Staring Through the Sword



One of the Stock Poses, a character holds his or her sword upright, with the blade between his or her eyes. Incredibly common.

Often followed by Stab the Sky.

Anime & Manga

 * Mimiru does this as a way of steeling herself right before the party enters Helba's server, "Anwyn", in .hack//SIGN
 * Sailor Saturn from Sailor Moon does this with her Silence Glaive when she's about to use it against Queen Nehelenia in the first part of Stars.
 * Oscar does this in Rose of Versailles when she swears by her uniform and sword she won't neglect her duty.
 * In Soul Eater Black Star alternates between staring through his sword and his free hand (which he keeps in the standard martial arts index/middle finger up, ring/little fingers folded) while training with Tsubaki's Fey Blade form.

Films -- Animation

 * Played for laughs (as you might expect) by Prince Charming in Shrek 2.
 * Mulan does this after her Important Haircut. Her father does it as well, when he first retrieves his sword and armor.
 * Pulled of by Sir Orrin Neville-Smythe in The Flight of Dragons. Notable for being performed during a Crowning Moment of Awesome Badass Boast and maintained even as he is being burned alive by dragon fire!

Films -- Live Action

 * Aragorn does this at the beginning of the battle with the Uruk-hai in Fellowship of the Ring. Viggo Mortensen makes it come off like a pre-battle salute.
 * During the dueling club scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the pre-duel mimicks the classic fencing salute, which incorporates this trope.

Literature

 * The cover of Caine Black Knife.

Video Games

 * Strong Bad does this in Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People: 8-Bit Is Enough after claiming the Trogsword, throwing in a Shout-Out to while he's at it.
 * In the PS and DS versions of Chrono Trigger, Frog does it in at least one cutscene.
 * Ryu does this on the cover of fourth Breath of Fire.

Western Animation

 * Lion-O of ThunderCats and ThunderCats (2011) does this with the Sword of Omens during his Once an Episode By the Power of Grayskull. In some instances, as he's using the Third Eye in the hilt of the sword to activate his "Sight Beyond Sight" ability.

Real Life

 * In modern fencing, the salute has three steps, the first one is Stab the Sky, the second one is Staring Through the Sword, and the final one is Swipe Your Blade Off without the blood.