"It's not unlike a long-range kebab."
— Javelin description, Dungeons of Dredmor
One of the oldest weapons of all humanity, Older Than Dirt, along with the wooden club, is the javelin. Short, light spears that can be simply sharp sticks (though really, a hard point makes them much more effective), javelins can be used in melee at a pinch, but are usually thrown. They differ from the traditional spear in various ways: usually, while heavy spears and lances are melee weapons associated with guards, knights, and cool-headed, calm individuals, javelins are associated with speed, as they're lighter to carry than a spear, and provide hit-and-run skirmishers with the cheapest and simplest effective option. But there are important exceptions, most notably the Roman legions, who developed formidable heavy infantry tactics based on close-range use of heavy javelins followed up with sword and shield.
Javelins are thus favored by light cavalry and skirmishing infantry, who can use them instead of bows and arrows — javelins are more economical to make and easier to use, and can be thrown one-handed while the other hand holds a shield or a horse's reins, though they lack the bow's range. (A well-equipped Horse Archer might also carry a couple of javelins, for closer-range work and as a backup to the bow.) The javelin is a very old weapon as well as being quite simple, so it's often associated with wild, primitive-looking cultures (though, again, the Romans provide a major counterexample). If a story takes place in a maritime setting then you may see its nautical cousin, the harpoon. In some stories, javelins will be coated in venom.
Sometimes certain powerful characters won't be satisfied with mere short javelins and will show off by tossing very large spears around. In Video Games, there'll often be the trick of javelins returning to the thrower or magically respawning/reappearing in his or her hand. In mythology, javelins are often associated with lightning, with thunder gods throwing lightning bolts around as their human devotees throw javelins.
There is a weapon/device itself known as the javelin-thrower, spear-thrower, or atlatl, which uses leverage to increase the power and range of a thrown spear; users of these are also covered by this trope. Like most weapons, javelins could be used in hunting as well as warfare; also, many cultures that knew of the javelin went in for contests of throwing distance or accuracy, from casual matches between warriors or hunters to the formal sports of the modern Olympic Games. Artistic depictions of javelin-throwers may thus actually represent hunters or athletes.
See Harpoon Gun for a high-tech version with aquatic associations. The more simplistic sort may overlap with Low-Tech Spears if they can be both thrown and stabbed with. The victim of an especially powerful javelin attack may end up Impaled with Extreme Prejudice, though in truth it would take incredible strength to throw a weapon right through someone.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In the Golden Age Arc of Berserk, one of the Kushan assassins is a huge, muscular man who, instead of going to close range, opts to use his strength to throw large spears with ballista-like speed and force, using an atlatl or spear-thrower. In a lightless tunnel, he's lethal... unfortunately, he's up against Guts and the Band of the Hawk's best fighters.
- Bleach: Despite having a number of spear users, they are almost never thrown. Even the ones Ulquiorra makes out of energy aren't projectiles except for one specific one: Lanza del Relámpago. When Ulquiorra throws it, it causes a huge explosion that's much, much higher than Las Noches. (Las Noches is a huge castle that's so huge that people lose their sense of scale upon seeing it from afar.) Because of how powerful it is, Ulquiorra has difficulty aiming with it.
- Dabura the Demon King from Dragon Ball Z can summon and shoot spears at his enemies.
- In Fairy Tail, Erza's Giant Armor is made to boost her throwing skills and equipped with an evil-banishing spear, which she throws at Galuna's moon in order to end the curse.
- The Harpoon Pierce ÄRM in MÄR summons a large harpoon that is carried and thrown by the summoner. It's used by Mr. Hook during the first match of the fourth round of the Second War Game, where he uses it after throwing Alviss into the air using his Fishing Rod ÄRM to render the latter helpless in the air for a follow-up attack, only for the harpoon, as well as the ÄRM itself, to be destroyed by Alviss in retaliation.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Spear of Longinus is used as a throwing weapon by EVA-00 who launches it into the atmosphere to kill Arael. This causes the spear to be unretrievable since it's caught by the moon's orbit.
- Crocus from One Piece is seen using harpoons with great skill.
- Tekkaman Blade: The titular protagonist sometimes is shown throwing his Tek Lancer at his enemies, and his armor has built-in cables for easy retrieval. This attack is also available as a long-ranged option in the Super Robot Wars J videogame.
