Basic Trope: A character wields two weapons, one in each hand.
- Straight: Bob, the main character in Tales of Troperia, wields two broadswords at once.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob wields four massive blades at once... somehow.
- Bob has four arms, each one wielding a BFS.
- Bob somehow wields six blades.
- Bob's blades wield gatling guns!
- Downplayed: Bob has a sword in one hand, a knife in the other.
- Justified:
- Bob is ambidextrous or is trained in a unique fighting style that uses two swords.
- Bob is an android with ambidexterity built in and enough limb strength/finesse to bypass some of the human limits on using two blades.
- Bob is a Utility Party Member who is also able to fight. He wields a pair of swords because they are easy to put away whenever he needs to use his hands for something else.
- Bob dual-wields weapons that spit out Homing Projectiles. This gets around the usual reasons dual-wielding isn't effective: twice the projectiles means twice the attack power, and Bob doesn't have to worry about accuracy when the projectiles are homing anyway.
- Bob is trained to fight against small creatures that try to Zerg Rush him. With two weapons, he can more easily defend himself when surrounded, and the creatures are weak enough that he can easily kill them without a two-handed weapon.
- Since so few people bother to learn how to use two swords, Bob is considered a challenging opponent for using such an unorthodox style.
- Inverted:
- Bob single wields a weapon that is traditionally dual-wielded (e.g. a single brass knuckle)
- Bob uses half a weapon.
- Bob wields a knife with two hands.
- Bob wields two shields at once.
- Subverted
- Bob picks up a sword in each hand... and then drops one due to feeling overburdened.
- Bob dual wields 2 BFS, and promptly injures his wrists.
- Double Subverted: But that's because he's tired. Or already injured to begin with. At full power, Bob can easily carry two swords.
- Parodied: Bob wields eight swords at the same time: Two in each hand, with one held normally and the other as a Backhand Blade; one in one foot, with him hopping around on the other; one in his mouth, Pirate-style and one sword in each armpit.
- Zig Zagged:
- Bob dual and single wields according to the situation he finds himself landing in.
- Bob constantly switches between one sword and two swords due to being indecisive about which setup is better... or due to him constantly losing and finding new weapons.
- Bob has a Bifurcated Weapon, and as such can switch between single- and dual-wielding as he damn well pleases.
- Averted: Bob wields a single sword throughout his adventure.
- Enforced: "Rule of Cool dictates that two swords are better than one, so give our hero two swords!"
- Lampshaded: "You're using TWO swords!? That's either really badass or really stupid."
- Invoked: Bob wields two swords, believing that they would be more effective than just one weapon.
- Exploited: Bob dual wields swords because their sheer badassery makes them more effective.
- Defied: After exploring the flaws of dual wielding, Bob decides to use a single weapon instead.
- Discussed: "Newbies always think wielding two swords makes them better. If they stopped being stupid and explored the flaws and advantages of dual wielding, they would trip over their own hands less."
- Conversed: Here, take this second sword. It really complements your first sword. Why not use both at once while you're at it?
- Implied: Bob has two swords and a shield mounted on his wall. When he goes out to fight, the swords are gone, but the shield is still there.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob charges into battle with twin swords... But he is easily out-maneuvered by an enemy wielding one sword due to the real-life flaws of a dual wielding.
- Bob is hit by an arrow because he's using two swords instead of a sword and a shield.
- Bob loses one of his swords in the middle of a fight. Since he was trained exclusively in Dual Wielding, his swordsmanship is extremely poor with only one blade.
- Even though Bob has two swords, he can still only attack with one sword at a time, and will therefore never be as powerful as a person with a two-handed sword.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob reveals that he was intentionally holding back his true skill and regains the advantage.
- Bob compensates for his lack of a shield by wearing armor.
- Bob is a telekinetic swordsman, allowing him to pull off feats that mitigate the fighting style's usual weaknesses.
- Bob stops wielding two identical swords and instead dual wields a sword and a dagger, increasing his versatility to compensate for his reduced power.
- Played For Laughs: Bob's lousy attempts at dual wielding show how much of an ineffectual try-hard he is.
Back to Dual Wielding
