Named Weapons

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

In some contexts it is appropriate to give a weapon a name. Usually but not always it is magical, or at least special of some kind. The most famous of these are Public Domain Artifacts, but sometimes they're just ordinary weapons. Swords seems to be most common, but most kinds of weapons can be given names.

If the name is just a personal nickname and not something that is recognized by the world at large, it's I Call It "Vera".

This trope mostly shows up in Speculative Fiction but also shows up in that strange thing we call Real Life.

Stock Weapon Names is a Sub-Trope of this, when the weapon appears in several different forms, in several different stories. Names Given to Computers is superficially similar to this, though computers usually actually use their names on networks.

Examples of Named Weapons include:

Anime and Manga

  • Bleach. All shinigami (who find souls attached to the human world and usher them into the afterlife) have a sword of office that is essentially an extension of their personality and self. It's said that the weakest shinigami have identical, nameless swords. Stronger shinigami (i.e., pretty much every one of them with a name in the series) have unique swords which have different motifs or sizes; these swords also have names and souls and individual personalities and to bring out their full power, their wielders must respect them as a partner and equal. The strongest shinigami have come to an accommodation with their swords and can bring out their higher powers—usually involving the sword changing shape and also conferring an ability of some sort upon its wielder. Sword names include Zangetsu, Zabimaru, Benihime...
    • And later the Arrancar get them as well such as: Pantera, Santa Teresa, Ira....
    • And after them you have Fullbringers who also have named weapons.
  • Crimson Spell gives us the cursed sword Ygg Veilund, which only members of the royal family of the Alswieth can use at all (though even they suffer a curse if they use it).
  • The Wave Motion Gun magic wands from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, such as Nanoha's Raising Heart and Fate's Bardiche. It's quite possible they named themselves.
  • The artifacts from Mahou Sensei Negima. In Latin, of course. Also, Setsuna's sword is called Yunagi.
  • Argueable example: Most of the guns used by Alucard and Seras in Hellsing are named though the names are seldom mentioned and appear not to be universally known.
  • Naruto features a few of them. Most noteable Kisame's Kirabi/Killer Bee's Samehada.
    • Orochimaru also uses the Kusanagi (see above) at one point.
    • And let's not forget Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribōchō/Executioner's Blade.
  • The Weapons in Soul Eater all have names, justified by the fact they're shape-shifting humans. Many names are appropriate to their Demon Weapon nature. There's one recurring character who uses regular swords, and he mentions no names. Presumably because it would take a while.
  • The Volt Weapons that the Pandora use in Freezing. For example Satellizer's is named Nova Blood.
  • One Piece has the Meitou (swords famous enough to have a name). Zoro has had four: Wado Ichimonji, Yubashiri (destroyed), Sandai Kitetsu and Shuusui.
  • In Infinite Stratos, the personal I.S. machines of the main characters are all named.
  • Escaflowne in Escaflowne.
  • In High School DxD, every single Sacred Gear has a name and an ability that comes with it. The protagonist wields the Boosted Gear gauntlet which is one of the most powerful Sacred Gears in this series which is capable of doubling the power of the user every ten seconds.

Comic Books

  • From The DCU's various Outsiders series, there's Katana's sword, Soultaker.
  • In Marvel, there's the Black Knight's Ebony Blade.
    • Also the Valkyrie's Dragonfang.
    • And the Odinsword.
    • The lord of the Fire Giants wields Twilight, the Sword of Doom.

Fan Works

  • Two in With Strings Attached: Blackfire, the Hunter's BFS, and Brox's Kiss, a pink shortsword that can make members of the opposite sex fall in love with you.
  • In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Peggy Sue fic I Am What I Am, a 96-year-old Xander from the future returns to his teenaged body during That Halloween, and stays. He brings with him, among other things, the rediscovered secret to making magic weapons and skill as a smith -- and by the end of the story has created nearly a dozen named magical weapons for the Scoobies and their allies.

Film

  • In The Horse Soldiers, a Confederate artillery battery consists of the guns Peter and Paul.
  • In Gods and Generals there is a four-gun Confederate battery consisting of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
  • Green Destiny, the super-sword in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Literature

  • JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth world (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion) is filled with this trope: Some especially cool weapons get several names, a few examples:
    • Gandalf's (previously Turgon's) sword Glamdring ("Foe-hammer").
    • Morgoth's great hammer Grond, whose name was also used for an Orcish battering ram in the Siege of Gondor.
    • Gil-galad's spear Aeglos.
    • Elendil's Narsil, broken in two as Elendil fell on it while falling to Sauron and reforged by the Elves into Aragorn's Andûril Flame of the West.
      • In Peter Jackson's film adaptation, Narsil is shattered into many shards, after Sauron steps on it.
    • Fingolfin's sword Ringil; sister-swords Anguirel and Anglachel (later when wielded by Túrin Turambar known as Gurthang, "Death Iron"), and knife Angrist; Tuor's axe Dramborleg.
    • Beleg's bow, Belthronding.
    • Thorin's acquired weapon Orcrist ("Goblin-cleaver"), the companion sword to Glamdring.
    • The Orc's call Glamdring and Orcrist, Beater and Biter respectively.
    • In his minor works, Giles' weapon Caudimordax ('Tailbiter') in Farmer Giles of Ham.
    • Bilbo names the elven shortsword he found Sting. He got the idea after the giant spiders he attacked with the sword while invisible shrieked that they were being stung by something.
  • The Long Ships also has several named weapons, most significant are the (not magical but very high-quality) swords Redbeak and Bluetongue. Another sword is named Lullaby, and an axe is named Widowgrief.
  • The characters in The Wheel of Time mostly keep their swords unnamed, except for Callandor—but that's only incidentally a sword.
    • Towers of Midnight introduces Mah'alleinir, a magic hammer.
  • To be fair, Callandor is a sword as much as the titular Sword of Truth is...
  • Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn has the titular three swords, but a few more ordinary ones crop up as well.
  • Elric of Melnibone has his cursed sword Stormbringer and it's "sister" Mournblade.
  • In A Song of Ice and Fire Valyrian steel swords, which are rather rare, generally have Meaningful Names, such as Longclaw (bear/wolf motif), Brightroar (lion motif), Ice (A Storm Is Coming), Dark Sister (wielded by an Action Girl), etc. Some other swords are named as well, some of them "special" weapons (Dawn), some just because the owner likes them (Needle). (Later in the series, Royal Brat Joffrey holds a contest to name a new sword, eventually choosing "Widow's Wail". He dies at his own wedding feast.)
  • The characters of Snow Crash learn that it's a good idea to listen to Reason.
  • Heralds of Valdemar character Alberich, a weapons training master, sourly notes that he hates this trope. People get overconfident, and then when they don't have the named weapon they don't fight well enough with unnamed ones. He won't let his pupils practice with any weapons but those found in the salle, and if he finds out that one of them has picked a favorite sword or whatever he has it melted down. He's a good guy, just so you know.
    • In the same universe, there is the sword named Need. She's a sword an ancient mage/fighter bound her soul to.
  • Pops up a couple of times in the Tortall Universe. Alanna picks up the strange magic sword that she calls Lightning. Later she sacrifices it, and as far as this troper can tell doesn't name her other swords. There wasn't another named weapon until the end of the third book in the Protector of the Small quartet; Alanna gave Kel a sword, Kel dubbed it "Griffin," Kel never mentioned it again, since she preferred her glaive.
  • Subversion in the Star Trek novel Time For Yesterday: Kirk asks one of the locals whether his sword has a name. The local says "What, like 'Excalibur' or 'Fred'? I suppose 'Killer' would be appropriate, since that's what it's for, but I never bothered naming it."
  • The Dresden Files has the three swords of the Knights of the Cross: Amorracchius, Fidelacchius, and Esperracchius. (That's Love, Faith, and Hope.) Amorracchius is suspected to have once been Excalibur...
    • And Esperracchius is Durandal. Fidelacchius is Kusanagi.
  • There's the Blackstaff, the official weapon of the White Council's enforcer. Currently the position is filled by Ebenezer McCoy.
  • In the Books of Swords series by Fred Saberhagen, there's twelve "Swords of Power" and each one has a different name related to its magical ability (Woundhealer, Doomgiver, Dragonslicer...) Add Dual-Wielding in and the situation gets Serial Escalation. The full list:
