History Main / SavageSpikedWeapons

** the warmongering, AxCrazy Soldier and the ViolentGlaswegian Demoman can equip "The Pain Train", a very savage-looking ImprovisedWeapon consisting of a cracked piece of wood with a railroad spike jammed through it held together by duct tape.

In fiction, spiked clubs and flails are often used by the more unhinged and violent, with a lot of versatility in {{character archetype}}s, too. Due to the lack of elegance in its design and how simple some variants of it are to make, they are a common weapon for the standard {{Mook}} as well as the stronger SmashMook. Their primitive appearance that puts emphasis on destruction above all else makes them popular weapons for DumbMuscle types. [[PowerFist Spiky brass knuckles]] and [[BatterUp baseball bats]] are popular for stereotypical violent criminals, be it a street punk, biker, or mafia legbreaker. A spiked club or mace's almost cartoonishly dangerous appearance makes them a fitting weapon for stereotypically psychotic and AxCrazy characters; [[EpicFlail spiked flails]] are also a good way to emphasize their insane and erratic personality with them swinging them around. [[PowerFist Spiked gauntlets]], [[DropTheHammer warhammers with a spiked hammer head]] and more intricate examples of a spiked club or mace (ones that don't look like somebody just stuck a bunch of nails into a piece of wood) aren't uncommon to see being used by evil [[TinTyrant knights]] or noblemen, and at times EvilOverlord characters. Its savage design also makes it popular for stereotypical barbarian characters, whether it be for {{Mook}}s in a BarbarianTribe or a BarbarianHero. If a heroic character wields it, they are usually a [[BloodKnight a brawler who loves a good fight]] and/or [[GoodIsNotNice a more mean and unpleasant character]].

While normally associated with [[CarryABigStick clubs or maces]] and [[EpicFlail flails]]. The trope also sees itself crossing over from time to time with [[DropTheHammer war hammers]]. As the spikes on the flat broad ends of the hammerhead can just outright make them look like giant meat tenderizers, thus even more savage than a warhammer can already be. Although even then, meat tenderizers in of themselves make good weapons for those whom need to [[ImprovisedWeapon improvise on the fly]] or for those meat-obsessed psychos.[[note]][[ImAHumanitarian Cannibalism]], ToServeMan and TheSecretOfLongPorkPies tropes. May or may not be required.[[/note]]

By its very nature, examples of this trope usually crossover with BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon, CarryABigStick, EpicFlail, BatterUp, DropTheHammer, and PowerFist. Common character archetypes seen with these include {{Mook}}, SmashMook, DumbMuscle, TheBrute, AxCrazy, TheBerserker, and BloodKnight. For more tropes on weapons reflecting a character's personality, see RoyalRapier, SinisterSwitchblade, KnightlySwordAndShield and GoodWeaponEvilWeapon. Related to SerratedBladeOfPain and BoulderBludgeon, and some examples/the general concept of this trope could almost be considered a combination of the two. May count as an ImprovisedWeapon depending on the quality of the weapon and/or circumstances of it's use. PrimitiveClubs, where strong but crude bludgeons are used to communicate that a character is primitive and barbaric, thusly is a sister trope. See also SpikesOfVillainy, SpikesOfDoom, SpikeBallsOfDoom and ToughSpikesAndStuds for other spike-related tropes.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' foe Sandman often uses brute force and nothing else in a fight, and would usually morph his hands into spiked bludgeons or [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer heads]] made of solid sandstone.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheRound'' has a lot of examples of this with their enemies and bosses, with the barbaric looking "Buster Knight" enemies carrying spiky clubs to compliment their [[SpikesOfVillainy spiked shields, spiky shoulderpads, and horned helmets]] the gigantic, even more barbaric looking boss Balbars carrying [[DropTheHammer an absolutely enormous spiked hammer]] ("The Hammer" is even his RedBaron), one of the last bosses is "The Iron Golem" a giant marionette made from pieces of oversized knight armor who has SpikeBallsOfDoom for hands, and has very little means of attack aside from "try to smash you", [[TinTyrant Arlon]] wields a [[CarryABigStick spiked mace]] and [[PowerFist spiked knuckleduster]], and due to being a PaletteSwap of Arlon, the final boss [[EvilOverlord Garibaldi]] also wields a spiked mace (he trades in the knuckleduster for magic rings).

* ''Film/MadMax2'': During the final battle, after Lord Humungus unshackles the hate-filled Wez and gives him the OK to attack Max, Wez climbs on Max's truck with a spiky flail he made out of scrap metal and [[TheBerserker just starts wailing on the windshield and roof of the cab in an attempt to kill Max and The Feral Kid]].

** In China, we have the [[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/3002/8375/products/W075_600x600.jpg?v=1579891458 Wolf's Tooth Mace]], which is a heavy, cylindrical metal head on a long pole which is lined with spikes.

