Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tuesday Tropes: The Improvised Weapon

  
I need something more practical ...

Despite your best efforts, your character is in a tight spot. He's surrounded my thugs in a back alley. She knows a kidnapper is inside the house. You know a confrontation is coming and these characters have nothing to defend themselves with ... or do they?

Improvised Weapon - Any object, not immediately associated as a weapon, that is used as a weapon. 

When it comes to survival, anything goes. When flight mode turns to fight, any item is better than nothing (unless you know how to use your limbs effectively).

Stephen King's The Mist is a great example. A bunch of people are trapped in a grocery store, forcing them to make weapons out of common, household items.

"I said 'say cheese,' not 'say ah!'"

How about in the woods? Sticks and stones, my friend - whatever it takes to put those Walkers down.

"Rock, Paper, Zombie!"

If you are of the super-human strength persuasion, you could easily turn a car into a pair of boxing gloves.

 "HULK PUNCH!"

When it comes to Improvised Weapons, skies the limit. They can be practical, creative, or downright random (which adds a touch of comedic effect). If an action or fight scene is about to happen in a given location, it's good to remember what items are typically in such locations (offices, bars, department stores, etc).

There are more examples than I can summarize, and yet this hasn't entered cliché territory? It's a theory, but it could be that making weapons out of random items, as a last resort, speaks to our core survival instincts.

Either way, this trope often keeps us on our toes!

Have you ever given your character an Improvised Weapon? What kind of object was it?

I'm David, and the pan is mightier than the sword!

47 comments:

  1. I just finished reading chapter 6 or so of the first Mistborn book, where Kelsier takes out a bunch of dudes with a chunk of metal. Although I thought the scene went on a little too long, I thought it was a great way to show us how Allomancy works in practice.

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  2. The Frying Pan in Tangled is one of my favorites! :)

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  3. Maybe this sounds a bit lame, but Jackie Chan is a great example, he uses any object around him, and knocks out his opponent!

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  4. It's always interesting to see what use characters make of random objects.

    Tangled frying pan = Best. Thing. Ever.

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  5. Funny that this hasn't entered cliche territory... at least it hasn't in my opinion. What a fun topic that I've never given much thought to. Now I'm going to work an improvised weapon into my WIP somehow... ;)

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  6. Rock, paper, zombie. lol! That's just awesome. I have used an improvised item, but I can't remember if it was a shoe or something else (it's been a long time since I wrote that). ;)

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  7. "The pan is mightier than the sword" -- love it! Great post like always :-)

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  8. I haven't given my characters any improvised weapons yet, but will surely do so in the future. I like this idea a lot.

    Wait..now I remember, the teacher in my MG Fiction throws chalk at her students. Is that an example of an improvised weapon?

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  9. Although it is a trope, I do consider it an instinct. Our opposing thumbs allow us to grab and manipulate objects, and if you're about to enter a no-holds barred fray, you will grab whatever you can find.

    The most legendary example of this is from the great Samurai Miyamoto Musashi. During the boat trip to an island to face off with the most deadly warrior, he carved a long sword from one of the boat oars.

    His opponent's blade longer than the standard katana, and Musashi's makeshift weapon was even longer. BUT his motive was also psychological - bringing a boat oar instead of his sword to the duel was a great insult, throwing his opponent off.

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  10. The frying pan is by far my favorite choice.

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  11. Love the frying pan. I remember watching the Jason Bourne movies a very long time ago and thinking he improvised weapons a lot.

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  12. I haven't done this myself, however I have to agree with Melanie Fowler's comment. Jackie Chan really worked an entire setting for both weapons and acrobatic escapes.

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  13. Ah, the frying pan is a good choice. That's something I need to think about in my WIP... I need to make the surroundings more concrete somehow...

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  14. My first thought was frying pan. Then, cricket bat. We know where my highest priorities are.

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  15. It's not cliche at all! I actually agree, and think it shows how survival instinct kicks in for everyone. I've never used the technique in a story, but I can definitely see myself doing it one day. Perhaps a key! A purse! Stuff a character carries with them every day.

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  16. Hi - returning the visit and the follow. Loved the post, done with wit and humor. In my book, snowballs become a weapon of choice :-)
    Look forward to connecting with you during the Campaign.

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  17. Jason Bourne kills a man with a book. Made my day. Great post.

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  18. Hi David! Fellow Campaigner returning the visit. I second Angela Brown's comment about Jackie Chan. He is the king of improvised weapons, as well as improvised escape routes (across a swimming pool, by running and skimming over the water using an inflatable pool toy!).

    My favourite improvised weapon in cinema was the stapler-to-the-head in Drag Me to Hell. Just the right tool of abuse for an uptight, petty pencil pusher.

