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A four foot something girl lifting a several hundred pound weight. Why naut?

A favored weapon of sailors and pirates, the anchor ranks high on the list of badass improbable weapons. Anchor weapons come in two flavors: either strapped to a chain and swung as an Epic Flail variation on Hooks and Crooks, or as a large heavy melee weapon with a cool shape. And don't forget the sharp points at the ends; the hapless victim who gets impaled won't.

As their intended purpose is to hold down a ship, anchors are supposed to be exceptionally heavy. You'd expect any anchor wielder to be a huge, burly man or big guy. This just makes little girls swinging anchors all the more amusing. Especially if she's the one to quote it as her Pre Ass Kicking One Liner.

Compare Powerful Pick.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • In Digimon Fusion in the Golden Land, a member of Olegmon's pirate crew named Mermaimon wields an anchor.
  • Coon from Free Collars Kingdom uses a giant anchor as a weapon. However, since all the characters are the size of cats, it's not so much a giant anchor than just a fancy fish-hook. Still, it's giant to them.
  • Goblin Slayer shows a goblin champion who uses an anchor attached to a chain as a weapon.
  • At the beginning of the Sabaody Arc in One Piece, the Flying Fish Riders try to sink the Strawhats' ship by dropping a colossal anchor on it. Thankfully, the Sunny was equipped to dodge the anchor and save itself.
  • Shark-themed leader of the Six Guards Requin from Rave Master is seen carrying a long, slender anchor as his weapon. Subverted in that his strongest asset though is his Dark Bring, which allows him to turn his body into a living mass of Hollywood Acid.
  • One random Mook shaman in Shaman King uses an Epic Flail variety.
  • In the first arc of Shin Violence Jack, Jack wields an anchor to fight the Marvel Pirates with, using it instead of his standard jackknife. Despite the increased weight, Jack is just as proficient with an anchor as he is with his blade.
  • In one episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Jim faces an opponent who uses a card called Anchor Knight, a monster that fights with anchors. The ironic thing about this anime-only card is, it's a Fire-Attribute Monster.
  • One of the first scenes of Zambot 3 has Kappei and Shingo fighting each other with anchors meant for row-boats, using them somewhat like flails.

    Fanworks 

    Films — Animation 
  • Frankie is crushed to death by an anchor in Shark Tale.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In Face/Off, Castor Troy fights Sean Archer with an anchor during the climactic fight scene. Though to be fair, they are on a boat.
  • The mermaid's entranced minion uses an anchor to murder most of the victims in Nymph/Killer Mermaid.
  • In X-Men: First Class, Erik uses a telekinetically-controlled anchor to wreck Shaw's yacht.

    Literature 
  • In the gamebook Bloodbones, one of the enemies you can encounter is a pirate brute who tries to rough you up on the deck of a ship using an anchor as a weapon. You can defeat him by making him trip on the anchor's chains, and then knocking said anchor into the water, where he gets dragged overboard to his death by his own weapon.
  • In one of the Dragonlance books, the heroes and the mercenary ship they're traveling on is attacked by an enormous, flesh-eating Sea Slug. Since it proves nigh invulnerable to conventional weapons, they get rid of it by tricking the monster into swallowing the ship's anchor, and then suddenly steer the ship, so that the slug loses its grip and is dragged to the sea bed by the weight of the anchor.
  • The Hardy Boys: The reprint of What Happened at Midnight features a Mook named Anchor Pete who appears on the cover about to throw an anchor at the brothers.
  • A Ravel of Waters, by Geoffrey Jenkins. A sailing ship damages a modern destroyer by hanging an anchor from the yardarm and using it to swipe the radar and other electronics as they sail past each other through a narrow strait.

    Live-Action TV 
  • The Boys (2019). In "Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men", the Boys capture a Supe terrorist with telekinetic powers and hold him prisoner on a boat anchored outside US waters. Their first sign that he's escaped is when their anchor comes flying out of the water at them.
  • In Filmation's Ghostbusters (the live-action series, that is), Tracy throws an anchor to stop the Ghostmobile.
  • The GaoMuscle mecha formation from Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger uses the anchor on a chain variant. The Boat Org also fought with an anchor-shaped ax with the chain wrapped around his arm.
  • Gokai Silver in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger wields the Gokai Spear, a Shapeshifter Weapon that switches between trident, laser rifle, and (when he uses his Super Mode) anchor modes. This meshes with the fact that the Gokaigers are Space Pirates.

