What is an action/adventure story without a signature weapon? Every hero or group of heroes needs a powerful tool to aid them in their battle against evil. The same goes for villains, what would they be without their unique armaments? We've seen plenty of powerful weapons in the world of comic books with the likes of the infinity gauntlet or Thor's hammer, but what about other mediums. Nearly every video game has a wide array of unique weapons the player can obtain or customize, and the medium is probably the biggest collection of unique weapons. But, there is one other that has plenty of interesting and incredibly powerful weapons: cartoons.
Action cartoons are full of crazy weapons used to fight even crazier enemies. But, which are some of the must unique and powerful amongst them? There's a bit from every era of action cartoons, though a good chunk of them come from the crazy, toy-driven era of the '80s. We're looking at weapons that are either incredibly powerful on their own or because of the wielder who holds them. From swords to guns, to giant robots, to magical weapons and everything in between, here's our take on the 15 most overpowered weapons in cartoons.
16 SAMURAI JACK'S SWORD
Forged by the ancient gods Odin, Ra and Rama, Samurai Jack's sword was imbued with powerful magic meant to fight the forces of evil. The sword is the only tool capable of defeating Aku, crafted with the sole purpose of doing so. The sword was originally the emperor's, but was passed down to Jack after Aku took over his home.
The sword on its own is very powerful -- it can cut through most, if not all non-magical materials, is virtually indestructible and requires no upkeep. But, it is just a tool on its own, and requires skill and a true heart to wield properly. Jack has those two things, and in his hands, the sword becomes even more powerful, allowing him to take on hordes of powerful enemies.
15 VOLTRON
It might not be a gun or a sword (though it has both), but Voltron is still considered the most powerful weapon in the universe. Known as the legendary defender of the universe, Voltron is a giant robot formed by five other lion-themed robots. However, only five chosen paladins can pilot these lions, ensuring that Voltron fights for good and is kept out of evil's hands.
The lions are incredibly powerful weapons on their own as well. Each has a special trait and a unique ability that make them capable threats when separated. When Voltron is formed, the lions' powers, weapons and strength are combined, making the legendary defender a near unstoppable force to be reckoned with. But, this weapon is only as good as the teamwork of the paladins, its power coming from their unity.
14 THE SWORD OF OMENS
In both iterations of Thundercats, the Sword of Omens is said to be one of the most powerful swords in existence. As a bladed weapon, it's incredibly strong, capable of cutting through almost anything. The blade is also nearly indestructible and can take as much damage as it puts out. But, that's just the physical properties, the sword is also imbued with great magic, granting it various abilities.
The Sword of Omens can shoot energy blasts of various properties, most notably blasts of electricity. The sword also prevents evil from using it, its magic only accommodating good-hearted wielders. The most notable power is of course the sight-beyond-sight. This ability grants the wielder a form of clairvoyance, allowing them to see upcoming threats and sneak attacks.
13 THE POWER SWORD (HE-MAN)
Given to him by the sorceress of Grayskull, Prince Adam and the cowardly Cringer are transformed when he says the magic phrase, "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!" This unlocks the sword's abilities, transforming Adam into He-Man, the strongest man in the universe, granting him various magical-based enhancements that lie within the Power Sword.
With the sword's power, He-Man gains various physical abilities such as superhuman strength, super speed and indestructible skin. He-Man is strong enough to lift an entire castle like it was nothing and survive massive explosions. The sword itself is also incredibly powerful on its own, shown to be nearly indestructible and able to deflect all kinds of magic energy bolts. Of course, He-Man tends to use his mind before resorting to violence via the strength the sword grants him.
12 MEGATRON
Okay, as much nostalgia love as there is for the original Transformers, we can all agree Megatron was pretty lame in the fact that he had to be shot by the other Decepticons when transforming into a gun. The reason for this is because the Transformers franchise was built upon different Japanese toy companies, and Megatron came from a line of toy robots that turned into weapons that protected children.
