Weaponized Ball

That's what I call a 'foul ball!

"I am. A servant. Of humanity. Wielder of. The rubber ball. You shall not pass!"

— Blunt, Freefall

Balls are spherical objects often used for entertainment and recreation like in sports and such.

These things hurt when they are hurled at you at high speeds, so that makes them viable weapons, especially if they are made of steel (or lead, as with the case of muskets).

These balls are often used for Hyper-Destructive Bouncing Ball attack, but not always, especially if the ball can't bounce in the first place (like if it's too heavy or if it's a Ki Manipulation).

Crystal Balls are sometimes given this treatment. Related to I Know Madden Kombat, though only when the "non-combat sport" in question is a ball sport. Compare Epic Flail, which is any chain weapon with a weight on one end, which may be a ball, and Be the Ball, where someone becomes a ball and uses themselves as a weapon. May involve Shaping Your Attacks if the person has control of solid matter or Hard Light Energy Weapon/Ki Manipulation.

Can sometimes be countered with a bat. Can occasionally be launched from a Ball Cannon. May be the ball the Tennis Boss uses.

Guns and cannons shooting spherical bullets do not count (unless they're explicitly ordinary balls). There's a Trope for that somewhere in Guns and Gunplay Tropes. Actual weapons like bombs disguised/shaped as ordinary balls also do not count. Energy Ball examples only overlap here if they're used as blunt weapons and don't explode normally (i.e. it explodes only as a part of a special attack using the ball).

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Examples

Advertising

• A Doritos ad from about ten years ago played the trope for laughs. Two office guys are using a glass paperweight as a "crystal ball." The first guy predicts that he'll get a special at the vending machine and hurls the paperweight at the machine, shattering the glass. After the voiceover, the second guy decides to give it a try. "I predict a promotion," he says, and hurls the ball as his boss comes through the door. Looks like he's not going to get what he wanted...

Anime & Manga

• In Case Closed, Conan uses his Tricked-Out Shoes's acceleration feature to give him the speed and strength to kick his ordinary soccer ball at high speeds as an Emergency Weapon.
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Demon Susamaru wields temari balls as her weapon of choice and can fling them with enough strength to break down walls and mutilate people.
• In Hoshin Engi, one of the villains wields the paope Kaketsu Shinto... which takes the appearence of two unassuming volleyballs. Volleyballs that can sprout blades capable of paralyzing anyone they cut.
• In Hunter × Hunter, one of Razor's preferred weapons is a volleyball, which he infuses with his life force and spikes it at opponents. Said infusion increases the volleyball's durability to survive Razor's immensely destructive spikes.
• In Part 7 of Jojos Bizarre Adventure, Gyro Zeppeli uses a pair of spinning steel balls as his weapons to great effect. The things he can do with them are downright supernatural, such as making him Immune to Bullets temporarily, forming a makeshift shield out of water, detecting objects through vibrations, or wringing water out of his body.
• In Lyrical Nanoha, Vita's long-range weapons of choice are iron spheres that she launches towards her targets by striking them with the polo mallet-like Hammer form of her Armed Device.
• In s-CRY-ed, Asuka Tachibana's Alter is called Eternity Eight, also known as the Eight Treasure Balls. For the most part, they're a Swiss-Army Superpower, able to create energy constructs of a sort (making a Laser Blade by arranging them in a line, or a shield by making them flat). However, in the manga, they can combine into a giant ball which he can launch at enemies.

Comic Books

• Batman: One-shot villain the Sportsman was a Theme Serial Killer targeting prominent sporting figures with sports-themed weaponry, including an exploding basketball.
• Green Arrow: The Pinball Wizard carries mechanisms that shoot a stream of ball bearings. These are metallic spheres similar to those used in pinballs.
• Green Lantern: The Golden Age villain Sportsmaster sometimes uses shot-puts and other balls as bludgeoning weapons, as well as trick versions that explode.
• Hawkeye: Oddball, a member of the villain group the Death-Throws, normally carries an assortment of weighted balls and ball-shaped throwing weapons. He typically carries balls filled with various substances: tear gas, super-adhesive, hydrochloric acid, smoke, concentrated sulfur, spent uranium, itching powder, magnesium flare, a powerful impact-activated electromagnet, and a powerful impact-activated explosive.
• Zaibatsu Tears: In the furry comic the vixen protagonist, a high-end cyborg, is shown using ball bearings as weapons as she and other enhanced cyborgs can throw them with the same speed, accuracy, and damaging potential of any bullet.

