History Main / SuperheroPackingHeat

** Dante, who can be considered a superhero of the OccultDetective [[note]](He runs the Devil May Cry Detective Agency, thus he is a detective even if InNameOnly.)[[/note]] and [[DemonSlaying Demon Slayer]] types, has acquired and used a collection of firearms, alongside swords and other close range weapons in addition to already having superhuman strength, speed, and durability via [[HalfHumanHybrid his demonic heritage]], throughout his career. Dante has the explicit power of channeling his demonic power through his guns, making them quite effective weapons against his demonic foes alongside his other weapons. They have ranged weapons everywhere from mundane ones such as [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotguns]] and submachine guns[[note]](the latter at least in Devil May Cry 2)[[/note]] to otherworldly ones such as Nightmare-Beta and Artemis (Demonic laser guns) and [[SwissArmyWeapon Pandora]].

* Death The Kid from ''Manga/SoulEater'' has Liz and Patty, who transform into guns.

* Radio/TheShadow is either a superhero or a ProtoSuperhero depending on who you ask, but he wields a pair of automatics.

[[caption-width-right:324:[[SophisticatedAsHell Hell hath no fury like]] MoreDakka]]

Being a BadassNormal can count, or if the character has superpowers (as long as they are either gun-related or don't make the gun use secondary). If they have superpowers, but either [[AwesomeButImpractical their powers aren't useful for combat]] or they simply prefer not to use their powers that often, they're said to FightLikeANormal.

Contrast with DoesNotLikeGuns, BatmanGrabsAGun, EmpoweredBadassNormal (someone who normally would use guns, or some other prosaic weapon, suddenly gets superpowers).

* ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' uses ray guns despite his SuperStrength, and he fights with the other superpowered characters of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' against Frieza's troops in ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection ‘F’]]''. This is very unusual for a character in the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' franchise; normally the use of such weapons is a sure sign of being a {{mook}}.

* Manga/{{Trigun}} has Vash The Stampede who has 3 guns (hence trigun) he mainly uses against villains in addition to his super fast reflexes. Being a pacifist he doesn't shoot to kill though.

** ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
*** The earliest comics featuring Batman had him using guns. This got {{retcon}}ned moderately quickly once writers realized that having Batman kill all of his adversaries in one issue meant that he'd have no one to fight later and they'd have to rack their brains thinking up new ones too often. Once he started hanging around with Robin and it was revealed his parents had been killed by a gunman, [[DoesntLikeGuns it went away entirely.]] In modern continuities, this gets a CallBack every so often, usually under the guise of a "Year One" story or an alternate universe. The main timeline Batman [[BatmanGrabsAGun has used a gun against another sentient being]] with aggressive intent only ''once'': in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', after Darkseid has become such a threat that [[GodzillaThreshold everything is on the table.]]

*** Following his resurrection after being killed by ComicBook/TheJoker, Jason Todd, the second Robin, prefers a pair of guns in his role as the villainous Red Hood, who despises Batman's policy of ThouShaltNotKill (especially in regards to his murderer).
*** Tim Drake, the third Robin usually isn't this, but his BadFuture counterpart uses Joe Chill's gun in his identity as Batman, and {{Dual Wield}}s handguns as the Savior.

** ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

*** In ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} finds herself depowered as fighting the alien horde known as The Citadel, so she arms herself with a big energy gun.
*** The Elseworld story ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'' has Superman use a ludicrously large gun [[ItMakesSenseInContext to take down Twin Clones of Hitler]]. [[BrokenAesop And then he gives us an anti-gun aesop]].

** ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}}''. His powers are telepathy, X-ray vision, and lots of guns — not necessarily in that order.

** Grifter of the ComicBook/WildCATSWildStorm and Creator/{{Wildstorm}} Universe, although sometimes possessing psychic powers, usually favored GunsAkimbo, switching between his [[RayGun VADs]] and a variety of mundane pistols.
*** His brother Condition Red, AKA "Grifter, Jr." doesn't have ''any'' powers, but his firearms expertise was enough to get him recruited to Savant and Majestic's ComicBook/WildCATSWildStorm team.

** ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':

** ''ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'' who in this case is a supervillain packing heat. He frequently uses firearms both to make a living as an assassin for hire and in various battles against other Superheroes and villains. Though in some comics and adaptations this particular set of skills is downplayed (and in the case of the WesternAnimation/TeenTitans cartoon omitted altogether) by focusing on his [[McNinja Ninjaesque]] and Sword using qualities.

