History Main / DoNotDropYourWeapon

* ''{{Berserk}}'' - Guts almost never drops the [[BigFuckingSword Dragonslayer]], no matter how hard he gets hit, how far he falls or how much he bleeds.

* ''TowerOfGod'' - [[{{Ronin}} Hatsu]] claims to have never dropped his sword, that he held it ever since it was a little boy. The moment he does let go of his sword is to use his hand to pin down an extremely strong enemy in an attempted HeroicSacrifice.

->"I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" '''Charlton Heston''': \\

* Gintoki Sakata from ''{{Gintama}}''.

* Interestingly played with in the UFC games. Instead of a weapon though, whenever someone is defeated, they spit out their mouthpiece.

* Averted in the ''AlienVsPredator'' ArcadeGame. All four player characters are armed with a default weapon that they can lose at any moment.
* Completly averted in ''ZenoClash''; if you or an enemy has a weapon, taking a few well placed hits will knock it out of their (or your) hands and the enemy AI is effective enough to grab discarded weapons. Most of the combat's based around your bare hands anyway though.

* Averted in ''{{Gothic}}'' - simply knocking out an [=NPC=] is enough to make him drop his wielded weapon. Unfortunately, this also applies to ''you''. Savvy players will quickly sheathe their swords just as they're about to be knocked out, as [=NPCs=] will pick up and keep any weapon that falls from your hands, but won't bother going through your inventory for it; and will already have stashed their gold somewhere else, as guards ''won't'' pick up gold from the floor, but will eagerly pick your pockets for it when you're down.

* It's possible to punch or kick weapons out of player's hands in the HalfLife mod, ''The Specialists''. It's also then possible to grab the weapon as it's flying through the air and shoot the original owner with it. However, it's not possible to ''shoot'' weapons out of player's hands.

* In ''FireEmblem'', certain enemies will drop their weapons (or other cool prizes) when defeated. However, if the object is not equipped, you can have a thief walk up to the enemy unit and use the "Steal" option.

* Played straight ''and'' averted in ''BatmanArkhamAsylum''. Most mooks you fight in combat will drop their weapons when they're knocked down, to be picked up by other enemies. Knife-bearing mooks don't, and in stealth sections, mooks will never drop their weapon. If a mook grabs a gun while you're in a fist fight, it is ''immensely'' satisfying to knock it out of his hands with an offhand Batarang.

** The Spy's alternate cloak watch, the Dead Ringer, will spawn an extra weapon to make the illusion seem real, though it can't be retrieved to restore ammo (which is a telltale sign of the Dead Ringer any competent player should watch for).

* Averted in ''MetalGearSolid 2'' and onward: Shooting an enemy's hand will cause him to drop his weapon. As long as he's not a boss. Or you.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' averts this. You can disarm enemies, and your opponents can disarm you, too.
** Averted a second time in that dead enemies may keep a firm grip on their weapon even after being killed. Skeletons can even be ''blasted apart'' and their severed hand will still be tightly gripping their weapon! You can still take it from them by looting their corpse, however.

* Averted in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. The Disarm perk in the Block skill tree allows you to bash weapons out of an enemy's hands. The "Disarm" Dragon Shout does the same thing -- which is bad news for you when you face higher-level Draugr that can use that Shout. After being killed, enemies usually lose their grip on their weapons. You can still loot the corpses to get the weapons, but you can also just pick up the weapon itself.

*** In at least [=MGS4,=] when you tranquilized an enemy with a rifle, they'd drop it when they passed out. If you then took it from him, he'd pull out a pistol when he woke up. If you repeated the process, he'd just get up and continue to run his designated patrol ''completely unarmed''. I never found out if they'd try to punch you if they caught you like that.
**** For anyone curious, they use a knife and try to stab you instead.
***** Actually, the pistols respawn eventually.

* Averted in ''{{Skyrim}}''. The Disarm perk in the Block skill tree allows you to bash weapons out of an enemy's hands. The "Disarm" Dragon Shout does the same thing -- which is bad news for you when you face higher-level Draugr that can use that Shout. After being killed, enemies usually lose their grip on their weapons. You can still loot the corpses to get the weapons, but you can also just pick up the weapon itself.

* ''ElderScrolls: {{Oblivion}}'' averts this. You can disarm enemies, and your opponents can disarm you, too.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. Attacking an enemy enough can sometimes cause them to drop their weapons before death, after which they will scramble for a new one or simply resort to fisticuffs.
** You could also pick up their dropped weapons, for the first time in a Zelda game (I think ?).

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}} 1'' and 2 subvert this; the weapons can fall out of sight when they die, but you can find ammo for that weapon on their bodies. This trope is also averted in ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', where you can use (temporary plasmids?) nostrums to kick your enemy's ass [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with his own gun]]. On the other hand, if you see a body still holding onto their gun they're just PlayingPossum.

