MS Paint Adventures Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Weapon/object duality is a game concept that is a feature, often mistaken as a glitch, in Problem Sleuth whereby all weapons have an innocuous double, switching back and forth between the two forms seemingly at random. Interestingly, the object and the weapon may have large differences in their degree of encumbrance. Bizarrely, they often do not, the hairpin being heavy enough to break the glass in the skylight. Pumpkins also seem to have this effect in Jailbreak, though their innocuous double is nothing (or air).

Originally, the effect would be triggered whenever the object was named (You would have a Gun if you called it a Key, and vice-versa). This later changed to whatever was funnier at the moment.

In Homestuck, the Midnight Crew exhibits this with their decks of cards. Every card in their deck corresponds to an object, usually (but not always) a weapon, with the deck as a whole corresponding to a storage unit that stores each individual object.

Kanaya Maryam has a Chainsaw/Lipstick, but it appears to collapse or expand mechanically from one object into the other. This oddly achieves the same effect as the duality seen in Problem Sleuth without any "glitch"/special mechanic occurring. Her chainsaw/lipstick appears to be designed to transform rather than doing so for no apparent reason such as in Problem Sleuth and the Midnight Crew's cards.

Weapon duality in action

Lord English's staff switching to an assault rifle.

Later on in Homestuck: Intermission 2 it's revealed that Lord English's CAIRO OVERCOAT turns into an Egyptian Sarcophagus, which is a play on gangster slang for coffin: "Chicago Overcoat".

After the scratch in Homestuck, Jane Crocker also owns a spoon that on 11/11/11 11:11 switches into a fork, and from then on is able to switch between the spoon and the fork.

Calliope has a white wandHS that is the innocuous double of her magnum. She notesHS that Caliborn has a similar but more heavy-handed weapon, which later turns out to be a scepter/machine gun.

Problem Sleuth

Innocuous Double Weapon
Key Handgun
Ring of keys Tommy Gun
Hairpin Machinegun
Teddy Bear Knife
Paint Roller Stun gun
Paint Stripper Flame Thrower
Sextant Sniper Rifle
Megaton Key Brass Knuckles
Blond wig Prussian Kuirassier Helmet
Romance Novel 2 by 4
Chocolates Bandolier of Grenades
Lipstick Chainsaw
Everything Scythe
Tectrix of the Arbitor Tectrixcalibur
Ink of Squid Pro Quo Scabbard of Tectrixcalibur
Typewriter Smith Corona Blotspitter
Semigoddess' hairpin Ribbon Cartridge
Gay pornography Fork
Skeleton Brush Skeleton key

Homestuck (general)

Kanaya Maryam's Lipstick Chainsaw
Cairo Overcoat Egyptian Sarcophagus
Golden Cuestaff Lord English's Assault Rifle
White Wand Calliope's magnum
Black Staff Caliborn's assault rifle
Thirteen of Stars Card Biscuits' oven (with the Felt including Ms. Paint, plus Aurthour inside)

Homestuck (Midnight Crew)

Deck of cards War Chest/Battledrobe/Brawlsoleum/Wrathtub
Ace of Spades Cast Iron Horse Hitcher
King of Spades Occam's razor
Eight of Spades Double Edged Sword
Four of Spades Saber Rattle
Seven of Spades Bait and Switchblade
Instructions of Playing Blackjack Spades Key
Deuce of Spades Licorice Scotty Dogs
Deuce of Clubs Licorice Gummy Bears
Deuce of Diamonds Swedish Fish
Deuce of Hearts Wax Lips
Ten of Spades and Four of Diamonds Radio
Seven of Spades Demolition C4
Jack of Diamonds CD's Backup Hat
Snowman's cigarette holder Lance
Barcode scanner Spades Key's corresponding keyhole
Advertisement