Hot Chick with a Sword

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There are too many examples needing context. All The Tropes is not a place to simply make lists; please provide a reason why each example is listed on this page that can be understood by someone who has never read or watched the work in question. "See episode seven" isn't good enough. See ATT:ZCE for advice on how to fix this.
Also, too many examples miss the point of the trope.

Bonus Points for having red hair.

"I am the Invincible Sword Goddess, armed with the Green Destiny that knows no equal!"

She's beautiful, she's deadly, she moves faster than the human eye can see, and she can cut through anything as if it were Swiss cheese. Who is she? She's the Hot Chick with a Sword, of course!

This trope describes the common appearance of a beautiful woman who can wield a sword with deadly precision, most often in anime, manga and general Asian cinema, usually in settings where their wielding a sword (or any weapon) would be considered unusual. Although characters belonging to this trope can vary wildly, they share enough traits with one another to make the "sword" in the title almost metaphorical. They all have one sole mission to fulfill in their lives, and they'll generally pursue it with passionate single-mindedness. (A Determined Expression is optional, as is being a Determinator, but neither trait is particularly uncommon.) At the very least, she'll be one who never loses sight of her goal, even if she becomes slightly conflicted. This goal is usually to obtain vengeance or justice, depending on her character.

She is often NOT part of the main cast, and this is usually exemplified by how different her personality is from theirs. For the most part, she is usually far more serious and dignified, and generally prefers to operate alone. Honour or pride can be a big deal to them, and they often have a code similar to Samurai.

Hot Chicks With Sharp Weapons will often make their first appearance in a series as a hostile force, although not as someone wholly evil, seeking only to test the heroes (either by kicking their ass or letting them win), or attacking out of pure distrust towards their intentions. They'll then continue to appear as either recurring enemies or support, coming to help in the nick of time, acting as a temporary mentor, or even being a certified Warrior Therapist. They are very often Badass Normals, but this is often stretched. If they are of a more serious personality, they generally remain hostile to the cast or continue their loner mentality. That is, of course, until they learn the Power of Friendship, at which point they'll warm up significantly to everyone.

It should be noted that not all traits need apply, but most generally do. Additionally, not all girls who wield swords would be a Hot Chick with a Sword. To use an example with a commonly known character, Kamiya Kaoru from the Rurouni Kenshin manga would NOT be of this trope. Although she initially seems to adhere to this characterization via her first appearance, further reading will prove otherwise. She spends more of the story as Kenshin's moral anchor and a damsel-in-distress rather than a female warrior cutting people into ribbons.

A type of Aloof Ally. Compare Blood Knight, Action Girl, Hot Amazon, Lady of War, and Hot Chick in a Badass Suit. Contrast White Magician Girl.

Examples of Hot Chick with a Sword include:

