What's the deal with all the fictional weapons that are so impractical?

I've seen a load of fantasy and medieval-era type weapons that are so impractical and would never be used in real life as a weapon. But they're still so cool looking and interesting to see.<br><br>Examples: scimitars with a scimitar shaped guard with a handle in the middle, katanas with a blade going down the middle of the handle, axes with a huge spike on the end of the handle and a crescent moon blade on the back of the head.<br><br>Looking at real medieval and ancient weapons, you don't see this kind of thing at all. I'm starting to suspect that most of these cool looking designs are film prop weapons designed to be visually striking and not weapons that actually existed historically.<br><br>Are there any historical examples of weapons like this that actually existed?