Swiss Army Weapon

Even Dark Lords of the Sith enjoy camping now and then.
"Melee weapons that become guns are fricking awesome!"
—Linkara, Atop the Fourth Wall

Having more than one weapon is a good thing. It gives you more versatility in combat, letting you handle more problems than someone with only one weapon. Unfortunately, carrying around many weapons is a hassle—not everyone has a Bag of Holding, after all. Even if they could, they sort of have to rummage around their stuff to look for that one weapon that'll give them the edge, which is a bit of a problem in the middle of battle. So what can a character do if they want the versatility of, oh, say... ten pointy and blasty things?

Well, if you're one of those people, look no further than the Swiss Army Weapon!

These are weapons that could transform from one form to another. They may have various moving parts that need to be flipped around, or they may have some Shapeshifting capabilities, but the results are the same. Three, five, ten, and more weapons, all in one one neat, easy to carry, easy to use package. Some of the below examples overlap clearly with Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot.

If you want another way to get many weapons for the price of one, see Bifurcated Weapon, a weapon that can be separated into smaller weapons. The Morph Weapon is a kind of Swiss Army Weapon. See Every Device Is a Swiss Army Knife when it doesn't have to do with weapons, and Green Lantern Ring for an extreme version. The self-directed version is a Do-Anything Robot. Due to feature overload, often results in a Rummage Fail. And of course, this weapon goes very well along with Adaptive Armor.

Super-Trope of Swiss Army Gun and Mix-and-Match Weapon, Sub-Trope of Impossibly Cool Weapon. Do not confuse with Swiss Army Weapons.

Examples of Swiss Army Weapon include:

Anime and Manga

  • The devices of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha have different forms to suit the needs of the mage or knight. The devices of the two leads have the most. Nanoha has a staff that reconfigures into a blaster that turns into a spear that releases four attack drones. Fate has an axe (technically a bardiche) that flips open to reveal a scythe that grows into a BFS that splits into two sabres.
  • The puppets used by Sand ninja in Naruto are gigantic Swiss Army Weapons, being, well, a huge collection and weapons and tricks gathered up into the shape of a human or animal puppet. Sometimes, the puppets even have combo attacks.
  • As the name suggests, the Ten Commandments sword of Haru Glory from Rave Master has ten forms. These include a sword that increases the speed of the user, a form that splits it into a fire sword and an ice sword, and another that can sever pure energy such as magic but passes through solid objects. There's also Musica, whose abilities allow him to change the silver necklace he wears into any weapon, usually a spear or shield.
  • The Kogan Anki of Kaoru Koganei from Flame of Recca can take turn into a swallow, a chain and sickle, a boomerang, a pair of giant scissors, and a bow, as well as a sixth secret form. The transforming process is complicated though, and only someone as adept at puzzles as Kaoru can change it from one form to another while in the heat of battle.
  • The Zanpakutou (Soul-Cutting swords) in Bleach usually change in appearance when in released form, be it from one type of sword to another (like Ichigo's Zangetsu, which goes from a big cleaver to a classy black daito), one type of weapon to another (Ikkaku's Houzukimaru from katana to three section staff) or single-to-double weapons (both Shunsui and Ukitake's swords).
    • Some of them have different shikai (initial release) and bankai (final release) forms apart from their sealed state. Byakuya, for example, has a running total of 4 different forms of bankai.
    • Note, however, that this is technically more of a Super Mode than a Swiss Army Weapon, especially in the case of Bankai. Even though the altered functionality of the weapon is often part of the point (especially in many early examples of Shikai), the main reason to use it tends to be a general increase in power and the acquisition of new abilities.
  • Lots from the Gundam franchise:
    • In the UC and CE productions, many of the later mobile suits' shields have integrated beam or projectile launchers.
      • The Zeta Gundam had both its beam rifle and BFG double as beam sabers, while the Double Zeta Gundam had two beam cannons whose barrels could also become beam sabers.
      • In V Gundam, a rotating beam saber functions as weapon, shield, and helicopter rotor.
    • In Gundam X, the titular Gundam's rifle is its shield. Later, it gets a new gun (a normal one, just double-barreled) and a shield that doubles as a BFG.
    • In Gundam SEED, the Blitz Gundam's right arm is a shield, a beam rifle, a metal stake launcher, and a beam saber.
      • The Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second L from the Gundam SEED Astray manga has the Tactical Arms system, which is a booster backpack that can become a BFS or a gatling gun. The Sword Calamity in the same series carries a pair of BFSs that double as laser guns.
        • A model kit version of the Blue Frame Second L takes this even further, enabling the halves of the sword to detach and become beam blade tonfas.
        • The recently released Master Grade kit of the Astray Red Frame ups the ante further by giving it its own Tactical Arms, where the booster backpack can become a BFS, a longbow that fires laser beams, a V mode (not sure what its for yet), a weirdly named Delta mode (which may be related to the Stargazer's method of moving long distances without using power like a solar sail) and finally, a 'Work Mode' where the entire Tactical Arms mounts on the left arm and works like Kyrios' pincer claw while the handle detaches and becomes a beam torch; this mode however, (in a moment of Fridge Brilliance) rather than being for combat, is for making salvage work and other Junk Guild tasks easier for the Red Frame to do.
          • Additional moonspeak decrypting suggests that Red Frame's Tactical Arms II also carries abilities to pull Gold Frame's Energy Drain and be controllable via DRAGOON system.
    • In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, both the Gundam Exia and the titular 00 Gundam have swords with built-in beam guns.
  • Nicholas' giant cross from Trigun is a portable pistol rack, a machine gun and a rocket launcher.
    • There's also Rei-Dei the Blade, whose sword blade can be fired from the hilt while the sheath functions as a rifle.
  • Van Fanel's armgear in Vision of Escaflowne doubles as a shield, a crossbow, and - if memory serves - a BFS, too.
  • Genesic GaoGaiGar's multi-segmented tail can turn into at least three distinct weapons. The end of the tail (actually a bird's head) transforms into a knife, and the other three segments either form the base of the Bolting Driver or reconfigure into gloves for the Finishing Move Hell and Heaven.
    • Also of note is the bucket of RaiRyu Dump truck form, which in robot form serves as a shield, an electric gun, and a means of flight.
  • In Busou Renkin, this is standard practice - unlike in most Shonen, becoming stronger isn't about reaching new power levels, but about finding different and creative uses for the weapon you have. A later character, for example, has tiny homing chakrams for weapons. In addition to controlling them, he can use them to enhance his punches, ride on them like wheels, or even propel himself through the water by spinning them.
  • Mahou Sensei Negima has Negi's artifact. It allows him to copy the artifacts of any of his partners. Considering this includes things like Anti-Magic, instant healing, an invisible cloak that's Bigger on the Inside, shooting swords, and Telepathy, it looks to be pretty freaking useful.
  • In the Kirby anime, of all places, a oneshot character is an Action Girl with a machine gun/sword/flamethrower/missile-launcher. Not sure what would happen if Kirby inhaled it.
  • The Kero Ball from Keroro Gunsou features such devices as a taser, a disintegration ray, a teleporter, a levitation device, a duplicator, a repair module, and more. It can also reconfigure household clutter into tasteful furniture and electronics.
  • FLCL gives us Haruhara Haruko's flying surfboard chainsaw machine-shotgun Rickenbacker bass guitar that can open interdimensional portals in other people's heads by smashing it into said people's heads. Yep.
  • At last count, Inuyasha's Tessaiga's sheath can generate a powerful barrier and summon the blade to itself. The sword itself can create extremely powerful anti-youki barriers, extremely dangerous blasts of kenatsu, mountain shattering blasts of air/youki, rebound and amplify youki attacks, cut through barriers (up to a point), shoot out high powered barrages of diamond spears that flat out dissolve even stronger barriers (and can be amplified by the aforementioned mountain shattering blasts), absorb youki (and ghosts, and senki, including that generated by a human), regurgitate/redirect youki, purify youki, generate flames, create portals into hell/other dimensions/the future/SPIRITUAL RESTING PLACES IN OTHER DIMENSIONS IN THE FUTURE. Did I mention that it seems to also be at least semi-sentient (hell, possibly even prescient, considering that it and its brother are able to figure out when and how to be used, even when their masters aren't even aware that they need to be used—or not used—at all), and that it eats youki, which means that it can pretty much gather powers ad infinitum?
  • Black★Rock Shooter's Rock Cannon and Strength's Ogre Arms both transform multiple times over the course of the 2012 anime, usually in mid-combat. It's not always effective but it's constantly impressive.


