Well, there are many weapons in modern culture that get shown quite frankly and everybody loves them (I.E. swords, chainsaws and gravity guns).
But what about those few weapons which almost never shown and MAYBE a supporting character uses them, this thread is for them and you select who are the most underappreciated weapons, you can choose a specific weapon or a category.

I'll start with my top two:
1. Spear-No need to say much, I almost never seen those on TV or video-games mainly because they are "less coll than swords" (though 300 did have some spears but those were mostly thrown).

2. Knife in shoe/boot-this is an extremely cool weapon, shame that they are never shown.

Piano wire, hardly ever used in games, but so much fun!

A Razor-edged Book

That sniper rifle the combine uses but which you have no access to.

I think hand to hand weapons are generally appreciated in the fantasy genre, same for bows and the like. I think it's some guns in games that really don't get the press. The one that springs to mind is the energy gun from Prey. It's your best gun for about an hour, but then you get new, more powerful weapons, and to be honest the energy gun wasn't that great. But later when you gained new, amazing ammo for it (sunlight) you'd already been given the BFGs to play with and the EG got forgotten by almost everyone. It's the workhorse guns that get no press but consistently deliver, Assault Rifle in the Halos, Combat Shotguin the GTAs and my personal favourite, the Pulse Rifle from Unreal Tournament...

The shoe!!
I can't think of a game where you can use one as a handheld (or thrown) weapon.

About 60-70% of the stuff in Dead Rising ^ yet no shoes oddly :P But jewels as deadly throwing weapons are fine ...

Spit! We need more spit! (A la Dead Rising)

Emotion Tranqs (MGS4) they were awesome.

I gotta say it has to be the M16, I know we are making better ones, but all I see now is the its little brother the M4.

Sparrowsabre7:
About 60-70% of the stuff in Dead Rising ^ yet no shoes oddly :P But jewels as deadly throwing weapons are fine ...

That scythe you could get was awesome. You could kick back the zombies bodies and take out other. The best thing to do was to run behind a counter with a sledgehammer and wait for them to come though. Jump up and start slamming down.
Awful game, excellent stress relief.

I'd have to say the Bow. I may be slightly biased since I'm an Archer in my spare time.

Although it's seriously under-represented in modern games. The only games I've seen recently with even a semi-decent bow shooting feature are Gears of War, Call of Juarez and Oblivion.

Another vote for the spear, it's an awesome weapon. Check out the spear vs. sword fight in Hero (the scene where it rains) if you don't believe me.

Who was it who used the spear in Dyanasty Warriors? I know there were a few, but there was one guy with a ponytail, and takign people down with it was jsut so much fun.

Quarterstaff, too, ala Kilik from Soul Calibur.

Crossbows. I wish I had (ok, nerdfactor 8) one of Waylander's crossbows, for anyone who's read any Gemmell.

Norse axe. It can punch through shields and armour. And split a man in half from the top of the head all the way down to the waistline.

A half-brick in a sock... so under-rated, and yet so much fun, with comedic possibilities to boot!

Battering ram. I've never seen it used on people.

Dildo. It was lethal in GTA san andreas.

Mentos + Diet coke. Because it's explosive.

Something formed out of diamonds since diamonds are the hardest substance known to humanity.

I've never really considered the spear under appreciated, but I'm a big fan of Koei's Warriors games & like Zhao Yun, Ma Chao & Yukimura Sanada quite a lot, due to their cool spear styles.

Also the spear infantry & cavalry in Bladestorm are awesome, just liek the game which features almost every type of Medieval weapon I can think off the top of my head.

Outside Koei's games, I cant think many examples of spears, except maybe in strategy games which feature Romans & Phalanxes.

How about a pair of Hook Swords? Apaet from Mortal Kombat's Kabal I can't think of any other characters/games which use them, and even Kabal doesn't wield them with the same versatility I've seen in Kung-Fu films.

My all time favourite Kung-Fu weapon which I haven't seen in many games, is the Three section staff (except by Hideyoshi Toyotomi in Koei games). I suppose because games like Soul Calibur features bo staffs, nunchuckas & whips separately & a three-section staff would be unbalanced because of it's versatility.

I also like flails, either single or triple ball & chains, but I haven't seen many of those.

Maybe it's difficult to program & make move sets for flail weapons because of all the moving pieces & unpredictability.

Firearms wise, most shotguns are generic 12-gauge & all use the same ammunition. I'd love to play a shooter with a big 6-gauge shotgun.

Integra:
A half-brick in a sock... so under-rated, and yet so much fun, with comedic possibilities to boot!

Ba dum tsch.

The mind.

FLSH_BNG:
I gotta say it has to be the M16, I know we are making better ones, but all I see now is the its little brother the M4.

Pop in CoD4. Everybody uses the M16.

Anyways, I wouldn't mind seeing a throwing hat that can kill people, ala Odd-Job.

Minigun all the way! for seconds i would have to say trap weapons you can place in addvance (like mines snares etc..)

Poison tipped blow darts in a bamboo blow dart gun. And also proximity mines like in Goldeneye.

Jamash:

How about a pair of Hook Swords? Apaet from Mortal Kombat's Kabal I can't think of any other characters/games which use them, and even Kabal doesn't wield them with the same versatility I've seen in Kung-Fu films.

I'm sure you could unlock a set of hook swords for Voldo in one of the Soul Calibur games.

qbert4ever:

Anyways, I wouldn't mind seeing a throwing hat that can kill people, ala Odd-Job.

I seem to remember Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat III had one.

Diamonds, boomerang, knife (throwing it, not keeping it), shower head, paint bucket, umbrella, broom (broken), bench, plant pot, bicycle, vase. all from dead rising

The pen.

Jolly Madness:
That sniper rifle the combine uses but which you have no access to.

Do you have Gmod 10?
Jaanus made this:
http://www.garrysmod.org/downloads/?a=view&id=28480
Yep.
If you don't have Gm 10 then tough shit. CSS (for the overlay) is also necesary although i can tell you how to switch the overlay. Ah, and Ep2 of course. :P

Death Magnetic:
The pen.

seconded, it is mightier than the sword after all.

spear, semi-automatic rifles, norse axe and acid gun

Feces. More specifically feces smeared on the tip of a spear at the bottom of a pit covered lossely with leaves. I'm not saying we need another Vietnam game (That's the last thing we need) but a game like Far Cry 2 could use it.

The mace. I know, it's used a lot by holy men and women in games who feel it's more humane than a sword, or have some vow not to spill blood. Idiots. The mace can crush armor and skulls alike! And yet more often then not it'll only get stuck with some clothie, cleric, or healer and not used to bash heads at all!

Acid gun?

GothmogII:
The mace. I know, it's used a lot by holy men and women in games who feel it's more humane than a sword, or have some vow not to spill blood. Idiots. The mace can crush armor and skulls alike! And yet more often then not it'll only get stuck with some clothie, cleric, or healer and not used to bash heads at all!

Are you talking about the morning star or the mace used by old ladies to spray stingy liquid in your face?

TheGhostOfSin:
The shoe!!
I can't think of a game where you can use one as a handheld (or thrown) weapon.

That brings up the guy from Austin Powers.

I personally am a fan of the three piece staff.