Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Not Tropeworthy: An Axe To Grind

Go To

To-do list:

Original post:

An Axe To Grind is, per its own laconic, about "the use of an axe as a weapon". Right out of the gate, that's very straightforward case of chairs. The description is kind of all over the place, and essentially tries to describe both the historical use of axes as weapons and all possible roles that they may be given in fiction. This helps with sorting examples, since a number of basic roles are described:

More broadly, these mostly fall into four groups:

  • Axes are used by barbaric, warlike or savage groups or people.
  • Axes are used by strong, tough people.
  • Axes are both a weapon and a tool and used by people who also use them for something else, or who need to improvise.
  • Axes are used by certain cultural groups.

Now, for the examples.

    On-Page 

Anime/Manga

Card games

Comics

Fanfic

Animated Film

Live-Action Film

Literature

Live-Action TV

Music

Mythology & Religion

  • Thor with an axe.
  • Just axes.
  • Just axes.

Pinball

Podcasts]

Professional Wrestling

  • Executioner's axe.
  • Just axes.
  • Just axes.

Tabletop Games

Theme Parks

Toys

Video Games

Visual Novels

Webcomics

Web Original

Western Animation

  • Dwarves with axes: 16/562 (2.8%)
  • Orcs with axes: 6/562 (1.1%)
  • Minotaurs with axes: 2/562 (.4%)
Collected Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity examples: 24/262 (9.2%)
  • Vikings with axes: 23/562 (4.1%)
  • Berserkers with axes: 4/562 (.7%)
  • Generic barbarians with axes: 15/562 (2.7%)
Collected barbarian examples, also counting orcs: 48/562 (8.5%)
  • Big Guys/Mighty Glaciers with axes: 7/562 (1.2%)
  • Executioners with axes: 6/562 (1%)
  • Improvised-weapon axes: 24/562 (9.2%)
  • Lumberjacks with axes: 2/562 (.4%)
  • Axe murderers: 39/562 (6.9%)
  • ZCEs: 31/562 (5.5%)
  • Just axes: 378/562 (67.3%)

Edit: Added an inbound check.

    Off-Page 

  • Axes exist: 40/75 (53.3%)
  • ZCEs: 28/75 (37.3%)
  • Axe murderers: 3/75 (4%)
  • Barbarians use axes: 2/75 (2.7%)
  • Giants with axes: 2/75 (2.7%)
  • Executioner's axes: 1/75 (1.3%)

The results are if anything more extreme; chairs and ZCEs strongly dominate this list.

This page as it currently is doesn't have an identity other than "axes exist", which isn't a trope. I don't think that it's worth keeping outside of a disambig. However, there are a few more or less clear patterns within it, whose examples can either be reassigned to other tropes we already have or extracted as new ones. Specifically:

  • Examples where someone grabs a random wood axe as an improvised weapon can be moved to, well, Improvised Weapon.
  • The dwarf with axes/orc with axes examples can be moved to Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity.
  • The examples where barbaric factions, races or characters use axes can easily be collated into their own trope (Axes Of Barbarism? Barbaric Axes?)
  • Axe Murderer can probably also be made into a trope of its own.
  • It might be possible to create a trope about how Mighty Glaciers and physically imposing characters tend to use weapons like axes, hammers and maces? That would require digging through some other weapon tropes, though.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 2nd 2022 at 4:41:58 AM

Nen_desharu Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire from Greater Smash Bros. Universe or Toronto Since: Aug, 2020 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire
#51: Sep 16th 2022 at 7:13:59 PM

Don't forget Our Slashers Are Different as some slashers are only defined by the weapons they use.

Kirby is awesome.
WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
#52: Sep 16th 2022 at 7:14:53 PM

[up][up] Trope names are often misleading. You should never trust the name alone to tell you what the trope is about. The only definition that matters is the one on the page.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#53: Sep 16th 2022 at 7:15:13 PM

[up][up] The trope was named as a play on words referencing that phrase, yes. But since the page is marked for obsoletion anyway, the current name will no longer matter.

Edit: Ninja'd, haha.

Edited by Yindee on Sep 16th 2022 at 10:15:39 AM

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
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)
#54: Sep 16th 2022 at 7:59:43 PM

An Axe To Grind isn't the only trope that takes a figure of speech and uses it more literally (in this case, actually being about axes). Shock and Awe is named after a preexisting phrase, but the trope is using "shock" in the literal sense of what electricity does.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
MyFinalEdits Officially intimidated from Parts Unknown (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Officially intimidated
#55: Sep 16th 2022 at 9:00:03 PM

Posting this comment to make public that I voted in favor of "Split off examples of axe murderers into a new trope". I didn't upvote or downvote any of the other options.

