History Main / NerfArm

* Sakata Gintoki from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' wields his wooden sword Lake Touya to get around the ban on commoners wielding katanas, but it's able to smash through walls and even break conventional swords at times, due to being made from an ancient tree that's said to be as hard as metal. It's also a mass-produced mail-order product, which lets him replace it easily after the numerous occasions where it's been destroyed.

* And what about [[Manga/{{Gintama}} Sakata Gintoki's]] wooden sword? In the ''JUMP Festa'' {{OVA}}, he manages to ''slice a gigantic mecha in half with it''.
** Somewhat justified in this case, as it's made from the wood of an ancient tree that's said to be as durable as metal.

* ''BugsyMalone''. Miniature mobsters with pie-throwing weapons--that have made pies obsolete as weapons.

* The core heroes of ''MysteryMen'' have "superpowers" that are only mildly dangerous, like throwing silverware (but not knives), flatulence of doom, or being able to turn invisible if and only if nobody is looking at you. [[note]]A camera-based automatic defense system, on the other hand...[[/note]] All of these become critically important in the endgame, of course.

* In ''KillBill Vol. 2'', The Bride fends off Elle's [[KatanasAreJustBetter Hattori Hanzo sword]] with - a broken [=TV=] antenna.

* In [[GrossePointeBlank Grosse Pointe Blank]] (which pre-dates the Bourne movie above), John Cusack's character uses a promotional gimmick pen (a ChekhovsGun prop) to kill an assassin in a fight at his High School reunion. Complete with cool sword-drawing sound as he takes off the pen cap.

** Plus, you can beat someone to death with a bokken as easily as you could with a [[BatterUp Baseball Bat]].
* Baseball bats (and cricket bats) generally aren't this trope. They '''are''' a club by any definition; just because they're not labeled as one, doesn't mean they're not exactly identical to any historical weapon of war in functionality. In particular, the aluminum baseball bat used in North American college and lower baseball/softball is perhaps the most deadly club ever designed: it's very strong, extremely lightweight, superbly balanced, and easy to be '''lethally''' used by anyone older than about 8. There's a reason that carrying a bat towards the pitcher's mound is an ''extremely'' serious offense in organized baseball, resulting in instant ejection and a possible ban. Not to mention that use of one in a crime is considered a "deadly weapon", putting it on par with a sword or other weapon of war.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': As a sort of SelfImposedChallenge, Jax is armed with a ''brass lamppost''. He [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in his [[IShallTauntYou taunt]] [[EmoteCommand emote]]:

* In the short-running TV series ''MartialLaw'' a belligerent man says to the main character, "I hear that you can make anything into a lethal weapon. Prove it." He then proceeds to hand him a chalkboard eraser, which Sammo completely KICKS HIS ASS with.

* Motoko in ''Manga/LoveHina'' is one of many KidSamurai whose wooden sword (''bokken'') is just as effective at dealing damage as a real katana, [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter and sometimes moreso.]]

* In [[GrossePointeBlank Grosse Pointe Blank]] (which pre-dates the Bourne movie above), John Cusack's character uses a promotional gimick pen (a ChekhovsGun prop) to kill an assassin in a fight at his High School reunion. Complete with cool sword-drawing sound as he takes off the pen cap.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' takes the cake for having its very own section, along with one extra joke weapon in each normal catagory which include floating cartoon bombs, boxing gloves, a badass looking electric guitar, and of course...A deck brush, classed as a pole weapon, whose final charge attack is instead of a flashy attack or quick stabbing motion, involves Hector dash-sweeping in front of him for as long as you mash the triangle button. Not only a handy attack but a handy mode of transport, and with good aiming a great way to break open all those candle stands. Also the sweeping attack does almost as much damage as a normal attack, so with a familiar who boosts strength you can actually kill the wyvern boss by cleaning his back. Ooookay.

