History PlayingWith / ShovelStrike

** Most/Every character choses to wield a spade as a primary weapon, swords, maces, axes or ranged weapons always come in second place.

** "Do me a favour; [[ShutUpHannibal take your words]] and [[JustForPun shovel]] them!"

** A shovel is not as overtly warlike as a sword or [[AnAxeToGrind axe]], so Alice underestimates the potential lethality of her weapon until she kills someone without meaning to.

* '''Invoked''': ???

** Alice blunts the sharp sides of the shovel to decrease the lethality of it.

** The character's job usually involves a shovel, so carrying one around is perfectly logical. When threatened, the character will reasonably rely on what's most efficient.

* '''Downplayed''': A character uses a trowel as a weapon.

* '''Zig Zagged''': ?

** *During the BigBad's HannibalLecture* "Do me a favour; Take your words and [[JustForPun shovel]] them!"
* '''Invoked''': ?

** A shovel is used as a murder weapon.

* '''Downplayed''': ?

** After having barely survived her encounter, Alice finally decides to keep her shovel because it still has advantages, and modifies her tool to make it more practical to wield as a defensive weapon, or trains very hard to compensate all the drawbacks it brings up and develops her own fighting style, based on the exclusive use of shovels.

* '''Played for Laughs''': People getting hit with shovels, especially in cartoons, can be quite funny, even more if the loud '''clang!''' is replaced by a more and more surprising and unusual sound as the show goes. Can be used as a RunningGag.

** '''Double Subverted''': The watering can didn't work very well, and just as Alice is going to receive the killing blow from Bob, she ultimately grabs the shovel to whack him. She may comment on its being a much more logical choice afterwards...

* '''Reconstructed''': After having barely survived her encounter, Alice finally decides to keep her shovel because it still has advantages, and modifies her tool to make it more practical to wield as a defensive weapon, or trains very hard to compensate all the drawbacks it brings up and develops her own fighting style, based on the exclusive use of shovels.
* Alice blunts the sharp sides of the shovel to decrease the lethality of it.

* Alice pulls a telescopic shovel from Hammerspace.

* '''Played for Laughs''': People getting hit with shovels, especially in cartoons, can be quite funny, even more if the loud '''clang!''' is replaced by a more and more surprising and unusual sound as the show goes. Can be used as a Running Gag.

** "What's with the shovel?" [[PreAssKickickingOneLiner "It's to dig your grave with."]]

* '''Lampshaded''': "How could you find a shovel so fast in a ''classroom''?!"

* '''Deconstructed''': Alice wields a shovel as an improvised weapon, which works for two minutes thanks to the surprise effect, until she gets worn out by the effort or her opponents figure out how much it slows her down, and she quickly gets overrun, hurt, or killed.

* '''Played for Drama''': After getting repeatedly beaten with a shovel, a character suffers heavy mental scarring.

'''Basic Trope''': A Shovel wielded as a weapon, or a character struck with a shovel.

** The only weapon available is the spade, because the chracters are trapped in a mine.

** All weapons can be used to dig !
** Swinging people around is a very efficient tactic against the Evil Animate Shovels of Doom !
* '''Subverted''': Alice is threatened by Bob, and looks around for a weapon. Her eyes come to gardening tools, that include a shovel... But she takes the watering can instead.

* '''Lampshaded''': "How could you find a shovel so fast in a ''classroom'' ?!"

* '''Defied''': Characters specifically avoid to wield those for reasons such as encumbrance, or stealth.
* '''Discussed''': Upon choosing their gear, the characters will take into account that shovels usually deliver OneHitKills in fiction, or at least get people to sleep very efficiently.
* '''Conversed''': "Ever noticed how the villain or sidekick always gets knocked off either with a shovel, or a FryingPanOfDoom ?"

* '''Implied''': A Bob secures and locks up everything that could be used to strike people with in a room, where he'll be meeting his ex Alice soon, and first of all shovels, leading the viewer to believe that he's suffered injury dealt with them from Alice before.
* '''Played for Laughs''': People getting hit with shovels, especially in cartoons, can be quite funny, even more if the loud '''Clang !''' is replaced by a more and more surprising and unusual sound as the show goes. Can be used as a Running Gag.

** A Character specifically choses to fight with this weapon, because of its advantages (long polearm, easy to wield, can be nonlethal).
** The character's job usually involves a shovel, so carrying one around is perfectly logical. When threatened, the character will reasonably rely one what's most efficient.

** Wielding people is a very efficient tactic against the Evil Animate Shovels of Doom !
* '''Subverted''': Alice is threatened by Bob, and looks around for a weapon. Her eyes come to gardening tools, that include a shovel... But she takes the watering can instead.
* '''Parodied''': When trapped in a mine, the characters looking for weapons will call dibs on shovels, while not noticing that there are better weapons available.
* '''Zig Zagged''': ?
* '''Averted''': Weapons are never used or even hinted as being possibly used as weapons. They are only tools.
* '''Enforced''': Players mod a game where shovels aren't weapons, so that they can be wielded as such.