Line #5 Main/ExoticWeaponSupremacy

Context Main / ExoticWeaponSupremacy

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1	One of the most obvious ways to mark an individual as noteworthy, badass, or just apart from the crowd in fiction, especially in video games and action stories, is to give them an extraordinary weapon. [[ProfessionalKiller Assassins]] and blademasters often are given truly bizarre melee weapons, notable protagonists in settings with firearms are equipped with unusual and rare guns. The logic behind this is simple but faulty -- if a weapon is [[PowerEqualsRarity harder to acquire]] or more [[DifficultButAwesome difficult to learn to use]], it goes, it must be worth the extra time and effort to acquire one and train with it.
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3	The problem with this is simple: while a sufficiently trained individual ''can'' turn almost any weapon into a lethal tool of destruction, standard-issue weapons are standard-issue because they ''work'', [[BoringButPractical and work well]], with a minimum of training, and are thus more worth the time than the bizarre and the extraordinary. Furthermore, while exotic weapons might give inexperienced opponents difficulty because of their unfamiliarity with the mechanics of the weapon, the difference is more than made up at [[SkillGateCharacters higher skill levels]], where the limitations of a weapon become much more significant. Such weapons are often rare because they aren't practical for mass production or usage. Even if they are an effective weapon, [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon don't expect to see them used properly]]. But of course, RuleOfCool prevails.
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5	Occasionally justified in systems where everybody is using the wrong weapons, or the right weapons in the wrong way. Also sometimes justified in a system where everybody is already using exotic weapons.
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7	Using a weapon designed for the situation at hand would both give the user a potentially massive advantage, and seem like an exotic weapon.
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9	Contrast HeroesPreferSwords.
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11	Related tropes include:
12	[[index]]
13	* BareFistedMonk, in settings when using weapons is the norm.
14	* BattleBoomerang
15	* BladeBelowTheShoulder
16	* ChainPain
17	* ChainsawGood
18	* DoubleWeapon
19	* EpicFlail
20	* GunsAkimbo
21	* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon, for the LogicalExtreme
22	* ImprobableWeaponUser
23	* KatanasAreJustBetter
24	* KukrisAreKool
25	* SinisterScythe
26	* SwissArmyWeapon
27	* WhipSword
28	* WolverineClaws
29	* WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter
30	[[/index]]

Context Main / ExoticWeaponSupremacy