History Main / ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge

* Inconsistent in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. The Klingons love their {{Cool Sword}}s like the bat'leth, but ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' makes a point of mentioning that an old lady with a phaser is worth a dozen Klingons with melee weapons. On the other a ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode shows a group of holographic Klingons armed with bat'leths handily defeating a group of submachinegun-armed [[ThoseWackyNazis Germans]] (also holographic). Granted, anyone would panic at the sight of angry Klingons charging at you, but still.

* Lampshaded ''[[Literature/TheLordsOfCreation In The Courts of the Crimson Kings]]''. It opens with a group of science fiction writers watching the first images sent from Mars, which shows the natives are carrying swords along with rifles. One man speculates there's some kind of honor code involved, only for it to be pointed out that this gives the cheaters too much of an advantage. Turn out Martian projectile weapons are OrganicTechnology which take a while to reload, so edged weapons are still needed to defend yourself in the interval.
* In SergeyLukyanenko's ''ALordFromPlanetEarth'' trilogy, advanced weapons are all over the place (outside of Earth, that is), from simple blasters to planet-destroying quark bombs. And yet, there also exist "neutralizing fields" that can be used to shield an area from any destructive energy and explosions of any kind (e.g. chemical, nuclear, AntiMatter). Thus, within these fields, which are used all over the place, only bladed weapons can be used. Now, they're not your typical swords, though. These are [[SharpenedToASingleAtom monoatomic]] (or planar) swords produced exclusively on planet Tar. These {{Absurdly Sharp Blade}}s can cut through any known material with ease, even each other (i.e. no BladeLock possible). Given this fact, swordfights look ''very'' different from what one expects, as each opponent tries to hit the other's sword at just the right angle to make sure that it's the other sword that gets cut. Being a {{CombatPragmatist}} from Earth, the main character immediately devises other weapons and techniques that completely disgust and baffle the HonorBeforeReason soldiers (at least, until they start using those same weapons and techniques themselves).
* In AndreyLivadny's ''TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series, everybody uses Gauss weapons firing tiny metallic spheres as everyday weapons. However, these small arms are woefully ineffective against armored targets. Not so with "ancient" automatic rifles firing chemically-propelled bullets (which somehow work despite centuries of not being used). Then again, this trope is much less prevalent, and advanced technology usually wins the day.

* Subverted in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. The Klingons love their {{Cool Sword}}s like the bat'leth, but ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' makes a point of mentioning that an old lady with a phaser is worth a dozen Klingons with melee weapons.
** And yet a ''StarTrekVoyager'' episode shows a group of holographic Klingons armed with bat'leths handily defeating a group of submachinegun-armed [[ThoseWackyNazis Germans]] (also holographic). Granted, anyone would panic at the signt of angry Klingons charging at you, but still.

* Common in WorldOfDarkness games such as ''VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''WerewolfTheApocalypse''. Hand weapons can be much more effective than firearms in the hands of supernatural creatures, to say nothing of their natural claws and fangs. In addition, firearms cause "Bashing" damage to vampires rather than the "Lethal" damage caused by blades because organ damage is meaningless to undead.

** A couple types of Cerberus {{mooks}} in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' are armed with melee weapons, along with the Illusive Man's [[TheDragon Dragon]], katana-wielding Kai Leng. This is lampshaded in the "Citadel" DLC in an overheard conversation between a couple of Alliance soldiers:

* The Operative in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', in a setting of guns and spaceships, carries a large samurai sword, which he uses during his first scene and the finale. However he also employs more period-appropriate weaponry at other points.
** Inara is trained with a bow-and-arrow and uses it during the final battle, even though she could have borrowed a gun from one of the others.

