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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"There's nothing more reliable than a [[Katanas Are Just Better|Japanese sword]], is there?"''|'''Saito Hajime''', ''[[
▲{{quote|''"There's nothing more reliable than a [[Katanas Are Just Better|Japanese sword]], is there?"''|'''Saito Hajime''', ''[[Rurouni Kenshin (Anime)|Rurouni Kenshin]]''}}
{{quote|''"Those who live by the sword get shot by [[Combat Pragmatist|those who don't]]."''|'''Anonymous'''}}
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* [[The Zombie Survival Guide|Blades don't need reloading]]!
* Sword fights are more intense!
* Some supernatural creatures [[The World of Darkness
* Sword slashes covers 2 dimensional space(plane) where gun shots cover more or less just one(line), so it is easier to hit (if in range).
It's obvious that neither side will give in any time soon. So here are some examples of this playing out in fiction, and notable [[Real Life]] examples. Please remember that this is NOT about which is better! The fact that one side has more examples means nothing related to the neutrality of this trope, so don't attack the messenger!
Related to [[Katanas Are Just Better]], [[Shotguns Are Just Better]] and [[Revolvers Are Just Better]]. See [[Sword and Gun]] and [[The Musketeer]] for when someone decides to pack [[Take a Third Option|both]]. See [[Mix
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[
** Having said that, both times they fight, Spike has already taken at least one gunshot wound. But since it's a [[Heroic Bloodshed]] show, it can be questioned whether they [[Just a Flesh Wound|slow him down]].
* Similar to the above example, ''[[Black Cat (
* ''[[
* Episode 12 of ''[[
** Also, Revy vs. Ginji, who does in fact wield a katana and can [[Implausible Fencing Powers|cut bullets in half with it]]. After much bullet-slicing and [[Gun Kata]], {{spoiler|Revy wins.}}
* In the [[So Bad
* The protagonist in practically every continuity of ''[[Zoids]]'' ends up using a blade-wielding mecha against plenty of guns.
* In ''[[
* The ultimate confrontation of ''[[Afro Samurai]]'' involves this.
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== Film ==
* In a famous scene from ''[[
** Allegedly [[Throw It In|a hasty rewrite]]. An epic [[Sword Fight]] was planned but Harrison Ford had a minor back injury when it was due to be filmed. [[Rule of Funny|Comedy]] and [[Combat Pragmatist|pragmatism]] took the day.
* ''[[The Last Samurai]]'' portrays this quite well.
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== Live Action TV ==
* As ''[[
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer
** Though many units designed for close-combat use [[Sword and Gun]] as the rules make having a pistol and melee weapon the same as having [[Dual
* ''[[
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** Mitsurugi eventually abandons his pursuit of Soul Edge when he becomes strong enough to defeat riflemen on his own.
* Played straight in ''[[Gunz]]''. Your character is equipped with guns and swords. Swords do more damage and can deflect bullets. Guns are guns.
* In the later ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[Onimusha]] 2'', you can have a competition with the gunfighter to see which is better: Your katana or his rifle, seeing who can kill the most enemies in a fixed period of time. Of course, this is a katana against a 16th century matchlock. In real life, the gunman would have only been able to shoot a handful of times in the timeframe involved.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* While guns in ''[[
* [[
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* There's a wonderful example of this in one of the short episodes of ''[[
== Real Life ==
* It's a notable historical fact that when guns were first introduced, they were so unreliable that many still preferred swords. Essentially, when pitting a sword against a gun, the gunman had one shot. If he missed (and he usually did), the swordsman had plenty of time to close and cut down the defenseless opponent while he was frantically reloading. Of course this flaw was later corrected, and swords eventually fell out of favor, as guns grew more reliable.
** This is why ''[[The Three Musketeers (
** Even after guns became more reliable the English and Scots engaged in a series of bloody experiments to see whether a volley of musketry can do enough damage to disrupt a highland charge.
{{reflist}}
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