To-do list:
- Move Weapon Of Choice wicks that fit either Weapon-Based Characterization or Weapon Specialization to the corresponding trope and remove ones that don't fit either.
Original post
Weapon Of Choice is a trope describing how a character's preferred weapon describes part of their personality or further proves their character type. It even includes an extensive list describing how multiple different weapons reflect on the types of characters that wield them.
A wick check
was done to see if the trope is suffering from misuse as simply "character uses X weapon". The wick check findings are summarized below:
The wick check shows a tendency towards chair usage as anytime a character wields a weapon, with the next highest usage being for when a character prefers a specific weapon. Part of this misuse I believe is due to the more expansive definition that is used off-site. I think one course of action here is to split the correct usage into a new trope, something along the lines of Weapon Proves Personality, while the preferred weapon usage remains and becomes the new definition of Weapon Of Choice. This, however, does not solve the issue of the trope being a ZCE and list magnet.
A wick check
was done to see if the trope is suffering from misuse as simply "character uses X weapon". The wick check findings are summarized below: - 21/83 Correct - Weapon Indicates Personality/Character Type or 25%
- 22/83 Character Prefers Certain Weapon or 26%
- 26/83 Character Wields a Weapon (including ZCEs or 31%
- 17/83 Other (including ZCEs and Misuse or 20%
The wick check shows a tendency towards chair usage as anytime a character wields a weapon, with the next highest usage being for when a character prefers a specific weapon. Part of this misuse I believe is due to the more expansive definition that is used off-site. I think one course of action here is to split the correct usage into a new trope, something along the lines of Weapon Proves Personality, while the preferred weapon usage remains and becomes the new definition of Weapon Of Choice. This, however, does not solve the issue of the trope being a ZCE and list magnet.
Wick check:
Weapon Of Choice is a trope describing how a character's preferred weapon describes part of their personality or further proves their character type. It even includes an extensive list describing how multiple different weapons reflect on the types of characters that wield them.This Wick Check is to see if the trope is suffering from misuse as simply "character uses X weapon". Potholes in examples have been bolded. Multiple examples from the same media count as one wick for the total, even if they appear in different categoriesnote .
Courtesy Link: Related.WeaponOfChoice
Wicks Checked: 83/83
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Correct Usage - Weapon Indicates Personality/Character Type 21/ 83 25%
- Anime.Genesis Of Aquarion: Sirius wields a rapier, adding to his composed and foppish air, while Apollo (on the few occasions he is seen with a sword) uses a broad-bladed scimitar more appropriate to his wild, feral personality.
- Characters.An Ordinary Life: [Samidori Morihinan] (Simple Staff) Sami's Weapon Of Choice is a quarterstaff he personally grew to fit his need. It fits his Martial Pacifist image.
- Characters.Azure Dreams: [Monsters] Trolls can use swords, maces, and bows, something that no other monster is able to do.
- Characters.Beast The Primordial: The "Chosen Blade" Heroic Gift allows a Hero to imbue a weapon with part of his legend, effectively enhancing it against Beasts and making it their signature weapon.
- Characters.Code Vein Revenants:
- [Yakumo Shinonome] Oni Bane, a Nagimukuro he customized to pack more oomph for its weight. In addition, his Blood Code bolsters the destructive potential of heavy sword strikes further by possessing the Two-Handed Sword Mastery gift.
- [Mia Karnstein] Uses the Bayonet (that is a rifle equipped with a bayonet) as well as Stinger type Blood Veil. Meanwhile, her Blood Code comes with the Bayonet Mastery gift to significantly boost attack power for both rifle swings and ichor bullets, for those who want to cop Mia's style.
- Characters.Final Fantasy XIII Main Party:
- [Snow Villiers] His fistsnote . Being the Idiot Hero, a strong one too, always having his "weapon" ready usually leads to him charging in with no plan whatsoever, which usually backfires on him.
- [Oerba Dia Vanille] Her three-pronged whip/flail staff, which is found in a Pulse vestige, pings her as the quirky one of the group and also is a clue that she's from Pulse.
- [Hope Estheim] His boomerang, which is noted to be mostly used for sport and not as a weapon, further indicating his upperclass life before the Purge. Also being a long-range weapon suits his character as a vulnerable child that needs to be kept off the front lines.
- Characters.Moriarty The Patriot:
- [William James Moriarty] William seems to favor his Sword Cane, a deadly weapon that looks like simply a stylish accessory just as he himself slides into noble society, although he appears capable with a gun as well.
