Sword Plant



A character stabs the ground (or a wall) with a sword (or any other weapon for that matter) as an attack, to help stand up, as an anchor, or just look cool.

As an attack, it can be performed from as a more-pointy version of a Ground Pound and/or Shockwave Stomp, depending on whether the user is executing it from above.

Of course, doing that in Real Life would only chip, dull or break the blade. In fiction, not so much.

Contrast Stab the Sky and Sword Pointing. A plant which happens to be a sword comes under Living Weapon. See also The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In, which is about when swords are thrown or dropped and land point downward, Stepping Stone Sword, when a sword thrown or driven into a surface is used to climb or stand on, and Weapon Tombstone when a sword is used as a tombstone marker.

Nothing at all to do with plants that grow swords ... sadly.

Anime and Manga

 * Rukia does this as part of her shikai in Bleach.
 * Also, Ichigo tends to stab the ground when he needs a prop to help stay standing.
 * Ichigo does this purposefully during the Bount Filler arc, to release a Getsuga Tenshou in multiple directions. Not to mention when he props it down in episode 54 when facing off with Soul Society's lieutenants. Or with Kuchiki Byakuya a few episodes later.
 * Saber from Fate/stay night does this in flashbacks. (Pictured above)
 * In My-HiME, Mikoto does this when she uses her sword's (very destructive) ultimate attack.
 * The Claymores from Claymore often plant their swords in the ground to have something to lean against when they are sitting or sleeping.
 * Naruto: occurs during the Sasuke vs Deidara fight. It is later revealed that Sasuke did it for another purpose too.
 * In Corsair, Canale finishes his battle with Shirokko by stabbing his blade into one of the masts just shy of Shirokko's ear.
 * Saya of Blood+ does this frequently for various reasons.
 * Commander Taki from Hyakujitsu no Bara
 * Major Olivia Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist carries a saber everywhere she goes, and she's usually seen holding it in this position when she's standing and talking to anyone.

Film - Live Action

 * The Princess Bride: The Dread Pirate Roberts throws his sword into a plant, so he can use both hands to impressively swing down, during his fight with Inigo Montoya.
 * In The Matrix Revolutions, Morpheus stabs his katana into the side of the semi truck he's riding, in order to give him a platform to snag the Keymaster (who is passing by on a motorcycle).
 * Shows up in Highlander Endgame, with Duncan planting it as a memorial on Connor's grave.

Literature

 * This is how, in many versions/adaptions of the Arthurian Legend, the Sword in the Stone got into the stone.
 * Rand plants Callandor in the floor of the Stone of Tear in book 4 of the Wheel of Time, and leaves it to remind the Tairen nobles that he will return.
 * Subverted in the Norwegian novel "Kristin Lavransdatter". Simon is sitting on a wooden bench, talking to his fiancé and fiddling with his dagger. He stabs the bench with the dagger and only winds up bending the point so badly it won’t go back in its sheath.

Live Action TV

 * The new opening to The Colbert Report features Stephen doing this with a flagpole. With as many epic trimmings as you can pack into one intro.
 * One episode [1.07] of Camelot has a group of female dancers planting swords into a table in front of surprised diners.
 * Kamen Rider Blade tends to stick his sword into the ground when he performs his Lightning Blast/Sonic. Sometimes he'll jump off of the sword to get extra height for the kick.

Toys

 * Bionicle: in The Legend Reborn, Mata Nui does this with his sword to cut a part of a cliff to fall on a Skopio.