Films — Live-Action

• In Even Lambs Have Teeth, Sloane and Katie create these by shoving roofing nails through tennis balls. They then throw these balls into Boris's face. (And possibly other body parts, as the subsequent hits occur off-screen.)
• Jet Li's character in Kiss of the Dragon uses a billiard ball as an Improvised Weapon in one scene.
• In The Mask of Zorro, Alejandro grabs a pair of grapeshot cannonballs during a fight with a huge, brutish soldier and proceeds to bludgeon the latter about the face with them, resulting in several lost teeth.
• In Mystery Men The Bowler uses a bowling ball possessed by the spirit of her father (the original Bowler) as a weapon.
• Wishcraft: After burying Cody up to his neck, the killer murders him by using his head as a target for bowling balls.
• In X2: X-Men United, Magneto breaks out of his custom made jail cell by pulling the iron from the blood of a guard. He then forms the iron into small balls which he uses as offensive weapons, smashing his cage and killing the rest of the guards.

Live-Action TV

• CSI: NY:
  • The murder weapon in "The Closer" is revealed to be a baseball thrown by a free agent pitcher.
  • "Buzzkill": A guy uses an automatic pitching machine to pelt the performance on a live billboard in Times Square with tennis balls when it keeps him up at night. He is taken into custody after a dead woman is found at the scene.
• Dai Sentai Goggle Five: Goggle Yellow's personal weapon is a ball, which he'd use to smash enemies in or toss it to the enemy (tossing multiple balls is also the team attack when it's Goggle Yellow's turn to take charge). It's upgraded into 'Opal Megaton Ball', which gives it six huge spikes, making it look like a flail's head, for further damages.
• In an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger a group of thugs jump a pro wrestler at a bowling alley, nearly killing him when one of them brains him with a bowling ball.

Music

• Futari No: Nana whacks an Adult across the head with a globe in the music video for Secret. As a result, the Adult's head flies a good few feet away from its body. A large group of other adults witnessed Nana doing this, but they just stand still and look at her after the deed is done.

Professional Wrestling

• On several occasions in Hardcore, Extreme Rules, or other weapons-based matches, someone ends up armed with a bowling ball, and his opponent ends up sitting in the corner with his legs spread, setting up for the bowling ball to be rolled right in. Often pronounced by one of the announcers making a joke like yelling "Strike!" or saying "He just picked up the split!"

Sport

• A cricket ball can do some serious damage if it hits someone, and unlike in baseball, the bowler is not automatically penalized for hitting a batsman. See, for example, the infamous Bodyline series of the 1930s, where the English team adopted the practice of bowling short-pitched deliveries that bounced up to around the batsmen's head height - and keep in mind that this was before batsmen started wearing helmets! Australian captain Bill Woodfull's quote about the practice is still famous to this day: "There are two sides out there today, but only one of them is playing cricket.
  • Even after the introduction of helmets, the West Indies' fast bowlers of the 80s were very intimidating for batsmen to face because of the potential for injuries.
  • Tragically, even in modern cricket accidents can happen- Australian batsman Phillip Hughes was struck in the neck by an extremely (but not unreasonably) fast bouncer after missing an attempted hook shot, a freak accident that tore his vertebral artery and led to his death three days before his 26th birthday. At least such tragedies are incredibly rare.

Tabletop Games

• In Warhammer 40,000, Asdrubael Vect has a weapon called the Obsidian Orbs, which restore his health when they hit an enemy.