Comic Books

  • Minor Spider-Man foe Mr. Stone has "multi-cannons" that fire explosives, blinding flares, burning flares, sticky immobilizing goop, stun-pods, and more.
    • Likewise, Spidey's clone, the Scarlet Spider, had "webshooters" which were bracer-sized devices that could use Spidey's traditional web fluid in a variety of ways. His favorite (besides the standard strands) was "impact webbing", a small ball that would explode into a gooey mess on impact.
      • And Spidey himself could do that in some video games.
  • Machine Man was much like this, with his stretching arms, and fingers each with a different weapon. The new version of him from Nextwave has become a Flanderization of this, having just about anything he can think of pop out of his body.
    • His response to a female colleague asking if he could impregnate her from across the room? "I am full of useful devices."
  • Image Comics' cybernetic hero "Superpatriot" has arms that work this way. They go "clickclackclickclack" for a bit, as they become any sort, or number, of weapons (usually projectile weapons) he needs.
  • Judge Dredd has the Lawgiver pistol, with ammunition that can configure itself to the operator's specifications including Armor Piercing, Heat Seeking, and High Explosive as a sample.
    • Which leads to the epic scene where Dredd pulls the trigger on the Big Bad, only for the gun to inform him "lethal rounds exhausted". So he yells "signal flare!" and fires again.
  • Avengers: The Initiative introduced the Tactigon, an alien symbiotic weapon which attached to the wielder's arm and became anything that it needed to be, whether that was an energy axe, razor wire, an energy blaster, or even a device for removing other alien symbiotic weapons.
  • Doom Patrol supervillain Codpiece has, well, a giant transforming codpiece weapon.
  • In Final Crisis Aftermath: Run, General Immortus' team of losers includes Miss Army Knife, the Woman of a Thousand Attachments, who is a Swiss Army Weapon.
  • The Blue Beetle's scarab. When it bonded to Jaime Reyes, the latest Blue Beetle, it gave him alien armor that can sprout energy weapons out of his forearms, or turn his entire arms from the elbows down into energy weapons if he needs something of a higher caliber. Also saw blades, gripping claws, and smaller extra arms when he needs to grasp more than two things at a time. He can fly by wings, by a rocket mounted on his back, or, in a heavy storm, by a surfboard attached to his feet.
  • Daredevil's Cane/Grappling hook/Nunchucks/Billy Club/Simple Staff/Bulletproof shield/Katana/Recording Device/Taser/Gas Gun/Sniper Rifle/Back Scratcher.
  • Death's Head has several different weapons that he can swap his right hand with. His most common ones are a mace, an axe, a blaster, and several different types of missiles.
  • DC's 1958 space hero Rick Starr Space Ranger (no relation to Isaac Asimov's 1952 David Starr, Space Ranger) uses a "multi-raygun" that can fire an anti-gravity ray, bubble ray (imprisons the target in a forcefield bubble), dissolverizer ray, explosi-discs (energy grenades), paralysis ray, thermoblaze ray and anything else that a given plot might need.
  • In Topps Zorro comic, Lucien Machete had a Hook Hand had a number of attachments that allowed him to convert it into different weapons, including spring loaded blades that could be fired at an enemy.


Film

  • The ZF-1 from The Fifth Element (see quote in relevant section) definitely counts.
    • Not to forget the autodestruct/demolition charge function not mentioned above... "I don't like warriors. [...] Now a real killer, when he picked up the ZF-1, would have immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun."
    • The autotracking function was the likely inspiration for Resistance: Fall of Man's Bullseye Rifle.
  • The Shaw Brothers feature Jade Tiger was arguably the king of this trope. The villainous Four had a sword that had two smaller swords inside of it, and the last one was also a bomb. The movie's hero had a staff that could be turned into a spear or gigantic nunchucks. At the beginning of the film a blind monk takes out his glass eyes and throws them as grenades.
  • In Beverly Hills Cop III, Serge's "Survival Boutique" sells a combination minigun, microwave oven, rocket launcher, portable TV, flamethrower, beverage cooler...
  • The Lawgiver handguns from Judge Dredd can switch to several types of ammunition with a simple voice command and without needing to change clips.
    • Which leads to the even more epic scene where the Big Bad pulls the trigger on the Dredd, only for the gun to inform him "lethal rounds exhausted". So Dredd wrestles the weapon from him, yells "signal flare!" and returns fire.
  • The movie Where Eagles Dare has "Swiss Army Dynamite". Can be triggered by either timer or tripwire, it's used for everything from traps to the wholesale demolition of bridges and buildings. And they use so much of it in the movie that 90% of the equipment in their packs has to have been these.
  • The Roy Orbison movie The Fastest Guitar Alive included a guitar that played perfectly... and shot bullets. While that is only two functions in comparison to the dozens that other devices in this list show, the sheer impossibility of a single device that both fires bullets accurately (without a trigger mechanism) AND does not need any more tuning that a normal guitar qualifies.
  • In Our Man Flint, superspy Derek Flint uses a cigarette lighter of his own design which can perform dozens of functions, including lighting cigarettes.
  • Quite a number of James Bond films have Bond getting a Swiss Army Watch. In addition to telling time, they also have various other functions depending on the movie. Some of these functions include a built in detonator, grappling hook, and laser.
    • Just his watch? You've got to be kidding me. Don't forget this cell phone that also had a tazer, a lockpick, and a fingerprint reader/viewer, plus was able to control his car. And what about the keychain that had lockpicks, stun gas, and plastic explosive? And the mother of all James Bond Swiss Army Weapons: the From Russia With Love attache case, containing a sniper rifle, knife, ammo, gold coins for bribing, a spare gun, and a teargas bomb booby trap
    • Arguably all of 007's gadget cars are Swiss Army Weapons, since they are fully-functional cars yet also contain machine guns, ejector seat, rockets, jet motors, lasers, and one very special car turned into a fully-functional submarine!.
  • The Naked Gun parodies this with a simple pistol with so many add-ons that it eventually becomes a full-sized howitzer.
    • Don't forget the SWISS ARMY SHOE!
  • In Hot Shots Part Deux, the main character has an impressive looking knife which has built-in chainsaw, wire-cutter, and drinking straw.
  • Ellen Ripley from Alien builds herself one in her Lock and Load Montage in Aliens, jury-rigging together a flamethrower with an assault rifle, the latter of which already comes with a grenade launcher. Plus a tracking device on top.
  • Spy Kids 2 had a watch that could do anything except tell time.
  • In Arthur and the Invisibles, Betameche has a swiss-army-knife-type-implement that is everything from a knife to a grappling hook to a bubble blower.
  • The Sword and the Sorcerer features a three-bladed sword whose blades shoot out like frigging rockets! It also has a dagger in its handle.
  • In First Blood and Rambo: First Blood, Part II, Rambo's knife has a variety of additional functions. In the weapons department, he can tie it to a stick (there are holes in the hilt to thread the cord through) and make a spear. It also has a compass, thread and needle for stitches, fishing hooks for fishing, waterproof matches and two screwdrivers (which form the hilt).
  • XXX achieves the same effect with a fairly conventional .44 revolver and various kinds of Abnormal Ammo.