Anime and Manga

  • The manga/anime series, Claymore, features almost nothing but characters of this trope as the main cast. That is, of course, aside from the only male.
    • Though it should be noted that they are apparently horribly disfigured beneath their skin tight suits. To the point where one of them flashes a bandit gang that wanted to rape her and they immediately lose any desire to go through with that plan. The reader, however, does not see any indication of this in the parts that are bare, and the Awakened Ones seem to be fairly unblemished until they go full One-Winged Angel on us.
  • The manga Yakuza Girl: Blade Shikake no Hanayome is a rarity in that Senimaru, one of the main protagonists, is a Hot Chick with a Sword. She's one of the few characters in the series who uses pure physical power in her fights, apparently because she considers her supernatural ability too weak. She has a very strong loyalty to her clan leader, and initially dislikes Senguu, the other main character.
  • The Familiar of Zero had Agnes, who also uses a gun as her secondary. A unique departure in the series where characters generally just use magic, and only the main character is a complete swordsman.
  • High School of the Dead features Saeko, who uses her swordsmanship against legions of zombies. Although a strange alternative to gun, she justifies it with the thinking that while guns can run out of bullets, her sword will not.
    • Not to mention the zombies are attracted by sound, so using guns all times is hardly wise.
  • Outlaw Star offers an interesting example with "Twilight" Suzuka, who uses a wooden katana.
  • Ga-Rei Zero features two ladies with swords, but it's Yomi who represents this trope best. Her character is a bit of a departure in that she has a very cheerful personality, and is only antagonistic after being the best friend.
  • In Kemeko Deluxe, Kurosaki appears early in the anime as one of the first enemies viewers can put a name to. It turns out she's not really evil, though, via the following of this trope.
  • Tsubaki from Kage Kara Mamoru. She starts off in this trope, but like most girls who arrive on the scene, she gets swept into Mamoru's harem like the rest of them.
  • Mahou Sensei Negima, which has nearly all the Always Female tropes, of course has this one. Setsuna Sakurazaki follows this trope very closely, starting off as the enigmatic, nodachi-wielding swordsman with unknown allegiances, who highly values her honor and duty over her personal feelings.
    • Asuna could also count, especially in more recent volumes where she wields her BFS while wearing Zettai Ryouiki.
    • Very similar (though she came first) is Motoko Aoyama of Love Hina, whose goal in life is to be a magnificent swordswoman like her elder sister Tsuruko. Tsuruko herself fits more into the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype with occasional hints of Cute and Psycho.
  • Shana from Shakugan no Shana, with emphasis on "hot". (Yeah, we know, we know...)
  • Akeno in Seto no Hanayome. She's never seen without the sword, and is definitely warming up to the others.
    • San also pulls out her own sword in several episodes.
  • Although it takes around eight volumes to find out, you eventually find out To LOVE-Ru has its own Hot Chick with a Sword with the minor character Kujou Rin (who had remained a very minute background character up to this point). She pledges her loyalty to Saki and the Tenjouin family, and wields a shinai.
    • Golden Darkness also fits. Her body becomes the weapon(s).
  • Sephiria from Black Cat
  • Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong of Fullmetal Alchemist
  • Sophita of Casshern Sins: She has a fierce desire to fight anyone and everyone she meets, and has dedicated her life to that pursuit, mostly because of how much it excites her. She can seemingly fight on par with the titular character of the series, but like some others of this trope, she falls to the Power of Love.
  • Erza from Fairy Tail is a Hot Chick with a Sword. In fact, she's a Hot Chick With Many, Many, Many Swords.
    • Also Ikaruga and Edo Mirajane
  • Signum of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is another example that fits this in both the figurative and literal sense. She's a noble, loyal knight who was willing to throw away even her honor to save her master and began as an Anti-Villain before eventually joining the main cast.
  • Himari from Omamori Himari fits partially: Hot chick, uses (usually) a sword (and is so far the only one to use one), sole mission is to protect protagonist Yuuto. Also, their first meeting leaves it rather ambiguous if she's friend or foe, even through they don't fight. Still, she's part of the main cast (and even the title) and in general an rather unusual example of this trope.
  • Sakura from Tokko. Kureha dual wields daggers.
  • Bleach: Tite Kubo likes creating female warriors that can fit under this trope. Some of the more obvious examples include Soi Fon, Tia Haribel, and Rangiku Matsumoto. However, just to drive the point home, Kubo once did a Bleach on the Beach special which put every female character (and several male characters) he could get away with into skimpy swimwear - while he clearly wants his cast to be viewed as either hot or cute, not all of them fit under this trope.
  • A Certain Magical Index has Kaori, who has a really big katana and the skills to make good use of it (and not a lot of clothes).
  • Ryoko in Tenchi Muyo! is a hot chick with a laser sword. In the first OAV episode, her using it against Tenchi causes the destruction of his high school; in later episodes, she isn't afraid to use it against extremely powerful opponents to defend Tenchi - alas, The Worf Effect usually keeps her from being effective. In the TV continuity, she's more consistently effective with her laser sword.
  • Shigure of Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple is known as "The Master of All Weaponry" (and indeed, can use almost ANYTHING effectively as a weapon, from shuriken to ribbons to wooden spoons!), but her trademark weapon is a katana left to her by her father.
  • Kurohime when using the Black God Tree Sword or the Ultimate Sword. Yashahime is also this and Lady of War most of the time. When she's not being the hot chick who turns into a sword, Sword also qualifies.
  • The title character of Cutey Honey in her fighting form.
  • Queen's Blade is all about this, featuring every variety of Hot Chick with every variety of sword, among other weapons. Naturally the main heroine wielded one.
  • Saya from Blood Plus, even though she's the main character.[context?]
  • Sayaka Miki of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Complete with Zettai Ryouiki and a cape.
  • Tsubaki from Soul Eater could be partially considered an example, as she is a hot chick who can turn INTO a sword.
  • Casca from Berserk qualifies. She's also a variation in that she wears convincingly protective to battle. Doesn't make her any less hot. And Guts approves!
  • Ayano Kannagi from Kaze no Stigma.
  • Haruka Tenoh aka Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon can use her talisman, the Space Sword, as an actual weapon, or in her Special Attack "Space Sword Blaster".
  • Kamika from Shikabane Hime.[context?]
  • Shizuki Kumiko from Gekkoh, a Yakuza schoolgirl on a mission revenge, who is a deadly sword-fighter and smoking hot. Fortunately, she usually uses a wooden sword.
  • Mervamon of Digimon Xros Wars mixes this with Cute Monster Girl.[context?]

