Video Game Items and Inventory

Tropes about things that a player can own, hold and use. If it goes in your bag, or your pocket (or wherever the heck you put it), it goes here.

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Tropes:

See Also:

• Video Game Tropes
• Role-Playing Game Tropes
• Guns and Gunplay Tropes
• Weapons and Wielding Tropes

• 11th-Hour Superpower
  A powerful, unique weapon, or ability only obtainable near the end of the game to help the hero get through the final challenges.
• 1-Up
  An item or event which increases the number of Video-Game Lives the player will have to continue following death.
• A.K.A.-47
  Guns resemble real-life guns, but are given different names to avoid legal issues.
• Always Check Behind the Chair
  ...because there might be an item there.
• All Swords Are the Same
  All of your weapons/items of a specific type will look and play identically.
• Antidote Effect
  Inventory items designed to be Not Completely Useless but have such specific uses that they become a waste of space.
• Arbitrary Equipment Restriction
  Weapon or ability that is rendered unusable without an in-game explanation.
• Armor and Magic Don't Mix
  Wearing armor restricts your ability to cast spells.
• Armor of Invincibility
  That nigh-imprenetrable shield or suit of armor that makes even the final boss struggle to hurt you.
• Attack Drone
  A small, mobile, unmanned weapon system sent out to do the fighting in place of its commander.
  • Surveillance Drone
    A small, mobile, unmanned, usually unarmed robot that simply watches you.
• Attack Speed Buff
  A temporary or permanent increase to the rate at which you can attack.
• Attackable Pickup
  An item which can be attacked before picking up to modify its function in some way.
• Awesome, but Impractical
  An item or spell that is good in theory, but in practice the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
• Bag of Holding
  In Role Playing Games, an object which contains many other objects in hammerspace.
• Bag of Sharing
  In Role Playing Games, there are many characters but they share one inventory.
• Bag of Spilling
  Items, skills and experience do not carry over to the sequel.
• Better Off Sold
  Items that are usually sold by players because they're outclassed by items players already have access to.
• BFG
  A ridiculously big, flashy, overpowered gun.
  • Chainsaw-Grip BFG
    A BFG with a top-mounted foregrip and with the rear grip placed at the back of the weapon.
• BFS
  A ridiculously huge sword.
• Bonus Stage Collectables
  Optional MacGuffins tucked away in Bonus Stages. Gotta Catch Them All!
• Boss-Altering Consequence
  Items and equipment that aren't required to beat the boss but can have unique effects if used during a Boss Battle.
• Bottomless Fuel Tanks
  Your vehicle goes on and on indefinitely without having to refuel.
• Breakable Power-Up
  Power-ups that stop working when the player takes damage.
• Breakable Weapons
  Weapons that break after using them too much, becoming totally useless if there's no way to repair them.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory
  The game developers will sell you items or skills (for real money) to help you achieve your goals.
• Cap Raiser
  Video game items that increase the player’s Cap in a given stat.
• Color-Coded Item Tiers
  That thing where magic items in a video game have color-coded tiers of power and rarity.
• Combinatorial Explosion
  The challenge in developing games that allow you to use any item in your inventory on any other item, environmental object, character, or monster.
• Commonplace Rare
  A mundane, everyday item (e.g., a rope or a bottle) that is difficult to obtain for your inventory for some reason.
• Cosmic Keystone
  That doohickey that the entire world is dependent on for its continued peaceful existence.
• Cursed Item
  An item you probably don't want to pick up.
• Day-Old Legend
  Item Crafting + Flavor Text = Blatant Lies
• Destroyable Items
  Pickups are volatile and can be accidentally destroyed by collateral damage.
• Disc-One Nuke
  An exploit where a powerful item or technique is achieved early on in the game.
• Dowsing Device
  A special item that helps you find other, hidden items.
• Edible Collectible
  Video game food as arbitrary collectibles or point items.
• Elaborate Equals Effective
  Better-looking items, swords, guns and armors will be more powerful.
• Elemental Crafting
  The most important aspect of a piece of armor? What material it's made from!
• Emergency Energy Tank
  A valuable inventory item which replenishes hit points.
• Emergency Weapon
  When you're out of ammo, all you've got left is a weak weapon with crummy range and infinite uses.
