Heroes Prefer Swords: Difference between revisions

[[File:rsz 59675 3128.jpg|link=Cracked.com|frame| Even [[Emergency Services|urban heroes]] prefer them.]]

 

 

In an [[RPG]], the main character ''always'' uses a sword, or at least has the option of using a sword. Even if the character has no training. Even if there are more efficient/advanced weapons. Always.

** In the third game, a variety of weapons and powers are available to Kuros. It's just the one needed to kill the [[Big Bad]] and [[The Dragon]] happens to be a sword.

* Kratos from ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' prefers his chainblades over the two "traditional" swords he gets. Before he got the blades, his favored weapons were the spear and shield of Sparta.

 

=== Beat Em Up ===

 

 

* ''[[Guild Wars]]''

** Of the ten professions in , only Warriors have any sword-based attributes or skills—and even then, they can be just as good with [[An Axe to Grind|axes]] or [[Drop the Hammer|hammers]]. Swords have a more reliable (if lower) damage range and better defensive options than the other Warrior melee weapons, but that's pretty much it. And no, the [[Katanas Are Just Better|katanas aren't any better]].

** If you're going for "but he can use this too" then about half of the protagonists in the Tales series fits in that category. Cless and Stahn can both use halberd or axe-like weapons. More than 80% of the time though, they are probably going to be using swords.

* Averted in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne]]'', where the Demi-Fiend fights with no weapons other than his own fists. In the first two games, anyone could use the weapon they wanted: knives, hammers, a lotus wand, the Longinus Spear... as long as it didn't require a specific alignment or gender (Yes, only women can use whips).

** ''[[Wild ARMs 5]]'' manages to avert this completely by giving its main character a pair of handguns with tonfas on the handles for melee combat. The only one who uses a sword is the [[White Magician Girl]].

** Played straight with [[Manipulative Bastard]] Janus Cascade. Starts out by having a gun/sword hybrid as long as he is tall, and is able to draw it as quickly as Virginia can with her tiny revolvers. Later, his [[One-Winged Angel]] mode uses a very large spear instead.

* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' has a lot of characters who [[Final Fantasy IV|are]] [[Final Fantasy VII|straight]] [[Final Fantasy X|examples]], but a lot of others who aren't:

* Serge of ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' uses [[Improbable Weapon User|oar]]-like bladed weapons called Swallows, which feature [[Double Weapon|two wide one-sided blades connected to the opposite ends of a single long pole]]. For one fight, he is forced to use his antagonist's scythe, but he never touches a conventional sword. In fact, very few of the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|50 or so characters]] use a conventional weapon, with characters armed with such devastating weaponry as [[Improbable Weapon User|carrots, wooden spoons, walking sticks]], and [[Frying Pan of Doom|frying pans]].

** Worth noting is that right before Serge obtains [[Infinity+1 Sword|the Masamune]] it turns into the Mastermune, a swallow. This is the closest Serge ever comes to touching a sword.

** This applies to all three of the games in the MOTHER series—the only exception that comes to mind is Teddy from the first game, who starts out with knives and can eventually acquire a Katana.

* In the original ''[[Breath of Fire]]'', Ryu could equip boomerangs, instead of swords. They were slightly weaker than his swords, but made up for that by hitting multiple enemies. In fact, his [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity + 1 weapon]] is the Tri-Rang, which hits every enemy onscreen, instead of just those in the weapon's arc.

 

=== Turn Based Strategy ===

** Also, two temporary main characters from ''Radiant Dawn'' use lances.

*** And one of the three main characters in Part IV uses his talons, because he's the king of [[Petting Zoo People|the hawk laguz]].

=== Anime and Manga ===

* In ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'', most of the cast uses a variety of realistic to fanciful guns. The only major exception is the villain, Creed, who channels Sephiroth's appearance almost completely, including a very similar sword.

* Luffy from ''[[One Piece]]'' fights barehanded, and the one time we see him trying to use a sword he fails miserably. His [[Lancer]], Zoro, is the swordsman.

* In [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]], Kamina uses a sword. But he's not the main character, even though that's not readily obvious until the second story arc. His apparent sidekick Simon is really [[The Hero]], and his weapon of choice is a drill.

* Parodied in ''[[College Saga]]''. [[The Hero]], college student Mark Leung, gets his sword from a dorm room.

* Rosemary Ripley in ''[[The Mansion of E]]'' prefers to use a sword, since that's what she's been trained with (off and on) for much of her life.

 

=== Western Animation ===

 

=== Real Life ===

* This trope may stem from the fact that in ancient times, swords were seen as weapons almost exclusive to the nobility, knights and warrior kings. Poorer soldiers would use axes, bows, or spears, whatever was more useful at the moment. The reason that the sword came to be known as a weapon of nobles is because it's one of the only "archtypical" ancient weapons that is only useful for waging war. In times of peace, an ax is useful for chopping trees. A spear is useful for hunting, and so is a bow. Back then, when most people had to spend the vast majority of their time and effort merely gathering enough food to stay alive, only nobles were rich enough to consider buying a tool which is only useful during a war.

* Sword was the primary knightly sidearm in the Medieval Europe. Not because only it is a weapon, but also its symbolism: hilt, quillons and blade form a cross.

* At the Battle of Agincourt, Henry V used a sword to fight the French men-at-arms, despite the fact that a war-hammer or axe would have been more effective against their plate armour. His trope-invoking reason was that the sword was a more noble and heroic weapon.

* Bullfighters tend to use swords and spears, since guns would be (even more) unfair.

* Samurai in their earlier stages were an exception. In warfare, samurai were mounted soldiers who relied just as much in bows and spears, using their swords only in the closest of combat. Only later, during relatively peaceful times, did samurai develop the reputation for being wandering swordsmen.

* Even today, sword is the part of an officer's dress uniform in each and every military around the world.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]

[[Category:CRPG Tropes]]