Comic Books

Jazinda: Am I the only one ... disturbed by the phallic symbo-
Mantis, Lyja, Gamora, Quasar: Shut up!


Film

Literature

  • Eowyn in the The Lord of the Rings
  • Haleth in The Silmarillion
  • Tanith Low from Skulduggery Pleasant, who looks 22, actually is 80 and, as Valkyrie observes, acts like she's 7.
  • Kara-Meir in the RuneScape novel Betrayal at Falador.
  • The Star Wars Expanded Universe has Mara Jade and Tenel Ka. Hot chicks with laserswords!
    • Don't forget Leia, once she gets her own lightsaber. Or Jaina, who got hers much earlier than her mother, whose skill is such that she is named "Sword of the Jedi".
    • The pre-imperial era gives you Aayla Secura.
  • Noriko from Doc Sidhe by Aaron Allston.
  • Robert E. Howard had several: Valeria, Red Sonya, Dark Agnes, and Tarala the Briton, among others, including one Hot Chick With An Axe (Conchita the Pawnee).
  • Del (Delilah) in the Sword Dancer series by Jennifer Roberson.
  • The Mord-Sith in the Sword of Truth series, with a healthy dose of sadomasochism thrown in.
    • ...except they never use swords. Now, when Kahlan gets into a fight in the later books, now we're talking.
  • In The Wheel of Time, the Maidens of the Spear are an all-female warrior society from a Proud Warrior Race. Subverted in that their culture specifically forbids the use of swords. Something of a plot point later on.
  • Aliera e'Kieron, wielder of Pathfinder, one of the great weapons in Steven Brust's Dragaera universe. Don't mess with her.
  • In The Princess Series Danielle's main weapon is a glass sword given to her by the spirit of her mother that can cut through anything.
  • Pretty much every character in the anthology series Chicks in Chainmail.
  • From the Heralds of Valdemar series: Kethry, her granddaughter Kerowyn, and Elspeth, all of whom wield the Empathic Weapon (later Talking Weapon) Need.
  • From the Tortall universe, Alanna, Thayet (she's called The Peerless for a reason), Kel (YMMV to an extent, but she is generally noted to be at least cute) and, although she is not recorded as wielding a sword, Daine.
  • Good Omens has War.
  • The web-novel Domina has Akane Akiyama, who much prefers her katana over her gun.
  • Murphy of the Dresden Files. Bonus points for being a petite, 5-foot-nothing muggle in a world where wizards hold inconceivable power, and aren't even the shadow of things they face. Additional bonus points for the sword being infused with a nail of the Cross. Additional points for instagibbing a living god with it. And for having Bob fly around her head, giving her a golden halo that protected her from their enemies' mind magic. And further for being a mouthpiece for God. And for her looking like an avenging angel with a sword when Harry uses his Sight even when she doesn't have a sword. For a modern cop, she wears this trope pretty well.
    • Any supernatural chick and her sister is this. Bonus points to House Raith, who can do this and be mind-bendingly sexy at the same time.
    • Bonus points to Deirdre. Her hair is swords.
  • Ivy Tamwood of The Hollows, is very hot and wields a katana.


