History Main / EnergyBow

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Rodimus Prime uses a bow. The string and the ''two'' arrows it fires at once are made of orange energy. Mostly, this homages/parodies ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, whom Rodimus has always resembled; this version's resemblance to him is greatly increased and he carries [[TheArcher the same signature weapon]].

* Iris from ''Manhwa/PhDPhantasyDegree'' can materialize bows and arrows from pure magic. It is said that all elves can [[ArcaneArcher imbue magic into their archery]], although Iris is one of the most talented of them all.

* Gan Deeva, from ''Anime/EarthMaidenArjuna''.
* Ikaros' Apollon, from ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty''.
** [[spoiler: Chaos later manages to get one as well.]]

* Iris from ''Manhwa/PhDPhantasyDegree'' is able to materialize bows and arrows from pure magic. It is said that all elves are able to [[ArcaneArcher imbue magic into their archery]], although Iris is one of the most talented of them all.

* ''Anime/{{Raideen}}'', which is probably the TropeCodifier.

** The MagicalGesture for casting the Flare Arrow spell is to pantomime drawing a bow and arrow, which mabifests a bow made of fire before launching.

* In ''Literature/UnlimitedFafnir'', Mitsuki uses one in battle against the dragons.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': [[ArcherArchetype Quincies]] are a clan of human magic users who can manifest bows and arrows made from spiritual energy. Some use HardLight bows ([[AloofAlly Uryuu]]'s initial preference) and others use bows of such concentrated energy that they appear completely solid (his father [[HeroicNeutral Ryuuken]]'s preference). Quincies traditionally prefer bows to distinguish themselves from the sword-wielding {{Shinigami}}, but they do have the ability to create a wide range of EnergyWeapons that defy the expectations of reality: for example, Quincies that prefer swords can still fire arrows from the blades, and Ryuuken is capable of using his bow ''one-handed''.

* Lenneth's bow attacks in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' are composed of some kind of energy, setting her apart from the other archers in the game. Likewise when she appears in ''VideoGame/RadiataStories''.
** Most of the Archer attacks in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileSilmeria'' manifest in this way. Incidentally, archers in this game were considered very powerful.

* The Amazon's Magic Arrow skill in ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'' fires a bolt of mana that replaces the need for arrow quivers and does extra damage. A few unique bows have the special property "Fires level X Magic Arrow", meaning they shoot Magic Arrows as the basic attack and can be used with Strafe or Multishot.

* Minor superheroine Maya in Franchise/TheDCU wields a Type 2.
* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'': In the second main volume, [[Characters/HawkeyeKateBishop Kate Bishop]] picks up a "Kree composite soul bow" from ComicBook/MarvelBoy. He considers it outdated, she thinks it's "[[ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge vintage]]."

* In the second main volume of ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', Kate[=/=]Hawkeye picks up a "Kree composite soul bow" from Marvel Boy. He considers it outdated, she thinks it's "[[ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge vintage]]."

* Lampooned in this entry (by Steve Lauducci, Bethlehem, PA) for the Literature/BulwerLyttonFictionContest.

* Lampooned in this entry (by Steve Lauducci, Bethlehem, PA) for the Creator/EdwardBulwerLytton Fiction Contest.

* Ikaros' Apollon, from ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty''.
** [[spoiler: Chaos later manages to get one as well.]]

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Sailor Mars's Flame Sniper shoots some sort of red/orange energy. The bow itself appears during the casting of the spell and is made of fire.

* Siestas from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' had bows, that fired golden threads, that pierce and destroy everything with unimaginable precision.
* [[LadyOfWar Signum]]'s most powerful attack in the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' series is [[GratuitousGerman Sturmfalke]], an energy projectile launched from her Device Laevatein when it assumes its rare bow form. This attack is a ShoutOut to Phantom Phoenix (see the ''Franchise/SuperRobotWars'' example below), just as Signum herself is an {{Expy}} of Lamia Loveless.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'':

* In ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica]]'', this is Madoka's weapon if she becomes a MagicalGirl - [[spoiler: and in every previous timeline where she did. In the "final" timeline, Homura trades in her guns for a bow of her own.]]
* In the anime adaptation of ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'', Iroha's weapon is a wrist-mounted crossbow that fires energy bolts from its arrowhead. Early on, she's shown to be able to fire both single shots and {{Spam Attack}}s from it.
* Belldandy's angel, Holy Bell, in ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'', makes hers from [[BlowYouAway Wind energy]].