* Shooting the gun out of their hands, a staple of good guys in the more G-rated Western films and TV series, is featured in ''RedDeadRedemption''. It's a good way to win pistol duels and is required for certain in-game marksmanship achievements, but normal enemies so disarmed will often quickly retrieve the weapon or continue fighting with another gun. Handgun-wielding foes who lose their gat may even produce a rifle from their HyperspaceArsenal after running scared for a short time.

* Wonderfully averted in ''TimeShift'': Shooting an enemy in the arm will usually make him drop his weapon. ''Hilariously'' averted when you freeze time, steal a weapon right out of an enemy soldier's hands and then shoot his allies with it before normal time resumes.
* In ''TimeSplitters'', the enemies everywhere flop wildly when they get hit. Seeing as they take multiple clips before they die on the harder levels, this soon becomes very annoying, as they practically dance across levels. True death only follows when their weapon shoots out of the hands onto the ground 10 feet in front of them.

* ''{{Berserk}}'' - Guts almost never drops the [[BFS Dragonslayer]], no matter how hard he gets hit, how far he falls or how much he bleeds.

This is a common trope in video games with enemies that use weapons, especially in gun-based {{FPS}} games. Of course, it also applies to the player character, where this is almost always the case. This is generally an [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Acceptable Break From Reality]] (especially in the case of the player, where dropping your weapon could be very irritating), yet some games take it to a truly ludicrous degree: Enemies have a variety of long-winded pain animations that appear to be leading to death (even falling over), yet the true way to tell that they are [[FinalDeath really dead]] is when their weapon finally leaves their hands. This applies even if the enemy is rendered [[{{Standard Status Effects}} unconscious]] in anyway other than NonLethalKO, they won't let go!

* Just about every FightingGame that features weapons will have this even worse--the weapon won't leave your grip even after death or knockout. Whether it's [[{{Tekken}} Yoshimitsu's]] sword, or [[SoulSeries Maxi's]] nunchaku, they hold on to the bitter end, and beyond.
** Averted in the ''SuperSmashBros'' series when it comes to items like beam swords and ray guns. If you hurt a player enough while they hold an item, they will drop it. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Naturally, the AI will have the items glued to their hands no matter how hard you smack them.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'' 1 and 2 subvert this; the weapons can fall out of sight when they die, but you can find ammo for that weapon on their bodies. This trope is also averted in ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', where you can use (temporary plasmids?) nostrums to kick your enemy's ass [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with his own gun]]. On the other hand, if you see a body still holding onto their gun they're just PlayingPossum.

* In ''{{Medal of Honor}}: Allied Assault'', it is possible to knock down an enemy and make them drop their rifle. They will go crawling after it, trying to get up.

* In ''{{Soldier of Fortune}}'' 1 and 2, enemies could be disarmed by BlastingItOutOfTheirHands. In the first game, this effectively neutralized them as a threat, since they'd immediately cower and beg for mercy. In the second game, they're smart enough to whip out their sidearm if they have one, or run around looking for another weapon if they don't.

* In ''TimeSplitters'', the enemies everywhere flop wildly when they get hit. Seeing as they take multiple clips before they die on the harder levels, this soon becomes very annoying, as they practically dance across levels. True death only follows when their weapon shoots out of the hands onto the ground 10 feet in front of them.

[[folder:RunAndGun]]

* ''DwarfFortress'' let both your dwarfs and enemy goblins become disarmed due to injury. It's also possible for a weapon to get stuck inside a target's body, or taken away via wrestling. However, in Adventure Mode, [=NPCs=] do not drop their weapon when they fall unconscious, only when their ability to grasp specifically has been impaired, because they won't pick up any item and thus would become permanently disarmed.

* Averted in ''{{Jagged Alliance}} 2'', where all sorts of things could cause a character to drop his weapon, particularly the use of stun grenades and other explosives. This includes both friends and foes. However, to keep the player from getting too many powerful weapons in the early stages of the game, some enemy weapons disappear completely once the enemy carrying them dies, for no other reason. This leads some players to try and "steal" weapons from enemies before killing them, which verges on suicidal unless you're really really good at it.

* Averted in ''GrandTheftAutoIV'', in which [=NPCs=] drop their weapons under a variety of circumstances besides dying. In melee combat you can steal a knife right out of your opponent's hands if you dodge at the right moment, while you can knock a gun out of out of their hand with a whack from the baseball bat. You can also shoot a person's weapon out of their hand, in which case they'll retrieve a backup (if they have one) or otherwise resort to fisticuffs. In an extreme example of this, this troper once shot a NOOSE operator's M4 out of his hands, so he retrieved a shotgun. I shot ''that'' out of his hands, and he retrieved a Glock.