Literature

  • From the Star Wars expanded universe novels featuring the Yuzzhan Vong, hails the amphistaff. A serpentine living weapon that can be used as a whip, a sword, a staff, a spear, and can even spit poison/acid.
    • Jacen Solo (who has a Force specialty of talking to animals) was able to wear fifteen or so amphistaffs around him as a suit of armor, swapping them in and out so that they can rest and he can use new ones.
  • Larry Niven's "The Soft Weapon".
  • Memory swords from Terry Pratchett's Dark Side Of The Sun. It could become a gun which fired bullets from frozen air, a sword, a shield, a spear, a laser...
  • Also from Pratchett the Discworld has the Lancre Army Knife, which contained such functions as The Device for Locating Small Grains of Hope. Fortunately, it also had The Device for Ending Arguments Very Quickly, possibly a knife but which, given the features suggested by King Verence, could have been anything capable of causing someone to bleed when stabbed with it.
    • Bleed, hell. More like "instagibs the target and sends the bits flying".
  • The FORCE: Ground multi-rifle from Dan Simmons's Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion has multiple modes, including a high powered particle beam, pulse bolts, a killing laser, a standard rifle, heat-seeking flechettes, smart grenades, and a targeting system that meant you would never miss, in a sandstorm, at ten kilometers. According to the book, it could do just about anything besides cook your dinner, and in the field, soldiers would often use the laser on a low setting to do exactly that.
  • While more of a weapon system than a weapon, the Mobile Infantry's powered armor from Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers probably applies. The narrator describes his suit as coming with a flamethrower with multiple settings, a rocket launcher with multiple forms of warhead (including peewee nukes), a wide variety of high-explosive bombs/grenades, and presumably some sort of standard bullet-firing weapon, though he never explicitly uses one at all during the same mission. (Not to mention that little experimental toy. "I'm a thirty-second bomb! I'm a thirty-second bomb! Twenty-nine!... Twenty-eight!...")
  • The Panacea rifle from Seekers of Truth. The polymer barrel can expand and contract to change its interior diameter. If you find some ammo lying around, and it's no bigger around than 40 mm, go ahead and shove it in there. Also features a flamethrower, a high-pressure water cannon, and an electronic scope with built-in bullet drop compensation. Doesn't have guided missiles or anything, because that would be silly.
    • The second generation of the rifle is a pair of gauntlets with guns on them, which can fire anything 20 mm or less.
  • Dan Abnett's Triumff has a literal Swiss Army Weapon - the series is an Anachronism Stew of steampunk, modern fantasy and Victorian themes. The main character's main weapon is the couteau suisse, a hex-powered weapon which, at the touch of a (somewhat unreliable) button, will manifest a variety of fighting blades (usually a rapier, but on one occasion, a cutlass), as well as, when the mood takes it, traditional Swiss Army Knife tools, including a veg peeler.
  • Prince Charming (yes, that's really his name) in John Moore's Slay and Rescue receives as a gift a sword with a number of tools folded into the grip. It didn't come with a manual, though, so Charming and everyone else who admires the device is puzzled by one particular fitting. Fortunately, Charming figures out when it's most needed that the mystery tool is a lockpick.
  • Old Man's War by John Scalzi. The nanotech-based weapons used by the main character can do anything from rockets, grenades, and bullets, and fire them in whatever pattern needed thanks to the Brain Pal interface.
  • The artifact without an instruction manual in the choose-your-own-adventure book The Citadel of Chaos. It's about as likely to turn into a squeaky hammer and a sunsword.
  • In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a towel is dubbed the most important tool for any galactic hitchhiker. It can be wetted down for hand-to-hand combat, made into a blanket, coat, or sail, used to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Trall... and of course dry yourself off with it if it's clean enough.


Live Action TV

  • Kunai Gun and Perfect Zector from Kamen Rider Kabuto. The first can be used as handgun, knife or axe. The latter is BFS/rifle combination.
  • The DenGasher and ZeroGasher in Kamen Rider Den-O, which are multi-part weapons whose mode depends on how the parts are combined. The latter is simply a BFS/crossbow, but the former has been changed into a sword, gun, axe, spear/fishing rod, paired boomerang and hand axe, and naginata. Useful things they are.
  • Kamen Rider Decade's Ride Booker has three functions - a blaster, a sword, and storing the cards he uses to turn into other Riders and use special attacks.
  • Most Super Sentai groups (and, by extension, their Power Ranger counterparts) have laser pistols that become a sword or some other melee weapon for their common sidearm.
    • Standout examples include Gao Silver's Hustler Rod (a sword, rifle and pool cue), Bouken Silver's Saga Sniper (gun, sword and metal detector) and Gokai Silver's Gokai Spear (trident, spear and anchor). For some reason, they like giving these kind of weapons to Silver Rangers...
    • Before any of those three, MammothRanger had an axe that turned into a laser cannon (a concept that would be re-used for the U.S. exclusive Titanium Ranger's weapon, and the entire Gingaman team had the Mechanical Blade Kiba (or Transdaggers), which has SIX different modes: fang (its default form, which is used both for one of the team's original finishing moves and for activating and controlling their mecha), short sword, claw, laser crossbow, a pair of daggers and a longbow.
  • The Qualta Blade in Farscape, which can transform into a pulse rifle.
  • The phasers and disruptors from Star Trek could be used to stun someone, burn or heat a target, kill, be set on overload and explode, or even disintegrate a target. It was even useful in brewing coffee.
  • In Andromeda, the Force Lance can fire plasma burst, shoot smart bullets (which are themselves Swiss Army Weapons, because they can target opponents or intercept incoming missiles, bullets, or mortar rounds), shock unauthorized users who touch it, shock the ground near someone, be set on a "lightning" setting in which it can only fire 3 short range shock pulses, expand into a 2-meter long staff (which can shock people it touches, set on overload and used as a grenade, and be used as a grappling hook, cutting torch, or light source.
  • Tomica Hero Rescue Force has the Rescue Breakers, which are a combination of a rope, an axe, a pickaxe, a hammer, a drill, an analyzer-camera thingy, and a grappling hand, as well as the Rescue Crusher, which has chainsaw, drill (again), and water cannon modes. And then we get into the Max Divider, which is comprised of a circular saw, a sword and another drill.
    • The spinoff Rescue Fire has the Tri-Basher which has Gun, Sword and extinguisher modes.
  • The Sonic Screwdriver in Doctor Who, can be used for anything from picking locks to making robots' heads explode.
    • Just don't bother trying it on anything wood.
    • Or around hair dryers.
    • Word of God has stated that the writers have fun trying to come up with new uses for the Sonic Screwdriver.
  • The Witchblade. Usually it was a bracelet. When the wielder needed it to, it would become a dagger, a short sword, a broadsword, a cestus. It could also become a steel gauntlet, a vambrace, or even a whole suit of plate armor when it had to.
  • House is a zombie slayer in his dreams, and gets an appropriately cool weapon: his cane can transform into either an axe or a shotgun.
  • A memorable sketch in the early days of Saturday Night Live featured Dan Aykroyd doing a commercial for the Swiss Army Gun. It featured the usual knife features (utility blade, nail file, fish scaler, corkscrew), along with a .357 revolver, a sub-machine gun, and a mortar (with incindiary grenade). Plus a genuine ivory toothpick. "Isn't that amazing?"