• Encounter Bait
  Random Encounters aren't so random anymore when you use this.
• Encounter Repellant
  For avoiding those random encounters.
• The Enemy Weapons Are Better
  You're willing to trade your issued weapons for the enemy's the first chance you get.
• Enough to Go Around
  Items that are one-of-a-kind in-universe but can be obtained multiple times and/or by multiple players.
• Equipment-Based Progression
  Better equipment is used to make the player powerful instead of having them level up.
• Equipment Spoiler
  Finding an unusable piece of equipment means that someone able to use it will join the party at some point.
• Equipment Upgrade
  Improving a piece of gear.
• Escape Battle Technique
  The emergency "Get Me The Hell Out Of This Battle Free" card.
• Escape Rope
  The emergency "Get Me The Hell Out Of This Dungeon Free" card.
• Evolving Weapon
  A weapon that changes form and gets stronger as you gain levels or kill things with it.
• Exclusive Enemy Equipment
  A weapon that can only be found by searching the bodies of enemies.
• Experience Booster
  An item that increases the amount of Experience Points gained.
• Exploding Barrels
  Because barrels full of gunpowder or combustible toxic acid are an essential element in any interior or exterior furnishing, and make a great place for enemy guards to take their ten-minute breaks.
• Gender-Restricted Gear
  Certain items can only be used/equipped by characters of a specific gender.
• Give Me Your Inventory Item
  An NPC demands that you hand over a useful item from your inventory.
• Hammerspace
  The ability to whip out a particular item out of seemingly nowhere, regardless of its size.
  • Hyperspace Arsenal
    There are virtually no limits to how many weapons, pieces of armor or other items you can have in your inventory — you can produce any one of them on demand.
• Healing Potion
  Liquid substance usually used as an Emergency Energy Tank.
• Healing Shiv
  Weapons which heal you instead of killing you.
• Heart Container
  A way to increase your Life Meter in Action Games or Action-Adventure games.
• Hearts Are Health
  Healing items often are in the shape of hearts.
• Holy Hand Grenade
  A weapon that uses The Power of Good ... to inflict bodily harm.
• Homing Projectile
  A ranged attack or projectile that seeks out targets so you don't have to.
• Improbable Accessory Effect
  Equippable items which have effects you really wouldn't expect.
• Improbable Weapon User
  Anything can be used as a weapon, regardless of what it is supposed to be.
• Infinity +1 Sword
  The ultimate sword. Period.
  • Infinity -1 Sword
    The second-best thing, for those times where getting the Infinity Plus One Sword is just too plain hard.
  • Penultimate Weapon
    What everybody else thinks is the Infinity Plus One Sword — but isn't.
• Interchangeable Antimatter Keys
  Any key fits in any door, but as soon as you use the key, it will disappear.
• Inventory Management Puzzle
  Games that limit how much inventory you can carry and force you to manage resources.
  • Grid Inventory
    You have a limited grid or space to fit items of various shapes and sizes.
• Invincibility Power-Up
  A Power-Up that makes the player invincible for a short period of time.
• Invisible Bowstring
  A bow that doesn't seem to have a string, and yet the characters use it as if it had one.
• Irrelevant Importance
  A key item has no further use, but the game still doesn't let you get rid of it.
• It May Help You on Your Quest
  It's dangerous to go alone... Here, Take this random item! You'll be glad you did.
• Item Amplifier
  Item effects are increased when used.
• Item Caddy
  A character who is better at using items and equipment than normal.
• Item Crafting
  Creating your own items and equipment out of handy-dandy ingredients.
  • Cooking Mechanics
    Cooking your own food
  • Design-It-Yourself Equipment
    Creating your own equipment based on standard parts and technologies to do anything you need it to do.
  • Potion-Brewing Mechanic
    Mix your own consumables from basic ingredients harvested from the game world.
  • Ultimate Forge
    Finding this is necessary to craft the strongest items.
• Item Get!
  Whenever even minor items are obtained, a big fanfare and flashy sequence plays.
• Joke Item
  A weapon or object that is so ridiculously useless that you can't help smiling.
  • Lethal Joke Item
    An item that seems ridiculous at first, but has a hidden property that overshadows your other, more mundane items when used.
• Kleptomaniac Hero
  Nobody complains or even seems to notice when you walk into their house, rummage through their cupboards, smash their clay pots, and otherwise take whatever isn't nailed down.
