text: %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1377511860086273500%% New IP thread determined to revisit page after TRS discussion: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1488902340077905700%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/RedFaction http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lethal-joke-item_red-faction-armageddon2_8112.png]]]][-[[caption-width-right:350:Gives the "Taste The Rainbow" mantra [[{{Fartillery}} a whole new meaning]].]]-] ->''"Ultimate! Co-Op! Weapon! '''HUMAN SLINGSHOT!'''"''-->-- ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', when four players combine [[FastballSpecial the co-op slingshot]].So, you found a worthless JokeItem after hours of grinding and beating the BonusBoss at the bottom of the BonusLevelOfHell. Its stats suck, it looks like a wet noodle, and everyone comments how stupid it looks.You may as well try it out- WHOA! [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Did you just]] {{curb stomp|Battle}} ThatOneBoss [[OneHitKill in a single round]] [[WithThisHerring using a mop!?]] Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye.The Lethal Joke Item seems ridiculous at first, but it has a hidden property that overshadows your other, more mundane items when used. This "hidden property" is always in play, though it may need some RequiredSecondaryPowers to employ properly. Compare LethalJokeCharacter, where the "item" is an actual character. The equivalent outside of video games is HeartIsAnAwesomePower. Contrast JokeItem, where the item has no actual use. If it starts out a joke but eventually 'unlocks' further potential through use, it's a case of MagikarpPower.NotCompletelyUseless is like this, except [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman it only works on specific obstacles]] and ''is'' truly useless otherwise. If the "lethal" effect can be employed in most situations, [[RequiredSecondaryPowers even if it needs to be set up]], it's a Lethal Joke Item. If the effect can only be employed in certain situations, regardless of setup, then it's just NotCompletelyUseless.----!!Examples:[[foldercontrol]] [[folder:Examples A-F]]* ''VideoGame/ActionDoom2UrbanBrawl'': One of the strongest melee weapons in the game is a cardboard tube. * ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'':** The wand of wonder has the ability to randomly cast any spell in the game, which is marginally useful in and of itself. However, it also instantly ''teaches'' the spell to your PC (just enough to cast it once or twice), even to classes that aren't supposed to be able to learn spells. You can cast from books without decreasing the spell marks; if you get lucky, find the right spellbook, and have enough power points, your mindcrafter can cast bolt spells.** There's also an item that is literally called "Potion of Uselessness" that does nothing when drunk, applied to items, etc. However, there is a level towards the end of the game with icy floors, and the only way to move around is by throwing items (to propel yourself in the opposite direction). Throwing the aforementioned useless potion to move yourself will result in your God rewarding you with one of the game's uber-powerful artifacts, with the on-screen messages:--->*YE REALLY HAST FOUND A USE FOR THIS PETTY ITEM*\\* YER INGENUITY SHALL BE REWARDED** In ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'', a few of the literal {{Poison Mushroom}}s can do considerable damage to enemies when thrown at them.* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', the broom (or "Doom Broom", in some circles) acquired by bumping store owners holding them was treated as both a sword and a hammer for the purpose of counters. Since all of the counters but the ones that just knock the enemy down are 1-hit kills, the broom becomes laughably powerful. See that elite-looking guard in massive shining armor that dwarfs normal guards' armor? Let him strike at you and then counter, and if you are lucky (as in, not unlucky), you will hit them in the (armored) gut with the soft bristles and proceed to finish them off with an upswing that should merely give your enemy's helmet a dusting. Or, if you are really lucky, you will finish them off by slicing into their neck and pulling it out with a glorious spin. And yes, blood will fly if it is turned on.* The Fang in ''[[VideoGame/BackyardSports Backyard Baseball]]''. It will always be a ball, but the batter will normally swing at it, resulting in a strike.* The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series:** A pair of Golden Pantaloons can be found early in the first game, and have no obvious purpose. In the second game, one can also find the Silver Pantaloons and the Bronze Pantaloons as well. If you managed to get all three items, they can be used to create the most powerful armor as well as a couple weapons near the end of Throne of Bhaal, the last add-on. Overall the difference to standard equipment isn't that huge, though; the weapons especially aren't that useful.** In the second part of ''Baldurs Gate'', you can also learn the spell "Limited Wish", which gives you (depending on your Wisdom) a number of dialogue options to be granted as wishes. If your wisdom score is really low, you may demand to be "protected from undead right now", which summons 6 hostile vampires. Combine this with the fact that evil clerics can control undead of lower level and you got yourself a free army of bloodsuckers (completely ignoring the ArbitraryHeadcountLimit).** Somewhere approaching this trope lies another item. In ''Baldur's Gate 1'', you can find "Arrows of Detonation" that explode into a 30-foot fireball when they hit something. In ''Throne of Bhaal'' you can find the ''Club'' of Detonation.. .very dangerous usually. Very useful if you've got over 100% fire resistance.* In ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta 2}}'', completing all the chapters on [[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels 3rd Climax]] (Hard) unlocks the final weapon: A Chain Chomp. An actual living Chain Chomp straight out of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' that's chained up to Bayonetta's leg. Crazy as it sounds, it makes for a powerful mix of an EpicFlail that'll smack angels and demons flat and an AngryGuardDog that'll bite them into submission.** And the best part about it? Not even Rodin, who makes a living from taking down demons and turning them into weapons for Bayonetta and is very much one of the biggest badasses of the series, could tame this beast!* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' ''loves'' this trope, employing many pick-ups that are nigh-useless except when combined with specific characters or other pick-ups. Examples include the Dead Cat, which grants the player 9 lives but reduces them to one HeartContainer (and resets them back to one upon each death.) More trouble than it's worth normally, unless you're playing as ??? (who can't collect {{Heart Container}}s and has to subsist on Soul Hearts) and The Lost (who's already a OneHitPointWonder.) There's also the Cursed Skull, which ejects you from the room you're in whenever you take a hit and is reviled because getting ejected causes you to lose all your progress in that room, but if it's combined with the Scapular (which grants you 1 Soul Heart upon entering a new room if you're below one heart's worth of normal health) the player becomes unkillable.* In ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', players completing the mission called "The Bane" are awarded an SMG with the same name. Those who try it despite its terrible stats will find it: '''a)''' reduces your movement speeds to a crawl when held, and '''b)''' the gun makes [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWYjLurySU0 horrible screaming noises]] when it's fired and reloaded [[DevelopersForesight (even if you change the game's volume settings)]]. Players who persist will find that the gun's stats are much better than listed, and it deals fantastic damage for an SMG -- albeit at the cost of getting you kicked if you ever use it in multiplayer. Being a Hyperion brand gun, The Bane becomes more accurate the longer it fires and due to its large ammo count you can shoot quite a few rounds before you have to reload. Combine with Maya's perks that boost elemental damage or Gaige's "Anarchy" ability to get the most bang for your buck.* Unlockable only after reaching the highest level of Prestige, the [=MP44=] in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' is both a JokeWeapon and a CallBack to the WW2 roots of the franchise. Players often disregard it, as it can't accept any attachments and it lacks the accuracy of other weapons. However, it is one of the most powerful automatic weapons in the game. With the Stopping Power perk in place, it can kill Juggernauts in three or four shots.* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':** The key subweapon in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDraculaX'' is mainly for opening a few locked doors, but like all other subweapons, it has an Item Crash. The key's Item Crash looks silly (Richter or Maria rises into the air, then falls with a question mark over their head), but you're invulnerable during the animation and it costs zero hearts, so you can dodge attacks with ease. It also damages any enemies you directly touch while floating, and you float higher than a normal jump, so you can kill enemies on upper levels from below (again, for zero hearts).** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has the Alucart equipment, which is basically joke copies of the true Alucard equipment. They give you poor stats and shouldn't be used -- unless you use them all together, in which case your Luck is jacked up considerably (and your name in the status screen is Alucart!), making it much easier to get those random drops. Like the [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] Crissaegrim.** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', you have the Waiter Skeleton soul. It throws out a plate of curry that acts as a landmine, causing damage to any enemy that touches it. The damage is minimal, it's a pain to get, it only stays for a few seconds, and it's less of a hassle to just smash something than hope the enemy walks across it. Then you meet the [[BossInMookClothing Iron Golem and Final Guard]], both of which move slowly and have titanic defense, and learn that a well-thrown plate of curry will hit them ''dozens'' of times, whittling their HP down far faster than almost any other weapon. It's also required to make the Yeti appear so that you can kill him and get his soul.** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', there is a Cream Pie subweapon. Deals minimal damage (made worse by being dark-elemental, which most enemies resist), and fires in an awkward downward arc that requires you to be jumping if you want to hit anything that isn't right by you. Under normal circumstances it's only saving grace is the effectively nonexistent MP cost. But there's an irritating BonusBoss who's weak to dark and who's anti-air attack only hits right by him...* ''VideoGame/CaveStory''** The Bubbler/Bubbline — at level 1, it deals pitiful damage and you can only shoot bubbles as fast as you press the fire button. It becomes slightly better at level 2, being able to fire bubbles as you hold down the button, but nothing too impressive. That is until it hits level 3 where the bubbles will turn into a swarm of projectiles that surrounds your character, and turns into bullets when you let go of the fire button (or if they linger for too long). It can be used for offensive ''and'' defensive purposes, and provides great coverage in some situations. Even the description of the weapon says "How you use it is up to you."** The Nemesis is a subversion of this -- it's very powerful at level 1, but at max level, it shoots weak rubber duckies. It only takes 1 XP per level to upgrade, meaning you now have to avoid all the bouncing energy crystals dropped by defeated enemies, or take damage to downgrade it back to level 1.* ''VideoGame/{{Crackdown}}'' had a joke weapon in the form of a rubber duck that could be thrown at enemies. ''Crackdown 2'' made it lethal by turning it into the strongest grenade in the game. It's even better when you realize that its eyes glow red and it quacks.* ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'':** The Frozen Tuna in the first game.** And the sequel's Island King, the sword with [[InfinityPlusOneSword the absolute highest attack stat]] (but lacking the combo speed of the Chronicle 2), is... a really sharp, ridiculous-looking Tiki mask with a pinwheel attached.* In ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'', the Handmaiden's Ladle is a weak and fragile "weapon". Its only advantage is that each attack with it has a very low stamina cost. Upgrading it to the Mundane type gives a fixed damage bonus to every attack that it won't lose if it breaks, so if all your stats are fairly high, it is very capable of a DeathOfAThousandCuts.* The most useful weapon in ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' is a guitar. [[WildMassGuessing Maybe]] it's because your villainous counterpart in the game is armed with an [[IncrediblyLamePun axe?]]* ''VideoGame/DeadRising''** A big element of the game is using lethal joke items. For example, the King Salmon. Sure, it breaks after two hits, but that one hit does happen to do more damage than a katana. Not terribly useful when surrounded by zombies, but when there's one psychopath with a huge lifebar around...