Tabletop Games

  • Dungeons & Dragons examples, all shapeshifting.
    • 1st Edition Advanced D&D
      • Dungeon Master's Guide: Rod of Lordly Might (mace, sword, battle axe, spear, life-force absorbing device, magic staff, door opener, ladder, target of infinite puns...)
      • Unearthed Arcana: Rod of Flailing (rod, horseman's mace, footman's mace), Staff-Mace (quarterstaff, great mace, mace), Staff-Spear (staff, spear, long spear), Anything Sword (any type of sword), Hornblade (knife, dagger, scimitar).
    • Slightly subtler: metalline, a metal that allows a weapon made of it to switch between any kind of special material, such as adamantine, mithral, or silver—useful for overcoming different types of damage reduction.
    • Magic Item Compendium: The Rod of Surprises, it can be used as a javelin, kama, longspear, quarterstaff, scythe, shortspear, short sword or spear. It can also store messages of up to 25 words to be repeated on command. There is also the Morphing property, that allows a weapon to become any other weapon of the same hand category (i.e. a one-handed weapon with the property can be any one-handed weapon).
    • Every single weapon ever made by the Kender of D&D's Dragonlance setting, as seen here.
  • Warhammer 40,000
    • Obliterators absorb weapons into their bodies, and can transform their arms into meltaguns, lascannons and plasma guns amongst others.
    • A slightly more subtle version is the Shot Selector weapon upgrade in Inquisitor and Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay series - it allows a weapon to hold multiple magazines of different types of ammunition, allowing the user to switch between them quickly.
      • It should probably be noted, however, that in DH and RT the main use for Shot Selectors (according to posts on the official forum) seems to be tripling the weapon's ammo capacity, rather than providing extra shot types. The disadvantage of +0.5 kg (DH) or even +1 kg (in RT) extra weight usually is quite acceptable. This has annoyed a number of people to the extent that many groups have a Gentleman's Agreement not to use them, or at least to use them as they were in Inquisitor (where they split the magazine into sections with different ammo types and Shot Selectors switched between them- even in a revolver). Canon weapons with built-in selectors use either 3 magazines with significantly reduced capacity (Cadence "Spectre" Assault Device: 20 shots vs. 30) or 2 full-sized (Merovech-pattern Assault Lasgun).
      • The original models and illustrations don't help much. Sternguard Bolter is supposed to switch ammunition, but it uses a single but very fancy ([wide and partially open) magazine made just for it. Artifex pattern bolter, as ­seen on a Space Marine model and illustration, has one full-sized sickle or drum magazine attached below normally and two small boxes on the left side… a-and two more on the right , but since the top boxes are exactly where most bolters have ejection ports, it's a mystery where casings are supposed to go.
    • Combi-bolters are boltguns with melta, plasma or flamer built into them. They only have enough ammunition to fire the secondary weapon once. Bolters used by Space Marine Sternguard also count, as they come with various special ammo for different tasks, such as taking out heavily armoured targets or negating cover.
    • Also an honorable mention for Ork Big Meks in Dawn of War, whose Power Klaw looks like a lot like a swiss army chainsaw.
  • As mentioned above, Humongous Mecha are pretty much already a type of Swiss Army Weapon, but in BattleTech they go one further: the Clans have invented OmniMechs, which rather than relying on fixed hard points that require an entire variant to be redesigned to get a different configuration have modular points that can field virtually any weapon or equipment, as long as there's unused mass and space.
  • Magic: The Gathering has Umezawa's Jitte. Pump yourself up? Check. Recover lost health? Check. Kill guys that you aren't even fighting with? Check.
  • One of the items in the original "Munchkin" card game is a Swiss Army polearm. (Depicted as having a number of halberd like blades, apparently able to (against all reason) fold into the shaft.)
  • In Paranoia, cone rifles and some other guns take multiple types of ammo (armor-piercing, hallucinogenic gas, tactical nuke, etc.) with the same size shells, which are never ever mislabeled.
  • Boris' crazy polearm from GURPS: Low-Tech is a dueling halberd axe head, pick head, barbed spear point, a second spear point at the butt, a hook and a four yard long kusari (chain) attached somewhere on it. It's hard to even envision such a monstrosity.
  • Gamma World module GW6 Alpha Factor. The list of New Items includes the Chameleon Rifle. It has interchangeable barrels that allow it to fire as a rifle (single shot or semi-automatic) or submachine gun.
  • Shadowrun. The AUG-CSL Weapon System in the 1E/2E Street Samurai Catalog can be assembled as a submachine gun, carbine, assault rifle or light machine gun.
    • And 4E has the HK XM30 (based on the XM-29 and the XM8) mentioned under Real Life. Baseline, the XM30 is an assault rifle with an underbarrel grenade launcher. Using different kits, you can modify it to have an underbarrel shotgun, become a carbine rifle, sniper rifle or a light machine gun.
  • In Traveller, the alien race Aslan (called so because of their superficially leonine appearance) once used a fierah. This is basically a cord carried as a sash or belt but capable of being adapted to a number of uses including as a sling, a flail, or a garrote. Aslan are a high-tech civilization by now but the description makes it sound like something useful to have even in the modern Traveller universe.

