Forged by the Gods

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
The Blade of Olympus. Ended the Great War between the Titans and the Gods. Now Zeus is giving it to you for some reason.

The hero has a kick-ass sword, perhaps one he inherited. It's probably unbreakable and can cut through anything. It also has a cool name which is likely meaningful. And it seems like everyone in the whole world wants to get their hands on it.

Why is there so much hubbub about that sword? The world is full of good swords—what makes this one that much better?

Simple. This one is special because it was Forged by the Gods.

Yes, the gods made this sword. How it came into the hands of mere mortals varies. Maybe the gods gave it to someone pure in heart to vanquish evil. Maybe an amazing thief managed to steal it from them. Or maybe the gods are sadistic bastards and just wanted to see what would happen if they put such a powerful weapon in the hands of mortals.

For whatever reason, the mortals have it and all that goes with it.

This is the weapon equivalent of Touched by Vorlons. If there are other divinely crafted weapons out there, it's probable that Like Cannot Cut Like.

Examples of Forged by the Gods include:

Anime and Manga

Comic Books

  • This was the main plot in the album Doodsbrenger (deathbringer) of De Rode Ridder (the red knight), a Belgian Flemish comic book series. A villain gets his hands on the titular Deathbringer, a sword forged by the old Norse gods. It makes him unbeatable in combat, and the Red Knight is tasked with finding a solution. The solution? Find a legendary smith, have him forge an equally awesome sword, and use this to defeat the villain. Of course that means there are now two of these swords in the world... This was solved by Heroic Sacrifice.

Fan Works

  • In chapter 12 of Drunkard's Walk II, Wetter Hexe idly notes that her daggers "were forged for me by Hephaestus from mithril mined by the Svartalfar, breathed upon by Indra and blessed by Marduk." Played with in that Hexe herself is an incarnate goddess, and would be expected to wield god-forged weapons.
    • The Magic Staff Doug acquires in Drunkard's Walk V is, according to a being who intimates that he is Odin and/or the Abrahamic God, a small-scale prototype for a weapon built jointly by Heaven and Hell to be used against undefined Celestial-level "third parties". He explicitly describes it as being "forged", despite it being made of wood from Yggdrasil. (When Doug calls him on that, he's told, "Don't be so literal, son.")

Film

  • Excalibur was forged by the Gods before the dawn of time in the eponymous movie.

Literature

  • Pretty much the whole point of Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords series.
  • Zeus's Master Lightning Bolt. Made by gods, FOR gods.
    • Technically forged by the cyclopses. You know, the ones even older than the gods, being siblings to the titans.
  • While not technically forged by God, the swords held by the Knights of the Cross in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series all have one of the nails used to crucify Christ in the hilt.
    • And their names are, Excalibur/Amoracchius (probably a hand and a half sword, western mediaeval sword, implied to be the most powerful, having not been reforged since it was made, unlike the other two), Durendal/Esperacchius (sabre) and Kusanagi/Fidelacchius. They are terrifying in the hands of the knights.
  • Zemal, the Sword of Fire in Javier Negrete's La Espada De Fuego was forged by the book's Captain Ersatz of Vulcan/Hephaestus.
  • The Great Weapons of Dragaera fit the cool powers aspect of this, although in a twist, they were created specifically to kill the gods.
  • In Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker the sentient sword Nightblood was forged by people who may or may not be gods, but are worshiped as gods either way.
    • They also forged it using magic any mortal could (theoretically) learn and use—albeit very, very advanced applications of such that we have no indication they ever taught to anyone else.
  • In C.S. Goto's Blood Ravens trilogy, Rhamah's Vairocanum. Made from part of a Wrecked Weapon that had been forged by a god.

Mythology

  • Probably subverted by weapons and armor forged by Hephaestus for the occasional deserving mortal (like Achilles) in actual Greek myth—having them is a pretty sure sign of badassery and divine favor, but the items themselves aren't usually seen to grant their wearer any unusual powers.
    • Greek Myth is full of awesome weapons that are nonetheless completely mundane. Perseus uses a regular shield that's polished to a literal mirror shine to kill the Medusa, Theseus uses a pretty standard sword to kill the Minotaur, and Odysseus kills the Cyclops with a sharpened log. Even legendary Achiles used a normal shield and spear; it was his skin that was hardened to make him invincible.
  • The imperial sword Kusanagi ("Grass cutter") in Japanese Mythology supposedly fell from heaven and ended up embedded in the back of the 8-headed serpent Orochi.
    • Japanese mythology tends to ascribe mystical properties to weapons of peerless craftsmanship. Musamune's sword Muramasa, for example, was said to be so sharp that putting it in a river would cut the water itself.

