History Main / GunsAreWorthless

Compare ArbitraryGunPower, NeverBringAKnifeToAFistfight, and contrast TheLethalConnotationOfGunsAndOthers, MugglesDoItBetter, FirearmsAreCowardly. See also ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge. Usually used to justify WhyDontYouJustShootHim.

* Usually, ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is pretty much packed with guns; there are, however, two exceptions. The Demoman can choose to go "Demoknight", where he discards his grenade launcher for some NiceShoes, his sticky bomb launcher for a shield and uses one of his many swords as his melee. This can be surprisingly effective. Similarly, the Sniper can discard his sniper rifle in favour of the Huntsman, a set of bow and arrows. If you're good, the Huntsman can be devastating.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', ComicBook/{{Robin}}, ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}... are able to dodge bullets. They also all include some form of bulletproof vest in their costume.

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' is impervious to most forms of damage, including gunfire.
* Franchise/SpiderMan technically ''can'' be hurt or killed with bullets (he ''does'' have some amount of SuperToughness and HealingFactor, just not to the point they won't hurt him at all), but his SpiderSense and SuperReflexes allow him to detect anyone shooting at him and easily dodge, making it near impossible to hit him.
* Shoot ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} or]] [[ComicBook/PowerGirl any]] [[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} member]] [[ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperDog of]] his Kryptonian family and you will not be doing much more than throwing beer cans at them.

* {{Averted}} '''hard''' in ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. Remember how in VideoGame/BloodBorne, guns are comparable to peashooters? In this fanfic, they '''[[OneHitKill hit like a]] [[GoshDangItToHeck friggin]] [[BoomHeadshot truck]]'''. The only downside of these guns is that they have to be reloaded every time a bullet is fired, meaning that the gun users have to rely on their melee weapons just as much.

* ''Fanfic/BringMeToLife'' played with this. During the fight at the Hyperion, Wes' guns proved to be as inefficient as arrows, swords and axes due to the demons' invulnerable organic skin. However, once Wes spots a chink in his armor caused by Angel when the vampire captured Skip, his gun was absolutely lethal.

* {{Averted}} '''hard''' in ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. Remember how in VideoGame/BloodBorne, guns are comparable to peashooters? In this fanfic, they '''[[OneHitKill hit like a]] [[GoshDangItToHeck friggin]] [[BoomHeadshot truck]]'''.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Averted, for the most part: Guns are still slow to fire and load as any pre-cartridge firearms would be, but are quite powerful. Case in point, their per-shot damage is advantageous enough vis-a-vis their slow firing rates that the tabletop game models a musketeer model's attack (e.g. Empire handgunners) as 1 Strength 4 hit per round, whereas longbows, javelins, and most melee weapons have their attacks modeled as 1 Strength 3 hit per round. All firearms also get the Armour Piercing special rue, basically making them function with an extra Strength point against armoured foes. Meanwhile cannons may as well be railguns on the tabletop, capable of felling a PhysicalGod from half a mile away with a couple good hits. Their effectiveness extends to the fluff - just ask Great Dragon Araugnir, who was decapitated by a single shot from a culverin. Or the greater daemon/minor god Skarbrand, who was reduced to chunks of gore by field cannon batteries.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Averted, for the most part: Guns are still slow to fire and load as any pre-cartridge firearms would be, but are quite powerful. Case in point, their per-shot damage is advantageous enough vis-a-vis their slow firing rates that the tabletop game models a musketeer model's attack (e.g. Empire handgunners) as 1 Strength 4 hit per round, whereas longbows, javelins, and most melee weapons have their attacks modeled as 1 Strength 3 hit per round. All firearms also get the Armour Piercing special rue, basically making them function with extra Strength point against armoured foes. Meanwhile cannons may as well by railguns on the tabletop, capable of felling a PhysicalGod from half a mile away with a couple good hits. Their effectiveness extends to the fluff - just ask Great Dragon Araugnir, who was decapitated by a single shot from a culverin. Or the greater daemon/minor god Skarbrand, who was reduced to chunks of gore by field cannon batteries.

* Utterly averted in ''VideoGame/LiveALive''. Sunset Kid, the party member from the Old West, uses a gun (specifically, a Colt Peacemaker to start with; his InfinityPlusOneSword is a .44 Magnum). His attacks have no charge time, except for his strongest attack, have extremely good range, and deal high damage. His strongest attack, while it has a charge time and limited range, makes up for this with ''999 damage every time''. The boss of his chapter could also deal 999 damage with his strongest attack, and he used a {{Gatling g|ood}}un. Guns aren't just worthwhile, they're ''dangerous''.

* ''Webcomic/{{TREVOR}}'': Justified example; It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the guns themselves, it’s just that [[spoiler: Trevor]] is ImmuneToBullets.