    • Coinspinner: anything and everything its current owner does works out for his or her benefit. Everything. Win money, catch lucky breaks, survive certain death through freak chance (which also works out for your benefit) enemies suffer incredibly bad luck. The downside is that it moves from owner to owner a lot, apparently on a whim.
    • Doomgiver: Seems to have a lot to do with turning an attacker's powers on themselves. It protected a mortal from Aphrodite's power and turned her influence back on herself, and has done stuff like turn arrows back at the person who shot them and fold people-eating demons into their own guts. One of the series' Big Bads refused point-blank to take the sword when he had a chance because there was no way of knowing what it'd do to him in retaliation for various heinous acts.
    • Dragonslicer: It cuts dragons. Given that dragons are so tough that they're immune to almost all weaponry, this is kinda awesome. Even more awesome is that it guides the wielder to a dragon's vital areas; the downside is it leaves getting out of harm's way up to the wielder.
    • Farslayer: You get a good wind-up and throw it while thinking of a specific person. Be they man, god, or monster, and no matter where they are... Boom! Headshot!! (Heart-shot, actually; the verse proclaims, "For thy heart, for thy heart, who hast wronged me!") This would be the end of the matter, except the sword doesn't return to you. So anyone near your victim will be able to pick it up, and tell the sword to target the person who just killed their friend...
    • The Mindsword: When unsheathed, it commands fanatic and lasting devotion from all within eyesight or ear shot. Men, demons, and gods — including its maker — all bow before the Mindsword's wielder.
    • Shieldbreaker: It trumps all the other swords (normally). When drawn, it defends its wielder against any weapon, any magic, and destroys other weapons at a touch, while making the wielder superhumanly fast and strong. The downside is it won't harm an unarmed person and refuses to let itself be dropped until a battle's over, leaving the wielder susceptible to Good Old Fisticuffs. Ultimately, it destroys all the other Swords of Power except for Woundhealer - which destroys it in turn.
    • Sightblinder: It makes other people view the wielder as someone or something they completely and totally love, or something they completely and totally fear. Either way, someone the viewer will not seek to attack. Often alternately and randomly within the space of a minute. And the illusion is so complete that viewers are always convinced. It also augments the wielder's vision, including letting him or her detect spoken falsehoods and, in at least one case, realize hidden details of another character's personal history.
    • Soulcutter: When drawn, it makes people in the area so apathetic that they will immediately stop what they're doing and just sit down and wait to die. Including the wielder. Given that its maximum reach is enough to encompass a good-sized battlefield, just the threat of using Soulcutter is enough to induce cooperation.
    • Stonecutter: It cuts all mineral matter like it's butter. Useful for sieges, tunneling/mining, and artwork/jewelrymaking.
    • Townsaver: A little like Shieldbreaker, except it only works when in defense of groups of people, and it will use the wielder's body as a shield, if need be, to defend those people. The upside is that whoever you're protecting will almost certainly be protected because the sword keeps the wielder going in the face of any wounds until the battle is over. The downside is it won't stop you from dying from your injuries after the battle is over.
    • Wayfinder: If you crossed a Magic 8-Ball with a divining rod/magic compass and a sword, it'd be Wayfinder. In response to queries (mental or spoken), it guides the user's hand to point at the correct one/direction ("Which person is lying to me," or "where is my son," or "which plate of food is poisoned," "Which path isn't trapped," or what-have-you). The downside is that unless you specifically request a safe path to what you're looking for, it will invariably point you towards the most dangerous one that will lead to your desired destination.
    • Woundhealer: The king of all Healing Shivs. It can fix any disease, any injury, cure any ailment, regrow any limb...fix anything (including the effect of Soulcutter) except death. Also, stabbing it into yourself and leaving it there means you'll be constantly healed and probably won't die no matter what happens to you (it doesn't stop you from feeling pain, though.)
      • The bit of verse Saberhagen associated with Woundhealer more-or-less said straight out that it can bring back the dead:

