Current Events > TIL chakrams are actually used as real weapons and they sound bad ass

(+) Yeah! (+)

they carry seven or eight of these each, put on the left arm; and they take one and put it on the finger of the right hand, and make it spin round many times, and so they hurl it at their enemies, and if they hit anyone on the arm or leg or neck, it cuts through all. And with these they carry on much fighting, and are very dexterous with them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakram

I thought these are more like myths/ anime and videogame stuff, but people actually honed their skills in this impractical weapon and it sounds bad ass.

You mention video games and anime but not Xena?
Shame on you

ROBANN_88 posted...

You mention video games and anime but not Xena?
Shame on you

Forgot <_<

I can only think of about two chakram users Collete from Tales of Symphonia and Axel/Lea from Kingdom Hearts, it's not that great of a weapon, now Scythes, those are the most showy weapons, I bet you can name at least six scythe users people reading this.

They Always came across as discount boomerangs to me.

Definitely seems like one of those weapons from antiquity that was so impractical that it would be next to useless.

Mall ninja shit circa 1500 ad

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/8/1/AAaEKwAAESbx.jpg

apolloooo posted...

they carry seven or eight of these each, put on the left arm; and they take one and put it on the finger of the right hand, and make it spin round many times, and so they hurl it at their enemies, and if they hit anyone on the arm or leg or neck, it cuts through all. And with these they carry on much fighting, and are very dexterous with them.

No way that's true. I can't see a blade being strong enough from finger twirling that it would slice through an entire limb once airborne. Not to mention the amount of variability from that maneuver, you're better off throwing it like a frisbee. You're so limited by your finger strength, even if you were to throw a circle like that, you'd be way better off using a stick and twirling it on the tip of that. Plus if you throw from a stick, if it backfires, at least you're more out of the way. Why would anyone twirl a circle blade near their face?

Also what is up with the grammar? Chakrams are depicted in artwork of Hindu gods so I think the people who wrote this are making it sound like some godly medieval ancient super weapon.

Never realized these were real weapons tbh.
Kinda like how you see literal handheld cannons in anime and stuff

Master_Kazuya posted...

No way that's true. I can't see a blade being strong enough from finger twirling that it would slice through an entire limb once airborne. Not to mention the amount of variability from that maneuver, you're better off throwing it like a frisbee. You're so limited by your finger strength, even if you were to throw a circle like that, you'd be way better off using a stick and twirling it on the tip of that. Plus if you throw from a stick, if it backfires, at least you're more out of the way. Why would anyone twirl a circle blade near their face?

Also what is up with the grammar? Chakrams are depicted in artwork of Hindu gods so I think the people who wrote this are making it sound like some godly medieval ancient super weapon.

Can't discount the possibility either. It's a form of renaissance era clickbait >_>

Travellouges probably sometimes exagerrated so they simply sell more.

https://youtu.be/klImSddcwfk

Skallagrim managed to use the technique with few practice. Doubt it could slice off bones, but maybe there's merit in there.

agoat posted...

You want underused weapons that were actually fucking terrifying?
Look at slings. "Oh these tripe weapons could casually caused knee caps and elbows to explode if they hit, but we're just going to have them be the faire of wizards and clerics in our games and only at low levels just because"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAul1_ajCG0
that really looks like it would smash your head like melons >__>

damn DnD and role playing games for making this weapon some low tier crap for wizards

People used some weird weapons throughout history and I'm all for it.

tremain07 posted...

I can only think of about two chakram users Collete from Tales of Symphonia and Axel/Lea from Kingdom Hearts, it's not that great of a weapon, now Scythes, those are the most showy weapons, I bet you can name at least six scythe users people reading this.

The Dancer class in FF14 also utilizes them as well.

It was probably designed specifically to counter another prominent weapon at the time. Much like modern times, ancient times weapons were just part of a giant arms race.

ScazarMeltex posted...

It was probably designed specifically to counter another prominent weapon at the time. Much like modern times, ancient times weapons were just part of a giant arms race.

Nope. Truth be told, the chakram is incredibly sparse in the historical record and seems to almost entirely be associated with an underlying cultural and religious motivation for it's use--The earliest evidence of the chakram comes from ancient religious texts which ascribes to them magical or mythological status. Aside from that, they are extremely rare in a historical context compared to essentially any other South Asian weapon until the 16th century when Sikh's seemed to bring them back into popularity for a time. From a practicality standpoint this actually makes a lot of sense:

The chakram would be an abysmal weapon against even inexpensive types of armor like padded jackets and simple steel helms. It has neither the mass, speed, nor acute striking surface to even penetration or bludgeon through thick linen. It does not cut like a traditional bladed weapon which is pulled across a target, so it has to bite into it's target like an axe--For which it is poorly suited due to it's very even mass distribution. A soldier equiped with a comprehensive mail armor would have nothing to fear aside from extremely fortuitous throws, and even just a shield could drop that possibility to essentially zero.

What was happening in the 16th century, however? The introduction of firearms as the primary weapon of war, which pushed the balance of power away from heavily armored infantry and cavalry formations to mass groups of lightly equipped infantry with muskets. This at least made the use of chakram somewhat viable as a harassment tool, but given that references to it in the historical record seem to imply it has more of a novelty rather than a decisive battlefield tactic, it's unsurprising why it's usage did not spread much outside of the Sikh and occasional Hindu culture.

We have to remember that humans are not perfectly rational creatures and that differences in cultural touchstones like tools is not always due to some ecological or socio-economic pressure--Sometimes humans are driven by creativity to ascribe arbitrary value to a practice or item well beyond it's practical value.

trappedunderice posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/8/1/AAaEKwAAESbx.jpg

ayyy! exactly my first thought lol

Pogo_Marimo posted...

Nope. Truth be told, the chakram is incredibly sparse in the historical record and seems to almost entirely be associated with an underlying cultural and religious motivation for it's use--The earliest evidence of the chakram comes from ancient religious texts which ascribes to them magical or mythological status. Aside from that, they are extremely rare in a historical context compared to essentially any other South Asian weapon until the 16th century when Sikh's seemed to bring them back into popularity for a time. From a practicality standpoint this actually makes a lot of sense:

The chakram would be an abysmal weapon against even inexpensive types of armor like padded jackets and simple steel helms. It has neither the mass, speed, nor acute striking surface to even penetration or bludgeon through thick linen. It does not cut like a traditional bladed weapon which is pulled across a target, so it has to bite into it's target like an axe--For which it is poorly suited due to it's very even mass distribution. A soldier equiped with a comprehensive mail armor would have nothing to fear aside from extremely fortuitous throws, and even just a shield could drop that possibility to essentially zero.

What was happening in the 16th century, however? The introduction of firearms as the primary weapon of war, which pushed the balance of power away from heavily armored infantry and cavalry formations to mass groups of lightly equipped infantry with muskets. This at least made the use of chakram somewhat viable as a harassment tool, but given that references to it in the historical record seem to imply it has more of a novelty rather than a decisive battlefield tactic, it's unsurprising why it's usage did not spread much outside of the Sikh and occasional Hindu culture.

We have to remember that humans are not perfectly rational creatures and that differences in cultural touchstones like tools is not always due to some ecological or socio-economic pressure--Sometimes humans are driven by creativity to ascribe arbitrary value to a practice or item well beyond it's practical value.

Like I said, mall ninja shit

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

They were the best mage weapon for sure but I liked faeblades the best.

Just seems like a crap sling with ammo that is both difficult to craft and has a low carrying capacity tbh.