[James Hetfield]

I like assassin weapons, such as the stiel that Pe Ell uses in the Druid of Shannara.
Also like the gun-like weapon that the assassin used in Elizabeth Hayden's books. He can hear other's heartbeats from about a mile away which gives him quite an edge.

My favorite is the Sword of Truth. Bad Ass! It is so decieving and clever because instead of telling Richard the truth it makes him into an uber killing machine capable of killing over 30 elite warriors at once! All the people that used it before him turned into the Missing Link! I hope you caught my sarcasm.


Also like Mat's spear thingy from WoT. Doesn't do much, but I always liked it.

[Zelech]

Wielding lasers in one's pinky fingers (Cobra Trilogy, Timothy Zahn). How cool is that, while being a completey obscure and overlooked place to put lasers.

[The Tyrant Lizard]

Veilside;240328 said:

Daemon blades in Warhammer, funky things.

Yeah there's some good weapons in Warhammer. I like Gotrek's axe.

Also, this aint fantasy, but Roland's pistol in the Dark Tower is pretty mean. He takes out a load of gangsters with it and his gun makes more noise than shotguns and machineguns.

[Veilside]

If we're doing sci-fi weapons I want me one of these.

Bolters fire explosive .75 calibre rocket-propelled rounds (as referenced in some fiction, and a replica of the .75 cal bolt shell purchasable from the Black Library proves), and are similar in nature to the real-world Gyrojet. They are more sophisticated technology than lasguns or slug-throwers, and more powerful than equivalent sized weapons in either case so are given to the more deserving or capable (e.g: the Adepta Sororitas or the Adeptus Astartes). Each round contains a mass-reactive explosive payload, triggered milliseconds after impact, blasting the target from within. Bolters are made in pistol, rifle, machine gun-like heavy bolter, and gatling rotary cannon form. The Chaos Space Marine legions also retain the bolters issued to them prior to the Horus Heresy, but are unable to produce newer models of the gun and rely on older designs as their basis for manufacture in the chaos forges.


Boltgun
The standard weapon of the Adeptus Astartes, or Space Marines is the boltgun, also known as a bolter. A bolter has semi-auto, four-round burst, or fully automatic fire (rarely used, unavailable on some patterns), and typically carries thirty rounds in its standard sickle-shaped magazine. Other magazine options include a fifteen-round straight magazine, a 40-100 round drum-magazine and a thirty-round belt feed. The last is very likely not restricted to a mere thirty rounds, but it and the drum-magazine are notoriously prone to malfunctions. Bolters are generally much more effective (but more complex) than standard pattern lasguns, but are also different in that they fire physical projectiles rather than directed energy beams, and so have incomparable operating parameters. Bolters are mainly used by the genetically engineered Space Marines, the Adepta Sororitas, and less frequently by Imperial Guard veterans and officers.
There are many variants of the bolter (referred to as Patterns); including the Mars (the standard pattern during the Great Crusade), Ultima, Crusade, Centauri, Heresy, Fillienostos, Nostra, Godwyn-Deaz (a pun on the names of the model sculpters who designed the current look of the Space Marine bolters, Jes Goodwin and Juan Diaz), and Astartes Umbra Patterns. Bolters are also highly customizable, and can be equipped with a wide variety of different modifications, such as optical scopes or bayonets. They can even be used as effective sniper weapons, especially when equipped with Stalker silenced shells and the M40 Targeter System.

[Coco with marshmallows]

Stormbringer.
gotta love the classics when it comes to kick-ass fantasy weapons.

don't get me wrong, i like Dragnipur and all, but if Rake isn't a version of Elric, then i'm a giant leprous chicken.

[Morgoth]

Carrot's sword, which is suspisciously free of magical enchantments.

Also always had a thing for Tempus Est, the executioner's sword in the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

apart from those.. well, t'lan imass weapons are cool,

[Aptorian]

Appropos the WoW thread:

Sulfuras, the hand of Ragnaros, the Elemental God of Fire.



Thunderfury, blessed blade of the windseeker.



Both of the weapons are about so big only Caladan Brood could carry them.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

James Hetfield;240342 said:

My favorite is the Sword of Truth. Bad Ass! It is so decieving and clever because instead of telling Richard the truth it makes him into an uber killing machine capable of killing over 30 elite warriors at once! All the people that used it before him turned into the Missing Link! I hope you caught my sarcasm.

Don't forge the best part! it's called the Sword of Truth, and it actually says the word truth on it! Brilliant! How can people not understand that TG is the best ever! No lesser author could have written with such subtlety. Although, on second thought, the Sword of Truth can't be considered for this thread. After all, we're discussing the best weapon in fantasy, and we must remember that TG doesn't write fantasy. Just ask him!



~Luxury Yacht, hopes no one thinks he's serious.

[amphibian]

Morgoth;240437 said:

Also always had a thing for Tempus Est, the executioner's sword in the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

The sword's proper name is Terminus Est. I think it was made out of either the extremely strong alloys the spaceships were made of or like meteorite metal. Anyways, it had a core of mercury, which actually shifted while Severian swung the sword and made it difficult to wield, but very, very good at slicing heads off.

