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I'm worldbuilding low fantasy with technology level of the early middle ages. Very few of the people could tap into psionic power, which makes them faster and stronger than common people. Average psionic users could be three times stronger than a strong human, while the most gifted ones could be up to a dozen times stronger. The psionic users could sustain their power for a limited amount of time, then it has to rest and recuperate. The stronger the exertion the shorter the period. Think jogging vs sprinting.

Luckily psionic are rare, something like 1 in 1,000 for a weak psionic, 1 in 10,000 for a medium one, and 1 in 100,000 for a strong one.

Despite their rarity they are over represented among nobility, due to the usefulness for their fighting prowess. All the children born with psionic potential are trained and join the nobility, regardless who their parents are. Psionic talent is somewhat heritable, children of psionic parents have larger chance to be psionic but the odds are low. Most psionic parents have normal children.

Since strength doesn't come from the muscles, what dark age weapon would suit best for a 7 year old girl, which has the strength of a dozen strong men?

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    $\begingroup$ First of all, this is the most anime thing I’ve ever read. Secondly, there’s a lot of extraneous information. $\endgroup$
    – user71781
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 20:27
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    $\begingroup$ I wouldn’t necessarily delete it, just keep in mind what’s directly relevant to the question next time. I apologize if I came off a little too harsh $\endgroup$
    – user71781
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 20:39
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    $\begingroup$ this is intrestng but what do you mean by the dark ages? the dark ages lasted 476 AD to 1453. That is a long as heck time. A good chunk of that is roman empire break up when minor plate armor was used. Then another chunk of that was when chainmail and full steel metal armor was being toyed around with. The time need to be specified since the dark ages lasted a long time. $\endgroup$
    – neo flare
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 20:46
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    $\begingroup$ How much training does she have? A bow in the hands of a 7-year-old who was given her first bow at age 2 and has 5 years practice is a much more effective weapon than if this is the first day she has seen one. $\endgroup$
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 23:16
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    $\begingroup$ Sadly, such powers would facilitate the forced inbreeding of the gifted to try and produce as many gifteds as possible and it would proliferate debilitating conditions much faster than the useful psionic one. Read up on Charles II of Spain and the House of Hadsburg. $\endgroup$
    – MonkeyZeus
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 16:12

10 Answers 10

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Polearms and Shortbows

If you ever ask yourself what the best medieval weapons are for someone, 7/10 times it’s a pole arm of some kind.

Your anime tier seven year old still has short arms, so they need to compensate for their lack of reach. Therefore they need a long weapon. A halberd, bec de corbin, glaive, Dane Axe or warhammer allows for good reach, the ability to stab, and the ability to cut or crush. You always want to be able to do at least two of these three things, so that way you have options in combat. Blunt trauma is also good against armored opponents. Stabs can also make it through chain mail if enough force is applied.

A mongol or Turkic style composite bow would also be a very good choice of weapon for someone small with super strength, as they have admirable draw weights but a relatively short draw distance and height, which would allow someone with short arms and super strength to use it with ease. Bows are good because you can kill from a distance.

In short, give them a halberd and a composite bow.

EDIT: Actually, you should probably just give her the bow, there’s a lot of issues wielding any decent sized pole arms with someone so small.

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  • $\begingroup$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. $\endgroup$
    – Monty Wild ♦
    Commented Feb 21, 2020 at 4:05
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Rocks.

girl throwing rocks

source

  1. Rocks are cheap and easy to find. She will be able to find rocks that fit her hand.

  2. It is easy to practice throwing rocks at targets and improving your aim. That experience is directly applicable to throwing rocks in a fight.

  3. The girl does not want up close fights with people who have longer reach. She will be able to hit people with rocks who are a long way away.

  4. A thrown rock is a serious weapon. A rock thrown by someone seven times stronger than a man will punch a hole in a person. It will only take one hit.

  5. No-one will suspect a little girl with a bag is a threat. Until she takes out a rock, throws it, and knocks someone's head clean off.