Despite this, and the fact that Megatron had to be fired by his underlings, his gun form was still pretty powerful. In fact, you could easily argue that he was overpowered in some ways. Megatron could change his size to allow anyone to pull his trigger and would shoot energy blasts that were far more focused than his robot form's arm-cannon could shoot. That might not seem like much, but think about a human shooting Megatron, it would be insane!
11 THE TECHNODROME
Perhaps one of the weirdest elements of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the Technodrome, a giant spherical base of operations loaded up with a long list of weapons systems. The Technodrome of the original series, which was at times an advertisement for the toy version, was a tank-like base that usually wasn't very mobile, often too low on power to do anything more than sit there.
Though this might make the Technodrome sound like lame and underpowered, this was just when the mobile base was low on power. When it was fully charged, which was rare, the Technodrome was actually a pretty dangerous threat. Not only can it survive harsh environments like Dimension X, it is also heavily armed. When fully powered up, the Technodrome had access to missile launchers, laser cannons, an earthquake machine, drills and a trans-dimensional portal opener.
10 ACME PRODUCTS
Need to catch a pesky road runner? Got an annoying rabbit that deserves an anvil to the head? Or maybe there's a hunter that needs to be taught a lesson. Whatever it is you need, Acme has got you covered. A name popularized by Looney Tunes, the Acme corporation was most prominently featured in the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, where the former used the often faulty products to try to catch the latter.
Though not every product of Acme is a weapon, as seen above, most of the products ordered by the coyote tended to be for destructive purposes. Funnily enough, when the Acme name was first being used for advertisements, one of the products that it was used for was anvils, one of the most often used Acme products in cartoons.
9 CAPTAIN PLANET
Confused by this one? Let us explain. Captain Planet is summoned by the Planeteers and then pretty much thrown at whatever problem they're facing; ergo, he is a living weapon. Captain Planet is an elemental warrior that is aimed with the sole intention of fighting for the safety of the Earth and its environment. Under this notion, he essentially a weapon of the environment. And that is awesome.
Captain Planet as a superhero/weapon is completely overpowered, often manifesting whatever power he needed to take care of the problem in each episode. The powers that stuck throughout the series were super strength, flight and great durability. He could also transmute objects and elements and could even take on the properties of various elements to take out the eco-villains of the series. Though he fought for good, Captain Planet could easily be considered a weapon; an overpowered one at that.
8 THE OMNITRIX
Though it wasn't intended to be, the Omnitrix ended up being one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. In the original Ben 10 lore, the Omnitrix was created to be a device to usher in peace by allowing any creature in the universe to experience what it's like to live in another species' shoes. When an intergalactic tyrant attempted to steal the Omnitrix as a weapon, by accessing its most powerful aliens forms, it was sent to Earth where a young boy named Ben found it.
Ben found it could turn him into different types of aliens, each crazier than the last. At first, the Omnitrix is only capable of turning Ben into 10 aliens, but over time he gains access to more, in both the original continuity and in the reboot. Some aliens are one-hit wonders, but others, like Alien X, are completely overpowered.
7 GEM WEAPONS (STEVEN UNIVERSE)
In the world of Steven Universe, the alien species known as Gems have a wide variety of abilities, some powers being specific to different gemstones. One power they all share is the ability to summon a weapon unique to their personality and gem type. Garnet can summon her signature gauntlet, Amethyst has her whip, Pearl her spear and Steven can summon his mother's magical shield.
Each of these weapons strengthen the Gems' abilities; Garnet's gauntlets augment her strength, Amethyst's whips are great for long-range attacks, Pearl is incredibly proficient with her spear and Steven's shield has saved him and the rest of the Gems on more than one occasion. And those are just the weapons of the Crystal Gems, the Homeworld Gems also have their fair share of unique and powerful weapons.
6 STAR'S WAND (STAR VS. THE FORCES OF EVIL)
In the land of Mewni, there is one kingdom that wields one of the most powerful weapons of all time, the Butterfly kingdom. When the heir of the kingdom turns 14, they receive the wand, a powerful magical weapon that transforms for whomever wields it. Star is the most recent Butterfly princess to receive the wand, and over the course of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, she's learned just what kind of power it wields.
