History Main / GlassWeapon

** Crafters on [[spoiler:the moon Ruidus]] make weapons out of a natural glass that's mined there -- such weapons are [[BreakableWeapons prone to break]] but have a much greater CriticalHit chance and can synergize with the wielder's PsychicPowers.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Ashton Greymoore the barbarian wields an oversized warhammer with a glass head, fitting with the [[GemTissue stone skin and crystal hair]] they have as an Earth [[UnevenHybrid Genasi]]. When Ashton suffered a major head wound, their artificer friend patched it with glass and made the hammer with the leftovers, enchanting it to be unbreakable.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Ashton Greymoore the barbarian wields an oversized warhammer with a glass head, fitting with the [[GemTissue stone skin and crystal hair]] they have as an Earth [[UnevenHybrid Genasi]]. When Ashton suffered a major head wound, their artificer friend patched it with glass and made the hammer with the leftovers.

* In the sci-fi short story by Comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, "L'Etna chez soi", there are very detailed descriptions of glass arrows loaded with chemicals that then explode on impact.

* In one of the ''Literature/{{Bony}}'' detective novels by Arthur Upfield, the victims are killed with coloured glass daggers that were once used as props in a magic act to which characters are connected.
* In the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Demontage'' an assassin is disguised as a wine-glass salesman, and his ScaramangaSpecial (comprising two knives, a single shot gun and a set of lockpicks) is therefore made of glass.
* ''Literature/AkataWitch'': Sunny's [[MagicWand juju knife]] has a blade of paper-thin green glass. Justified in that it's a conduit for her power, which makes its physical composition more or less irrelevant, but even other magical people think the blade is strange.
* ''Literature/ModernFaerieTales'': The faerie-made glass sword in ''Valiant''. When Val is stopped by a police officer for carrying it on the subway, she manages to convince them that it's ornamental by unwrapping it a bit to show that it's made of glass.
* A unique example in ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' actually takes advantage of the properties of glass. Security personnel on an Imperial vessel have shotguns loaded with glass flechette shells as they don't want any risk of puncturing through the hull and exposing everyone on board to the vacuum of space.
* ''[[Literature/{{Tarzan}} Tarzan the Terrible]]'': Having escaped from the city of A-lur, Jane Clayton finds shelter by a small jungle stream. While bathing in the stream, she discovers that the streambed is paved with small rocks, including many sharp-edged pieces of obsidian.
-->Jane Clayton was elated. Here, God-given to her hands, was the first beginning with which she might eventually arrive at both weapons and tools—a cutting edge. Everything was possible to him who possessed it—nothing without.

* ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'' has the Glass Cannon, which is extremely powerful, but breaks if you get hit while using it, setting your ammunition to zero. Grabbing an ammo pickup will "fix" it.

* Brandon, one of the psychopaths in ''Videogame/DeadRising2'' uses a large shard of broken glass as an ImprovisedWeapon.
* ''VideoGame/DarkParables: The Final Cinderella'' has the Glass Wand, a MagicWand that's been passed down through generations of Godmothers that can destroy evil and break curses on objects, as well as imbue an object with positive energy. As a very major enemy in the game is a {{Perverse Puppet}}, this is a very useful weapon to have.
* ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecroDancer'' has glass weapons that do very high damage but break if you get hit. There's also glass armour that negates damage but (again) breaks if you get hit and an item called the Glass Jaw that lets you inflict double damage but turns you into a OneHitPointWonder.

* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac: Afterbirth'', you can create the Glass Cannon, which is exactly what it sounds like, in [[GlassCannon every sense]]. It's incredibly powerful, but lowers your health to just 1/2 heart, meaning that you'll be killed in a single blow if something hits you. ''Repentance'' removed the health downgrade, but getting hit while holding Glass Cannon temporarily breaks it, causing damage done to Isaac to be increased by two hearts and causes him to leave behind blood creep until the Glass Cannon is fixed.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series had glass swords from ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' onward: one-hit-one-kill weapons for practically every enemy in the games that shatter beyond repair upon a single use.
* ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendII'' include the glass sword, an incredibly powerful weapon which breaks after a single use.

* ''VideoGame/FableI'' has obsidian weapons, which are a notch up from steel in the ElementalCrafting ranks but which act like metal in every respect. Flavour text also says that they have an unsettling appearance, a [[EvilIsDeathlyCold pervasive chill]], and a reputation for being used in evil deeds, although this has no effect on their in-game use.
* ''Videogame/SunlessSkies'' has "The Tears of Astolat", a somewhat unique weapon created by exposing a regular train-mounted autocannon to the hateful, vitrifying radiations of [[MechanicalAbomination the Clockwork Sun]] (and the rest of the train, crew and all; it wasn't exactly made on purpose). It's very fragile, so salvaging it is difficult, but bullets come in, ultra-sharp glass fletchettes come out. In gameplay terms, it's a Tier 2 weapon: much better than your starting Tier 0 weapon, and better than a Tier 1 weapon, but requiring significant stats to actually use it properly.
-->'''Description:''' "The mirror crack'd from side to side." A relentless chain gun that fires shards of vitrified ammunition at a rapid clip. Ensure that the last thing your enemy sees is their own screaming face, reflected in the glass.
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The legendary glass sword Anathema holds the spirit of a demon and is powerfully magical, but is brittle and can't be repaired like other weapons, so it [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome breaks]] after it deals [[LimitedUseMagicalDevice a single blow]].
* ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'':
** One of the many, many guns that can be acquired is a literal GlassCannon, which, true to its form, is capable of dealing a lot of damage to its targets, but breaks if the wielder takes a hit. Of course, 'breaking' in this context just results in its remaining ammo being lost, so, if you can find an ammo pickup from there...
** It's also possible to acquire a glass ''shield'', in the form of a Glass Guon Stone. When you pick one up, it orbits you and blocks enemy projectiles, and stacks with any other Guon Stones (Glass or otherwise) you may have acquired. If you get hit, however, any Glass Guon Stones you had on your person break.
* ''VideoGame/ForTheKing'' has a class of glass weapons in three [[ElementalCrafting tiers]]: swords, [[MagicWand rods]], bows, and [[InstrumentOfMurder lutes]] can all be found in glass, sapphire (apparently not a {{crystal|Weapon}}), and [[BlackSwordsAreBetter obsidian]]. It isn't explained how, for example, one could draw a glass bow, but as a small nod to physics, these weapons [[BreakableWeapons shatter]] on a failed attack.
The ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' mod ''VideoGame/TheTwilightForest'' includes the Glass Sword, a rare weapon which deals absurdly high damage but breaks after a single attack.