How about Eterne, the sword from Wolfe's Wizard Knight. When unsheathed, the ghosts of all the previous wielders would appear and then kill you dead if you weren't worthy of carrying the sword. If you passed muster, then they'd fight for you. Awesome.

[paladin]

not to mention the Lightsaber. Nothing beats the Lightsaber for sheer simplicity coupled with awesomeness. Only Roland's revolver gets close

[Veilside]

paladin;240457 said:

not to mention the Lightsaber. Nothing beats the Lightsaber for sheer simplicity coupled with awesomeness. Only Roland's revolver gets close

Warhammer power weapons are definitely cooler.

[Pallol One Eye]

Cocoreturns;240416 said:

Stormbringer.
gotta love the classics when it comes to kick-ass fantasy weapons.

Can't beat a sword that drinks souls.

Also add some more Moorcock creations:

1. Hawkmoons Sword of the Dawn which has a conveniint little army stored in it.
2. Corum's The Eye of Rhynn, you can summon the last people you killed with the Hand of Kwll to fight for you.
3. Might As well Add Stormbringers sister sword Mournblade and Jerry Cornelius' Needle Gun as well.

From Gemmell Would be Waylanders Crossbow, Skillganon's Swords of Night and Day.

The "One Ring".

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

paladin;240457 said:

not to mention the Lightsaber. Nothing beats the Lightsaber for sheer simplicity coupled with awesomeness. Only Roland's revolver gets close

We have a winner. Thread closed. Although, technically, that's scifi, not fantasy. Thread reopened.

[Abyss]

Anyone seen an old 70s fantasy flic called 'THE SWORD AND THE SORCEROR'?

The hero had a magic sword. It had three blades and could launch two of them - basically, it was a sword, that shot swords at people.

Now THAT's a fantasy weapon.

- Abyss, skipping the obvious double-entendre as there's already a penis thread...

[Coco with marshmallows]

seen it, loved it.

but if we're including fantasy films:



FTW, thread closed.

[Dolorous Menhir]

Not fantasy, but if we let sci-fi creep into this:

The Lazy Guns, Against a Dark Background, Iain Banks.

From the Wikipedia entry:

Quote

The eight Lazy Guns were mysterious ancient objects, discovered together a long time before the events of the book.

A Lazy Gun is roughly half a metre long, 30 cm wide and 20 cm tall. On the front are two short cylinders that end in black lenses. A sight extends from the main body, as do two hand grips. A metallic strap allows the Lazy Gun to be fired from the waist. On one hand grip is a zoom control and on the other grip is a trigger mechanism. The Lazy gun is massy but light, and weighs three times as much when turned upside down. The Lazy Gun is the only weapon known to display a sense of humour.

To fire the Lazy Gun, it is pointed at the target, zoomed in, and then the trigger is pulled. What happens next is unpredictable. When fired at humans, many different things may occur. An anchor may appear above the person, giant electrodes may appear on either side of the target and electrocute them or an animal may tear their throat out. Larger targets such as tanks or ships may suffer tidal waves, implosion, explosion, sudden lava flows or just disappear. When fired at cities and other such targets, thermonuclear explosions are the norm, although in one instance a comet crashed into the city.

There were originally eight Lazy Guns. Seven of these were destroyed before the events of Against a Dark Background. One disappeared with its user when he tried to fire it at the local sun, one suffered a lucky strike during an air raid, two self destructed when investigators tried to take them apart and another was destroyed by an assassin. A sixth was destroyed when investigators fired it with its lenses looking through an electron microscope. An area for about half a kilometre around was replaced by a lake teeming with ocean life. The seventh, found before the events of the book by the Lady Sharrow and her team, was destroyed by the university it was sold to when they tampered with it. The resulting explosion devastated the city the university was located in.

The hunt for the eighth and final Lazy Gun is the main plot theme of Against a Dark Background. Much of the novel concerns Sharrow's adventures in searching for and acquiring it. Her motivation is that the Huhsz religious cult regard it as a sacred object, and that if she can find it and give it to them, their vendetta against her will lapse.

And how about Callandor, from the Wheel of Time? I always liked the danger to it - it would allow to channel Saidin unrestricted, but without that restriction it is easy to channel too much. So it is rarely used, but when it is, you notice.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

This is a fun thread. I approve.

[polishgenius]

I second the allowance of fantasy for the mention of lightsabers and Lazy Guns.

Also second Doul's sword, though got to correct Apt, it wasn't what made him fast, he was just that badass.

I quite like the Subtle Knife. A blade that can cut reality ftw.

And I'm going to bring comics into it and say the ickle cuddly bears of doom from Nextwave... just because. ¬_¬

[Mentalist]

It's not 'book fantasy", but The Soul Reaver owns all

[QuickTidal]

Technically it is sci-fi...but also sort of fantasy....but...

The lightsaber...will always be the most kickass weapon ever.