History Main / TheEnemyWeaponsAreBetter

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

[-[[caption-width-right:350:[[HumorMode So that's why the Wehrmacht]] [[GeniusBonus was running out of guns by the war's end!]][[note]]The Wehrmacht was not running out of guns by the end of World War II because this soldier stole them, though their enemies being able to claim whatever equipment the Wehrmacht could not hold onto no doubt contributed.[[/note]]]]-]

->''"It's a damned ray gun—how come we don't have ray guns?"''

Inversion of UnusableEnemyEquipment.

In RealLife, soldiers have used captured enemy small arms and tanks.

** [[MilitaryMage Mage Companies]] all fly into battle armed with either bolt-action or semi-automatic rifles, with the 203rd Mage Battalion led by [[VillainProtagonist Tanya Von Degurechaff]] using the latter. During the Battle at Orse Fjord, Anson Sioux of the Entente Alliance was given a SIG MKMS submachine gun by his daughter to use as his primary firearm, which Tanya took for herself after defeating Sioux in combat and used as her primary firearm afterwards.

** Also averted with Iraqi-Made Tabuk rifles (Localized AK-47), which were poorly made and not as reliable compared to other weapons.

** As discovered by the Soviets, the Finnish L-35 were not exactly better than their own Tokarev pistols. Field testing done to the L-35 revealed that its performance suffered in mud and sand. The only reason Soviet conscripts hyped up the idea that the L-35 was good was that it was the most encountered pistol in Finnish hands.

* ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein''

* An InvokedTrope in the opening level of ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder''. When preparing to breach Deathshead's island fortress, Fergus Reid instructs Allied troops to grab and use any Nazi weapons they see, because they're "bound to be better than ours". Considering that the Nazis of ''The New Order'' are armed with [[StupidJetpackHitler incredibly advanced technology]], he makes a valid point.

** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAlliedAssault'' and expansions zig-zag this. [[UniversalAmmunition Ammo is universal]] for each kind of weapon (pistols, rifles, machine guns and so on), though the game will, except for grenades (where you get stashes of both American pineapples and German potato mashers), restrict you to one weapon per type, and since you're typically far behind enemy lines and/or fighting on your own, your only options to fill out slots you didn't already start with a weapon in is by looting them from the enemy.

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', as ammunition tends to be shared. Swapping for an enemy weapon thus is reduced to preference (guns tend to do the same damage regardless). The game even attempts to play to both preferences; while you're almost always given a primary weapon that is set up perfectly for a mission (with the right set of attachments and enough ammo across the mission that you could just use that for the whole level if you wanted), your secondary will usually be a bog-standard pistol that you won't be missing if you trade it for your personal favorite or the most useful enemy gun. And heaven help you if you switch out your lovely silenced weapons when doing a stealth mission. That said, in multiplayer you are usually given only two to three full magazines for each weapon - meaning that you'll be forced to swap for enemy weapons when you run dry without appropriate perks or just using the same gun everyone else is using. One trick in ''Call of Duty 4'' is to use the M9 as your sidearm if you're using a 9mm submachine gun for the main weapon - the bullets that the M9 comes with makes a ''de facto'' [[OneBulletClips extra magazine]]; it also works with other guns that share ammo, but that typically requires use of the Overkill perk to start with two primary weapons, so may not be worth the trouble if the player prefers a perk like Stopping Power or Sleight of Hand.