** [[ComicBook/BettyRoss Red She-Hulk]] was seen brandishing an automatic weapon. She holds her Uzi confidently, proving that she has had plenty of training & experience. Her bold confidence may affect the effectiveness of her marksmanship.
** The [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate]] version of ComicBook/TheFalcon uses firearms in addition to his wings.
** ComicBook/{{Cable}} of ''ComicBook/XForce.'' His guns have a tremendous variety of size and improbability of design. One example from the Phalanx Covenant arc: one barrel the size of his head, and ''several smaller barrels beneath?'' He routinely uses guns [[{{BFG}} larger than his own body]], and Cable is a large man. Though he has immense [[MindOverMatter telekinetic powers]], Cable long relied on guns because the bulk of his power is spent simply keeping an incurable virus from killing him.
** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's original incarnation had him using guns in addition to his famous shield, since he was a SuperSoldier fighting the Nazis during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger His movie]] also aims in this direction (Justified, since it's DuringTheWar). As you can well imagine, fan reactions are... somewhat mixed. In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' movie, he mostly sticks with his shield, though he still picks up guns a couple times.
*** ComicBook/{{Bucky|Barnes}} also used a gun when he took up the identity of Cap.

** During a period where he lost/repressed his [[EyeBeams primary powers]], ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} of the X-Men carried a pair of pistols for offensive purposes in the field. It complimented his RequiredSecondaryPower of innately understanding angles and trajectories, letting him pull off incredibly accurate and tricky shots.
** Marvel's Deathlok (aka Michael Collins) has a [[CoolGun plasma gun]], [[UpToEleven plasma rifle]], and [[SerialEscalation plasma grenade launcher]]. This is in addition to his [[BadassBookworm intelligence, hacking skills]], and [[LightningBruiser other]] [[NighInvulnerable super powers]]. His main challenge is usually to overcome his adversaries while preserving his ThouShaltNotKill ideology.

** ''Comicbook/MoonKnight'' has on occasion used weapons. But then again, he is a former mercenary and soldier (And in the Ultimate Universe, a former Navy Seal), and is known to be a dark subversion of ThouShallNotKill, so it's not exactly out of place. It's also one of the characteristics that separate him from [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent that other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Knight.]] His general aversion of this trope has less to do with morality than with pride, i.e. not wanting his opponents to think they intimidate him.
** Orson Randall, the former ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist, uses a pair of handguns, for which Danny Rand, the incumbent, gives him grief. "So you learned your kung-fu from Lei Kung and ''Smith & Wesson''?"
** One of the ComicBook/IronMan armors, the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit (A.K.A. ComicBook/WarMachine), used a minigun and a chain gun as main weapons. Jim Rhodes is the main user of this armor, with successive iterations including [[MoreDakka increasingly heavy gun-based firepower]].
*** This carries over into [[Film/IronMan the movies]]: during the final fight when they're being attacked by drones in PowerArmour, Iron Man punches them or uses his repulsors while War Machine just unloads with the cannons.

** ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'': As a darker, FilmNoir-inspired version of Peter Parker living during TheGreatDepression, Spider-Man using guns is to be expected.
*** This is played with in the film ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''. While he ''is'' shown using a gun in his origin story, he never uses one in the film's events.
** Although not a power ''per se'', Comicbook/{{X 23}}'s background as an assassin included extensive firearms training, and she readily uses guns in concert with her innate abilities and other skills (though {{Flanderization}} has lead many writers to forget this aspect of her character).
** ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}: [[BreakingTheFourthWall Hey guys, I also like using guns, too!]] Especially cause they make me look TwentyPercentMoreAwesome! Not that I need them cause I got some mad skills with by katana blades and can shrug off it off with my HealingFactor, but it certainly makes my fights with baddies [[CombatPragmatist whole lot less unnecessarily frustrating]].

** ComicBook/{{Bishop}} of the ComicBook/XMen, as a cop from a future not unlike that of ComicBook/JudgeDredd, used guns when he first arrived in the main timeline, and an ongoing CharacterDevelopment plotline for him was learning to tone it down and not use lethal force. He also had the power to shoot energy rays but used guns frequently as his power depended on external sources of energy to redirect. One version of his guns actually channeled his own powers.