- Near the end of Toriko, Teppei and a mutated Mohyan Shaishai exchange blows in the form of, essentially, javelins against each other: the former uses his Green Thumb powers to launch wooden spears, while the latter, who's basically a spiked Giant Spider, spits javelins made of hardened silk.
Arts
- Prehistoric cave paintings have been discovered which appear to depict humans or hunted animals which have been wounded by thrown spears, making this trope Older Than Dirt — which is hardly surprising, as javelins are certainly that old.
- The Doryphoros ("Spear-Bearer") of Polykleitos
was a Classical Greek sculpture, known today from Roman copies, which is considered one of the masterpieces of its age. It depicted a male nude holding a spear or javelin, in a Contrapposto Pose; he may have been a soldier taking a spear to war, but alternatively he may well have been an athlete engaged in a javelin-throwing contest.
Comic Books
- The DCU:
- The Green Lantern villain Javelin is a former Olympic javelin thrower who has turned to crime, using his Olympic-level talents to become a mercenary and creating a javelin-based arsenal. After a bout with Hal Jordan he ends up joining the Suicide Squad.
- Naturally the sports-themed supervillain Sportsmaster has javelins as a part of his arsenal.
- As would be expected, the Amazons have been depicted as armed with either spears or javelins. With Wonder Woman (1987) having reimagined them as some of the oldest people on Earth it's unsurprising that most of the contestants in The Contest carry javelins as their weapon of choice and that javelin throwing is shown to be a popular hobby on Themyscira.
- The Judge Dredd villain Judge Fire uses a fiery trident, which can be used both as a ranged weapon and for one-off throws. He's a very good thrower, possibly because of Super-Strength.
- The minor Marvel Comics villain Harpoon throws metal spears at his victims — technically harpoons, but he mostly uses them like javelins. As a mutant, he has the power to charge these weapons with energy, rendering them especially deadly.
Fan Works
- Fate of the Clans: Cú Chulainn can attack by hurling his spear. For the second and third versions of his Noble Phantasm, he throws it at Mach 2 for a maximum distance of 40 km (20 if he's on the ground instead of the air).
- Vow of Nudity: Largely averted with Haara despite spears being her weapon of choice, though she does throw it on one occasion (while hunting deer). Usually she relies on the ''produce flame' spell to deal ranged damage so she doesn't lose her only melee weapon.
Film — Live-Action
- Captain Clegg: "The Mulatto" (no other name given) tends to attack people by throwing spears at them. Given that he's a Scary Black Man in a colonial-period story, there's a bit of unfortunate Values Dissonance involved here.
- During her final showdown with Sunny in Fair Game (1986), Jessica demonstrates some amazing skill in being able to use star pickets as javelins.
- The '80s Slasher Movie Fatal Games features a javelin-wielding murderer killing athletes.
- One of the favored competitors in The Hunger Games is Marvel, whose weapon of choice is the javelin, with which he scores one of the film's relatively few on-screen kills of a named character.
- Kraven the Hunter (2024): Part of Kraven's skill set. He kills a mook in Omer Aksoy's helicopter by throwing a length of rebar at him with enough force that it enters his chest and emerges from his back.
- Mad Max: Fury Road: Slit is a "lancer" whose job is to be the Guy in Back who throws explosive-head spears at enemy vehicles.
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?: The one-eyed Klansman is nearly killed by a metal pole flying at him, but he catches it midair. The giant burning cross that falls on him, however, is not so easily stopped.
- In Savaged, Zoe kills Cody by throwing an Apache war lance throw the windscreen of his speeding car, and then ducking under the car as it flips and crashes.
- In Shark Week, Final Girl Reagan kills the Big Bad Tiburon by hurling a harpoon into him.
- Slaughter High, another '80s Slasher Movie, also features deadly javelin usage.
- The trope is deconstructed in The Suicide Squad with Javelin (based on the comics character — see above) who gets riddled with bullets the moment he stands up to throw his namesake weapon. He bequeaths it to Harley Quinn with his dying words, and she makes better use of it as a melee weapon later on. Plus she uses it to pierce Starro's eye in the final battle.
