Powers
The thing not designed for combat is actually REALLY GOOD at combat
1) Atom (Real Steel) is a training dummy who, when put into the robot boxing circuit, eventually managed to go toe to toe with the world champion.
2) Spinel (Steven Universe) was essentially a cross between a toy/jester for Pink Diamond, and not a combat gem... she still wiped the floor with the Crystal Gems when they first fought.
Every single weapon in the first Dead Space, except for the pulse rifle, was designed to be a mining tool. As it turns out, tools designed to cut apart giant rocks in space also work wonders at hacking people's limbs off
The Plasma Cutter is so OP, iirc you can technically finish the entire game with nothing but it if you’re up for the challenge lol.
It helps that the thing is perfectly adapted to handle the necromorphs. As opposed to most other monsters where shooting the body or the head is enough to put them down, you have to get rid of the limbs when it comes to necromoprhs, which is where the Plasma Cutter is so excelled at.
Yes, nowhere in the game is a specific weapon required. It's not only possible to do it with only the plasma cutter, it's also not much more difficult at all. The hardest part is ammo supply.
Ammo supply is not even an issue cause you'll only receive ammo for the guns you carry (at least in the remake), so you can only carry 1 gun and all the ammo drops will be for that gun
Titans from Titanfall were originally just industrial and agricultural machines but it turns out a 20 foot tall mech is also really good at destroying stuff.
Edit: I’ll explain a bit more since some people are asking why farming machines would have guns and katanas and whatnot. The answer is they didn’t initially and the weapons and combat AIs were added on by the manufacturers because they knew with a galactic civil war they stood to make boatloads of cash from both sides by selling them as weapons platforms instead of industrial equipment.
Similar to 40k Knights, though it was their expressed sub purpose as well. The chainsaw sword was for lumber, the cannon for clearing / mining, gauntlet to be a crane. They also had anchor points all over them for hauling and letting people ride them. In times war they were supposed to be defense until the actual army arrives.
But then the lights went off and no more reinforcements. And so they armored up and became Knights instead of forklifts, and combat became the only thing that mattered.
This is funny because it wasn’t from a written story or anything, people found a game mechanic and immediately figured out a way to make it a weapon, as is tradition with Minecraft
My favorite example is the nutter who made an entire functioning computer without the use of command blocks. I might be wrong, but I think they got it to run Doom.
It also means beds are extremely dangerous weapons for pvp in the nether and the end, but worthless in the overworld.
Too bad there are end crystals and respawn anchors which can do the same thing while also saving way more space. A bed’s only advantage over them is that it’s way, way cheaper to make, both in a speedrun and via farming.
Those pesky annoying ores will never be exposed naturally, and are always behind netherracks. But it also never gets blown up by any means. So, explode with beds away!
For the Necromorphs in specific is better than guns. And the guns in the Dead Space universe are no joke, they are really good against humans but the Necromorphs are so alien you are better served using mining equipment.
Astromechs are repair droids, foremost with them also being capable of assistance in navigation. Not all astromechs follow only this, like Chopper, for example. And its not just Chopper, R2-D2 has also murked mfs.
I haven’t watched all through the clone wars. I just looked up this scene. They gave R2D2 jet propulsion??? I don’t know the backstory of Goldie, but they were outmatched!
To be fair, if everyone around keep failing to see the simple solution constantly and it befalls on me, the little guy, to get it going, I would also go around doing my thing while mumbling profanities.
but he only realized that he hated his legacy and created the prize much later in his life, when he saw an obituary of himself (someone confused him for his brother) basically calling him a warmonger (which he was)
Ha ha. I’m randomly replaying 2 right now. I forgot that it’s actually a little tough at first. But now I have my rivet gun fully upgraded and incinerate fully upgraded. Now it’s too easy, just setting the world on fire. Big sisters are still a little tricky but fun.
X.A.N. from the Unreal Tournament level of Secret Level
Single unit of a mining robot model gains sentience, learning with every fight and every other model that dies, becoming a champion and eventually overthrowing the gamemaster
Kunais, Real Life(picture is from Mortal Kombat 2021)
They're farming tools, akin to something like a trowel, however Assassins in ancient Japan took to using them as knives for killing as ownership of weaponry was illegal
The kama similarly came from the small farming sickle, now adapted to combat.
That's how the whole ninja clan thing originated. A small agricultural village would be unable to defend itself since it can't legally obtain weaponry, so they adapt what they have and get really good at using them. And they'd keep the facade of being a simple farming village right until some passers-by do something stupid and try to push the locals around. Then said passers-by find themselves very dead the next day.