- [Sebastian Moran] Moran favors a Sniper Rifle from Von Herder, which occasionally is switched out when he breaks them (which is often). It allows him to work from a distance and from concealment, just as the rest of the Lord of Crime organization does.
- [Jack Renfield] William has his crew fetch a set of knives from a safe-deposit box that he kept for Jack, so Jack can take them up once again as "Jack the Ripper."
- [Sherlock Holmes] When Sherlock uses a weapon at all, he has a revolver: straight to the point with little in the way of subtlty, just like himself when he's on a case.
- Characters.Of The River And The Sea: [Watanabe Ryuishi] Her meteor hammer. It makes her stand out from her teammates, who both prefer swords, as well as highlighting the fact that she’s much twistier and less direct than they are.
- Characters.Operation Eclipse: [Harry Bedford] A Browning Automatic Rifle, which was his service weapon throughout WWII. In Chapter 9, it's noted to be a strange weapon for someone of his rank, due to its size and weight.
- Characters.Persona 5 Ryuji Sakamoto: Ryuji has a reputation as a delinquent, which he leans into once he awakens his persona. Thusly, he favors brute force weapons: bludgeons and shotguns.
- Characters.Red Riding Hood: [Peter] [An Ax To Grind] His Weapon Of Choice. It's justified, seeing as he’s a woodcutter.
- Cross Attack: In Project × Zone and its sequel, Erica Fontaine's Weapon Of Choice consists of a pair of machine guns called Gabriel and Rafael, which are shaped like crosses to reinforce her status as the Token Religious Teammate.
- Literature.The Fireman: In keeping with his "Fireman" persona, John Rookwood carries a Halligan bar as his signature weapon/tool. It comes back to bite him when it's used to frame him for Father Storey's murder.
- Manga.Black Clover: Each mage has a unique grimoire, with its color and design embodying the mage's magic. The grimoire chooses the mage, and a mage cannot use another person's grimoire.
- Roleplay.A Dynasty Of Dynamic Alcoholism: [Carry a Big Stick] Clubs in general serve as the Weapon Of Choice for the ogres of Ostland, a cultural carryover originating from their ancestors in the Mountains of Mourn.
- Series.Thunderbolt Fantasy: Expected from weapon designer Makoto Ishiwata, each weapon is direct reflection of its wielder. A behind the scenes video about each character's weapon can be seen here. [1]
- Shang Bu Huan carries an unremarkably plain sword with a crudely whittled wooden handle held together with twine.
- The Hu Yin Shi Dan Fei carries a straight bladed saber with a strangely round and intricate cross-guard resembling a key.
- UsefulNotes.Japanese Christian: Tokyo Mew Mew: Zakuro Fujiwara is a practicing Christian in the original anime, going to church regularly and using a cross as the handle for her Weapon Of Choice. (Unusually for a Japanese Christian, she appears to be a Protestant.) This was Bowdlerised in the dub; all crosses were changed to sticks without sides, leading to the fandom joke that Renee venerates toothpicks.
- Webcomic.Dead Winter: [Broomstick Quarterstaff] Lizzie's iconic Weapon Of Choice is a mop she's grown proficient with not only in her days as a waitress but also being forced to use it throughout the zombie apocalypse. While Frank does break the one she used throughout her time in his Diner, she picks up a replacement when going out of Chantelle's Birch Street Apartment.
- Webcomic.The Sanity Circus: [Morphic Resonance] An Instruman's human form resembles their instrument form. Luthier (the cello) has a long brown coat with a long black division down the centre and black embellishments on the sleeves resembling string instrument sound holes. Steven (the flute) has a long silver outfit with many bands and buttons for the buttons on the flute. Their Weapon Of Choice resembles their instrumental form too - Luthier has a bow cutlass, and Steven carries a shotgun.
- WesternAnimation.The Lego Ninjago Movie: Each of the ninja has their own signature weapon that reflects their character:
- Protagonist Lloyd has a broadsword.
- Hotheaded Kai dual wields katanas.
- Nervous yet skilled Jay wields a kusarigama.
- Robotic, methodical Zane gets a bow.
- The confident Nya uses a spear.
- Punk-rock Cole fights with a warhammer.
- Wise mentor Master Wu has a bo staff.
- WesternAnimation.Fantastic Mr Fox: [Good Guns, Bad Guns] Frank Bean's Weapon Of Choice is a Luger, to underline his status as the most competent, dangerous, and blatantly evil of the three farmers.
