Why Fantasy Weapons Are Fantastic

Fantasy weapons are often named so simply as an aspect of psychological warfare. It served to bolster the power of the wielder or the importance of the weapon in varied ways. Thor, the Viking god of war, is distinctive only because of his hammer, Mjolnir. Excalibur was the main instrument King Arthur of Camelot ascended the throne of England. Without it, he cannot be England's rightful heir to the throne after Uther Pendragon, his father. In Asia, any Japanese family's claim to the royal throne is bolstered by possession of the Imperial Regalia which includes the sword Kusanagi.

To make them supernatural and the wielder invincible, the weapons are endowed with magical or extraordinary powers either actually or in legends. Roland has the indestructible Durendal as his most cherished war companion. The sword Dyrnwyn of Welsh legends was said to flame up with fire when used by worthy warriors, but consumes the wielder with fire is he uses it for evil purposes. Meantime, the Irish has Fragarach, the sword that can penetrate all kinds of medieval armour that are otherwise unaffected by ordinary weapons.

For the fantasy weapons of the Twentieth Century, two world war weapons that may termed fantastic are the Me262 or Me163, as well as the Paris Gun. The Me262 was the first-ever jetfighter to fly the skies and bring down enemy airplanes (the RAF Gloster 'Meteor', a similarly-designed jet fighter, did not reach air combat operations until late 1944) . It was fielded for combat by Germany in appreciable quantities in mid-1944, and damaged a RAF Mosquito on July 26, 1944 as its first air combat victory. In contrast, the Meteor scored its first wins when it downed two V1 weapons on August 4, 1944. The Komet was a rocket-firing jet fighter that was even faster than the Me262.

Meantime, the Paris Gun (Paris-Geschtz) was a long-barrel siege gun used to pound Paris, 120 kilometers away, in World War 1. The primary purposes was to instill terror in the hearts of Parisiennes so French resistance to German advance would weaken. Maybe the objective was achieved, because the citizens of Paris first believed they were being hammered by a new kind of super airweapon because there was no noise before the shells fell. Yet, the people did not leave Paris -not all, anyway--- and the German did not conquer the City of Lights.

So weapons may be termed fantasy weapons, they need to be -or believed to be--- fanciful items. They are imbued with extraordinary powers or capabilities by the user, enough to become superior to comparable ones. Legend, fictional or real, fantasy weapons serve to bolster the confidence of the wielder, inspire the nation or group, and create a hero figure which aspiring minds can identify with. In stories and books, heroes using such weapons are usually triumphant or come to a tragic, romantic end such as Roland, but in real life, fantastic weapons most times fail to achieve the lofty purposes they were made for.