Frying Pan

"Well somebody's gonna make them some zombie grits!"

- Ellis

The Frying Pan is a close combat weapon introduced in Left 4 Dead 2. It was one of the first weapons revealed to be in the sequel; in the very first promo for Left 4 Dead 2, Nick can be seen hitting Common Infected with it.

Like with every melee weapon, the Frying Pan takes the place of the Pistol. It is reported to have significantly more hit-detection-rays than the Machete. As with all of the close combat weapons, the Frying Pan is capable of killing Tanks in 10 hits, Witches in 4 hits, Common in 1 hit, and Special Infected in 1-2 hits, but due to distance or abilities of the Special Infected, it's usually best just to shoot them. The Frying Pan, like other melee weapons, inflicts a small amount of friendly fire damage when it hits another Survivor.

Trivia

 * This seems to be Nick's signature weapon.
 * In Left 4 Dead, there are many unusable frying pans throughout the game, mostly in kitchens or Safe Rooms.
 * Both Common and Special infected have a tendency to fly back when killed with it.
 * The Frying Pan is extremely common weapon to find in Swamp Fever, Hard Rain and The Parish campaigns. It does not appear in Dead Center and Dark Carnival at all.
 * Most fans view this weapon as a gag, rather than a practical weapon. An explanation for this would be that the use of frying pans as weapons often dates back to classic slapstick routines in which a person would use a frying pan to ward off unsuspecting intruders. However, these fans have probably never come in contact with a cast iron skillet, as one could easily inflict more damage than an electric guitar. And unlike the guitar, a skillet wouldn't break in three hits.
 * The Frying Pan, along with the Nightstick, are the only melee weapons that don't cause any physical deformaties to common infected meaning no decapitations.
 * Ellis will usually reference making "zombie grits" with the frying pan. Grits are a very popular southern dish that is made of ground-up corn, referring to a frying pan being used to cook grits, as well as Ellis' southern origins.