    Tabletop Games 
  • One of the mercenary factions in Warmachine is a group of pirates. Their warjacks (giant robots about 12+ feet tall) tend to wield anchors as weapons (or carry ship cannons as ranged weapons). Justified in that their warjacks tend to be built out of parts salvaged from wrecked ships, either their own or their unfortunate opponents, whichever is available.

    Video Games 
  • Afterimage: "The Survived" is a ship's anchor obtained from a floating wreckage. Renee can wield it like a scythe.
  • Admiral Swiggins, a playable character in Awesomenauts, wields an anchor. He can use it to reel himself forward or drop it and chain enemies to the ground.
  • Blasphemous features pallete-swapped versions of the Phalaris enemies in the Derelict Graveyard DLC area Mourning and Havoc which have exchanged their javelins for anchors that they can hurl at you.
  • Captain Flynt from Borderlands 2 uses a huge anchor that looks and acts somewhat like a Powerful Pick, pounding it against the ground to create shockwaves. Its first DLC adds Anchormen, who dual wield anchors with short handles and long chains — they can batter you at range or pull you up close and whale on you. Of some note is the fact that both Captain Flynt and all Anchormen are pirates.
  • Darkest Dungeon: The Drowned Crew were done in by a cursed anchor that tied them up in its chain and pulled them into the depths, and they will use it against you in a similar manner by tossing it at one of your heroes and tying them up in the chain. this not only causes the Crew's health to regenerate, but does massive Stress damage to the hero as they experience the Crew's drowning demise.
  • Tidehunter from Defense of the Ancients and Dota 2 could be considered Nautilus's great-grandpa in this regard, slinging nautical weights with the best of them since the MOBA genre's inception in 2003.
  • Demon Front have a maacha-battleship called Iron Tooth, whose main attack is an anchor that it swings repeatedly trying to hit you with. Or drop on you if you happen to be underneath.
  • Digimon Crusader introduces Captain Hookmon who wields the Rage Giga Anchor as well as the 5th appearance of Mermaimon in a Video Game.
  • Dragon Quest VIII: Journey Of The Cursed King has living anchors as sea-bound enemies, which apparently are half-submerged and can strike with both extremities of their bodies. They also tend to be very resilient against physical attacks.
  • Huang Gai in Dynasty Warriors 7. He even jumps from one ship to another while carrying the thing.
  • The swung-on-a-chain version comes in to play at the end of an ESWAT level. You had to guess which height it would be swung at, and for some reason it was swung just right so the enemy could deflect your bullets.
  • Elden Ring has the Rusted Anchor, which is classified as a Greataxe. It is notably one of the very few big weapons that does Pierce damage (a damage type usually reserved for small thrusting swords and spears), making it a very good choice of weapon for a Mighty Glacier who plans on "trading" with the enemy, as the game has a "counter" system where all characters take substantially more Pierce damage if they get hit while attacking. There is also a talisman you can equip to specifically boost this counter damage.
  • Fallout 4: At the Swan Boats of Boston Commons lies a cluster of Pre-War boats in a stagnant pool of water... and Swan. Swan (once Edgar Swann) is a Super Mutant who uses a large boat anchor as a makeshift hammer instead of as a spiked chain.
  • Fate/Grand Order: Christopher Columbus is a Rider Servant. He uses an anchor on a chain as a weapon, and his Noble Phantasm, Santa Maria - Drop Anchor: Exploration of the New World, summons dozens of anchors on chains from his ship to attack.
  • Edgar of Final Fantasy VI has the Air Anchor as one of his weapon tools, although he doesn't really wield it in any way and what it actually does is make the enemy hit by it die instantly the next time they attack. So in other words, an Useless Useful Spell.
  • In Final Fantasy VIII, Ward used a weapon that looked like a cross between an anchor and a harpoon. His Limit Break is called "Heavy Anchor" and involves him tossing it high into the air and then riding it down on the enemies with a huge shockwave.
  • A sailor boss in Final Fight 3 uses one.
  • May of Guilty Gear is a small pirate girl who wields a giant, heavy anchor as a weapon.
  • Falling anchors are a hazard in several stages of Hook.
  • Jitsu Squad has a pirate captain boss named Balthazar who wields a massive anchor like a club in battle. Said anchor also contains a chain-shooting mechanism turning it into a Grappling-Hook Pistol, allowing Balthazar to swing around the area.
  • Kingdom Rush: Frontiers: Boatswain mercenaries wield anchors as weapons.
  • Nautilus from League of Legends wields an anchor with great effect, being able to grab and pull enemies towards him with it and root them to the ground with his autoattacks. He's also one of the biggest playable characters in the game, along with Cho'gath with Feast stacks and Zac with a moderately large health bar.
    • Between his anchor and his heavy diving suit, he's also tied for slowest character in the game. To compensate for that he can use his anchor as a grappling hook of sorts to pull himself along.
  • Ishmael from Limbus Company has her Roseate Desire and Blind Obsession EGOs. The former has her lobbing a ribbon-covered anchor at the enemy, while the latter has her slicing at the enemy with a massive serrated anchor.