• Level-Locked Loot
  When you must be mighty enough to equip a particular item.
• Limited Loadout
  You can't carry more than a small, possibly arbitrary limited, amount of stuff and have to drop some of what you're carrying to be able to wield something new.
• Limited-Use Magical Device
  A magical item that allows a spell to be cast a limited amount of times before being consumed.
• Live Item
  A collectible item which is, well, alive and walking around.
• Loot Command
  A specific command you need to loot something from a defeated enemy.
• Loot Drama
  An item so rare and powerful in MMORPGs that drama ensues over its possession.
• Loot-Making Attack
  Items are obtained through a special attack or technique.
• Magic Is Rare, Health Is Cheap
  Health Potions are easy to come by and health is easily restored. Mana Potions tend to be rarer and more valuable.
• Magic Tool
  A universal hand tool whose user can magically fix any machine or structure simply by waving it at the target from close range.
• Mana Potion
  An item that restores Mana for spells and special attacks.
• Money for Nothing
  Games in which amassing money isn't very useful at some point.
• Money Is Experience Points
  Money can be used to perform upgrades and learn abilities in addition to other purchases.
• Money Multiplier
  Increase the amount of or chances of loot you gain.
• Money Sink
  Virtual taxes to reduce the ever-increasing supply of money in a MMORPG
• Multiplayer-Only Item
  Items that are either exclusive to the Multiplayer mode (even though they could technically appear in Singleplayer as well), or are useless in Singleplayer.
• Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups
• Nerf Arm
  Any logically less-than-lethal weapon which ends up being otherwise just as effective as its "real" equivalent.
• Ninja Looting
  The act of dishonorably acquiring items at the scene of a kill in an MMORPG.
• Nitro Boost
  A Power-Up that makes you go really fast for a short period of time.
• Non-Combatant Immunity
  Nothing will try, or be able, to kill you before you're armed and suited up.
• Not Completely Useless
  An item which is useless for 99% of the game but turns out to be one of the best ways to survive a certain sequence.
• Orbiting Particle Shield
• Organ Drops
  Where enemies drop items that are actually its body parts.
• Permanently Missable Content
  If you don't pick this item up at your first opportunity, you won't get another. Hope the item wasn't important.
• Pickup Hierarchy
  Collectibles in Platform Games have different weights and reward potentials.
• Platform-Activated Ability
  Items whose use is either limited to, or reaches a greater potential or new function with, designated pads or platforms.
• Player Inventory
  Super-Trope for how you carry items.
• Plot Coupon
  Collect enough MacGuffins and redeem them for one free climax!
  • Plot Coupon That Does Something
    Something that's part of your menu or ability system which also features in the game's plot.
• Poison Mushroom
  An item that behaves like a Power-Up but has negative effects when used.
• Power-Up
  Something which is found in the game environment that bestows an immediate benefit.
  • Meta Power-Up
    A powerup that has an effect on other skills (making them more effective or lasting longer).
• Power-Up Food
  A Power-Up presented as an edible item.
• Power-Up Letdown
  A powerup or item that takes a lot of time to get and is extremely underwhelming and/or useless once you get it.
• Power-Up Magnet
  Ability to pull in dropped items to the player like a magnet.
• Premium Currency
  A type of currency in a game that can be purchased with real money, and can usually be spent on higher-quality items.
• Projectile Pocketing
  Throwing/shooting things at items instantly brings them to your possession.
• Quad Damage
  A Power-Up that yields temporary boost in speed, power, or damage for a character.
• Quick Melee
  A melee weapon that is activated by pressing a button, rather than switching to it. Usually seen in shooter games.
• Random Drop
  Kill it, it might give you something useful.
  • Random Drop Booster
    It will drop that useful thing more often.
  • Rare Random Drop
    You have a 1 in 128,983,234 chance of getting the Infinity +1 Sword from that Metal Slime. Happy grinding!
  • Randomly Generated Loot
    Whatever drops will have random stacks and special abilities.
  • Random Loot Exchanger
    You can trade in loot you don't want for different, random loot.
  • Impossible Item Drop
    Enemies drop items that they could not plausibly have.
• Rare Candy
  Item that increases a character's level instantly.
