What does your character fight with?

You're really going to have to narrow it down a bit.

Maybe some idea of genre and timeframe?

A toothpick... that only allows the user to make slashing motions and only those motions until the intended target is dead... and after the enemy is killed, it cries milk from its pointy tip that the user must drink in order to keep using the toothpick... and the user must be lactose intolerant.

Deciding a weapon is something that for me reflects a lot of the character's personality and fighting style. For some visuals on how to fight with a weapon, I recommend looking up ARMA (association of Renaissance Martial Arts) videos or HEMA alliance.

Vids I'd start with.

Viking age sword and shield.
Halberd

One of my MC's fights with an migration era viking sword and round shield. The sword has antimagic properties, but doesn't enhance or anything else.

I'll write more, but I have to go to work. see you later.

MC 1: Scalpel
MC 2: Katana
MC 3: Fights with persuasion

If you have water control...

You know water cannons? One of those, only a pistol. You only need water for ammo, non lethal, can knock someone right on their butt/knock them out. PS also quieter than shooting bullets!

My MC uses his fists and brains most often. (He's a big guy and a maths genius).

However his wife (19 year old) uses a fighting/iron fan and a dagger. As others have said it fits her personality and style.

I've read that the humble sling is highly underrated as a weapon - and not just against Philistine giants. It's very portable and easily reloaded.

A generic knife can do a fair bit of damage, too, plus it can be used outside of fighting.

Big sticks - there's a reason those who speak softly care them. A walking stick can be dangerous even without pointy bits.

If she's a dancer, you might consider some manner of unarmed martial art - both involve physical discipline, balance, and learning to control the body. Maybe she took a self-defense course back home, or studied karate or some such on the side to supplement her dance training (or just because it's something many people take classes in.)

As for guns automatically trumping no guns, there are many ways to render a gun useless. Running out of ammo's an easy one. Dropping it and bending the barrel. Snapping the firing pin. General abuse or misuse, if she doesn't know much about handling or loading them. And if you're up against anyone with power over fire, maybe they can affect the effectiveness of gunpowder in their vicinity. Thus your big, bad, modern weapon that was supposed to make mincemeat out of the primitive little wizards and fairies becomes an awkward, nearly useless club.

his rapier wit

Fists, magic... she trains with a rapier-and-dagger at one point but only to learn the basics. She isn't trained well enough to actually use them in a fight during this book.

Ha! I thought you meant what does he fight? My answer for my MMC was himself, his magic, his friends, pretty much everything.

But what does he use as a weapon? His magic, mostly, though he uses a sword too (and elbows, fists and anything else he has at his disposal).

My FMC uses her knife in one scene, and she manages to get it into her attacker. But she gets stabbed too. She also develops a knack for using her healing talent to transform the stolen magical energy of dark sorcerers back into vitality, which temporarily stuns them.

And my secondary male character uses a sword and enhances his strength and speed with his life talent.

I was in the same boat as Roxxsmom, with similar answers. XD

My main fights with a sword that also serves as a mental link to the captured god he's trying to find. The seconds are wildly varied, but they include a shapeshifting sword, teeth and claws, knife, elemental magic, and spear.

Have you considered giving your main a magic gun? Unlimited ammo, for instance?

A giant robot.

Or nothing.

My novels don't really have fighting...

Being that she's a dancer, I would utilize that detail and go with it. Sword-dancer, dagger-dancer. Something that she can "dance" with, as having her manipulate a physical object would make sense for her abilities rather than something related to magic.

What about a bullwhip?

It'd be unusual, requires some skill and grace. The whip can be used in many ways, including as a club.

Here's a link for a brief bit of information/ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEfZXuPgwvQ

I'm back from work. Lost a lot of post.

One of the things I've learned about writing is that you spend a lot of time doing personal research. We can give you pointers here but we're not able to replace it.

Try looking up the following weapons and see if any strike your fancy.

Polearms; Danish Ax, Partisan, Glaive, (there's a dozen spears) Halberd, Bill Hook, scythe, naginata

Bludgeoning; Flail, Morning star, Mace, staff, club, war hammer, Kanabo, baseball bat

Swords; There are dozens European swords look up the Oakshot typing for medieval swords. The Vikings had their traditional sword and Seax. There are sabers of varying curvature; cavalry saber of the US civil war, the Capsician and polish sabers with more curve. There is the Sashimar, scimitar and Katana.

These are off the top of my head, and I'm tired. Look up more if none of those suit you. Just research till you find what you want. Every one of these weapons has at least one youtube video which makes it an easy place to research them.

Nivarion said:

Deciding a weapon is something that for me reflects a lot of the character's personality and fighting style. For some visuals on how to fight with a weapon, I recommend looking up ARMA (association of Renaissance Martial Arts) videos or HEMA alliance.

Click to expand...

I agree that matching weapons and characters is interesting. For example a character might have a weakness for using small atomic bombs and weaponized
anti-deus-ex-machina machines.

My MC is a pretty ordinary young woman and doesn't exactly go looking for violence, but when she has no choice but to fight with something/someone it's usually more for the purpose of getting away alive because she's being attacked than anything else. At least initially. In those cases she fights with whatever she can get her hands on: rocks, sticks, etc, and sometimes she kicks, bites, and scratches. Later on, she's given a dagger for the sake of defending herself and uses it along with the other things I mentioned.

Some other characters:
G: prefers his longsword.
A: uses her magic.
E: alternates between bow/arrow and a longsword.
Character I seriously need to name: Sword and a dagger.

She's an 18-year-old kid, and her main focus has been dance. So, probably hasn't spent a lot of time messing around with fencing or martial arts--and even if she has dabbled in some form of weaponry or self-defense training, she's going to be up against adults in the other world who have years/decades of training and have used their skills in a serious way, not as a hobby.

She can't realistically beat the home team with their own weapons, so one option is to bring something from her own world that they don't have. Pepper spray, maybe--many canisters contain enough for 25 bursts, and I saw one advertised for up to 60. She could have it in her purse when abducted, and it would last her through a number of fights. The people she sprays wouldn't know what was happening, and might think it either magic or something that causes permanent damage, so the effect on them would be multiplied by fear. Plus there could be some anxiety on her part about how long it would last.

Otherwise, the sling is a good idea. If her hand/eye coordination is good, she could be accurate quite quickly, and could keep her distance.

Mine uses a stylized mace as well, but she calls it a maul.

Has mastered every known weapon except guns/modern ones, but when tried, quickly mastered that as well. Pioneered her own fighting style, with other races basing their combat ideas on her work. She is mentioned in the holy book of all the major terrestrial races as breaking entire armies alone with her bare hands, reigning thousands of blows in the first seconds of combat and defeating the creator of the universe and his three greatest servants in only five moves. Blindfolded.
Of course people's legend grows over time and truth becomes mixed with myth.

I'm terrible with thinking of weapons for my main characters.

In my current WIP, the character has actually never fought before, but I gave her a dagger just to help her friend (who uses a sword) kill a monster. I don't know if I'll stick with it.

When I play as her in Skyrim, she uses magic and a mace.

O_O

A bladewhip.

It's like a whip, only the end is tipped with a viciously sharp knife. It can only be used with someone highly skilled in dance, as otherwise you would risk hurting yourself more than the person you were attacking.

Think those gymnasts with their twirly ribbons on sticks, but far more deadly.

A semi-sentient flying cannonball that responds to her movements.