History Main / ExclusiveEnemyEquipment

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* The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' and ''VideoGame/ShiningSeries'' do this often with the bosses' weapons which can't be found anywhere else but are very powerful and usually magical. In the case of ''Fire Emblem'' as the weapons break with use you'll never see the weapon again after it's broken.
** ''VideoGame/ShiningForce'' fortunately has the ''Egress'' spell, which returns you back to the last Abbey you were at. If you're good at VideogameStealing, you can take multiple of a rare or unique item by refighting battles, and stock or sell the extras. Since this returns you to a town before the fight, you may even [[SequenceBreaking "arrive in town" with items you shouldn't have, and sell them for absurd prices.]] Heat Axe, anyone?

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' has several types of weapon that are exclusive to NPC races and can only be acquired by trading, looting dead invaders or modding. This includes weapons that are ''supposed'' to be UnusableEnemyEquipment such as pikes or [[{{BFS}} greatswords]], but currently can be used due to a bug with size and weight penalties. Most of the NPC-only weapons are [[SeparateButIdentical only cosmetically different]], offer only ''very'' minor advantages or are outright {{Joke Weapon}}s, with the exception of [[WhipItGood whips and scourges]] before their GameBreaker status got nerfed. Also, elves are the only faction who can make weapons and armour out of wood in vanilla, although this is trivially easy to work around with modding if you really want to.

** The original Japanese release of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' had a problem with this. Elmdore was the only enemy in the game to have the Genji equipment, but he had the Maintenance ability which prevents you from stealing it, making it the only UnusableEnemyEquipment in the game. Their American [=PS1=] port removed his Maintenance ability to allow you to steal his equipment. ''War of the Lions'' restored it, but added a BonusBoss fight it could be stolen from.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', the only way to get PoisonedWeapons is by stealing.

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' uses this for certain costume pieces. Rikti and Rularuu Weapons, Vanguard Equipment, and Roman Armor can be earned via gameplay.

* ''VideoGame/SCPSecretLaboratory'': The AK, Shotgun, Revolver and Logicer (and ammo for them) are exclusive to the Chaos Insurgency - getting your hands on one will require looting a dead Chaos player, spawning as Chaos or making them via SCP-914.

* In the earlier ''{{VideoGame/XCOM}}'' games (''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense UFO]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/XCOMTerrorFromTheDeep Terror from the Deep]]'') manufacturing alien equipment required a) prying the items from the cold, dead bodies of your opponents and b) having sufficient {{Phlebotinum}}. A run of bad luck could leave up unable to build various useful devices and weapons, leaving looting and pillaging your only way to increase your stocks.
** ''VideoGame/XCOMApocalypse'' also had this with some weirder items such as Brainsuckers and Entropy launchers... you simply couldn't ever build them. Anything you could build didn't require special resources, but certain things that you could only buy would cease to be available to you if their manufacturers decided they didn't like you or joined up with the aliens instead. Raiding an arms producer gave you the chance to grab loot at a 100% discount. This was the only way to obtain Marsec's otherwise DummiedOut psi-defense helmet.
* Partial credit for Dark Forces--the weapon used by the Phase II Dark Trooper was not usable by the player for most of the game. Eventually, Kyle's allowed to pick it up and use it.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta}}'' the titular character can occasionally swipe the weapons of her [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angelic enemies]], although each weapon has a set gauge that drains every time its used and will disintegrate once its out of power. This mechanic is brought back in the [[{{VideoGame/Bayonetta 2}} sequel]], only this time in addition to angelic weapons, Bayonetta can also steals the weapons from Infernal Demons.

* ''Redneck Rampage'' has the [[ArmCannon Alien Arm Gun]], an actual cyber body part that had been grafted to the Alien Hulks that fired it at Leonard before [[LudicrousGibs he blew them up to pieces]][[labelnote:*]]Hulks [[ChunkySalsaRule have to be gibbed to be permanently defeated, or they'll just resurrect]][[/labelnote]]. You fire it by yanking on the arm's dangling tendons.

Contrast UnusableEnemyEquipment, where the equipment can't be used ''at all''.

* The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' and ''Franchise/ShiningSeries'' do this often with the bosses' weapons which can't be found anywhere else but are very powerful and usually magical. In the case of ''Fire Emblem'' as the weapons break with use you'll never see the weapon again after it's broken.

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' has several types of weapon that are exclusive to NPC races and can only be acquired by trading, looting dead invaders or modding. This includes weapons that are ''supposed'' to be UnusableEnemyEquipment such as pikes or [[{{BFS}} greatswords]], but currently can be used due to a bug with size and weight penalties. Most of the NPC-only weapons are [[SeparateButIdentical only cosmetically different]], offer only ''very'' minor advantages or are outright {{Joke Weapon}}s, with the exception of [[WhipItGood whips and scourges]] before their GameBreaker status got nerfed. Also, elves are the only faction who can make weapons and armour out of wood in vanilla.

* The "Alien Weapon" in ''Marathon'' can only be obtained from the corpses of Pfhor enforcers. Depending on the game, it acts as a sort of flamethrower, or a very accurate rapid-fire weapon. The downside is that it's alien technology that you only know how to operate on the level of "point and shoot", and which is incompatible with your armor systems -- you can't see how much ammo it has left, and can't reload it; just toss it when it's empty and pick up another one.

* This is one of ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'s'' game mechanics. Enemy units hold gunpods which they can use against you, and the player's ship is capable of grabbing said weapons for themselves after destroyin them. It's then subverted in that after you obtain a certain gunpod type, you can customize your gunpod loadout with said gunpod whenever you start a new life.

* ''Videogame/MegaManZero 4'' allows you to [[PowerCopying obtain the weapon of an enemy]] if Zero uses the Z-Knuckle on it. Unlike the other games however, this could be done on random mooks all over the stages.

* There are certain weapons in ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye]]'' which can only be obtained by fetching them off of bodies -- even more, there are certain things Franchise/JamesBond can do with these weapons only on levels where an enemy can, such as simultaneously wielding a submachine gun and a grenade launcher, though he can use both independently on other levels and there is a GameBreaker glitch allowing you to dual wield separate items in other levels as well.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblem9'', the only way to get PoisonedWeapons is by stealing.

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* The ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' and ''Franchise/ShiningSeries'' do this often with the bosses' weapons which can't be found anywhere else but are very powerful and usually magical. In the case of ''Fire Emblem'' as the weapons break with use you'll never see the weapon again after it's broken.

* PlayedWith throughout the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise. While PowerCopying is one of the series' biggest gimmicks, if a boss has more than one unique attack you're more than likely just going to end up with one of them. When arm upgrades in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series gave the ability to charge your boss weapons for a secondary fire, some used them to mimic other attacks from their corresponding boss.

* In the MMO ''VideoGame/LaTale'' there are certain enemies who drop their weapons, such as the Bogles dropping their Bogle Swords. These weapons are usually much more powerful than store-bought weapons, but also much more difficult and expensive to upgrade as you level.

* The heroes from ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'' activate their special attacks and, later on, SuperModes with Rouze Cards, which are magical cards used to imprison the MonstersOfTheWeek. Kazuma Kenzaki, the eponymous Kamen Rider Blade, plays this trope even straighter by wielding a monster's sword against it.