Video Games

 * Link's down aerial in Super Smash Bros..
 * Link's swordplanting move was actually introduced in the NES Zelda 2: Adventures Of Link. Hilariously, it allowed link to "bounce" on enemies, quasi-Mario-style.
 * Toon Link's down aerial in Brawl mimics this.
 * A Link To The Past has Link doing this with the Quake medallion.
 * Also used in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, the first to and the second to , as well as.
 * The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword has Link doing this to enter the Silent Realms.
 * One of Ganondorf's victory animations in Super Smash Bros. Melee has him do this with a BFS.
 * Ike's taunt in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * Ike's "Eruption" special attack in the game also involves stabbing the ground and making fire shoot out.
 * Ike's taunt seems to be a Shout-Out to Guilty Gear's Sol Badguy. Nearly the exact same pose as a common one that Sol does pretty frequently.
 * Frog has a move like this in Chrono Trigger.
 * Zero frequently uses techniques like this in Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero.
 * Dragon's Lair: a knight in black armor with a BFS stabbed the floor tiles to electrify the alternating squares.
 * RuneScape: the Dragon 2h Sword's special attack
 * Illusion of Gaia: Will's knightly alter ego Freedan could create paralysis-inducing earthquakes by leaping from high places and stabbing his sword into the ground as he fell.
 * Sephiroth uses this attack very dramatic fashion in Final Fantasy VII. It becomes a usable attack in Dissidia Final Fantasy.
 * Cloud in Kingdom Hearts tends to use this kind of attack as a finisher for his Sonic Blade combo. No matter if he hit anything with the attacks before it or not.
 * In Dissidia, when he uses the Braver attack and the opponent is hit into the ground (which is most of the time), Cloud's sword will end up fully a foot into the ground. Likewise, when he uses MeteoRain, he spins his sword over his head and then stabs it into the ground.
 * Duran from Seiken Densetsu 3 does this when he casts a spell.
 * The Thunderstrike ability in The Spirit Engine 2, which creates an earthquake (or something).
 * Part of Mitsurugi and Yoshimitsu's kata in the Soul Series.
 * Used in numerous artes like Guardian Field throughout the Tales (series).
 * Duke of Battle Arena Toshinden has his "Helm Crush" attack, where he swings his BFS such that it points straight down (hence the name), planting it deep into the ground (and whoever's unfortunate enough to be between the two).
 * The introductory illustrations of Battle for Wesnoth's Heir to the Throne campaign show Delfador making the point that even a hotshot princely swordsman shouldn't mess around with a Simple Staff, as their duel concludes with Delfador leaving said staff behind rammed through the prince's body into the ground.
 * Not an attack precisely, but the opening cinematic to World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King features Arthas stabbing the runeblade Frostmourne into a glacier as part of a spell to reanimate the massive blue dragon Sindragosa, as seen here. He later uses the same method to shatter the ground beneath the Argent Coliseum during the Trial of the Crusader, dropping characters into the Nerubian underworld to face Anub'arak.
 * Its also one of Arthas' idle animations—he stabs Frostmourne into the ground so he can use both hands to adjust his gauntlets. Apparently they're a little too big for him.
 * Jin Kisaragi of BlazBlue has a Magic Knight variation as his Astral Heat "Arctic Dungeon": he stabs the ground with his magical ice katana, causing ice crystals to erupt across the ground. If his opponent is touching the ground when this happens, they are frozen and, when the ice shatters, instant-killed.
 * The Final Boss of Return to Castle Wolfenstein uses this to compensate for his lack of ranged attacks: he jams his sword into the ground, causing the rain of rocks from the construction above and sending Blazkovitz flying towards him, into his reach.
 * The Shogun Executioner of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 has a special ability that slams three Laser Blades into the ground at once, producing a massive shockwave of power that destroys anything around it. Not that the Shogun Executioner has much trouble on that front...

Web Original

 * In Chaos Fighters, this is a regular move and activates shockwaves or magical skills when charged with aura.

Western Animation

 * Samurai Jack
 * In Danny Phantom, the Fright Night's sword is buried in the ground to stake a claim on Amity Park in the name of Pariah Dark. Removing it is the sign of surrender.

Real Life

 * Greek Hoplite spears came with an extra spike on the butt end. This was for reversing a broken spear, or simply for impaling someone at your feet without taking time to stop. It could also be used for planting a spear as Greek spears were cheap and expected to shatter in the press anyway.