Video Games

  • In Assassin's Creed II, Ezio's left-hand hidden blade gets attachments for a thin poison needle and a pistol alongside the usual stabbing blade.
  • As its name suggests, Jude's Shapeshifter from Wild ARMs 4 can take many forms. Throughout the game, Jude has used it as a pistol, a sword, a shield, a sub-machine gun, and a shoulder-mounted beam cannon.
  • The titular weapons from the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur games are legendary swords which can change form to weapons more suited to their wielders' fighting styles. Some of the characters from the games also wield transforming weapons themselves, such as Ivy Valentine and her sword/whip, or her father Cervantes de Leon and his sword/pistol (paired with a normal sword). There's also Necrid from SCII, who wields a glowing ball of energy which can transform into a number of different weapons suitable for the moves he copies from other characters.
  • Ignoring the Canon Discontinuity for a moment, Krystal's staff (which Fox steals) from Star Fox Adventures is the main way in which Fox interacts with his environment. He can use it as a blunt killing stick, a basic blaster, an ice blaster, a mini-earthquake maker, an impromptu switch, a basic lever, a mini-rocket, a Mook disguise, and a magic door key.
  • One could probably count Samus' Arm Cannon from Metroid as well, since it can open up into a missile launcher.
    • And, in the first two Prime games, it can switch between four different beams, complete with a slightly different physical configuration for each one.
    • Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's stun pistol transforms into a laser whip.
    • In Metroid Prime, she has a power beam, a wave beam, an ice beam, and a plasma beam. She can fire a charged beam and a charged combo (which uses missiles) from any of those. She also has the missiles. Finally, she also gets a phazon-based weapon in the boss fight. That gives her fourteen weapons she can fire from her arm cannon. There's also her grapple beam, which isn't a weapon, and two different kinds of mines that can only be used when in the morph ball. If you're willing to count those, that makes it seventeen.
      • A nice little touch: The HUD identifies the four beams with Chozo hand signs. If you use the X-ray visor, you can see Samus's hand making those signs inside the gun.
        • Hard to tell if it's the same in Echoes, since the weapons are identified by simple symbols. And in Corruption, using the X-Ray/Thermal Visor shows that the Arm Cannon just has a type of trigger inside of it. Makes you wonder how she shoots in Prime and Echoes.
    • Even the Grapple Beam becomes a weapon in Corruption. Now Samus can yank away an enemy's armor or shield, and with later upgrades even use it to siphon energy to or from a target. This can be used to absorb health from or electrocute enemies.
  • Mag, the main character in the Evolution game series had a literal Swiss army weapon. It was a giant Swiss army knife strapped to his back that could toss bombs, shoot flames, wield hammers, and heal amongst other things.
  • The "Assault Rifle" used by the associated powerset in City of Heroes/City of Villains has an improbable number of alternate fire modes and non-removable integrated weapons, including the titular assault rifle, a shotgun hot-swappable between regular shot, slugs and beanbags without reloading, a grenade launcher, a sniper rifle, and a flamethrower. And that's without the rocket launcher and freeze ray addons. Weapon customization was later added to the game, allowing Assault Rifle users to choose more conventional-looking skins for their weapons if they want them. It's still a frankengun, but now it no longer has to look like one.
  • The Mechswords from Atelier Iris 3 can change shape to do a variety of things, including extending a superheated alchemical prod or firing shuriken.
  • The titular/player character from Maken X is a sword with the ability to possess those it defeats in combat. It can then change itself into a form that suits them.
  • All of the weapons in Painkiller have two drastically different firing modes. In order of acquisition, a buzzsaw with a launchable auto-retracting warhead, a shotgun that can fire liquid nitrogen cylinders, a grenade launcher that also shoots stakes, a lightning-firing shuriken launcher and a chaingun-plus-rocket launcher. The expansion Battle Out Of Hell adds a flamethrower-plus-SMG and a rebar launcher with a multi-explosive attachment. The third part, Overdose, adds even more combined arms fun.
  • All of the weapons in Project Snowblind also have drastically different firing modes. Especially interesting is the silenced stealth pistol that can fire missiles, the shotgun that shoots sticky bombs, and the sniper rifle that can fire mind control bullets.
  • The Sparda weapon from Devil May Cry shifts between a BFS, a pike and a scythe when you do particular attacks. The Kalina Ann rocket launcher from the third game has a grappling hook bayonet and a cluster micro missile launcher attached. (After all, isn't the only thing better than rockets, more rockets?) Nevan from the same game normally acts as a guitar that shoots electricity and bats, but some of its abilities cause it to transform into an electrically-charged scythe. And the fourth game gives you Pandora's Box, which has at least six forms, including a crossbow, a rocket launcher, a giant frikkin' laser cannon, a chaingun, a fan-blade boomerang and a flying Macross Missile Massacre platform.
    • Also, the in-game description of Pandora's Box mentions the weapon having 666 different forms.
  • The aptly-named Multiple Weapon Systems wielded by Shion and Miyuki in Xenosaga. It's a giant square shield/gauntlet thing attached to the back of the arm which contains electric rods, a fire bomb launcher, a giant blade, an antigravity device which enables an ordinary scientist to carry it, and more. But only in the first game. Shion later gets a more streamlined and compact version in the second and third games, while Miyuki brings back the big orange brick for her Guest Star Party Member stint in the third game.
    • KOS-MOS could be defined as one. She does.
  • Speaking of gun/sword combos, the gunblades from the Final Fantasy series. The original from Final Fantasy VIII is an odd non-example, since the "gun" mechanism only sends a shockwave through the blade at the moment of impact and can't actually be used to fire projectiles; however, later Final Fantasy spinoff media includes variants which fully function as both guns and swords, such as Loz and Yazoo's bladed rifles in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and Weiss's katana rifles from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Lightning, the heroine of Final Fantasy XIII, also wields a weapon which can switch between the forms of a sword and machine gun.
    • Dirge of Cerberus also had Rosso's... weapon thingy, which could be used as a staff, a gun, or a dual-bladed sword.
    • Other Final Fantasy XIII weapons do this as well as the characters gain longer ATB gauges. While Lightning's weapon switches between sword and gun as mentioned above, Fang's changes from a spear, or a staff, to a Sansetsukon triple staff with spikes on the end to stab. Sazh's dual pistols transform into an assault rifle or shot gun at the end of his combo. An honorable mention goes to Hope's boomerang, which folds like a pocket knife at the end of combat.
  • Barret's gun-arm in Final Fantasy VII perhaps. He starts with a Gatling Gun and gets some other machine guns, but also gets a mace, shears, a chainsaw, laser guns, a drill, rocket launchers, and even an oversized fist. Since the gun was grafted onto his arm, that "base" must be constant while the business end is changed.
  • Garland in Dissidia Final Fantasy has a BFS that splits into two smaller blades for him to Dual Wield, transforms into an axe, extends and whirls about on a chain, and lengthens to form a lance. His entire fighting style centers on the blade automatically shifting form on its own in combat—assume lance form and charge forward to impale them, then shift to axe form and slam them to the ground.
    • Of course, it's big enough that even he can't wield it as you would a proper sword; in that form, he has to drag it on the ground (complete with sparks and damage to the floor), and swing it around himself in order to attack with it.
  • Above gunblades aside, Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers gave us the GUMP, or Gun COMPuter. The computer lets you summon and control demons to do your bidding, and the gun lets you shoot things, as opposed to the other way around.
  • Cupil in Skies of Arcadia is a Swiss Army Weapon of sorts. If given enough "chams", he gains the ability to transform into a new, stronger type of weapon, which falls into one of two broad categories: a cutting weapon, such as a knife or sword, or a bludgeoning weapon, which makes a mildly humorous "donk" noise when he connects.
  • The upcoming cancelled FPS Tiberium from EA, set in the Command & Conquer series, hands such a device to the lead character instead of the typical mass of weapons available in a FPS.
  • Jak's Morph gun that he gets in Jak II starts out as basically a shotgun, but gets mods to become a rifle, machinegun, and BFG. In Jak 3, it also gets mods for a ground wave, reflecting laser, electric arc, anti-gravity wave, grenade launcher, Attack Drone, homing needlegun, and finally a pocket nuke. In TLF, the Gunstaff goes back to the original four.
  • A mild example can be found in the Silencer's armor of Crusader, which can use a series of different batteries, mount multiple different types of shielding, allows an infrared-viewing chip to be placed in the visor, has a surprisingly large backpack that's apparently bolted on, a datalink (PDA with wi-fi access, effectively) mounted in one arm, a holster designed for multiple pistol types on one hip, and can even power energy weapons. And, of course, it's hella stylish.
  • Mega Man's buster arm in the classic and Mega Man X series can reproduce any projectile gained from defeated bosses. This includes but is not limited to: Fire, ice, lightning, bubbles, leaves, whirlwinds, swords, missiles, bombs, boomerangs, soccer balls...
    • If Cerveau is to be believed, the Triple Rod, Chain Rod, Recoil Rod, and Shield Boomerang are all functions of the Z-Saber in Mega Man Zero. In the sequel series, the titular Rockman Model ZX has a single weapon that is a pistol or a sword.
  • Parodied in Kingdom of Loathing with the ridiculously overelaborate ninja weapon. The description states that "you have absolutely no idea how to use it, but it looks totally badass".
  • The Laser Weapon from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Ordinarily just a handle, it can be equipped by any character and its blade changes form depending on the user.
  • In World of Warcraft Benediction, a healing staff, could - at the owner's whim - be morphed into Anathema, a damage dealing weapon (this transformation worked both ways). Likewise, hunters had access to a bow that could morph into a staff and back.
    • From the same instance also comes Thunderstrike/Shadowstrike, a polearm that could transform between two forms, each with a different chanse-on-hit-effect. Other than the procs, neighter form had any other stats, making it the weapon universally known as Vendorstrike.
    • Furthermore, some weapons or other equipment double their normal purpose with other things. Like opening portals to a certain location or producing drinks out of nowhere.
  • Unreal II the Awakening sports a grenade launcher capable of firing six different types of grenades (high-explosive, incendiary, toxic, EMP, concussion and smoke).
    • The Unreal Tournament series weapons fall under this as well. Notable examples include the Flak Cannon (a shotgun/grenade launcher), the Shock Rifle (a gun which shoots laser beams and laser balls, the latter of which can be shot by the former to create a powerful explosion), and the Link Gun (which can rapid-fire green pellets of death or a constant stream of plasma; both hurt enemies, but from 2003 onward the latter powers up allies with a Link Gun equipped and repairs friendly vehicles and control nodes).
    • UT 99's rocket launcher has features which combine into seven different firing modes: launch of single rocket, launch of multiple rockets in a spread, launch of multiple rockets in a solid cluster, launch of homing rockets, launch of single rocket as grenade, launch of multiple rockets as grenades in a spread, and the same in a cluster. (If only it made coffee, life would be complete.)
  • Discounting the fact that Humongous Mecha are giant walking Swiss Army Weapons by default, the Weissritter (Excellen Browning's personal unit) from various Super Robot Wars games is armed with the Oxtongue Launcher, which can fire a laser blast or large artillery shells (or both at once in its Limit Break). Somehow, it seems to switch modes depending on how many times it is spun around the mech's hand before firing.
