50 Epic Fictional Weapons

Here at FUN.com, we're big fans of fictional swords, guns, and other weapons in pop culture. Five years ago, we ran an article on 50 Epic Fictional Swords, and it remains one of our most-read articles. We wanted to revisit the topic, but focus on other types of weapons—and don't worry, there will inevitably be some swords on the list. We also wanted to include some more general categories of weapons and not always a specific example. Anyway, that's our thought process behind this look at 50 of our favorite fictional weapons from movies, television, comic books, video games, and other media!

50 Fictional Weapons

Click a weapon to jump to that section.

1. Heavy Blaster Pistol (Star Wars)
2. Phasers (Star Trek)
3. Spiny Shell (Mario Kart)
4. The Elder Wand (Harry Potter)
5. Proton Pack (Ghostbusters)
6. Wolverine's Claws (Marvel)
7. The Noisy Cricket (Men in Black)
8. The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
9. Identity Disc (Tron)
10. The Golden Gun (James Bond)
11. Captain America's Shield (Marvel)
12. LAPD 2019 Blaster (Blade Runner)
13. Airbender Staff (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
14. Dawnbreaker (Skyrim)
15. The Chainsaw Bayonet (Gears of War)
16. Mjolnir (Marvel)
17. Katniss' Bow (The Hunger Games)
18. Plasmacaster (Predator)
19. Tenchi-ken (Tenchi Muyo!)
20. The Death Star (Star Wars)
21. Omni-Tools (Mass Effect)
22. Chakram (Xena)
23. Punisher (Trigun)
24. Gandalf's Staff (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
25. BFG (Doom)
26. The Darksaber (Star Wars)
27. Scalpel (Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar)
28. M41A Pulse Rifle (Aliens)
29. Batarang (DC Comics)
30. The Hidden Blade (Assassin's Creed)
31. Shardblades (Stormlight Archive)
32. Zorg ZF-1 (The Fifth Element)
33. Needler (Halo)
34. Knife Glove (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
35. Repulsors (Marvel)
36. Chainsaw Hand (Evil Dead II)
37. Bat'leth (Star Trek)
38. The Soul Reaver (Legacy of Kain)
39. Godslayer (Steven Brust's Dragaera)
40. Bullwhip (Indiana Jones)
41. Gunblade (Final Fantasy VIII)
42. The Sword of Shannara (The Sword of Shannara)
43. Rainbow Smash (Fortnite)
44. Infinity Gauntlet (Marvel)
45. Scissor Blades (Kill la Kill)
46. Wabbajack (Skyrim)
47. The Glaive (Krull)
48. Cricket Bat (Shaun of the Dead)
49. Dawn (Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire)
50. The Moon Stick (Sailor Moon)

Heavy Blaster Pistol

Heavy Blaster Pistol in The Empire Strikes Back [Source: Lucasfilm Ltd.]

Han Solo's heavy blaster pistol is one of the most recognizable guns in movie history. In the Star Wars universe, it's a modified BlasTech Industries DL-44, a blaster than can be switched between pistol and rifle configurations, as seen in Rogue One. In real life, the weapon was made using parts from real guns, a Mauser C96 pistol and MG 81 machine gun, and could actually shoot blanks!

Phasers

Let's move from blasters to phasers, the iconic weapons of Star Trek. There are all sorts of phasers, from those powerful enough to be mounted on starships (often called phaser arrays, banks, batteries, canons, and emitters) to handheld varieties. The handheld phasers were typically grouped into 3 categories: type 1 phasers (which looked like remote controls), type 2 (sci-fi guns), and type 3 (rifles). All of them had a spectrum of power settings, including "stun" and "kill".

Spiny Shell

In the Mario Kart racing game series, there is no weapon more feared than the Spiny Shell, also known as the Blue Shell. In some games, this weapon can be stopped, countered, or dodged. In others, it will inevitably hit the player in first place, reducing or eliminating their lead. Perhaps it's unsurprising that there are countless memes for the Blue Shell and its associated warning sound.

The Elder Wand

The Elder Wand in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 [Source: Warner Bros. Pictures/Heyday Films]

The most iconic weapon in the Harry Potter series isn't Harry's wand, or that of his nemesis, Voldemort—It is the Elder Wand, also known as the Wand of Destiny. Yes, technically, Voldemort uses the wand, but it's not his wand. Harry does as well, and it is his wand—according to wand ownership rules—but he doesn't feel like it should be. Anyways, according to legend, the Elder Wand was created by death, and if possessed along with the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone, it made one a Master of Death.