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    $\begingroup$ Add to that. SLING. $\endgroup$
    – Trish
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 0:13
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    $\begingroup$ @PatriciaShanahan - I think 7x strength legs will help, and shortness too; less leverage of upper body. For real anime action she would take a 2 step runup, jump into the air, throw, and then be thrown backwards and land on her feet where she started. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 0:20
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    $\begingroup$ @PatriciaShanahan with about 1/3 an adult's weight but 12x the strength, this won't be an issue. Remember that inertia = MxV, but damage inflicted is closer to Energy = 1/2 MV2 – this is why a child solder can shoot an AK which kills without being knocked backwards too much. Plus she can just wear weighted shoes. $\endgroup$
    – Dan W
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 15:02
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    $\begingroup$ @PatriciaShanahan – yes, but the energy increases faster than the momentum as kinetic energy is quadratic on velocity, but momentum is linear. But in practice, when we throw, the force is transmitted into the ground instead through our shoes, and this is nowhere near the limit of the grip of our shoes. Of course, this depends on the OP's definition of strength – I'm assuming that movement speed increases with strength. If she can bench-press 12x an adult, but her muscles only contract at the speed of a kid, that will be a different matter. $\endgroup$
    – Dan W
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 15:28
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    $\begingroup$ @xdtTransform 90 meters per second is 324 km/h, or a tad over 200mph. I don't think even major league pitchers can do anything close to that. Nolan Ryan could top 100mph (barely), and his fastballs were legendary. $\endgroup$
    – Jyrki Lahtonen
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 17:37
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This is a variant on the stone-throwing answer.

Have heavy draft horses available in your world. Fit one out with a reduced size version of a jousting saddle, with back support for the rider. Her legs won't reach round to the horse's sides, but that does not matter because it can be led.

Sitting on the horse will give her a better, safer view of the battlefield, looking over the heads of her bodyguard rather than having to stand in front of them. The horse will absorb the backwards thrust when she throws. It can carry a lot of ammunition. When she needs to rest she will already be in an armchair.

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    $\begingroup$ The image of a girl sitting on a pony, reaching into a pouch of small rocks, surrounded by fallen soldiers is 👌 $\endgroup$
    – Mirror318
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 8:52
  • $\begingroup$ While a pony would make a nice picture, it might not be able to absorb the backwards thrust when she throws without falling or being injured. $\endgroup$
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 14:18
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    $\begingroup$ Maybe it's a special pony with the strength of 3 ponies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also my understanding is that throwing a stone takes a lot longer than the sudden explosion of a gunshot, so there wouldn't be so much "recoil" as such, would there? $\endgroup$
    – Mirror318
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 14:38
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    $\begingroup$ The assumption that there would have to be a recoil seems misguided. it's hardly a stretch to imagine that the recoil could be absorbed by the 'psi energy field' or whatever. $\endgroup$
    – eps
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 23:17
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Spiked Heavy Plate Mail

enter image description here

She has the strength and speed to not even notice the weight. The extra weight would even give her an advantage and by being spiked every blow could easily be fatal. The heavy armour would also help keep her safe from attacks.

I would imagine she would charge in and charge back out before wearing out and leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

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    $\begingroup$ Seeing that the psionic power is a short burst activated ability, the girl would need to put her armour before each fight (carried by a friend). Not very... practical. $\endgroup$
    – Jemox
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 8:08
  • $\begingroup$ @Echox so... like real armour ? $\endgroup$
    – Don Pablo
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 9:16
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    $\begingroup$ An adult can wear armour all day long if needed and can thus prepare himself a few hours before a potential fight. The child, though, would need to put the armour once she is in front of the ennemies, would be able to move only when using her power and would be completely immobilized when it runs out. I feel like it's a pretty big difference... $\endgroup$
    – Jemox
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 9:38
  • $\begingroup$ I'd like that image on a t-shirt $\endgroup$
    – GPS
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 7:19
  • $\begingroup$ If there is no super weight going with the super strength, the opponent will simply push her off with a staff. Sure, she can build up momentum which isn't so easy to deflect, but as soon as she crashes into the first opponent, the second will simply keep her at bay. Smart opponents will push her around, not let her get a firm stand on heir feet, and move her to the back lines where she can be captured and forced into the opposing army. $\endgroup$
    – toolforger
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 10:29
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Her biggest asset is mobility. With 1/3 the mass of an adult but 12x the strength, she has effectively 36x the strength for her size. Assuming she has the right balance of fast/slow muscle, she should be able to jump some impressive heights, and accelerate very fast. Wall-running may well be possible (jumping wall to wall).