- In Terror in a Texas Town, the hero George Hanson is a whaler, who uses his father's harpoon in a Showdown at High Noon against a gunslinger. Hanson takes a bullet, but still wins.
- Troy opens with Achilles facing an elite soldier armed with javelin, shield, and spear, who is strong enough to pierce a metal shield with a single throw. All this serves to introduce Achilles' inhuman badassery as he dodges the first spear, blocks the second with his shield and discards it without breaking stride, and kills his foe with a single leaping blow to the neck.
- Wonder Woman (1974): The renegade Amazon Ahnjayla uses her javelin-throwing skills to trick George into losing a couple of sucker bets. When Wonder Woman shows up riding the burro, Ahnjayla tries to skewer her with a javelin but Wonder Woman catches it and throws it back.
Literature
- Javelins are often used by horsemen in the Deverry series, although the author's notes point out that they're very short javelins (three feet) and an alternate translation of the Deverrian word might be "war dart".
- Earth's Children: Cro-Magnon are often depicted hunting with lighter spears designed to be thrown at targets from a distance, unlike the Clan (Neanderthals), who pretty much exclusively use heavier spears that are primarily stabbing weapons; this requires them to get much closer to targets and makes hunting more difficult and dangerous (the Clan do have ranged weapons, but they’re typically slings and bolas). Ayla, raised by the Clan, uses a Clan-style spear until Jondalar shows her how to make javelin-style spears; she quickly adopts these instead as she finds them superior, especially as she doesn’t have fellow clan members to help her hunt. Jondalar later comes up with a spear-thrower inspired by Ayla’s abilities with a sling, which enables users to throw spears with even greater velocity; it also helps a boy with a crippled arm to overcome this limitation and pursue his ambition to be a hunter.
- In The Elenium, the Peloi, especially those from Daresia, use javelins in battle.
- Have Space Suit – Will Travel: Centurion Iunio shows his contempt for the aliens who judging humanity by throwing his javelin at them. They're in an Unnecessarily Large Interior so he misses, but the protagonist is still impressed, claiming that Iunio must have broken several Olympic records.
- Heroes in The Iliad are frequently described making mighty javelin throws in battle, and javelin-throwing is also mentioned as a sporting contest. Agamemnon is considered the best javelin-man among the Greeks, to the point that during Patroclus' funerary games Achilles decides to cancel the javelin throwing contest and automatically award him the prize the moment he sees him among the contestants.
- Lord of Light: The minor "god" Tak wields the Bright Spear, a throwing weapon augmented by super-technology so that, after each use, it vibrates itself clean and then returns to the thrower's hand.
- In The Lord of the Rings, the Nazgûl often use javelins as ranged weapons when swooping to attack on their flying mounts. One almost-mortally wounds Faramir this way.
- Moby-Dick has Captain Ahab and most of the Peqod's crew using harpoons and lances — which is of course justified by the setting. Despite being called lances, whaling lances were often thrown; Melville goes into detail about how the lance is balanced in the palm and lofted in order to strike downward. Nonetheless, given the whalers are hunting giant animals that could destroy their flimsy boats, and are unable to run away quickly, they have to be cool-headed and steady, so the connotations here are somewhat more like heavy spearmen than hit-and-run javelineers.
- In the Nibelungenlied one of the tests necessary to won over Brunild's hand is a spear-throwing contest between her and a Siegfried-aided Gunther. Said spear is so big that several men are required to carry it around, while Brunild herself can use it with only one hand.
- The MacGuffin from the first book of The Prism Pentad is the Heartwood Spear, a magical spear that can even kill a Sorcerer King. Judging from its description it's supposed to be a javelin.
- Javelins are iconic weapons of otters and hares in Redwall (as are slings) and are deadly when hurled in volleys.
- Sranul from Shadowkeep is a javelin user. Being a Kangaroo Man, he can throw his spears from great heights.
- Vanas Heritage: Avaron and Halvor use javelins as they ambush the Shor-Warriors.
Live-Action TV
- Chief of War: 18th century Hawaiian warriors are depicted using volleys of javelins in massed battles against enemy tribes.
- Doctor Who: "The Five Doctors" features the Raston Warrior Robot, a guardian android that fights by throwing metal javelins. And it is extremely deadly, devastating a squad of a dozen Cybermen all by itself within seconds.