Tabletop RPG

  • In the Palladium Role-Playing Game, the Vampire Intelligence, posing as a God, defeats another Intelligence that tries to muscle in on his turf and turns it into a powerful sword. He actually prefers that the weapon falls into the hands of mortals whenever possible, as the fact that such a powerful monster is now just a tool for mortals is all part of the punishment.
  • The relics in Scion are not only of exemplary quality, but they're often the only means through which starting characters can channel the Boons of their divine parents.
  • In Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 the Chaos Gods sometimes grant their mortal or daemonic servants powerful weapons (although usually their forging is done by daemons, not the gods themselves).
    • Vaul, the High Elves' forge god in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, forged at least one uber-sword. Vaul, the forge god of Eldar of Warhammer 40,000's Eldar forged ninety-eight more swords and a variety of other gadgets.
      • It's not quite clear if the 40k Vaul's swords were literal swords though. The Eldar legends about the War in Heaven tend to be rather metaphorical and not directly based on the actual events (the war itself is an actual historical event though).
        • Still, it is a pretty awesome weapon. Anaris "The Sword of Dawn Light" (in 40k) was sufficiently cool that it allowed the crippled forge god Vaul to challenge the god of war Khaine (before he got the title Kaela Mensha) and provide a serious fight. Later used by a Eldar named Eldanesh (brought to him by falcon) to challenge Khaine to personal combat. A battle that the god of war barely won, and his brutal killing of Eldanesh earned him the title Kaela Mensha Khaine (Bloody Handed Khaine) and got him cursed to drip the blood of Eldanesh from his hands for all time.
    • Gotrex's Rune Axe is strongly implied to be one that was forged by the Dwarven Ancestor Gods. It's been known to shatter the Daemon Weapons like those mentioned above.
    • In Warhammer Fantasy Battles, the lizardmen can use mayincatech lasers, forcefields and magic increasers made by the gods. This is made extra cool beacause the non-divine tech they use is at a bronze age level.
  • The only things better than wonders forged by gods, are wonders forged by the Exalted. For those of you who don't know, the Exalted are over-the-top ultra-powerful mythic heroes, who can quell a war with a word, cleave a mountain in two, and split souls as a martial arts attack.

Video Games

  • One of the first weapons you can get in Jade Empire was supposedly forged by one of the gods as a present for his son. No one is sure how it came to the hands of mortals. Naturally, there's an even better version of the weapon (style) later in the game.
  • All the magical Soma in Tales of Hearts were made by a Sufficiently Advanced Alien.
  • The weapon of Aeon from Castlevania Judgment is a giant stopwatch that turns into a clocksword, where the minute hand extends out from the center into the blade. The hour hand also reaches out a bit from the opposite side, and is sharp as well. Aeon created the watch, and is the overseer of time, effectively granting him a "godlike" status. He can even stop time to effectively eviscerate his opponent.
  • There's a pretty interesting variation in Patapon with the Divine Weapons; YOU are the god forging them,and you decide which one of your soldiers is worthy enough to yield them.
    • In YET another interesting variation,you do not forge the weapons yourself; rather you aid the blacksmith by pointing to him the right moments at which to swing his hammer. Who knew that BFS could be created through The Power of Rock ?
  • The Lance and the Shield in Valkyria Chronicles are said to have been forged by the semi-mystical Valkyria. When you see what they do, it seems very probable. The bad thing is, that the Big Bad finds them first.
  • Pretty much everything Eddie uses in Brutal Legend (except Clementine, which he brought with him from his time) was forged by the Gods of Metal. And he is the only one who figured out how to use these devices.
  • Anything after Seiken Densetsu 3 usually has the Mana Sword created directly by the Goddess of Mana.
    • Prior to that, the Sword of Mana's origins are less certain, but implied to be created by the same tribe that looks after (and is) the Mana Tree.
  • The Blade of Olympus in God of War II and III. It has the ability to absorb energy to make itself more powerful. Kratos has to drain his godly power into the blade, which makes him weak enough for Zeus to swoop in and kill him. Unfortunately, when the gods forged a weapon powerful enough to kill the Titans, they failed to realize they were vulnerable to it as well.
  • Rau's tiaiha (a New Zealand weapon that combines characteristics of a spear, a club, and a sword) was given to him by the Oracle, a tree that acts as a messenger for the gods. The Oracle itself was grown from the tiaiha of one of the gods when it got stuck in the earth, and Rau's tiaiha was carved from the wood of the Oracle. Forged FROM the Gods.
  • Variation in Touhou: Youmu's Hakurouken and Roukanken are forged by Youkai, which is a catch-all term for supernaturals yet does not include gods.
  • The Legend of Zelda features the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, which was forged by the gods for the sole purpose of killing a single man. Seeing how he never seems to stay dead, it's not that good at it.
    • There's also the Great Fairy's Sword, so named 'cause it's given to you by a Great Fairy.
    • That part of it is legend; chronologically, it started off as the Goddess Sword, and was upgraded to the Master Sword over time in order to kill the demon king, in The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. It did its original job, but the curse means it still has unfinished business.
  • In POWDER, the gods may gift the player character with a highly enchanted weapon or piece of armour, depending on who the player is praying to.

Visual Novel

Webcomics

  • In Erfworld, the Arkentools were created by the Titans of Ark. They seem not to be originally designed as weapons, but at least two (the Arkenhammer and Arkenpliers) are very powerful in combat.
  • In Eight Bit Theater, the Light Warriors manage to obtain some god-forged weapons, which burn their hands. Except for Fighter.

Web Original

Western Animation

  • Jack's sword in Samurai Jack was forged by the gods using the pure spirit of his father, so that his father could vanquish Aku. Due to its purity, it can be wielded by anyone, but cannot harm those of noble spirit. Robots, however...
  • For Transformers examples, there's Vector Prime's sword Rhisling, Prima's Star Saber, (no, not that Star Saber, or that one either), and any of the other weapons of the Thirteen Original Transformers. The god in question would be Primus.
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