Whose flesh the Sword of Mercy hurts has drawn no breath;
Whose soul it heals has wandered in the night,
Has paid the summing of all debts in death
Has turned to see returning light.

  • Knowing a jivatma's name is necessary to unlock its powers in Sword-Dancer.
  • Jack Chalker's Dancing Gods fantasy series has a magic sword named Irving.
  • Judge Dee carries a heirloom blade 'Rain Dragon' - and knows how to use too. Definitely a case of Authority Equals Asskicking.
  • In Chris Roberson's Warhammer 40,000 Blood Ravens novel Dawn Of War II, Wisdom. Explicitly described as a rare sword so marvelous as to have a name.
  • In Percy Jackson and The Olympians, Percy's sword, Riptide/Anaklusmos, Luke's sword Backbiter, Clarisse's spear Maimer (or Lamer).
  • In C.S. Goto's Blood Ravens trilogy, Rhamah's Vairocanum. Made from part of a Wrecked Weapon that had been Forged by the Gods.
  • In Chris Roberson's Imperial Fists novel Sons of Dorn, Taloc wants to get into the fight so he can name his sword, which is a Rite of Passage. Which is why he is deeply pleased when he gets it back at the end.
  • In the first Safehold book, Off Armageddon Reef, Merlin presents Cayleb with a katana much like the one he himself uses (i.e. incredibly sharp and made of a nearly indestructible hi-tech alloy). Cayleb can't resist asking if the weapon has a name, like in tales of past seijin. Given the name of the one giving Cayleb the sword, it should come as no surprise that Merlin names it Excalibur.
  • One of the main characters in Michael Chabon's Gentlemen Of The Road had a Viking ax "whose name, cut in runes along its ashwood haft, translated roughly as 'Defiler of Your Mother'."
  • The cannons on the Sophie are all named by their crews. Notable is Barett Bonden's gun Sudden Death.
  • His Dark Materials has the Subtle Knife, which has various other names in various myths in various Alternate Universes. One of the most impressive is "Æsahættr", meaning "god destroyer".
  • In the Midnighters universe, weapons with a 13 letters long name cause aggravated damage to the darklings.
  • Monster Hunter International features Abomination, a fully automatic shotgun with a silver-inlayed bayonet and a grenade launcher. The sequel introduces Leviathan, a Kraken-sized harpoon gun.
  • The Stormlight Archive has two named Shardblades Oathbringer and Sunraiser that we have seen so far.
  • Karl May's Old Shatterhand had two guns, one a rare, but at least theoretically not unique Henrystutzen (Henry short rifle), the other named the Bärentöter (bear-slayer). His friend, the Apache chief Winnetou, used the unerring Silberbüchse (silver rifle), so named because it was decorated with silver nails all over. The comic relief character Sam Hawkens said he wanted to be buried with his rifle, the somewhat temperamental Liddy.
  • In The Book of Amber, Corwin's sword Grayswandir is inscribed with a portion of the Pattern, which comes in handy on at least one occasion.
    • Also Merlin's strangling cord Frakir and Brand's sword Werewindle.
  • In Glory Road, by Robert Heinlein, Oscar Gordon names his sword "Lady Vivamus", after the inscription on it, 'Dum vivamus, vivamus!' (While we live, let us live!).
  • The Alloy of Law contains a really awesome gun named Vindication.
  • Dragaera has the seventeen Great Weapons, Empathic Weapons so powerful they can kill even the gods. Their names they're referred to by the main characters are shortenings of their orignal Overly Long Names given to them by their creators. For instance, "Magical wand for creating death in the form of a black sword" is shortened to simply "Blackwand".
  • The Inheritance Cycle has the swords of the Riders be named in the Ancient Language. Most of the names are apt, including some that predict the owner's fall the the dark side. Eragon manages to accidentally name his sword by its True Name. Brisingr. He sets it on fire. A lot. Sometimes on purpose. He considered naming it sheep-biter. Eragon is a very silly individual.
  • From The Legend of Drizzt, the title character wields two magical scimitars titled Twinkle and Icingdeath. Icingdeath started as a case of I Call It Vera (it was the nickname of the dragon whose hoard Drizzt recovered it from). Catti-brie has a longbow named Taulmaril and an intelligent sword named Khazid'hea. And Artemis Entreri has another intelligent sword called Charon's Claw.

Myth and Legend

  • Norse Mythology has Odin's spear Gungnir, Thor's hammer Mjolnir, and Loki's/Surt's sword (or wand) Laevateinn. For weapons wielded by mortal heroes we have Sigurd's sword Gram and the cursed sword Tyrfing, heirloom of the berserker Angantyr and his descendants.
  • From the Nibelungenlied, the Middle High German version of the saga of Sigurd the dragon-slayer, we have his sword Balmung.
    • And his father's sword Notung (from which Balmung was forged)
  • Beowulf's own sword, Naegling, and the one he borrowed, Hrunting.
  • Arthurian Legend is full of them: Arthur's sword Excalibur, naturally, but also Lancelot's sword Anadight/Arondight and Gawain's Galatine. Early Welsh versions call Arthur's sword Caledfwlch, and also give him a dagger called Carnwennan, a shield called Wynebgwrthucher (or Prydwen), and a spear called Rhongomyniad (or Ron.) The Middle English Alliterative Morte Arthure gives him a second sword, Clarent, meant for peaceful purposes (e.g., ceremony) rather than war.
  • El Cid had two swords: Tizona and Colada
  • Boleslaw III of Poland carried a sword named Grus.
  • And Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, carried the two-pointed sword Zulfiqar.
  • Irish myth gives us the sword Caladbolg (which some pundits believe is the original version of Excalibur,), Cú Chulainn's spear Gae Bolg, and his sword Fragarach or Answerer.
  • Several in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, including Lu Bu's Sky Piercer and Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