Character Prefers Certain Weapon 22/ 83 26%
- Anime.Coyote Ragtime Show: Most of the major characters have one specific weapon model they use.
- Anime.Osomatsu San: The brothers start brandishing these while plotting to kill Godmatsu. Osomatsu has garden shears, Todomatsu has a scythe, Karamatsu has a minigun, Ichimatsu has dynamite, and Jyushimatsu has a baseball bat with nails in it. This doesn't tell us anything about why they prefer these weapons or how they reflect each boy's personality/character.
- Archer.Tropes T To Z: Many of the ISIS team have a fitting one.
- The vain and style-obsessed Archer is never without his Walther PPK, and vigorously denies that it's underpowered.
- Blood Knight Lana favours twin Tec-9 SMGs.
- Malory, conservative as always, tends to carry a Dan Wesson 744V .44 Magnum.
- Ray, the nearest they have to a Consummate Professional, usually goes for twin silenced M1911 semi-automatic pistols. Occasionally, it is possible to see the weapons' names engraved on the side.
- Pam usually just lets her fists do the talking.
- Barry Dillon of ODIN is disturbingly fond of his MK. VII Desert Eagle. All other ODIN personnel carry MP40s.
- In his younger days, Woodhouse opted to carry a pair of sawed-off double barreled shotguns. Archer occasionally "borrows" them.
- None of these explain a link between weapon and personality/character. except maybe Ray but even that one is light on context.
- Berserk.Tropes U To Z: Even when offered a magical axe to carry, Guts sticks with the more or less non-magical Dragonslayer, since it's 'what his hand knows best.' (Schierke quickly realizes it's the best weapon for him anyway.)
- Characters.Ars Goetia: [Claude] Uses bows as his primary weapon as well as a carbine for additional firepower.
- Characters.Blade: [Blade] Two teakwood daggers were his preferred vampire-killing weapons in the beginning, as he was impressed by Orji Jones, who used them as his weapon of choice before him. Blade didn't limit himself to them though, also carrying things like crossbows. While working with the Nightstalkers, Frank Drake gets him some more dangerous weaponry and his arsenal continued to expand with S.H.I.E.L.D. and when he met the twins Mikado and Mosha.
- Characters.Code Vein Revenants: [Jack Rutherford] [Cool Sowrd] His Weapon Of Choice is his signature sword, Executioner, a custom version of the weapons used by the Hunters in Black that has the ability to fire a Sword Beam through its charged heavy attack. The player can use it for themselves by giving items to Jack and raising his relationship. #
- Characters.Dr Stone Empire Of Might: [Hyoga] His custom spear is considered the entire reason why Hyoga is a threat; while a terrifying fighter in his own right for what he can do with the spear, sabotaging it is what keeps him from killing Kohaku, and characters talk about how separating him from the weapon is probably the only way they can plausibly beat him. Senku and Tsukasa beat him by baiting him into a killing blow on Tsukasa, who holds it tightly enough while Hyoga would refuse to let go of his weapon as Senku sets up the knock out. Could be correct, but the example says nothing of his character, just how he's defeated.
- Characters.Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: [Angelica Ainsworth] She adamantly refuses to use any Class Card other than Gilgamesh. To her credit, Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon and her Displacement Magecraft are a busted combination... but this also means she fully intended to go to Illya's world without a Class Card. Unfortunately she was lucky enough to reclaim it right after crossing over.
- Characters.Fire Emblem Three Houses Claude: He's the first Fire Emblem main character to use bows as his main weapon type, if you don't count Takumi as a main character. (Alm and Lyn gain bows as a secondary weapon type after promotion.) His House also has a lot of archers.
- Characters.Resident Evil Leon S Kennedy: Leon has several weapons that could be considered his signature weapon, depending on the game/medium:
- The H&K VP70M, now nicknamed "Matilda" (a reference to the movie "Leon: The Professional", like his own name), is probably the weapon most associated with Leon. It was his starting weapon back in the original Resident Evil 2 and could be upgraded like the real-life pistol into a weapon capable of rapid fire capability in bursts of 3 rounds. It came back in Resident Evil 4 as a Special unlockable weapon the first time it was called The Matilda. We saw it next in the re-telling of Leon's exploits in Raccoon City in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, and also in his campaign alongside Jack Krauser during the events of Operation Javier, from the same game. Furthermore, his "Wing Shooters" in Resident Evil 6 are designed after the VP70M, this time wielding them in pairs. It came back again in the Remake of Resident Evil 2, again under the Matilda name.