** Of course, there's also the "Real Mega Buster." It may look like the thing VideoGame/MegaMan wears on his arm, and it's even nearly identical visually to the ping-pong-ball shooters found in some of the mall's toy stores. But it's actually a [[InfinityPlusOneSword very powerful arm-cannon]] that can take down even the toughest bosses in 3-5 hits, and it holds 300 energy rounds. Best of all, it respawns in the saferoom after running out of ammo. Good luck killing all those 53,594 zombies to unlock it!** [[Videogame/DeadRising2 The sequel]] adds the ability to craft combo weapons, some of which involve joke items like the Robotic Bear.* The Hand Cannon in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' is a giant red foam finger worn over Isaac's right hand. It cannot be upgraded with power nodes, and when "shot", Isaac yells out "Bang! Bang!" or "Pew! Pew! Pew!", depending on which mode of fire you use. It has no laser targeting like the other weapons, and all in all, it seems like just a silly gag item, until you point it at a necromorph and "shoot" it, which causes instant death and severs every limb from said necromorph. It runs on infinite "ammo" and never needs to be reloaded, and shoots as fast as you can click your mouse. Unfortunately, you have to beat the game on Hardcore difficulty first, making it a BraggingRightsReward as well.** It makes a return in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'', except this time as the [[ThePowerOfRock Devil Horns]]. Much like its predecessor, it's a BraggingRightsReward, obtained for beating Classic Mode. It does all the same things the Hand Cannon does, except when you "reload," Isaac will [[CrowningMomentOfFunny headbang to]] [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome a sick guitar riff]].* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': Although not a video game, it has many cases, including a broom capable of dealing damage to an omniscient being, and an extremely overleveled weapon that is... a fish wrapped up in a newspaper.* In ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', a toy gun can be acquired. It's pathetic at first, but leveling it up multiple times reveals it to be the Ultima Weapon, which is the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Gun]].* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'''s [[RefugeInAudacity Horse Wiener]].** ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' has quite a few "joke" weapons of varying usefulness. Probably the best is the Puppy Paw Stick, which grants a 20% chance to steal a random piece of equipment from each enemy the wielder defeats. This is especially useful in the Class World, where the player can randomly encounter duplicates of the party member hosting the world, wearing duplicates of that character's gear.** ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'', on the other hand, made it harder to pull that trick off. To obtain the PPS, you have to catch a Basset (Tier Six Nekomata) and hope that the chest contains the stick. Mind you, getting the stick in the last game only required you to beat a fairly easy post-game boss. As for fighting the duplicates, they appear a lot less, given the new system for the Character World.* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'''s DLC "Feastday Pranks" has the Butterfly Sword, with the special properties "Rainbow Power" and "Attracts Butterflies". It happens to be a decently powerful blade for the early stages of the game. If you happen to use greatswords or don't mind the -50 approval hit that Sten, the intended recipient of the blade, will take, it's actually useful.** The sister DLC "Feastday Gifts" are also extremely useful from a RelationshipValues standpoint. Gifting a companion with their unique gift from the DLC pack will instantly bring their approval up by 50 points. And just like that, you don't have to worry about [[MemeticMutation Morrigan hating you every time you act like a decent person! ]]* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': After completeing 'Inquisition Needs BEEEEEES', a quest given by Sera, the inquisition gets grenades and schematics for 'A Jar of Bees', which seems lame at first, but the damage over time these things inflict is no joke, and at their best can force a dragon to stay on the ground while shaving away a good chunk of its health.** Completing Lord Trifles Minutiae's PopQuiz sidequest gets you a giant spoon. Yes, a giant spoon. That you use as a weapon. That makes enemies '''explode on death'''.** The Wedge of Destiny is a shield that's... a cheese wheel. Literally a giant, massive cheese wheel. With the paring knife still stuck in it. And it's not actually a bad shield for the early mid-game. ** The Jade Ham from the ''Jaws of Hakkon'' DLC is a carved ham roast stuck on top of a stick. It's one of the best one-handed weapons in the entire game. (Notably, you can put a magical rune on your ham roast to upgrade it. The weapon also has a chance to inflict poison, which has some [[CordonBleughChef less savory implications]].)* The ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series; Naughty/Sexy Underwear, an "armor" item for the girls that appeared through some iterations of the series; although the joke is only in the nature of the item, as its effects and atributes are generally great, making it a great equip. Also, due to the blatant name, and its implication of the wearer venturing the land in nothing more than sexy lingerie, the item is widely referred in [[{{Rule34}} Fanarts]] and {{Doujinshi}}.* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' features a Noh Mask, which has the highest defense power of any item in the game, but makes the wearer permanently confused and spending most of their time attacking the other members of the party; however, a solo character can essentially fight normally being confused, making this item invaluable for very hardcore or very desperate players... or just to trivialize a certain dungeon only the Hero/ine may enter, as there are thus no party members to randomly target.* ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'' has a Lethal Joke Spell in the Sorceress' Curse. It temporarily turns up to three enemies into frogs, which is funny but doesn't seem very useful when you first get it. After all, like most status spells, it doesn't work on bosses and when it comes to ordinary {{Mook}}s, it's faster and more efficient to just straight out kill them. But then you reach the higher difficulties, where you encounter {{Elite Mook}}s with high health, damaging special moves, and high resistance to most of the Sorceress' status spells... except for Curse. Curse works just as effectively against these {{Elite Mook}}s as it does against regular {{Mook}}s and lasts just as long, so even the dreaded [[BossInMookClothing Assassins]] can be quickly incapacitated as they're turned into easily killed frogs.* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakan}}: The Ancient Gates'', if you find and defeat a secret giant chicken, you unlock the lethal joke weapon, The Chicken, which is... well... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rubber chicken]] that is tied for the most damage in the game.* A mod for ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' features the Rick Roller, which is a stereo that plays "Never Gonna Give You Up"... and deals damage comparable with the [=BFG9000=]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aJjMOy-Ops=related Not even Doom monsters can withstand Rick Roll!]]** This is actually FridgeBrilliance when you think about it. Of course the denizens of hell would be weak to [[ThePowerOfLove a song about true love]] and having optimistic views about it. ** Another mod has the Vuvuzela that functions like the Rick Roller, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX3BB12tfEs but is ten times more annoying.]] Looks like even hell has standards.* ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} 2'' has the Silver Butterfly, a relatively weak sword that becomes one of the most powerful weapons in the game [[NewGamePlus (at least for the first playthrough)]] once you level it up. The sword itself is not entirely useless; its low damage lets you rack up lots of combos if done right. The problem is that it requires about 4 times more XP to level up than most other weapons.* The several editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' have had quite a few of these intended as such. Honestly, in the hands of a [[CrazyAwesome creative thinker]], damn near '''anything''' could qualify.** There's the "wand of wonder", an item that gives random effects when used -- one charge might crisp a baddie with a fireball, the next might replace the user's hair with flowers. For many players, it was too unpredictable... until the 2nd Edition ''Tome of Magic'' introduced the "Wild Mage" class, which has a chance of controlling the wand.** The gray Bag of Tricks is an item that produces small animals that easily die, which can be used to distract a large group of guards and get them to leave their posts. Especially useful if combined with ghost sound to have the animal taunt the guards. It may not be a curb stomp, but it is using an item that is normally useless to high-level players to get into a place without having to fight. Also, a stronger version of the Bag of Tricks has a chance of summoning rhinos or elephants -- and there is no listed altitude limit as to where you can summon them.** Darts were usually given to mages for when they ran out of magic missiles. However, in 2nd ed, with weapon proficiency rules, a haste spell and gloves of returning, and +5 darts in each hand, a dart-specced warrior could unload enough damage in one round to kill gods (provided he didn't fumble -- and he was critting on anything higher than a 2). Beware the dart warrior.** The Tree Token is a one-use item that creates a large oak tree on command. Combine with a flying broom and a sorcerer who's run out of spell slots in high seas combat, and watch the DM's face [[DidntSeeThatComing contort with rage/go slack with shock]] as you ask, "What's the damage on [[TelephonePolearm a caber]]?" 30' oak trees are also useful when you realise a creature is lurking on the 20' high ceiling of a room.** One ''D&D'' player reported in a comment on ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'' [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=692 #17]] that an enchanted spoon that fills any vessel with gruel makes a decent dragonslaying tool. They had the cleric cast ''mud to stone'' until the dragon's cave was sealed, then made a small hole and stuck the spoon in it, drowning the dragon. * ''VideoGame/DungeonsOfDredmor: Plastic platemail has exactly the type of armor value you would expect... but lowers your dodge stat a lot less than other armors of similar protective value, making it highly useful for a dodge-specced build.* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':*** The Boots of Blinding Speed. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin They're boots that let you run really fast, but blind you]]. However, a bit of Magicka resistance reduces or eliminates the Blinding effect, allowing you to move around very, very quickly without using fast travel. If you're a Vampire, these become borderline essential, as the fast travel [=NPCs=] won't talk to you.*** The scrolls of Icarian Flight, which let you jump all the way across the continent in a single bound, zig-zag this trope; while at first glance they appear straightforwardly awesome, if you use one you find out that they are indeed lethal... to you, since they wear off before you hit the ground and lead to a generally-fatal impact. When combined with a Slow Fall or Levitation spell near the end of your jump, they become amazingly valuable... but there's only three in the entire game, so they also become TooAwesomeToUse. *** ''Tribunal'' adds the Bi-Polar Blade as a reward for completing "[[MatchMakerQuest The Match Maker]]" side quest in a certain way. The two enchantments on the blade cancel each other out, which is fitting given the name of the weapon, but it is still a powerful blade in it's own right - dealing base damage on the level of the game's other artifact two-handed blades. Unlike the other artifact two-handed blades, which are in the hands of powerful enemies toward the end of lengthy faction quest lines, the Bi-Polar Blade can be obtained as soon as you reach Mournhold and requires no combat as part of the quest to obtain it. (It can also be sold to the Mournhold Museum for a cool 20,000 gold if you prefer.) ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' has the staff Wabbajack, an artifact of [[MadGod Sheogorath]], which [[BalefulPolymorph transforms its target into a random creature]]. It'll even work on [[BigBad Mehrunes]] [[EldritchAbomination Dagon]], potentially turning the game's nearly indestructible final boss into a sheep, which you can then kill in one hit.** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': *** ''Skyrim'''s version of the Wabbajack {{Nerfs}} the transformations and makes the enemies return to their original form after getting struck by an attack. But then there are now a whole slew of different effects it can take, including turning a target into a Daedric Lord and, although it is still your enemy, it will also become the enemy to creatures around it, causing them to fight against each other (probably while you start sniping them with arrows or magic). Then there are explosions and more explosions. Of course, they just had to add that chance of one-hitting [[ThatOneBoss that one boss]].