* ''{{Mabinogi}}'' has a number of these as regular and event-specific weapons and armour. The regular ones are merely household implements like small hatchets, cooking knives, and musical instruments; but also include intentional weapons like large hatchets and wooden swords. They are weaker than your open-hand damage; but can be upgraded to do a reasonable amount of damage (although nowhere near as much as a regular weapon). Event-specific items often include cutesey weapons like the recent toy bow and arrow set and "cat paw club", a big furry cat paw on the end of a stick; and similarly cute armour and accessories, such as panda paw gloves, and various costumes. In most cases, they're of only average or worse effectiveness; although in a few (such as the cat paw club), they're fairly powerful. They typically come with limitations, however, in that they cannot be upgraded, enchanged, or repaired (all items wear out with time and use).

* An episode of ''DextersLaboratory'' focusing on Dee-Dee involved her paper route running into competition from [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext ninjas]]. Rolled-up newspapers were used as sword analogues, complete with a failed ninja committing seppuku at the end by whacking himself in the face.

* [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] "Arsenal of Freedom" which is made up entirely of toys and prop replicas; handwaved in that they turn out to be enchanted to work like their "real" counterparts.

See also ImprobableWeaponUser, StatisticallySpeaking, CherryTapping. Closely related to- but not to be confused with- {{Nerf}}. Can overlap with LethalJokeCharacter. A Subtrope is WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter.

!!Examples

->''I am the foam of my sword.''
->''Plastic is my body, and air is my blood.''
->''I have ploinked over a thousand people.''
->''Unknown to injury,''
->''Nor known to realism.''
->''Have withstood thumps to create soft weapons.''
->''Yet, these hands will never hurt anything.''
->''So as I play, [[FieldOfBlades UNLIMITED NERF WORKS]].''

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Motoko in ''LoveHina'' is one of many KidSamurai whose wooden sword (''bokken'') is just as effective at dealing damage as a real katana, [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter and sometimes moreso.]]

* Likewise, Tatewaki Kuno's wooden sword in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' is capable of cutting trees in half and [[RazorWind shattering stone walls]]. But of course, any unarmed character can beat Kuno with their pinky finger...

* Kain can replace his Soul Reaver with a cardboard tube in LegacyOfKain: Defiance, through the use of a cheat code. When entered, Kain says "Fear the tube." While it was initially suspected to be a reference to ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', it was revealed to be a coincidence.

* [[YuGiOh Kaiba]] uses duel monster cards as throwing stars. He will knock whatever you're holding out of your hand with them.

** In ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', Zack goes to Costa del Sol and fights with an umbrella rather than his normal sword. It's just as powerful as the ''Buster Sword''.

** Ranged weapons seem to have a higher tendency to be silly. Among the ranged weapons with power 180 or greater (max power is 200) are a record[[hottip:* :as in, the precursor of the CD]], a bag of candy, a Slinky, a bag of snowballs, a paddle-ball, a beer-slinging catapult, a beer bong, [[MusicalAssassin a guitar, a sitar, and a didgeridoo]].

** Baseball bats (and cricket bats) generally aren't this trope. The '''are''' a club by any definition; just because they're not labeled as one, doesn't mean they're not exactly identical to any historical weapon of war in functionality. In particular, the aluminum baseball bat used in North American college and lower baseball/softball is perhaps the most deadly club ever designed: it's very strong, extremely lightweight, superbly balanced, and easy to be '''lethally''' used by anyone older than about 8. There's a reason that carrying a bat towards the pitcher's mound is an ''extremely'' serious offense in organized baseball, resulting in instant ejection and a possible ban. Not to mention that use of one in a crime is considered a "deadly weapon", putting it on par with a sword or other weapon of war.
*** Which may or may not count as an example of this trope.

** In fact, he eventually manages to use a '''bathroom''' to kill a would-be assassin. Yeah, the ''whole bathroom''

* In [[GrossePointeBlank Grosse Pointe Blank]], John Cusack's character uses a promotional gimick pen (a CheckovsGun prop) to kill an assassin in a fight at his High School reunion. Complete with cool sword-drawing sound as he takes off the pen cap.

* In the game ''Battletech'', swinging the blown-off arm of an enemy mech can do more damage than firing a mid-grade or even high grade cannon, depending on your mech's size -- for a ''lot'' less heat buildup.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'''s Reverse Blade Sword. Plus at least two other members of his entourage, Yahiko and Kaoru, use wooden or bamboo training swords. Hell, Kenshin wins a fight with a beach umbrella.