• Real Money Trade
  The purchase or sale of online game equipment, currency, or even powerleveling services for real money to a third party without the involvement of the game's publisher.
• Real-Time Weapon Change
  Changing weapons without needing to pause for the menu or use power ups.
• Reduced Mana Cost
  Some item or equipment that reduces the magic points necessary to cast spells.
• Removable Turret Gun
  Just because a BFG is fixed to the ground doesn't mean you can't take it with you.
• Ring Menu
  Sometimes a circle is the shortest path between two weapons.
• Rust-Removing Oil
  For making rust instantly vanish, restoring a device, door, or latch to flawless working order.
• Score Multiplier
  Something that increases your score.
• Selective Historical Armoury
  Weapon selections in games which forego historical accuracy in place of featuring cool or famous guns.
• Shop Fodder
  An item that's useless for anything but selling for cash.
• Short-Range Shotgun
  Video game shotguns pulverize targets at close range and tickle them from afar, a huge exaggeration of their real-life capabilities.
• Single-Use Shield
  Temporary, but unconditional protection against one enemy attack. (Hopefully a big one.)
• Skeleton Key
  A key that will open any and all doors or locks in a level/game. One step up from Interchangeable Antimatter Keys.
• Skill Point Reset
  A (consumable) item that resets a Player Character's skill and ability scores, allowing you to redistribute them.
• Smart Bomb
  Weapon that kills all enemies on the screen, giving you a breather before the next wave flies in.
• Sniper Pistol
  Bullet-shooting weapons in video games have similar range.
• Socketed Equipment
  A weapon that allows you to add abilities or statistics by use of slots or sockets to attach gems or similar.
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear
  Access to equipment is lost because the character wearing it is rendered inaccessible for some part of the game.
• Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness
  You will acquire consistently more useful items and equipment as your progress through the game.
• Special Ability Shield:
  Shields that do somethings unusual, such as healing.
• Sprint Shoes
  An item, ability or spell that enables the player character to move faster.
• Standard FPS Guns
  You got yer shotgun, yer sniper rifle, yer grenades and, when all else fails, yer CHAINSAW!
• Standard RPG Items
  We got potions, ethers, remedies and revives, and dang it if they aren't all the same color!
• Star-Shaped Coupon
  A Plot Coupon shaped like a star — symmetrical, five-pointed and shiny.
• Starter Equipment
  The equipment you begin the game with by default.
• Starter Gear Staying Power
  The starting equipment or some items of it are so useful that is pretty much the only thing you will need for the rest of the game.
• Stat Overflow
  This item allows you to surpass a cap on one or more of your Stat Meters temporarily.
• Stat Sticks
  Weapons equipped for their stat bonuses and not for their value as weapons.
• Stuck Items
  These are slots in your inventory that must always be filled, though it doesn't matter by what.
• Sword of Plot Advancement
  A sword that is important to the story, though usually not the best of its kind.
• Teaser Equipment
  Shopkeepers sell powerful and expensive equipment that you won't be able to afford until later in the game.
• Timed Power-Up
  A Power-Up that expires after a set amount of time.
• Too Awesome to Use
  It's so awesome, you don't want to use it because you're afraid of using it up and not having it anymore.
• Universal Ammunition
  The same bullets can be loaded into multiple types of guns.
• Unknown Item Identification
  Part of a game's challenge is collecting, identifying, and using unknown items.
• Unusable Enemy Equipment
  Enemies drop stuff that disappears instantly or is somehow incompatible with your hands.
• Upgrade Artifact
  Items with Improbable Accessory Effects that unlock more of a character's potential.
• Use Item
  You can use the command "use sword". Nobody bothers asking what, exactly, that means.
• Useless Item
  The developers include a weapon for the hero to use, but don't provide any enemies that are vulnerable to it.
• Utility Weapon
  A weapon which is also used to bypass obstacles.
• Video Game Flamethrowers Suck
  Flamethrowers in games rarely live up to their super-cool portrayals in other media.
• Video Game Tools
  Items or equipment that are used to solve puzzles and pass by obstacles.
• With This Herring
  You start on your quest with the lowest-ranked equipment available, and nobody will give you the good stuff for free.
• Warp Whistle
  A quick shortcut to enable rapid travel in an open-world setting, but usually only to places you've already been before.

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