*** The ''Hearthfire'' expansion adds the wooden sword to the list of equipable weapons. Yes, it is a kid's toy. Yes, it does next to no damage. Yes, your one-handed skill still has an influence on how much damage your toy sword can do. Yes, it can be upgraded like any other sword. Yes, it can also be enchanted. Which means that a player with maxed-out One-Handed, Smithing and Enchanting skills (and optionally assorted buffing jewelery and potions) can still slaughter dragons with a wooden sword.*** ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'' have the Atronach Birthsign. At first, it looks like a joke; it has the best magicka boost, but the trade-off is that you lose your natural magicka regen. This, however, is made up for by the fact that you also have a 50-50 chance of absorbing any spells cast at you (with the absorption giving you magicka back), making mages much more manageable. Take Alchemy and make a lot of magicka regen potions, and you can overcome the magicka stunt altogether, leaving you with a hefty 50% chance at spell absorption (a spell effect that is extremely rare to get, if at all) and the best magicka boost in the game[[note]]In Oblivion, it was possible to boost your absorption to 100% with Atronach and 4 items. Full magic immunity, enormous magicka pool, and it is an easier way to get complete and permanent protection from magic than using Magic Resistance enhancements.[[/note]]. ''Daggerfall'' didn't have the birthsigns... but it did have the sorcerer class, which used the exact same combination of lacking natural magicka regen but having a chance at spell absorption (in theory the class maker would allow creating a class that had the absorption and the full magicka boost without the magicka regeneration stunting, but the costs were such that unless you abused racial immunity bugs you either had to load up with lots of ''other'' drawbacks or level up ''very'' slowly).* In ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', Akiko Minase's fighting style revolves around using a vast array of household items, such as: A broom, a vacuum cleaner, [[FryingPanOfDoom a frying pan]], a duster, a ladle, a fire extinguisher, a cooler that she uses as a missile launcher (Fittingly enough, the "ammunition" is [[EdibleAmmunition vegetables]])... even ''a washing machine!'' And of course, her famous "[[GargleBlaster Special]] [[ScrewballSerum Jam]]", which she reserves for her Final Memory.* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' has the Mossy Twig. It does very little damage and it initially seemed like a joke. Until someone figured out it was really, really fast. When you have spells or other items that go off every time you swing a weapon, it can be devastating.* ''{{VideoGame/Fallen London}}'' has the Ridiculous Hat, the Bottled Oblivion, and the Talkative Rattus Faber (now only the latter lowers stats, though it lowers them ''tremendously'') -- all they do is take up an equipment slot and reduce your main stats, which would seem to make them joke items at best. However, due to the way the game works, the ideal Change-Points-per-action ratio is achieved with Chancy challenges -- meaning that, if you want to level up quickly, you have to make sure that every challenge you take is Chancy. And just like that, the Talkative Rattus Faber goes from worse-than-useless to vital. The icing on the cake: it lets you do this with the lower-level storylets that don't fill up your menaces when failed, so you can grind in peace without having to worry about your wounds/nightmares/suspicion/scandal. (Also, [[spoiler:the Boatman's DynamicDifficulty is a step function. You want your Watchful to be exactly one less than the amount that causes him to scale up.]])* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':** The [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}} first]] [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}} two]] games both have the Red Ryder Limited Edition BB gun, which has the same average damage as a sniper rifle with half the weight, a 50% faster fire rate, and a 100-round magazine. Its best use is putting someone's eye out (no coincidence, since it's a ShoutOut to ''Film/AChristmasStory''.)** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', there are the flares. They do 1 point of damage, and cost one Action Point to throw. But if you take the perk [[DeadlyDoctor Living Anatomy]], you do an additional 5 points of damage per attack. These 5 points ignore armor. So with 10 AG, Action Boy (Insert [[ActionGirl Girl]] if you wish)*2, jet*2, and cookies*2, you can have 18 Action Points, allowing you to do 90 damage per round to any non-robotic enemy. Including the end boss.** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' brings us the Dart Gun, which ''looks'' ridiculous, considering a main part of its construction is a little toy car. It only does a small amount of damage due to its poison effect... and instantly ''cripples'' the target's legs, reducing their speed to a crawl. Make one and show it to your [[DemonicSpiders Death]][[LightningBruiser claw]] friends!*** One should also note that the poison damage caused by this weapon completely ignores armor, meaning it's just as effective on a raider as a guy in full power armor.*** ''Fallout 3'' also has the Rock-It Launcher, which can launch VendorTrash with enough force to gib a person. As all objects in the game are considered to be the same density by the physics engine, it means that you can fire a ''teddy bear'' at a raider's head and it'll pop that sucker clean off.*** If you talk to [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome "Biwwy"]] in Lamplight Caverns, he'll offer to give you a "Wazuh Wifle" for 500 caps. Seems ridiculous for something you probably already have [[RandomlyDrops multiple free versions of]] by that point, but then again, you should also have an [[MoneyForNothing ungodly amount of money]] and a high enough Barter skill to get it for half price at that point as well. Turns out, it really ''is'' called "Wazer Wifle" in your inventory, and you can repair it using other Laser Rifles. But, as it turns out, it's not just a Laser Rifle with a gimmicky name, it also has a higher damage than the standard Laser Rifle. Combined with the Laser's faster rate of fire, it becomes a highly viable alternative to the Plasma Rifle.*** Completing ''Point Lookout'''s main quest line rewards you with the Microwave Emitter, which looks like the Mesmetron, but is much deadlier and bypasses armor as well.*** There's also the Naughty Nightwear, either a pair of gaudy leopard-print pajamas or a leopard-print negligee depending on which gender wears it. It grants a +1 to your Charisma and +10% to your Speech skill, giving you an edge in diplomatic scenarios if you don't mind wearing wearing a nightie during moments of serious negotiation.** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' introduces Euclid's C-Finder. Seems to be a useless thing that a kid was using as a toy raygun. [[spoiler:Turns out it's the [[PuppetGun target spotter]] for the [[KillSat Archimedes II laser satellite]].]] Lampshaded by your companion Veronica commenting it was lucky the safety was on if you decided to activate Archimedes II.*** And then much like Fallout 1 and 2's Red Ryder, ''New Vegas'' has the Abilene Kid Limited Edition BB Gun. It shares most of its stats with the regular BB gun... except for the ability to do 70 points of damage with a critical hit. Take into account that the weapon is silent (the only silent weapons more powerful with a crit are sniper rifles), lightweight, and has no Strength or Guns skill requirements to get maximum, that critical damage is not affected by weapon skill, and sneak attacks always being critical hits, and you've got an amazing weapon for a Courier with high Sneak but low Guns skill.*** ''New Vegas'' brings back the Naughty Nightwear... but this time, the item buffs ''LUCK'', which is the hardest stat in the game to buff.*** ''New Vegas'' also had the Cane. A simple walking stick in a world filled with weapons like the Super Sledge. However, between the extremely high attack speed, the cheapness to repair and the surprisingly good crit-multiplier, it is ''murder'' in the hands of a crit-focused melee build.** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' brings back the Rock-It Launcher, now renamed the Junk Jet. As with before, you can launch any junk item at any enemy and turn them into [[ChunkySalsaRule chunky salsa]].*** The ''Nuka-World'' DLC gives players the Thirst Zapper, which is basically a water pistol. Not only is that water pistol effective against a boss with an electrically-overcharged suit of power armor, but it can be modified to use [[EdibleAmmunition weaponized Nuka-Cola]] as a handheld explosive cannon. When used in conjunction with Nuka-Cola Quantum, its damage output rivals even the Fat Man, a weapon that launches miniature nuclear bombs!* In ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', the FlareGun seems like a useless weapon at first. It has a slow rate of fire, short range, and it's easy to set the area around you on fire with. However, it will set any vehicle in the game on fire in one shot, disabling it and turning it into a time bomb. It's also extremely effective against wild animals, either scaring them off or killing them.* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', doing a sidequest gives you the reward of a Spoon. What do you do with it? Throw it! Apparently it's the best throwing item Edge has. Unfortunately the joke goes away in later versions where they "properly" rename it ''Knife''. The fact that the game contains a spoon item and [[SpoonyBard Edward]] can't equip it is a travesty.* The Lustful Lali-ho is just a joke item -- it's basically a porno mag. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'', however, it's insanely valuable, since it can be traded in the final chapter for an item that permanently boosts MP by 50 -- the best such item in the game.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' also has a few of these.** The RecurringBoss drops a sword at one point which he claims to be the legendary sword Excalibur; only, it's actually the ''Excalipoor'', which seems powerful on the stat screen but really only deals 1 damage per hit. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the BossFight beforehand, where he attempts to use it on ''you'' with about the same rate of effectiveness (none). However, since the "Always hits for 1 damage" routine is run after fight damage is calculated, ''Skills'' that use the attack value, like Blue Mage's Goblin Punch and Ninja's Throw, use the listed value. However, those would merely make the sword NotCompletelyUseless.\\The true value of this sword is that it "[[ExactWords Always hits for 1 damage]]" when the "Fight" command is used; ''it never misses''. Because Magic Sword skills ''enhance'' a weapon, with the strikes ''themselves'' inflicted with the "Fight" command, any magic sword spell that inflicts negative status will ''always'' affect the enemy without immunity to that specific status, including the few bosses that are not immune to instant death, petrification, or tension (warp). It is almost an essential item to low-level runs. It is also useful for killing the game's MetalSlime, the Skull Eater, which is nigh invulnerable despite only having one HP, except against a sword that never misses and always does 1 damage.** The Chicken Knife becomes more and more powerful as your escape count increases (increasing by 1 ATK on each escape, maxing at ATK 127). Even though it usually causes you to automatically run away from battles, with a few tricks, or using it on inescapable battles, it can be a really strong weapon to use. On the other hand, the most powerful sword, the Brave sword (ATK 150), will decrease its ATK stat by 1 on each escape, thus normal players have almost no use for the Chicken Knife while low-level run players will love it. While the Chicken Knife's maximum ATK is 23 points lower than its counterpart, your agility is calculated in addition to your strength when determining damage for knife-type weapons, making it actually stronger than the Brave Sword.*** And as well, the Knife doesn't cause you to run when you use certain Job abilities (e.g. the Archer's 4x Attack), meaning with the right couple of abilities, your knife becomes the strongest and fastest weapon in the vanilla game. In the Bonus Dungeon, though, there are weapons that surpass it.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has Imp equipment. Being Imped makes a character much weaker, and wearing Imp equipment does just about nothing, but by [[AllYourPowersCombined Their Powers Combined]], a character may become near-godly. With enough grinding (all of the Imp equipment is randomly dropped), it's possible to go into the final boss battle with thirteen of fourteen characters (one character cannot equip anything except Relics) transformed into Imps, but bristling with awesome equipment. This arguably makes the last boss easier; while it locks your special skills, all characters (even weak fighters like Relm) can strike with Imp Halberds for massive damage. Though the amount of grinding required to do that would make the characters too strong to ''need'' the boost.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has a set of joke weapons that become available for the party around the end of the first Disc. They have no Materia slots, but hugely impressive attack. Notable is Aeris's Umbrella, her most powerful physical weapon, and obtainable relatively early into the game if you're into betting on the Chocobo races - it's so strong as to outclass anything else your party members have available, meaning you can use her as a bruiser or even Berserker for a while.