Give her a bag-full of daggers (so she doesn't have to stop to pull them out after stabbing), and she'll be unstoppable in an urban environment.

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The crossbow was the first hand-held weapon that could be used by an untrained person (i.e 7 year old girl) to injure or kill a knight in plate armour.

It is said a boy used a crossbow to kill Richard the Lionheart.

In medieval times, a bow of 100–150 pounds draw-weight could be drawn to firing position with the hands and a foot-stirrup, or with a belt hook and a foot stirrup. Your character could reload quickly without the need of a stirrup. Rapid fire bolts

Powerful crossbows can penetrate armour and kill at 200 yards

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  • $\begingroup$ Crossbow is fairly suitable for all children, no need to be special for it. $\endgroup$
    – Zizy Archer
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 11:58
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    $\begingroup$ But being able to draw a heavy crossbow with just some thick gloves gives you effective firepower a little better than a percussion cap rifle, and that was solid tech all the way up to the 19th century. We're talking like the English vs the Zulu here. The main downside of this answer is that arbalests, the crossbow that we're all thinking of, is a 12th century innovation. Crossbows in general date back about 2400 years, but something more like a scorpio in design is way less effective. I'm not sure that 12th century is in bounds. $\endgroup$
    – Alex H.
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 22:51
  • $\begingroup$ Especially the case because the strength is used in relatively short bursts (to pull the string), and it doesn't require a lot of psionic skill to use efficiently (use strength for single, simple action, then stop using strength until you need to do it again). The Genoese crossbowmen were absolutely a respected and effective fighting force in the 12th century. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 15:48
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Warhammer

Reach isn't a problem if the subject in question has the strength of a dozen men. That means that she's faster than everyone else, and that she can wear full plate armor with no drawbacks. The fact that she's smaller is only an advantage once she's stronger, as it means there's less of her to hit.

You want a weapon, therefore, which capitalizes on her strength, and that means you're looking for a blunt trauma weapon rather than a bladed weapon. If you hit a man, even on the shield, with the strength of a blunt strike with the force 12 times that of a normal force, you'll shatter the whole arm.

So, what you want to do is suit up the little psionic with armor to stop arrows and blades, give her twin heavy warhammers, and then unleash her in the general direction of the enemy and watch as she shatters / breaks everything in her way.

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    $\begingroup$ full plate armor with no drawbacks ... except for when she's not using a burst of psionic power, and she's a plain-vanilla 7-year old girl totally encumbered by heavy plate, easily surrounded if there are enemies left when she exhausts her psychic reserves and can't run away. $\endgroup$
    – Peter Cordes
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 22:55
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The jaw bone of an ass and cloak of lion skin seems appropriate.

Hurled weapons might better take advantage of the girls strength than a bow would. So I’d say javelins or Roman Plumbata. enter image description here

For melee weapons, while she could wield a mass weapon to great effect, her low mass would make handling such a weapon a challenge. No matter how strong she is, her feet only generate so much friction against the ground. If she swings a mattock or a halberd too hard, she’ll spin herself out of control, forces being equal and opposite as they are.

I think a strong weapon that can endure her great strength but proportional to her bodyweight so she can swing it fast. So, a long sword or broad sword, of the highest quality steel, would be good. So would a mace — she’s short and she can shatter knees then skulls. Maybe a scythe that she wields like a quarter staff — blocking attacks and then slashing legs off before cutting heads off.

enter image description here

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OK, I'm going to add on to @Willk 's answer and say rocks, but I'm going to add some math to it.

