Throwing Knife

The Throwing Knife is an available Equipment choice in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. When selecting the Throwing Knife in the equipment screen, players get only one knife. However, the knife can be retrieved after hitting whatever it is thrown at, including enemies and walls. The Throwing Knife is a one-hit kill weapon regardless of where it hits or how far the target is. (or the player having the death streak, Painkiller, enabled)

When the player throws and misses their target, the throwing knife will most likely hit the ground or a wall; if it hits the ground, most of the time, it will slide across it several feet. The player will have to find and pick it up to use it again. If it hits the wall, the player can simply go up to it and pick it up. However, if a knife ricochets off a wall or the ground, it is still deadly and can kill. Players are also able to pick up knives that have been thrown by someone else.

The throwing knife is popular with stealth classes as it is silent, has no warning like grenades, and even if the player misses, there is a good chance the target doesn't notice (unless they see the knife whiz by or hear it ricochet off a wall). However, it has a very short range, as it rapidly descends towards the ground the farther it is thrown. Only at very close range will it throw perfectly straight. Thus, similar to the grenade launchers, at longer ranges it is necessary to aim above the target for the throw to be accurate.

In the single-player campaign, Soap MacTavish uses the dagger Shepherd stabbed him with as a Throwing Knife (pulling it from his own chest, mind you) in a climactic scene in Endgame. Players do not get to use Throwing Knives in any other mission.

Trivia

 * The Throwing Knife is modelled after the "Blackhawk Tatang". In fact, there are three knife models in the game.
 * The Throwing Knife can act as a usable ranged weapon when using the Riot Shield, throwing the knife exposes the player only for 1 second.
 * The Infinity Ward logo can sometimes be seen on the side of the Throwing Knife. This is most easily seen with a sniper rifle.
 * On the Single-Player level Loose Ends three throwing knives are stuck into the wooden wall in the basement armory. They cannot be removed or used.
 * Enemies who charge at the player with a knife after a breach use throwing knives, but don't throw them.
 * It is best to use the throwing knife with the Scavenger perk, as it takes a few seconds (which usually means life or death in a game) to pick it up. When you walk over a dead enemy the knife will be automatically picked up.
 * Sometimes, the Throwing Knife will not destroy a window it is thrown at but instead get stuck in the now damaged window. If you destroy the window, the Knife will be floating in the spot it landed in.
 * The Throwing Knife has the same arc and range as the frag grenade. Players who have become accurate with grenades may be able to use the Throwing Knife more extensively.
 * A more fun than deadly tactic is to have six players with riot shields stand in a row with their shields forward and all throw their knives at an enemy(s).
 * If it is thrown off a solid object it will leave a bullet hole.
 * On Infinity Ward's website the Throwing Knife was voted the favorite piece of equipment in Modern Warfare 2, likely for sheer novelty.
 * Interestingly enough, an EMP will stop a Throwing Knife dead in its tracks, which doesn't make much sense since EMP's only affect electronic devices.
 * Sometimes if a knife is thrown at an enemy's hands or feet while they are near a wall, they will be pinned and dangle from the knife.
 * Even if a knife throw is a little bit too short, it can still bounce off a wall or object and kill. This is helpful in taking out enemies hiding behind Riot Shields, since flanking a shield user is difficult but knives to the feet kill.

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