Sunday, September 6, 2015

Boomerangs!




I love Boomerangs! They are my favorite weapon of all time in games, and shows. I've been in love with them ever since Millie from the second Suikoden game! I've always thought they were cool. You throw the boomerang, so you never get close to your enemies, and then it comes back so you never have to refill your weapon either. Of course there are many flaws, like it would never work in real life because it would hit the target and fall. But, I do theorize that if the boomerang is either going faster, or is stronger than the object to hit, it can actually knock the target down. As an example, if you threw a boomerang, at a "wanky" little tree branch (about 2 inches thick), the boomerang would be going fast enough, and strong enough to fling into the tree branch, probably bend the branch, or even break it, and continue to fly. now, if you did this to a tree, it would just "boop", the tree and fall.

 What I really like is, Sango from the anime Inuyasha, does something similar. She uses a giant boomerang, that's probably 6 feet tall, and every time she uses it on a giant monster, it's used in a way that makes sense. She doesn't hit the enemy directly, but to the side of the enemy, where it would still have enough speed and power to come back. (Like in the anime, one time, she throws it at a giant serpent, or snake monster [I don't remember what it was], and it only attacked the very outside of the creature, somewhat bruising, it, if you will. Because it's so big, and heavy, I believe she easily knocks down human sized foes rather quickly.)
Millie


 In the show The Arrow, Captain Boomerang appears, and he actually has many boomerangs under his coat, he uses them like sharp knives, and some of them come back in certain circumstances. I think this was the most realistic way to bring Boomerangs as an actual weapon, in the modern day.

I like that people are starting to give them a realistic aspect to them. I've always been fascinated by them and I wish they would be used more in video games, and other media. One of my favorite anime, Shangri La, has Kuniko Hojo. She uses a giant metal boomerang, and it's strong enough to cut through a tank turret! Kuniko uses her metal boots to kick the boomerang, in order to stop it. (If she grabbed it with her hand, it would probably tear her arm off. The metal on her boots, would probably soak the damage, so it would stop the boomerang) Shangri-La is one of my favorite anime, but not only because Kuniko has an awesome weapon, but also because it's an awesome anime!



Although in real life Boomerangs are not used as weapons, but actually for sport, or an item to scare away birds and other animals, usually in the means of hunting. The aborigines actually used a weapon called the "Throwing Stick", which was used to attack prey, and this weapon inspired the boomerang. They've never had a throwing stick in a game before, from my knowledge. Which would be very interesting!
I think it's funny, because my three favorite game series, Suikoden ,Chrono Cross and Kya Dark Lineage. All of my favorite characters, or one of my favorite characters have a boomerang. I always thought it was funny that my three favorite series always had a character with a boomerang. 
Faylen
 
As mentioned earlier, my favorite Suikoden II character is Millie, and uses boomerang as her weapon. She was the one that introduced me to the wild world of boomerangs as a weapon! Check out one of my earlier posts, which is also one of the most viewed on the blog, that I made about her! "Who is Suikoden's Millie?"
Then you also have Faylen, another character from the Suikoden franchise, that appears in Suikoden V. Who has a big metal boomerang. The interesting thing about Faylen, is that she has a metal glove on her right hand, which adds the realistic element, of her having to catch it, without cutting her whole hand/arm off. (Similar to Kuniko's boots). There is also the addition of Sialeeds, and Sharmista, in Suikoden V Whom have Chakrams, a circular weapon that is thrown. In many games such as Suikoden, or Tales of the Abyss, characters that have chakrams, have the capability of having the chakram come back to them, like a boomerang. Interestingly enough, Suikoden V allows characters to use skills to buff themselves in battle. Sharmista, and Sialeeds have a "Long Throw" ability (Which is the rare chance to attack all enemies because of it's boomerang like qualities, similar attacks can be seen in Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy 13), Faylen does not have this. (I theorize it's because she has a Treasure Hunt ability, that cannot be removed, since she's a bandit character.)
In it's spiritual successor, Suikoden Tierkreis, various characters can use a boomerang as their weapon, including the main character. Unlike the original Suikoden games, where the characters keep their weapon and upgrade it by going to a blacksmith. Tierkreis has the characters swap out weapons for stronger upgrades, the Chakram, is one of the upgrades. The character Taj, starts with one.
A few of the Boomerang upgrades look similarly to previous installment's weapons, there is one that looks like Millie's, Faylen's, and Sialeeds/Sharmista. The rest are all original, and one even looks like a Ninja Shuriken, which has been used as a normal long range weapon by Sasuke, in Suikoden II. (For images of the Boomerangs in Suikoden Tierkreis, check out the Weapon gallery on the wiki!)

Drawing by me.

Van from Chrono Cross
In Chrono Cross, there is Van, a painter who wields a boomerang. His first special ability, has him throwing all of his boomerangs at the enemies. (Van is one of my two favorite characters in CC, and not only does he have a Boomerang, but he is also a painter! I thought it was funny because I also like art.).
There is another character, Mel who I like too and uses a boomerang.


Funny thing I noticed as I'm editing this post, Millie, Faylen, and Van, are all the same age, they are 14.
Suikoden V takes place much earlier (9 years earlier) than the second game, so technically, Faylen & Millie are different ages. But in their games, they are both 14. at that moment in time. When I first played Suikoden II, and Chrono Cross, I was about 10 years old. I also related to them due to being a similar age to them at the time.

Kya Dark Lineage, the main character Kya, uses a boomerang like weapon to defeat monsters. She uses the Boomy, which she conveniently also uses as a hair clip when not in use (In the picture, it's the yellow item she has in her hand.). She can also use it as a close range weapon, similar to a knife. However, she can only use it against small creatures, larger enemies she cannot hurt them with it (She can however hit them with it, and if far away, if there is another enemy nearby, they'll fight each other, it can be rather funny!).


So, now you know why I love boomerangs so much! Plus some extra info! I even have a book I purchased called how to make a boomerang, apparently there's a way to make a boomerang out of a rectangle type stick!! What!!! I bought it like three years ago, I haven't made any boomerangs yet. (I'm very lazy.....)
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