History Main / WeaponTwirling

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'': Master Shifu twirls his chopsticks before his awesome fight with Po [[WhenYouSnatchThePebble for the last dumpling]].
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'': [[BigBad Kai]] does this with his jade blades whenever he shows up.

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Supertrope of GunTwirling. Subtrope of SpectacularSpinning. SisterTrope to FanningTheKnives

* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Every single Meister in this series seems to love doing this. It may or may not aid with Soul Resonance or not, but it sure looks cool and eats up a few seconds of screen time. As Maka actually incorporates lots of this into her combat style, she is in fact sent into a brief Heroic BSOD [[spoiler: when the Book of Eibon tries to [[MindRape use this]] to claim that if she (seemingly) cannot pull off the same moves with a regular broom, she is too weak to do anything but rely on Soul Eater.]]

* Saruhiko in ''Anime/{{K}}'' likes to do this with his throwing knives.
** Doumyouji is also fond of adding a few extra flourishes before sheathing his sword.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Kenshin was once able to deflect fire being spat at him by an EliteMook until the latter had to reload.

* ''Literature/{{Gate}}'': Rory Mercury has this down to an art form--with an axe that's taller than she is, and heavy enough to hospitalize humans trying to lift it.
* The titular heroine in ''Anime/SailorMoon'' regularly uses weapons which she sometimes twirls before firing the actual attack, such as during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlNTm9waNo0 Moon Healing]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCCTVMwVyTo Escalation]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHMQMyUbXbw Moon Spiral Heart Attack.]] The egregious example is likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWNUU2osFY4 Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss]], where she ''[[MindOverMatter telekinetically]]'' twirls her rod.

* [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel's]] ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' is very well-known for holding the leather strap of his mighty hammer Mjölnir and spinning it around. This serves a practical purpose however, as rapidly twirling Mjölnir has a variety of uses. From building up momentum [[NotQuiteFlight to launch himself up in the air to fly over great distances akin to flight]],[[note]]although later on he would just get proper flight powers[[/note]] increase the impact strength of his strikes to quickly dispatch sturdy foes or send large swathes of {{mook}}s flying, using his status as the god of thunder to create thunderstorms with the rapidly spinning Mjölnir and that's not the last bit.
* The [[ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics Disney comic]] "La cappa e la spada" has Goofy write a novel where one of the characters used to be a knight who loved to show off by twirling his swords (even lampshading that it's much more impressive than doing it with revolvers.) He stopped using physical weapons altogether after one stabbed his foot while in mid-twirl.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''. Master Shifu twirls his chopsticks before his awesome fight with Po [[WhenYouSnatchThePebble for the last dumpling]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': [[EvilOverLord The Bog King]] does a lot of unnecessary showy staff twirling during his duel with [[TheHero Marianne]]. [[spoiler: Probably because by the time he starts this, the two are quite [[DatingCatwoman flirtatious]]. ]]

* Riddick does some fancy knife-twirling in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''. Possibly a subversion of the usual usage of weapon twirling in fiction. Riddick picks up an unfamiliar knife, and proceeds to perform a complex twirl of the weapon while apparently studying it intently, then comments on what's wrong with the balance. The implication is he twirled it only to do a thorough check of the balance.
* From the Creator/ShawBrothers film, ''Film/LifeGamble'', the protagonist Yun-Xiang who favours using a curved silver dagger frequently twirls his dagger to taunt opponents.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'', Boromir twirls his sword a few times while waiting for the goblin horde to break into Balin's Tomb in Moria. Though, as the Real Life section points out, this is more likely a case of him stretching.