Proton Pack

The Proton Packs in the Ghostbusters films are portable cyclotron particle accelerators that generate proton beams by colliding positrons. It's like CERN's Large Hadron Collider or the cyclotron in Oppenheimer, but much smaller—though still incredibly dangerous. Now, cyclotrons aren't normally considered "weapons", except that Proton Packs can fire their proton streams through the attached Neutrona Wand. In Ghostbusters, the stream weakens ghosts but also incinerates or destroys physical matter.

Wolverine's Claws

Let's face it, Wolverine is kind of the edgelord of the X-Men. But he's been a fan favorite for, well, basically forever—and his adamantine claws are simply iconic. His initial keratin claws are also pretty cool, as are the (recent) claws that heat up while he rages.

The Noisy Cricket

Men in Black includes plenty of cool weapons, but the most powerful that we see is also the tiniest: the Noisy Cricket. The gun fires a powerful burst of energy but also kicks worse than any machine gun. (Untrained users are simply sent flying backward!)

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch in Monty Python and the Holy Grail [Source: Python (Monty) Pictures/Michael White Productions/National Film Trustee Company]

The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is the famous explosive sacred relic of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the weapon capable of killing the Rabbit of Caerbannog. Well, one of the weapons: bows may have worked but the knights didn't have any with them. The Holy Hand Grenade resembles the Sovereign's Orb, one of the Crown Jewels and an important item during coronations. This led to plenty of jokes online as King Charles appeared to exit Westminster Abbey with the "Holy Hand Grenade".

Identity Disc

Identity Discs in Tron are pretty much everything to their owners: a storage device (including code about one's identity), a shield, and yes, a weapon. Losing one's disc could result in "deresolution"—another term for deletion, which means death. Behind the scenes, many of the discs were made from cast foam for the 1982 film and cast resin for the 2010 sequel—they even appear at auctions from time to time!

The Golden Gun

The Golden Gun is a firearm appearing in Ian Fleming's 1965 James Bond novel The Man with the Golden Gun, the 1974 film adaptation, and video games starting with the 1997 Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye 007. In most of the James Bond video games, the Golden Gun is a powerful weapon that kills with one hit—with the drawback that it must be reloaded after every shot. In the film, the Golden Gun is a unique firearm assembled from a cigarette case, cufflink, fountain pen, and lighter.

Captain America's Shield

Captain America has wielded a variety of shields over the years, from triangular heater shields to an energy shield. But his most iconic shield is the disc with a white star on a blue circle, with red, white, and red stripes, as seen in the Silver Age comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America's shield is made of vibranium in the films and comics. Behind the scenes, various shields were made of aluminum, aluminum-covered fiberglass or foam, rubber, and other materials.

LAPD 2019 Blaster

LAPD 2019 Blaster in Blade Runner [Source: The Ladd Company/Shaw Brothers/Blade Runner Partnership]

The handgun used by Rick Deckard in Blade Runner has many names, including the Pfläger-Katsumata Series D 5223 (PK-D 5223), Detective Special, or (most commonly) the LAPD 2019 Blaster. As with many epic movie guns, the blaster included parts from real-life firearms: a Steyr Mannlicher .222 Model SL rifle and a Charter Arms Bulldog revolver—the rifle contributing the famous double trigger of the blaster.

Airbender Staff

The Airbender staff from Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of our favorite multi-purpose weapons. It's essentially a quarterstaff, so helpful in attacking and for defending. The staff can also be used to augment airbending techniques. But its most obvious purpose is for flight, as the master-crafted device unfolds into a glider.

Dawnbreaker

A new hand touches the beacon! The iconic weapons of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (and the rest of the series) are the Daedric weapons. One of our faves is Dawnbreaker, the burning, undead-slaying sword. The quest to get the Dawnbreaker is often seen as annoying, but at least you can still feel like a hero when you're done, right?

The Chainsaw Bayonet

What do you use when your knife bayonet isn't effective? A chainsaw, of course! Chain bayonets are the ultimate weapon attachment in Gears of War. They're capable of cutting into Locust hides, metal, and wood—not to mention defending against other chainsaw bayonets. In fact, chainsaw duels between wielders are a highlight of the series!

Mjolnir

Mjolnir in Thor [Source: Marvel Studios]

Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, is likely one of the most recognizable weapons on this list. Often spelled Mjølnir or Mjölnir in the comics, and Mjǫllnir in Old Norse, the hammer is only one of Thor's magical items—but it is Mjolnir that other characters tend to recognize and fear.