- In Game of Thrones, the Night King hurls a very deadly ice javelin which achieves a One-Hit Kill on Viserion, one of Daenerys' beloved dragons. He almost succeeds in killing Drogon as well.
- Kung Fu (1972):
- The opening sequence includes Kwai Chang Caine dodging and striking aside spears being thrown at him by other monks.
- In the pilot episode, after the Royal Nephew shoots and mortally wounds Master Po, he hides behind his chair to reload. Kwai Chang Caine kills him by throwing a guard's spear through the chair.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Halbrand saves Elendil's life by throwing a spear at an Orc.
- In the 2008 Poirot adaptation of Cat Among the Pigeons, Ann Shapland is discovered trying to steal Prince Ali Yusef's crown jewels by Miss Grace Springer, a games teacher, so Ann has to silence her by tossing a sports javelin through her chest.
- Midsomer Murders: In "Written in the Stars", the second Victim of the Week is done in with a thrown spear using a stolen Bronze Age spearhead — which is unusual even for Midsomer.
- Shaka Zulu features javelin-throwing troops — and shows Shaka training his Zulu war band to understand their limitations. In a skirmish with another tribe, Shaka's men follow their training by using their shields to catch or deflect the thrown spears of the other side. After withstanding several volleys of javelins, Shaka and his men attack, demonstrating that they kept hold of their spears, while their opponents are now more or less unarmed. The hand-held assegai then becomes the weapon of choice for Zulu combat — a spear for stabbing with and using as a sword, not for throwing.
- Wonder Woman: In "Screaming Javelins", Wonder Woman simultaneously throws two(!) javelins at Mariposa, pinning him to the ground temporarily. He escapes before she goes to retrieve him.
Myths & Religion
- Cú Chulainn's spear Gae Bolg could be thrown, and was also said to spread a thousand shards inside the enemy's wound.
- In Norse Mythology, Baldr was finally slain by a javelin (or arrow) made of mistletoe. Odin's spear Gungnir was also known for never missing what you threw it at. There's also a myth of Odin throwing a spear into the enemy army in the Aesir-Vanir War, which the Norse would do likewise before starting a battle. To explain the use of the term "spear" despite the trope name, it's believed the Norse used technically-only-intended-to-be-thrown javelins infrequently and a "spear" intended for both was much more common.
Tabletop Games
- Javelins have the longest range of any throwing weapon in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. This makes them extremely popular with characters who have high strength scores, like most fighters, paladins, and barbarians, because they're the most effective ranged weapon that uses strength for attack and damage rolls. In most editions, there's also the Javelin of Lightning, a magic weapon that as its name suggests becomes a bolt of lightning when thrown.
- Javelins are a (rare) weapon choice for certain troops in Warhammer Fantasy. Having short range and the Quick to Fire rules, they're most commonly seen in the hands of Skinks and Chaos Horse Marauders; most factions lack the option to take them entirely.
Video Games
- Age Of Chivalry, a medieval combat-themed Half-Life 2 Game Mod, features the javelineer as one of the three ranged classes, along with the longbow-wielding archer and the crossbowman. Of some note is the fact that he's the only ranged class with any notable close combat abilities, using a longspear and shield as his melee weapons. Its Spiritual Successor Chivalry: Medieval Warfare combines the three classes, giving the Archer class the option to wield a javelin — and adding the ability to throw it while sprinting, increasing its damage dramatically. A javelineer can also now use his javelin in melee combat, doing away with the need to change weapons to defend yourself in close quarters.
- Age of Empires:
- In Age of Empires II, Skirmishers are javelin-wielding ranged infantry who are strong against archers, despite the informational text clearly stating that actual skirmishers were used to harry heavier infantry. Oddly enough, they have a minimum range and thus are unable to strike enemies who are too close to them, unlike how real skirmishers would doubtlessly just stab at the enemy with their javelins if forced to (though the Inca's unique technology fixes that). African Kingdoms adds the Berbers and their Genitour, essentially a mounted Skirmisher who can be trained even by players allied with the Berbers. Finally, the Vietnamese and their allies in Rise of Rajahs can upgrade Elite Skirmisher to Imperial Skirmisher.