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  19. I agree Tasha! You know you're a bad ass when you can defeat a man with paper. LOL

    You have a superb site here David, I feel right at home here. Thanks so much for the comment and I can't wait to get to know you better.

    Cheers!

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  20. Never under estimate the power of a frying pan. Cast iron all the way!

    I like the idea of characters using unconventional weapons.

    Looking forward to getting to know a fellow YA platform blogger.

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  21. Nice! I particularly like the Captain America reference, because it creates a "need" for the character that he will later fill with a more professional object:)

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  22. Yes, my current work has the MC knock someone out with a candlestick (she was trapped in an old, barely furnished room at the time).

    But the frying pan in Tangled. I've seen it several times now and still laugh. Mind you, the horse is amusing on its own. ^_^

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  23. I agree that improvised weapons speak to our core of human beings-- we are inclined to use tools, and we are inclined to use our creativity in situations where we've got nothing to work with. I have my character use an improvised weapon in my current book. Though it's not a weapon, exactly...hard to explain. :)

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  24. Frying pans! Who knew, right? :)

    I love improvised weapons. They show a character's ingenuity, style and will to live. Makes me think of an author interview I read a while back. The author was discussing her "light bulb moment," when she realized how she could up the stakes in her book.

    It was something along the lines of: "I thought, 'I can't really make my heroine face down a zombie with a can of shaving cream, can I? That's too over the top, right...right?' And then I went, 'Hell yes, I can!' and it was the fans' favorite chapter."

    So yeah, improvised weapons = lots of fun!

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  25. It's all about survival instinct. If someone attacked me in my house right now, you betcha I'd find something to use as a weapon. Looking around the room, I have plenty of options.

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  26. You had me at Captain America. He is hot.

    I am working on getting my black belt in taekwondo-- so my weapons are my fists and feet. Watch out!

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  27. This is something I've missed out on! My characters always seem to have a sword or something of that ilk when there's a fight. Must make things harder for them. Is there copyright on the pan idea?

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  28. I have never seen Tangled. But apparently I really should because one of my CPs said that my MC looks like Flynn and then someone mentioned the frying pan on my blog today. That scene is hilarious!

    So yeah. I really have to watch that movie...

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  29. I'm totally using this in my book. A girl's gotta do what a girls gotta do!

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  30. Awesome post, David! I haven't used any weapons at all, but now it just sounds like so much fun! Thanks:)

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  31. Jackie Chan was the master of the improvised weapons, he fought with whatever was lying around. When he would walk into a room I would often try to guess what he'd end up using as a weapon from the things lying around the room.

    My characters. Yeah, I've had them fight with improvised things before too, but usually they're just trying to survive more than they are trying to fight, so the dynamic is sometimes a bit different.

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  32. Nice post! I've used a few random-objects-made-into-weapons myself....I think it's a vague enough trope to not be cliche, especially because it's pure survival instinct. I mean, if someone's attacking you, you use whatever's around to beat them down.

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  33. As a tabletop role-playing gamer, improvised weaponry is frequently a topic of conversation. Once, in college, I used a table. It was epic.

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  34. Hi David! Thanks for the follow; I'm returning the favor. :)

    Great post, by the way!

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  35. Thanks for stopping by. As I remember it, you had some remarkable short fiction last campaign. Looking forward to reading again this time around!

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  36. The nearest I've come to this is my MC using her mobile phone as a weapon. Does that count?

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  37. When I was into roleplaying games, there was this spy game called Top Secret that I played. You could have a skill called club/axe/blackjack that allowed you to improvise practically anything and wield it as a weapon. It made for some fun and creative scenarios during combat.

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  38. I remember one of my MC use her back pack as a weapon. I'm afraid it sounds a bit cliche though.

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  39. An excellent post David! :)

    I'm racking my brains at this late hour and I think the closest weapon I in a story was a strategically placed bucket -does that count? :)

    I'm back again on the campaign; hope to do a better this time round in saying hi. :)

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    1. That totally counts! Good to see you on the campaign trail again, too. :)

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  40. I think Shawn Spencer is a genius at improvising weapons. Anyway, great post, I thoroughly enjoyed, and it reminded of defenestrating...

    -Jackson

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  41. Hey great post. I just came over from the campaign and thought I would meet fellow authors. The closest thing I have come to for an improvised weapon in my story is a crowbar and rock. Although I have used an unloaded gun as a projectile in one scene.

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  42. Love this post! The best improvised weapon in one of my stories was a hand bag, miss piggy homage :D

    I agree with Jackson Porter, Shawn Spencer rocks at improvising weapons!

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  43. PS am a campaigner and new follower :)

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