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has several of them:** The Kraken Club has the absolutely pathetic damage rating of 11, and a fairly average delay rating, but the bonus effect of 'occasionally attacks 2 to 8 times' (per attack 'turn'). By occasionally, of course, they mean ''almost always''. Combined with FFXI's LimitBreak system, and the fact that it can be held in the off hand while using DualWield, this has the potential to be extremely powerful. [[spoiler:To the point that it was discovered to be previously the only way to beat a previously nearly unbeatable boss, Absolute Virtue, extremely quickly before it was fixed.]] Of course, the way FFXI's LimitBreak system works (long story short: Enemies get various {{Limit Break}}s too, based on how many times they get hit) also means that it can be just as lethal to the person using it.** Hocho stands out. Passable stats for its level, completely useless at End Game, and [[RandomlyDrops a 1% drop rate or less on a rare Lottery Spawn Tonberry]]. It's a Katana that also increases your ''cooking skill''. Yeah. And not by a trivial amount like +1 -- oh, no. It raises it by +3, the same value as all the other +cooking skill equipment ''combined''[[note]]Hocho is Japanese for Kitchen Knife. The developers would have translated it into English, but since it's considered a ''Katana'', they left the Japanese name.[[/note]].* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'':** In most ''Final Fantasy'' games, the Demi series of spells are pretty much Joke Items as spells, [[UselessUsefulSpell as any monster worth using them on is generally immune, and so most players don't use them]]. In ''Tactics'', however, they are elevated to Lethal Joke Item status, as they actually work on the final boss, and can make the fight entirely trivial.** ''Tactics''[='=] array of swords includes the "Nagrarock", a sword that is pathetic in power, will deal absurdly low damage when it hits, and every once in a while [[BalefulPolymorph turns people into frogs.]] It also grants a huge movement bonus, so if you're into DualWielding...* In ''VideoGame/FableI'', completing a treasure hunt sidequest gives you access to the potentially most powerful weapon in the game: the frying pan, which is slightly underpowered for a legendary weapon but has five augmentation slots, relative to one or at most two found on most weapons. However, [[NoFairCheating if the player simply uses a guide to find out where the pan is buried without finding all the maps]], this is a regular JokeItem.[[/folder]][[folder:Examples G-L]]* A Japan-only God Roulette Skill in ''VideoGame/GodHand'' involves [[DropTheWashtub dropping a pan on your head]] for almost no reason. But it is one of the most used lethal joke items, as it gives you an invincibility frame. When everything on DIE can kill in seconds, the god pan will ensure that you won't take damage that will kill you.* ''VideoGame/{{Godzilla}}'' includes various Atomic Breath options with differing range and power. Among the options are the infamous puny smoke rings that [[Film/SonOfGodzilla Minilla]] could shoot. Though middling in range, their hitting power is lethal, and in conjunction with grappling an opponent, can bring their lifebar down by around 75%.* The Rhino Tank in ''VideoGame/{{Grand Theft Auto V}}'' can fall under this. Thanks to a nerf to the tank's armor, many players now see it as somewhat of a [[JokeItem joke vehicle]] in ''Online''. However, it still has that powerful cannon that can take anything out in one hit. Don't have any explosives? You're still screwed.** Likewise, snowballs. They're plentiful and practically unlimited during festive seasons, and they're by logic harmless. But three of these can kill a NPC!** The Flare Gun. Useful for showing another player where you are in certain situations, but not much else. If you manage to fire a direct hit onto another player or NPC, they'll be set on fire!* ''Videogame/{{Hedgewars}}'' follows the steps made by ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' when it comes to ridiculous powerful weapons. Bazooka? Shotgun? Desert eagle? Pff. Watermelon, a piano, a colorful ball launcher, or a birthday cake, among others? Consider yourself dead!* The rubber chicken in ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}: Last of the [=MacLeods=]'' for the Atari Jaguar CD. It has longer range and does twice as much damage as an actual sword, and is the only weapon in the game that's worth a damn.* The Amiga science fiction action game ''VideoGame/HiredGuns'' has a banana as one of the weapons that you can acquire. It's the most powerful weapon in the game.* In ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'':** In ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]'', you can get a nailgun. Very inaccurate, can only hit at close range, deals almost no damage, and it has a pause between each shot. However, when you realize that a headshot with any ranged weapon is an instant kill, your huge-clipped weapon becomes useful if you hide behind a corner while under attack by a large swarm of guards.** In ''[[VideoGame/HitmanContracts Contracts]]'', you can get a [[Webcomic/PennyArcade cardboard tube]] that, when used properly, results in an instant kill on nearly any enemy. The weapon's description mentions that it was "crafted from the finest natural cardboard and honed to its maximum lethality".* In ''[[VideoGame/HyperRogue HyperRogue]]'', the most useful of all the magical orbs is the Dead Orb. While other Orbs let you throw lightning, teleport, summon golems, or walk through fire unhurt, the Dead Orb... does nothing. The description comments on its pointlessness, and says you might as well drop it. In fact, it's the only item you ''can'' drop, so it's often the only way to [[TrailOfBreadCrumbs mark your path]] and find your way back somewhere.* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' can acquire more powerful weapons, but the Banana Gun still packs an explosive punch -- in the form of a rubber squeaky toy shaped like a banana. It is also the only weapon affected by gravity, and thus can be thrown from above.* In ''Kengo: Master of Bushido'', the strongest "sword" with the longest reach is actually an oar. Though it doesn't have a Spirit move, because it's made of wood, you can use it instead of a bokken when facing another dojo. This is probably a ShoutOut to the sword saint UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi's (in)famous duel versus his lifelong rival Sasaki Kojirou, in which ([[MagnificentBastard long story short]]) he used an oar and ''won''. It's worth mentioning that Sasaki's katana is waaaay longer than a normal katana.* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', every Organization XIII character has a joke weapon and a lethal joke weapon.** When using the Mystery Gear, Xemnas has heart-shaped light sabers, Xigbar has a trumpet (they make honking sounds when you reload), Xaldin has six sticks with dragons heads on them, Vexen has a snowflake-shaped shield with a snowman on it (and ice is his element), Lexaeus has a [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai moai]], Zexion has a white laptop, Saix has a cute [[MoonRabbit bunny and spaceship]] claymore, Axel has two giant ninja stars, Demyx has a big broom, Luxord wields several {{four leaf clover}}s, Marluxia has a giant bent water lily with a long stem, Larxene has eight lightbulbs, and both Roxas and Xion avert the "joke" part for their Mystery Gear weapon, instead getting a very cool, ''very spiky'', absurdly fast, key.** When using the Casual Gear, Xemnas has a pair of fans (of the kind used for fanning flames), Xigbar uses blowdryers (with a whoosh during use and reload), Xaldin uses brooms, Vexen has a pot lid, Lexaeus uses a Piko-piko Hammer, Zexion carries a giant sandwich, Saix waves about a giant BANANA!, Axel is serving up pizza, Demyx is playing a giant tennis racket, Luxord plays with some [=CDs=] (to be specific, Final Fantasy XIII discs), Marluxia has a Disturbing Ladle, Larxene is throwing some dragonfly barrettes, and Roxas and Xion swing around an umbrella. (Now if only theirs had been [[MythologyGag a stick or wooden sword]]).** Roxas does use a stick for a single mission. It is entirely useless, but somehow retains the passive abilities of whatever Keyblade you had equipped. Which means with the right setup, it can can randomly [[StandardStatusEffects light Heartless on fire or freeze them solid]]. As Xion puts it:--> '''Xion''': Roxas, that's a stick.* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', the prize for making all the flavors of ice cream is a Keyblade called "Sweetstack". Said Keyblade is made of ice cream, and looks absolutely ridiculous. It also has a 100% critical hit rate, making it one of the most powerful Keyblades in the game, although its critical hit damage multiplier is pretty low.* In ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', you have the Ball ability. To the average player, it can be a pretty bad weapon, as it greatly limits your movement and makes you really vulnerable, and basically of little more use than [[JokeItem Sleep]]. However, it deals damage proportionate to Kirby's speed, and gives quite a lot of invincibility frames, meaning that Kirby can just bounce through most closed areas killing everything in his path, up to and including minibosses.** The Hi-Jump is almost completely useless as an attack and typically only handy for moving through levels. Except against bosses; every boss goes down with ease except Meta-Knight, who forces you to use the Sword power against him.* In ''Videogame/LandOfTheDeadRoadToFiddlersGreen'', the kung-fu fists are so powerful (and fast-firing) they are also a GameBreaker. After finding them [[spoiler:in a closet in your murdered neighbor's house]], the game becomes a breeze, even with mods that add several thousand zombies, or turn your character into a OneHitPointWonder. After getting the kung-fu fists, the only difficult mission is "Heavy Gunner", because you are given a minigun and must use it instead of the kung-fu fists.* The [[TrickArrow Banana Peel Arrow]] in ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'' is a gag item only used to play pranks on people in town or set up hilarious traps for the few human enemies you will face... or you can use them to disarm [[ThatOneBoss Zangurak]], a feat that is otherwise possible only by attacking him ''en masse'' for several seconds or with a perfectly-timed counter-attack. Plus, the satisfaction of seeing the [[spoiler:second-to]] FinalBoss fall on his rump has no equals.** The ornamental swords go from being VendorTrash to this in a NewGamePlus. The most valuable one (the Diamond Sword) has a power of 60, while by the end of the first playthrough, you'll have weapons well over the four digits. Once the cap on enchantments is removed, it is one of the weapons that grows more in power with each new enchantment.* This has become a tradition of sorts in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', the final Arena-style sword battle with Ganondorf can be made ridiculously easy by using your fishing rod as one of these. The fishing rod has no practical use in battle, since you normally use it only for fishing, but if you pull it out, Ganondorf will ''stand and stare at the line'' while you wave it around, completely oblivious to the fact that he ''should'' be fighting you. You then quickly whip out your sword and slash at him while he's caught unawares... rinse and repeat, because he never catches on.** There is also the curious property of bottles in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', where you can swing them to [[TennisBoss reflect energy ball attacks in boss battles]].** This is in turn a reference to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', where you could deflect the dark wizard Agahnim's projectiles with the Master Sword... or the Butterfly Net, which was normally just used to catch insects and fairies in bottles. Later games had the bottles themselves do the catching and deflecting.** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' also had an unintentional example with the Broken Giant's Knife. Thanks to a GoodBadBug in its hit detection, it tears [[ThatOneBoss Dark Link]] apart in about five seconds.*** Also in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' were Deku Sticks; they break in one hit, are only available as a child, and their intended use is to light torches... but that one-hit-per-stick is as powerful as the ''[[SwordofPlotAdvancement Master Sword]]'', able to take down most of the child bosses in one to two well-timed Jump Attacks. And because of [[GoodBadBugs a glitch,]] every so often you'd get a stick that only broke part-way, letting you continue to use it indefinitely until you switch to something else.** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' had the Blast Mask. Normally explodes when you hit B, but damages you each time you use it. Since bombs are plentiful, it ''would'' be useless, except a [[GoodBadBugs quirk in the game's code]] lets you put up your shield to protect yourself from the blast, even though it's originating ''from your face''.** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', the second dungeon's boss, [[ManEatingPlant Kalle Demos]], dies in one hit from... pouring Forest Water on him. Forest Water's main use is to purify sick plants during a sidequest, so this application ''does'' make a lot of sense. Despite existing ever since the original version of the game, fans only discovered this one ''14 years later'' when a speedrunner was messing around with the HD version. ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' has two: the Shovel, which deflects Agahnim's Shadow's projectiles, and the Boomerang, which normally doesn't affect bosses, but ''takes down the final boss [[OneHitKill in one hit]]''.