Katniss' Bow

Katniss Everdeen used several bows throughout The Hunger Games franchise, but we're partial to the longbow used in the 74th Hunger Games (as seen in the original film). This was the bow that Glimmer initially grabbed during the Cornucopia, but was taken by Katniss after Glimmer was stung by tracker jackers. We also appreciate that The Hunger Games apparently generated a great deal of interest in archery, especially among women and kids!

Plasmacaster

The Plasmacaster is the shoulder-mounted plasma weapon worn by Yautja in the Predator and Aliens universe. (Or, technically, Yautja who have killed a xenomorph—an alien—as part of their ritual passage into adulthood.) A variety of Plasmacasters are used throughout the franchise, with different power levels, and some even capable of automatic fire.

Tenchi-ken

We covered several lightsabers in our previous article, so we wanted to include the lightsaber-ish Tenchi-ken in this one! In the anime series Tenchi Muyo!, Tenchi-ken is a master key, meaning it can use the Light Hawk Wings to create a blade similar to a lightsaber. The sword itself was made from the earliest Royal Trees, which also means it can control treeships, too!

The Death Star

The Death Star in Star Wars/A New Hope [Source: Lucasfilm Ltd.]

The "ultimate weapon" of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars is, of course, the Death Star. Developed as part of Project Stardust and officially named the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, the weapon's superlaser was capable of destroying entire planets. (RIP, Alderaan.) The real-life model of the Death Star was thought to have been destroyed, but it found its way to an antique store in Missouri, the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, and now a private home.

Omni-Tools

Omni-Tools are the multi-tool of the Mass Effect franchise. They're handheld computers capable of scanning, communication, repair, and fabrication, all with neat hologram effects. It's the fabrication that we're going to consider, because they're able to fabricate a variety of blades (called omni-blades), bows, bludgeons, and even energy or gas weaponry. Sure, they're one of the weaker weapons in the game, but they're so useful that they're our favorite gadget of the franchise.

Chakram

The Chakram is nearly synonymous with Xena. But which Chakram to choose? Her initial weapon, the Dark Chakram? Or how about the Light Chakram? It may be cheating, but we're going to pick the Chakram formed when those two are combined, also known as the Yin-Yang Chakram or the Splitting Chakram. The prop chakram used in the production of the Xena series were made from a rubber material and painted.

Punisher

Punishers are a kind of cross-shaped weapon in the Trigun franchise. Nicholas D. Wolfwood's Punisher, the most recognizable in the series, contains a machine gun, a rocket launcher, and either storage for bullets (as seen in the manga) or pistols (as seen briefly in the anime). Did we mention that it's almost as big as Wolfwood (who is six feet tall) and weighs hundreds of pounds?

Gandalf's Staff

Gandalf's Staff in The Two Towers [Source: New Line Cinema/WingNut Films]

We covered Gandalf's sword, Glamdring, on our list of epic fictional swords, so wanted to look at his staff in this list—or, technically, his staves. (Gandalf wielded at least two in The Hobbit film trilogy and at least three in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.) Now Tolkien didn't name Gandalf's staves and he also didn't go into much detail about their description or history, which is unusual for the author. But the consensus among scholars is that Gandalf's staff focuses his power, but it also served as a symbol of his place in the Istari, the order of wizards.

BFG

The BFG or BFG9000 is the most powerful weapon in the 1993 Doom game. It is short and stocky and simply screams "sci-fi gun". The BFG has appeared in all of the subsequent Doom and Quake games, and you can find references or homages to it in all sorts of media, from Deus Ex to Everquest and Magic: The Gathering to League of Legends.

The Darksaber

We covered several lightsabers in the last blog, so we felt it was only right to look at the Darksaber in this one. The Darksaber is essentially a lightsaber that is black (per the name) and requires a strong mental connection. It is a Mandalorian weapon, and to many clans, its wielder is the ruler of Mandalore—assuming that they defeated the previous owner. The Darksaber appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, before gaining wider recognition in The Mandalorian.

Scalpel

We're going to bend the rules a little for this one. You see, in the stories of Fritz Leiber, the character Fafhrd wields the broadsword Graywand and the poignard Heartseeker, and the Gray Mouser wields the rapier or saber Scalpel and the dagger or dirk Cat's Claw. But that's four weapons! So we're naming this section after Scalpel, which seems to get the most attention from fans. (That's likely because it's the main weapon of the world's greatest swordsman!) But the joke here is that their weapons get lost or taken multiple times throughout the series, so the Graywand, Heartseeker, Scalpel, and Cat's Claw in (chronologically) later stories aren't the same ones from the earlier stories. They're just names for their weapons, a fun subversion of the fantasy trope.