- Another weapon closely associated with Leon is the Desert Eagle .50 A.E. It is a powerful Magnum weapon exclusive to Leon in the original Resident Evil 2, and Leon is depicted with it after finishing the game in his Results Screen. More interestingly, in "City of the Dead", the novelization by S.D Perry, Leon starts the book with the Desert Eagle and never uses the VP70M. It is mentioned that the Desert Eagle was a graduation gift from his father and uncle, both of them former cops. Leon was also seen with it in the prototype of Resident Evil 4 though it was ultimately scrapped. It comes back in Resident Evil 6 and in the Remake of Resident Evil 2 under the name "Lightning Hawk", which some people have pointed out might be a reference to T. Hawk, short for Thunder Hawk, a character from Street Fighter, another Capcom property. In both instances, it is again exclusively available to Leon's campaign.
- The "Silver Ghost" takes the place of the VP70M as Leon's starting weapon in Resident Evil 4. It is a fictional gun, though in development it was actually the Ruger KP 94, and it is stated by it's designer to bear elements of the Ruger P85, the S&W Sigma and the H&K USP. In the game's lore, it was custom made for Leon by Joseph Kendo, the same man who designed the famous Samurai Edge Beretta 92FS for S.T.A.R.S. Even if you upgrade to another pistol, the game always depicts Leon as using the Silver Ghost in every FMV sequence. In the CGI movie Resident Evil: Degeneration, it's again featured as Leon's main gun.
- Characters.Scarlet Nexus: [Luka Travers] [Drop the Hammer] His Weapon Of Choice. When Kasane questions him on the wisdom of using such a heavy, unwieldy, and large weapon VS something that would fit Luka's smaller, child-like frame, he explains that he can use his teleportation to start a swing from safety or just travel above an opponent's head and let gravity do the rest.
- Characters.Tooth And Tail:
- The Longcoat's army is primarily composed of Distillery Brothers, Freight Union, Engineers for Hire, and Uncle Butter. Later on, Bellafide adds Wing Demons and Bullet Hives to his army composition as well.
- The Commonfolk utilize Nomads of the North, members of the Trench Gang, Kasha, and the Matriarch primarily in the campaign. Later on, they also start making more free use of Tremor mines defensively and recruit the Freight Union to their cause as well.
- The KSR's core army is primarily of elite fighting and support units, featuring Volunteers, the AFB, Wing Demons, and Volkner who acts as their primary support. Later in the campaign they still making avid use of Distillery Brothers and Engineers For Hire as well. Notably, while they (like all other factions) use Feather Wire, they also are the only ones who have access to Drumfire Cannon Artillery, the strongest of all defensive turrets.
- The Civilized use Morning Light Croakers primarily as their infantry, with their most powerful enforcers being Tooth Collectors. Archimedes later frees Inmate #43B in the Campaign to add her skills to his army, and also evangelizes many Nomads of the North for fighting purposes as well. They are also the only faction to use Thermal Air Snipers as a primary defensive structure.
- Characters.X Wing Miniatures: Often seen with Proton Rockets, which benefit from its solid Agility 3 and require the close range that A-Wings excel at getting to.
- ComicBook.The Walking Dead: Rick's hatchet, Tyreese's hammer, Andrea's hunting rifle, Michonne's katana, Dwight's crossbow, and of course, Negan's barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat, Lucille.
- Film.Death Sentence: Nick's preferred weapon seems to be a double-barreled shotgun even though the people he's going up against have SMGs and other weapons with higher capacity. Somewhat justified in that Nick is not very familiar with firearms and the double-barrel has a very simple manual of arms with few ways it can go wrong.
- Film.End Of Days: Jericho loves his 9mm Glock handguns, possibly due to a bit of Product Placement with Glock. He heavily shills them, and two of his sidearms (The Glock 34 and the Generation 3 Glock 17) were released around the time of the film's production. If that wasn't enough, he also carried a pair of Glock 26 subcompact handguns in his sleeves.
Jericho: Between your faith and my Glock 9mm, I'll take my Glock every time.
- Film.Raw Courage: Simple Staff: Mo Wen Tien the beggar lord’s Weapon Of Choice. Which he used to impale Old Monster to death in the finale.
- GunsOfFiction.Others: Essentially the primary Weapon Of Choice in the Wasteland in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Because of the lack of guns (Max and the Lord Humungous are the only two characters actually wielding firearms, albeit with little to no ammo), the crossbow is mechanically simpler, has ammunition apparently readily available or at least easily improvised, which also has the advantage of being reusable. Wez has a wrist mounted crossbow, which he uses to shoot a running rabbit as a demonstration of the raiders' power.