*** The Boomerang ''in general'' is a LethalJokeItem in ''Link's Awakening''. In most games, it's only really capable of stunning enemies, hitting switches from range, or collecting out-of-reach items; other than bosses, minibosses, and a handful of other enemies, the ''Link's Awakening'' Boomerang will outright '''kill''' enemies with only one or two hits, and the ones who can't be killed by it are still stunned by it. The only things that are "easier" to defeat without the Boomerang are ones with gimmicky weaknesses (such as the Iron Mask, who is easier to defeat with the Hookshot since it removes the mask that makes it immune to front and side attacks).** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' has the Whimsical Ring. It decreases your attack power... though each swing of your sword has a 1 in 256 chance of causing a OneHitKill to which not even the final boss is immune.*** In ''Seasons'', some Subrosians steal your Roc's Feather and leave you with an item called the Fool's Ore. All you can do with it is swing it like your sword, which does nothing. However, if you find an enemy to use it on, you can kill it in 1 hit. The only enemy, however, is the Fire Pokey (which you sometimes dig up), and you can't leave the area until you get the Roc's Feather back, which replaces the Fool's Ore.** Following this trend, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', the net you use for catching bugs will also distract [[spoiler:Demise]] during the first half of the battle, and not only does it deflect the projectiles he fires in the second half, ''it's the only way to do so'' -- your shield can only block them and trying to use your sword just gets yourself electrified.** Just like in ''A Link to the Past'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' also brings back the Bug Catching Net. Just like in said game, it can reflect the projectiles fired by one of the main villains. But probably not like in said game, the upgraded form actually makes for a fairly viable weapon to use against enemies, doing about the same amount of damage as the most powered-up version of the Master Sword. So for someone with good timing, you end up with a fairly viable melee weapon despite it looking utterly ridiculous.** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' has an 8-bit weapon for every weapon type, meaning every character has at least one and some have several. For example, Darunia has a piece of Bait on a stick while Ganondorf has a pair of keys. Besides being at odds with the HD style of the game, they're ridiculously oversized to match the scale of the characters. The lethal part comes from the fact that they all share stats with the tier 3 version of the weapon they replace, and can have the ability to boost their strength to 450 like anything else.** ''VIdeoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has the Spring Loaded Hammer, which is the weakest weapon in the game. You could [[CherryTapping cherry tap]] enemies to death with it, but the impact of the final swing will send enemies flying across the field. Do this near a cliffside and you can watch your foes fly off into the abyss below as they take major fall damage or even be killed by it.* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' and ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'' have the Bunny Sword. While its stated Attack is a whopping 500, standard attacks with it only deal 1 or 2 damage. Unless you use IP attacks, which ''do'' use its full power to determine damage.** ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' has a Chopping Board that Tia can equip as armor. While its defense is sub-par, it's the only means of giving [[GlassCannon Tia]] the Rush Attack passive that doubles damage to knocked-down enemies.[[/folder]][[folder:Examples M-R]]* ''MagnaCarta2'' has the 1000 Ton Hammer, a weapon for Argo. It is a massive black hammer with the words "1000 TON" written on it, with flying birds above it to slam down upon enemies.* ''VideoGame/MarioKart Wii'''s Quacker is a plastic duck on wheels. It is very possible to beat the opposition using the Quacker in the 150cc and Mirror divisions.* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the M7 Lancer is a ShoutOut to the [[StarterEquipment very first assault rifle]] of [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 the very first game]]. So obviously, it's outclassed by the current crop of weapons with three years of technological advancement over it, right? Wrong! The Lancer has firepower and fire rate comparable to a Cerberus Harrier, and it retains the first game's cooldown system, giving you [[BottomlessMagazines unlimited ammunition]] if you're patient. Also, it's incredibly lightweight, making it possible for power-centric classes like Adepts or Engineers to use it as their only gun for the whole game.* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', the Top Spin appears to be Mega Man's [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lamest special weapon]]. However, it can OneHitKill Dr. Wily's final phase. Additionally, if you know the quirks of the weapon[[note]]It drains every frame it's in use and in contact with an enemy, which drains it quickly against enemies that are invulnerable[[/note]], it's surprisingly effective against common enemies.* A somewhat literal example of a lethal joke item is provided by the Humor program in the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, which does nothing but replace Mega Man's usual advice with extremely bad jokes when it's placed properly. However, starting from the fourth game, if you intentionally glitch it, it instead has the highly beneficial in-battle effect of randomly causing his next attack to deal double damage.* Ever make "Junk" out of ItemCrafting in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4''? They're actually ingredients for the Junk Armor, a set of armor that makes him even more of a GlassCannon and doubles all damage he deals and receives. There are also S-crystals, which are never used as Custom Chips either, but make two of them and bring them to your friend Hirondelle for two free [[EmergencyEnergyTank Sub-tanks]].* The ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' series has always had the machine gun weapon, which is invariably a short-range anti-infantry peashooter. Since you don't get to fight any infantry in the first place, and the weapon does piddling damage against anything else, most players tend to forget it even exists. But if you look at the hard stats and take into consideration heat generation and ammo tonnage, the machine gun comes out as one of the most efficient weapons ''in the whole series''. It doesn't do much damage by itself so using just one or two is pointless, but if you take a ballistic-focused Mech and fill all its slots with machine guns you'll have created a fast short-range brawler that'll wipe the floor with pretty much anything within its range, and will keep doing so long after more typical short-range Mechs will have run out of LBX ammo and SRM rockets.* In ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'': twin maids [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Hisui and Kohaku]] were powered up by the Tatari influence, and both fight using items tied to their chores at the Tohno Mansion. ** Hisui uses items such as: A bucket of water, a watering can, a duster, explosive bentos (with plum sandwiches no less), several vases and books which she throws as projectiles, cooking utensils such as a ladle, [[FryingPanOfDoom a frying pan]], a wok, a serving tray, [[MemeticMutation a chair]]... even ''a table!''.** Kohaku uses her broom in battle, which has a hidden sword which [[IaijutsuPractitioner she can quickly draw, attack and resheath again]], as well as molotov cocktails, and several plants: a pine that works as a diagonal projectile, a boxing cactus... even ''a carnivorous plant named Johnny'' which spits fire!** [[FridgeLogic Interestingly enough]], their fighting styles are switched around in regards to their normal chores: Hisui fights with cooking utensils, despite the fact that [[LethalChef she's not precisely a good cook]], but she does a great work cleaning; and Kohaku fights with a broom, despite the fact that she's [[CuteClumsyGirl a little clumsy for cleaning]], but [[SupremeChef her cooking is excellent]] ([[FridgeBrilliance However]], throwing plants in battle is actually tied to her gardening, and attacking with a duster and a bucket of water is tied to Hisui's cleaning).* Franchise/MetalGear Series:** The Monkey Mask of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' can briefly fool the final boss into dropping their guard. Similarly, the Mask (although it's required for a brief section of the game) can do the same for another boss.** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' has the Tanegashima lead ball musket in a mildly futuristic game. But it has a 1 in 3 chance of creating a tornado in outdoor areas, and most of the game does take place in outdoor areas.** ''{{VideoGame/Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker}}'s'' best co-op weapon [[BraggingRightsReward requires grinding three very hard hidden bosses]] (which need to be killed [[CherryTapping non-lethally]]) just for the '''''chance''''' of possibly getting one of three rare parts to drop. Your reward for grinding and then investing vast amounts of R&D's time and money? A human slingshot that requires four people to operate (and even uses the fourth member as ammunition), ''but insta-kills any boss.''** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', finding [[MythologyGag the five enemies hiding in boxes]] unlocks the wooden training sword as a weapon. While it does prevent [[CaptainObvious any cutting attack damage]] and allows for a PacifistRun, every hit carries a chance of making an enemy disappear, giving the potential to finish an enemy faster than with a lethal weapon. Upgrades can even increase the fade chance and/or ''[[CherryTapping decrease damage]]'', but an upcoming DLC pack takes the ridiculousness [[UpToEleven even further]] through an unlockable version ''that shouts phrases in [[Creator/DavidHayter Solid]] [[Creator/AkioOhtsuka Snake]]'s voice when you hit things.''* In ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VII'', a club called Mash adds 150 points to strength and can be used by anyone without needing a skill. Of course, it also drops intellect and personality to near-vegetable levels. Whether it's worth the price is your call. If you're not a caster...* With the anvil system in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', you can give ''any'' item and block powerful enchantments. Want to kill zombies with a block of dirt that has Sharpness V, Fire Aspect II, Looting III, and Knockback II? Go nuts!** There's also the anvil itself. While the setup is incredibly difficult, setting up a trap where a player or mob gets stuck in a pit they can't get out of, then [[AnvilOnHead having an anvil fall on them]], does two full hearts of damage for each block height that it drops (reduced if the target is wearing a helmet). Combine with a dispenser for fun and profit.** Thrown snowballs do precisely jack diddly to most of the enemies in the game. Except Blazes, who take massive damage. [[spoiler:And the frickin ''Ender Dragon''.]]** {{Speed Run}}ners agree: the most effective weapon against the Ender Dragon is [[spoiler:''beds'', of all things. The joke: You can only sleep at night, so trying to sleep in The End, which has no time, causes your bed to explode in a PuffOfLogic. It's actually ''stronger than TNT'', and much faster to set off.]]* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' has quite a few:** The Melynx series of weapons are basically ''stuffed animal toys''. They tend to have very low damage output as a result, but also have the very useful [[TheParalyzer Paralysis]] status effect, which renders monsters immobile for several seconds and leaves them vulnerable to beatdowns.** The Corn Gunlance, known as the "Pop Corn" in the international versions, is a {{BFG}} made out of a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin huge]] [[EdibleBludgeon corn-on-the-cob]] that inexplicably makes stock cartoon noises with every move. While it has low Sharpness compared to many endgame Gunlances, it also has Lv. 5 Spread Shelling, the strongest shelling power available to said weapon type, with later games even giving it a hidden [[StuffBlowingUp Blastblight]] attribute.** Several weapons are made out of [[FishSlap fish]]. These include a large tuna repurposed as a {{BFS}}, a [[KatanasAreJustBetter Longsword]] with an eel-like fish for a blade, and a ''[[ShamuFu stuffed shark]]'' mounted on a stick as a Lance -- with [[RefugeInAudacity a ''no swimming'' sign]] as its accompanying shield. Said weapons also happen to have some of the highest Ice and Water Elemental damage stats in the games.** Many of the [[InstrumentOfMurder Hunting Horns]] -- basically large [[DropTheHammer bludgeons]] that also double as [[MagicMusic power-up dispensers]] -- fall into this category, with one of the more well-known models being an ''oversized harmonica''.* Mother series:** The Casey Bat from ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. Joke? It has a very low chance of hitting, depending on the strength of the ememies & the number of party members. Lethal? When it ''does'' hit, it hits ''hard''. (This is also a ShoutOut to the baseball poem, "Casey at the Bat" -- Casey swings hard, but strikes out.) When the random encounter system checks if you auto-win, it checks your attack power. With the Casey bat, this is much higher than it ought to be, so the game will let you auto-win fights earlier than you would be able to otherwise.