135 - 169 - 273 - 191 - 188 - 230 - 300
PCD Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: Mu
#56: Sep 17th 2022 at 3:10:51 AM

I have voted yes on the last two options concerning serial murderers with axes.

I favor the top two options re splitting and moving examples to tropes they fit, but my votes didn't register.

Should the historical stuff about real-life axes become a Useful Note, or just uh..."axed"?

Veriamo (Striking Back) Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#57: Sep 17th 2022 at 6:37:07 AM

Stock Slasher Weapons is a great idea, and Axe Murderer definitely should be its subtrope. But since it will be a subtrope, there's no real reason to include other slasher weapons in it (or am I misinterpreting the crowner option?). As for the name... Only something like Hatchet Horror comes to mind.

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#58: Sep 17th 2022 at 7:27:43 AM

[up]I think if we do end up creating the Stock Slasher Weapon trope, the Axe Murderer would be an internal subtrope rather than a hard-split one. As there's no real meaningful difference between a slasher killer who uses an axe, as opposed to other weapons such as machete, chainsaws, etc.

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)
#59: Sep 17th 2022 at 7:29:38 AM

I think I'll reverse my decision to let the crowner run for two extra days and go back to the three-day minimum, because between further discussion after the crowner was hooked and the wick check picking up more axe murderer examples than I thought, I'll end up running a separate crowner for whether to make an axe-specific subtrope of Stock Slasher Weapons (or whatever we call it) if allowing weapons other than axes still has consensus, while leaving the supertrope exampleless since most examples would fall under either one of the existing would-be subtropes or the axe murderer trope.

This would be the only crowner option since we'd delay deciding on names until the subtrope/supertrope thing is settled:

  • Consensus was to make a supertrope for stock slasher weapons in general instead of just axes. Should an axe-specific subtrope be split off as well, with the supertrope being exampleless due to the existence of other subtropes (such as Psycho Knife Nut)? The names for both would be decided with separate crowners. If this option does not have consensus, the supertrope will not be exampleless and the previously established consensus will still stand.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 17th 2022 at 9:31:31 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel
#60: Sep 18th 2022 at 6:05:36 PM

If we do end up making Stock Slasher Weapons (which seems to be getting near-unanimous support), then could we also vote on whether to make the barbaric weapons trope broader than just axes?

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)
#61: Sep 18th 2022 at 6:21:05 PM

Calling in favor of the following:

  • Split off examples of axe murderers into a new trope. The name would be decided with a separate crowner.
  • Split off examples where barbaric factions, races or characters use axes into a new trope. The name would be decided with a separate crowner.
  • Disambiguate An Axe To Grind
  • If examples of axe murderers are split off, include stock slasher/murderer weapons other than axes within the trope's scope. Not mutually exclusive with any other option

I'll hook a crowner for the barbaric weapon trope and the axe murderer trope.

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)
#62: Sep 18th 2022 at 6:25:47 PM

OK, it's hooked. As I previously said, we'll have multiple rename crowners in the new future due to the splits having consensus.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Noaqiyeum Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they) from the gentle and welcoming dark (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
#63: Sep 18th 2022 at 8:18:38 PM

Are there any Stock Slasher Weapons besides axes that don't already have a subtrope? That affects my vote.

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable
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)
#64: Sep 18th 2022 at 8:25:38 PM

[up]Psycho Knife Nut, Chainsaw Good, and Machete Mayhem were mentioned on the previous page, though I think only the first would be a true subtrope (or at least the most likely to be associated with the supertrope if it can involve knife-obsessed characters who are crazy without killing people, since a trope that allows non-murderous examples can't be a subtrope of a trope that's exclusively about murderers), while the other two involve weapons that could be combined with the supertrope.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 18th 2022 at 12:38:02 PM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#65: Sep 18th 2022 at 10:57:12 PM

Voted down the axe-specific subtrope. I am not particularly convinced that using an axe specifically has particular implications in the context of slashers, the common use of the term "axe murderer" in the context of Real Life crimes notwithstanding.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Noaqiyeum Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they) from the gentle and welcoming dark (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
#66: Sep 18th 2022 at 11:17:25 PM

It's the messiness of the chopping motion, I think. They're like chainsaws, but slower, in that whatever you use them on inevitably gets all over the room. That also applies to machetes, and I guess contributes to the most iconically violent-murderer knife being a butcher knife, too.