Newspaper Comics

Tabletop Games

  • In Exalted, it's customary for daiklaves to be named by their wielders. Given that the aforementioned wielders are demigods who can reasonably expect to live for at least a few centuries and acquire quite a reputation in the interim, many of these weapons have attained legendary status in their own right.
  • The Name enchantment in GURPS: Magic prevents a device's magic from functioning if the user doesn't know its name.
  • Warhammer Fantasy Battle takes its name from Sigmar's warhammer, which is named Ghal-Maraz (Skull-splitter in Khazalid. The game's second most famous weapons, the twelve swords forged for the rulers of what became the Empire's provinces, are something of an aversion, being known simply as "The (Name of Province) Runefang" - though it may be seen as a direct analogy of the feudal "Lord (Land)". A great many other examples exist in the setting.
  • Warhammer 40,000 has many, though mostly among the Space Marines and the Chaos guys. Of course, in the latter case, it may actually be an individual, if it contains a bound Daemon.
    • Eldar mythology has Anaris "The Sword of Dawn Light". The greatest work of Vaul forged when Vaul accepted a bet with Khaine that he could forge 100 of the greatest swords ever in a set time. Realizing that he could not deliver, he hid a mortal sword in with the 99 divine ones. Realizing that Khaine would come for him, he poured all his skill into making Anaris. Anaris allowed the crippled forge god Vaul to challenge the god of war Khaine (before he got the title Kahla Mensha) and avoid a Curb Stomp Battle [he still lost]. Later used by a Eldar named Eldanesh (brought to him by Falcon) to challenge Khane to personal combat. Khaine crushed him, and his brutal killing of Eldanesh earned him the title Kahla Mensha Khaine (Bloody Handed Khaine) and he became cursed to drip the blood of Eldanesh from his hand for all time. It is speculated to be currently in the possession of Commander Farsight of the Farsight Enclaves.
    • Huron Blackheart sports the "Tyrant's Claw" a power-fist with a heavy-flamer built into it's palm.
    • Abaddon the Despoiler sports the Talon of Horus taken from the Warmaster himself after his death in one hand, and the daemon sword Drach'nyen in the other. Also, the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers has a giant two-handed chainsword called Bloodreaver.
    • The majority of human technology in the universe is a ancient or passed down relic of some kind, including space ships. Almost every space marine wields a weapon or armor that was named by somebody else.
    • Now, naming the types of weapons is encouraged. Especially in Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay. Half of the core books contain a sidebar named "A Galaxy of Guns", which advises -

The Imperium of Man is vast, and amongst billions of inhabited worlds there are countless forge worlds, factories, craftsman, artificers and blacksmiths turning out weapons and armour. As can be imagined this produces a practically limitless variety of makes, patterns and brands. It would be impossible to detail each and every different make of weapon in the Imperium (or even a small fraction of them), so the weapons, armor and equipment represented in this chapter represent the most common designs and designations. You can, of course, create the makes and patterns for your weapons as you see fit; after all, having a Gorgon-Pattern H-12 Widowmaker is far cooler than just having a stub revolver.

      • Dark Heresy gives a lot of examples in The Inquisitor's Handbook. Only War supplement Hammer of the Emperor gives rules for random generation of local variant "equipment patterns", including ranged and melee weapons (which you are going to name, if only for identification).
  • Most of the legendary equipment representing storyline characters' weapons in Magic the Gathering are named. Most of them are in the Kamigawa block but it happens sometimes since then.
  • 7th Sea requires magic weapons created by the Laerdom (rune-drawing) Sorcery to be named.
  • Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks will usually have at least one of these, and that's before you add homebrew weapons. For unique artifacts, holy relics and intelligent weapons it would make less sense not to be named, of course.
    • Forgotten Realms runs on a rampage with it on every other day. There's anything on the scale from "generic" magical weapons (like animated daggers), to weapons with names history and meaning of which are lost in time. It's normal for any weapon that doubles as a badge of office (elves are fond of making these with built-in blade-rite aptitude test) and pretty much anything regularly wielded by royals and particularly glorious warriors. But even other than this... An exception: Moonblades are all artifacts, but (other than the King's Blade, once it emerged) are known to public only by the name of the clan a particular blade recognizes or a previous wielder - one of the reasons is that they have started "blank" and somewhat changed their properties with every wielder.
      • One of the oldest (in both senses) and oddest is Namarra, said to be mentioned in many legends, and indeed appearing in lore more than once. It's called so because the blade has "Namarra" etched on one side and "Never Sleeps" on the other. What these inscriptions mean is less clear than why the sword is enchanted so that it floats in any liquid. Obviously, it became famous in part because it's not only fairly powerful, but both very noticeable (glowing) and very recognisable.