* This trope was invoked in Italian pro-war propaganda pictures at the time of World War I: Austrian soldiers were demonized as inhuman barbarians clubbing Italian soldiers (made harmless by gas attacks) with large spiked clubs.

* Several such weapons appeared in Europe during the latter Middle Ages:

** There was also the morning star, which is the weapon ''actually'' commonly depicted in fiction, as the mace itself never developed true spikes. The morning star was a distinct weapon that evolved from the club, and featured a spiked metal head fixed to a wooden shaft.[[note]]By the time morning star appeared, the mace had largely transitioned to an all-metal construction.[[/note]]
* In Asia, we have several spiked weapons as well.

Such weapons are very much TruthInTelevision. However rather than pure intimidation, such projections helped contend with plate armor in much the same way as hammers: by allowing the energy of the blow to be focused on a smaller point. Ironically, the spiked flail commonly found in fiction never actually existed during the Middle Ages in Europe. This was instead a distinct weapon called the morning star, which evolved from the club.

Also thanks to the prevalence of ZombieApocalypse fiction, [[BatterUp baseball bats]]/wood planks/{{Two By Fore}}s with nails or other spiky sharp objects then rammed, attached or nailed through or to them. Has become a very popular practice despite their [[AwesomeYetImpractical impracticality]], but they definitely look intimidating and [[RuleOfCool cool]]. They can appear in the hands of both heroic survivors or evil raiders/bandits. Although usually whomever carries these savage whackers are depicted as being eager to bust some heads (both undead and living). Another practice is just having barbed-wire wrapped around it.[[note]]Thank [[Franchise/TheWalkingDead a certain popular character from a piece of zombie fiction]] for that.[[/note]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'':
** Feng Lin, the muscle-bound general working for Zhang Guifang, one of the first generals sent against the town of Xiqi, is a straight-forward brute who employs two Wolf-Teeth Clubs in combat with great skills.
** One of the Four Generals serving the traitorous prince Yin Jiao uses a similar trick and, like Feng Lin, is a barbaric fighter with no technique nor finesse.
** Coupled with PrimitiveClubs, the giant Wu Wenhua uses a colossal cudgel carved from a single tree and adorned with huge spikes, mentioned when he first swings the weapon at his opponent and misses, the spikes embedding themselves for over three feet into the ground.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Robert Baratheon was famous for wielding a huge spiked warhammer. It was with this weapon that he killed the heir to the throne, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BlessedWithAHerosHeart'': In his efforts to try and help his party members become more competent fighters, Izuku gives Darkness an Iron Bark club with thorns, to take advantage of her strength and avoid the pesky problem of her lack of accuracy with a sword. At first she considers it "barbaric" and unfitting for a Crusader, until she tries it out on Beldia and realizes that it's pretty damn effective.

[[folder:Films]]
* ''Film/BillyClub2013'': In the prologue, we see Billy (presumably) hammering a bunch of nails into a baseball bat so they all stick out on one side, and carve a groove into the top into which he inserts a knife blade meant to be retractable.
%%* ''Film/CainHill'': Chester Lockhart is usually seen carrying around a spiked [[BatterUp bat]].
* ''Film/{{Excalibur}}'' has some examples:
** One of the weapons Arthur uses during his first battle with Lancelot is a spiked mace, which accentuates his insane rage during the scene (Lancelot even points out that Arthur is willing to kill a man that isn't even his enemy).
** [[spoiler:Lancelot]] plays with this trope during the final battle where [[spoiler: he arrives and uses a spiked club as his main weapon. While Lancelot isn't a stereotypically barbaric or lower class character, he LOOKS the part after spending years in exile, and getting a more stereotypically brutish and primitive looking weapon like a spiked club rather than a more stereotypically refined and elegant looking weapon like the sword he previously used might be a way to emphasize his [[FallenHero fall from grace]].]]
* ''Film/TheKunoichiNinjaGirl'': Shimotsuki uses a pair of [[PowerFist spiked knuckledusters]] to discipline Kanna. He even warns her not to move while he is hitting her because, if she does, he might hit a major organ and his aim is to punish her, not kill her.
* ''Film/MadMax2'': During the final battle, after Lord Humungus unshackles the hate-filled Wez and gives him the OK to attack Max, Wez climbs on Max's truck with a spiky flail he made out of scrap metal and [[TheBerserker just starts wailing on the windshield and roof of the cab in an attempt to kill Max and The Feral Kid]].
[[/folder]]

** The Japanese [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Nanhoku-cho_period_samurai_from_%22Military_Costumes_in_Old_Japan%22%2C_1893.jpg/170px-Nanhoku-cho_period_samurai_from_%22Military_Costumes_in_Old_Japan%22%2C_1893.jpg kanabo]] is the Samurai's answer to BatterUp: while the business end of the weapon can be bare, it can also be lined with spike or studs that can increase its ability to smash through armor.