EDIT: It's also a tool that's about as effective at breaking through anything you might use to defend yourself as it is as an actual weapon.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Sep 18th 2022 at 7:20:14 PM

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable
kundoo from the land of Mordor where the shadows lie Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
#67: Sep 19th 2022 at 1:40:59 AM

I just suspect an Axe Murderer trope would be a ZCE magnet. There isn't much context one can provide for their example other than "X is a murderer who uses axes".

You didn't see anything.
Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#68: Sep 19th 2022 at 2:03:09 AM

then could we also vote on whether to make the barbaric weapons trope broader than just axes?

In which case it would also include what?

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#69: Sep 19th 2022 at 3:07:37 AM

[up]Clubs and maces and other crushing weapons, I suppose.

Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#70: Sep 19th 2022 at 6:13:39 AM

Hmm, that sounds like going back to the "Big Brutish Weapons" concept that Zuxtron proposed earlier. Which I'm not necessarily against, but it does raise three questions:

  1. We had seemed to decide that that was outside of the thread's scope, so I wonder what has changed;
  2. How would we gather non-axe examples? Do we decide to root through Drop The Hammer and Carry a Big Stick after all or do we take this to TLP?
  3. If we do go in that direction, why limit this to barbarians specifically?

Edited by Theriocephalus on Sep 19th 2022 at 9:20:59 AM

amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#71: Sep 20th 2022 at 11:30:11 AM

to be clear this[up][up][up][up] was the concern I was raising with my questions on the previous page.

I think warjay's suggestion of making it akin to Psycho Knife Nut makes the most sense. i.e. the axe/chainsaw/butcher's knife is there to emphasize the craziness of the murderer to pick something so brutal and messy. so it wouldn't just be any murderer that kills using those items but a murderer who is cuckoo for cocoa puffs too.

Edited by amathieu13 on Sep 20th 2022 at 2:31:21 PM

Noaqiyeum Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they) from the gentle and welcoming dark (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
#72: Sep 20th 2022 at 11:40:21 AM

Which is reasonable. Stapling a relevant adjective like "depraved" to the front of the idiom isn't hard.

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable
Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#73: Sep 20th 2022 at 2:49:54 PM

Which brings me back to my question: we seem to generally want to extend these new tropes to multiple weapon types and that's all well and good, but where do we plan to get non-axe examples? As I see it right the only viable options are to do comprehensive wick checks for other weapon "tropes" or to go to TLP; which do we want to go for? Or are there options I'm missing?

And to expand on another question I had earlier. Say that the crowner settles on expanding the barbarian thing beyond axes, which it seems like it might. That begs the question: if we decide to make the weapon focus broad, should we also broaden the character focus? Should we focus it on just barbarians? Do we want this thing to be about broad thematic associations or a specific character archetype? Either can work, but if don't see value in trying to split the difference.

Edited by Theriocephalus on Sep 20th 2022 at 4:51:45 AM

MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#74: Sep 20th 2022 at 3:26:31 PM

I am not sure why we would need to broaden the character focus too? These tropes are more about the character archetype. If we broaden them too much will just lead to the same issues that An Axe To Grind had. If we are to broaden it to other character types, then there needs to be a set of traits or a theme that ties them together. I don't think the weapon type matters that much. Its what characters or personality traits the weapons are associated with and what patterns we can draw from that.

As for non-axe examples, we can TLP farm for them if some is willing to do that.

Edited by MacronNotes on Sep 20th 2022 at 6:29:21 AM

Macron's notes
WarJay77 Big Catch, Sparkle Edition (Troper Knight)
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
#75: Sep 20th 2022 at 3:29:04 PM

Here's the thing, unless we're making the new trope in a sandbox or something then all of it will be subjected to the normal whims and ways of the TLP and things could be expanded / farmed there as necessary. Really all this crowner is doing is giving someone a free go-ahead to make a draft, nothing is set in stone and the trope may not even launch but that's the way it goes.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Trope Repair Shop: An Axe to Grind
18th Sep '22 6:22:51 PM

Crown Description:

Consensus was to make a supertrope for stock slasher weapons in general instead of just axes, as well as a trope for the use of axes by barbaric/barbarian characters. Should an axe-specific subtrope of the slasher weapon trope be split off as well, with the supertrope being exampleless due to the existence of other subtropes (such as Psycho Knife Nut), and should the trope for barbaric/barbarian axes allow weapons other than axes? The names would be decided with separate crowners. If the option for the axe murder trope does not have consensus, the supertrope will not be exampleless and the previously established consensus for that trope will still stand.

Total posts: 138
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top