** The plasma pistol had the most amount of asskickery of all weapons in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' considering it did more damage than the plasma rifle, could fire as fast as you pull the trigger (faster than the rifle if you could pull fast enough), could overcharge to instantly take out the shields of anything, was easily found in large quantities, and had the fastest melee attack of all the weapons. The only drawbacks are the fast overheating and short range.
** This is actually one of the main ideas of the ''Halo'' series: You need to know what weapon to use where, and since you can only hold two weapons at a time, you need to learn how to plan ahead and when to use your weapons or alien weapons. For example, one such arrangement is known as "The Noob Combo," where you shoot a shielded person with a covenant plasma weapon, disabling the shield, and then shifting back to a human weapon to headshot the enemy.
** Often played straight in the campaigns for the simple reason that you're often fighting deep within enemy territory, with no nearby allied support providing resupplies; there are numerous levels where you will be exclusively using the enemy weapons. Thankfully, Covenant troops tend to be weak against plasma weapons, and Promethean weapons tend to be among their games' most powerful guns anyways.
** This is most noticeable in the original ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', where the human assault rifle was virtually worthless at higher difficulty levels due to its ineffectiveness against Elites and even Jackals, its [[MoreDakka massive ammo count and fire rate]] doing nothing to make up for its pathetic accuracy and damage equivalent to a handful of tossed pebbles. Later games in the series do a better job of balancing the human weapons vs the Covenant ones.
** ''Halo 4'' and ''Halo 5'' are noticeable aversions, as Forerunner weaponry is pretty much identical in effectiveness as human or Covenant weapons despite being advanced energy weapons belonging to SufficientlyAdvancedAliens. This is due to gameplay balance.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'', you nearly have to take the Korean's [=FY71=] assault rifle instead of the US's SCAR assault rifle (unless you really use [[OptionalStealth Stealth mode]] a lot, [[GameBreaker which can work pretty well]]). You start with the SCAR, which beats the [=FY71=] in power, mag size, and how much ammo you can carry, but there is nearly no ammo for it, until near the end of the game. They mostly fixed this in the ExpansionPack, where SCAR ammo is available, but still less common than the [=FY71=].
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' all enemy equipment is better. The players will end up using almost exclusively items looted off of enemy corpses, occasionally with a quest reward mixed in. Admittedly the faction leaders have some great stuff, but they're not particularly willing to part with it.
** End-game equipment tends to reverse this trend lately, usually being offered as a reward by a faction for tokens gained from killing bosses. However, Legendary Weapons are exclusively Enemy Equipment.
** Most current weapons are crafted by allies, with parts that [[ContrivedCoincidence just happen to be found in the main raiding dungeon]], older ones however were all enemy-made.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': Moblin swords and flaming deku sticks make for more viable weapons than your starting equipment, since they're three times longer than your sword and stun enemies, respectively. Of course, their advantages are rendered moot once you get the Master Sword.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'': This is explained in the manual. Snake follows OnSiteProcurement procedures. There's a variety of reasons for this, first and foremost that because his operations are never really sanctioned, there can be nothing that traces him back to his parent organization. Using the enemy's own equipment denies them at least one avenue for discovering who sent him. In later games, when he's working of his own accord, he still prefers to follow this particular procedure, most likely because as a wanted terrorist (and especially later in the series when the Patriots start cracking down on things), it's difficult for him to acquire weaponry through other means.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' manages to mostly avert this. You're still primarily reliant on grabbing weapons from enemies and then finding ways to circumvent the biometric scanners, but overall some of the most versatile weapons in the game are the Operator, Ruger Mk. II, and M4 Custom you're given for free in the first fifteen minutes of gameplay; the only gun that fills a niche one of those three can't do just as well and [[CripplingOverspecialization remains viable beyond that]] is the M14 EBR SniperRifle, being the only one that both accepts a suppressor and doesn't use ridiculously-rare ammo.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': Averted. Enemies carry the most basic of guns, especially the Soviets in Afghanistan. And thanks to supply drops, as long as your GMP is in the black, you can simply call Mother Base for more ammo instead of switching weapons. The only instance you would ever need to pick up a gun from a fallen enemy is in the [[NoGearLevel Subsistance missions]].

** The ''Broken Steel'' DLC expansion for ''Fallout 3'' gives us the Tri-Beam Laser Rifle, essentially a laser shotgun, and is only carried by [[BossInMooksClothing Super Mutant Overlords]]. This weapon is ''literally'' [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard better when wielded by the enemy against you]], but it's still an excellent weapon regardless of who uses it. The same can be said for the mutant rednecks and dimwitted tribals of ''Point Lookout'' with their ''shovels, shotguns, and lever-action rifles''.

** InvertedTrope in ''VideoGame/Fallout4''. 90% of Super Mutants, Raiders, Slavers, and Institute Synths (i.e. pretty much any given mook who isn't carrying an AwesomeButImpractical heavy weapon) carry variants of three weapons: the .308 hunting rifle, the [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Pipe_gun_(Fallout_4) .38 pipe gun]], and the [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Institute_laser Institute laser gun]]. There are variants of them due to mods being slapped on (e.g. a pipe gun could be a rifle with a stock, scope, and bayonet, or it could be a sawed-off machine pistol with an automatic rate of fire), but they're all essentially the same weapon firing the same bullets. Even with the best mods (which almost never spawn on enemies), these guns pale in comparison to the guns you can buy from merchants, get as part of quests, or create on your own. This was likely done to force the player to indulge in ItemCrafting.

** Subverted then played straight in ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense''. While you ''can'' take weapons from dead aliens, your soldiers can't use them until you've researched them. Once you've done that, you'll be able to steal spare ammunition and other gear from the aliens. One tactic players have developed involves researching the guns first and researching the magazines (except for Heavy Plasma) later, so their soldiers can quickly pick up guns from downed enemies and use them; the generous magazine capacity means the inability to reload is not a major concern.