M41A Pulse Rifle

M41A in Aliens [Source: Brandywine Productions]

The M41A Pulse Rifle is the standard issue rifle of the Colonial Marine Corps in the Alien universe, plus several crossover Alien vs. Predator games. The weapon is somewhat modular, and often includes the U1 grenade launcher. Like Han Solo's blaster, the M41A was constructed with parts from real-life firearms: an M1A1 Thompson submachine gun ("Tommy gun") and Remington 870 and Franchi SPAS-12 shotguns. Several prop M41As shot blanks during the filming of Aliens, and one during Alien 3.

Batarang

Batman has plenty of gadgets at his disposal, including a gun, sword, and flamethrower. (Of course, Batman's exact loadout depends on the series. Remember his "shark repellant"?) Our favorite is the Batarang, which can work like boomerangs or shuriken. These weapons can also come with their own special abilities, from exploding to freezing to surveillance.

The Hidden Blade

The Assassin Brotherhood of the Assassin's Creed series is an interesting organization: they're assassins but also the good side of the franchise. They wield Hidden Blades, mechanical gauntlets that extend a blade—a useful weapon for assassinations. Instead of (or in addition to) extending a single blade, some Hidden Weapons extend multiple blades, a maneuverable dagger, or a hook. Some could even shoot crossbow bolts, poisoned darts, or bullets.

Shardblades

The iconic swords of the Stormlight Archive are Shardblades. They can cut through any non-living matter—including stone—as long as the weapon is in motion. Hits on flesh are bloodless but can render organs useless, disable limbs, or kill. Shardblades are bound to their wielders, who can summon and dismiss them, effectively making it impossible to steal one.

Zorg ZF-1

Zorg ZF-1 in The Fifth Element [Source: Gaumont]

The iconic gun in The Fifth Element is the Zorg ZF-1 pod weapon, manufactured by Zorg Industries. It's not only an energy blaster, but it can fire arrows, nets, and rockets, plus it has flamethrower and ice cube (freezer) modes. The final mode, Replay, fires what are essentially homing bullets. Each mode required a different prop; the replay prop incorporated an AK-74U to shoot blanks during filming.

Needler

We're big fans of weird guns in sci-fi, especially weird alien guns! Needlers are a great example from Halo. They're one-handed automatic weapons that fire "needles", aerodynamic crystals that explode after hitting living tissue. They're also homing weapons, which makes them particularly dangerous.

Knife Glove

A knife glove is, perhaps, not the most effective weapon in the real world. But it's scary, something you'd see in your nightmares—which makes it an ideal weapon for Freddy Krueger! The knife glove went through some iterations during the making of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and we see in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare that Freddy himself experimented with designs using nails and razor blades.

Repulsors

The Repulsors in Tony Stark's Iron Man suit are ionized plasma energy blasters powered by the arc reactor. They're also useful for non-weapon tasks, like propulsion, welding, and knocking back people or objects. Who says weapons can only be useful for weapony things?

Chainsaw Hand

Chainsaw Hand in Evil Dead II [Source: Renaissance Pictures]

Ash Williams uses a few weapons throughout the Evil Dead series, but our favorite is his chainsaw. He wields it two-handed in the first film, severs his right hand with it in the second—and then mounts it onto his stump. (Groovy.) Behind the scenes, the chainsaw used for The Evil Dead was a Homelite XL-12, but was switched for the lighter Homelite XL in Evil Dead II.

Bat'leth

In the Star Trek universe, the Bat'leth is a kind of traditional Klingon weapon. While styles have changed over the centuries, all Bat'leth appear like multi-bladed swords with several grips. (The word "Bat'leth" in Klingon means "sword of honor".) It shouldn't be confused with the smaller, double-dagger-like weapon known as the mek'leth.

The Soul Reaver

Plenty of vampires use swords (in Blade and Underworld, for example), but our favorite is the Soul Reaver in the Legacy of Kain franchise. It's a flamberge, a type of sword with an undulating blade—a trope we often associate with vintage fantasy novels. But the Soul Reaver has all kinds of associated lore and abilities: it can devour souls and even create temporal paradoxes.

Godslayer

In Steven Brust's novels set on Dragaera (including the Vlad Taltos series and the Khaavren Romances), there are said to be 17 exceptionally powerful weapons, appropriately named the Great Weapons. The Great Weapon of titular character Vlad Taltos is Godslayer. It can change shape, disrupt or deflect magic, heal wounds, and has some amount of situational awareness. Godslayer is also a Morganti weapon, which means that it can eat souls. Morganti weapons are somewhat akin to nuclear weapons, in that their creators saw them as something so awful that nobody would actually use them. (Kind of, at least.)

