Iaijutsu Practitioner: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

[[Katanas Are Just Better]]. This is, as we all know, a simple truth of nature, as incontestable as the boiling point of water or that the Earth orbits the Sun. Only slightly less known is that a [[Quick Draw]] is pretty damned awesome in it's own way. If you find a person who is good at combining them, then you have an ''Iaijutsu Practitioner''.

 

{{examples}}

* The Hitokiri Battousai, [[Rurouni Kenshin|Kenshin Himura]]. Although an all-around [[Master Swordsman]], he earned the nickname "Battousai" by being ''just that good'' at battoujutsu. Not only does he go out of his way to resheath his weapon against (nearly) all of his substantial adversaries, the ultimate technique of his swordsfighting style is a battoujutsu which is so powerful that, if blocked, it creates a small vacuum in the air.

** Specifically, the first attack is meant to be blocked (though if it's not blocked, it's still lethal), but is so fast that it creates a vacuum that forcibly spins the defender around, allowing the attacker an easy kill on his back. Kenshin however, is a [[Technical Pacifist]] and uses a "reverse-blade sword" so that he won't cut anybody.

* Vralgo Kentauri from ''[[The Five Star Stories]]'' is a respected iaido master, demonstrated most dramatically when he nearly kills a young King Colus III in a flashback scene.

* The villain Ikaruga from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' combines this with [[Razor Wind]] to slash her opponents to pieces without taking a single step. She can draw and resheathe her sword so fast that even Erza can't follow it.

* Amidamaru and Yoh of ''[[Shaman King]]'' does something like this with the Shinkuu Buddha Giri technique in which they draw the Harusame so fast they create a projectile of razor sharp wind.

* ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'' has a variant called "hien ken" which crosses this trope with [[Blade Spam]] (draw sword and strike three times in an eyeblink). One of Kyo's early opponents is a practitioner, but Kyo beats him at his own game.

 

* In ''[[Winter War]]'', [[Ascended Extra|Shirogane]] is an expert in iaido. She gives [[Failure Knight|Isane]] a quick lesson in the basics- it doesn't make Isane an [[Instant Expert]], but it does shake her out of her depression to the point where she can play a useful role in the battle.

 

* This is pretty much how [[Zatoichi]] uses his sword cane.

* Terry Tsurugi fights a guy who looks like a cross between Zatoichi and [[Frankenstein's Monster]] in ''[[The Street Fighter]]''. He's blind and resheathes between strikes.

* Being heavily inspired by [[Akira Kurosawa]] movies, it is no suprise that Obi-Wan shows this skill in the cantina scene in the first ''[[Star Wars]]'' movie, in what is in fact the first scene ever of a lightsabre used in combat. It is after all "an elegant weapon for a more civilized age".

 

* ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' has Trakata, which is this style applied to lightsabers. Its point is to activate a lightsaber quickly when it's needed to deal an unblockable blow and then turn it off.

 

* Genta Umemori, ShinkenGold of ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'', mastered this way of fighting - self-taught with a [[Reverse Grip]] no less. The same goes for his counterpart Antonio of ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]''.

** It's taken [[Up to Eleven]] here: his quickdraw ability is such that by resheathing his sword after each strike, he is able to ''spam it,'' making a dozen strikes before he even appears to have done anything.

* In ''[[Heroes]],'' Future Hiro is a Battoujutsu master.

 

* In ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'', the Kakita family of the Crane is incredibly skilled at iaijutsu dueling; the family's namesake is widely considered the first Emerald Champion, and the position fills its vacancy through an iaijutsu dueling tournament.

** Duels between bushi in Rokugan almost always take the form of iaijutsu, mostly thanks to Crane Clan influence in Imperial culture. They're usually only to first blood, though—one has to have special dispensation from one's lord in order to have a full-blown [[Duel to the Death]].

* ''[[Exalted]]'' has a fairly potent [[Supernatural Martial Arts|Terrestrial Martial Art]] that is basically focused around this sort of thing: Even Blade Style.

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''

*** In Complete Warrior, "Iaijutsu" is a feature of the Samurai class, where it grants [[Quick Draw]] and a bonus to Initiative.

 

* All [[Laser Blade]] wielding characters from ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' sheathe their weapons after every attack.

* [[Soul Series|Setsuka]] keeps a sword inside of her umbrella, and some iaijutsu-type moves. Also, Mitsurugi sheathes his sword when he enters his "Relic" stance, and from this stance can perform some of his most powerful moves.

* In ''Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow'', Soma Cruz will do this with any katana-type weapon.

 

* ''[[Dead Winter]]:'' In a dream sequence, Liz draws her sword and slices a leaping wolf-monster [http://deadwinter.cc/page/398.htm in one continuous motion.]

 

* Adam Taurus from ''[[RWBY]]'', from the first moment we see him fighting in the "Black" Trailer, is clearly a practitioner.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Bushido Index]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Sword Tropes]]