  • Ruby Heart from Marvel vs. Capcom 2 uses both a normal (small) anchor to hit and a (small) anchor with a chain to grab her hapless opponents. The second one may end with her FIRING A CANNON at their bellies.
  • Mega Man X6: Metal Shark Player, one of the Maverick bosses, throws anchors during his fight. Fittingly, X and Zero gain the ability to use them after defeating him.
  • Musashi Samurai Legend: The Brute Glogh wields a comparatively small steel anchor as his weapon of choice, swinging it around as if it was a kusarigama.
  • Onimusha Souls also features Chosokabe Motochika wielding a chained anchor slightly bigger than he is as his weapon of choice. Given that it's Capcom, the same who did Sengoku Basara, it's likely a nod.
  • Roadhog from Overwatch normally throws a large hook on a chain at targets to pull them in close for easy blasting with his extremely Short-Range Shotgun. Some of his alternate skins change his Animal Motif from pig to shark, replace the hook with an anchor, and the usual voice line instead quotes this trope by name.
  • Makoa from Paladins wields a dredge anchor that he uses in both varieties. His normal anchor attack is of the Epic Flail variant, hooking enemies and dragging them towards him while his ultimate lets him use it like a huge melee weapon.
  • The pirate-themed adventure game, Pirate Hunter has falling anchors as a constant hazard. Getting hit by one will take out a chunk of health, and standing directly underneath will lead to a One-Hit Kill. There's also a boss who Dual Wield anchors as weapons.
  • The trailer for the sadly canceled Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned shows the "evil" Player Character using a chained anchor to devastating effect.
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon has Dhelmise, a haunted seaweed clutching an anchor. Fittingly, it has a Secret Art named Anchor Shot.
  • In RuneScape, the player can use the Barrelchest anchor as a weapon. It's one of the few weapons specifically scavenged from the corpse of its previous wielder: the gigantic pirate zombie robot, Barrelchest, who's larger than some rooms of your house, where it's fought.
    • And true to the fact that it's the second-heaviest equipment in the game, wielding the Barrelchest Anchor gives you a massive strength bonus, though its attack speed is the slowest possible. Uniquely, the barrel modifies the player's running animation, in which they haul it close to their chest and hustle with an awkward jog.
  • Salt and Sanctuary: The Castaway's Greatadze is the result of a castaway with both great strength and a knack for improvisation finding themselves only with his skiff's anchor to fend off the island's horrors. It's been appropriately modified and sharpened for ease of use, and as a result is one of the better axes in the game.
  • Chosokabe Motochika in Sengoku Basara wields his one handed and surfs through the air on it while it's on fire. Functionally it's used in equal parts as a flail or as a halberd.
  • Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew: The pirate John Mercury uses an anchor as a weapon.
  • The title character of Shovel Knight can use the Throwing Anchor relic, allowing him to toss a small anchor in an arc. Treasure Knight uses an anchor on a chain, fired from his Arm Cannon, as his weapon of choice.
  • Skylanders has Thumpback, a giant whale-like monster introduced in the second game who swings an anchor at his enemies to kill them.
  • Anchors could be dropped from odd places onto enemies in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.
  • Spike Out have Keiser, the boss from the wharf stage who swings an anchor like a heavy club.
  • Logg from Suikoden V uses one of these as a weapon. Somewhat justified in that he's from a floating town made up of ships tied together.
    • There's also one (and only one) Pirate who uses "a martial arts weapon that looks like an anchor" in Suikoden Tierkreis. The weapon in question is clearly a lot smaller than a standard anchor, though, incidentally allowing him to wield two of them.
  • In Terraria, fishing in a Hardmode world occasionally nets you an Anchor (either directly or from wooden crates) that can be used as a flail-like weapon.
  • Shark Tooth, the boss of the harbor stage from The TakeOver uses a heavy anchor attached to a chain as his weapon.
  • Touhou Seirensen ~ Undefined Fantastic Object brings us Captain Minamitsu Murasa, who flings around giant anchor bullets.
    • In a variation, the anchor bullets are generated from spiritual power as part of her danmaku. Her actual weapon is the bottomless scoop she carries (which she does use to attack), which fits with her drowned ghost inspiration.
  • Beat 'em Up entry Vendetta (1991) had a gangster boss swing one of these, if memory serves.
  • The Warcraft universe has a few creatures using anchors as weapons. Most notable are the Sea Giant and the Naga Royal Guard. Sea Giants are neutral enemies wielding actual anchors. One of their abilities is swinging it around, hitting everyone near the Sea Giant. The Naga Royal Guard is a reptilian merman wielding a giant spear that looks like an anchor.
  • zOMG!: Anchor Bugs and Sea Anchor Bugs launch their anchor heads at you. You can also get a recipe to make an Anchor for your avatar to wield in the game as well.
  • Sahad from Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana uses an old rusty anchor that is missing one of its prongs that he found when he washed up on the beach as a weapon. Once you recruit the blacksmith she will improve the anchor to more and more extravagant forms, still missing the second prong.