* Mostly played straight in ''Videogame/{{Bloodborne}}''. Firearm damage is pathetic compared to melee, with most guns taking several shots to kill basic Huntsmen enemies you can dispatch with a couple of swings of an axe or cleaver from the very beginning of the game. However, they have the unique ability to stun enemies if the shot is timed correctly, which can get you out of a sticky situation and give an opening for a high-damage counterattack. The backstory justifies this by stating the guns the player uses have [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells specialized ammo]] named Quicksilver Bullets, a mixture of mercury and magic blood. They do less damage by default than normal bullets but can fit [[UniversalAmmunition any Hunter-deigned gun]] or be used as a medium for magic. The flavor text explains that the [[OurWereWolvesAreDifferent the Beasts]] that make up the majority of in-game enemies are so tough and strong that man-portable firearms are of little use against them, making [[SuperSoldier super-strong, super-fast Hunters]] swinging melee weapons an overall better option (it's not like one of them would get more mileage out of a regular percussion cap rifle than anyone else; a giant axe is a different story). It can be subverted however, if you level up the "Bloodtinge" stat [[UpToEleven high enough;]] certain guns can down bosses ruthlessly and efficiently.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Nostalgia}}'', guns do less damage than swords, only compensated by higher accuracy.

* Guns in ''TabletopGame/FengShui'' are funny things. Because of the rules, a single bullet can put down a {{mook|s}} with little problem, but named heroes and villains alike get the benefit of AlmostLethalWeapons when dealing with guns -- against named characters, your average pistol is only going to cause as much damage as a kung fu warrior's punch or kick, and when fighting a high-Toughness character like a Big Bruiser, something like a dinky .38 snub revolver isn't going to do much to him except piss him off unless it's a signature weapon. Still, heroes and villains alike in the HeroicBloodshed movies that the gun rules try to emulate are known for [[MadeOfIron taking serious amounts of punishment]], sometimes to NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow levels, so this is reflective of genre: It is explicitly stated that the game tries to capture the atmosphere of Hong Kong action movies and doesn't even try to imitate reality.

* Sanguine Production's ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' and its expansion ''Jadeclaw'' allow characters to purchase and use firearms. While a gun in ''Ironclaw'' is appropriately powerful, it's also ridiculously expensive, horribly inaccurate, slow to reload, and requires a reliability roll with each shot. If the roll fails, guns suffer from the unnerving tendency to fail in the worst possible way at the worst possible time, such as a dud fuse not firing or, even worse, a spontaneous powder explosion. With such issues only applying to firearm weapons, this means bows and melee weapons are much more practical to their users and much less likely to cause them to accidentally kill themselves.

* ''Literature/MartinFierro'' At song III of this NarrativePoem, Fierro, a {{Gaucho}} recruited to fight the Indians at the frontier, denounces that the Colonel did not gave fire arms to the new recruits, pretexting he will give them when the Indians will attack them. When the Indians attack, the army gave the soldiers spears, because the firearms are useless without ammunition. Then a sergeant tells Fierro that the Argentinian army is ''invoking'' this trope because they really have ammunition, but [[ArmsDealer they sell it to hunt ostrichs]].

Compare ArbitraryGunPower, NeverBringAKnifeToAFistfight, and contrast TheLethalConnotationOfGunsAndOthers, MugglesDoItBetter. See also ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge. Usually used to justify WhyDontYouJustShootHim.

* Zig-zagged in the Naruto/ Assassin's Creed crossover ''Fanfic/ShinobisCreed''. Guns fire is shown to be extreamly painfull to leathal. However they are using Renaissance era firearms tha are to slow and inacurate to use against ninja

* Zig-zagged in the Naruto/ Assassin's Creed crossover Shinobi's Creed. Guns fire is shown to be extreamly painfull to leathal. However they are using Renaissance era firearms the are to slow and inacurate to use against ninja

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Averted, for the most part: Guns are still slow to fire and load as any pre-cartridge firearms would be, but their ineffectiveness comes mostly from the enemy's magical protection (literally, in the case of Bretonnians) than being inherently weak.
** Ranged weapons are seen as unchivalric by Bretonnian knights (even their feudal armies limit themselves to longbows and trebuchets), and the use of guns is forbidden on Bretonnian soil. The Bretonnian navy, on the other hand, is the most powerful in the world due to their enthusiastic adoption of cannon.
** Dwarf guns could be considerably more powerful, but dwarves are so inherently distrustful of change that they won't use anything that hasn't been tested for hundreds of years before it's proven to work (and there are even some dwarves who hold guns to be a newfangled invention that will never catch on, preferring crossbows instead). Chaos Dwarf guns are even more powerful, but as HauntedTechnology they tend to backfire on their owners, so they prefer to sell their creations.

* In both the comics and [[Film/{{Spawn}} the movie]], Comicbook/{{Spawn}} uses guns against some his adversaries (Overtkill in the comic, Violator in the movie). While Overtkill is easily defeated, Violator just shrugs off bullets. Cogliostro points this out later on, even saying "guns are useless", and shows Spawn how to use his own powers properly.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Shepard's ''punches'' deal more damage than bullets from the wimpy starting weapons. However, it should be noted that the guns are in no way weak (the usual level's design alone will make it difficult
to safely get next to any enemy that is shooting you themselves), and Shepard is at that point essentially an indestructible cyborg and the DLC weapons and more powerful guns you find later in the game thoroughly avert this.

*** But if you add in that Fusiliers learn loads of attacks that cost no MP and have decent chances of causing StandardStatusEffects while still causing regular damage to their enormous range then you still have a great supporting unit.