    • This is because it is two guns fused together along the barrel, so you have to flip it to use the other gun. The Oxtongue Rifle is far more streamlined, and incorporated into one gun whose mode shifts are controlled by software
    • The spinoff RPG Endless Frontier features Haken Browning (who despite the name is more like the Expy of Excellen's boyfriend) and his Night Fowl, an assault rifle with an underslung stake driver and a fold-out blade in the stock, which he wields with a similar amount of gun-twirling flare.
    • Sanger Zonvolt can do pretty much anything with the BFS on his best unit, because he's just that awesome. It's still just a sword, though, and not an actual Swiss Army Weapon. Until he morphs it into a machete/boomerang, anyway.
    • The Landgrief has the "Incision Knife", a gigantic combat knife that can transform from a traditional pigsticker into what looks for all the world like a pair of gardening shears. Maybe its for clearing a path during jungle fights. Or maybe they just like really big topiaries in the Shadow Miror Universe.
    • The Gunleon from SRW Z has a giant wrench... until suddenly it is turned into a three-sectioned staff and used to really kick some ass in the vein of Bruce Lee (but not enough to clone him).
    • Also from SRWZ, the Virgola is armed with a coffin like thing. Each of your three Virgola start with a different attack using it, and by the end, Setsuko gets to use all three with the one... coffin... thing.
  • The hybrid driving/first-person shooter game Redline featured a rifle whose barrel could transform into a variety of weapons, including a shotgun, assault rifle, grenade launcher, and even a rotary saw.
    • The aforementioned rotary saw could also act as a propeller, launching the player across the map if they jumped while using it.
  • Star Wars: Republic Commando gave the player the DC-17m blasters which could be configured from its standard automatic blaster form into a sniper rifle or a grenade launcher, complete with characters changing parts on-screen.
    • The novels to the game have Verpine weapons which don’t technically change appearance or function but can be loaded with ANYTHING including rocks and candy.
  • Mass Effect's omnitool has been the long-running all in one weapon. It has been used to melt assault rifles into generic matter, fabricate shield and weapon disrupting grenades (That also put out enough energy to inflict severe bodily harm,) fire guided explosive flaming shells, more grenades of more standard variants, project a nearly indestructable shield on the part of the shadow broker, spontaneously boost your own shields, it has been used to sap energy from enemy shields as well as synthetic energy, and in the sequel it can be used in a series of powerful melee attacks, involving three that project swords, as well as one highly incendiary one. Other tech attacks that appear to have used it have involved inflicting sever head trauma with it, supposedly driving a spike of the generic compressed matter into your opponents head, and remotely causing extreme pain in your opponents nervous system. It is also an effective hacking tool that can be use to rapidly modify weapon systems, with ammo upgrades in 1, and ammo powers in 2.
  • The keyblade from Kingdom Hearts is a legendary magical weapon, but is gotten very early in the game. Instead of getting new weapons, your weapon upgrades take the form of keychains which transform the keyblade into new and more powerful forms.
    • The Bonus Boss of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ takes it over the top: Over the span of the Battle, he can turn his keyblade into a whip, a giant energy cannon, a longbow which fires arrows which screw up your menu, some sort of clockwork-punching-glove and even a hoverbike.
  • The Johnny 5 (probably a play on the Johnny 7, see Real Life section of this page) in ZPC: machinegun, shotgun, laser zapper, grenade launcher and super-disintegrator. Whether it's been done this way for massive sprite recycling power is left to the readers.
  • Technically, the weapon from Eradicator is one of this, but none of the forms look remotely similar to one another nor is there any animated transition between them, so it's probably just the manual trying to justify one guy/girl/alien carrying a huge arsenal by him/herself.
  • Most of the guns in Perfect Dark have multiple functions. The Dragon's main function is a powerful assault rifle, but flip a switch and it becomes a land mine. Anybody who touches it is blown to smithereens. As one can imagine, the gun is a BITCH in multiplayer.
    • Unless you have the other gun which is a light carbine with a built-in mine detector.
    • Not to mention the Super Dragon. It had the firepower of the Dragon, but instead of becoming a proximity mine, it could become a grenade launcher.
    • The Laptop Gun takes the cake, its default form is a functional laptop (well, the screen at least lights up) so you can sneak it into a secure area. Once you're ready to do your dirty work, it does some flipping and folding and turns into a machinegun. And if you need to cover your escape, throw it at a wall and it will do some more flipping and folding and turn into an autonomous sentry gun.
  • Dark Sector features a bladed disc weapon called the Glaive. As well as being able to throw it, by the end of the game you can power throw it for quadruple damage, guide it in flight, use it as a flashlight, use it to pick up distant objects and return them to you, absorb elements and use them to damage your enemies, absorb elements and use them to cause explosions, generate a force field that reflects all enemy fire to your weapon's crosshair, and turn yourself invisible with it. Oh, and you can also hit people in the face with it.
  • Tron 2.0 has a basic set of weapons (a disc, a stick, a virus ball and a "machine gun") which can transform to many other weapons, for example, the stick can transform from a close combat stun rod to a sniper rifle.
  • Septerra Core does this to some people of the party through upgrading the weapons with add-ons. As an example, the machine gun of the main character gets the ability to shoot grenades (normal ones, napalm grenades and cluster grenades), energy beams and seeking missiles.
    • Pretty much why the aforementioned M4 Carbine is the signature weapon of both Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and America's Army: Special Forces, as their most customizable weapon. Perhaps in indirect imitation of this, assault rifles seem to have become the most "do it all" modular weapon type in first-person shooters that allow attachments and some degree of precision aiming (such as aiming through the sights).
  • The player's main (and only) weapon system in Codename: Outbreak is a giant rifle-like weapon with a rotating barrel, where each "slot" is a different gun with its own ammo, including a sniper rifle, a silent (not to the player) laser, an assault rifle, and a laser-guided rocket launcher. The weapon also includes an infrared scope and a parabolic microphone. The player is also incapable of picking up enemy weapons, only their ammo and other supplies.
  • Ricardo of Shadow Hearts: From The New World carries an acoustic guitar. His normal attack turns the neck into a machine gun and the body into a shotgun. Some of his Serenata attacks, in turn, turn it into a flamethrower and, in his most powerful, a multi-barrel missile launcher. And it still plays sweet music!
  • Wizardry 8 has the Omnigun given to the Gadgeteer class. It starts being able to fire bullets and rocks. As it is upgraded, it gains more and more versatility.
  • Cryptosporidium's gun in any of the Destroy All Humans! games starts off just being able to shoot electricity, but each datacore you pick up adds another mode of fire, from heat rays and grenades to anti-gravity buzzsaws and remote control anal probes.
  • Although not used for said purposes during the story, the Seventh Scripture in Tsukihime has numerous abilities. The basic redesigned form made it from an antireincarnation weapon into something that can also fire holy harpoons like bullets. That's instory still, though. Some mentioned other uses note that the weight can be doubled if you add all the various optional pieces to it. Also comes with the spirit of a teenage girl with hooves and strange ears. Order now and we'll include the customized industrial model with four random dots on it!
  • In The Conduit, the ASE (All-Seeing Eye) can find hidden caches, hack computers, show the path to the next objective, detonate mines, and reveal invisible switches and enemies.
  • Iji's gun can function as any of quite a lot of different weapons, once she finds an example of said weapon to copy and has a high enough level in the appropriate skill.
  • In Tales of Vesperia, the character Yeager has what appears to be a Scythe, a crossbow and a rifle all in one.
    • Hubert Ozwell of Tales of Graces uses a pair of small swords that also function as pistols. He can join them together to form a double-bladed weapon, which can in turn act as a bow for him to fire energy arrows from.
  • In Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the Wutai troops use a weapon that is a combination of a polearm and a gun.
  • The Sacred Clay weapons in RuneScape can transform between the three different combat styles, and the tools can transform between many useful tools like needles, fletching knives, hatchets, and butterfly nets.
    • Memebers now also have access to the Dwarven Army Axe, which combines the functions of a hatchet, pickaxe, needle, tinderbox and chisel into one item. While nowhere near as good as a specialty pick or hatchet, being able to cram five tool into one inventory slot is very useful when traversing dangerous areas of the world that need those sort of tools to get around.
  • Monster Hunter Tri introduced the series to the Switch Axe. A mechanical weapon that folds out into an axe when you take it out, and can be rearranged into the shape of a huge sword that explodes on each swing.
  • Namco Bandai's thoroughly anime response to Monster Hunter, God Eater, hands your player character a weapon that can transform into an enormous sword or a gigantic cannon. You can also customize the parts.
  • While not a transforming weapon, Executioner Majini of Resident Evil fame, both in game and in the latest movie, lugs around a BIG weapon which is something like an axehammer, both axe and hammer molded into one to form the weapon's huge head.
  • The Lancer in Gears of War is both an automatic rifle and a chainsaw.
  • In Jet Set Radio and its sequels, the player character can use 'spray paint' to kill police officers, give their rollerblades a crazy boost, disable machinery, cover spotlights, disable bomb timers, operate switches.....
  • The protagonist and antagonist in Nanobreaker both wielded plasma swords which could seamlessly alter the shape of the blades from a simple katana shape, into a greatsword, into an axe, into a scythe, and an enormous hammer. And that's just over the course of one combo.
  • Lifeforce: Tenka has a multimode weapon that changes appearance as plugins are collected.
  • Beyond the Grave from Gungrave carries a large steel coffin on his back that acts as his gun rack, impromptu JATO device, machine gun AND rocket launcher. Also works really well if you smash a mook in the face with it. Also has a spike that lets Grave plant it in the ground so the jets can spin it around and fire a machine gun in a 360 degree arc of death.
  • Star Wars the Old Republic: The Republic Trooper's weapon becomes this no matter which Advanced Class is chosen. Besides standard beams, it's a grenade launcher, mortar launcher, AOE ion pulse, a Healing Shiv, and more.
  • The Dream Dagger in Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer can be shapeshifted into any weapon your character has the weapon proficiency feat for.
  • The Pyro's flamethrower is surprisingly versatile for a flamethrower. It can set enemies on fire (obviously), reveal disguised or cloaked Spies (by spraying flame onto suspicious-looking players or empty spaces), give a friendly Sniper literal firepower by setting his Arrows on Fire, blow away enemy sticky grenades with the airblast, blow away enemies in general, extinguish burning teammates, reflect rockets, grenades, arrows, baseballs, and pretty much any other projectile that isn't a bullet, shotgun shell, or syringe.
  • While already kind of qualifying as a "weapon" herself, Peacock in Skullgirls is equipped with a device called the Avery Unit which gives her access to a seemingly infinite array of weapons and explosives (most of them based around the "Silver Age" of cartoons, and at least some of them sentient).