Each user of the wand has created their own spells, listed in the spell book, and Star is no different. She's used the wand to shoot beams of unicorns, narwhals and rainbow energy blasts. But, that's not all -- the wand is also capable of powerful dark magic, including a spell that can permanently harm immortal monsters, though it's at the cost of the user.
5 SYM-BIONIC TITAN
When the princess of Galaluna, Ilana, her bodyguard, Lance, and their robot, Octus, escaped from their home planet after a hostile takeover, they fled to Earth, hiding out amongst the people. The dictator who took over their planet is still after the trio, sending alien monsters to capture or destroy them. Fortunately, Ilana, Lance and Octus have a great power together, the ability to form the Sym-Bionic Titan.
By combining Ilana and Lance's power armor suits with Octus' robot body, they create the massive Titan. The Titan is itself an insanely powerful weapon, one that can take out nearly any monster and outclass all Earth technology. To top things off, the Sym-Bionic Titan can manifest various weapons, be it a sword, a chain and sickle, daggers or a blaster. This is one tough robot, one that is even tougher when all three pilots are working perfectly in tandem.
4 SPARK STAFF (MOTOR CITY)
Here's a unique one: the Spark Staff from Disney XD's short-lived series, MotorCity. The series followed a group of freedom fighters, The Burners, living in the remains of old Detroit, known as Motor City. The Burners fight against the tyrannical leader of the Detroit Deluxe, an upgraded dystopian city built on top of Motor City. The Burners are led by Mike Chilton, a highly skilled driver and fighter with an extremely unique weapon.
Mike's Spark Staff is essentially a staff with two energy chainsaws on both ends. If that wasn't awesome enough, it also collapses into a metal skull that Mike uses as his gearshift. The Spark Staff is durable as a staff and becomes ten times as dangerous when the spinning energy blades are activated, making Mike a forced to be reckoned with.
3 MEGAS XLR
In the distant future, aliens have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. In an attempt to win the fight for survival, the humans stole a prototype mech from the aliens and modified it, naming it MEGAS. In an attempt to prevent the war from ever happening, humanity sent the robot back in time, accidentally sending it back too far and into the hands of a slacker mechanic and gamer named Coop.
MEGAS was once again heavily modified by Coop, who replaced the head with a car and hooked up all the weapons and controls to the steering wheel, various console buttons and a plethora of video game controllers. After this, Coop is the only person who can pilot MEGAS, who's power is immense. MEGAS has summoned weapons of all kinds, with seemingly no limit to what is hidden under the robot's surface, making the mech itself an overpowered weapon.
2 AMULET OF DAYLIGHT (TROLLHUNTERS)
In Netflix and Dreamworks' Trollhunters, the Amulet of Daylight chooses the first human Trollhunter, Jim Lake Jr., granting him all the abilities of the previous Trollhunters. By saying the phrase "For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command," Jim is granted the use of the Trollhunter Armor and the Sword of Daylight.
Made of pure sunlight, the Trollhunter armor provides defense against evil trolls and is eventually able to summon double boomarangs. Like the armor, the Sword of Daylight is also made of pure sunlight energy. Jim can also summon the sword at will, even when it is launched out of reach. The Sword of Daylight is a powerful weapon against evil trolls, one that Jim must learn to master before he can be a truly formidable Trollhunter.
1 DEXTER'S INVENTIONS (DEXTER'S LAB)
Dexter's Lab followed the titular Dexter, a boy genius who often protected the world from supernatural or scientific threats with the use of his many inventions. Seriously, Dexter was not only the smartest boy in the world, he might also have been the most productive. Across the entirety of Genndy Tartakovsky's classic series, Dexter created some pretty crazy inventions, a lot of them weapons.
Above are just a few of the many giant robots and/or mech suits that Dexter invented to save the world... or just to get some sort of petty revenge. Some of our favorites include the dodgeball-playing mech that came out of his backpack and the giant robot he created for his family to pilot. But, it's not all robots, as he's created plenty of laser guns and doomsday-styled weapons as well.