Video Games

  • The vast majority of wargear in the single-player mode of Dawn of War II is named
    • Justified as a good 90% of all human technology in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is some form of ancient relic or passed down weapon. Its understandable that basically every found item is named or atleast has a story behind it.
  • Any game based on Dungeons & Dragons will have examples of this trope: From Baldur's Gate for instance we have Blackrazor, Carsomyr, Celestial Fury, Crom Faeyr and Lilarcor.
  • Likewise Final Fantasy, although it is important to note that not all FF weapons with an odd name are Named Weapons: Many are simply names for TYPES of weapons.
    • All of Irvine's guns are named after battleships, and in FFXII they are named after stars.
    • The Final Fantasy weapons are unique in that the best are consistent from game to game, while the weapons that are unique to a specific game tend to be either very powerful or plot-important. For example, Excalibur, Masamune, and the Ultima Weapon are all very powerful in Final Fantasy 3 through 7. The Buster Sword is plot-important in 7. The Mythgraven (or Legend) sword is plot-important in 4 (and can be reforged into the Excalibur; second or third strongest sword, depending on the remake), and so on.
  • Most attainable weapons and all Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts have a name.
  • World of Warcraft has many, most notably perhaps Frostmourne, Arthas' sword.
    • Nowadays, the most notable is probably the "Sword of 1000 Truths" due its depiction on South Park.
    • Inverted later with Heaven's Fall, Kris of A Thousand Lies.
    • the Ashbringer...
    • While many weapons have their own names, only a handful are important from a lore perspective. Apart from Frostmourne and Ashbringer (which cannot be obtained by players), there are a handful of Legendary weapons that require a huge effort to obtain, typically weeks of raiding for one weapon for one player out of the up to forty involved.
    • Arthas drops a number of named weapons, each once wielded by a major character from lore.
  • Soul Series has Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Every character has also their own named weapons, like Ivy's Valentine or Voldo's Manas & Ayus.
    • Edge Master averts this because he believes that weapons are nothing more than tools and that a strong soul is what makes a strong warrior. All of his weapons are nameless.
  • Nearly all mid-tier weapons onwards in the Dark Cloud series, whether they are swords, bracelets, guns, or hammers.
  • Due to the very nature of the works it's based on, (see Literature), The Lord of the Rings Online adapts this trope in a few ways. First, like most MMOs various special characters, quest rewards and drops feature unique names. Second, any crafted weapon of sufficient quality allows a crafter to "name" it, with the name appearing as a field for that weapon's tooltip. Finally, with the introduction of "Mines of Moria" a Legendary Items mechanic was introduced, allowing players to acquire special weapons with their own advancement (first by drops, then by crafting) that allowed, among other things, the ability to rename your weapon on a "reforge". Unlike the crafting example however, this name is displayed predominantly at the top in the actual item name's section of the tooltip.
  • Fallout 3 features a wide assortment of small, big, unarmed, melee, and energy weapons, but the ones with names (Ol' Painless, Vengeance, Eugene,) are always better than their mundane counterparts.
    • Fallout: New Vegas does this with weapons like Maria, Ratslayer and The All-American while including some totally unique weapons like Euclid's C-Finder and "That Gun".
  • Titan Quest has two tiers of such weapons; the Heroic and Legendary weapons. While some do have mundane names (e.g. Chromatic Staff), there are other, more impressive-sounding weapons (e.g. Magebane)
  • The Elder Scrolls series has many, including the dagger Sufferthorn and the katana Goldbrand.
    • And Umbra, an evil sword that steals souls, including that of its wielder over time.
    • Sunder and Keening, which are plot items in Morrowind
    • Volendrung, the Hammer of Might that led a tribe of dwarves to Volenfel, which was later renamed to... Hammerfell.
    • In addition to those and dozens of other legendary weapons like Chrysamere or the the Ebony Blade, any enchanted weapon can be given a name, and even some, like the Blade of Woe, that are simply mundane knives or swords.
  • All weapons in Fate/stay night not only have a name, they do cool stuff when you call the name out. Example, Excalibur turns into a Wave Motion Sword and Gaebolg stabs you in the heart, no matter what.
  • Not only does Nethack have multiple pre-named artifact weapons, but it also allows you to give a name to any weapon, and even nonweapon items. A running gag among players is to use an absurd item (like a thoroughly-rusted tin opener) to do in Vlad the Impaler, widely considered to be a Breather Boss at most, and subsequently naming the joke item "Vladsbane".
    • It actually goes further. Certain weapons, the act of naming them something in particular MAKES them an artifact. Orcrist and Sting from elven broadsword and elven dagger respectively.
  • In Diablo II, all magic weapons are named. Names in yellow are random Noun+Verber; names in green are part of a set (and usually named for the set); names in brown are unique epic-level weapons. As a quest reward, you can ask a person to inscribe one of your objects with your name.
  • In The Godfather: The Game, the level 3 upgraded weapons have special names: "Saturday Night Special" for the .38 snubnose, "Assassin's Pistol" for the pistol, "Python" for the Magnum (though this probably refers to the Colt Python rather than being a unique name), "Dilinger" for the Tommygun and "Street Sweeper" for the shotgun.
  • The Fire Emblem games usually have names drawn from legends for legendary weapons; lesser named weapons may also appear in some games, such as Lyn's Mani kati from the seventh game.
  • Deus Ex Invisible War has a few, such as the Hellfire Boltcaster.
  • Quest for Glory has Soulforge.
  • Castlevania has the Vampire Killer; a whip which does just that. For bonus points the series is quite stuffed with various other Public Domain Artifacts from the mythology section.
  • Legacy of Kain gives us the Soul Reaver, key plot element in many games. In a more minor example, the axes Kain wielded in the original Blood Omen were called "Havoc and Malice".
  • In Team Fortress 2, you can now do this your weapons, even with names other than "Sasha".
  • Creatures in Dwarf Fortress occasionally name their own weapons if they kill a historically significant figure, giving the weapon semi-artifact status.
  • The Legend of Zelda series has a few, chief among them the Master Sword, also known as The Blade of Evil's Bane.
  • Dragon Age has several, including two specifically forged for the player: Starfang and Vigilance.
  • Many weapons in Warriors of Might and Magic, including: Wild Winter, Bravery and Angel Arm.
  • The Devil Arms are named in the Devil May Cry series, such as Lucifer in DMC4 and Nevan in DMC3, plus most of the playable characters' weapons (Rebellion with Ebony and Ivory for Dante, Yamato for Vergil, Red Queen and Blue Rose for Nero). The exceptions would be most of Lucia's weapons and some of Dante's firearms in DMC2.
  • Touhou: Youmu has Roukanken and Hakurouken. Tenshi has the Hisou no Tsurugi, though that's as much a description as a name. Miko presumably[1] has the Shichiseiken. Fanon gives Remilia and Flandre Gungnir and Laevateinn respectively, but canonically they just have spellcards named for them.
  • In RuneScape players can earn the daggers Wolfbane (stops the men and women of Canifis from transforming into werewolves when equipped) and Keris (hits harder on a race of giant beetles known as kalphites), the axe Balmung (hits harder on the aquatic dagannoth species) and the swords Silverlight (good against demons), Darklight (Silverlight stained with the blood of a certain demon, lowers the defence of demons) and Excalibur (raises player's defence, or can be enchanted to heal players after performing certain tasks).
  • Asura's Wrath gives us Augus's sword, Wailing Dark.
  • The Neverwinter Nights series has literally hundreds of these. Small wonder, since it's based on D&D.
  • Basically every weapon wielded by Kratos in the God of War-series counts as these: Blades of Chaos/Athena/Exile, Blade of Artemis, Spear of Destiny, Blade of Olympus... the list goes on and on.
  • All the weapons carried by the hero(es) in the Onimusha-series are named weapons... well, maybe excluding the "Normal Sword".