- Literature.Kane Series: In ancient times, Kane favoured using a crossbow of his own design and a sword that was made from melting down the hulls of alien ships eons ago. In modern times, he favours a fusion-powered Ray Gun of his own make.
- Roleplay.When Walls Crumble: Each character has their own preference, from Gwen's sword to Genma's staff.
- Series.Helix: The Scythe is an assassin named after his Weapon Of Choice, to the point that he hates being called by his real name.
ZCE — Character Wields a Weapon 26/ 83 31%
- Anime.Mazinkaiser: Mazinkaiser's arsenal consists of... this is followed by a 10 item list that goes into triple bullets - Walking Armory
- Anime.Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: Each character wields a different weapon for stage combat. this is followed by a ZCE list of each girl and her weapon potholed to a trope
- Characters.A Chance For A New Dawn: [Bernadetta von Varley] As of Chapter 6, a crossbow with a retractile blade given by Monica.
- Characters.AKB 0048: [Yuki "Yukirin" Kashiwagi the 6th] A ribbon with an electric shocker.
- Characters.After The Revolution: [Topaz] A Dragonov SVD, which Topaz has used since at least the Revolution.
- Characters.A Man Of Iron The Ironborn: [Euron Greyjoy] [Drop The Hammer] He wields a massive, ancient war hammer as his Weapon Of Choice.
- Characters.Banshee: [Nola Longshadow] [An Axe To Grind] Her Weapon Of Choice is a tomahawk, fittingly.
- Characters.Beware The Villainess: [Jake Foddebrat] His gun.
- Characters.Biomutant: 6 instances of "Weapon of Choice: [Weapon]".
- [Myriad] Weapon Of Choice: Boomerangs.
- [Ankati] Weapon Of Choice: Bows.
- [Netra] Weapon Of Choice: Kaginawa, effectively a hook on a rope.
- [Lotus] Weapon Of Choice: Throwing stars/shuriken.
- [Jagni] Weapon Of Choice: Staves.
- [Pichu] Weapon Of Choice: Nunchuks.
- Characters.Bravest Warriors: Made from aforementioned animals.
- Chris: Honeycomb Sword and Bee With Outstanding Leadership Skills
- Danny: Dog Sword
- Beth: Cat Lashes
- Wallow: Falcon Axe and Falcon Bazooka
- All (Comics Only): Bazookas
- Characters.Burn Notice: [Michael Weston] Sig-Sauer P228 and later a Heckler And Koch P30. As far as blades go, he tends to favor his Emerson Karambit.
- Characters.Can Cry: [Birdie] We're told she wields a distinctive blue sword, though when we finally meet her, she's Dual Wielding two swords: purple and black, the black one giving off a repulsive aura.
- Characters.Code Vein Revenants: #
- [The Protagonist] Promotional screenshots shows the male Protagonist wielding a One-Handed Sword and equipped with the Type Ogre Blood Veil while the female Protagonist wields a Polearm and the Type Stinger Blood Veil.
- [Io] Uses halberds as her main offensive tool, backed up with a Type Ivy Blood Veil.
- [Miguel Garcia] His Blood Code, Dark Knight, is dedicated towards making the user a halberd specialist. In addition to the Halberd Mastery gift, the class comes with Chariot Rush, a weapon skill exclusive to polearms.
- Characters.Final Fantasy Type 0:
- [In General] Each one of them has a unique weapon and fighting style to go with it.
- [Cranberry Knights] Most of the Cranberry Knights have a weapon to match their class, although most of them are only seen in official artwork.
- Characters.Finnish Mythology: [Mielikki] Bow and arrows. It says she's the Goddess of Forests and Hunting, so it might be correct usage if expanded.
- Characters.Fire Emblem Gaiden: [Berkut] After his pact with Duma, he gets the Kriemhild, a powerful lance with 1-3 range that lowers the damage he takes from bows and magic. In Heroes, he can also wield Berkut's Lance, which increases his resistance to magical attacks.
- Characters.Resident Evil Leon S Kennedy: Leon has several weapons that could be considered his signature weapon, depending on the game/medium: #
- Finally, Leon is also closely associated with the Knife. Previously associated more with Chris and Claire Redfield as a design element, the Knife made a huge comeback in Resident Evil 4, when it was upgraded from a next-to-useless weapon quickly stashed away by players, to always present, multi-purpose workhorse. The game places heavy emphasis on Leon's use of the Knife: He has special animations where he uses it to attack bosses like el Gigante or Saddler, and has a knife duel with Jack Krauser in a memorable moment of the game. He even puts Ada in checkmate by pulling his knife on her before she could aim her gun at Leon, even advising her to "Use knives next time, works better for close encounters" (an advice she takes to heart later, when she's attacked by a momentarily Plagas-possessed Leon).