%% Image chosen via crowner in the Image Suggestions thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=s6jfhdo5
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700&page=302#comment-7529
%% Image kept on page per IP thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1639143369050398200
%% Do not remove or replace this image without starting an Image Pickin' Thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_memory_of_light_art_cropped_0.PNG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:If you think the sword is dangerous, just wait until you see his [[GlassCannon cannons]].]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* In ''Literature/SnowCrash'', the BigBad Raven uses glass knives that are SharpenedToASingleAtom because they're undetectable by security systems and can cut straight through bullet-proof vests. He also uses glass-tipped harpoons.

* There's a Creator/JohnDicksonCarr story where a killer hides a glass knife by dropping it into a jug of water.
* In Creator/LarryNiven's short story "Literature/WhatGoodIsAGlassDagger", it turns out that a glass dagger has one significant advantage: it can be [[spoiler:hidden in water]].
* Creator/SpiderRobinson's ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'' short story "The Law of Conservation of Pain". One of the guest characters has a futuristic gun made of glass. Jake Stonebender shatters it by playing a high frequency note on his guitar.

* The first-person narrator of ''Literature/DeathsHead'' mentions small glass knives early in the second book. They can be bought by the dozen and the user can easily break the handle off after stabbing, making the blade hard to dislodge. The narrator contrasts them with his opponent's enormous knife, the mark of a guy who takes pleasure in killing painfully (whereas ''he'', as a soldier, kills efficiently instead).

* ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': Film/JamesBond's battle with [[TheDragon Chang]] leads to a museum of glass art. They end up trashing the place and using the various art pieces as weapons. Bond manages to chop Chang's wooden katana in half with a glass-handled rapier.

The ''VideoGame/Minecraft'' mod ''TheTwilightForest'' includes the Glass Sword, a rare weapon which deals absurdly high damage but breaks after a single attack.

* ''Videogame/SunlessSkies'' has "The Tears of Astolat", a somewhat unique weapon created by exposing a regular train-mounted autocannon to the hateful, vitrifying radiations of [[MechanicalAbomination the Clockwork Sun]] (and the rest of the train, crew and all; it wasn't exactly made on purpose). It's very fragile, so salvaging it is difficult, but bullets come in, ultra-sharp glass fletchettes come out. It's a pretty good weapon, better than most one can buy.

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': The concept is critiqued and lampshaded by the Dowager Countess of Grantham: Since they possess large estates which require a lot of hands to keep things running, she sees it as the duty of the upper classes to provide employment to those in need:

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': The concept is critiqued and lampshaded by the Dowager Countess of Grantham, who sees it as the duty of the upper classes to provide employment to those in need:

Not so in fiction, though! In fiction, anything from solid-glass swords to outright hammers made of glass are possible, often with the {{handwave}} of magic, which is why it's not uncommon for them to have magical properties themselves. These items still tend to be frailer than the regular versions, but nowhere near as fragile as they would realistically be.

* ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'': During a fight between Daredevil and Bullseye in a Catholic church, Bullseye picks up the shards of a shattered stained-glass window and hurls them at Daredevil like throwing stars.

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': The concept is critiqued and lampshaded by none other than the Dowager Countess of Grantham:

* In ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', Lord Blackwood attempts to stab Watson with a BladeBelowTheShoulder made of glass in the opening scene of the movie. He's saved from an EyeScream only because Holmes is, [[SherlockScan of course]], paying attention to his surroundings.
* In ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', during a fight between Daredevil and Bullseye in a Catholic church, Bullseye picks up the shards of a shattered stained-glass window and hurls them at Daredevil like throwing stars.
* In ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', Film/JamesBond's battle with [[TheDragon Chang]] leads to a museum of glass art. They end up trashing the place and using the various art pieces as weapons. Bond manages to chop Chang's wooden katana in half with a glass-handled rapier.

* The [[HumanoidAbomination White Walkers]] from ''Series/GameOfThrones'' can be killed with daggers made of dragonglass (obsidian, which is a volcanic glass).

* In ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', James Bond's battle with Chang leads to a museum of glass art. They end up trashing the place and using the various art pieces as weapons. Bond manages to chop Chang's wooden katana in half with a glass-handled rapier.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Ashton Greymoore the barbarian wields an oversized warhammer with a glass head. The choice of material isn't explained, but fits with the [[GemTissue stone skin and crystal hair]] he has as an Earth [[UnevenHybrid Genasi]].