Web Animation

Web Comics

  • In Sluggy Freelance, Torg's talking sword thinks the idea of naming weapons is stupid, though it confesses that over the years it has picked up a few, like "Weeping God," "Unholy Evil Death Bringer," and "Chaz." Torg decides to call it Chaz.
  • In Darken, Komiyan picks up an intelligent weapon called Blackshard. Whether Shard is strictly a weapon is debatable, since it (he?) has since taken over the body of a drow.
  • Penny Arcade: "Will you face me? This tube goes by many names, some you are worthy to hear. The Waking-Dragon, coiled, as spring dawns. Hawk's-Harvest, seizing prey in the tall summer grass. Autumn-Razor, the patient hunter. The Famine-Of-Winter, that kills the babe at it's mother's empty breast. So, will you face me? I, who hold the very reigns of the world?"
  • Most alchemized weapons are named in Homestuck: "You make the BARBER'S BEST FRIEND". And, later, "You make a weapon called FEAR NO ANVIL".
  • In Girl Genius there was "Occams Razor" (apparently Absurdly Sharp Blade forged by old Occam Heterodyne). Smasher and Slasher Platonic Solid (mace) and Archimedes' Lever (sword), weapons of the Storm King. The Staff of Triumph (presumably-legendary item among the weapons/regalia of Simon Voltaire, the Master of Paris).

Western Animation

  • Adventure Time has the great hero Billy, whose sword is (presumably) called "Nothung", after Siegfried's sword in Der Ring Des Nibelungen (the same sword that's referred to as Gram and Balmung in the Myth & Legend section). However, since this is a show for kids who would never get the reference, it was probably just an excuse to have Billy shout "No tongue!" every time he calls his sword.

