Broomstick Quarterstaff

So our hero's weaponless and about to face a horde of Mooks. He looks around for anything that he can use in a pinch. He grabs the only thing available- a mop from the supply closet- and goes to town, using it as one would a Simple Staff.

Note that the title need not be taken literally. Anything vaguely cylindrical and tall as the character wielded as an Improvised Weapon falls under this; broomsticks and mop handles are simply the most iconic. Theoretically, this can be Truth in Television.

Sub-Trope of Improvised Weapon. Removing the head is optional based on the Sliding Scale of Seriousness Versus Silliness.

Examples of Broomstick Quarterstaff include:

Anime and Manga

• The fight between Setsuna and Asuna at the Tournament Arc of Mahou Sensei Negima featured Setsuna wielding a push-broom against Asuna's Paper Fan of Doom, due to bladed weapons being verboten. Earlier in the arc, a minor character wielded a traditional broom as a magic weapon; unfortunately, she was up against Kotaro. Also, Setsuna and Asuna were in maid outfits for no adequately explored reason.
  • Actually the point was that they weren't as interesting, so Chao ordered them made cute.
• Jennifer in Kyo Kara Maoh! uses a broom in place of a fencing foil in the second season.
• In the Cowboy Bebop movie, Spike infiltrates a chemical company disguised as a Janitor (in another homage to Bruce Lee) and has to defend himself with a push-broom when detected by Action Girl Electra.
• Ranma from Ranma ½ has used various things as quarter staffs such as a broom or a laundry pole.
• In the Revolutionary Girl Utena movie, Utena uses a broom with the head removed as a sword against Saionji.
• In Kodomo no Jikan, a few unnamed students use them in class before being told to clean up.

Comic Books

• In Kajko I Kokosz, a Polish comic, Kokosz once used a broom as a very effective weapon. However, a Magic Feather was involved so he immidiately started losing once it fell apart, even though the handle alone would have been harder.
• Marvel Zombies and Thor. Once this alternate universe God started killing, he couldn't weild his hammer Mjolnir. He made do with a lump of cement on a metal pole.
• The weapon of choice for Maid Man in Empowered.

Film

• In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo rips a metal post out of the ground to use against the army of Smith clones in the Burly Brawl. The first shot has him using the block of concrete at the end as a hammer, but once that breaks he uses it as a quarterstaff.
• Jackie Chan does this in at least one movie at least once a movie.
• Eddie Murphy's Coming to America has Prince Akeem (professionally trained from childhood in martial arts) do this with an unscrew-able mop handle to ward off an armed robber played by Samuel L. Jackson.
• Sarah Connor uses a mop handle during her asylum escape attempt in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, until she gets a nightstick to replace it.
• In Machete, Machete uses a mop to fight his way past Booth's goons following the faked assassination attempt on the senator.
• UHF‍'‍s Stanley Spadowski is a simple man. All he wants to do is clean the floors, dig the prize out of the cereal box, and occasionally host an insanely popular kids variety show. But get between him and his mop, and you are asking for problems.
• A prostitute has a broom handle shoved down her throat in Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!.
• The miner is momentarily fought off with a mop in the My Bloody Valentine remake.
• A janitor is found with a mop handle impaled through his head in American Psycho 2: All American Girl.

Literature

• In one of the Tarma and Kethry short stories by Mercedes Lackey, Tarma defends herself against an armed drunk with a broomstick because she wanted to avoid doing permanent damage if possible. Unfortunately, the drunk ends up cracking his head against the fireplace and dying. Fortunately for them, the drunk in question was well known and highly unpopular.

Live Action TV

• In the Doctor Who episode "The Vampires of Venice", Rory attempts to take on a swordsman armed only with a broom.
• Ryotaro in Kamen Rider Den-O uses a nearby broom on a Monster of the Week when he's fighting for his life. The broom is quickly broken. Despite its short-lived appearance, the so-named "Rider Broom" remained in the fandom's memory throughout the year.

Video Games

• In Final Fantasy VII, one of Cid's weapons is actually a mop (well, more like a push broom...). Other characters have similar weapons, which are rather powerful but lack materia slots. The best examples being an umbrella for Aeris, and baseball bat with a nail in it for Cloud.
  • In Crisis Core, Zack fights a bunch of armed soldiers on the beach...wearing only a bathing suit and armed with an umbrella. He wins.
• This is Raine Sage's Lethal Joke Item weapon as well.
  • Judith's Joke Item is a broom.
• Dead Rising, king of the Improvised Weapon trope in video games, includes a broom. After a few hits, the end breaks off and Frank uses it as a spear.
• Variant: In Chrono Trigger, a Mop is Crono's Joke Weapon, but he uses it like a katana.
• The obscure N64 Fighting game MACE: the Darkness had a Joke Character-Hidden Character in the form of Ned the Janitor. This reskinned shaolin warrior used a pushbroom instead of a staff.
• In Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, there is an achievement for killing someone using a broom. It is used the same way as a hammer. Brooms were first weaponisable back in Assassin's Creed II. Taken to absurd levels when you find out that it's possible to slit someone's throat using the broom, with the same sound effects of a regular bladed weapon.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the Xbox. Stuck without a weapon? Look for a broom or a mop (or just kick a chair in half).
• The Soul Calibur series features a broom as Seong Mi-na's unlockable joke weapon.
• The first Dungeon Siege starts with the hero having to do this with a pitchfork until he gets a real weapon from his enemies.
• Lisa from Legend of Mana uses her father's broomstick as her weapon of choice. Partly justified in that she uses it as a staff, which mostly have magic-related specials. That doesn't stop her from cracking skulls with that thing.
• In The Curse of Possum Hollow , the janitor in the town hall uses a mop as a weapon.
• A couple of the possible skins for the Quarterstaff power in City of Heroes are various brooms.

Web Animation

• In the Homestar Runner game "Thy Dungeonman II", the titular Dungeonman gets only a mop as a weapon, being a janitor working in a dungeon.
• In Dead Fantasy, Tifa does this with a service jack, before removing the thick metal end.

Webcomics

• Roy considers it an option in This episode of Order of the Stick.
• Lizzie's primary weapon in Dead Winter.
• Subverted in El Goonish Shive: Elliot (a martial artist, mind you) picks up a broom lying on the ground to defend himself... and swings it like a baseball bat.
• The Cardboard Tube Samurai in Penny Arcade - except it's not an Improvised Weapon, it's his Weapon of Choice.

Western Animation

• Used at least once in Jackie Chan Adventures
• Done in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, when the turtles are held captive on an alien prison asteroid. They find a broom closet and get replacements for all of their weapons from inside.
• One episode of Jimmy Neutron uses this in a fight between Jimmy's mother and a robot duplicate of her: after pulling out the broom, mop, and rake, and having each one snapped in half by the robot, she reveals that she keeps a plasma rifle in her broom closet "for those tough, ground-in stains". (Considering her son's experiments, a wise precaution...)
• In The Boondocks, Huey snaps the head of a broom off with a kick and uses the handle to subdue the theater security, but he doesn't fare as well against Uncle Ruckus' unforeseen nunchaku expertise.

Real Life

• There actually are weapon forms that exist for a Boat oar in Shaolin Kenpo for this very reason.
  • Actually trying this with a broom handle, however, is more likely to get your enemy annoyed if you smack them with it: it's not heavy enough. Use it for blocking instead.
• Leave a boy alone with a broom long enough, and this will be invoked.