- In Age of Mythology, Peltasts are javelineers who are strong against archers, while the heroine Regenlief use her long spear as a throwing weapon. The expansion has the Turma, Atlantean horsemen who attack by throwing spears. Satyrs can throw multiple javelins as a special attack (but are also notoriously weak).
- In Age of Wonders, the Wizard's Throne and Shadow Magic "Throw Spear" ability allows a single rather strong ranged attack. Nomads basic infantry unit Spearman has it, as well as some heroes.
- ANNO: Mutationem: Melissa's fighting weapon is a double-headed spear made entirely of ice. One of her main attacks is launching herself into the air before quickly throwing her spear at high velocity towards her opponent.
- The Avernum series has javelins as one of the possible weapons. They look like Roman pila (see below).
- Some units from The Battle For Wesnoth can use javelins, the most noticeable being the Javelineer, who can use them both in melee and at a distance.
- In Broforce, one of the characters (based on certain alien hunter) uses throwing spears as his primary ranged weapon.
- Conqueror's Blade features several javelin-throwing units, ranging from basic Chinese and European footsoldiers to the more exotic Perceval's Royal Guards from the Arthurian season and the Retiarii gladiators. Special mention goes to Outriders, bandit horsemen who throw flaming and even explosive javelins from horseback.
- This is the weapon art of the Follower Javelin in Dark Souls III, one of the weapons introduced in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC. The description states that you're not throwing the spear itself, but rather an illusion of a spear that assumes temporary form.
- In Diablo II, the Amazon can specialize in javelins. Said character would return much later in Heroes of the Storm. Oddly enough, her unique Maiden Javelins have a curved, glaive-like blade seemingly unfit for a throwing weapon.
- This is a common side weapon for units in Dominions, even up to the Late Age. Units will tend to throw them at the enemy army before engaging, and they can be quite effective when facing foes with little armor.
- Dungeon Fighter Online has the Crusader subclass, who can use his Spear of Victory skill to throw a spear of light.
- Wen Yang in Dynasty Warriors uses a javelin, and likes to both throw and strike with it.
- Empire Earth has javelin throwers (and later pilum throwers and Persian cavalry) as a shorter-ranged, higher-damage alternative to the archer and is useful for reversing the Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors. In the expansion's Roman campaign, the Legionary can throw two pila at full charge, making them remarkably good at turning enemies into pincushions.
- In Fallout: New Vegas, Caesar's Legion uses small throwing spears similar to javelins, mimicking the historical Roman pilum. The Gun Runners' Arsenal DLC adds a challenge known as "Even A God-King Can Bleed" that rewards you if you kill Caesar with a throwing spear to the head. Spears used by the player can also have poison applied.
- In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Noel can combine his swords into a javelin to attack unreachable enemies. His Limit Break lets him throw a rapid barrage of javelins from the air.
- Fire Emblem has the Javelin, Spear and Short Spear weapons, which alongside throwing axes count among the few weapons with 1-2 range, meaning that they can be used to attack up close or at a distance. However, this rare advantage comes at the cost of lackluster power and accuracy compared to ordinary lances.
- Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblinsdoes this with his Jousting Lances.
- Gladius: Javelin and spear throwers are incredibly strong offensively, enough to reliably kill most classes in a single hit with good equipment, though they are vulnerable if you can get close.
- Kratos in God of War: Ghost of Sparta can use the spear from the Arms of Sparta as a javelin. Said spear can magically respawn in his hand after being tossed.
- In God of War: Ascension, spears are among the weapons available to either Kratos or the playable character in the multiplayer mode. In both case, the spear has some melee options but mostly can be thrown at enemies from a distance, briefly turning into a spear of pure light and returning to the hand of the user.
- In God of War Ragnarök, Kratos gains hold of the Draupnir Spear which can create copies of itself as he tosses them at the enemies and is also able to detonate the copies in a quick burst.
- Despite the weapon class being named Spear, javelin-throwing is what any character armed with one will do in Guild Wars.
- Hades: Zagreus' spear can be thrown as a javelin as a special attack, complete with a return mechanic. Theseus fights using one as well, and like Zagreus' his returns to his hand after a short delay.