* In ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'', this can become the case when the [=PureTech=] mutator is enabled - the Clan team can only buy Clan assets, and the Inner Sphere team can only buy Inner Sphere assets. Clanner tech is generally superior in regards to [[LightningBruiser raw firepower and speed]], while Inner Sphere tech has more [[AwesomeButImpractical cool weapons]], [[StoneWall armor]], and is ''much'' less expensive to buy (some Clan Medium mechs cost as much as an Inner Sphere [[MightyGlacier Assault mech]]!). Inner Sphere players will sometimes try to [[SnipingTheCockpit blast Clanners out of the cockpit]] of their [[HumongousMecha Battlemech]] so that they can steal the mech for themselves, as in most cases Clanner mechs are better for straight-up combat. The same can happen in reverse with Clanners, as the Inner Sphere has some stupidly durable mechs (like the [[SkeleBot9000 Atlas]]) and awesome specialized equipment (like the [[{{BFG}} Heavy Gauss Rifle]] and [[GatlingGood Rotary Autocannons]]) that the Clanners cannot buy.

* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}''. In ''Shadow of Chernobyl'', other stalkers frequently have better equipment than yours, and looting them off their corpses is far better than waiting to purchase your own. This goes doubly so for the unique guns that you usually pry from their former owners' fingers, and even more for the unmodded game, which doesn't let you repair anything at all, so the enemy weaponry may be better simply because they're in a better condition. For ''Clear Sky'' and ''Call of Pripyat'', where there are many techs to repair your guns and you have a whole upgrade system, this is only played straight when you make a big leap in progress, such as going from the Great Swamp to the Cordon and suddenly finding plenty of assault rifles that generally trump the shotguns you've become used to. Using all this and some SequenceBreaking can invert this, if you go...shopping in an area with higher-end weapons.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, it's a necessity to loot stuff from enemies. The reason is simple: most of the time there is not enough ammo to keep using a different weapon. As for weapons and armor, the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} third game]] and ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' require equipment repairs that can either be paid for (at merchants who only do a mediocre job and cost a ton of caps for significant repairs) or doing a field-repair by taking apart a similar item and using its components (depends on Repair skill and destroys the spare, obviously) which is a bad thing if no suitable spare is found because it's one-of-a-kind or your current enemies don't have it. Therefore, looting guns from enemies and using them is miles more cost-effective. Armors are a bit more flexible in this regard and they also play the trope straight in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' and ''3'': Enclave gear is superior to what you can get otherwise, especially [[SpikesOfVillainy Tesla]] and [[HeavilyArmoredMook Hellfire]] armors.

** InvertedTrope in VideoGame/Fallout4. 90% of Super Mutants, Raiders, Slavers, and Institute Synths (i.e. pretty much any given mook who isn't carrying an AwesomeButImpractical heavy weapon) carry variants of three weapons: the .308 hunting rifle, the [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Pipe_gun_(Fallout_4) .38 pipe gun]], and the [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Institute_laser Institute laser gun]]. There are variants of them due to mods being slapped on (e.g. a pipe gun could be a rifle with a stock, scope, and bayonet, or it could be a sawed-off machine pistol with an automatic rate of fire), but they're all essentially the same weapon firing the same bullets. Even with the best mods (which almost never spawn on enemies), these guns pale in comparison to the guns you can buy from merchants, get as part of quests, or create on your own. This was likely done to force the player to indulge in ItemCrafting.

** If it's a work set in [=WW2=], the Germans have better weapons, period. Admittedly there is a degree of TruthInTelevision, but reading gives the impression that Allied troops might as well have been piloting vehicles made from plywood and cobwebs.
** Zigzagged in ''ComicBook/ThePunisherPlatoon'': The usual complaints are made about the M16, while Castle demonstrates the reliability of the AK. However, when the sergeant protests that he can't equip the platoon with those weapons, Castle explains that's not his plan, as the AK is reliable but not good enough. Instead, he cuts a deal with the CorruptQuartermaster to bring back all the working VC weapons as war souvenirs for the SoldiersInTheRear, in exchange for which the quartermaster will give them M14s that actually work.

** ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' has an exaggeration of the real-life M16's issues to point out the utter incompetence of Vought Corporation at just about anything they do. During [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]], one thousand American troops are slaughtered at Ia Drang, unable to fight back because their rifles cannot fire a single bullet. Adding insult to injury, the Viet Cong decapitated the dead and stuck the soldiers' heads on their own rifles, not looting a single one.

Inversion of UnusableEnemyEquipment. Contrast FlavorEquipment.

* ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero:'' Naofumi Iwatami is the titular [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Shield Hero]], one of [[TheChosenOne The Four Cardinal Heroes]] meant to fight against the [[ApocalypseHow Waves of Calamity]] that threaten the world. However unlike [[BladeOnAStick the]] [[ArcherArchetype other]] [[CoolSword Heroes]] who have skills and power suited for attacking, Naofumi's relies solely on [[StoneWall Defense]], meaning he has to rely on [[LittleBitBeastly Raphtalia]] and [[{{Mon}} Filo]] and the other members of his Party to pull the slack for him in taking down enemies and monsters to get stronger. As a result, Naofumi has to resort to either purchasing better equipment or to scavenge the corpses of their fallen enemies in order for his party to get better armor and weapons to fight with.

* ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil'':

* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero:'' Naofumi Iwatami is the titular [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Shield Hero]], one of [[TheChosenOne The Four Cardinal Heroes]] meant to fight against the [[ApocalypseHow Waves of Calamity]] that threaten the world. However unlike [[BladeOnAStick the]] [[ArcherArchetype other]] [[CoolSword Heroes]] who have skills and power suited for attacking, Naofumi's relies solely on [[StoneWall Defense]], meaning he has to rely on [[LittleBitBeastly Raphtalia]] and [[{{Mon}} Filo]] and the other members of his Party to pull the slack for him in taking down enemies and monsters to get stronger. As a result, Naofumi has to resort to either purchasing better equipment or to scavenge the corpses of their fallen enemies in order for his party to get better armor and weapons to fight with.

* In two deleted scenes in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' Captain America gives one of the Chitauri guns to an NYPD officer and tells him to see what he can do with it. The guy then uses it to blast away one of them in a single shot and radios the other officers telling them to get the guns and use them.

* In Series/KamenRiderBuild, Ryuga Banjou occasionally takes weapons from Guardians that he defeats and uses them against other Guardians or Night Rogue.
* Played with in ''Series/DeepSpaceNine'' when Major Kira lectures on how the Cardassian disrupter is a more useful combat weapon than the Federation phaser rifle, which has [[AwesomeButImpractical more utility at the cost of fragility]]. The Bajoran Militia however are shown to use their own unique design, and it's not mentioned how it stacks up against either weapon. Kira is also a former guerilla who fought against the Cardassians, so it would make more sense for them to use weapons also used by their occupiers, if only for ease of obtaining spare parts and power cells.

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', as ammunition tends to be shared. Swapping for an enemy weapon thus is reduced to preference (guns tend to do the same damage regardless). The game even attempts to play to both preferences; while you're almost always given a primary weapon that is set up perfectly for a mission (with the right set of attachments and enough ammo across the mission that you could just use that for the whole level if you wanted), your secondary will usually be a bog-standard pistol that you won't be missing if you trade it for your personal favorite or the most useful enemy gun. And heaven help you if you switch out your lovely silenced weapons when doing a stealth mission. That said, in multiplayer you are usually given only two to three full magazines for each weapon - meaning that you'll be forced to swap for enemy weapons when you run dry without appropriate perks or just using the same gun everyone else is using. One trick in ''Call of Duty 4'' is to use the M9 as your sidearm if you're using a 9mm submachine gun for the main weapon - the bullets that the M9 comes with makes a ''de facto'' [[OneBulletClips extra magazine]]; it also works with other guns that share ammo, but that typically requires use of the Overkill perk to start with two primary weapons, so may not be worth the trouble if the player prefers a perk like Stopping Power or Sleight of Hand.

* In every ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' installment, it's not uncommon to see CT players drop whatever gun they're using for an AK-47 or an SG-552. That or the Terrorists dropping whatever they were using for an [=M4A1=] rifle. It depends on the player's play style preferences and what team they happen to be assigned to.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': As both sides continue to engage each other it became extremely clear that Imperial weapons are far superior to the Republic's; as such in order to even the battlefields, and for their own survivability, the clones of the 501st have opted to use the weapons of the fallen Skitarii instead of their standard issued blaster rifles. In addition, the far greater rate of fire of lasguns means that Jedi have a much harder time deflecting them than they do with blasters.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K'': As both sides continue to engage each other it became extremely clear that Imperial weapons are far superior to the Republic's; as such in order to even the battlefields, and for their own survivability, the clones of the 501st have opted to use the weapons of the fallen Skitarii instead of their standard issued blaster rifles. In addition, the far greater rate of fire of lasguns means that Jedi have a much harder time deflecting them than they do with blasters.

* This is a general tendency of soldiers at war, to hype up the enemy weapons and scorn their own. This is because soldiers experience every aspect of their own weapons, including the various faults and niggling annoyances they have to deal with to use them, while only feeling the the positive (for the user, at least) effects of enemy weapons.