Web Animation

  • In Banana-nana-Ninja! Baninja uses an Omni-Functional Kitchen Gadget to win the Feast Master cooking tournament. The OFKG "transforms into any cooking tool you could possibly need, and dozens more that you couldn't possibly need, ever!" It is used as a saucepan, a range, and later a Humongous Mecha.
  • Most of the weapons we see in RWBY.

Web Comics

  • The Talking Weapon Blackshard of Darken can shapeshift to whatever form its owner - or it - desires, and has become everything between a regular sword and mace to a whip and a bone saw.
  • In The KAMics Gertrude invented a Swiss Army Sword, although it does have a few drawbacks...
  • Dusty in Corner Alley 13 has a Swiss Army Axe.
  • Donovan in MSF High has a hilt that can become a large number of things, but can't seem to pull out a simple sword.
  • In Clockworks, Thorton's bow has blades attached to the limbs, thus making it an effective melee weapon as well.
  • In Goblins, Dies Horribly had his hand replaced with a shape-shifting living metal thing, which can imitate a normal hand, becomes a ridiculously spikey gauntlet when he's frightened, and has been used as a grappling hook and a long-range stabbing implement.
  • There are several examples in MS Paint Adventures. In Problem Sleuth, there was a running gag that weapons could turn into innocuous items, such as a tube of lipstick into a chainsaw and a paintbrush into a whip. In Homestuck, Kanaya wields a lipstick/chainsaw as a Mythology Gag, while Jane has a spoon that can turn into a fork at the flip of a switch.

Web Original

Western Animation

  • Keytools in ReBoot. "Glitch! Anything!"
  • An episode of The Tick (animation), "Little Wooden Boy and the Belly of Love", had a group of Swiss criminals using oversized Swiss Army Knives that included zip-lines, laser blasters, and helicopter rotors.
  • Omi's Shimo Staff in Xiaolin Showdown—it's a small baton that can be transformed into any Melee weapon when wielded.
    • It's made of solid water. Don't ask me how that works, and keep in mind that this is a show with coins that make you leap like an insect, and shirts that weigh two tons and are indestructible.
  • Parodied in an episode of Earthworm Jim, where Jim tries to free himself and his sidekick with his "Swedish Army Claws", but he never gets the tool he wants:

Jim: Corkscrew? Rats! Nail file? Rats! Bottle opener? Rats!
Peter: Um, Jim? Since your arm is free, why don't you just use your gun?

  • The Lotus Blade from one episode of Kim Possible was a magic sword that could turn in to any weapon. And a shield. And a telephone.
  • Inspector Gadget is pretty much a living Swiss Army Weapon.
  • Long John Silver's robotic arm in Treasure Planet.
  • In Rock a Doodle Doo One character use an actual Swiss Army Knife as a weapon. His Rummage Fail can reveal such items as flags, flowers and umbrellas. The last item he uses is a flyswatter.
  • In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang's staff doubles as both a melee weapon and a personal flight device. In the third season, he gets a new staff that has the same functions, but has a small snack compartment built into it.
  • Trevor Goodchild, nemesis of Aeon Flux, carries a multifunction cigarette case and lighter that transforms into a derringer. In one episode (A Last Time for Everything) it's highlighted as a MacGuffin.
    • Aeon's own weapon of choice, the FUG (Flux Universal Gun) is also fairly modular. It can be loaded with numerous different types of ammo, including rapid fire flechettes, high explosive shells, high explosive robot spiders & of course, pressurized gas cartridges & a grapple.
  • Ulysses 31. Whether you regard it as a laser gun with a lightsabre or a lightsabre with a laser gun either way there is not much else you need.
  • Hawkgirl's Energy Mace from Justice League. It's made of energy-dispersing Nth Metal and can be electrically charged with a thought. So it functions as a light source, protection against magic, and a Magical Defibrillator. When she isn't using it to smash things.
  • She-Ra's sword has transformed into a shield, a helmet, and a parachute - all in the same episode.
  • The Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Slaver Weapon" (based on Larry Niven's short story "The Soft Weapon").
  • Galtar and the Golden Lance: the titular hero wields the titular weapon as a pair of sabers, which can join together at the pommel into a Double Weapon or combine into a more powerful sword, it also retracts into a double pommel shaped stick.
  • The vast majority of the weapons we see in RWBY have at least two forms/functions. The few exceptions include Jaune's sword (although his shield might count) prior to V4, Ren's pistols (which while combining blades and guns haven't yet shown ability to change shape), and Torchwick's cane-gun.