Lets use a reasonable Major League Baseball pitch as a baseline. Say, a 150 gram baseball moving at 100mph / 160kmph.

If we say that the girl is 12 times stronger than the average man, this means she can throw that same baseball with 12 times the force behind it. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be moving 12 times as fast though as the amount of force required to accelerate an object increases the faster it's already going.

Lets just say it's only going 10 times as fast so the math is easy. 1000mph.

To get the impact force of the baseball, we need to use a simple formula F = (0.5 × m × v^2) ÷ d.

That's half of the mass of the object multiplied by the velocity squared, divided by the collision distance. (the collision distance is basically how much the object "gives" when it hits the target. Think the crumple zone of a car that has crashed).

We need to convert our values a bit though. Grams to kilograms, mph to m/s etc.

When we plug our numbers into the formula we get. F = (0.5 x 0.075kg x 447m/s^2) / 0.01m(it's a rock, it will either shatter on impact or not compress very much at all. I'm using 1cm for the sake of simplicity. this is a very rough estimate of force)

So F = about 1.5 KiloNewtons of force. Which is in the ballpark of a shot fired out of a rifle chamber in .338 Lapua Magnum.

Give her a bil 'ol bag of rocks and set her loose. heck, give her some javelins and she'd skewer several people at once.

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    $\begingroup$ Energy = force * distance. Applying 10 to 12x the force over the same arm-movement distance gives 10x the energy (which is pretty solid), not 10x the velocity (100x the energy). You need leverage (like a staff sling or Atlatl / spear thrower) to apply your force over more distance & time. And/or heavier projectiles. Best ranged weapon for superhuman strength? $\endgroup$
    – Peter Cordes
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 22:59
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    $\begingroup$ Somehow you forget that a 7-years old might have half or less the reach of a grown man (i.e. baseball pitcher), so it will have half the distance to accelerate the projectile.This means the 12 times stronger child will be limited to one sixth of the energy. Also, parts of the arm will reach the speed of the ball, and will need to be decelerated back to rest - this might hurt. $\endgroup$
    – Calin Ceteras
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 14:06
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I believe it would be Slinger,

From Bible:

David hurls a stone from his sling and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead, Goliath falls on his face to the ground, and David cuts off his head.

and:

The Bible provides a famous slinger account, the battle between David and Goliath from the First Book of Samuel 17:34–36, probably written in the 7th or 6th century BC, describing events having occurred around the 10th century BC. The sling, easily produced, was the weapon of choice for shepherds fending off animals.

And David has such small body.

Rocks is very hard to throw, slinger aim far better and add extra sentrifugal force, adjusting it length also works.

Edit: add other "strong is relative" answer

Pen and paper

We can agree that our world where we live is controlled by many manipulator, Smart girl with pen and paper (need to have writing and reading skill) can control the world by sending messages only. Just concentrate the psionic power on her brain when writing the message.

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  • $\begingroup$ What makes you believe the power can be concentrated "on her brain"? The OP is pretty clear that it's physical improvement - "faster and stronger". $\endgroup$
    – T.J.L.
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 21:26
  • $\begingroup$ @T.J.L. since when brain can't be faster and stronger? any physical improvement to the muscle means that brain must be able to adapt handling all the improved muscle (adapting in real time seconds) using electrical signal to be more performant and efficient. Otherwise, you could get muscle improvement without be able to handle it. The brain is the one got improved first with that psionic power.. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Tanudjaja
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 3:47
  • $\begingroup$ Without faster and stronger brain, it's the same as giving a rat, a vehicle to drive. Want real life example? try asking athlete what they can think when using muscle doping on match day. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Tanudjaja
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 3:54
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    $\begingroup$ Aan atlatl-launched pen would be a pretty mighty weapon in her hands... launched iridium-tipped nib forwards. One case where the pen would be mightier than the sword (wielded by a normal person) $\endgroup$
    – houninym
    Commented Feb 19, 2020 at 11:39

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