- Heroes of Might and Magic:
- In Heroes of Might and Magic VI basic Skeletons have been reimagined as shooters of the Necropolis faction, and given throwing spears.
- In Horn of the Abyss, a Game Mod for III, javelins are used by the Snow Elves of the Bulwark faction. As a result, they have very few shots, but can fight in melee without penalty.
- The Bandana Waddle Dee from Kirby's Return to Dream Land wields a spear that he uses for this purpose, and Kirby can, as well. Both just pull new spears out of nowhere when throwing them.
- League of Legends has a few of these:
- Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress alternates between a cougar form where she pounces at and assassinates enemies, and a human form where she chucks out javelins, among other things. Said javelins are slow-moving, but infamously one of the most powerful projectiles in the game (they increase in damage based on the range travelled before they collide with a target, and they scale hard), and not only can they chunk out a large fraction of a squishy target's health, it also marks them to make the next cougar pounce even more deadly.
- Pantheon, the Unbreakable Spear carries a "Comet Spear", and is able to thrust it at enemies in close range or charge it up to throw it forward (where upon impact, it immediately teleports back to his hand). Whichever version of the ability he uses, it penetrates all enemies it passes through and deals bonus damage to enemies who are already on low health.
- Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance, is a ghostly agent of revenge that hunts down betrayers and and runs them down with spectral spears. Unlike the other two examples, Kalista is a high-DPS champion, conjuring and hurling out spears at frightening speed, with an added ability to instantly rip out whatever spears remain stuck in their body for execution damage.
- In The Legend of Dragoon, rogue knight Greham can make javelins out of light in his magic attack.
- Lichtspeer is made of this trope, with you playing as a lone warrior in a Germanic mythology-inspired future world fighting assorted enemies including zombies, ogres, giants and the like with your Lichtspeer, a javelin made of light which you have an unlimited supply of and use for throwing into various enemies.
- Wardens in The Lord of the Rings Online specialize in spears, shields and javelins, and are very good at tanking.
- Spears in Magic Rampage are always thrown, like all the other melee weapons. They tend to be stronger than other weapons and can always break through barriers with ease. Most magical classes are inclined to use either staves or spears.
- Lizardmen in Master of Magic have Javelineers with ranged attack strength 3 like Longbowmen, but not long-range. They also move fast and are tough in melee.
- In MediEvil, one of the weapons you can obtain in the Hall of Heroes is a throwing spear given to you by an amazon queen. It has only 30 projectiles, but it's far more powerful than the longbow and the crossbow.
- One group of Natives in Metal Slug 5 wield throwing spears to fight from a distance.
- In Mount & Blade, throwing spears and axes are a common weapon type.
- Orisa of Overwatch gained a javelin as part of her regular arsenal in Overwatch 2, and in addition to using it for melee attacks along with her Fusion Driver, she's able to hurl it at her enemies for a chunky burst of damage and knockback. With good aim, it's her best option for creating space and knocking enemies out of the sky.
- Ryse: Son of Rome has Roman pila being used as the primary ranged weapon for Marius.
- The powered-up spear attack in Secret of Evermore has the Hero throw it; charging to the third level has him give it more wind-up, but the actual throw is faster. This is good because its normal attack is a very awkward overhead strike.
- The Javelin is one class of weapon in Secret of Mana, being a lighter spear meant to be thrown, as opposed to your Spear used for thrusting attacks. Like the bow, it's range is rather comically short, but still gives it a further reach compared to any of your handheld weapons.
- Nordein Hunters in Shaiya use the javelin in place of the Crossbow wielded by Elven Archers of the Light side.
- Tales of Kenzera: Zau: Akida's Spear is the only ranged option for the Sun Mask, which fires a single strong spear. This can deal decent damage and knockback to enemies, as well as hit electrified targets that activate doors.
- In Tales of Legendia, this is the weapon of choice for Moses. Like some other examples, he generates new javelins to throw out of nowhere.
- Throne of Darkness has the Nage-yari (throwing spear) as the strongest throwing weapon available, dealing much more damage than other knives, darts or shurikens.
