Crowbar

The legendary crowbar is a fell weapon, doused in the blood of hate-filled demons to temper its edge. It has supped on the blood of kings and gods.

Well, not really.

The humble crowbar is the signature weapon of Gordon Freeman, alien killing celebrity. It first appeared, along with Gordon, in the game Half-Life. The crowbar is the first weapon acquired by Freeman in the Anomalous Materials section of the Black Mesa Facility. Though small and puny, it has gained fame for being quite unlike any other weapon in an FPS.

The crowbar stays with Gordon throughout his quest in Black Mesa. It is requisitioned by the G-Man after the battle with Nihilanth in Xen. In a moment of insight, it appears the G-Man recognized its destructive capabilities (not to mention sentimental value), letting it fall into the hands of Barney Calhoun, who gave it back to Gordon at the beginning of Half-Life 2.

Facts and Trivia

 * The crowbar has become the unofficial logo of the Half-Life series. When the magazine PC Gamer first announced that they had a "major scoop" (the first glimpse of Half-Life 2), they used the image of a solitary crowbar on a white background as a hint to its contents.
 * Many hardcore Half-Lifers contend that the truly hardcore way to kill Nihilanth, Half-Life's final boss, is by jumping into his open cranium, and pummeling it into pudding with the crowbar, thus making it the first and last weapon you use in the game.
 * Website Reddit sent a crowbar as a gift to CERN along with instructions to give it to Gordon Freeman "in case a Half-Life-like resonance cascade occurs as a result of turning on the Large Hadron Collider".