* Pictured atop this page is ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'', who prior to dying and becoming a demonic anti-hero, was the [[MilitarySuperhero highly skilled commando]] Al Simmons. He still makes uses of his skills with firearms as Spawn since using them is familiar to him and it helps him conserve his Hellspawn powers, which will send him back to Hell (and effectively kill him) if he exhausts them.
** [[Film/Spawn1997 The movie]] has him first using firearms, but eventually dropping them prior to the final third, where he only uses his powers.

* Cliff's WeaponOfChoice as ''ComicBook/TheRocketeer'' is a Mauser C96 Broomhandle Pistol.

* Blade in the [[Film/BladeTrilogy Blade Trilogy]] uses a wide variety of firearms (loaded with silver ammo) in addition to his blades in his war on vampires. [[TheMentor His mentor Whistler]] also uses them, as does his ally Hannibal King in the third film.

** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself is shown using a [=M1911A1=] pistol alongside his first shield, first during the assault on the Azzano HYDRA base and later continuing to use it upon acquiring his trademark new uniform and vibranium shield. By the events of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' onward, however, he sticks to solely using the shield.
** ComicBook/TheFalcon uses a pair of guns in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' he uses them again in the Lagos sequence. That ''and'' he has new rocket launchers built into his suit and a gun built into his drone "Redwing" (which he uses to remotely dispatch a mook in the ActionPrologue).

** Star-Lord and Rocket in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' love their guns and frequently use them.

* Eldritch of the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. The fact that she is NighInvulnerable and has magical abilities doesn't stop her from packing heat. In the Team Tactics course at SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy, she shows up carrying an M16 with an M203 grenade launcher slung underneath. The course is taught by a Gunnery Sergeant and a retired admiral with Spec Ops experience: neither of them are surprised.

* In ''Literature/{{Ward}}'', the sequel to ''Worm'', the main character Antares eventually is given a [[{{BFG}} huge gun]] [[spoiler:built by Dragon, that weighs 12 tons and shoots golden lasers that are eerily reminiscent of Scion's beams. She's only even able to carry it due to her newly heightened connection to her shard and the fine control it now gives her over her forcefield, as it requires six hands to lift.]]

* The TropeMaker goes to ''Series/MoonlightMask'' which is about a titular hero wielding a gun riding on a motorcycle. Although he's not a 90s antihero like most examples, it's justified that [[spoiler:he's a detective and it's a CopShow]].

* In ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', three of the heroes pack guns as their primary weapons. Expatriette, a [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Punisher]] {{Expy}}, is armed with conventional guns and specialized ammunition. Bunker wears a suit of US military-engineered PoweredArmor that mounts a wide range of guns, including flak cannons, [[GatlingGood gatling guns]], and [[WaveMotionGun the Omnicannon]]. Finally, there's Chrono-Ranger, a [[NinjaZombiePirateRobot time-traveling cybernetic bounty-hunting cowboy]] who packs a six-shooter, an incendiary missile launcher, an energy rifle, and his own transforming cyborg left arm.

** Robotics Masterminds get a Pulse Rifle which straddles the line between this trope and [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]]

* The Guardians of ''VideoGame/Destiny'' primarily use a variety of guns in tandem with the elemental abilities granted by their Light. Some even use their Light to form weapons out of thin air, like the Gunslinger's Golden Gun and the Dawnblade's flaming sword.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' packs all kind of heat in his titular game. Despite being able to break the sound barrier with ease and having the ability to shoot energy blasts out of his hands with the usage of a Chaos Emerald.

* ''VideoGame/{{Infamous}}'' While the player character Cole Macgrath doesn't use guns (One blew up in his hand due to his electric powers background lore wise!) the many conduit villains of the city do in addition to their powers
* ''VideoGame/BulletWitch'' A badass witch with a boomstick that can turn into a lot of guns.
* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' Jak in addition to his morph gun has energy called "Eco" which he utilizes to fight with.

* ''VideoGame/{{Prey2006}}'' has Tommy with his alien weapons and his Native American Shaman powers which include revival.

** ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' is based on this, since he's essentially an answer to the question: "what would a vigilante with a Batman-like tragic past, no massive amount of wealth and no interest in ThouShaltNotKill be like?". It's been inverted on occasion- giving the trained soldier actual superpowers- but these never seem to last and he always goes but to guns and sharp objects to take out criminals.