Bullwhip

Bullwhip in Raiders of the Lost Ark [Source: Lucasfilm Ltd.]

Indiana Jones found plenty of uses for his bullwhip, from swinging across pits to disarming foes, but also as a weapon—strangling a Thuggee cultist, for example. He also used the weapon in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and various video games. The whips for the original trilogy were supplied by David Morgan, a company that still sells replicas of several models.

Gunblade

The Gunblade is, along with the Buster Sword, one of the iconic weapons of the Final Fantasy series. Its earliest incarnation, wielded by Squall Leonhart in Final Fantasy VIII, resembles a revolver with a giant sword instead of a barrel. The Gunblade doesn't shoot like a gun, either. It's more like a mallet hitting a gong, where the round causes the blade to vibrate, increasing damage. Still, it's got a striking appearance!

The Sword of Shannara

The Sword of Shannara trilogy has been criticized for its similarities to The Lord of the Rings, but it's Terry Brooks' original creations that we love, particularly the revelations about its post-apocalyptic setting. But we also appreciate the actual Sword of Shannara and how it reacts to its owner's lies. After all, most stories focus on what their weapons do to others, rarely their effect on their wielder.

Rainbow Smash

Fortnite has plenty of guns and also plenty of pickaxes—which, as weapons go, aren't very effective—but our favorite Fortnite item is the Rainbow Smash pickaxe. It was pretty rare when initially released, but is now regularly available for purchase. It's also such a fun and colorful item, and it still looks iconic next to the newer skins in the game!

Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers: Infinity War [Source: Marvel Studios]

Is a gauntlet a weapon? Isn't it just a piece of armor? Well sure. But when you add the Infinity Stones and it lets you kill half of everything, that's when we consider it a weapon.

Scissor Blades

The Scissor Blades of Kill la Kill are swordlike scissors capable of cutting Goku Uniforms and Kamui (robes), clothing that grants their wearers great powers. Interestingly, Scissor Blades, Goku Uniforms, and Kamui are (at least partially) made from Life Fibers, parasitic aliens that made humans smart—and also gave us clothing. The Scissor Blades can shrink down to normal scissors size, or can be carried around in a guitar case, which is pretty cool.

Wabbajack

The Wabbajack is Skyrim's Daedric artifact of chaos, capable of healing people or creatures, harming them, or turning them into chickens or cheese—in addition to a great number of other effects. It's like Dungeons & Dragons' Wand of Wonder, a tool to be used when extremely desperate, or just really bored. However, it is a consistently useful staff to use against dragons and giants, as it will only harm them.

The Glaive

Every fantasy movie fan in the 80s wanted the Glaive from Krull. It was like a five-sided boomerang but with retractable blades. Sure, that doesn't sound very practical, and in the movie it just kinda...didn't look like it did very much. But it looks cool and the whole movie built up to its use, so we learned to love it.

Cricket Bat

Cricket Bat in Shaun of the Dead [Source: StudioCanal/WT² Productions/Big Talk Productions]

Shaun of the Dead was released in the midst of the post-9/11 zombie renaissance—yes, that's really a thing!—and by now is considered a zombie film classic. And one of our favorite genre tropes, the improvised weapon, is exemplified by Shaun's vintage J. Salter & Son "The Century" cricket bat.

Dawn

Commenters on our Epic Fictional Swords article mentioned the omission of Blackfyre, Dark Sister, and Dawn. All of them have appeared in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but got much more coverage in the novels. Our favorite is Dawn, the sword of Ser Arthur Dayne. You may remember Ned Stark's battle with Dayne, which would have ended poorly for Ned if Howland Reed (father of Meera and Jojen) hadn't stabbed him from behind. What we love most about Dawn is that it's made from a "fallen star", which is such a fantasy trope!

The Moon Stick

Sailor Moon (Usagi Tsukino) wields a variety of weapons but her most iconic is likely the original Moon Stick—also known as the Crescent Moon Wand. It's one of Sailor Moon's early weapons, and appears throughout the franchise (manga, 90s anime, 2000s live-action, 2010s reboot anime, etc.) In real life, the Moon Stick is widely recreated by cosplayers and is available as a toy, as jewelry, a lamp, and more!

There you go, 50 more epic fictional weapons! What did you think? Did we include your favorite in this list (or the previous one)? Let us know in the comments! Also, let us know what we should do next: more swords or weapons, or maybe vehicles, or something else entirely? While you've got weapons on your mind, consider checking out all of our toy weapons and accessories!