Real Life

  • Among the Imperial Regalia of Japan is the Kusanagi, aka "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven" or "Grass Cutting Sword," which contrary to popular belief is a double-edged tsurugi, not a katana. Supposedly cut out of the body of an eight-headed serpent by a god, then bouncing around Japanese mythology until it eventually comes into possession of the Emperor. Supposedly the current Emperor still has it. And no, you can't look at it.
    • The name of Major Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell is not a coincidence.
  • There are three swords, all named, that are nowadays the stuff of legend. A part of the legend says that they are cast of the same steel. (Curtana bears the engraving "My name is Curtana, of the same temper as Joyeuse and Durandal")
    • Durandal, the sword of Roland (aka Orlando, if you're Italian), a paladin in the service of Charlemagne. It still exists, shoved into the side of a cliff near a monastery in Rocamadour, France. The sword's hilt was said in The Song of Roland to contain a tooth of Saint Peter, the blood of Saint Basil, hair from Saint Denis, and a scrap of Mary's clothing.
      • Said tale has Roland last using it to hold off an army of 100,000 long enough for Charlemagne's army to retreat into France.
    • Roland's Uncle Charlemagne wielded Joyeuse, a sword said to shift in colours and was supposedly one of the most beautiful swords in existence.
    • The last was Curtana (Or Cortana), wielded by Ogier. This sword was known as the broken sword or the sword of mercy; legend says its tip was broken by an angel to prevent a wrongful execution.
    • A fourth from the same epic, reputedly (in the epic, at least) inspired by Charlemagne's use of a named blade, was the blade Précieuse/Precious, wielded by the Saracen king Baligant.
  • Among the insignia of the Holy Roman Empire (now in Vienna) is the Holy Lance, better known to many English-speakers as the Spear of Destiny. It was carried into the victorious battle of the Lechfeld against the Hungarians by Otto the Great.
  • The Southeast Asian Keris blades (especially the masterwork ones and/or those which are supposedly magical in nature) almost always bore names, although often the names are simply denoting its make and kind. Well-known examples are Taming Sari (a Sumatran one, belonging to the historical figure Hang Tuah) and Setan Kober (a Javanese one, belonging to a Javanese hero). One legend averts this, however; The famed "Keris Mpu Gandring" which played a large part in the history of Singosari kingdom in Java, had no formal name since it was unfinished at the time it was used to kill its creator (of which the Keris is known as from thereon).
  • The Crusaders named their trebuchets during the Siege of Acre (in the Third Crusade) "God's Own Sling" and "Evil Neighbor;" the defending Arabs countered with "Evil Kinsman."
    • Another famous named trebuchet was Edward I Longshanks' (yes, that Longshanks) "Warwolf" used during the siege of Stirling Castle. A replica of it can be seen today at Caerlaverock Castle.
  • The "Fat Man" and "Little Boy"
  • The WWI-era German howitzer Big Bertha - though this is a type designation, not a name for a specific weapon as many think.
    • Related to this, her WW 2 cousins Schwerer Gustav/Heavy Gustaf and Dora, which were the only two of their (unnamed) type. The youngest, Long Gustaf, could have ranged London from the French coast, but was damaged in a bombing raid and never completed.
  • In the old days before industrialized steel production, quite a number of cannons and other artillery pieces were given individual names inscribed on the barrel when they were cast (rather as could happen to bells, which were often cast at the same foundry). Examples ranging at least until the Napoleonic Wars can be seen e. g. in the court of honour at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.
    • Other examples include the early big cannon "Faule Grete" (Lazy Meg) used by Elector Frederick I, the first Hohenzollern ruler of Brandenburg, to knock down the walls of the castles of his Quitzow foes in the second decade of the 15th century, "Faule Mette" (likewise) of Brunswick, "Dulle Griet" (Mad Meg; apparently Margarets were popular namesakes for bombards) of Ghent, and "Pumhart von Steyr" of Austria.
  • Daniel Boone (possibly apocryphally) named his custom rifle "tick licker" because he claimed to be able to shoot a tick off an animal without hurting it.
  • Little David was a test mortar for American aerial bombs in World War II. Modified as a field piece for Operation Downfall, the Japanese surrender meant that it never saw use in the field.
  • Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are four training cannons used by the cadets of the Virginia Military Institute in the Civil War; they are still on display today.
  • In the New Kingdom Egyptian story of the conquest of Joppa, a fiction that may or may not be based on a true story, the Pharaoh Men-kheper-Re has a named staff/cane. He secretly hides it in the luggage of the guy he sends to put down a revolt, and it allegedly has special powers. The protagonist (Djehuti) uses it to kill the rebel leader, but unfortunately the text is damaged so the name and special powers of this weapon are unknown. The name seems to end in "...tautnefer."
  • Weapon Types tend to have names in the modern age and they are often impressive and sometimes bloodthirsty enough to please the most savage Teutonic warrior.
    • On Saipan an Infantry Support Tank model named Satan was used; it was an M3A1 light tank rigged with a flame thrower to smoke out caves and bunkers.
    • The favorite US fighters in the Pacific were the Hellcat(Navy) and Corsair(Marine).
    • Germany has a thing for feline names for it's tanks, what with Panther, Tiger, and the present day Leopard. On the other hand, Panzer which is how British and Americans remember the more generic Wehrmacht tanks, just means "armored".
    • The Israeli Merkava means chariot. Which makes sense as in a way that is kind of what a tank is.
  • Tsar Pushka ("Tsar Cannon") built in the sixteenth century is so big that it is not believable as a weapon but more an artwork. It is probably functional if the enemy politely stands in front. It is about a yard wide, or in other words larger than the guns of a first class battleship in width if not length.
  1. ↑ She's based on a historical figure and visibly carrying it, but it's never mentioned
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