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These weapons often lack logic or even a clear purpose. And yet, the goofy stuff has its place. It keeps comics unpredictable and reminds us that creativity doesn’t always need to play it safe. Sometimes those trainwrecks are redeemed by a clever writer. Sometimes they simply make for excellent roast material. Either way, they remind us that imagination is a risky sport.
10) Bat Female Villain Repellent
Batman’s whole shtick is being the guy who’s always prepared for everything, but Bat-Female-Villain Repellent might just be the most eye-roll-inducing gadget in his utility belt. In Batman/Planetary #1 (2003), Batman uses a spray against Jakita Wagner, a superhuman member of the Planetary team. Whether it’s meant to slow her down or simply make her roll her eyes so hard she’s momentarily distracted, it’s hard to say. One has to wonder about the chemical composition that somehow targets only those with two X chromosomes. Batman may indeed have contingencies for every situation, but perhaps some of those contingencies deserve less space in the utility belt than others.
9) The Encephalo Gun
The Encephalo-Gun is one of the stranger inventions to emerge in the Marvel Universe. In their endless rivalry, Reed Richards and Doctor Doom decided to settle things by pressing their foreheads against this over-engineered gadget to see who had the bigger brainpower. Doom, naturally, emerged victorious — or at least, that’s what he thought. In reality, Reed drugged Doom’s drink, causing him to hallucinate a victory. This makes the entire exercise pointless. Doom’s victory wasn’t real, and Richards’ cleverness wasn’t validated by the device itself but by his ability to fool the man holding it. Perhaps the true measure of intelligence would be recognizing that building a machine to prove you’re smarter than your rival is, in itself, not particularly smart.
8) Egg Fu’s Mustache
This Wonder Woman villain is a massive sentient egg. His weapon of choice is his mustache, which he often uses as a whip. While the idea of a villain using facial hair as a weapon is already absurd, the eccentricity of Egg Fu doesn’t stop there. When first introduced, Egg Fu spoke in broken English and with a name that played on outdated stereotypes. Later versions wisely abandoned these offensive elements, reimagining him as a highly intelligent, mechanized, egg-shaped figure. In this new form, he became a mad scientist or a supercomputer-like entity.
7) The Paste Gun
The Paste Gun is one of those inventions that feels perfectly suited to its creator, Peter Petruski, better known as Paste-Pot Pete — or, as he later rebranded himself, The Trapster. there’s something inherently absurd about a weapon that sprays sticky goo as its main attack. And while it’s strong enough to cause trouble, it doesn’t exactly exude the menace of more traditional supervillain weaponry. One can’t help but wonder if Trapster might have enjoyed greater criminal success by simply patenting his adhesive formula and selling it commercially rather than using it to mildly annoy the Fantastic Four.
6) Arm-Fall-Off-Boy’s Detachable Arm
Arm-Fall-Off-Boy’s “weapon” is his own arm, which he detaches from his body and swings around like a club. His most notable moment came when he auditioned for the Legion of Super-Heroes, where his application was rejected almost immediately. While a detachable arm might have some novelty in a bar fight, it’s far from the kind of ability that inspires confidence in a team of galaxy-saving heroes. The power creates more problems than it solves. If his arm were truly powerful enough to be an effective weapon, you’d think he could just keep it attached and use his fists like everyone else. Or, better yet, just grab an actual bat.