Live Action TV

  • Xena: Warrior Princess.
  • Believe it or not, Temperance "Bones" Brennan in "The Princess and the Pear". After getting attacked by the Black Knight, she beats the snot out him with the MacGuffin prop sword with some rather Badass Xena-esque moves.
    • This was adding injury to insult, as earlier—in her usual pedantic manner—she'd pointed out that the killer did not wield the sword in the counter-intuitive but historically proper manner, with one hand on the blade itself.
    • IIRC, you've got that backwards, she recognized the authenticity of his fighting style as well as the historical accuracy of the method used to craft his chainmail. These clues specifically ended up leading them to the killer, by looking at which suspect had the knowledge and training to apply these skills.
  • Amanda, the thief/sword-wielder, and Rebecca Horne, her mentor [to name but two], in the Highlander series.
  • Kahlan in Legend of the Seeker is very handy with daggers, but in season two, Mord-Sith Cara does her one better.
  • And let's not forget about the girls from Merlin. Guinevere and Morgana certainly count, as do guest-stars Morgause and Isolde.
  • Queen of Swords
  • Marian and Djaq from Robin Hood. Isabella to a lesser extent (because she handles a sword less, not because she's less hot).
  • Though her normal weapon of choice is a small piece of wood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer wields a sword at the end of season two and steals one from a Knight Templar in season five.
  • Dollhouse's Adelle Dewitt engages in Flynn-style swordplay as a hobby. And foreplay.
  • Subverted in the Doctor Who episode "The Curse of the Black Spot". When Rory and the Doctor get captured by pirates and are about to walk the plank, Fiery Redhead Amy dons pirate garb and a sword, and quickly starts fighting all the pirates, who are all terrified of her presence. It isn't her amazing fighting skills though, its just that the smallest bruise or cut will result in a harpy killing the person who is hurt.
    • "A Good Man Goes To War" gives us Jenny and, depending on how monstrous you like your aliens, Madame Vastra, the katana-wielding serial killer-hunting interspecies lesbian couple. Bonus points for Jenny's nifty waistcoat.
    • Later an older version of Amy dual wields a quarter staff and katana.
  • Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a hot chick with a bat'leth.


Myth and Legend

  • The Roman goddess, Lady Justice, still the allegorical representation of justice in modern times, as well as her Greek equivalent, Dike.
  • Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love, war, fertility, and lust.
  • Athena, who jumped out of Zeus's head in full war armor, wielding a battle spear and shield while uttering a war-cry that shook Olympus.
  • Played with by Parvati. Her usual Chick form is unarmed. When she appears as Kali, the destroyer, she has does has sword. However, Kali is infamous for her pendulous tongue (and breasts) and she also wears a necklace of human male heads. So unless you are into that, it's subversion. Her other form, Durga, played a bit straighter and take it Up to Eleven by armed with ten swords, because there's no such thing as too many swords when you're a god. So basically the pre-gunpowder version of More Dakka.
  • In Norse Mythology, the Valkyries were not actually this trope, but most any modern version of them will be (see below).
    • Norse mythology also features many warrior princesses. Confusingly enough these often get poetically referred to as and compared to the Valkyries.
  • 'Anat, a Canaanite berzerker war goddess. 'Anat appears as a wild and furious warrior in a battle, wading knee-deep in blood, striking off heads, cutting off hands, binding the heads to her torso and the hands in her sash, driving out the old men and townsfolk with her arrows, her heart filled with joy.


