So . . . who's copying who?

How many games, movies, anime shows can you name that involve the main hero using a weapon that changes via different items but he never actually has a new weapon?

Final Fantasy 8 did this, sort of. You were able to upgrade your weapons to increase their power and make them look different. And you could downgrade to previous forms so long as you had the necessary items.

Rave Master uses Rave Stones to alter the form of the Decca Force Sword.

Kingdom Hearts uses various keychains to alter the Keyblade.

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (is that what it was called?), well, the weapons never changed in appearance, but you could increase their power or range by adding weapon accessories.

I am now going to discount Arc the Lad and other similar titles from this list as the weapons must change form to keep continuity in this thread. YO!

extermination for the ps2

Chrono Cross?

Chrono Cross has you getting different weapons, they just look basically the same, so it doesn't count. I do believe Onimusha does this, however.

Oh, I see.

It's just a general RPG thingymabob I believe. I wouldn't say anyone's copying, nor is there a start to it all. IMO it's quite the gimmick most of the time.

I agree.

I remember when Goldberg first came out and someone tried to say he was copy of Stone Cold Steve Austin but Bischoff said that Goldberg wasn't meant to be copy of Stone Cold Steve Austin, he was meant to be a WCW version of the late (on stage) Ken Shamrock.

harvest moon?

Well Rave Master came out in 1995 so it's before FF8...

Doesn't Full Metal Alchemist has something like that? I mean he doesn't actually have a weapon and everything he "alchemises" is his weapon. I'm not sure if it fits in here though... Anyways, I know that the Zelda series fits. Mostly because of the Master Sword and how you get to "upgrade" it with the gnomes in A Link To The Past and everything... I don't know if you guys remember...