Most movies/books/etc aren't nearly as combat-oriented as video games. So it used to be a fairly common occurence to give the protagonist some kind of way to defend themselves, sometimes based on something that happened once or twice, sometimes completely made up.
Disney's Aladdin is a crafty thief who generally gets by through agility and being sneaky. Meanwhile, nearly every licensed game based on the film gave him a sword and the ability to throw apples hard enough to break someone's nose.
Early Harry Potter games would almost always include Flipendo, a spell that essentially amounted to a generic magic missile, to use as the main combat (and sometimes block-pushing) tool. Despite being omnipresent in video games, this spell is completely absent from both books and movies.
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge gave Jack Skellington a weird weapon called the Soul Robber, a magical whip/sticky hand invented by Doctor Finklestein that lets him do combos and stuff. (fun fact, this game was made by Capcom devs and is basically babby's first Devil May Cry)