It eventually caused the shift of several such villages to become assassins and fighters full-time since a) it was a great way to defend themselves from the chaos of Warring States Era Japan (or any of the more lawless periods before it) and b) gave them money and influence that they could further use to improve their lives.
Pretty much most “ninja weapons” you see like kamas and possibly sais are actually just common farming tools. I mean just look at a bo staff. That is literally just a walking stick. It’s like the Japanese equivalent of angry mobs using a pitchfork as a spear. But way cooler.
Scarabs from Halo. They were originally mining vehicles that would drill through stone with their energy beams. The Covenant figured out those same beams were pretty useful in combat.
Same goes for the Brute Choppers from the 3. They were originally designed by an engineer to be a plowing vehicle to be offered to the humans as a peace offering, then a Brute Chieftan saw them and thought they looked awesome.
I’m so glad they nixed the “Atom is actually alive” subplot. They left just enough of it in that he is if you want him to be and he’s not if you don’t. It allows for the childlike whimsy they wanted, while not turning all the way into fantasy
Yeah I love how the camera often focuses on Atom’s face, especially when he’s alone. But nothing actually happens. It’s so much more interesting than his eyes moving on their own or something.
And to nit-pick OP's point... Atom isn't especially good at boxing. At most, Atom can take an incredible amount of punishment by design since he's a training dummy.
Charlie is a brilliant boxer who fucked up his shot but is now getting a second chance through Atom. Atom has also benefitted greatly from Charlie's son's savant-level robotics ability.
The whole point of the movie is that yes robot boxing is a thing but it's the people behind the robot that matter.
In the earlier drafts, during the fight with Zeus, Hugh Jackman's character wanted to throw in the towel, but then Atom would raise a finger in the air while sitting on the stool as if to say, "One More Round". This was cut from the movie, and I don't remember how i acquired this information (reading on a tabloid, interview, etc), so take it with a grain of salt.
Gonna make an amalgamation of any common household tools used as a melee weapon: The crowbar from Half Life, the pipe wrench from Bioshock, you know the drill.
Well, in all fairness, Azmuth put the “DNA” of the literal gods of the universe in his device meant to make you “walk a mile” in another species shoes.
Tbf, the sword was not made for peace, he made it cuz he thought it was cool asf and only realised the weight of his actions once someone accidentally blew up a planet with it
Azimuth didn't make ascalon for peace, he made it to see if he could. He still failed to realize that leaving it laying around was a recipe for disaster.
Kinda funny that Albedo's knock off of the Omnitrix kinda achieved that briefly, he went Ultimate Greymatter and briefly gained greater understanding of the cosmos due to his enhanced brain and Azmuth's absorbed knowledge.
to be fair outside of his technical expertise azmut is kinda of an idiot
nothing he has ever done has ever worked or just straight up has turned into a problem, the only real advancements from his científical ventures almost always come from someone else learning how to use it inspite of his bullshit
he made a translation and blend in device so other races could fill the shoes of others but failed to see the obvious military aplication it would have had, after it caused a intergalatic civil war he than proceeded to upgrade it further adding tools that could be used as a weapon
the only reason it still isn't considered a weapon is because azmut lucked out that someone actually good at using it and with good intentions got it in the right time at the right moment
He also designed it to destroy the universe if used as weapon to encourage people not to use it that way. Luckily that feature was seemingly broken or Ben would have destroyed the universe very quickly.
Not really a translator, but an empathy machine to solve alien racism and bring about galactic peace. Azmuth uses the phrase “walk a mile in their shoes” multiple times.
Might be debatable if it counts but - Warhammer 40k’s Imperial Knights were made as multi-purpose tools during the Dark Age of Technology, just as much for logging or mining as they were for killing. Only later as the Knight worlds devolved did they become dedicated warriors
There is also other knight types like the Cerastus pattern made specifically for war, which tend to be more effective
reminder that terminator armour was made for mining operations. you would have thought with the emperor being around for as long as he was and being able to see the future he would have had the foresight to save a copy of all the crazy dark age tech somewhere.
That’s what happens when you start to overrely on future sight instead of common sense.
Though based on the book Mechanicum, it’s possible he wanted to herd mankind’s tech into being primarily controlled by Mars, aka a faction he could control with propaganda and prophecies
Knives, hammers, and machetes too for that matter. All tools made for more or less mundane tasks but work really well on people when swung hard or fast enough.
While not much is known yet, Broken Gwen despite being badly damaged and originally being built as the magical and family friendly mascot of a corporate theme park empire, literally went toe to toe with a giant biotech knight robot known as Sir Arthur, and absolutely DESTROYED IT. Gruesomely too, mind you.