Tabletop Games


Video Games

  • Nariko from Heavenly Sword
  • Karin from Shadow Hearts who fights with differents swords, such as a rapier or a saber.
  • The series Guilty Gear has Baiken. Baiken, however, is notable for using way more than just her sword.
  • Considering almost every female character in the series is gorgeous, it's not surprising that this trope applies to many Final Fantasy women.
    • Though neither of them start out with one, Maria and Leila from Final Fantasy II can wield swords, with Leila starting out with some basic sword skills.
    • In Final Fantasy V" Lenna, Faris, and Krile can use swords with certain job classes, as well as when they are freelancers. The can wield a sword with any class with the equip swords ability.
    • Celes Chere and Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI. At least one fansite voted Celes as the greatest FF character ever. Both of them have almost the exact same equipment list, including all of the game's best swords. The only weapons they don't share are the exclusive superweapons in the Game Boy Advance version - Terra gets the Apocalypse and Celes gets the Save the Queen, both of which are swords, and the latter of which has a description that makes reference to Beatrix (see below).
    • In Final Fantasy IX, Beatrix is a frighteningly powerful swordswoman whom the party fights in a Hopeless Boss Fight. Three times. Although you can perform well, she will always defeat you. As per the norm of this trope, she later becomes an ally, but unfortunately does not join the main cast.
      • Similarly, the army Beatrix has command over are all females that you fight at several points in the game as random encounters. Though their helmets cover their eyes, you can see their slender legs, ponytail, and their exposed butt. In battle, they use a sword but can also attack with a powerful Blizzara spell.
    • Any of the player characters becomes this with the Warrior dressphere in Final Fantasy X-2.
    • Ashe from Final Fantasy XII. To be fair, any of the women in the game can become proficient with swords. Ashe, however, establishes her status as a Hot Chick with a Sword in her first scene: she slices an Imperial soldier across the chest, knocks him off a ledge, and then turns to the rest of the Imperials and barks "who would be next!?"
    • Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII definitely qualifies.
    • The sequel has her sister Serah get in on the action with a Bow-blade.
  • Rose from Legend of Dragoon.
  • Mitsuru from Persona 3 is a Hot Chick With a Sword who starts off as an ally. She is unique in that she has many elements of this trope throughout the game, but never has them all at once. Although, this may depend more on if the player decides to build up their Social Link with her or not.
  • A tradition of the Fire Emblem games is to feature at least one female Myrmidon who decidedly fits into this. It started with Ayra and Lakche (a mother-daughter combo of hot chicks with swords!) in Genealogy of the Holy War, then came Fir in Sword of Seals, Lyndis in Blazing Sword (and Karla, but she might as well not even be there), Marisa in Sacred Stones, Lucia and most famously Mia in Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn, and Athena in Shadow Dragon.
    • Pretty much every female Fire Emblem character who uses a sword, really.
    • But especially the aforementioned Mia and Lucia; both frequently rank at the top of "Hottest Fire Emblem Character" lists.
  • Younger(-looking), cuter version of this trope: Touhou's Youmu Konpaku, a Half-Ghost Dual-Wielding a pair of katanas, moves and slashes so fast it stops time.
  • Layer, of Mega Man X 8, is a well-endowed Distaff Counterpart to Zero, and wields a Beam Rapier, in addition to all of Zero's alternate weapons.
  • Charlotte, Nakoruru and Iroha from the Samurai Shodown series.
  • Tyris Flare from the Golden Axe series (and her temporary replacement, Sarah from Golden Axe III).
  • Lenneth Valkyrie, as well as Hrist, in Valkyrie Profile.
    • Hrist switches over to a halberd in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria to avoid being a simple Palette Swap of Lenneth.
      • Unfortunately, she goes right back into being a palette swap in Covenant of the Plume's Seraphic Gate.
  • Thyra the Valkyrie from Gauntlet (1985 video game).
  • Lamia Loveless from Super Robot Wars Advance... well at least her Super Robot mechas. Winged Humanoid Angelg has the Mirage Sword, wielded in style of a rapier, but it's not its most powerful arsenal (the main arsenal is the bow). However, when riding the ninja-ish robot Vysaga, it has one really vicious katana. Lamia herself also possesses a calm, serious personality but somewhat conflicted on whether she can be human at all. As expected from the woman Signum is based on.
  • Kaguya Nanbu from Super Robot Wars OG Saga Endless Frontier. Truly a Hot Chick with a Sword.
  • Jora, the Norn warrior who becomes the players' ally after a series of quests in Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Her hotness may be enhanced or reduced, depending on personal taste, by the fact that she's three metres tall.
  • About half the ladies in the Soul Series games.
  • Bastila, hot chick with a dual-bladed lightsaber. Since she can't wear anything except clothes and Jedi robes, sometimes she's better off just not wearing anything, if only for the aesthetic value.
    • Juhani is also a hot chick with a lightsaber
    • A light-side player in the sequel can end up with three in the party: the player, Mira, and Visas for a female player, replacing the player with the Handmaiden for a male player.
  • Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Aqua uses a Keyblade, but it still counts.
  • Selvaria Bles from Valkyria Chronicles.
  • Silk Fox from Jade Empire
    • And Dawn Star
  • Olga Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a perfect example, down to the personality.
  • Karula in Utawarerumono does everything in the description above. And her sword is huge.
  • Bayonetta has a sword as well, with one of her moves letting her hang in mid air while making thrusting motions (and the faint sound of moaning can be heard)
  • BlazBlue was surprisingly missing one of these until the introduction of Tsubaki Yayoi.
    • Actually, you could count Nu-13 and her "successor" Lambda-11; both have eight hovering blades behind them and blades on each forearm. I guess the blade holding their hair in a braid would also count. Additionally, A few of their command moves and Quarter-circle moves utilize these blades in a similar way that a sword swings (Predominantly the crouching C command and the forward C command). All in all, a Sexy grand total of eleven blades!
  • The main characters of OneChanbara are a school girl with a sword. And a woman in a bikini, cowboy hat, cowboy boots, a feather boa, and two katanas killing zombies!!!
  • Tales of Legendia has Chloe, who fights just like a traditional Tales hero and also wears skintight spandex. Her fan nickname is "The Queen of Swordrains"
  • Tales of Xillia's Milla Maxwell.
  • Make that two hot chicks: Morgan LeFlay and Elaine Marley-Threepwood from Tales of Monkey Island.
  • Parodied in SBCG4AP Episode 3. Part of Strong Bad's album cover idea is "a hot blonde holding a sword". The logical assumption is to have Marzipan do it, but instead you end up asking The Cheat.
  • Monica in Dark Cloud 2, complete with red hair.
  • More characters from the Suikoden series than could be listed here. Valeria from Suikoden I, Chris Lightfellow from Suikoden III, Kika from Suikoden IV, and so on. All businesslike, all sword-wielders, and all hot in different ways. In a fantasy series with this many characters, though, it really has to happen.
  • The Valis series gives its heroines a magic sword to blast enemies with while wearing Stripperiffic outfits.