** The sequel ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' brings us the Honey Shower. It covers the opponent in honey, and bees mob them. The bees don't do a whole lot of damage, but they're sometimes followed by [[BearsAreBadNews a bear who does.]]* One of the most lethal objects in the {{Website/Neopets}} Battledome is... the [[http://battlepedia.thedailyneopets.com/index.php/weapon/viewweap/1/ Super Attack Pea]].* The [=PS3=] version of ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' has the Pretty Parasol. It's not even a ParasolOfPain -- it's classified as a shield. It also ups ''every single stat'' and offers resistance to [[FireIceLightning the three core elements.]]* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': You start the game with only your fists. Most players will probably forget about this "weapon" in the first 10 seconds of the game, which is precisely how fast you will find the sword. Hilariously, the fists are actually the best way of killing single monsters throughout most of the game. Attacking with fists hits the monster so rapidly that you will stun it faster than it can recover, so you can stun-lock and pummel it until it's dead. It isn't until late into the game that you start encountering rare monsters with which this tactic doesn't work, like Demons (they CAN actually recover fast enough to hit you between your punches), or Demodus (can simply fly out of your reach). * In ''VideoGame/PaladinsQuest'', aka ''Lennus'', the Bib is one of the strongest body armors in the game.* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'': ** ''VideoGame/Persona3'':*** If attained as soon as they become available through sidequests, the joke weapons and armor are actually far more powerful than anything else you'll be getting for several levels -- sadly, being 'joke items', the characters will still attempt to trade them out for non-joke weapons and armor that are only half as effective.*** Elizabeth's requests will occasionally net you items like the Toy Bow and Spiked Bat. They have no special abilities and look silly, but they have 100% accuracy and their attack strength is about twice that of any other weapons you can get at the same time you can fulfill the requests. The only downside: your party members will occasionally insist on switching to other, less silly weapons if you have them in the inventory. Nothing stops you from making them switch back, though.*** Even more, certain quests or treasure chests may yield the [[ChainmailBikini High-cut Armor/Battle Panties]] or adorable {{Meido}} uniforms. While the girls tell you these are awful to wear, they'll do it anyway. For the time you get them, they have insanely high defensive stats. Being able to defeat the forces of hell with a squad of Maids? Priceless.** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' continues the tradition. If you happen to get the highest scores on your test in school, your little cousin Nanako will make you a paper bracelet to show you her appreciation. Said bracelet boosts ''every single one of your stats when equipped,'' and by a not-insignificant amount, too. ThePowerOfLove indeed.* The ''PhantasyStar'' series has these too.** ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' has Akiko's Frying Pan. While weak compared to the higher-level rare weapons, it has a low enough attack power requirement that with the right equipment, a level 1 character can equip it. It also has the Samba Maracas (which work like ''machine guns'') and a toy hammer. There are also several umbrellas and parasols, which are easily the most powerful multi-hit weapons female non-melee classes can equip.** The Akiko's Frying Pan card in ''Phantasy Star Online III'', which has AP and TP equal to half that of the opponent you attack it with, is one of the best cards to use against ThatOneBoss Pollux, whose AP grows every turn, and thus lets the pan do more damage.* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has the Flamethrower for Leon to use. It's the same type that Chris gets in the previous game and is just as worthless against zombies, lickers, and bosses, '''but''' it makes very quick work of Ivy monsters, who otherwise take loads of precious ammo to kill.** The Spark Shot that Claire receives is so laughably useless that you'll probably end up wasting it on zombies just to save ''handgun'' ammo. But if you hang onto it, it absolutely ''trashes William Birkin and the Tyrant T-103-Type''.* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' has the Flash Grenade, which is explicitly non-lethal, but can disorientate groups of enemies. However, the "plaga-headed" Ganados, normally much more lethal and durable, will die ''instantly'' if caught in the blast radius of the Flash Grenade.* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' has the Rotten Egg that damages you if you [[TooDumbToLive try to consume it]]. However, if you throw the egg at enemies, it does massive damage to them and can kill them instantly if they're weak enough! Rotten Eggs are also worth a lot of money when you sell them. There are also electric rounds for the grenade launcher that are pitifully weak against Majini, but are great for stunning [[DemonicSpiders Reapers]] and exposing their vulnerable spots.** The knife was largely seen as useless in the franchise, as the player character would merely thrust it forward for a single, weak strike, and it used up valuable inventory space that needed to go towards firearms and ammunition. ''Code: Veronica'' turned its animation into a slash that registered multiple hits, and then ''4'' made it even '''more''' useful by having it be permanently equipped without sacrificing an item slot.*** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' for the DS did the same knife thing, though it kept the same attack.* ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' has some joke weapons and armor (and [[NiceHat hats]], [[PlanetOfHats lots and lots of hats]]). For instance, panties and an undershirt are a good choice of armor for Archers and Thieves. Also a spear that's a friggin' [[AncientGreece greek column]]. And more, many many more.... They're no worse than standard weapons or armor (sometimes better).* ''VideoGame/RuneFactory2'': Your most powerful weapon is... the watering can, fully leveled up. Not only does it hit for high-close range damage, when fully charged (which ostensibly just waters a wide area), anything weak against water caught in the AreaOfEffect will get crushed.** ''VideoGame/RuneFactory3'' practically has a joke armory: from the Dekash (a weaponized tuna) to dual-wielded soup ladles to a fancy parasol or stuffed animal as shields.* The ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' games:** They feature a series of weapons called "The Sheepinator" or some such, that transmute enemies into cuddly farmyard animals. The ''[[EvolvingAttack Black]]'' [[EvolvingAttack Sheepinator]] in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'' did the same thing, plus making them ''explode''.*** This is nothing compared to the Quack-O-Ray of ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'', which turns your enemies into ducks quite fast, but with low reach, making it risky to use. Enemies get transformed faster the lower current HP they have (you can badly damage a tough enemy from a distance with other weapons then get up close and finish it off with a now much faster morph, so the Quack-O-Ray gets an EXP boost equivalent to the kill, making levelling it up easier). [[SerialEscalation Every level of upgrade makes it more lethal]]. The ducks start laying exploding eggs (V2), which then become homing eggs (V3); at V4 the ducks themselves will also attack enemies, and finally at V5, if you don't already have one, the next morphed enemy will turn into a flying, ''on fire'' duck that locks onto and charges into enemies of its own accord. Once it expires from dealing out damage, you'll get a new one from the next morph. Since it consumes no ammo whatsoever, it's the perfect weapon for Arena challenges involving waves of mooks, and the otherwise-infuriating constant spawn of Amoeboids when hunting for Sewer Crystals on Aquatos (which also greatly assist in power-levelling this weapon).** There's also the device known as the Groovitron, a disco ball that can cause any enemy nearby to start dancing. Including the bosses. Including the final boss. And while they're dancing, you're free to attack them with everything you have. Using this during the final boss battle in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools Of Destruction]]'' will give you vital moments to switch weapons, pick up ammo and [[CallAHitPointASmeerp Nanotech]], and all in all just unload destruction on him.* Perhaps unintentionally, the RPG ''VideoGame/{{Realmz}}'' includes a cursed Dagger -2. By glitch or cruel twist, it's actually the most powerful weapon in the game, capable of felling most enemies in a single hit.* The Ostrich Hammer (as in, use an ostrich [[CrazyAwesome AS A HAMMER]]) from ''VideoGame/RedFaction: Guerilla''.** And from ''VideoGame/RedFaction: Armageddon'' comes "Mr. Toots", a [[Franchise/MyLittlePony MLP]] [[MyLittlePhony knockoff]] that farts rainbow lasers. (Presently in use as the current page image) [[/folder]][[folder:Examples S-Z]]* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' examples:** ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' brings the Pimp Slap, a giant foam middle finger. It's big, it's red, it's ostentatious... and it can knock your target into next week. It has so much impact force that anything (read: [[VideogameCrueltyPotential anyone]]) you hit with it will often cross the render threshold before landing.** ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' The Pimp slap was a ring on your finger that was only available in multiplayer. On the ground it was a pimp hat and when you picked it up you wore the hat. ** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird''... take your pick. A giant floppy purple dildo called "The Penetrator" kills standard enemies in two hits. An Arm Buster-like weapon straight out of VideoGame/MegaMan that has infinite ammo and qualifies as an explosive. A tank that looks like it drove right out of an Atari game which... well, it's a ''tank''. The Johnny Gatmobile, whose giant head contains a flamethrower. What takes the cake are the Apoco-Fists. Just like the Pimp Slap, they look like giant mascot hands. Mascot hands that hit people so hard they [[LudicrousGibs gib]].** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' there are even more than in Saints Row The Third. Not only is there the return appearance of The Penetrator. You also have the Dubstep Gun, which shoots dubstep at your enemies, and shreds them with sick drops. The Rectifier, which is an alien [[Main/AnalProbing anal probe]]. The "Inflato Ray" which inflates whatever part of the target's body you point at until it bursts. The "Tiny Pistol" which is a homage to ''Film/MenInBlack'''s "Noisy Cricket" in that it's the same exact gun. The "Plunger Gun" which fires plungers at people... [[Main/StuffBlowingUp and then the plungers explode]]. * In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', you can obtain Joke Weapons if you beat a stage at the highest difficulty (like Yukimura's giant matches, Ieyasu's drills, etc). They are also the strongest weapons of the game.* ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'': In ''Dragonfall'', there was the Slapdash Pistol, found in Gesundbrunnen. It has a cost on par with a decent assault rifle, looks like someone poured superglue into a pile of scrap gun parts (some bits are hot-glued on,) and is out-damaged by starting pistols... on paper. However, its hidden stats (crit modifier and damage multiplier) are the highest in the game, meaning it will CriticalHit two times out of three and OneHitKill 80% of the enemies in the game on a CriticalHit.* In ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', after hitting pieces of the scenery, they typically break apart into things like sticks, stop signs, and neon test tubes. They seem useless until you realize they work exactly like swords, and can kill enemies. (That said, they're rather weak, but better than nothing). There's also the Omochao Gun, which ''looks'' really out of place, but its ammo can ricochet three times before running out of steam. It's surprisingly useful for wiping out Black Arms larvae.** ''Videogame/SonicAdventure2'' has Sonic's Magic Hands. You have to remain still and scroll through a cumbersome action menu to get to it, but literally every enemy in the game that is not a boss or a part of the scenery WILL be turned into a ball. Furthermore, the ball you get from the enemy, when thrown, is able to break through any and all defenses.** ''Videogame/SonicRiders'' has the Hovercraft gear. The thing over-steers like a fiend, meaning that unless you're taking a sharp turn, you'll end up swerving all over the road from the slightest nudge of the control stick. On the other hand, though, it has maxed-out stats for every other stat ''and'' it's the only gear other than the Heavy gear that can maintain cruising speed while charging a jump. Once you figure out how to work around the over-steering problem (or not, if you're able to at least keep it on the road for the majority of the race), then you can easily steamroll anything that comes your way.* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' has the Tuna Cutlass for Vyse and the Swirlmarang for Aika. They're JokeWeapon rewards for beating a secret boss (in the GCN version) or downloadable extras (in the original DC version). The Tuna Cutlass, which is a giant fish with a gutting knife as the secondary sword, has extremely low accuracy, but devastatingly high attack. Most of the time it'll miss, [[InfinityPlusOneSword but if it doesn't, watch out]]. What's more, Vyse's S-Moves count his weapon's attack stat, but ignore the accuracy stat. In other words, ''[[GameBreaker they won't miss]].'' On the other hand, the Swirlmarang, which was a giant lollipop, had extremely low attack, but high accuracy, and a 100% chance of causing panic as long as the enemy wasn't immune to it.* ''VideoGame/SlashEM'', a ''VideoGame/NetHack'' variant, contains a similar weapon: the Houchou, which is a spoon that can be thrown for instant kills. However, it breaks after use, possibly making it TooAwesomeToUse.* All the Joke Weapons of ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur 2'' can be lethal because they are unblockable. Link's Joke Weapon is the Butterfly Net, as a reference to the above stuff about his canonical games.* In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'', there's the Tri-Embl'''u'''m. At first glance, it's like the Tri-Embl'''e'''m, the best unmodified accessory in the game... except with 1/100 of the stats and none of the cool factors. However, it has a particular hidden stat whose worth doesn't become apparent until the post-game: A Synth limit of 8. This allows you to synthesize up to 8 other items onto it to beef up its power. The regular Tri-Emblem has a limit of only 3, but transfers 100% of its stats when synthing. If you synth some Tri-Emblems together, you can get one awesome one with 4x the stats. Or, you could synth 8 of them to a Tri-Embl'''u'''m, getting an accessory with 8x the stats of a regular Tri-Emblem, three of the four awesome factors found on the Tri-Emblem, and best of all, able to be duplicated for the dirt cheap price of 1 Magical Clay, allowing you to outfit your whole party with them. What's not to love?* ''VideoGame/StarTrekKlingonAcademy'' features a FlyingSaucer (as opposed to the ones the Federation uses) as an EasterEgg. It fires a Death Ray, and a ''[[AbnormalAmmo Radioactive Cow Launcher]]''. It sounds funny, but these weapons can tear through bigger ships in seconds, and the saucer has the maneuverability of a flitting fly.* In ''VideoGame/StrikeForceHeroes 2'', one class of items you can get as a [[{{Zonk}} Booby Prize]] from the slot machine (which are usually some item of amusingly gross VendorTrash) is a "[[ToiletHumor dooty launcher]]" that does damage in the hundred-and-tens, slows down enemies, and makes a humorous fart noise when fired. The only downside is it can't use GunAccessories.* In ''VideoGame/StrikeForceHeroes 2'', you can get two secret weapons from the Slot Machine by getting three [[ToiletHumor piles of crap]], which usually gives you a [[{{Zonk}} joke item of the non-lethal variety,]] but these two weapons are pretty good. ** Number 1: The Sheep Cannon. 4 shots, high homing, high damage, and stick to enemies before exploding. ** Number 2: The Doody Launcher. Just as high damage, slows down enemies, mades a weird fart noise, and makes them visible on your radar.* In ''VideoGame/TheSuffering'', there's a secret weapon which is... a chicken. Which shoots eggs. Which are one hit kills and pretty much cut whatever they hit to ribbons. The only drawback is that you aren't about to be finding eggs scattered across the haunted prison to replenish your ammo.** Likewise, in ''The Suffering: Ties That Bind'', you can, through a convoluted series of hidden events, obtain a giant plastic cocktail sword that even has a giant olive attached to it. It acts as a melee weapon and does ''very'' high damage; unfortunately, it's ''not'' a one-hit-kill weapon, uses up a weapon slot, and melee combat with the later enemies in the game is kind of suicidal.* In the first ''[[VideoGame/SummonNight Summon Night: Swordcraft Story]]'', at roughly the halfway point of the game, you can craft a sword tech from the Craftlord of Sapphire, who is basically just messing with your character. The tech turns out to be a cooking ladle, with pretty much the stats you'd expect combat-wise -- in other words, abysmal. However, by putting a Mystic Ore into it, you can imbue it with the Fire element... and increase its durability. ''Eight-fold''. Bear in mind here that the goal of most boss battles is to break their weapon before they can do the same to your weapon, and that much of the challenge of this is that you might accidentally get their HP to 0 first - and again, the ladle has pathetically low Attack. It helps that the ladle maxes out its TEC at 255, where the overwhelming majority of weapons max out at 100 or less, and TEC increases your combo speed, and that the ladle increases your AGI by 10 on top of that. Wish your enemies luck in breaking out of your combos before their weapons are broken -- they'll need it.** Another property of the ladle that makes it even more lethal is that it costs 1 Mystic Ore to imbue it with Fire, but melting the Hot Iron Ladle down into your forge gives you 2 Mystic Ores. The value of this cannot be overstated; Mystic Ores are ''ridiculously'' hard to come by in any decent quantity, and always extremely valuable. To the point where discovering the Hot Iron Ladle in the first place seems like InsaneTrollLogic, since it requires using 1 Mystic Ore on a useless weapon.* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' has several.** The Quartz Charm, acquired by beating [[BonusBoss Culex]], seems to do absolutely nothing... but, in actuality, it lets you start every battle with the "Attack Up" and "Defense Up" statuses (that you normally get from flowers and Geno Boosts), which double your attack and defense. It also protects against [[OneHitKill instant-death attacks]]. The Ghost Medal is similar, but only works for defense.** The Lazy Shell Armor greatly reduces attack power and speed (the joke), but gives you so much Defense (the lethality) that you become practically invincible. Now, ''who'' would want to be invincible, but so weak you couldn't hurt a fly? [[WhiteMagicianGirl Toadstool]], of course! She can ''solo'' Culex (and anything else, for that matter) while wearing the Lazy Shell Armor. It just takes '''[[MarathonBoss a very long time]]''' to do so.** With something called the Star Egg, would you expect 3 starfish dancing culminating with a bird flying by? Regardless, it's still the funniest way to inflict at least 100 points of damage on your enemies.** Pure Water has no effect on anything except ghosts/undead, which are a OneHitKill on them. They're also good for VendorTrash since they sell for 75 coins each.* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' has [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Tem Ray's Circuit]]. When you put it on any mech, its stats will be drastically reduced; the plus side is that the mech will cost only 10 credits to repair (in other words, the part turns it into another [[JokeCharacter Boss]] [[Anime/MazingerZ Borot]]). If you want real menace, however, just put it on [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion EVA-01]] along with another part to lessen the penalty, then send Shinji on a suicide attack. Paying only 10 instead of 40000, using [[TheBerserker Berserk EVA]] now sounds like a practical strategy.* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''** The Paper Fan deals very little damage but is really fast, doesn't allow your enemies to move (much; it IS possible to escape...most of the time) while you're hitting them, and can be spammed. You can deal insane amounts of damage to your enemies to the point that throwing the fan once you're done can send them flying offscreen. And if your foe is foolish enough to try to shield, if you smash with the fan, you break it ''instantly''. Throwing the fan will also send an opponent ''straight upwards into the air'', a property that very few attacks ''or'' items reliably have.** The Bumper does no damage (unless you throw it right at someone) but a lot of knockback. It's especially impressive when the damage ratio is turned up (resulting in more knockback for the same hits), where it can become a one-hit KO unless you're on a very large stage or there are a lot of obstacles in the way.** Bonsly qualifies, despite not being an actual "[[LethalJokeCharacter item]]". When you send it out of the Poké Ball, all it does is walk around, doing no damage whatsoever. If you pick it UP, however, and throw it, it does insane amounts of damage and can often KO at very low percentages.** The Mr. Saturn item normally walks around the stage harmlessly, pushing items around as it travels and doing a minuscule amount of damage and knockback if you pick it up and toss it at someone. However, its shield damage has been buffed with every iteration of the game, and any unlucky sap who decides to try and shield a thrown one in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. for Wii U / 3DS]]'' will find their shield broken ''instantly''. Getting your shield broken leaves you in a stunned animation for quite a long time, making you a sitting duck for the strongest attack in an opponent's arsenal.** In 4, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin]] has access to a weapon that can KO at ridiculously low percentages if thrown. Said weapon is [[ThrowTheBookAtThem the book (s)he tosses]] after it's been [[BreakableWeapons used too many times]].* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':** ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'': Equipping Mary with the Frying Pan in the PSX version gives her access to the move "Zan!", which is so powerful it was later made into a Mystic Arte.** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has an entire set of these. When you rebuild Luin past a certain point, the weapon shop goes from selling earlygame weapons to Lethal Joke Items including a plastic pink dagger, a pair of paper fans, a tambourine, a deck brush, a baseball bat, a bag full of money, and a squeaky toy hammer. These are only about [[InfinityMinusOneSword three steps below]] the [[InfinityPlusOneSword most powerful weapons in the game]], but they still give you about +700 attack.*** On top of that, the "bag full of money" actually ''doubles'' the amount of money you receive from RandomEncounters, although by the time you've rebuilt Luin to that point, the only thing worth spending large amounts of money on is said weapons.** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' is similar. In particular, Asbel's giraffe-sword is second only to his InfinityPlusOneSword, which is obtained partway through the final dungeon.** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has a sidequest involving an eccentric inventor that ends up netting your party lots of useful goodies: the last part of the sidequest requires you to perform various tasks, like doing enough total damage during a single playthrough, fighting enough battles, carrying enough money, and running away from enough battles. As a reward, you get a [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter shinai]], a piece of grilled chicken made out of metal, a cat-teasing toy, a measuring tape, [[VideoGame/{{Tekken}} Heihachi's]] head made out stone on a handle with [[GoroawaseNumber 765]] Kg printed on its forehead, a [[RunningGag deck brush]], and a slingshot with a blade attached to it. They're still useful, since like in the above example, their attack strength is compareable to most other endgame weapons, and even if it wasn't, all of them still teach you unique skills you can't learn elsewhere. The cat teaser and the deck brush also have unique special attacks, the latter of which even has potential to do an easy infinite combo.** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' has multiple ones. Aside from being the origin of the silly looking weapons like the giant Squid or [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger a staff of a pointy finger]], it also includes the Princess Plumelle item for Elize. It's a very pink, adorable staff... and her ''strongest wand in the game'', not counting a powered up [[InfinityPlusOneSword Devil's Arm]] for her.** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' also rewards you with a very silly looking weapon for each of the party members upon finishing certain sidequests (examples include a pair of popguns and an omlette pan and spatula for Ludger, a giant paddle for Gaius, and an enormous grilled squid for Alvin). Similarly, they're just about the strongest weapons you have access to prior to beating the game, thanks to both their high attack power and special abilities, and in the case of the pan and spatula for Ludger, allow him to perform a special attack if he's wearing his chef costume.*** There are also the Cat weapons, gotten through Kitty Dispatch, which includes a cat-toy wand and giant [[TeamPet Lulu]] mittens. They are weaker than the above weapons, but have the special ability to severely increase the drop rate of items, be they common or rare ones.* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''.** Jarate is basically an ascended joke weapon, said weapon being a jar of the Sniper's own urine. But it is useful for extinguishing teammates on fire, shorting out Spy cloaking, subjecting enemies to mini-crits for the next minute or so, and forcing your enemies to accept a terrifying new existence where people do awful things to them all the time for no reason and dignity does not exist.---> Spy: "I have been SHOWN who is the ''BOSS!''"** The Heavy's fists. Not very useful against any enemy charging you with a gun, but sneak up on a distracted enemy and [[FingerGun taunt]].---> Heavy: "POW! HAHA!"\\ Victim: "[[OneHitKill AAAARGH!]]"