Video Games

• A Bug's Life: Flik attacks by throwing berries at enemies.
• Barbarian (Titus): One of the fighters in this Power Stone-style Platform Fighter, named 21, uses his own prison shackle ball minus the chain as an improvised weapon.
• In Brawlhalla, the orb is one of the 12 weapons that the characters can use.
• Come across a sporting goods store in Dead Rising or Dead Rising 2 and you might find a shelf full of bowling balls. Sadly there is no option to construct a bowling ball cannon from a collection of parts, but it can be used to smash zombies' heads in, or thrown to bowl them over like bowling pins (and usually scoring a few kills along the way). Aim high and sometimes you'll end up hucking the ball in an arc like a novice bowler with a late release, which can be just as useful for killing zombies (if imprecise and prone to losing the ball afterward).
• Final Fantasy
  • In Final Fantasy VII, Yuffie has a large rubber ball called the "Superball" as one of her available weapons.
  • Wakka from Final Fantasy X is a professional blitzball (a.k.a. water-polo-on-speed) player who attacks using the ball he kept from before he Jumped at the Call. Later upgrades to the ball further weaponize it, to the extent that his Infinity +1 Sword ball has a prominent buzzsaw blade in the middle. Tidus also uses a blitzball in his Limit Break, and incorporates it into a few other attacks in Dissidia Final Fantasy.
• A licensed GBA platformer Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island used this as its main mechanic. Different types of balls could be found and kicked at enemies (and otherwise used to interact with the environment), who could also "kick" them back.
• In Grimms Notes, the Skull Sprinter kicks skulls to attack the player, as if they were freaking footballs.
• In Guilty Gear X, Venom's weapon of choice is a pool cue and energy balls. Sometimes he simply strikes with the cue, other times he hits a ball that bounces around the screen, and other times he'll simply launch a larger ball at an enemy. This may have something to do with Guo Jia's example up above. It may seem cool, but bear in mind that he's an assassin, and he needs to be inconspicuous and ready for combat as often as possible.
• The Firemace from Heretic fires metallic ones. Hit up the Tome of Power and it'll toss out big ones. Which seek out enemies as they bounce around.
• Lucky can throw a basketball for one of his special attacks in the King of Fighters games.
• League of Legends: Orianna performs all of her abilities via a spherical, hovering Attack Drone simply called "The Ball". When she uses "Command: Attack", The Ball simply rams the enemy. When she uses "Command: Dissonance", The Ball emits an electric pulse around it. When she uses "Command: Shockwave", The Ball... well, unleashes a shockwave.
• There exists an alternate version of Mario Bros. made by Hudson Soft that gives Mario and Luigi a "Punch Ball" with which to stun enemies.
  • Related: In Super Mario Land, Mario's usual fireball is replaced by a "super ball" that not only kills mooks but also collects coins as it bounces off walls and floors.
• Mega Man
  • Mega Man (Classic)
    • There's also Crystal Man and his Crystal Eyes, which Mega Man can acquire.
    • The Mega Ball in Mega Man 8. He deploys the ball and then kicks it in an angle. It is the only weapon that can hurt Wily's first stage boss.
    • Strike Man's Rebound Striker. This one can be aimed.
    • Street Fighter X Mega Man also gives you Tropical Hazard, taken from Blanka. Basically similar to Mega Ball but with watermelon.
  • In spite of its name, the Rolling Shield from Mega Man X is a shield only in its Charged Attack form. As a regular projectile, it takes the form of a ball fired from X Buster.
• Odama does this to an exaggerated scale: The titular "Odama" is a giant ball the size of a building and the player's secret weapon in the war that smashes buildings and somehow converts enemy soldiers to the player's side rather than kills them.
• Persona 5: The first boss uses volleyballs for his basic attack as well as his ultimate attack.
• Pokémon:
  • The attack Fling throws one's held item at the opponent, changing its power based on the item's weight. The strongest option? The Iron Ball, with 130 base power.
  • Passimian from Pokémon Sun and Moon is a football player lemur that uses a hard ball-like berry in its training regimes, and it also throws said ball when attacking.
• A medicine-ball is carried by Carol in the fighting game Savage Reign.
• In Sengoku Basara, Otani Yoshitsugu's weapon is a set of crystal balls that he controls with telekinesis.