- In the Total War series, javelinmen are a core component of most early armies; a cheap, short-distance but high piercing unit that won't last long in any direct melee combat. In Total War: Rome II, most melee units in the game carry javelins as well as their normal weapons which they'll throw just before charging the enemy or being charged. This is in addition to other specialized javelinmen and cavalry javelinmen units. Total War: Attila has the javelin be very powerful in damage output, ensuring they'll quickly tear apart even the most armored units if thrown from an unshielded side but are low in range and total ammunition. They are much more uncommon in Total War: Warhammer, limited to being in the hands a few Chaos and Norsca ranged units. In the Shogun series and Empire: Total War, javelins are entirely absent.
- Tyranny has this as a weapon option (along with throwing knives). Maximising your reputation with the Vendrien Guard gives you the ability to throw a javelin made of light.
- Warcraft III has a few units making use of Javelins.
- The Horde has Troll Headhunters and their upgraded version Troll Berserkers, throw spears, both having large quivers/spearholders on their backs to carry extra spears (with even the Berserkers dual wielding them to throw two consecutively!). They have the least range of all the factions' basic ranged units, but still provide decent cover fire for the melee oriented units and can take care of airborne units!
- While on the creeps side of things, the Bandits have ranged versions that replace their axes with javelins. They are both called Brigand and Assassin, with the latter using poisoned javelins instead. Although they do keep their shields and have large javelin quivers on their backs.
Visual Novel
- Fate/stay night: Lancer's Noble Phantasm called Gáe Bolg has a couple of variations depending on how it's used. While his Noble Phantasm is always called "Gáe Bolg" out loud, the move is different depending on the hidden (Japanese) name. If it's a thrust, it's called "Barbed Spear That Pierces with Death", and if it's a throw, then it's called "Soaring Spear That Strikes with Death". The thrust targets one enemy's heart while bypassing their defenses, the throw has so much force that it's AoE explosion can hit up to 50 people.
Web Animation
- Animated Inanimate Battle: Frisbee is extremely fond of javelins, and is even labelled with the scientific name of Javelinus Throwicus. Of course, his skills just involve throwing the javelins around willy-nilly, which may injure anyone happening to be in his projectiles' paths.
- Pyrrha Nikos wields a weapon that acts as a javelin — or at least it does part of the time. With this being RWBY, it transforms into a short sword and rifle. Interesting enough, when using it as javelin, she actually uses the gun part of the weapon to give the weapon a Recoil Boost.
Web Original
- Serina: The eaglance has invented the spear thrower through modifications to the bill casques of certain species of capricox giraffowl, allowing them to hurl spears at over 100 mph at distances of over 200 feet from a target. However, due to the shape of their beaks, they can only throw their weapons to the side instead of forward, and it takes years of practice for them to get it right.
Webcomics
- Chief's weapon of choice in Goblins is a magical javelin that splits into multiple projectiles when thrown and teleports back into his hand once it finds its target.
- Tower of God: The entire point of the Spear Bearers. Special notice goes to Rak, who wields a 5 meter long spear, which he also uses in hand-to-hand combat.
Western Animation
- G.I. Joe: The character Lady Jaye uses javelins — and they have multi-purpose heads, which get her and her friends out of numerous problems.
- A Thousand and One... Americas: In the fifteenth episode, Native Americans are shown using javelins to hunt a herd of bisons. Knowing that it's difficult to deep-six a bison with one while it's running at great speeds, their plan is to lure them into a small ravine, and when one falls down into it they do throw a javelin at it in order to deliver the final blow.
- In Season 7 of The Venture Bros., a flashback showing the start of Brock Samson and Molotov Cocktease's long-running love-hate relationship begins with his first mission during the "Goodwill Games" event. It transpires that Molotov killed Brock's partner, while the soon-to-be infamous Swedish Murdermachine returned the favor by grabbing a javelin and impaling her father from afar.
- Naturally the badass Sportsmaster from Young Justice has javelins as a part of his vast weaponized sports-themed arsenal — not just normal javelins however, but explosive ones. While he employs them in hand to hand combat, he also uses them for ranged attacks — especially the explosive type, as they can either explode on impact or be set to explode at a certain time like a grenade.
Real Life
- Most ancient cultures west of India made heavy use of javelins because they're easier to produce than the bow, the javelin's greater weight made it more effective against men wearing armor than most of the bows available, and javelins don't require nearly as much skill to use effectively, especially at short ranges.
- Peltasts were the javelin-throwers of the Classical Greek era. They were light troops used to pester the enemy, slowly bleeding off their forces while rapidly retreating from danger. So effective were they, being armed for maximum speed only with their javelins and light shields called pelta, after which they were named, that they smashed entire corps of powerful, heavily armed hoplites without as much as a scratch, removing them from their pedestal of battlefield dominance in the Mediterranean.
- The Persian Palta were short, heavy cornel-wood spears, made to be hard and durable so they fared equally well as ranged or melee weapons. The most basic load-out for Persian horsemen was two of these, one for throwing and one for hand-to-hand, and they were often the weapon used in duels among mounted Persian noblemen. When engaging the Greeks, this gave Persian cavalry an edge, as the longer, more fragile Greek spears were more difficult to handle and tended to break first.
- The Roman Army used various designs of javelins in its long history:
- The most favous is the pilum (plural pila), a heavy wood shaft joined to a pyramidal iron point by a fairly thin shank of iron used by infantry during the Republic and the early Empire. At least with some pila at some times, the softer shanks would bend on impact, making it difficult for the enemy to pick them up and throw them back (in other cases, the whole thing was of hardened iron). Pila were dangerous in great part because they could penetrate a shield to impale the holder; failing that, a shield impaled with a pilum became hard to use.
- By 250 AD the pilum was replaced by the spiculum (plural spicula), a similar design with a shorter and tougher shank that could double as a thrusting spear. Partly derived from Germanic designs, it endured until the early fifth century.
- The cavalry and auxiliaries used the lancea (plural lancee; not to be confused with the lancea pugnatoris, a thrusting lance used during charges), a light javelin of more classical design occasionally equipped with a leather strap that acted as a sort of spear-thrower. Being lighter it could be thrown at longer distances; hence it was occasionally used also by legionary infantry against enemies that didn't need the piercing power of the pilum or the raw strength of the spiculum.
- The verutum (plural veruta) was a generic term for the light javelins used by the velites light infantry of the Republic, with some versions being similar to the pilum and others equipped with throwing straps. While light it was remarkably effective (it was one of the weapons used to kill enemy war elephants during the Battle of Zama), to the point that, while taken out of service alongside the velites in the late 2nd century BC, it was brought back during the Late Empire.
- The African Assegai was widely and effectively employed. Its cousin the Zulu Iklwa, which was short enough that it could also be used as a thrusting sword, was also dangerous, but more for melee.
- Javelins were also widely used in the Americas. Spear-throwers (the device, as discussed above) were quite widespread, at their most basic as a stick with a hook or cup at the back that held a projectile usually as long as a short spear.
- In Mesoamerica, atlatl was the Náhuatl name for the spear-thrower. It was considered very difficult to master, and so was a symbol of distinction and skill; Aztec gods were very commonly depicted wielding one. It was said to be able to punch through any armor, quilted, leather or chainmail — but not the Spanish steel plate of the invasion period.
- Likewise in South America, the Muisca of the central highlands of Colombia held the spear-thrower, or kysky as it was called, in very high regard. It was a standard warrior weapon; their main tactic consisting of using the kysky while the enemy approached and then finishing them off in melee, apparently disregarding bows altogether. The army's archers were prisoners from other peoples, mostly of Carib stock, such as their arch-enemies the Panche, leaving the core Muisca army with their hands free to throw the deadly projectiles, said by the Spaniards to be able to go through an unarmoured man entirely, and through any shield or armour the native peoples had. As symbol of prestige and warrior pride, the kysky is usually seen in the hands of their iconic gold figures of El Dorado fame, making clear those represented are men of battle-prowess and power.
- The "Jinete" (Spanish for "horsemen") light cavalry, prominent in the early Middle Ages in Spain (especially during the Spanish Reconquista), were skirmishers who primarily fought on horseback by harassing their enemies with javelins. This combat style proved to be so characteristic of the Spanish that their cavalry was even known to continue using javelins for some years while the cavalry of the rest of Europe had all adopted guns.
- The spear-thrower is known in Australia by the aboriginal word woomera, and is a prominent weapon in native combat, along with almost every throwing weapon ever conceived.
- The Māori taiaha could be used this way, though it could just as easily be used as a Martial Arts Staff.