** The Sticky Jumper is ostensibly a training version of the demoman's stock StickyBomb launcher that has more ammo, but does no damage or KnockBack to the Demoman's enemies (but also does no damage to the Demoman himself, hence the training utility). Normally, this would be of no use to a class focused on blowing up one's enemies. However, when paired to the Ullapool Caber, itself almost a Lethal Joke Item (being a WW2-style [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_24_grenade 'potato masher' grenade]] of the sort one would usually throw being [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon used to smack people]], turning the demoman into an ActionBomb), things like [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvJRK6FaSD0 this]] happen. This is because in a previous iteration, the Sticky Jumper negated all self-inflicted explosive damage, including damage from one's own sticky bombs, grenades.. .and the Ullapool Caber. Because a single swing from the Caber can OneHitKill seven of the nine classes at their starting health, Valve understandably [[{{Nerf}} nerfed]] the Sticky Jumper back to the level of 'training equipment.' Player outcry appears to have gotten Valve to remove the 'take double damage' item penalties and brought the Sticky Jumper back to Lethal Joke status (though it was later smacked with a nerf that only allowed up to 2 stickies at once, to prevent the usual 8-sticky InASingleBound shenanigans that let Demomen cross the whole map in a second).** Similarly to the Sticky Jumper is the Rocket Jumper; a counterpart training weapon for the Soldier. Like the Sticky Jumper, it negates all explosive damage. To some degree the weapons "Escape Plan" and "Equaliser" (two weapons that are duplicates and opposites of each other in terms of stats) has a taunt, which makes the Soldier grab one of his grenades, pull the pin, and blow himself up along with everything in the immediate vicinity. Normally, soldiers are loud and easy to spot, so it would be really hard to actually catch anyone in this (especially since they can just shoot your face in). However, with the Rocket Jumper, not only could you maneuver to the back lines extremely quickly and without drawing attention (you can jump extremely high without worrying about self-damage, and no one ever looks that high up), you also didn't die from your own suicide attack! This is especially potent against snipers and engineers setting up their sentries, as they will be completely vulnerable and unaware you're there and will generally be unmoving. Sadly, this has since been removed from the game.*** Another combination with the Rocket Jumper is a variant with the Market Gardener. The Market Gardener deals crits if you use it against someone while rocket jumping. This by definition means your feet must be off the ground for more than a split second. As the Rocket Jumper gave you "free" rocket jumps without hurting you, this made it the ideal pairing to the Market Gardener. Next up, however, are two items that takes this from "joke combination" to "lethal": The Mantreads and the B.A.S.E. Jumper. The Mantreads deal 3X fall damage to whoever you land on, if you would take fall damage. Since the Rocket Jumper lets you jump extremely high, most people use this to "cover" all their bases; they either whack the victim with the Market Gardener or stomp on them with the Mantreads. The other one is the B.A.S.E. Jumper, which lets you prolong your jump by slowing your fall. This, with correct timing, completely negates fall damage (as deploying it a split second before touching the ground slows you down enough), but also, because of what defines a "rocket jumping" strike, it also means you can slow yourself down and ''continually smack the same person for multiple rounds of crits''. Players would often find a way to jump as high as possible and deploy the Base Jumper and then glide about until they see a target, at which point they immediately drop down and re-open the B.A.S.E. Jumper, smacking the poor sod into oblivion. ** The Holiday Punch is a literal Lethal Joke Item. Whoever is punched by them [[BackStab in the back]] will be forced into a 5-second taunt, consisting of them laughing their virtual asses off and being completely immobile. The weapon itself is paired with the (lethal) Showdown Taunt, which also comes with the default fists, which instantly kills anyone standing in front of the Heavy. Normally, this taunt would be hard to pull off, considering it takes exactly 5 seconds to execute... The x10 servers crank up the chance for CriticalHit[=s=] making it much more likely for Heavy to force the poor souls to laugh.** Scout's Home Run taunt, using the Sandman and Atomizer. Line up your opponent, taunt, and...--->'''Scout''': Bada-SWING!!** Pyro's other melee weapons (aside from his stock, milestone weapons, and ones that all classes can use). [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Powerjack A car battery attached to a car jack with rubber bands]], [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Back_Scratcher a rake]], [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Postal_Pummeler a mailbox]], [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Lollichop a huge lollipop]], [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Neon_Annihilator a neon sign ripped from a Chinese bar]] and a ''[[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Sharpened_Volcano_Fragment sharpened volcano fragment]]''.* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'': has the Meowmere, which is actually one of, if not '''the''' highest DPS melee weapon in the game, which is saying '''a LOT''' considering all the kinds of weapons in the game. The sword itself has a cat face on the hilt and shoots cats with rainbow trails, and even makes cat noises and everything. The Terrarian can also be considered one to a lesser extent, as it's just a yoyo, but also is an endgame melee weapon with massive DPS (second only to the Meowmere), especially when combined with the Yoyo Bag. The same can be said of the rest of the yoyo weapon class.** The firework rockets sold by the Party Girl are a primarily visual effect furniture...that happen to deal 150 damage to whatever they hit. With proper planning and timing, it is possible to use them to kill the FinalBoss EldritchAbomination in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlxntLDJl3U 3.5 seconds]].* The Shield Gun from UnrealTournament. It's fine for blocking attacks, but has a terrible range in terms of dishing out attacks. Fully charged, however, it is capable of blasting away more than half of a victim's energy... provided they aren't shielded. This also works as a rocket jumper, but a very risky one.* ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'':** You'd think the Monkey Gun would be a simple joke item -- like hell it is. It has slightly limited use in that if you fire it, you have to use up the full 64 round magazine in one go (your limit is 4 mags total), but it gets rid of those in a fraction of a second, and just one of those rounds can be lethal. This makes it an excellent weapon if you're cornered by mooks.** On a similar note, the Mag Charger is pretty useless -- until you realize that it can both see AND fire through literally ANY scenery on the game. It doesn't do a huge heap of damage, but it's accurate, fires quite rapidly, and anyone on the entire map is a viable target, even if you're completely hidden. Just have a back up for if someone gets too close, because it's no good in close quarters.* ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' has:** The Hoe of Destruction. Let all foes fear the power of your [[http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Hoe_of_Destruction gardening tool!]]** Dirty diapers. Applying a dirty diaper upon an enemy would instantly rout him, thus making even nasty spellcasters easy pickings.** A number of the most powerful weapons and armor in ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld 2'' look exactly like some of the weakest. Examples: the Axe of Smiting (a hatchet), a cudgel that opens all doors, and a leather vest that makes you immune to fire.* ''[[VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi Warriors Orochi 3]]'' has numerous joke weapons as special weapons for many characters, including wrenches for Guan Suo in place of his normal nunchaku, a ruler (called [[JustForPun Measure of a Man]]) for Mitsuhide Akechi instead of a katana, and "poisoned dumplings" for Da Ji, a character that uses giant floating orbs as her weapon of choice. All of these have base attack damage just above the character's default weapon, but as the character uses them, many of these joke weapons will become more powerful then the normally ultimate fourth weapons. Only about three characters out of [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters a hundred and thirty two]] are exceptions to this rule.* The Squeaky Hammer in ''VideoGame/WaterWarfare.'' It slows you down, has no range, and temporarily replaces your water gun, and, when used on people, simply stuns them briefly... except during [[RandomNumberGod those rare instances]] where it acts as an instant KO. It also grants invincibility, at least.* The Boots of Force from ''VideoGame/WizardsAndWarriors''. Why on earth would you want a short-ranged and awkward kicking ability when there are flashy projectile weapons you could get in that slot? First of all, it damages ''everything'', even the otherwise [[InvincibleMinorMinion unkillable enemies]]. Secondly, it does more damage than anything else in the game, including a guaranteed three HP of damage to any boss when most weapons do 1/2 HP at best. Finally, you can [[GameBreaker kick open chests that you don't have the key for]].* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has the carrot on a stick. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's a carrot on a stick]]. You get it for defeating a three-headed hydra in a giant ruined troll city that takes at least 45 minutes (back in the days, that was already an incredibly short time for a dungeon) to finish if you're going for the hydra part ASAP. That's right, you go into an ancient troll city to defeat a mystical three-headed hydra and all you get is a carrot tied to a stick with a piece of string; no, it's not something the hydra drops, it's a reward from a NPC who wants the hydra dead. It increases your mount's movement speed by 3%, which seems measly, but being the only way to increase it at the time made it a powerful item for catching up with fleeing enemies, often deciding the outcome of a PvP battle. In the current game, it's not effective for players above lvl 70, where faster mounts are available, which would make the item even more powerful. Instead, new items are available that can increase mount speed by up to 10%. ** Another [=WoW=] item that has a surprise is the Last Relic of Argus, an item made through Archaeology. It's got a random teleport effect that sends you who-knows-where, but its secret value is that the teleport spell takes only three seconds to cast, where the usual methods of teleport take ten seconds on average, making it a very effective escape hatch.** During the initial parts of Wrath of the Lich King, due to feral druids' melee damage being unconnected to the DPS of the weapon they had equipped and so solely based on the base stats... the best weapon in the game for them (that wasn't from a high-end raid boss) was a fishing pole.* Many of ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}''[='=]s sillier items fall under this trope. In fact, you could say that ''Worms''' entire reason for being is this trope. There's homing pigeons, exploding bananas, skunks, concrete donkeys, [[RefugeInAudacity exploding grandmas]]... And on the less ridiculous, CherryTapping an opponent with a Prod and making them fall into a mine or water is pretty funny, too.* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', defeating the BonusBoss of [[SidequestSidestory a long sidequest arc]] rewards you with two weapons for Riki. One of them looks like an oversized half-eaten fish, and it just so happens to be one of Riki's best weapons. This in contrast with the other weapon: A JokeItem with an impressive damage range of 1-1.* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' has the Ramjet Rifle. You get to keep it after field-testing it for a weapons researcher, who decides against developing it further as most of its stats are absolute garbage (for instance, it has an attack of ''one'' at a point in the game where other weapons of the same type will be closer to ten). The key word being ''most'': While its attack is awful and it has an absurdly long cooldown, it also gives 300 TP per attack, meaning with the right build you can practically spam powerful attacks that would otherwise take a while to build up TP for.* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter Broken Bamboo Sword]]. Ordinarily, Equip Spells either boost the monster's ATK or give it an ability (for your cards) or lower the monster's ATK or impose a restriction (for your opponent's). Broken Bamboo Sword, meanwhile, increases the equipped monster's ATK by 0 and does nothing else, which means it does nothing but fill up the field, right? Well, actually, it has three support cards, all of which are game-changers. Golden Bamboo Sword lets you draw two cards, while Soul-Absorbing Bamboo Sword forces your opponent to skip their draw if the equipped card does damage, and Ghastly Bamboo Sword lets the equipped card attack directly, so long as you send a Bamboo Sword back to your hand (which makes it easy to recycle Soul-Absorbing Bamboo Sword). Basically, if you have Broken Bamboo Sword, you can duplicate the effects of Pot of Greed and Yata-Garasu, two of the strongest cards in the game.[[/folder]]----