• The Shantae series has Pike Balls, which are spiked and make an Orbiting Particle Shield when used / cast, such as in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Shantae and the Seven Sirens.
• Viola in SoulCalibur V wields a claw and crystal ball as her weapons. When the crystal ball is in play she becomes a Puppet Fighter with a different moveset taking advantage of the ball.
• Barty from Stake Fortune Fighters utilizes a blue kickball as her primary weapon.
• In Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, throwing the ball against an Electrobounce unit will cause it to become electrified and tackle the first opponent (or more, depending on the Score Multiplier) it hits unless it stops moving first. The original game provided a similar power for walking over a rotating "W" tile.
• In Star Ocean, Marvel Frozen uses a crystal ball for a weapon, floating it around with magic (as well as summoning spirits to boost its damage output). Since she has the Talent "Blessings of Mana", which usually only spellcasters possess, it's implied that she's traded her standard spellcasting for a more direct fighting style.
• Street Fighter V: Menat can use her floating crystal ball for some attacks.
• Super Mario World: Piranha Island: As one of his many magical spells, the Piranha Wizard can send bouncing balls at Mario during a phase in both of his boss battles. Mario can grab these balls and throw them at the Piranha Wizard.
• Super Smash Bros.:
  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduces the Soccer Ball item. The harder you strike it, the farther it goes and the more damage it does to whomever it hits. If hit sufficiently hard it can be a One-Hit KO.
  • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U: The Useful notes/Mii Brawlers introduced in this game can use Shot Put balls as one of their attacks while the Villager can drop bowling balls on the opponent.
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate adds the Beastball, a baseball that teleports to hit an enemy after it's thrown. And lights on fire in the process.
• Tekken 3 (and the Wii U version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2) has a mini-game where the goal was to attack a series of increasingly damaging ball to send at your opponent with enough force to deplete their life (starting with a beach ball and ending with an iron ball). The amount of damage done increases as it gets sent back and forth like a Tennis Boss battle. You could also have it fall behind them in the style volleyball to do damage, but throwing it with punches and kicks is the main idea.
  • Heihachi retains the beach ball in his move-set seen in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as one of his odd projectiles, where it functions largely the same. If it gets attacked, it'll instantly deplete AP from anyone hit by it, including Heihachi.
• In Warcraft III, The Blood Mage has three spheres of magic orbiting his head, which he grabs and throws at enemies.
• Koei Warriors series:
  • Dynasty Warriors has Guo Jia, one of Cao Cao's strategists, who wields an "Orb and Scepter", though it's practically "Pool Ball and Cue Stick", and yes, that does mean he attacks with billiard ball moves and Hyper-Destructive Bouncing Ball antics.
  • Samurai Warriors
    • Oichi had her Cup and Ball (Kendama), although it effectively is used as a flail since it's a ball tied to a handle with a string.
    • Kanbei Kuroda has his Crystal Ball, but what he actually uses for attacking are spectral versions of his orb which he uses like a Flying Weapon.
    • Yoshimoto Imagawa has his Kemari ball, which he uses with soccer-like moves.
  • Warriors Orochi gives us, Da Ji, who attacks with a pair of balls which she commands to spin around her with ballet.

Webcomics

• In Freefall, Blunt at one point tries to defend a data facility Florence needs to sabotage by making her chase a tennis ball. It goes poorly for him.
• In The Order of the Stick: the super-bouncy ball that the Big Bad Xykon uses to kill a room full of troops is just a ball. The Symbol of Insanity he cast on it beforehand, however, affects everyone who looks at the ball...
• In Penny Arcade, Tycho can get artillery-level mileage out of a rubber kickball and The Power of Hate.

Western Animation

• In Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, Phineas's remote-control baseballs are used as weapons against the army of Normbots.

Real Life

• The "Flash-ball" brand of Defense Ball Launcher fires common, made-in-China toy rubber balls... By propelling them with a gunpowder cartridge.

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