- Characters.Tomb Raider 2013:
- Lara's iconic dual pistols are replaced by the various bows she gains throughout the game, though she does use said pistols once to kill Mathias before going back to the bows in the next game.
- She's also become quite partial to climbing axes, both for their practical usages and for the effect they have on the human skull.
- DarthWiki.ROTS: A whip. This should say something about his character. Mmmm, does it though? Maybe you should tell us.
- Fanfic.The Dark Side Of The Mirror Verse: [Dual Wielding] Thorax uses two large swords as his Weapon Of Choice that can be combined into a scissor weapon.
- Fanfic.Wonderful Mazinja: Wonder Star's weapon is a tinker tech mop. She can crush tanks with it.
- Fanfic.World Of The Dead: Although the exact weapon changes, the group tend to keep to a theme. Takashi uses blunt melee, Kohta uses long range rifles (later a crossbow), etc.
- Literature.A Harvest Of War: [BFS] Downplayed. Wild Rhona's Weapon Of Choice is a realistically-sized zweihander, complete with a ricasso and an extra set of parrying hooks for half-swording. Her height and strength allows her to fence with it one-handed.
- Literature.Imaro: The Ilyassai Weapon Of Choice is the arem, a long spear with a iron blade beginning halfway down its length, used both for throwing and melee combat.
- Roleplay.Guild Of Glory: Most characters who use weapons have this.
- Roleplay.The Midnight Train To Nowhere: [Gary] her pipe. Hakuren suffered heavily from this.
ZCE — Other 17/ 83 20%
- Anime.Powerpuff Girls Z: the trope name with the following list:
- Blossom: Killer Yoyo
- Bubbles: Bubble Staff
- Buttercup: Drop The Hammer
- Anime.Saint October: the trope name with the following list:
- Swords: Kotono
- Fighting With Chucks: Natsuki
- Archer: Misaki.
- Awesome.Ben To: Episode 10's Battle involving Orthus and their Shopping Basket Assault
- AwesomeMusic.Electronic: [Fatboy Slim] "The Weapon Of Choice... you can blow with this, you can blow with that..." this is just straight up misuse because the song title matches the trope name
- Blog.Ask Merriweather: Hamsterball, as the mod calls it. Exactly What It Says on the Tin. also potholed to "Spell of Choice"
- Characters.Ace Attorney Franziska Von Karma: Her whip. currently ZCE but if expanded would actually be a correct example.
- Characters.Agarest Senki: 10 instances of "[Weapon Trope]: Their Weapon of Choice"
- Characters.COPS 1988: [Rock Krusher] A jackhammer.
- Characters.D Frag:
- [Chitose Karasuyama] A handful of dirt.
- [Sakura Mizukami] A water bottle.
- Literature.Senji Works: [Killer Yoyo] Ian's Weapon Of Choice since his Free isn't an offensive-type.
- Manga.Is The Order A Rabbit: [Shout Out] Phantom Thief Lapin uses playing cards as her Weapon Of Choice.
- Manga.The Secret Recipe: For Yuuko, it's the ladle, for the slapsticks mention above.
- Music.Brian May: The Red Special for Brian. So much so that when he played on Paul Rodgers' set at the "Strat Pack" concert, which was a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster, Brian brought the Red Special along, theme of the concert be damned. This is a guitar. It is never used as a weapon. Misuse.
- Series.Raven: During the challenge Balance Beam, the contestants got to choose from a range of different (fake, obviously) weapons - what this says about each warrior's personality is anyone's guess. They probably just went for whichever looked biggest. Admitted Misuse
- Series.Two Broke Girls: [Batter Up]
- Earl's Weapon Of Choice.
- Oleg's, too, in "And the Hold-Up."
- Trick Bomb: [Stunt Dawgs] The Weapon Of Choice.
- Wakfu.Tropes P To R: [Rolling Pin Of Doom] Chouquette's Weapon Of Choice.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Nov 18th 2022 at 7:13:09 AM
(she/her)
GastonRabbit
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#3: May 6th 2022 at 12:24:26 AM
I think it should be renamed because "weapon of choice" actually does mean "preferred weapon" in everyday use, which isn't what the trope Weapon Of Choice refers to, which is no doubt why it's misused so frequently.