* The lightsaber fighting in much of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy involves lots and lots of spinning. There's at least one portion in [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Obi-Wan's climactic duel with Anakin]] that has both of them standing next to each other, spinning their sabers for a good three seconds before they actually attack again.
** It should be noted that most lightsaber combat is based on Japanese techniques, where the general better balance of weapons wielded by leaders (and therefore the type of people who were likely to write things down) encouraged a rather circular movement of the blade as being smoother to execute and harder to anticipate.
* In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', a First Order Stormtrooper wields his riot control baton this way.
* ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'', as well as many other {{wuxia}} films, have a ton of sword spinning for this very effect.
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990'' has a scene where the turtles come across some Foot Clan soldiers. One starts twirling some nunchucks. Michaelangelo then twirls his nunchucks. Then the Foot twirls his more elaborately, and so does Mike. Finally, the Foot does a really elaborate twirl and then looks up in surprise - to see Mike spinning his nunchucks on top of his finger.
* ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome''. Max sticks a pistol in the face of The Collector, then shotguns off the fancy headdress of a mook who comes at him twirling twin knives. The mook slinks off with a pensive look and TheDragon moves in instead; Collector wisely signals everyone to back off until they can come to a more civilized arrangement.
* ''Film/{{Barbarella}}''. The Black Queen has two knives that she twirls simultaneously after [[DualWielding stabbing two men]].
* ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'' has one of the best yet subtle ones of all time: Doc Holiday is pointing twin pistols at one of his enemies. Mind you, he is utterly shitfaced levels of drunk and this happens:
-->'''Thug''': The drunk piano player. You're so drunk you're probably seeing double. ''(he pulls his big knife out)''
-->'''Doc Holiday''': I have two guns. ''(he twirls the pistols IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY and points them at the thug in perfect sync)'' One for each of ya.
** There was an even better scene earlier when the best gunfighter of the villain's gang, Johnny Ringo, decides to show off with some fancy, quick pistol twirling to antagonize Doc Holiday. It goes on for ''quite some time.'' He finishes, then stares at Doc in challenge. Doc then calmly replicates Ringo's entire showoff routine perfectly...with his ''drinking cup.'' While making mocking faces at Ringo the whole time. Capped with "holstering" the cup when he's done. Ringo is understandably livid at being mocked in public so effectively and it's fuel to the fire with their [[spoiler: eventual showdown in the climax.]]

* ''Series/Batwoman2019''. The balisong is the weapon of choice for mad supervillain Alice, who lampshades the advantage of being able to [[EvilIsHammy flip it around in a menacing fashion]] while explaining your EvilPlan.

** Buffy twirls a stake after dusting a particularly troublesome vampire in "The Freshman" and has been seen doing this frequently in other episodes. Spoofed in the promo for the aborted ''Buffy: The Animated Series'' where Buffy hits herself in the head while twirling her stake.

* Whenever there are swords out on ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'', somebody twirls one at least once.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Elliot twirls every single weapon he manages to get his hands on at least OnceAnEpisode.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
** In "[[Recap/CSINYS02E04 Corporate Warriors]]," Mac twirls the katana he's testing while Lindsay observes. He did not do so with the other martial arts weapons he tested just before this, so possibly a case of stretching, a la the [=LoTR=] example above / Real Life section below.
** In "[[Recap/CSINYS06E19 Redemptio]]," Sheldon is caught up in a prison riot. Upon being introduced as a fellow inmate by one of them to a group of others holding the warden hostage, he is handed a billy club and is told to use it on the warden as revenge. He hesitates, then twirls it much the same as a sword fighter would do. Just as he starts to swing it for real, the first inmate stops him and convinces the group that they don't need to harm the warden any further, but to use him as leverage.
* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' used this all the time, both in the movies and the TV series. Both heroes and villains routinely twirled their swords, apparently to keep the weapon moving and keep the enemy guessing as to what was just a twirl and what was the start of a real attack.
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'': Xena did this frequently, usually when she was backing off from her enemy. The intent seems to have been to keep her blade moving and confuse her enemy.

* ''VideoGame/ConquerorsBlade: When wielding Dual Blades, your hero will finish the standard attack combo with a deft twirl of both knives.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'': The later games include some twirling of lightsabers. In ''Jedi Outcast'' it's mostly just the animations for activating or deactivating a lightsaber while standing still,[[note]]as well as an EasterEgg "taunt" function where your character lifts his current weapon above his hand with the Force, spins it around, then lowers it again; active lightsaber blade passing harmlessly through his head during this optional[[/note]] but ''Jedi Academy'' incorporates a lot of spinning and twirling into the fighting styles for {{dual|Wielding}} or double-bladed sabers.
** ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': There's a "Flourish Weapon" ability mapped to a key, and can be used to spin blasters, swords, and lightsabers around dangerously. Including the [[DoubleWeapon double-bladed lightsabers]].
** ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'': Pressing left on the D-Pad will activate Cal's lightsaber, but not before the handle does a few twirls in the palm of his hand. In this same fashion, when he exits combat and deactivates his lightsaber, Cal will occasionally twirl the handle rapidly before clipping it to his belt. There's no purpose to this, other than to look like a complete badass.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'': Link twirls the Master Sword before sheathing it after every boss battle. Lampshaded in one fight when he does his victory sheathe, but then notices that the boss is still barely alive; after finishing it off he quickly returns the sword to its scabbard without showing off. [[note]]Humorously enough, said victory sheathe was entirely unnecessary considering the sword hadn't even been used during said fight.[[/note]] Link also twirls his sword while L-Targeting as an IdleAnimation.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'': Moblins holding a one-handed melee weapon such a sword will perform occasional flourishes with it when in combat, flicking it into the air and catching it again by the hilt before striking a blow.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud does this as his victory dance, often with a sword that's as long as he is tall.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Zidane does this when he's equipped with double-edged swords.
* ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'': The Berserker class will rapidly spin the currently equipped weapon when preparing a Charge Attack.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'': At the Coliseum, Sora will imitate the victory dances of Cloud and Squall, this is the result.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Yosuke does this while in battle and in the opening animation. It backfires when he nearly drops his dagger in both.

* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': [[BlackMagicianGirl Anise Tatlin]] twirls her staff like a baton during spellcasting.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Yuan twirls his bladed DoubleWeapon above his head when casting spells.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'': Yuri weaponizes it with his Shining Fang arte, twirling his weapon to slash the enemy multiple times.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': Mages frequently do this, with their combat having evolved from the simple point-and-click casting of the first game, into a full-body form of Wushu that turns their spears into a veritable font of destruction. Mage Hawke's SignatureMove in cut-scenes is to repeatedly twirl their Staff, whilst [[PlayingWithFire summoning an inferno]] and roasting their enemies alive.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Spy and Scout do this a lot with their weapons. The Spy opens and closes his butterfly knife this way (or spins it around his finger if it isn't a butterfly knife), and the Scout flips his [[BatterUp bat]] before grabbing it. He also does this with the Crit-a-Cola and Bonk! Energy Drink (it looks like he's spilling it everywhere, but it works just fine).
* ''VideoGame/AuraKingdom'': The Ravager skill "Round and Round" weaponizes the spinning to deal continuous damage to all surrounding targets [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/cf25cc9c1043b8c17c96740935c2da04/tumblr_n66j1dw7Qh1r06ifyo3_1280.jpg in a cyclone]] for three seconds as well as absorbing some of that damage to restore health.
%%* ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'': This is Seren's pre-attack animation.

* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'': Estelle will twirl her staff as a victory animation and during cutscenes when she wants to show off. At one point in ''FC'', she even manages to deflect a bullet this way.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'':
*** [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZero Elie]] has her twirling her gun before firing her [[LimitBreak S-Craft]].
*** Rean also twirls his katana twice before unleashing [[spoiler:his final S-Craft of the Erebonia arc.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': Revolver Ocelot twirls his revolvers in impressive ways.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'': To show off his status as ClimaxBoss and strength, Velstadt the Royal Aegis does it with his giant (as in, bigger than ''you'') two-handed [[MixAndMatchWeapon hammer-slash-magic staff]]. With one hand.
* ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'': The Dust Storm technique, when performed on the ground, is a weaponized version of this, causing a ton of weak hits, sucking in nearby items, and [[CombinationAttack powering up Fidget's otherwise incredibly pitiful magic attacks when they get caught in it.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'': Cayde-6 twirls his pistol literally every time he pulls it out, to the point that it's like a CharacterTic for him.

* ''VideoGame/{{cloudphobia}}'': Players can twirl the Núllpunktur vibroblade indefinitely by holding down the fire button, which can be effective for dealing with weaker enemies.
* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'': Ibuki does this with her kunai in her generic intro when she is on point after her partner is shown in ''Street Fighter X Tekken''.
* While running, Jack from ''VideoGame/{{Ghostrunner}}'' will occasionally twirl or spin his sword just to look cool. Heck, there's even a designated button that lets you twirl or juggle your weapon whenever you so desire.
* ''VideoGame/BushidoBlade'':
** In the first and second games, the character Katze twirls his revolver as a [[VictoryPose victory pose]].
** In the second game, Jo twirls her sword, similar to Cloud Strife from VideoGame/FinalFantasy, as her victory pose.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Aang is fond of doing this with his glider staff. Since he can use it to create wind attacks, it's also {{Justified|Trope}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'': Beck nearly gives away his secret identity as the Tron impostor to TheDragon by doing this with what appears to be the Grid's equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.
* In the fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' Mikey gets into a competition with a golem to see who can do this better. The golem wins.
-->[[HypocriticalHumor "Show-off!"]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}'': In a DeletedScene of ''The Legend Reborn'', which was to be an [[ShoutOut exact replica of]] the scene from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', a bone hunter swordsman tries to intimidate Kiina this way, but she blasts him away with water.
* ''WesternAnimation/PennZeroPartTimeHero'' invokes this in "Number One, Number Two", where one of the contests requires the competitors to pull this off with [[DualWielding two weapons]] instead of one.