    Web Animation 

    Webcomics 
  • Book 1 of Derelict features a huge Gargoyle (aptly named Iron Hand) with a full-size anchor and chain attached to his arm — he's able to decimate a barn in only a few swings, nearly killing the protagonist. She's barely able to defeat it by shooting it in the head with an UV glow-bolt.
  • Subverted in Problem Sleuth: Tootsie Roll Frankenstein Pickle Inspector tries to use his Comb Rave attack Anchors Away, but Mobster Kingpin smashes his Suckle Receptable onto Fiesta Ace Dick's head, completely ruining it. It Makes Sense in Context, of course.

    Western Animation 
  • Anchors frequently end up as convenient "hard and heavy" things for sillier cartoons, whether for dropping on heads or for loading into a bag of some sort and swung. Wrapping back around to appropriate when they are used to replace parachutes as a prank.
  • This is Corvus' favorite weapon from The Dragon Prince. The anchor is attached to a chain, and it can use this weapon in a variety of ways in combat.
  • In the Dragons: Riders of Berk episode "Alvin and the Outcasts" burly Viking Alvin the Treacherous uses his ships anchor as a weapon in battle, swinging the massive lump of metal around by its rope like it's made out of paper.
  • In Hot Wheels: AcceleRacers, Porkchop uses an anchor of the chain variety on a Racing Drone aircraft.
  • Kong: King of the Apes has Kong use a sunken ship's anchor to help him fight a pair of robotic Megalodons in the episode "King's Ransom."
  • Appropriately enough, Popeye has used an anchor as a weapon at least once.
  • Homer impales two people with an anchor in a Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons.
  • In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Nasty Patty", one of the police officers strike down the health inspector they thought to be a zombie with an anchor square on the head.

 
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Alternative Title(s): Anchors As Weapons

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Health Inspector

The health inspector gets knocked out unconscious and suffers many mishaps that knocks him back into a coma.

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