* Yue from ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' has one of these. Unfortunately, it only appears once.
* Both Perseus and Liliana use one in ''{{LightNovel/Campione}}''.
* In ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'', this is the main weapon of Sasuke's [[GuardianEntity Susano]], firing huge purple arrows of semi-solid chakra. Once he [[spoiler:upgrades to the Eternal Mangekyo]], he gains the ability to shoot arrows made of [[{{Hellfire}} Amaterasu fire]].
* In ''LightNovel/UnlimitedFafnir'', Mitsuki uses one in battle against the dragons.
* Iris from ''Manhwa/PhDPhantasyDegree'' is able to materialize bows and arrows from pure magic. It is said that all elves are able to [[ArcaneArcher imbue magic into their archery]], although Iris is one of the most talented of them all.
* ''Manga/DragonQuestTheAdventureOfDai'': Popp's final FinishingMove, Medroa, is performed by casting high-level fire magic in one hand and ice magic in the other, then [[AbilityMixing forcing his hands together to create a shaft of crackling light]]. By pulling back one hand as if drawing a bow, he can then generate and fire a ludicrously powerful "arrow" capable of disintegrating entire mountains in a single shot. Unfortunately, the villains quickly realise that Dai's [[TheLancer Lancer]] has become powerful enough to OneHitKill them, and begin preparing [[AttackReflector reflection magic]] and other counters to [[DramaPreservingHandicap prevent him from using Medroa freely]].
* Rafinha of ''Anime/RebornToMasterTheBlade'' uses this as her WeaponSpecialization. As a Light Artifact, only the grip and the limbs are physical, she creates and fires arrows of light without the need for a bowstring.

* ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'' has this in the Artimus Arrow spell, which Astreal Ezrana learns in Act VI. It's also a cause of AwesomeButImpractical: the arrow is powerful enough to [[OneHitKill one-shot]] a NighInvulnerable ''rylo'' demon, but draws so much power from the magical ether that, according to Yukari and Ruby, if they even tried to hold it, the power behind it would cause their bodies to literally ''explode''.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'', an energy bow is used to fire a magical arrow to track Rincewind's exact whereabouts on the Disc. The arrow, a concentrated spell, will also ''kill'' him, but to the wizard Spelter, locating him ''alive'' is not necessary.
%%* The book ''Echoes of the Great Song'' by Creator/DavidGemmell has Zhi-Bows.

* A ''Pyramid'' article about ultra-tech arrows for ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' includes a "force arrow" made on the same principle as the [[LaserBlade force swords]]. The emitter (equivalent to a force sword hilt) is a stubby metal cylinder with fletching and a nock. The activation button is in the nock, meaning the arrow appears automatically when you draw back the bow.

* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'' gives Ori new weapons, including an energy bow that can be upgraded to fire several projectiles at once.
* ''VideoGame/ShatteredPixelDungeon'' provides the Huntress class with one of these, replacing the boomerang from the [[VideoGame/PixelDungeon base game]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' has a few, including:
** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAdvance'': The Angelg is armed with a bow from which it can fire rapid energy arrows as part of its "Illusion Arrow" attack, or [[ShapingYourAttacks a huge fiery bird]] for its FinishingMove "Phantom Phoenix".
** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'': The Bellzelute's FinishingMove "Orgone Rifle A" (Absolute) docks its pistols to the top and bottom of its Orgone Rifle in a crossbow-like formation, the core of which then splits into a WaveMotionTuningFork and generates a massive arrow of crystallised Orgone as the Bellzelute draws it back.
* Pit's bow in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series. This extends to [[MovesetClone Dark Pit]] as well.
** Not to mention all of the bow-type weapons he can use in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''; though this is a more borderline example given that these bows don't need to be nocked.
* Nightwolf from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' can conjure a glowing green bow to fire arrows of spirit energy.
* Some of the attacks of Emilio in the game ''VideoGame/PsychicForce'' have him fire arrows of light.
* Several of the [[SummonMagic summons]] in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' attack enemies with these.