** Monster hunter ComicBook/ElsaBloodstone is happy to bring all sorts of firearms to a fight if they'll raise her chances of success and survival.

** [[Film/{{Spawn}} The movie]] has him first using firearms, but eventually dropping them prior to the final third, where he only uses his powers.

** ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' is based on this, since he's essentially an answer to the question: "what would a vigilante with a Batman-like tragic past, no massive amount of wealth and no interest in ThouShaltNotKill be like?".

* Just about every Heisei Era ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series features at least one hero/form that uses a gun as it's main weapon. The exception is ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'', which, as a remake of ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' (whose Riders use more animalistic attacks), didn't have any projectile weaponry whatsoever.

** Grifter of the ComicBook/WildCATS and Creator/{{Wildstorm}} Universe, although sometimes possessing psychic powers, usually favored GunsAkimbo, switching between his [[RayGun VADs]] and a variety of mundane pistols.
*** His brother Condition Red, AKA "Grifter, Jr." doesn't have ''any'' powers, but his firearms expertise was enough to get him recruited to Savant and Majestic's ComicBook/WildCATS team.

** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' even has guns as the resident TransformationTrinket. And over in the ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' source material, so does ''Series/KaitouSentaiLupinrangerVSKeisatsuSentaiPatranger''.

Being a BadassNormal can count, or if the character has superpowers (as long as they are either gun-related or don't make the gun use secondary).If they have superpowers, but either [[AwesomeButImpractical their powers aren't useful for combat]] or they simply prefer not to use their powers that often, they're said to FightLikeANormal.

** Also Wild Dog, who looks like he ''should'' be a parody of the trope, but sadly isn't. Max Allan Collins noted in ''Amazing Heroes'' #119 that he created Wild Dog as a sort of modern update of Franchise/{{Zorro}}, Radio/TheGreenHornet, and Radio/TheShadow, who all predated Superman and Zatara, and Collins carefully distinguished between a costumed hero and a metahuman hero. Collins did not intend Wild Dog as "super".

** In one episode of [[Magazine/{{Mad}} Don Martin's]] parody ''ComicBook/CaptainKlutz'', the eponymous hero is confronted by an evil old-lady villain who attempts to escape using the fact that Klutz's superhero code prevents him from [[WouldntHitAGirl hitting her]]. Klutz shoots her instead.

* ''ComicBook/ElsaBloodstone'' A female monster hunter that in addition to her firearms has powers such as super strength and health regeneration.

* ''ComicBook/EslaBloodstone'' A female monster hunter that in addition to her firearms has powers such as super strength and health regeneration.

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands'' has the Sirens, a type of human being which is typically female that has psychic powers in addition to their guns. Only 6 of them can exist at a time and when one dies their powers to go someone else.

** Prior to his HeelFaceTurn [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier Bucky "The Winter Soldier" Barnes]] carried an entire arsenal of firearms. He doesn't use firearms for most of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' but near the climax he grabs a large firearm from the Quinjet armory when going to confront Zemo. He also uses a gun in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar.''

* ''VideoGame/LegendaryTheBox'' has Charles Deckard a thief with psychic powers hired to steal Pandora's Box.

* ''VideoGame/{{Legendary}}'' has Charles Deckard a thief with psychic power hired to steal Pandora's Box.

* ''Franchise/TheDCU''
** The earliest comics featuring Franchise/{{Batman}} had him using guns. This got {{retcon}}ned moderately quickly once writers realized that having Batman kill all of his adversaries in one issue meant that he'd have no one to fight later and they'd have to rack their brains thinking up new ones too often. Once he started hanging around with Robin and it was revealed his parents had been killed by a gunman, [[DoesntLikeGuns it went away entirely.]] In modern continuities, this gets a CallBack every so often, usually under the guise of a "Year One" story or an alternate universe. The main timeline Batman [[BatmanGrabsAGun has used a gun against another sentient being]] with aggressive intent only ''once'': in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', after Darkseid has become such a threat that [[GodzillaThreshold everything is on the table.]]

*** In [[ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth "The Killers of Krypton"]], ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} finds herself depowered as fighting the alien horde known as The Citadel, so she arms herself with a big energy gun.

** ''Comicbook/{{Stormwatch}}'':