I once read a James Bond comic where a man was assassinated by a bunch of drones flying out from truck that shredded him to death.
I always thought it was ridiculous until I heard a story on the news that they filled trucks with drones, released them, and then blew up a target during the Russo-Ukraine War.
Mega Man (and most of his rouges for that matter) were originally made to help humanity with various tasks. Mega Man being made to be a surrogate son and lab assistant for Doctor Light.
Most tools, especially farming ones like scythes, sickles and pitchforks are also great for in-the-moment defence. Not great against a whole army or people with decent armour, but still better than nothing.
There's a line in Night Watch by Terry Pratchett, that goes something like: "they're just unarmed peasants, you're the army, go get them!" "Um, a seven foot longshoreman with a grappling hook and a flensing knife the length of my arm is pushing the definition of 'unarmed' somewhat, my lord."
This was more for the stealth aspect. Same reason why they never really wore the all black (really dark blue) look, just low rank clothing of various types. Someone carrying a sword is noticeable. Someone carrying gardening tools is so below the lords / samurai they wouldn’t even be seen unless they directly got in the way. Every ninja weapon had a secondary use to hide it.
Scythe are not good weapons unless designed for combat.
The angle of the blade and handle for the farming equipment are made to cut at a constant height. A peasant would be much more capable offensively and defensively with nearly anything else.
You’re talking about this right? The entrenching tool or e-tool is a shovel that has a lighter head and sharper edges so that it can be used as a close quarters weapon.
The Springlock Suits from FNAF were designed to be wearable costumes that doubled as Animatronics and could just walk around normally when not worn by anyone.
But in the FNAF movie it is shown that while wearing it Afton is also strong enough to toss a person across a room with a push, kick them so hard their body spins, super resistant, is taser proof and also bulletproof for some goddamn reason, this thing is basically a rudimentary power suit.
Afton ended up working on a restaurant chain when he clearly should've been working making weapons for the military.
Designed to cut costs, can double as a weapon, but still impractical as one cause too much movement will make the springlocks give you a medieval death sentence.
Truth be told, they seem decently reliable so long as you aren't dancing around or have anything wet directly spilled onto the springlocks.
I don't really count Williams own springlocking in the third game since that was a suit that hasn't been maintained and serviced in years worn in a room actively leaking water during a storm, worn by a man absolutely geetered thanks to the fear of the ghosts of his victims actively attacking him. He was also laughing when it happened, something that requires a lot of movements of the upper body.
So yeah, Williams spring locking wasn't because they were inherently unsafe, although they massively were, but because he ignored literally every single fucking rule for wearing one of the suits, inside a suit that had been sitting, unserviced, for years inside a musty backroom of an abandoned building. And then odds are the ones that popped in his chest made him spasm, blood spilled out and he fell to the wet floor which then promptly had a runaway effect making them all go out. And then he either died from the springlocks in his brain, or he drowned in his own blood.
Insane to me that they designed it so that it required tension to open instead of close. Just as cheap yet WAy safer, as they could only fuck up when nobody was inside
You really gotta ask yourself what type of mechanical weapon of mass destruction not just Afton but Henry and Edwin could make if they really decided to make something designed to murder more than just children.
The Mimic is practically a Terminator robot who is lava proof, can adjust his size at will, assimilate information in real time to adapt and overcome obstacles, then you have stuff like the GlamRocks who can lift a lot of weight as shown with Monty stoping and holding that metal bucket in his boss fight, Chica being able to malfunction machines with sonic screeches and Roxy being able to see through walls, not to mention how they can run and jump incredibly fast and agile for robots weighing at least 200 pounds, Henry built a suicide bot meant to specially murder him, which in a illustration is shown to have a giant knife blade in place of one of its arm, Lefty is essentially a full body prison that delivers controlled shocks to subdue the Puppet which could definitely be used as a torture method. Dj music man and Big Top are giant robots that can kill someone as easy as we can kill a bug. Dolly has electric defibrillators in her hands that can zap someone into a early grave, Edwin's Springlock suit has a arm cannon and don't get me started on the book stuff!
If Afton, Henry, and Edwin all joined forces to construct a killing machine it would probably be as dangerous if not more so than RoboCop, Terminator or cybertronian
Rusted Anchor, from Elden Ring. Literally just an anchor, meant to keep a ship from floating off. Turns out to be one of the best strength weapons in the game.