Real Life

  • The multi-purpose Swiss Army Knife, of course. It's the Trope namer after all. The standard Swiss Army Knife doesn't have that many functions (not even a corkscrew) compared to other models, some of which can be used as a memory stick or MP3-player in addition to a varying degree of functions. The most expensive one has 85 devices and 110 functions.
    • As well as the Swiss Army Knife's major competitor, the Leatherman Tool (get your minds out of the gutter), which uses pliers rather than a knife as the 'core' tool.
    • Both of these, of course, are mostly not supposed to be weapons. Even more standard knives for other militaries are generally not designed for the sole purpose of killing someone - its an addon..
    • That 85-function knife is Awesome but Impractical, since it's clearly too unwieldy to make effective use of most of the functions. (Does "bludgeon" count as a function?).
    • A lot of models of Swiss come with no bigger then a three inch main blade and no locking device. If you wish to use that as a weapon it can only be done in a stealth attack aimed at a neck artery. It is hard to make a fighting knife that folds and though it can be done you really should have a sturdy tang. Also the labyrinth of crevices for blood to drip into tell you that it would be hard to clean after a fight. You can use the awl as a punch dagger but it is so short that all it will get you is a change from a night in the lockup for brawling to assault with a "deadly" weapon. Swisses are work knives or hobby knives not fighting knives and though they can be used as weapons, as indeed can almost anything, they don't work well.
  • Toy version: The Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army).
    • One episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent had Detective Goren gleefully mess about with one to force an antique store owner to say where he got a certain piece of merchandise (which he was avoiding showing its rightful own in the cold opening).
  • The XM-29 SABR, more commonly known as the OICW, was designed as a compliment for the M16 family; originally, it was supposed to replace the M16 entirely. It features a laser telemeter, a fire control computer, an IR/NV camera scope with adjustable zoom, a 5.56 mm carbine, a magazine-fed 20mm grenade launcher [later 25mm] with user-set fusing, and an optional bayonet. Which must have been like trying to stab someone to death with a television set.
    • The Daewoo K11 uses the same layout as the OICW, with the added bonus that it may actually see service.
      • Who's crazy enough to put that unwieldy beast into massproduction? Daewoo, that's who!
    • The AICW, basically the same thing without the second magazine.
  • Many modern weapons are becoming more modular in this way. A good example is the XM8 modular carbine, which in addition to the basic weapon could be easily switched between grenadier (just a swap of the front end), (even more compact) carbine, "automatic rifle" (light machine gun) and designated marksmanship rifle (not quite configurations; eventually the latter two (sharing the same barrel length—that of an M16) would simply be combined into one full auto-capable rifle with a light machine gun magazine and a 4x scope.
    • This was started by the Stoner 63 Light Weapons System.
    • Which maybe inspired this guy to draw this modular weapon.
    • The AR-15 family of weapons has had this modularity for decades - the entire upper half of the rifle (barrel, bolt group, and sights) can be swapped by pushing out two pins. The SOPMOD package for the M4A1 carbine included, at one point, a short barreled upper half (CQBR) and a light sniper rifle upper half (SPR). Both were eventually issued as standalone weapons, but the concept is essentially the same as the H&K XM8 - with the added advantage that the M4A1 isn't a plastic-encased G36 that melted in sustained automatic fire testing.
  • Going back a ways, the medieval halberd combined the functions of a pole-axe and a spear, and it also had a hook useful for pulling enemy cavalry off of their mounts (and it also doubled as a counterweight to the axe-blade, improving the halberd's balance). Some halberds also had a weighted base which could be used like a mace if it wasn't sharpened into a spike and a reinforced shaft to block weapons.
      • The halberd, of course, having been used prominently by the early Swiss armies, is a literal Swiss Army weapon.
    • The amusingly-named Bohemian earspoon combined a pick with a spear for flexibility against armoured foes.
    • The Bec de Corbin and Lucerne hammer both combined the warhammer with the pick and spear.
    • In fact most of the later polearms combined at least two functions be it axe, spear, hook, hammer or spike; the shorter ones could also be used like a staff.
  • Many modern weapons use accessory mounting rails to increase their modularity and utility.
  • Going way back:
    • Shield with a knife/short sword blade
    • Shield with a gun
    • Cutlass pistol
    • Rapier pistol (single shot, of course)
    • This beauty.
    • The Hall flintlock rifle had a breech-loading action which could be removed entirely and used as a somewhat ungainly pistol.
    • There was a period in black powder weapon history where various melee weapons - including maces and swords - with a gun in them became fashionable. Their actual utility is questionable. Tools could also contain (sometimes poorly concealed) weaponry; there is a set of cutlery with miniature flintlock pistols at the end. The book suggests you shoot the cook if your steak is too stringy.
    • Likewise, in the Old West, ammo was of poor quality and couldn't hold up to the rigors of the environment, so it was common for pistols to have a short blade or a thick barrel to be used as an axe or club in close quarters.
  • The Apache revolver. A gun, knife, and knuckleduster all in one!
  • Modern bayonets, which can often be used as wire cutters in conjunction with the appropriate sheath.
    • The Chinese military allegedly had a version of their standard-issue bayonet that could function as a three-shot deringer.
  • Many modern military knives feature a mini compass in the pommel, which unscrews to reveal a mini survival kit.
  • An aircraft example: The Joint Strike Fighter. Designed to be modified as needed for Air Force, Navy or Marine forces, it can do Air Superiority (like an F-15), Tactical Bombing (like a B-2), or Close Air Support (like an A-10).
    • Its major transforming gadget is an entire VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) system. That's pretty awesome.
    • On paper it's awesome. In reality trying to cram so many functions and satisfy so many service requirements, created an aircraft that is a very expensive jack-of-all trades master of none. It can do air supremacy but not like the F-15. It's maneuverability is lower than that of the F-16 (and that's for the Air Force version, the Navy and Marine versions are even worse), it's stealth worse then that of the F-22 and it's radar inferior to an upgraded F-15. Bottom line, in long range engagements it would loose to an F-15 and in a short range engagments to an F-16, don't even consider sending it against F-22's or Russian PAK-FA. The Navy won't use it for air supremacy that's why they bought the F/A-18 E/F/G and it's AESA radar. For the tactical bombardment part, the aircraft is crippled again by it's low stealth compared to the B-2 and the fact that it carries about as much as an F-16 despite an empty weight twice as large. As for the Close Support part it's way inferior to the A-10, again, because of the low carried weight and also because of the high stall speed, less armoring and shorter loiter time compared to the A-10. Probably why the USAF decide to keep the A-10 in service well into the 2040s which is the time when F-35 will start being taken out of service,.
  • The Shaolin Monk's Shang Guo or Twin Hook Sword. Serve as swords, hooks, daggers, can be used to parry, and you can hook two blades together and swing them as one double-length weapon.
  • The simple yet oh so effective trench knife. Knuckleduster guard, a several inch-long knife blade, and a hardened pommel nut for breaking open someone's skull.
    • Similarly, the pata: a cross between a sword and a punch knife with a buckler built in. Presumably good for bashing as well, though I can't see a situation where you'd want to bother.
    • The entrenching tool. It's basically a small shovel that can be folded away for easy storage, but it's a critical tool of war that goes all the way back to Julius Caesar's time. Not only can it be used to dig trenches and pits, it can be used as a short-ranged weapon- some models even have concealed blades or serrated edges for cutting ropes and sawing wood.
  • The Le Mat revolver of the mid-19th century fired pistol bullets, and also had a single-shot barrel under the main one, containing either a charge of buckshot or a heavier-calibre pistol bullet than those in the cylinder.
  • Swords were one of the most versatile weapons in existence. They could be used for war, brawling, or prearranged fights. They can be used with the point, edge, flat, pommel, and even the guards (sometimes used to entrap an opponent), and different fighting styles as well as fashions of swordcrafting emphasize different aspects. In a non-lethal function the flat could also be used by military officers as bludgeons to herd cowards back into the firing line or in civilian life beat up a mugger without hurting him. There are even more weird models such as the Italian spatulated blade (roughly shaped like a Vulcan lirpa in Star Trek Amok Time) to kill with tip cuts. Or the Prussian Mensur blade to cut people up with tip cuts in frat boy tourneys, without killing them.
  • While the Kukri cannot shape-change, it has a multitude of uses aside from people-carving (a function it performs reasonably well at). It can be used as a machete, a meat cleaver, and can sometimes even cut wood.
    • The machete itself performs a lot of these functions itself, in addition to its intended role in harvesting sugar cane or clearing brush.
    • The utility cutting knife is so useful that it is found under a number of differing names and shapes.
  • While technically not a dedicated weapon the kunai of ancient Japan certainly had the capability for being used as one, either as a truncheon or a stabbing weapon.
  • The shotgun is itself a pretty versatile weapon, capable of loading anything from light birdshot to full slugs, or a variety of more specialist rounds like tasers, grenades, Dragon's Breath, flares, etc.
  • Speaking of shotguns, the Pancor Jackhammer, besides also potentially being fully automatic, has a drum magazine that can be used as an anti-personnel mine.
  • 37mm and 40mm grenade launchers can perform most of the above, but on a bigger scale.
  • World War 2 destroyers could do anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface work as well as providing amphibious support. Because they usually packed torpedoes as well as guns, they could punch above their weight if they got close in a surface action. And because they were cheap and fast they were the main competitors with submarines. Nobody could get enough destroyers.
  • One of the wackier examples. Perhaps better called a piece of impedimenta (Mili-speak for "miscellaneous stuff") then a weapon proper the condom saw a lot of warlike usage besides the obvious. One common use was to cap rifle muzzles in the rain. Another time, frogmen on Okinawa on an obstacle clearing mission put a condom on top of each punji stake (technically they weren't punji stakes as this was not Vietnam, but everyone has always used them and a stake is a stake). On one occasion a Haganah agent used them to smuggle messages behind German lines. All this made them a suprisingly high-demand item. But there is untold hilarity about when supply officers get a request and think, "What in the world do they need that many condoms for."
    This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.