* The Crystal bow in ''VideoGame/{{RuneScape}}'', made out of elven crystal, has well over two thousand inherent charges, each of which creates one glowing green energy arrow. It's not a truly popular weapon, though, as it degrades over time, and turns into a small piece of crystal once its charges are depleted. The recharge itself is fairly expensive as well, starting at one million ingame coins at first, though it comes down to a fifth of the original as the bow attunes itself to you.
** Another, and more reliable in stats, is the Zaryte Bow, which is energy arrow type. At a [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts cost of around 20 million coins and expensive repairs here and there]], this bow rivals that of some of the stronger crossbows, and packs quite a punch.
** Yet another, even stronger Energy bow, is the Seren Godbow, which is currently the [[InfinityPlusOneSword strongest weapon in the game]]. To obtain it, you have to either cough up ''[[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts billions]]'' [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts of coins]], or fight Telos, an SNKBoss with some of the toughest mechanics in the game, until you get the unpowered bow and three untradeable orbs required to power it up.

* Lenneth's bow attacks in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' are composed of some kind of energy, setting her apart from the other archers in the game. Likewise when she appears in ''VideoGame/RadiataStories''.
** Most of the Archer attacks in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileSilmeria'' manifest in this way. Incidentally, archers in this game were considered very powerful.
* The Amazon's Magic Arrow skill in ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'' fires a bolt of mana that replaces the need for arrow quivers and does extra damage. A few unique bows have the special property "Fires level X Magic Arrow", meaning they shoot Magic Arrows as the basic attack and can be used with Strafe or Multishot.
* The Legendary Bow Thori'dal: The Stars Fury from the Sunwell in ''VideoGame/{{World of Warcraft}}'' generates magical arrows when the bowstring is drawn. It was more impressive back when you needed ammo to fire a ranged weapon, but the bow still has a unique firing animation.
** Chronologically appearing before Thori'dal, the artifact "Thas'dorah, Legacy of the Windrunners" still uses physical ammunition (and even has its own quiver), but is capable via certain traits of firing coalesced [[RazorWind wind arrows]].
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'' and ''VII'', at least, have artifact bows that do this. The bow itself is perfectly real and substantial, but the missiles are ice or lightning spontaneously generated when the (unloaded) bow is fired. Additionally, a bow with the "Of Carnage" enchantment inflicts no extra damage, but the missile explodes on impact with a small but useful blast radius (which confusingly does not count as magic damage for those creatures immune to normal weapons).

* In ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', there's the adept level spell "Bound Bow", which summons a nifty looking purple flame [[InfinityPlusOneSword Daedric]] bow, and 100 Daedric arrows for 120 seconds.
* After his first trip to the afterlife, Tommy in ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' can summon a spirit bow. During the resurrection sequences after death, you even use the bow to shoot flying creatures to determine how much health and mana you spawn with.

* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'', Kratos gets Typhon's Bane, a bow that shoots [[BlowYouAway gusts of wind]] instead of arrows. In ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarIII III]]'' this is replaced with the very similar Bow of Apollo, that shoots [[PlayingWithFire arrows of fire]] instead. Bow of Apollo looks pretty much like any other bow, whereas all the parts of Typhon's Bane except the grip are made of a sort of gas-like substance.
* Magic bows in ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' are an example of the solid type. They're nifty weapons that at first look like an elaborate set of stringless limbs. When 'nocked' however, they form a bolt of magical energy that can lock onto, and home in on targets.
* Serah's Bowsword in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' is a variation of the concept. The arrows fired by the bow are actual physical, and oddly crystalline, arrows, but they don't actually exist until after Serah has loosed one.
* Ezreal in ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'' fires blasts of light from a bow which emerges from a gauntlet on his left hand. Usually the bow is small and only seen for a fraction of a second, but when he channels to summon his ultimate attack, the thing is enormous.
* In ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'' the Bow of Want [[spoiler:crafted from Nashandra's soul]] has a special attack that fires lightning without using any arrows.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has the Miracle Lightning Arrow, introduced in the Ringed City DLC. Using it creates a bow out of light that fires lightning bolts.

* Takumi, one of the main character's siblings and an archer from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', wields the Fujin Yumi, which has a bowstring made of wind magic (hence the name), and fires arrows made of the same.
** When he gets [[spoiler: possessed by Anankos and becomes the FinalBoss of the game's Conquest route]], his weapon is replaced by Skadi which has a bowstring of darkness and fires arrows made of darkness.