Visual Novels

  • Although all the girls of Chaos;Head could mistakenly be seen as fulfilling this trope, only Sena embodies it entirely with her cold and distrustful personality.
  • Eleven Eyes has Misuzu Kusakabe, a swordswoman with a strong sense of justice but a rather aloof nature. She decides to train Kakeru and even ends up giving him one of her five swords for his own personal use.
  • Saber of Fate Stay Night, a highly-skilled female knight capable of facing off with and impressing Sasaki Koujiro and running up the side of a building. She turns out to be a Gender Flip King Arthur.
  • Kanon has one in the form of Mai. Mind you, the fact that Kanon is set in a normal high school makes her seem just a touch misplaced....[1]
  • Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai has two, Chris and Mayucchi. The former fits the personality a little better with her high regard for honour (sometimes to the point of absurdity), while the latter is a timid Yamato Nadeshiko, though with a clear goal of making 100 friends.


Web Comics


Web Original

  • From the Whateley Universe, Chou Lee (AKA Bladedancer), Handmaid of the Tao, martial artist supreme, and wielder of the legendary sword Destiny's Wave.
    • Fey is the hottest chick in the school (which is saying something) and she has Malachim's Feather.
    • Also, Swordmaiden and Nightbane. Maybe more, since it is a Super-Hero School.
  • Sasha, Eleonora, Electra, basically any girl wielding a sword in Greek Ninja.
  • Natalie wields a katana in Nightlights.


Western Animation

Real Life

  • Julie d'Aubigny aka "La Maupin". A 17th century French swordswoman and opera singer notorious for her wild ways. She had both male and female lovers, wore men's clothes, and fought many duels in which she was the victor. In 1835, the French poet and novelist Theophile Gautier wrote a book called "Mademoiselle Maupin", the title character of which is based on d'Aubigny.
  • Mariel Zagunis Olympic gold medalist in saber fencing.


  1. Normal except for the psychic-powered light-distorting ghost thingies she's been battling for years