jRPG weapons seem to come in every shape and form. Many, like the keyblades of Kingdom Hearts, seem to be inspired by places and times they're found in and at -- be it Disney worlds, story themes or character developments.
Throughout my research, I've noticed that outfit and weapon themes are a big thing in jRPGs. Angel, devil, element sets, etc. Elemental weapons are popular in video games in general. In certain situations, signature weapons seem to be extensions of character colour combinations and themes.
A mecha girl from Persona 4, whose axe is an extension of her colours, and robot limbs/identity.
Wakka, a 'Blitzball' player (underwater football, kinda) in FFX, uses various Blitzballs and balls in general to attack his targets. His weapons are an extension of his character.
Sheena Fujibayashi, a spiritual summoner/ninja type character from a 'hidden village'. She uses summon cards and sealing magic, which is signature for her village/clan and unique to her. Sheena fighting.
Japanese games also utilize everyday objects, either as actual weapons or joke bonus weapons. Usually these are early-game weapons, but sometimes are a character's signature weapon and remain prominent throughout the game. These often tend to be a part of a character's theme, as mentioned above.
Eternal Sonata umbrella weapon, fitting with her lolita/innocent girl image. Here.
Genis Sage from Tales of Symphonia, using his kendama weapon.
A kendama is a Japanese toy similar to a cup and ball game. While casting spells, Genis plays with the kendama. If out of magic power to cast spells and controlled by the AI, Genis will run up to enemies and fling the ball part of his weapon at them. Outside of the youthful character using a kid's toy connection, the kendama doesn't seem to be tied too tightly to Genis' back story or theme.
Japanese games also feature many characters allowing other entities to fight for them; summons, monsters, companions, etc.
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