* Hunters who unlock their third, void-based class in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' get to fire bolts of void energy from a bow formed of void light.
* In ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' there's the [[Creator/FranzKafka Kafka]] weapon, a large bow crafted from the body of a demonic dragonfly that has a [[BottomlessMagazines endless supply]] of [[PoisonedWeapons venomous spears or even infernal insects]] that it can fire.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Awesomenauts}}'', CowboyCop Rocco wields an ACOG Blackout G-Mag Laserbow. It doesn't really fire like a bow (despite being longbow-shaped, it's semi-automatic and held in one hand), but the bullets fly like arrows.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' gives Dante a a demon laser crossbow/gun called the Artemis. It's really useful when equipped with Gunslinger style. One can target multiple enemies at once, can be fired into the air, resulting in a rain of bolts on enemies, a huge charge with extra damage. Also, there are enemies called Enigma, demon statues with multiple limbs that can cast energy bows to attack.
* Grey and Khita in ''VideoGame/AtlasReactor'', both characters on TheStraightAndArrowPath in a futuristic sci-fi setting, have bow-like weapons that shoot bolts of energy. Grey has an entirely solid pistol crossbow that shoots bolt-shaped blasts of energy, while Khita has a longbow that can shoot both bolts of energy and what seems to be solid arrows (albeit ones that ignore gravity).
* The archer class in fantasy MMORPG ''VideoGame/{{TERA}}'' has a bow with a magical string that generates all kinds of arrows for the player to fire, without the need for a quiver.
* Completing the campaign for "The New War" of ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', Warframes get access to the Sentient-made bow Nataruk, which is a type-1 variant of this trope: an organic solid bow with an energized string and arrows. It's a little faster than most other bows you'll be using, in that tapping the fire button will allow you to fire a single arrow quickly. ''Holding'' the fire button allows you to play a little minigame with the reticle, as the last third of the reticle will mark a sweet spot you have to release just in time before the full charge to do extra damage...mind you, you can still fire an arrow at full charge for extra damage and infinite punch-through on bodies, but you'll definitely want to aim for the 'perfect shot' for that extra crit chance[[note]]full charge grants a 50% crit chance with a 2.2x crit multiplier, but a perfect shot grants a 60% chance for a '''2.4x''' multiplier[[/note]].

* In ''Webcomic/MysteryBabylon'', one of the ancient artifacts of power in Kick Girl's collection is Cupid's Bow, which fires arrows of energy that cause large explosions. Though initially wary of letting her companions touch anything so dangerous, she eventually gives it to Delilah.

* [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP]]-154 is a pair of bracelets that creates one of these. the arrows however are the ''[[BallisticBone bones of the arm]]''.

* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'': The Armageddon Bow, commissioned by Ares and forged by Hephaestus. It was basically an unstrung bow with a face, but pulling back the "string" allowed it to fire energy arrows that hit with the force of lightning (or rather a little less to keep Zeus happy). Of course Hephaestus, annoyed at Ares, made the thing a TalkingWeapon which couldn't stop lamenting it's existence as an instrument of war. At the end of the episode, the bow winds up in Cupid's hands and is quite happy to now be used to bring people together rather than blow them apart.

* ''WesternAnimation/MP4orce'': Thrash wields an energy bow in his digital form.

Sometimes Energy Bows pop up in {{Sentai}} shows as the [[GuysSmashGirlsShoot weapon]] of TheChick or LadyOfWar, and may be related to KiManipulation. In other settings, it's a natural weapon of choice for the MagicalNativeAmerican.

* [[TheChick Deirdre]] from ''Series/TheMysticKnightsOfTirNaNog'' had a crossbow that fired bolts of air (but the special effects made it resemble an energy weapon of some sort).

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/{{Bleach}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Quincy__Bleach_small_1259.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Their name means "destroyer" for a reason.]]

%% Please check the main article for references to the page image before switching it out.

* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]]-154 is a pair of bracelets that creates one of these. the arrows however are the ''[[BallisticBone bones of the arm]]''.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': It's the Nightsisters' WeaponOfChoice, explained as having plasma based arrows and a plasma bowstring with a grip at the center, since the string is deadly on its own.