a titanic metal scarab: a single toll from it is enough to trigger the city's cataclysmic re-burial.
• The Venture Bros.: Subverted in "The Devil's Grip". The Monarch tries to torture Dr. Venture by placing him under a large bell and striking the side of it, hoping the ringing will make his eardrums explode. But Dr. Venture spent a lot of his childhood travelling in a supersonic jet, so the noise barely affects him.

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