Weaponry Wednesday: The Staff

Often over looked as a melee weapon and instead perceived as a walking stick, the staff is the iconic tool of the wizard. And let’s face it, rare is the wizard who is complete without his staff. Okay, Rowling did an excellent job of making the wand cool in Harry Potter, but I think we can all admit that a bunch of teenagers with big sticks that they can whack each other with. Actually that sounds like regular high school so never mind. My point is the staff is not exclusive to spell-casters and monks of the Far East and is often short changed as a pretty bad ass weapon.

The greatest benefit? It’s about as idiot proof as you can get. At its most basic, a staff is a long club. Also a cool walking stick, but essentially a club. No edge alignment to keep track of, no expensive material to care for, easy to replace and hard to hurt yourself with. Perfect for you newly minted heroic but accident prone farm boy off to slay the Dark Overlord of Whatever Land.

The defensive abilities of the staff cannot be overstated. To put this weapon in perspective, shepherds used to spend weeks at a time in the wilderness protecting flocks of sheep with nothing more than one of these to keep wolves at bay. The shepherd’s crook is essentially a staff with a hook shaped design at the end for grabbing stray sheep, not especially intimidating but incredibly effective in the right hands. The simplistic design of the staff (shepherd’s crook or otherwise) makes it easy to learn to use, meaning mastery is achieved at a faster level. Combine that with the weapon’s impressive reach and a practiced wielder can create a veritable “no fly zone” around them in terms of weapons. Arrows may still be a problem, but if you’re taking a staff to a bow fight then you’ve got bigger problems to worry about.

In terms of versatility, you will be hard pressed to find a more variable weapon. The staff lends itself to simple sword-like swings from one end, spear-like thrusts, and spiraling twirls from a central grip, each of which are simple to switch between. This means that the staff is adaptable, capably of being used indoors or out, against a singular opponent or multiple, and the wielder can readily adapt their strategy depending upon their opponent’s armament and attack patterns.

The staff’s greatest flaw is its lack of lethality. While its versatility and reach provide for a staggering variety of attacks and combinations, rarely does a staff kill. That’s not to say that a staff can’t kill; only that it’s not a likely candidate for this year’s Miss Lethality Pageant. This was one of the reasons for the staff’s popularity among Far East monks and why there were rarely any legal issues with traveling with one. Staves could bruise or even break bones, but most wielders were forced to wear their opponent’s down or disarm them.

In short, the staff is an excellent weapon for anyone who is looking to either not kill their opponent or to simply escape. It’s versatile, simple, and provides a defense that is difficult to overcome, but lacks ready lethality. What are some of your favorite staves from mythology and fantasy literature? Gandalf’s is a given, but I got to hand it to the Monkey King, Sun Wukong for his Riyu Jingu Bang a staff that could adjust its length and weighs an easily manageable 17,550lbs. Comment below!