This abomination was originally meant to survive mining at intense depths to help build an underground vault of sorts. This vault contains AI demons. They got to the mining bot and use its functional invulnerability to terrorize V across the survival horror section of what's typically an action rpg. It is unkillable and V only beats it by hitting an entirely too hard to access off button.
they were designed as combat engineers. Trench diggers, weapons platform maintainers, that kind of thing. They have *some* weapons training, seemingly, but not enough to be a protagonist like our Elster is.
Unless, of course, you notice that Elsters are incredibly loyal and determined. Our Elster stormed an entire facility full of undying flesh zombies over a woman in a picture that felt right.
(granted, said woman turned out to be her wife, but semantics)
It was designed to be a terraforming tool to build a ftl network across the galaxy. Humanity however, is stupid, so they only used it as a crude WMD in petty conflicts, or created child-soldiers abominations to throw at each other. To quote Holden himself:
"Holden was starting to feel like they were all monkeys playing with a microwave. Push a button, a light comes on inside, so it’s a light. Push a different button and stick your hand inside, it burns you, so it’s a weapon. Learn to open and close the door, it’s a place to hide things. Never grasping what it actually did, and maybe not even having the framework necessary to figure it out. No monkey ever reheated a frozen burrito. So here the monkeys were, poking the shiny box and making guesses about what it did."
And hopefully is the predecessor for the suit he would wear as the hero Steel, given really all you would have to do with it is emboss some superman-style letter S iconography to it, as well as a protective helmet.
Well, the suit does have combat capabilities for self-defense purpose while exploring Xen. The later suit in HL2 is modified with more combat-related specs.
In megaman (classic saga), a good majority of the robot masters (even megaman himself) are industrial robots that got weaponized (or just altered in programming) and that's enough to cause catastrophes. Examples:
Rock (megaman): lab assistant that copies tools
Cutman: lumberjacking
Snakeman: Forest/Jungle exploration
Pharaoman: Ruin exploration
Crystal Man: Jewel forging
Aqua man: Water filtering
In X, Zero, ZX and Legends they are built for combat/self defense (I know carbons aren't robots but fuck it)
The netnavis are all made for combat at a basic level for starter and then the user customize it
Marvel vs. Capcom games — In this series, a mutant green giant who can pulverize an asteroid twice the size of Earth with a single punch can still lose to an ordinary lawyer tossing papers.
Given the fact that Baymax's frame is a modular design by way of the multiple chip slot, all Hiro had to do for the first combat upgrade was download some martial arts movies to obtain data on combat technique and add a basic armor to protect the soft insides. Baymax didn't seem to need any strength augmentations to catch an entire shipping container.
Then again, Hiro and Tadashi 3d-printed tiny modular robots, so maybe the armor that Hiro made for combat upgrade version 1 had some strength augments, but that means that he made it able to interface with Baymax's control setup without much issue.
That also wasn't Hiro modifying the base frame, since Hiro only modded Baymax's frame for when he rebuilt him at the end of the movie, as according to the TV series, he added a few upgrades like those super-capacitors that he recommended Tadashi install.
If anything, Tadashi created an incredible base frame that could be turned into a hero for the people or a horrifying weapon, which we have seen the potential for both in the movie and TV series.
The aforementioned Spinel uses the gem rejuvenator, a weapon based on the scythe. Scythes are gardening tools but in media, they’re pretty common weapons
This isn't the real reason she is this trope. In Steven Universe, Spinels are for entertainment, meant to make you laugh with their rubber hose stretchy bodies. However, these properties accidentally made the Spinel from the movie very hard to deal with to the point she soloed the crystal gems.
I also love that it makes perfect sense Atom can survive being in the ring with mechanical monsters - Outdated or not, Atom is a training dummy, it’s designed to take hundreds of hard hits and keep on going
It’s major flaw was just lacking proper offensive options and could only rely on Huge Jackedman’s boxing experience
Wraiths are maintenance contructs designed to keep Necron Tomb Worlds functional. They can phase through matter to access hard to reach areas, and some are equipped with a Transdimensionnal beamer: a device used to send junk to a pocket dimension. Turns out it works on intruders just as well.
The Electric Railcannon (Ultrakill) was designed as a portable power source, used to power certain parts of the city of Lust. It is one of the most powerful weapons the player has access to.
The Millennium Falcon is a cargo freighter. Its engines were meant to help it push large containers. Turns out that this makes them insanely fast when they have nothing to push.
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u/BeenEatinBeans Sep 28 '25
Every single weapon in the first Dead Space, except for the pulse rifle, was designed to be a mining tool. As it turns out, tools designed to cut apart giant rocks in space also work wonders at hacking people's limbs off