** And yet no one thinks to just leap at the slowly-approaching blade in order to increase its speed in relation to the shield and have it bounce off.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII:
** Owing to short-sighted defense cuts between the wars, the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Royal Navy]] entered WWII with only obsolete ''biplane'' fighter-bombers to equip its aircraft carriers. Yet the Swordfish, a biplane more suited to the previous world war, managed to catch most of the Italian Navy in its home port of Taranto, causing widespread destruction in an attack the Japanese studied and emulated at Pearl Harbor. A year or so later, it was a carrier-launched Swordfish biplane which fired the torpedo that crippled the ''Bismarck'', leaving Germany's most modern battleship wide open for the surface fleet to catch up with her.
** Both Great Britain and Russia had obsolete heavy machine guns left over from UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. The Russian Maxim and the British Vickers were effectively the same weapon, but one which required two or three men to transport, emplace and fire. It was also water-cooled, so if no water was available the weapon would overheat and become unworkable. The German [=MG42=] was air-cooled, had a faster rate of fire, could be emplaced in seconds as opposed to fifteen minutes, and used by one man. Both Britain and Russia eventually hit on massing these weapons together to minimize these weaknesses and to provide saturation firepower, effectively using them almost as emplaced artillery and not as tactical infantry [=MG=]. British machine-gun battalions proved destructively efficient in Italy, where multiples of 64 Vickers [=MGs=] fired together at one section of German front to soften it up for an attack, allowing the attacking infantry to get as close as they could whilst returning fire was suppressed.
** Close combat in the Burmese jungle often pitted Japanese officers and noncoms armed with swords against machete-armed British soldiers. Or kukri-armed Gurkhas. Or Sikhs with the traditional tulwar sword. Or African troops with native swords from Nigeria, Kenya, etc. Bladed weapons could be silent, deadly and ultra-effective in close quarters jungle fighting and ambushes, and sword fighting in combat happened even in 1942-45. Also, tribal units and natives fighting alongside British Fourteenth Army and on Borneo used native weapons, such as blowpipes and bows and arrow, to deadly effect in close-quarters jungle fighting.
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* In the {{Buffy}}verse, vampires and demons prefer to use either their teeth and claws or edged weapons rather than firearms, as do Vampire Slayers and other demon fighters. There are notable exceptions, more so in the ''{{Angel}}'' spin-off which is set in Los Angeles. Lampshaded when the modern-thinking vampire Mr Trick remonstrates an opponent who comes at him with a sword.

* In the {{Buffy}}verse, vampires and demons prefer to use either their teeth and claws or edged weapons rather than firearms, as do Vampire Slayers and other demon fighters. There are notable exceptions, more so in the ''{{Angel}} spin-off which is set in Los Angeles.

* Lampshaded in ''[[Literature/TheLordsOfCreation In The Courts of the Crimson Kings]]''. It opens with a group of science fiction writers watching the first images sent from Mars, which shows the natives are carrying swords along with rifles. One man speculates there's some kind of honor code involved, only for it to be pointed out that this gives the cheaters too much of an advantage. Turn out Martian projectile weapons are OrganicTechnology which take a while to reload, so edged weapons are still needed to defend yourself in the interval.

* Justified in ''[[Literature/TheLordsOfCreation In The Courts of the Crimson Kings]]''. It opens with a group of science fiction writers watching the first images sent from Mars, which shows the natives are carrying swords along with rifles. One man speculates there's some kind of honor code involved, only for it to be pointed out that this gives the cheaters too much of an advantage. Turn out Martian projectile weapons are OrganicTechnology which take a while to reload, so edged weapons are still needed to defend yourself in the interval.

* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' with the M-96 Mattock semiautomatic rifle, which has the highest base damage of any assault rifle in the game despite being relatively outdated in-universe. The "Firepower Pack" DLC that adds it to your inventory in ''2'' comes with an e-mail from the Illusive Man saying that EDI had told him "we may be overlooking [[BoringButPractical older, proven technologies]] in an effort to provide you with the state of art."

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', one of the Sniper's weapons, alongside a host of various rifles, is a bow-and-arrow set called "The Huntsman". It can be ''very'' effectively. Also, the various melee weapons, from the Spy's butterfly knife, the Pyro's "axetinguisher" or the Demo's huge host of broken bottles and swords call all be very useful.

* The Operative in ''{{Serenity}}'', in a setting of guns and spaceships, carries a large samurai sword, which he uses during his first scene and the finale. However he also employs more period-appropriate weaponry at other points.

* Justified in ''Literature/{{Lamb Among the Stars}}'', by Chris Walley. Krallen armor is a ceramic that absorbs and dissipates energy weapons, and shaped so that projectiles deflect off except when hitting at the perfect angle. The Assembly uses its superior materials science to molecularly optimize a blade for cutting through it, which proves to be a key advantage in the series.

* Justified in ''Literature/Lamb Among the Stars'', by Chris Walley. Krallen armor is a ceramic that absorbs and dissipates energy weapons, and shaped so that projectiles deflect off except when hitting at the perfect angle. The Assembly uses its superior materials science to molecularly optimize a blade for cutting through it, which proves to be a key advantage in the series.

* Both justified and subverted in VorkosiganSaga. The Barrayarans began the Cetagandian war with primitive weapons. However they switched to modern weapons as soon as they could get them and learn how to use them.

* In the ''[[TabletopGame/{{Battletech}} MechWarrior]]'' RPG, swords are described as still being a preferred weapon aboard starships because combat will invariably be close quarters and the blade won't rupture the ship's hull as opposed to firearms.

** In the [[VideoGame/StarOcean1 first]] and [[VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory second]] games, this is justified by the protagonists being on planets protected by an AlienNonInterferenceClause.

This occurs with extreme frequency in {{Eastern RPG}}s, probably due to genre's origins in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Even in {{Steampunk}} and UrbanFantasy settings, you will find swords, axes, spears, katanas, and all other manner of anachronistic weaponry. It also appears in settings with SchizoTech. It's even possible the character uses this because s/he DoesntLikeGuns.