I'm not sure if preferred weapons would count as a trope, but I do think we should keep the trope for weapons indicating personalities with a new name.
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
the Retromancer
#4: May 6th 2022 at 12:27:34 AM
Split off "personality-showing weapons", but it needs more name options.
The current should be tightened to show there is some degree of "Choice" in examples and possibly renamed.
Options can be switched around depending on how much of the description we'd have to rewrite.
Edited by Amonimus on May 6th 2022 at 10:45:12 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
(she/her)
#5: May 6th 2022 at 12:31:02 AM
I don't know if "preferred weapon" useful enough to keep. We would still get "Bob uses X weapon" examples and not sure what other context could be added beyond that. So, I would just rename the trope to some that indicates personality in the title.
Edited by MacronNotes on May 6th 2022 at 3:33:15 PM
Macron's notes
#6: May 6th 2022 at 12:39:36 AM
I think there would be something there for examples along the lines of "Character keeps sticking with X weapon, even when offered other choices" but I can see how that would still attract misuse, especially since Weapon Of Choice tends to work well in sentences and consequently gets potholed everywhere.
Doubly so when it's used as "context" for other weapon tropes a la "Trope Name: X's Weapon of Choice" and that's it.
CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
#7: May 6th 2022 at 1:16:38 AM
Weapon-Based Characterisation as a name for the "correct" usage?
TRS Wick Cleaning
GastonRabbit
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#8: May 6th 2022 at 3:12:13 AM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
That name could work because it would be in line with Drink-Based Characterization (a trope about a person's choice of drink saying something about them as a person), which was renamed from Drink Order because it was frequently confused with Trademark Favorite Food (which has Trademark Favorite Drink as a redirect).
Edited by GastonRabbit on May 6th 2022 at 5:12:50 AM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
prettycoolguy
Since: Nov, 2010
#9: May 6th 2022 at 4:32:02 AM
Spin off original definition to Weapon-Based Characterization and try to salvage the original name as “character insists on keeping this weapon for everything, even when other options are present” is my vote, if only because that is very much still a trope and the name is indicative of it.
RustBeard
Since: Sep, 2016
#10: May 6th 2022 at 5:28:14 AM
I don't know if "Character has a weapon they insist on using" is a tropeable idea given how misused this trope already is. I suppose we could try to see if it works.
Synchronicity
(4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#11: May 6th 2022 at 6:30:18 AM
Looking at group examples where everyone uses a different weapon with no context for personality, there might be potential for Weapon Speciation as a counterpart to Superhero Speciation? That might make more sense in an ensemble example without trying to read “choice” into it.
Edited by Synchronicity on May 6th 2022 at 8:30:42 AM
(she/her)
#12: May 6th 2022 at 6:33:48 AM
I think that's more workable than an individual weapon of choice trope. Weapons are often used as a way to make characters distinct from each other.
Macron's notes
GastonRabbit
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#13: May 6th 2022 at 6:40:05 AM
If we have enough examples that fit that mold, we can split them off into a new trope (ideally with Weapon Of Choice's current definition receiving a new, more indicative name), otherwise it might be worth Yarding if we don't have enough examples.
GastonRabbit
MOD
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
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Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#14: May 9th 2022 at 12:08:34 PM
I hooked a crowner based on what's been suggested.
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NaNo 4328 / 50,000
#15: May 9th 2022 at 4:06:49 PM
which isn't what the trope Weapon of Choice refers to, which is no doubt why it's misused so frequently.
I don't think that is sufficient to explain the misuse because there's more misuse in the form of "X weapon appears" than "character prefers X weapon". I don't think we can make use of the name and would recommend Weapon Of Choice becoming a redirect to Weapon Tropes instead.
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
GastonRabbit
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#16: May 9th 2022 at 4:42:17 PM
Hm, it looks like I misread the wick check tallies for those two types of usage. Well, I suppose we could run another crowner to see whether the "preferred weapon" trope has a new name instead of being called Weapon Of Choice, or add a new option to this crowner for your idea. I think I'll do the latter for now.
Edit: And it's added. I changed "redirect" to "redirect or disambiguate" to leave turning it into a disambiguation page between the two new names and Weapon Tropes if that option has consensus.
