Chakram

From Free net encyclopedia

The chakram is a throwing weapon that was used by the ancient Indians; it is a flat metal ring with a sharp outer edge from 5 to 12 inches in diameter.

The word comes from Sanskrit and means round, circle, or wheel. Earliest references come from Ramayana and Mahabharata epics (here chakram is the weapon of the god Vishnu). It was used by Indian armies, mostly by Sikhs.

It has an effective range of 40 to 50 meters. Because of its aerodynamic shape (similar to an aeroplane wing) it is not easily deflected by wind.

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Movie, Television, and Entertainment

Disks are used as weapons in the movie Tron.
The chakram is featured heavily in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as the signature weapon of the title character.
The character Django in the anime One Piece also uses the chakram.
Oddjob from James Bond movie Goldfinger uses a chakram-like hat.
In the movie Predator 2 the Predator has a laser guided Chakram-like weapon
Razor-sharp plates are used for self-defense in Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla.
A chakram weapon is featured in the video game Secret of Mana.
In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night a chakram is dropped by the enemy Discus Lord.
In the video game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem chakrams are a usable weapon in one level.
Colette Brunell of the video game Tales of Symphonia fights with two chakrams. She also uses them as melee weapons.
The character Axel from the Kingdom Hearts series uses two fire-based chakrams for his weapons, mostly as melee weapons.
Chrakram are throwing weapons that return to the thrower like a boomerang in the computer game Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.
The reploid Marino can obtain beam chakrams in the video game Mega Man X: Command Mission.
Sun Shang Xiang uses two Chakrams in the game series Dynasty Warriors. In the game, she has five moves in which she throws them a very short distance.
The Chakram is used in Baten Kaitos by the character Mizuti. Sorcerer's Chakram is one of the attacks that is based on Mizuti's single chakram.
In Warcraft 3, the Warden, a Night Elf hero, uses a chakram-like serratted ring-blade (as a melee weapon, not throwing).
In the Turok 2: Seeds of Evil videogame, the Razorwind weapon is a kind of cybernetic alien chakram, and one of if not the most powerful weapons.
In Guild Wars, the Chakram is one of the off-hand weapons usable by the Mesmer class.
In Threads of Fate, the character Mint uses a pair of chakrams.
Sailor Moon uses her tiara as a chakram-like weapon in the popular anime series bearing the same name.
In the manga series Berserk, the character Silat wields chakrams among other weapons of Indian origin.
Sen of Saturday, the armor piloted by Melissa, in the anime Gun X Sword has the chakram as the main weapon and it is also the armors weapon form.
The character Yakushiji Tenzen uses two Chakram in the 2005 movie SHINOBI Heart Under Blade.
The character Tira in the video game Soul Calibur 3 wields an oversized Chakram.
In Greg Cox's novel, The Eugenics Wars, Khan Noonien Singh rescues Gary Seven from Colonel Anastasia Komananov using chakrams.