Edited by GastonRabbit on May 9th 2022 at 6:44:01 AM
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Twiddler
(On A Trope Odyssey)
#17: May 9th 2022 at 4:48:50 PM
Would "character insisting on a certain kind of weapon over others" include characters who are associated with a particular weapon or weapon type (along the lines of Signature Headgear or Iconic Item) but don't express that preference vocally?
megagutsman
Maverick Hunter.
from Dragon Turtle MK.1.
(Seven Years' War)
Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
Maverick Hunter.
#18: May 9th 2022 at 7:11:32 PM
After reading this entire thread I noticed 3 potential tropes (am gonna be using the tentative names that others have already suggested in this thread for my examples):
- Weapon Based Characterisation: For when the personality of character can be described based on which weapons he/she uses.
- Weapon Specialization: For when a character has a certain amount of skill using an specific kind of weapon.
- Weapon Of Choice: For when a character has a backstory involving why they use an specific weapon (examples: Link and the Master Sword; Thor and Mjolnir, Sora and the keyblades).
WarJay77
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
(Troper Knight)
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
#19: May 9th 2022 at 7:13:03 PM
The third one sounds like a trope, but we definitely can't use this name for it.
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NaNo 4328 / 50,000
#21: May 9th 2022 at 7:29:21 PM
And the "each member of the team uses a different weapon" idea. That's a good visual trope, too.
GastonRabbit
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#22: May 9th 2022 at 11:05:37 PM
Hm, it seems like this is more complex than I initially thought. Should we scrap the current crowner and redo the split vote?
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
GastonRabbit
MOD
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#23: May 9th 2022 at 11:09:02 PM
I redid the crowner due to objections to the current one. I'll set the old ATT bulletin to private and post a new one.
If I missed anything, feel free to add it since I think this crowner lacks the main problem the previous one had (the one crazysamaritan pointed out regarding the name and misuse).
Edited by GastonRabbit on May 9th 2022 at 1:11:44 PM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
#24: May 10th 2022 at 2:23:04 AM
I'm a bit concerned that "team wields diverse weapons" is going to be another list attractor. What is the value in the trope other than "Bob wields a bow, but Alice wields an ax, etc."
CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
amathieu13
Since: Aug, 2013
#25: May 10th 2022 at 2:29:37 AM
tbh, I can see what all of the new tropes are trying to do, but I just don't see those other tropes not falling into misuse like Weapon Of Choice. WOC's issue wasn't a lack of clarification in the description which it has PLENTY of, it was people not reading it and/or deciding to shoehorn examples in where and when they can.
I am not confident that creating more tropes is going to help the situation.
I think the rename is a good start, but also perhaps splitting the trope up into some more concrete associations, like Devious Daggers and Psycho Knife Nut. If we had more tropes like those, I wouldn't even mind making WOC a supertrope or a distinct index.
ETA: Thinking about the individual suggestions, I think weapon characterization is the clearest. "Team Weapon Differentiation" is also probably ok but examples are likely to just be a list of the team members with the weapon they use, kind of like how Five-Man Band examples used to be.
"Weapon Specialization" though raises some questions. What is meant by "certain amount of skill" and how do we consistently determine it? Time, perceived skill (in-universe? out-universe?) If a character practices kendo in high school as a hobby, but it's just a club activity, would that count?
And "meaningful weapon history" to me is on the fence. It kind of feels like this is almost always the case. Like a Combat Pragmatist who uses whatever weapon is available seems to be an important trope because it subverts the norm that MWH captures
In any case, I feel like the crowner should be restarted since there's plenty to discuss regarding the options
Edited by amathieu13 on May 10th 2022 at 6:24:35 AM
Total posts: 115
To-do list:
A wick check
The wick check shows a tendency towards chair usage as anytime a character wields a weapon, with the next highest usage being for when a character prefers a specific weapon. Part of this misuse I believe is due to the more expansive definition that is used off-site. I think one course of action here is to split the correct usage into a new trope, something along the lines of Weapon Proves Personality, while the preferred weapon usage remains and becomes the new definition of Weapon Of Choice. This, however, does not solve the issue of the trope being a ZCE and list magnet.
Wick check:
Weapon Of Choice is a trope describing how a character's preferred weapon describes part of their personality or further proves their character type. It even includes an extensive list describing how multiple different weapons reflect on the types of characters that wield them.This Wick Check is to see if the trope is suffering from misuse as simply "character uses X weapon". Potholes in examples have been bolded. Multiple examples from the same media count as one wick for the total, even if they appear in different categoriesnote .
Courtesy Link: Related.WeaponOfChoice
Wicks Checked: 83/83
Edited by GastonRabbit on Nov 18th 2022 at 7:13:09 AM
CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors